Things with Jack were a little hit and miss. It depended on the day and what mood he was in when he woke. Within three weeks, I had three evenings alone with him, and Hotch had three as well. We were lucky enough not to have too many cases requiring travel, so we could be home. Every night that we weren't having one-on-one time with him, we made it a point to cook dinner altogether, eat together, and then watch a movie or play with his toys before his bath and bedtime story.
He was sleeping in his own room again, and after the first few mornings, he didn't seem too bothered by waking up to find me back in bed with Hotch.

Hotch and I hadn't gotten a night alone together yet due to conflicting schedules with JJ. We asked Jack if he would like to go to Rossi, Garcia, or Jessica's place on that Saturday night, but he was adamant that it was JJ's with Henry, or it was nowhere. We didn't want him to think we were trying to force him out, so we accepted it and waited.

Today, JJ called me at noon and asked if Jack wanted to spend the night at her place. I asked him and he seemed thrilled. He ran upstairs to pack his bag. She said to bring him over whenever, and then I went and filled Hotch in.
We drove him over to JJ's at two o'clock, together. We both went inside with him. He ran off to find Henry, and we stayed in the living room. I thanked her and Will profusely for taking him, and we decided that in the morning, I would call to arrange pick up or drop off time. JJ said we should go out for a date night, have dinner, drinks, and then have some much-needed adult time, and wake up hungover.

"Jack, can you say goodbye to Emily and I?" Hotch called out. He ran in a second later and Hotch caught him as he jumped into his arms. He kissed his forehead, "I'll see you tomorrow, buddy. You be good for Aunt JJ and Uncle Will, and listen to what they ask you to do, please. I love you."

"Love you daddy." He hugged him again, and then Jack looked at me. He seemed to hesitate, so I just smiled and waved slightly. "Bye." He said quietly to me before turning and running back out of the room.

JJ and Will looked at me; they were aware of what had been going on lately. I shrugged my shoulders, "At least he spoke to me and didn't yell." I smiled at Hotch weakly.

He kissed my temple, "Eventually, he will go back to normal." He assured. He thanked JJ and Will again, and then he guided me out of the house with a hand on my lower back.

We went home and he told me to get ready to go out for dinner. I went and showered, and then curled my hair loosely and applied fresh makeup. I dressed in a simple blue dress and black strappy heels, and a black coat.
When I went downstairs almost two hours later, he smiled at me. "You look gorgeous."

I approached him and kissed him, "Thank you." I was met with a glass of wine and took a sip. "Aren't we going out?"

"Yes, but it's only 5:30. The reservation is 6:15, and it's only twenty minutes away."

"How on earth did you get a reservation somewhere last minute?"

"I know people…and today that person was Rossi." He admitted. I shook my head and kissed him again. We finished our drinks and then we went out to the car.

He held my hand on the centre console as he drove to the fancy Italian restaurant. He pulled the chair out for me when we sat, and he asked the waitress for my favourite wine.

He ordered a bruschetta to start. For our main meals, I ordered spinach and ricotta agnolotti, and he got lasagne.
On the way here, he had asked if I had told my mother about us. It made me realise that I didn't know about his family. I knew his father abused him and his mother and was now dead. I had no idea if his mother was alive, or if they spoke. It's been over two years and we lived together; I should already know these things.

"Aaron, tell me about your family."

"You know about Sean." He said simply.

"Yes…but how often do you talk to or see him?"

"Not all that often. I really only see him when we have a New York case, and he tends to come down for Jack's birthday, or a week or so either side of it. It depends on his work schedule. I talk to him usually about once a month. He calls, he talks to Jack, and then we make awkward small talk before we hang up and wait another month to do it all over again."

"So does he know about us?"

"No." He said quickly. I tilted my head as if to ask why, and he sighed before continuing, "About five years ago, Haley and my marriage started to go downhill. I had told him that, and then he tried to sleep with her. She didn't do it; she hadn't cheated on me yet at that point, but she told me about it. That is why we don't really talk much. I haven't told him about you because look at you. You are the most gorgeous person to walk this Earth. You are way out of my league, and I don't want him to ruin things."

I shook my head, "Takes two, Aaron. There is no way that I would allow him to come onto me or try and get in my pants. I'm yours. You know that", I put my fork down and clasped my hands together before turning the conversation in a different direction, "What about your mother?"

He stared at me for a second before he spoke, "What about her?"

"Is she…alive? Is she around? Does she know—"

"She killed herself."

"…Oh…I'm sorry."

He put his cutlery down and sipped his wine before meeting my eyes again, "After my father died, she didn't know how to cope. She had pretty severe Stockholm syndrome, I realise now. I thought things were going to get better once he died, but she just switched off. I began raising Sean on my own, and then one day, she was gone. Overdosed. We lived with our aunt after that. She's gone now too." He cleared his throat, "Your father?"

I laughed humourlessly, "Should have expected that. He was never really around, even less so than my mother was. He was military to begin with. He then worked his way into the CIA. A job gone wrong – I was told – and they made him disappear as they do," I sipped my wine, "We had already lost contact by then, but I was only fourteen. I just thought he left us and mother didn't try to find him. Only when I joined the CIA did I find out," I nodded, "It's crazy to think that if I had been honest with my handler when I was undercover, they probably would have made me disappear too."

He left it at that and we finished our meals. He asked if I wanted dessert, to which I declined. We moved to the bar for one more drink, and then we left the restaurant.
I thought about what he had told me about his mother on our drive home. He finally opened up to me, and now I understood why he reacted the way he did in cases involving suicide, and specifically mothers who committed suicide or were staged that way.

When we pulled up in the garage, I looked at him for a few seconds before I spoke, "I'm sorry I asked about your mother. I should have just respected the fact that you hadn't already told me without prompting for a reason."

He was looking forward but smiled slightly, "It's okay. You needed to know. And the next time Sean calls, I'll tell him about you."

"Oh, honey I wasn't trying to pressure you into doing that. You don't have to tell him if you don't want to." I shook my head.

"I should probably tell him before his wedding invitation arrives." He smiled fully at me. I felt butterflies in my stomach when he said that.
I had never really wanted to get married; it wasn't important to me and didn't interest me. Now, it was all I wanted. I was even a little disappointed tonight when we left the restaurant and he still hadn't proposed. I wasn't sure why, but I just had a feeling he was going to ask me tonight. Clearly, my feeling was wrong.

Whilst in my thoughts, I hadn't noticed him get out of the car. He opened my door for me and held out his other hand. I took it and let him lead me inside. He took my coat off my shoulders and hung it for me, and then he kissed me gently. "Pour us some wine, and then come upstairs."

I watched him go up the staircase before I turned and went to the kitchen. I poured two glasses of red, and then went up to the bedroom. He wasn't there, but I could hear the spa bath running in the ensuite. I set the glasses down on the basin and smiled when he looked at me over his shoulder. He sipped his glass before he went back to the bedroom for a minute. When he returned, he was undressed. I followed suit and sat in the spa bath with him. "You hate baths."

"I saw you stretching your back at the restaurant. I thought the bath and jets might help ease it a bit." He admitted. I kissed him as a thank you.

We were in there for about 20 minutes before I straddled him and we made out, and then we needed to get out soon enough.
I lay on the bed and he was over me immediately, his lips latching onto my neck as his hand moved down between my legs.

I called JJ this morning when I woke up to see about Jack, and she said they were planning on taking the boys out for lunch and then the zoo, if that was okay with us. I checked with Hotch and then confirmed that she could just drop Jack off whenever they were ready.

Now, I was sitting at our dining table – post shower – with a cup of coffee, and Hotch joined me. We were quiet for a minute or two, and then he sighed and spoke, "I was going to propose to you last night." He admitted bluntly.

I almost spat out my coffee, and coughed a few times before I could speak, "What?"

"I had the ring in my pocket. I was going to ask after dinner, but then my mother and your father came up and it seemed like the worst time to do it." He smiled apologetically.

I bit back a smile, "You know, I had a feeling you were going to last night, I just figured I…felt wrong. However, as badly as I want to marry you, I think we should hold off on being engaged until Jack is back to himself…"

"Why?"

"Because he's starting to adjust and warm back up to me, and if we come home one day and say 'hey! We're getting married! We're gonna be a family!' he will go right back to square one."

He nodded, "You're right."

"Although, we could also just not tell him for a little while. He's young, he won't know." He watched me for a few seconds before he stood and left the room. "Aaron? Hey, it was just a thought." He must have not liked that I said he could lie to his son.

When he came back a few minutes later, he placed the open ring box in front of me and sat back down across from me. "It's not the perfect proposal, it's not a romantic atmosphere after a great meal. But I didn't do it last night, and who knows when the next time we get a night alone will be. I don't want to wait anymore. Will you marry me, Emily?"

I stared at the beautiful ring; white gold, diamond cluster. The box had '9ct' written on the inside. I was at a loss for words; I thought he was mad at me when he went upstairs just a second ago. I looked at him, "What about Jack?"

"He's young, he doesn't need to know just yet. I'll talk to the therapist and figure out when the right time to tell him will be. Assuming you say yes, that is…"

I smiled, "Of course I'm saying yes. I love you so much." I put my coffee mug down and walked around the table quickly. Before he had a chance to stand, I straddled him on the chair and kissed him passionately.

He pulled away and grabbed the ring in one hand, and my left hand in the other. He slid it onto my finger before he kissed me again, "I love you." He whispered against my lips. I looked down at the ring on my finger with a smile and bit my lip. I moaned and smiled wider as he sucked at my pulse point on my neck. "We have…at least 4 hours…until Jack is home." He said between kisses down my neck.

"We best make the most of it." I laughed and pulled him up with the intention of heading upstairs. Instead, I was lifted onto the dining table. He removed my bathrobe and underwear, and his tongue was between my legs faster than I had comprehended what was happening, "Fuck." I breathed out with a moan and lay back on the table.