"Okay, remember that you need to act surprised, because you're not supposed to know that you're having a baby shower today," Aaron said as he pulled into Dave's driveway. There wasn't much space left there, which told him that there was going to be a few more people here than he had expected. From the startled look on Erin's face, she was feeling the same surprise, and he gave her a small nod as he parked.

Together, they walked up to the front door, and Aaron knocked firmly. A few seconds later, Dave opened the door, giving him a bemused smile, and they shook hands before he ushered Erin into the house. "It appears that my wife has grand ambitions, Aaron."

"I gathered that from the amount of cars in your drive. Where are we meeting?"

Dave pointed towards the back of his house with his thumb. "It's a gorgeous day, so we set up in the backyard. There's enough room to spread out, after all, and we won't have to worry about getting underfoot."

"That's good to hear," he said lowly as he took hold of Erin's hand and began to lead her out to the backyard. As soon as Penelope caught sight of them in the doorway, she was rushing over to their side, a wide grin on her lips.

"You're finally here! I know, this is probably more people than you expected, but I wanted to invite everyone that was important in both your lives. After all, you haven't gotten too much for Vanessa yet, and we wanted to shower you with the blessings that you'll need for your little blessing." Penelope hugged Erin tightly before kissing her cheek. She next moved to Aaron, again placing a light kiss to his cheek before guiding them over to the refreshment table. A little smirk danced around his lips when he saw that there was a very definite color theme going on, one that matched Vanessa's nursery.

"This is beautiful," Erin whispered as she pulled out her phone to take a few pictures of the cake and decorations.

"I'm so glad that you like it," Jessica answered as she came up to their sides, slipping her arm around Erin's waist to lead her to the other side of the table. "Join us, Aaron. I know that Penelope wants to get a few pictures of you both with the cake before we cut into it."

He nodded as he stepped over to Erin's side, curling his arm around her waist so that he could spread his hand out on her bump as she cuddled close, resting her head on his chest. "Did you see any of the children?" she whispered, and he shook his head. "That's what I was worried about. What if, what if they're really not happy, like Molly, about getting a new sibling?"

"Try not to worry about that, sweetheart. Perhaps they're inside still, finishing up something for today," he replied as he rubbed her bump tenderly. She gave a little nod as they both looked at Penelope and Jessica, smiling for the devices being held in their hands. Once the pictures were taken, Erin was led over to the head table, while he followed along behind them. "I take it that food is first?"

Penelope nodded as she took a seat on his other side, leaving an open spot next to Erin. "Alex will be sitting with you, too, since she'll be writing down what gifts you received today. And before either of you ask, the kids are occupied with something. They'll be here shortly. Well, except for Molly. We didn't really get a straight answer from her."

"That doesn't surprise me. My daughter is still smarting over the fact that Georgia is living with us, and has been more prickly than usual as a result." A quiet sigh slipped from her lips as she looked up into his face. "When do you think we'll be able to eat? Your daughter is starving."

Aaron chuckled as he looked over at Penelope, seeing that she was grinning, too. "I'll go see what's keeping the caterer. You all just sit here and relax, since the party is all about you, after all."

He gave Penelope a small nod as she hurried into the house. Aaron was just about to ask Erin a question when he saw his wife lean over and start to talk to Alex. He didn't want to interrupt their conversation, so instead, he began to look around at all the people who had gathered to celebrate this new life that he and Erin were bringing into the world. To his surprise, a few people from work that he hadn't thought about in years were there, including Katie Cole. The woman looked up from her conversation with JJ to give him a warm smile and a small handwave before diving back into her talk.

"Is that Katie?" He nodded, and Erin let out a pleased sigh. "I'm going to go over and talk to her. Alex, would you keep my husband entertained until I'm back?"

"Of course, Erin."

Aaron jumped to his feet and helped his wife up, kissing her cheek softly before watching her head over towards the other women. "This is a bit disconcerting, don't you think?" he asked as he sat back down, looking at Alex.

"What is?"

"The fact that none of our kids are here. Not even Jack. If you have a surprise in store for my wife, I think that I should at least know about it, because I don't want to have a situation on my hands. This entire pregnancy has been so touch and go that I don't want to even begin to think about the fact that we might lose Vanessa before we have the chance to love on her."

An almost guilty look stole across her face as she ducked her chin down into her chest. "I promise that it is not a bad surprise, Hotch. But four of the five kids wanted to keep it quiet until the grand reveal happens. Molly, well, she's still our wildcard. She knows about what's happening, but she didn't say if she was going to participate or not. I know that things are still a little tender between her and the rest of the family, and we tried to head that off when the others brought their ide to us, but we can't control her. She's her own person."

He nodded, knowing that Alex was right, but Aaron still felt like things were not going to go as smoothly as he wanted them to that afternoon. He went to say something more when the doors to the house opened, and Penelope and Dave slipped outside, followed by a group of people dressed in white. Aaron assumed that these were the caterers, and he smiled as his wife rejoined him, knocking shoulders with him as she sat. "The food is finally ready!" she said as plates were laid down in front of the guests. As soon as their plates were on the table, Erin picked up her fork and dug in with a gusto that told Aaron just how hungry she was, and he smiled indulgently at her.

"You are thoroughly adorable pregnant," he said as he began to eat as well, and Erin set down her fork to smack his arm forcefully. "Ow!"

"There is nothing adorable about pregnancy, darling," she replied as she started to eat once more. In the thirty minutes that it took everyone to eat the meal provided, Aaron watched the group gathered, glad to see that everyone appeared to be getting along quite well, even if not everyone was familiar with each other. And as the caterers began to clear the plates, he noticed movement come from the house once more, and his spine stiffened, wondering if this was when the children would make their appearance.

Georgia's head peeked out the door, and a wide grin spread across her face when she saw that he was watching her closely. Giving him a small wave, she gently pushed Jack out the door and he made his way over to their table, holding a rather large manila envelope in his hands. The other four children followed after him, carrying an awkwardly large piece of plywood that had a tall, rectangular, box in the middle.

"Before we open presents, Mama Erin, we wanted to give you our gift," Jack said as he handed the envelope to her. Then he went around to the other side of the table and took a seat in Aaron's lap as the others set the plywood onto the ground. "I think you're supposed to open the envelope first, though."

"Okay, Jackers," she replied as she slipped her thumb beneath the seal of the envelope and broke it, pulling out a sheaf of pictures. "What?"

"These are our baby pictures, Mother. I know, you have Becca and Josh and Molly already, but not of me or Jack. Jessica helped us find an 8x10 of Jack, and I wrote home to get one from Mom. I thought that it might be nice to have something of each of us in Vanessa's room, so that you could look at us while you're taking care of her. We're all a part of her, after all, just like she's a part of us."

Erin nodded slowly as she swiped a few tears away from beneath her eyes. "This would have been more than enough, sweethearts."

"I know, but Molly had a really great idea, too, and I thought that you wouldn't mind getting something else from us, Mom," Josh said as he held out his hand. Erin slowly got to her feet, allowing Josh to help her over to the large box. "After all, this fits right in with your likes."

Her brow furrowed a little as she looked over at Aaron, and he shrugged as he shook his head, having no idea what the kids had gotten her. "And that's not mysterious at all," she murmured as she took the crowbar from Becca's hands and began to pull out the nails that held the box together, dropping them into the paper bag that Molly was holding. Eventually, she was able to pull the pieces of the box apart, and a pleased gasp spilled from her lips. "Molly?"

The young woman blushed a little as she hurriedly looked over at Aaron, as if she wanted him to know that it was nothing bad in the box, and he gave her a small smile and nod. "This is Vanessa's tree. There are five more at home, ready to plant, but we didn't think that it would be a good idea to try and move all of them back and forth. We each picked a different one that would be good for our area. I, I thought that we could plant them in birth order, even if that does mean Georgia's is first."

That was the moment Erin burst into loud tears as she pulled Molly into a tight hug. "This is such a perfect gift, baby," she said as she kissed Molly's cheek before opening her arms to the other kids. Jack slipped off Aaron's lap to join them, and he smiled gratefully as Penelope and Jessica got a few pictures of everything that was happening. In his heart, he knew that this had to be the first step in truly making them a family, and he was so grateful for the brilliant idea that Molly had had, as it was clearly bringing Erin such happiness. The young woman looked over Erin's shoulder at him, and he smiled, watching her smile back as she finally relaxed into the embrace.