While at breakfast the next morning, the adults decided to do things the fairest way they could think of regarding what they did for the day. Each child, besides the twins, wanted to pick an activity in London, Paris, Venice and Rome and because they could only do so much with nine children, a name would be drawn from a hat every day. A lot of the activities wouldn't take up all day and a lot of the children wanted to do the same ones, which was great because they'd essentially all get what they wanted.
Hotch and Hayley only requested to have dinner alone in Paris, so Emily set up the full works for not only herself and JJ, but for them as well—different nights and locations though. And because her parents had homes everywhere, the only hotel they were staying in was London the first night. The Prentiss's do have a home in London however, Emily knew if anyone was initially tracking them out of the country, it was better to be safe.
They'd fly on her company jet the remainder of the time, a jet she had purchased only last year to make international traveling easier for her employees. There wouldn't be anyway it could be tracked and nobody besides JJ and Hotch would know the difference as they were identical. Safety first.
"So if it's one of us, which one are we choosing?" Oliver asked his sisters.
The four oldest, Jack included, were in on their decisions together for the most part. There was an original Harry Potter tour the boys really wanted to do because they had read the books at bedtime, but the girls hadn't so that was a no for them. The rest of the options though, they all wanted to do which made them excited—the littles wanted to do things they could do at home and while it was different because this was London, it was kind of still the same to them.
"Look Ollie," Amelia said, pointing to the ones they wanted on the attractions map she had.
This vacation was a very spur of the moment thing—the kids were completely shocked. Their moms normally gave them so much time to plan that they all felt a bit overwhelmed with excitement trying to figure out what they wanted to do while listening to their grandparents and mom who had been many, many times. Amelia and Clarke couldn't believe their mom lived here before; yeah their grandparents did too but their mom too…it was crazy to them.
Before the plans changed, the kids had planned out their trip to Greece down to every last minute—while they knew with all their siblings' things didn't always go as planned, they also knew their moms would try to make everything go as smoothly as possible. Postponing Greece wasn't as big of a deal to them though when their mothers told them about the four locations they'd be going including the fact their cousins, aunt, uncle and grandparents were coming.
Emily was hopeful they'd make it to Greece before school started again however, she hadn't told the kids anything yet because she wasn't prepared to make any promises. Until things settled down at home, everything was up in the air. Luckily her children were beyond excited to go on vacation and didn't care where they were going as long as it was together.
"Oh dear, Brynley," Elizabeth said, looking over at her granddaughter who was sitting in her husband's lap.
JJ turned to look at her and covered her mouth with her hand. "Well, I think it's fair to say she loved that chocolate croissant."
"More like wearing the chocolate croissant," Clarke commented with a laugh, handing her mom the pack of wipes from the diaper bag that was next to her.
"Girl after my own heart," Gerald smiled.
"Clarke is right," Elizabeth said, ignoring her husband's statement. "Brynley's going to need a new outfit and if you're not careful, you'll need to change too, Gerald."
While JJ was helping clean up Brynley's ever moving hands, Clarke's eyes went wide and she said, "Hey…mom?"
"Yes, I know honey. It's still all over her," JJ answered.
"No, uhh," she pointed across the table and Hotch followed the girl's line of sight this time.
"Oh my gosh," JJ exclaimed. "Where is your mother?" she asked more to herself than anyone one.
"She took Oakley and Lily to the bathroom, momma," Oliver answered.
"Thanks buddy," JJ smiled at him, handing a pile of wipes to her dad as well. "Dad, watch out! You're about to take a handful of chocolate to the face."
Allen took Brook's hand that was about to leave a handprint on his face and licked his fingers clean causing JJ to stop cleaning Brynley and watch him. Emily does some things JJ wouldn't dare do with the twins—share a spoon, give them a sip of her water, take a bite of something then let the twins have some…even Emily would never do what her father just did though.
"Dad, use a wipe!"
"Oh Jenny, it's just a little chocolate. This isn't my first rodeo. I'll have you know the two of us used to share a popsicle every night before bed until you told me my bites were too big," he laughed.
JJ couldn't explain why, she just found anything like that to be so gross. The only person she's ever shared anything with was Emily—when the big kids asked to have a sip of her water she won't drink it afterwards, she lets them have it. Such an odd thing, especially with so many children, she can't explain it's just her thing.
Allen continued smiling thinking about all the popsicles he and JJ shared when she was a little girl. By the time she was four, JJ realized daddy took too big of bites and she wanted her own tasty treat. It may not be a popsicle, but whenever one of the grandchildren cuddled up with him and shared their tasty treat, Allen reminisced about those sweet memories and found it so precious to be able to do it again with her children.
Once the twins were cleaned up, Oakley, Lily, and Harper came running back to the table with Emily and Hayley not far behind them. "Duess whap, Wia?" Lily said, attempting to get back up onto her chair.
Emily helped her with a smile and winked at Amelia who said, what, just as excited as Lily was to tell her whatever she was about to say. "Me an Harpa have da same puwl ups wif pincessis on dem," she smiled. "But me no need dem be'tause me a big dirl, dey 'tause umm…just im'taase am apcimdempt!"
Oh, the things you find out when you take little girls to go potty together.
Emily knew her little one sometimes got so excited and when she did so, that can cause last minute reminders for mommies when needing to go potty. Lily was potty trained; she had been for a year now. The mothers wanted full-time pull-ups to avoid accidents though because it was one less thing to worry about while traveling.
"No way, princesses for both of you?" Amelia asked. "That's so cool!"
"Yeah, da toowlest!" Lily answered, sipping the rest of her apple juice.
While the kids continued their conversation, Emily smiled at her wife and when she did, everything felt right in the world again for JJ. Sometimes the blonde found herself overwhelmed by things however, one look into Emily's eyes and her troubles faded—the chaos of their world was a constant, it was normal to feel enclosed by it occasionally.
Emily helped JJ see there was nothing to truly worry about though. Right now for instance, the chocolate covering the twins matching outfits was a quick and easy fix; it wouldn't be the first or last time any of the littles made a complete mess of their outfit which is why they had multiple diaper bags with extras.
All the kids were patiently waiting to hear whose name would be chosen so they'd figure out what activity the families would be doing today and that didn't need all the adults, meaning, two could leave and change the twins while another pulled a name.
The bill would be paid, everyone else would use the potty, the littles would get their hands wiped even though they would promise their hands weren't dirty and so on. Don't sweat the small stuff because it will all get completed, or it won't—granted, most things do but at home sometimes JJ worries about a messy toy room and Emily says don't worry about it because the littles will destroy it in seconds the following day anyways.
It's just the way it was. Life was messy, complicated, didn't always go as planned, but it was also beautiful, magical, special, fun, and completely unique. Don't mess with the way the cookie crumbles—it was something Emily always said when JJ felt exceptionally stressed or overwhelmed, and if she couldn't say it, for instance in times like these, she'd just smile at JJ.
"Who is picking the name, mommy?" Oakley asked, eating the last bite of her muffin. The only thing Emily asked when they were on vacation is that the kids ate some fruit, protein and whatever carb or pastry of their choosing to have some type of variety and energy until their next meal.
"Uncle Hotch, baby," she answered, straightening out Oakley's shirt; it was a smidge too big for her and sliding a bit to the left.
"Pip one, pip one," Lily cheered, bouncing up and down in her seat.
"Pip me, daddy!" Harper smiled.
Hotch smiled at the little girls and then drew a name from the empty breadbasket they used as a makeshift hat after giving it a big shuffle. "The person deciding what we are doing today is…"
The adults laughed when the kids did a drumroll on the table and the littles copied them, then he said, "Who wrote these?"
"You did, daddy!" Jack said with a laugh.
"You did!" Oliver said at the same time.
"I did? That must be why I can't read it," he laughed. "Hmm. Whose name starts with an A?"
"ME!" Harper screamed, causing the adults to laugh.
"No honey, your name starts with an H," Hayley told her, tickling the little one's sides as she was in her lap.
"Amelia's does Uncle Hotch!" Oakley answered.
"That's right, Oakley. Amelia gets to pick what we do today. What'll be?" he asked.
"Umm, I have a question first," she said nervously looking at her mom.
Amelia and Clarke were similar in the sense that they thought of the big picture in a way their little siblings didn't, and because they did, they were trying to weigh out a few options. They were still kids though and their moms had answers they were unsure of.
JJ had taken the twins to the bathroom with Sandy to get them changed into a new set of clothes and Emily stood up to speak with Amelia for a minute regarding her question. "What's going on baby?" Emily asked, running her finger through her daughter's curls.
"So, me and Clarke found this pass thing, but we aren't sure if it counts are not. Wait, that doesn't make lots of sense," she said, backing up a bit. "Umm, we want to go to four things that are all in this pass because they aren't very long, and you can do them all in the same day…but it's for five things. One of them is scary though and we don't wanna do that one…"
"Can you show me, sweet girl?" Emily asked, knowing things would make much more sense to her if she could see the list of attractions the kids were choosing from.
"Oh yeah!" Amelia said, then ran back to the table to grab it. Once she ran back to her mom, she explained things again and everything clicked for Emily—the big kids were very considerate of the littles and these activities were great for all. "So, umm am I allowed to pick the pass one or no? It's okay if I can't because everyone else can pick the other ones if I can't."
Emily gave her answer and Amelia skipped back to the table squealing with her siblings and cousins who were so excited with what they were going to do today.
Truth be told the adults were happy the kids were so excited to do all four of these activities today because they'd be more inclined to be open to suggestions the parents thought of the next few days. Skipping the haunted mansion was also great because it gave them plenty of time for lunch, and by the time they made it to the London Eye, they were down three kids.
"Are we allowed to bring the strollers on?" Hayley asked while waiting for Hotch, JJ, Elizabeth and Sandy to check them all in.
"We are," Emily nodded.
"Good, I wasn't planning on losing Harper so soon," she commented, looking down at her sleeping child.
Emily smiled. "You can only counter the jet lag so much, especially with the little ones. I'm sure these two will be next," she whispered, signaling towards Lily and Oakley.
"They're still going surprisingly strong," Hayley laughed, seeing the two still running around with Oliver, Jack, Allen and Gerald.
Inside the glass double doors Hotch and the women were having a completely different conversation thanks to the grandmothers eavesdropping. "Do you have any special plans for your magical night in Paris with Hayley?" JJ asked.
Hotch wasn't just JJ's boss, they weren't even just coworkers or just friends, they were family. At work sometimes the two cross their professional boundaries like the team often does unintentionally however, quickly cover it up—but when they are together outside of work, they are very intentional regarding their relationship. They love one another like family.
"This year is our fifteen-year wedding anniversary, so I thought I'd celebrate it early while we are in Paris," Hotch answered with a shrug.
He didn't have the best reputation as the leader of the team, his job was very serious and in return, he was a very stoic, serious, no-nonsense man. He smiled around his family, laughed with his wife and children, but besides that, Hotch was all around a pretty vanilla guy. At least until you got to know him.
JJ stopped scanning her endless tickets considering she had the biggest family and gave the man a shove, "Are you freakin' serious, Hotch?"
"JJ?" he questioned.
"You need to go all out! Does Em know, she can help get you in somewhere? What did you get Hayley? Please tell me you got her something perfect, it needs to be perfect. Wait, what even is year fifteen?"
"Crystal, dear," Elizabeth supplied.
"Really?" JJ asked. Not that she didn't believe Elizabeth, but it's fair to say the woman would probably expect crystal every year of marriage from Gerald.
"Yes honey," Sandy nodded.
"Judging from your face I can tell you did not get Hayley crystal," JJ said, looking at Hotch. "Dude, we've got to go shopping.
"Dude?" Hotch questioned. "You have too many kids JJ," he laughed.
"Jennifer is right, Aaron. Fifteen years is a big deal, I know just the shop. We'll go tomorrow," Elizabeth decided.
"I wonder how much that'll cost me," he mumbled to himself.
Hotch couldn't complain though seeing as they were flying on the family jet, staying in the family estates and villas, the meals were either tax write offs or prepared by Elizabeth and Gerald's staff, seriously the only thing he and his family needed to do was show up and have a good time. It was the least Emily could do seeing as someone from her past was after them in the first place.
"I wouldn't worry about it," JJ smirked, patting him on the shoulder before walking off first. Hotch hadn't realized he had been that loud—thankfully though, it seemed as if only JJ heard, not Sandy or Elizabeth. He was in the clear with them at least.
And with that, it was time for more family fun.
The following day started much like the first one but before going for breakfast, the adults and children paired off. It was the easiest way to keep an eye on everyone when in an unfamiliar location. Clarke was, for lack of better words, their floater. The mothers trusted her to verbalize who she was staying with and because today was a half shopping day, if Clarke wanted to go with someone else, she'd make it known before wandering off to another store with said person.
"No, me!" Harper whined, throwing herself to the floor.
Oh goodness, there was no reason for a temper tantrum especially before breakfast. All Jack had said was, I pick dad and Harper highly disagreed, making it known to everyone just how much she didn't want that to happen. Everyone understood though, there was no reason to be embarrassed by the tantrum as it wasn't the first one anyone had seen.
"What about me, munchkin?" Hayley said, lifting the little girl into her arms. "You don't want to come with mommy? I was thinking about going to candy store," she tempted.
Last night after getting the kids to bed and discussing their plans for today, Aaron had asked Hayley if she'd take Harper today because Allen was going to take Oliver and the four of them were going to go on the Harry Potter tour that the girls didn't want to while they shopped. It gave them a solid hour and a half of shopping time to pick something out for Hayley without the woman getting suspicious, and without worrying about Harper giving away the surprise.
Hayley knew Harper wouldn't enjoy the tour and agreed to take her with the other littles knowing she'd have much more fun. They would only spend a few hours shopping maximum, then head to a playground so the kids could run around and play anyways. Harper would have much more fun with Lily and Oakley no matter how much she loved spending time with her daddy.
"Yeah," Harper nodded, snuggling into Hayley.
The mother jokingly rolled her eyes at her husband due to the quick turnaround, then pressed a kiss to the top of Harper's head. "Yeah, you'll have much more fun with mommy."
"You're with me, buddy," Hotch said, wrapping an arm around Jack.
Oliver wrapped his arms around Allen, Oakley got a running start then jumped into Gerald's arms, Amelia wrapped hers around Elizabeth's; Clarke knew she was the wildcard and because it didn't matter who she was with, looked down at Lily and said, "Ready, Lil?"
"Me weady!" Before she too could get a running start, Clarke picked Lily up, walked her over to Sandy and handed her over, "Here you go, grandma. Good luck with this crazy monkey."
"Yeah, dood wuck dis tazy monpee, gwamma!" Lily copied, causing the adults to laugh.
The mothers were left with the twins although, knew that wouldn't be the case as they, like Clarke, were another wildcard in a sense; at least one of them was. It used to be swapping Oakley and Lily out for the twins because they needed more attention than the twins that only the mothers could provide however, now it was more of just a Lily thing. Sometimes it was a Lily and Brooks thing, others Lily and Brynley depending on the day.
Now that everyone was paired off though, they were ready to start their day. The Prentiss family was ready to take on Paris.
"Amelia, Clarke, what do you girls think?" Elizabeth asked. They were currently in the jewelry store with Hotch and Jack looking at pieces for Hayley and the girls were speechless to say the least. Hell, even Hotch was speechless.
"Umm shouldn't Uncle Hotch pick? He's the grownup," Amelia answered.
"Yeah. But also, it's really beautiful," Clarke added, then nervously linked three of her fingers together looking at the necklace laid out in front of them.
Hotch saw this and knew it was her tell. The girl wasn't lying, that much was true, however, there was something she wasn't saying as well. "Clarke, what is it honey?" he asked gently.
"It's just, well…" Clarke said, looking between the necklace, her sister, cousin, grandmother and uncle. "The necklace is so pretty, and I know fifteen years is a long time to be married but this kinda seems like…"
"You can say it," Hotch prompted. "You won't hurt my feelings, Clarke. I promise," he added with a smile.
"It's not that!" she exclaimed. "I mean, I don't want to hurt your feelings but I just, I don't really, I'm having trouble finding what I'm trying to say," she said with a nervous laugh. "You know how sometimes we wear really fancy clothes but then when we come home, we just change right away? This necklace is like the fancy clothes, I don't know how many places Auntie Hayley would get to wear it. I'm sorry…"
"Don't be sorry," Hotch said, covering her hand with his own. "I appreciate your honesty, Clarke. And I think you're completely right. What do you three say, can we find something else she'd love?" Hotch asked the kids.
"Yeah!" the girls answered.
"I wanna put my name on it!" Jack said.
"I'm not sure about that, buddy."
"So, is mom gonna get you crystals too?" Jack asked while the man took out a few other necklaces they had requested to see.
"Uh, no," he answered, caught off guard by the question.
"But why?"
"Well, because I get her the present."
"She gets you presents for Christmas," Jack countered.
"This is different, Jack."
"Did you get grandpa crystals," Amelia asked, looking at Elizabeth. She too was now curious if it was just a Hotch thing or not.
"A crystal watch," Elizabeth answered, remembering vividly when she came into this exact shop to pick it out.
"See! Maybe you'll get a new watch too!" Jack said to his dad.
Elizabeth shared a wink with the salesman while Hotch responded to his son then quickly changed the subject to ask which necklace the kids liked most. Elizabeth couldn't wait to see their plan come to life even though she couldn't take credit for nearly any of it, only the two jewelry store appointments. Emily and JJ took care of the rest unbeknownst to Hayley and some even to Hotch as well.
"Emily, there's no way I can fit into this! I don't have your figure," Hayley said, attempting to shove the dress back into her friends' arms.
"Oh zip it, Hayley," JJ added, throwing another dress her way before running after Lily who was on a sugar high.
"Hayley, you're beautiful. Just try on the damn dresses," Emily whispered the last two words so the kids wouldn't hear her then repositioned Brooks as she pulled the curtain closed giving Hayley no choice but to try them on.
"Mama, sebablalalaa" Brooks babbled.
"Yeah, she is going to look so pretty. You're right, Brooks," Emily smiled, bouncing the baby.
"Mom, please tell me you have Lily." Emily heard JJ say.
Sandy turned to face her daughter and said, "No, just Brynley. Your father caught her running out of the store. She's running around with Oliver, Oakley and Harper now honey. Gerald is out there with them as well, they'll be fine."
JJ put her hands on her knees and breathed heavily for a few seconds to catch her breath, whoever said vacationing with kids was a vacation freakin' lied—it was still work, and hard work at that. "My gosh, for a little peanut she really wears me the heck out," JJ panted.
"She's learned to keep up with all her older siblings honey, just like you did," Sandy smiled. "I remember thinking the same thing when you were Lily's age."
"And just think, these two are right behind her," she said, looking up at Brynley who was in her mother's arms smiling down at JJ who was still catching her breath.
"Mama," Brynley squealed.
"Hi baby. Okay, let's go chase your crazy siblings around," JJ said, accepting Brynley from her mom. The two went outside and ran around enjoying the views, beautiful weather, and taking turns going in and out of the boutiques.
4 nights later in Paris, Hotch and Hayley were getting for a night out together in the city of love while the kids played, and dinner was being prepared. "Our anniversary isn't until January, I highly doubt it would even cross Aaron's mind before he takes the kids Christmas shopping," Hayley said with a laugh.
Emily zipped up her friend's dress and hid her knowing smirk. "I'd like to think by year fifteen he wouldn't wait until the last minute to shop for his one true love," Emily said, making eye contact with her two oldest in the mirror as they were in the room with them.
Emily had everything planned for the happy couple—something she didn't account for though was Hayleys doubt. And because of it, she wasn't sure bringing the gift she got for Hotch would be such a good idea. It wasn't as if Emily could say, don't worry he remembers your anniversary and got you a gift too, so she went with plan b. Overconfidence. Everything was going to go perfectly.
"You look so pretty Auntie Hayley," Amelia smiled.
"Yeah, you really do," Clarke agreed. "I know you have blue eyes, but somehow this dress makes your eyes look more like mine. Sage."
"Thank you, girls. And you're right, Clarke," Hayley said with a smile while Emily continued to curl her last few pieces of hair in the front.
It was such a treat to have Emily help with her hair the way she did with the girls every morning—Hayley could obviously do her own hair, but this was a special occasion and Emily wanted to help her friend the same way JJ was helping Hotch although, she was more whipping him into shape in the other room.
"No, no, no!" JJ said, shaking her head back and forth.
"What now?" Hotch groaned. He had been dressing himself for far too many years—between all of JJ's advice and the boys laughing when she corrected him once again, he felt like he was never going to make it out of here alive.
"You have two different colored cufflinks in your hand," JJ pointed out. "Also, Jack picked you out a pair you're going to like far better. They actually match unlike the one silver and one gold you have in your hand."
"I helped too, momma!" Oliver added.
"You sure did," she winked, wrapping her arms around her son while Jack ran up to his dad.
"Look at these ones," he said, handing them to Hotch. The man was blown away; they were truly amazing. "Do you like em'?"
"I love them, buddy. Thank you so much," Hotch said, hugging Jack. "And thank you too, Oliver."
"They represent you, mommy, me and Harper cause' umm, well…there's four gears and to keep them spinning you need all four of them, but they need to all be different sizes just like all of us. You're the biggest, then mommy, then me, and Harper's the smallest just like the gears. And we all love each other and…yeah."
Hotch lifted Jack up and held him closely for a few minutes, feeling very grateful to JJ for taking the boys to get these for him. He mouthed a thank you to her and she nodded at him, holding onto Oliver—before she let her own tears fall at the sentimental moment, she said, "Alright, let's finish getting you ready. We still have a lot of work to do, right boys?"
"Totally," they agreed.
When Hayley was almost ready, Emily whispered to Amelia regarding something only she and Clarke knew about and the girls turned to each other, grabbing a little box from the nightstand drawer. It was easier for Hayley to get ready in the girl's room as most of the products she needed to use were in there.
"I think I'm ready, I just need some lipstick," Hayley said.
"Wait, we have something for you," Amelia commented, capturing her attention.
"Mom told us how each year of marriage has its own meaning and gift," Clarke continued. "We know you're not our mom, but Jack and Harper are really lucky to have you as theirs, and we're really lucky to have you as an aunt."
"Yeah, what Clarke said," Amelia agreed, handing the gift over to Hayley. Once she opened the box, Amelia impatiently said, "That's Jack's birthstone, and that's Harpers."
Hayley smiled at the stunning bracelet in front of her—it was a simple, yet elegant, everyday silver piece of jewelry with two gemstones in the center. As Amelia had stated, one was Jacks, the other was Harpers, the bracelet was gorgeous and Hayley just knew the girls had picked it out although she had a feeling Emily most likely helped a bit because my oh my was it perfect.
"I absolutely love it, girls. It's beautiful, thank you so much," Hayley said, opening her arms for the girls to walk into as she was still sitting down. While they hugged the woman, she mouthed a thank you to Emily who just smiled in return. The Hotchner's deserved a perfect night.
After the couple left for their evening, a few things happened. The big kids started a game of hide and seek as they had never played in this villa before, Allen snuck Lily a popsicle before dinner because he couldn't resist her when she batted those long eye lashes and matching blue cerulean eyes his daughter has, Brynley only wanted to snuggle with JJ, Brooks had a blowout, and Harper was having a complete meltdown because her mommy and daddy had left.
Normally the little girl loved to be with her aunties, but this place wasn't like home and she knew it, Harper didn't want to be here without her parents and she was going to make it known to whoever would listen.
"Harper, listen to me baby girl. Auntie is right here, I'm going to be with you all night. We can play, we can snuggle, we can do whatever you want," Emily said, bouncing the little girl as she continued to scream and cry.
"Bryn, you've got to go with grandma honey," JJ said, attempting once again to hand the baby over so she could help her wife.
"Come see grandma, sweet pea," Elizabeth said.
Sandy was changing Brooks leaving the elder Prentiss grandparents to coax one of the snuggle queens from one of the mothers. Between Lily and Brynley, it was a tossup—if Brynley only snuggled with JJ it would be a tie however, she was just as snuggly with Emily meaning Lily was the snuggle bug queen of the family.
"Mama!" she squealed.
"Come on, pumpkin. Oop, I've got your nose," he teased, sticking his thumb between his pointer and middle finger. Brynley looked down at her grandfathers' fingers and then touched her face to feel at her nose, reaching out towards him suddenly because in her mind, he had what was hers.
"Who knew," JJ mumbled, then walked over to her wife who was still bouncing Harper. "Hi sweetie. Why all these tears?" she asked, wiping Harper's tears. "Wouldn't you rather play instead?"
"Du-n-nno," Harper hiccupped, rubbing her eyes with her fists.
"Should we maybe have a popsicle before dinner?" Emily tempted in hopes of distracting Harper. She knew Allen had taken Lily into the kitchen to share one with her and it was only fair seeing how sad this little one was.
"Yeah," Harper sniffled.
"Okay, let's go!"
"Aaron," Hayley said breathlessly when they were led to a private room of the restaurant with a perfect view of the Eiffel tower. "Oh my gosh."
Hotch was just as taken back. When he had mentioned to Emily it would be great if he and Hayley could have a night together while in Paris, this was the last thing he pictured. Hotch had told Emily it was his fifteen-year wedding anniversary but didn't expect the woman to go all out for them, he just wanted a babysitter for the night.
Realistically, he should have known. When Emily said, it's taken care of, dress well, for some reason Hotch just assumed because she knew the area so well a reservation was made and that was it. Boy was he wrong. They would never, ever forget this. The trip alone was magical so far but this dinner together, my goodness.
"Hayley," Hotch said, repositioning the two of them so his back was now towards the Eiffel tower and Hayley could see the beautiful lights and her husband. He took out a piece of paper from his pocket, looked up at his wife and smiled once more, then started reading.
"I realize this is premature, but I wanted to seize this opportunity because we are in the city of love. January marks 15 years of marriage to my one true love, my best friend, my favorite person. 2 children, 180 months of hugs, 782 weeks of happiness, 5,479 days of togetherness, 131,496 hours of memories, 7,889,760 minutes of laughter, 473,384,000 seconds of love and kisses since we've said, I do, and forever to go. Happy early anniversary, Hayley. I love you."