Emily Prentiss One-Shots

Emily/Hotch

Title:  Benediction - SequinSmile (Ao3)

Summary: A half-asleep Jack calls Emily 'Mom', and it leads to a long overdue conversation between her and Aaron.

Rating: General 

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Emily groans as she shifts on the couch, her hand pressed against her bump as she tries to get comfortable, an annoyed hiss escaping her as she fails to do so.

"You okay over there, Bella?"

She narrows her eyes at Dave as she tries to move again. She feels a familiar pair of hands on her back and looks up at Aaron, flashing him a grateful smile as he adjusts the cushion behind her, ensuring it supports the part of her back he knows hurts the most.

Before she got pregnant, back when the idea of having a baby with the love of her life felt like nothing more than treacherous hope, she knew he'd be overprotective. That he'd use his knowledge of her to anticipate what she needed often before she even knew. She'd always assumed that it would annoy her, that the slightly over the top care would feel like coddling, but she'd found herself loving it. She'd even seek it out, happy for the first time in her life to let someone look after her - sinking into the safety and comfort that her husband gave her at every turn.

She'd joked to JJ recently that she was sure it was the baby. That the little girl growing in her belly already knew she had her father wrapped around her tiny little finger and was somehow influencing Emily to enjoy it too.

"I'm fine," she says, smiling tightly at the team scattered around Dave's living room, "I'm the size of a house and might never be comfortable again," she complains, her lips twitching in a smile when she sees varying degrees of amusement cross her friends faces, "But I'm fine."

"Do you want to go home, sweetheart?" Aaron asks and she looks up at him, shaking her head as he kisses her hairline.

"It's okay," she replies, her smile getting wider when she hears Jack and Henry playing in the next room, their laughter warming her from the inside out, "It's not like our couch is any better for my back," she smiles as Jack's laugh gets louder, "Besides, the boys are having fun."

"As long as you're sure."

"I'm sure," she smiles and nods, cupping his cheek as she drags him into a kiss, making a point of kissing him again when she hears Dave and Derek playfully groan. She rolls her eyes as she pulls back and rests her head on Aaron's shoulder, "I am allowed to kiss him you know, he is my husband," her lips curl into a smile and Aaron knows exactly what she's going to say before she says it, shaking his head lovingly at her before she even starts to speak, "In fact we do more than kissing," she says, pressing her hand on her bump, "How do you think-"

"That's enough, Em," Derek says playfully, cutting over her, shaking his head, "There are kids around."

She rolls her eyes again, "Jack and Henry are next door they can't hear us."

"I was talking about Reid," he deadpans, making them all laugh as Spencer scoffs, shaking his head as he mutters that he knew what sex was.

The evening passes by quickly as it often did, and it was moments like this she'd reflect on how different her life looked these days. Just a few years ago she couldn't imagine still being here, the idea of feeling safe and happy again in the place she'd called home before Ian had torn through her life almost laughable. But then Aaron happened. Sweet, kind, right in front of her this whole time Aaron. He'd helped her help herself. He'd encouraged and pushed her when she needed it and left her alone when she needed that too, slowly but surely ensuring she found the happy, achingly ordinary, ending she would have once thought was beyond her.