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“What are you up to?” Aaron asked Rossi suspiciously as his so-called best friend smiled innocently at him. Well, as innocently as David Rossi could do anything. He had noticed Rossi being suspiciously cheerful the past few weeks and he knew from experience that a worryingly cheerful Rossi was a source of concern.
“Nothing,” Rossi insisted. “I’m inviting everyone around to dinner tomorrow night. I’ll handle the cooking, I just need everyone there by seven.”
“You’re inviting everyone to dinner? Even though you hate guests?” Aaron asked and Morgan looked up, that was interesting. Especially after their ‘cooking lesson’ descended into a food/water fight and a drinking session. They hadn't eaten any pasta but it had wound up on the ceiling and they worked their way through several bottles of very expensive wine; therefore the team had designated the cooking lesson a success; even if Rossi hadn't.
“Yeah that’s weird, are you retiring again?” Morgan asked teasingly.
“Ha ha ha,” Rossi remarked sarcastically. “Just be there before I change my mind.”
“He’s up to something,” Aaron said to Morgan who nodded. Then again, free food was free food and free food that they didn’t have to cook was even better.
“So you have no idea what this is all about?” Emily asked over the phone as Aaron pulled up outside Rossi’s mansion and took his phone off the Bluetooth speaker. It seemed that everyone else had already arrived but Jack had taken longer than usual to find his sneakers so they had ended up running late. When he had gotten into the car, Emily called him after finally seeing his message about Rossi supposedly going senile and wanting to socialise.
“None whatsoever,” Aaron replied as he held the phone to his ear and got Jack out of the car. Rossi had insisted that he bring Jack, that JJ bring Will and Henry and that none of them were allowed to suddenly cancel their attendance. They had put their heads together in the BAU and tried to figure out why Rossi had invited them. There had been a varying range of suggestions.
“Morgan thinks he’s retiring again. Reid thinks he wants to celebrate another book release. Garcia is insistent that he’s proposed to Strauss. JJ also thinks he’s gone senile. Alex is unsure but figures if it was something bad, he would have told us.” Aaron explained as they neared the door. “Anyway, I have to go, we’re here.”
“No problem, it was good to talk to you,” Emily said wistfully down the phone and not for the first time, Aaron wished she was there with him. Team gatherings weren’t the same without Emily.
“Bye Emily!” Jack shouted cheerfully down the phone as Aaron hung up the phone and Jack knocked excitedly on the door. Rossi threw open the door and beamed at father and son.
“Finally! I thought you’d forgotten where I lived.” Rossi quipped and Aaron rolled his eyes.
“Hard to forget when you live in a literal mansion.” Aaron retorted. “Are we the last to arrive?”
“You are, come on though, everyone’s in the lounge. Dinner will be in ten minutes.” Rossi said as he led them into the lounge. Jack darted on ahead and Aaron took a seat on the couch beside Garcia who promptly hugged him tightly. Rossi returned to the kitchen and made a point of slamming the door behind him.
“Any ideas?” Aaron asked and received several blank stares in response.
“Maybe it’s a murder mystery party?” Garcia suggested and JJ shook her head.
“Unless you mean a literal one where he kills one of us,” JJ remarked as she looked around for some sort of clue or hint to explain why Rossi had invited them all for seemingly no reason. “We’re sure it’s not anyone’s birthday?”
“We checked earlier today JJ, it’s not anyone’s birthday. It’s not an anniversary or any sort of holiday. Whatever it is, it’s something Rossi’s come up with.” Reid explained calmly. “Or it’s a full moon and he’s the first confirmed case of lunacy.”
“Or maybe he just wanted to do something nice for yall?” Will suggested in his usual calm drawl. Apart from Rossi, he was the only one who knew what the surprise was. Mainly because he had had to pick up the surprise when it arrived.
The team exchanged a look and shook their heads. “Nah.”
Five minutes later, they heard the door to Rossi’s kitchen open and footsteps walked down the hallway towards them. Aaron looked curiously towards the door. It didn’t sound like Rossi walking down the hall. The footsteps were too light to be Rossi’s. The door swung open and his mouth fell open at the sight of the person on the other side of the door.
“Rossi says that dinner’s ready,” Emily announced as she leant against the doorframe, her eyes fell on Aaron but there was a knowing smile on her face as everyone leapt to their feet, shrieking with delight and shock at the sight of her. Emily laughed at Garcia and JJ’s excited questions and opened her arms to allow Jack and Henry to spent for a hug. After hugging the rest of the team, Emily smiled at Aaron and he finally managed to find his voice.
“What are you doing here?” Aaron asked and Emily smiled and shrugged her shoulders.
“Surprise.” Emily beamed as Aaron hugged her tightly, unwilling in that moment to let her go.