Chapter Text
“Emmy!” Jack cries out suddenly.
Emily whips her head in his direction, her breath hitching when she sees him on the ground, the edge of his bloody knee peeking out from under his fingers.
She jumps into action, running to him. “Oh, sweetie,” she crouches down next to him, not caring about staining her dress on the asphalt. “Let me see,” she murmurs, gently removing his hand from his knee.
Jack sniffles as she examines his skinned knee. Emily smiles reassuringly at him, “It’s okay, Jack-Jack. It just needs a bandaid and it’ll be all better, okay?” She strokes his tear stained cheeks, wiping away the wetness with her thumbs.
“It hurts,” he says, his bottom lip wobbling.
Emily’s heart breaks at his tears, even at something as simple as a skinned knee. “I know it does, baby,” she soothes, gently brushing his hair from his face and kissing his forehead. “Let’s go clean it up, hm? Then it’ll feel better.”
Jack nods and accepts Emily’s hand to help him up. They slowly walk to Aaron on their picnic blanket, Jack holding Emily’s hand tightly as he walks gingerly on his foot. By the time they reach the blanket Aaron has already taken out his emergency bandaids and a water bottle.
He sits back and watches as Emily tenderly takes care of his son, gently washing water over his knee and picking out the gravel from his skin. She distracts him as she pats the wound dry and places a bandaid over it, her tone soft and soothing as she promises Jack ice cream for being so brave.
“Is that better?” She asks as she strokes his cheek, the tear tracks long gone.
“Yeah,” Jack says as he falls into her for a hug. Emily smiles and wraps her arms around the little boy, kissing his hair and looking at Aaron. He winks at her and she flushes. “Thank you, Emmy.”
“You’re welcome, sweetheart,” Emily smiles at him. “Let’s go get your ice cream, yeah?”
Jack immediately jumps up, bandaged knee quickly forgotten as he grabs Emily’s hand and drags her to the ice cream truck on the curb of the park.
Aaron watches from his spot as Emily lifts him up so he can see the ice creams, sees the way Jack holds on to her and she settles him on her hip, holds him until they get their treats. His heart clenches at the sight of them, his two favorite people, walking hand in hand and chattering to each other as they get closer to him.
“None for me?” He jokes as Emily sits down next to him.
Jack bounds off to the swings, ice cream held precariously in his hand as he runs. “Careful with your ice cream!” Emily calls out, laughing when Jack belts out an “Okay!”
Aaron watches her, still looking after his son, her eyes soft and her smile wide as Jack hops on the swing again, swinging his little legs while simultaneously trying to eat his ice cream. She laughs and it hits him then, as the breath catches in his throat.
I want to marry her.
His heart beats so fast he’s surprised she doesn’t hear it. He suddenly sees another child next to Jack on the swings; a girl, her hair dark and her eyes darker still, carbon copies of Emily’s. It settles in his lungs, a choking need to have this with her. Another kid, half him and half her, a bigger house, one with a porch and a large backyard for Jack and any other kids to play in. He sees her with gray in her hair, smile lines carved around her mouth, and his heart squeezes.
“Emily,” he says before he can stop himself.
“Hmm?” She turns to face him, her eyes sparkling in the sun, the strap of her dress falling off her shoulder. She’d forgone her usual makeup; only a swipe of lip gloss on her lips, her freckles blooming under the summer sun, gently climbing over the bridge of her nose and scattering on her cheeks.
Marry me.
He opens his mouth to say it, the words just on the tip of his tongue. She’s looking at him expectantly, holding a hand up to shield her eyes from the sun. The words die in his throat. He can’t say it. She deserves better than a proposal with no ring; hell she’d kick his ass if he did it, so Aaron snaps his mouth shut and smiles.
“Your strap fell off,” he says instead, leaning toward her and gently pulling it back up, pressing his lips to the warm skin when he’s done.
“Thank you,” she smiles, handing him her ice cream in appreciation.
Aaron ignores it and kisses her sweet, cold lips instead. “Better this way,” he whispers, and she blushes.
Her ring finger is painfully bare. It bothers him all throughout their weekend—a rare one that he can’t enjoy because he’s so consumed with thoughts of it. A wedding band, one on his finger and one on hers. It’s been so long since he wore one, the last emotion before he took his off bitter defeat, but now he craves the feeling of metal against his skin, signifying him as hers.
He finally gets his chance on Monday.
“Does it ever end?” Emily stands at his door, her lips turned up in a half wry half frustrated smile when she sees his head bent to the files on his desk. A large stack is at his elbow, and it’s clear he won’t be out of here anytime soon. At least, that’s what he wants her to think.
She walks over to him and leans over his desk, not paying any mind to the open blinds because no one is there. “Sorry, Em,” he murmurs as she cups his cheek, nuzzling his face into her warm palm. He presses a kiss to it and she smiles, the frustrated sigh dying in her throat.
She kisses him lightly, “Don’t take too long. Jack wants lasagna, you know I can’t make that.” She scrunches her nose.
Aaron laughs. “It’s not that hard to make.”
Emily arches her brow and crosses her arms. “You do it then, Mr. Hotchner,” she rolls her eyes and turns to walk away.
Aaron grasps her hand before she can leave and stands up, tugging her closer. “It’d be my pleasure,” he smiles and kisses her again. “Love you,” he gives her one quick peck before he lets her go.
She smiles. “Love you too.”
He waits for ten minutes before leaving the office, giddy excitement in his veins until he reaches the store and looks at the displays in front of him. Aaron curses quietly at his lack of preparation when he eyes the rings, suddenly remembering in his haste that he doesn’t even know Emily’s ring size. Embarrassment burns his cheeks, disappointment in himself settling in his heart.
He sighs and runs a hand through his hair, trying to remember a time when Emily ever wore a ring. It takes him five minutes before he gives up and digs out his phone, exposing his plan even though it’s the last thing he wants to do.
“JJ,” he murmurs when the line connects, “I need your help.”
****
Emily stands in JJ’s room as the blonde throws random clothes on her bed. “This would look good on you,” she says as she holds up a dark red top. Emily hums as she touches the shirt, feeling the material between her fingers.
“Maybe.”
JJ suppresses a sigh. Ever since Hotch called her they’ve been endlessly trying to figure out Emily’s ring size without her being the wiser. It’s proving difficult, to say the least. Penelope is on her bed, sifting through the clothes she’d piled on there under the pretense of clearing out her closet. She thought she’d try to convince Emily to take a few before moving on to jewelry, but her friend is frustratingly picky.
“Okay,” JJ smiles brightly and tosses it back on the bed. “I think I’ll just give these away, but,” she points at Penelope, “I’ve got some jewelry I think you’d like.”
Penelope claps as JJ grabs her jewelry box and upends it on the already crammed bed, assorted necklaces tangling with bracelets and rings falling on the comforter.
A ring catches Emily’s eye, silver and glinting between JJ’s necklaces. “This is pretty,” she comments as she picks up it up and turns it around to examine it in the low light of JJ’s room.
JJ mentally sighs in relief and smiles at her friend. “Try it on.”
Emily shakes her head. “No, I couldn’t-”
“Try it on, peaches,” Penelope says as she picks up a gold locket and loops it around her neck. “This is gorgeous, Jayje.”
JJ smiles, “All yours, Pen. Now you,” she turns to Emily, “try it. I don’t want any of this stuff, if you don’t take it someone else will.”
Emily relents and slips it onto her finger, unaware of JJ watching her like a hawk. “Good?” She asks as Emily tries it on the rest of her fingers, testing the size.
She nods, smiling when the ring sparkles, “Yeah it fits. How come you don’t like this?” It’s not even Emily’s usual style; rings aren’t, really, but the delicate silver studded vines catch her eye.
JJ shrugs, trying hard to hide her triumphant smile. “I guess I grew out of it. I’m gonna tell Will to pick up dinner,” she says and gets off the bed, exiting her room to the sound of her friends’ cheers. Once she’s in the hallway she pulls out her phone and texts Hotch.
He replies back immediately.
****
Aaron stands back in front of the glass displays, ignoring the assistant hovering in his peripheral and blowing out a slow breath. He feels almost as lost as he did when he was buying Haley’s ring, though in some ways that had been a little less stressful. He knew she preferred gold, at least.
Emily never wore rings, her jewelry limited to earrings and necklaces mostly, though he noticed the latter was silver more often than not. He looks back at JJ’s text, though he’s already memorized the size.
She picked a silver one, by the way :).
He turns his gaze to the platinum bands, his eyes skipping over the overly large diamonds, sensing that they weren’t her taste. He’d seen her high end jewelry that she wore to the ambassador’s functions, classy diamonds and pearls hanging from her ears and neck. From what he remembers they were elegant and timeless, eye catching but not too flashy. He’s still musing quietly to himself when his eyes catch on a ring with one center round diamond and two smaller ones on either side.
“Can I see this one, please?” Aaron asks the assistant as he points to the ring through the glass.
“Good choice,” she says as she takes it out and hands it to him. Aaron takes it from her, feeling the breath catch in his throat. He can imagine it perfectly on Emily’s slender finger as he twists it under the lights, thumbs the diamonds with his finger. He can hear the assistant talking, but he’s not listening, her words static in his ears as he holds the ring between his fingers.
“I’ll take it.” Aaron cuts her off, rather rudely, but from the glint in her eye he doesn’t think she cares.
He licks his dry lips as he pays for it, taking the bag and walking to his car with his heart racing. He opens the box once he’s settled behind the wheel and looks at it again, love traveling up his veins and into his throat, choking him. His hands shake ever so slightly as he takes out his phone and snaps a picture to JJ.
Do you think she’ll like it?
JJ looks down at her phone when it pings, discreetly heading to the kitchen when she sees a notification from Hotch. She opens the picture and barely holds in a gasp, giddy happiness for her friends flowing through her body. She grins and quickly texts back.
It’s perfect. She’ll love it.