Everything Happens for a Reason

Christmas

About three hours later, Emily woke up. She could feel Aaron's naked body next to her keeping her warm.
It was almost six o'clock, and she wasn't sure about when Jack would be getting home.
Emily was facing away from Aaron, but they were curled up together cuddling. Hotch had his arms around her waist and her hands were on top of his.
She turned a little to see his face peacefully sleeping, and he was inhaling the scent of her hair.
Carefully, Prentiss slid out of bed and scurried off to the bathroom where she got redressed. The whole time Emily was just praying that Aaron wouldn't wake up. She didn't feel like talking to him about what happened.
After recomposing herself, she threw her hair up in a pony and got ready to go. When she left the bathroom, Aaron was still sleeping. The sheets from his bed covered up his whole middle section, and he was laying on his side still. Emily took one last look at him before walking out.

Once she got home, she parked her car and walked up into the apartment. Prentiss went straight to the shower and then got dressed in clean clothes and threw her bathrobe on.
After she made her coffee, she realized what day it was.
It was Christmas Day, and she was going to be spending it all alone.

Aaron Hotchner woke up around seven thirty. At first, he was confused on why he was naked, but then he remembered everything from last night. From the dinner, to the wine, to mind blowing sex, Aaron realized that that Christmas Eve was one of his best ones yet.
Even though Jack wasn't with him for that night, he got to spend it with the other person he truly cared about.
As that thought ran through his head, he suddenly realized Emily was no longer there. Hotch got up and threw on some pants and a t-shirt. Then he checked his house only to find it empty.
The only thing from last night to confirm everything that happened actually did happen were the dirty dishes in the sink. Quickly he got his phone out and tried calling Prentiss. She didn't answer.
Then, he texted her to make sure she was okay and hopefully got home safe.
Within seconds he got the response
Yeah I'm home. I didn't know when Jack would get there, so I left.
Aaron was relieved to hear she was safe, but he still wanted to know how she was.
Are you okay?
He asked.
Emily took one look at her phone and decided not to answer.

Later that day, Jack arrived at Aaron's house and he was all excited for Christmas. After opening gifts and eating dinner, the two of them were laying on the couch contemplating on what movie to watch.
Just then, Jack sat up and ran to his room. He returned moment later with a card he made.
"We made cards for our parents in school the other day. We had to make one for our dad and one for our mom. I already gave you yours, and I made my mom one for Emily. Can we go give it to her?" Jack asked hopefully as he held up the card.
On the front was a drawing of the whole "family." It had Jack, Juliet, Aaron and Emily on it together.
"Jack, I don't know if Emily is free or not. We could give it to her another time," Aaron said.
"Daddy, I wanna see her now though. It's Christmas and on Christmas you're supposed to spend time with your family and the people you love. I love Emily and I know you do too," the child said.
"What if she's busy?" Hotch asked.
"Then at least we can say we tried," the boy told him. "We can even bring the movie and watch it with her," Jack offered.
"Fine, go get your coat," Aaron said and got up.

The two boys arrived at Emily's by eight thirty. Aaron and Jack stopped at the store to get her some chocolate as well. Prentiss was just sitting on her couch watching tv. The entire day, that's all she did. Every now and then she would get up, but that rarely happened.

Hotch knocked on the door and Jack was by his side with the card in one hand and chocolate in the other. Emily got up to answer it, and when she saw Aaron and his son, she was shocked.
"Emily!" Jack shouted happily and threw himself into her arms. She picked him up and hugged him, unsure on why they were there.
"Do you mind?" Hotch asked and held up the movie Elf.
"Not at all, come in," she said and backed away with Jack in her arms.
"We got you presents," Jack said. Prentiss brought him into the living room and she set him down. The boy took his coat and shoes off and handed her the card and chocolate.
"I made you the card at school. We had to make one for our mommy but I don't have one, so I made it for you," Jack said proudly.
"I love it," she said and opened it.
Jack smiled and she pulled him back in for a hug. He settled himself on her lap and said,
"Daddy got you chocolate too."
Emily looked up at Aaron and said,
"Thank you, for everything."
He smiled at her and said
"No problem."
Then, he went over to her tv and set the movie up.
After that, he took a seat next to Emily, but Jack wiggled in between them.
"Where's Juliet?" Jack asked.
Emily looked down, then over at Aaron who said,
"She's with her grandma tonight, isn't she?"
Emily nodded and said,
"Yeah, she's with the ambassador for a few days."
"But you're her mom. Shouldn't she be spending Christmas with you?" Jack wondered.
"You know, I was just thinking about that too," Emily said truthfully.
Hotch could tell how sad Emily still was, so to change the subject, he said,
"Why don't you tell Emily what you got today?"
And just like that, the little boy was talking about all his new toys and clothes he got.
Once the movie started, the group got quiet and focused on the film. As usual, Jack fell asleep on Emily, and she just kept brushing his hair back, which Aaron noticed kept her calm.
He realized that even though Emily never had any biological children, she was a natural mother and kids were drawn to her. He really admired that about her and wished more than anything that they would get Juliet home soon.
"Aaron?" Emily whispered.
Hotch looked over to see her in tears. He got up and switched sides so he was directly next to Emily.
Prentiss let go of Jack and leaned completely on Hotch. She didn't care that they weren't together, he had a girlfriend, and that the night before was just comfort sex. All she knew was that he made her feel good, safe and loved, and at the moment she was lacking all of those feelings.
"Shhh, I'm right here," Aaron said and wrapped an arm around her.
She just quietly cried until eventually she just cried herself to sleep, leaving Aaron the only one awake for the rest of the movie.

Once Elf was over, Aaron decided to stay the night to make sure Emily was okay the next day. Plus, it wasn't like he and Jack had any big plans.
Carefully, he laid Emily back down on the couch and picked his son up.
He carried Jack to where they stayed last time and got him in bed. The boy woke up while Aaron was carrying him.
"Daddy," he mumbled.
"We're sleeping over Emily's tonight," Hotch said. The child nodded then fell back asleep. After getting him settled and tucked in, Aaron went down to get Emily.
He sat down next to her and softly pulled a piece of hair out of her face.
In that moment, he wanted to kiss her again. She looked so peaceful, and so perfect.
Then she woke up.
"Hey," Aaron said softly.
Emily sat up.
"I hope you don't mind if we stay the night. It's late and-"
"It's fine," Emily cut him off.
"Are you ready for bed?" Hotch asked with a small smile.
Emily nodded and was going to get up, but Hotch reached down and offered a hand. She looked at him for a second then took it. He led her by hand to her bedroom and once they were inside, he hugged her and said,
"If you need anything, I'll be down the hall with Jack."
He kissed her on the fore head and turned to go.
"Aaron, wait," she called.
He turned around.
"Can you stay in here with me tonight?" she asked hopefully.
He nodded and slowly walked back in.
She stepped forward and wrapped her arms up and around his neck.
He had his around her waist and they just stayed like that for a minute or so.
Then, she started to pull away.
"Thank you for coming over. I honestly did nothing all day," she told him.
"Well I thought you were busy because you basically sprinted out of my house this morning," Aaron replied.
"Yeah," Emily said slowly and started to climb into bed.
He shut the lights off and joined her.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked and turned to face her. She looked at him briefly before saying,
"It's cute you're trying, but no."
Hotch rolled over on his back and said,
"The only reason I'm letting it slide tonight is because I don't feel like getting yelled at by you so late."
"Good choice," she said and snuggled up to him. He instinctively put an arm around her and kissed her head.
That night the two fell asleep and for the first time in a long time, Emily actually slept without any nightmares.