I saw a video on tiktok the other day of a man on his wedding day getting down to the level of his new stepdaughter and reading out vows to her about how he'll always love and care for her and I bawled my eyes out. Now all I can think about is Hotch and single!mom reader on their wedding day getting down and reading vows to each others children. I dont know if you write single! Parent reader, but if you do could you write something with this premise? Thank you lovely if you can
Your daughter is mildly confused when Aaron beckons her over during the ceremony, but at four years old, she's mostly obedient to her parents. Well- to Aaron. To you, she protests and screams and giggles maniacally, but you suppose you're the one that gave it to her, so you can't complain without sounding like a hypocrite.
You set a hand on Jack's shoulder, ushering the older boy into your own grip.
"You look so handsome," You gush, eyes teeming with tears that threaten to ruin your mascara, "Jack, I- I won't embarrass you by calling you a mushy nickname like CrackerJack, or JackAttack, or Jackers-"
"You're using them all right now-!" The teenager protests, but he doesn't shrug your hand off of his shoulder; his protests are for show.
"Sorry! Sorry," You sniffle, and you let the fifteen year old wipe a tear away from your eye before it ruins your makeup.
"Jack," You repeat, steeling yourself, "I- I just want you to know that I love you. It's not because I love your dad, it's not because we live together, it's not because you woke me up with breakfast in bed on my birthday. It's- it's because of you, sweetheart. I know you're getting older, and- and you might be going away to college soon," You poorly withhold a sob, thinking of an empty bed in the room down the hall, "-but I just- I need you to know that it's you that I love, just the same as I love June. Your mom was an amazing woman, and she made an amazing son, and I'm so honored that you've given me permission to be your stepmom. I love you- Jackers."
Perhaps its awkward for the teen to face such strong emotion head-on, but you won't tattle to his schoolfriends about the tears that well up in his eyes, or the red tint to his nose as he bites them back.
"Love you too," He supplies weakly, surging forwards to wrap his arms around your waist- but it's all you need. One of your photographers makes to readjust your veil where it's been momentarily crumpled beneath his arm, but damn the veil, your stepson is more important.
"They're gushy," Aaron accuses, holding little June in his arms and pointing at you, "Are we gonna be gushy, Junie B Jones?"
Her eyes are mystified as she stares at her mama and her brother, but she shakes her head dutifully at Aaron.
"Oh, go, you're sappier than I am," You tease Aaron, and it rouses a light chuckle from your guests.
"Loony-Junie," Aaron starts, and the girl in his grasp giggles at the name. Encouraged by her delight, he employs her favorite moniker; her most desired snack, "My little pickle. Thank you, for letting me marry your mama. And for giving her the ring, even if it fell in the eggs instead of the fully-baked cake."
The little girl roars with a squeal of laughter at the memory, and- now you know why the Lysol wipes were on the counter the night of Aaron's proposal.
"You were a super big helper to me and your brother," He continues, holding her close, "And I'm so happy I get to be your stepdad now. I know you're a big girl, and you can do pretty much everything by yourself now," He lets her pipe up, falling silent as her tiny voice rings out.
"-I can even put my own shoes on the right feet!"
Not every audience member manages to stifle their giggle, but the little girl doesn't look abashed for it. Aaron nods with a fond grin on his face, and Jack leans into your side where you've pinned him in a hug.
"She can not. I had to switch her mary janes before the ceremony."
"Stop," You pinch him in the side, snorting with laughter and concealing it in the warmth of his shoulder, "Do not make me turn into an evil stepmother, Jack. Let her have this." He concedes- oh, such a good brother.
"I know!" Aaron exclaims, one of his large palms spread wide across her belly as he holds her in his arms, "I'm super proud of you, baby. But. If you ever need help with your shoes, or with your hair, or with your friends, or with your teachers, or with your brother," He shoots a suspicious glance at Jack who sticks his tongue out at his father, "Or with anything at all, pickle, you come tell me. Okay? Even if it's a problem that I'm part of."
"Okay," She agrees easily, unaware of the dozens of painfully-swollen hearts watching the display, "Thanks, dada."
"Oh, pickle," He bites back a shallow, raw twinge to his voice as he hugs her and you hiss, 'Gushy.'
"I love you too," He promises June, "Forever, and always, and even longer after that."
"Infinity?" Her eyes shine; it's a concept her pre-k class came upon in a library comic book and she's fascinated with it.
"For infinity." Aaron confirms, and her teeth show in a grin as brilliantly white and gleaming as the beads sewn into your outfit.
Her response is two tiny, chubby arms slung around his neck, and a delicate face buried in his shoulder. Despite your no-photography request, you're fairly certain a camera shutter goes off that doesn't belong to the photographer you hired.
Garcia.
Oh, well.
"Alright you saps," You manage to blubber, your voice barely clear of the sobs creeping up your throat, "Let's get married before I cry and ruin my makeup. I paid so much for the stylist."
Jovial laughter rings through the tent you've set up, and Aaron sets June down, though she follows at his heels the same way Jack does at yours. They stand together, brother and sister, just as you do with Hotch, soon-to-be husband and wife.
"Don't cry." You command, "Or I'll cry."
"Don't cry," He repeats with a sheepish grin and a thick voice, blinking rapidly, as your babies join hands, "Or I'll cry."
"I'm crying," A faint voice from the audience rings out, but you can't manage to find any annoyance towards Garcia's repeated disruptions.
Aaron laughs, squeezing his eyes shut and letting a tear slip despite his best efforts. He presses his forehead to yours, and you do the same, feeling his breath fan over your face as he reels himself in.
"Come on, Hotchner," You urge, your voice wobbly, as your heart races in anticipation, the officiant stepping towards you, "Get it together, big guy. I'm not leaving this tent without your last name."
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Part Two: Bigger than the Whole Sky
PART ONE
Note: Thank you so much for the love on part 1! I hadn’t anticipated writing a part 2, but thank you to everyone who suggested it; I ended up having a great time writing this, and I hope you enjoy it!
Summary: 7 months after leaving her life behind to go into hiding, Emily reunites with Aaron.
Word Count: 2287
Ao3
Emily never knew 7 months could feel like an eternity.
Each day spent in Paris felt slower than the last, especially as she didn’t know when she’d see her love again.
The only reprieve was her weekly online Scrabble matches with CheetoBreath, a username JJ adopted to protect her identity. Emily went with SergiosMom, another thing she missed while she was away—her beloved cat.
After a few weeks, Emily knew she was getting worse at hiding her bad attitude, and it was coming out in the word choices she played. So, one week, when she found JackAttack waiting for her instead of CheetoBreath, her heart stopped. “Jack Attack” was a loving phrase Hotch coined and used each time Jack sprinted into their room in the morning to wake them up.
The website they played Scrabble on didn’t have a chatting feature, which was why JJ chose it, for her protection, Emily knew, but all she wanted to do was confirm it was Aaron.
The first word he played, “Honey,” was all the confirmation she needed. Aaron’s nickname for her. Emily broke down into tears at her computer, never having missed him more than in this moment, while also savoring this limited interaction they were allowed to have.
She waited to collect the letters she needed so she could spell out a message of her own. After a few turns, her opportunity arose to use her nickname for him: “Love.”
It wasn’t a perfect system, but it was what they had. And Emily vowed in that moment to repay JJ however she could once she was home to thank her for taking this risk.
One day, just over 7 months after leaving her friends—her family—behind, she woke in the middle of the night to a phone call.
The number that lit up her phone screen wasn’t one she recognized, but the new phone she’d been given with her changed identity didn’t have any of her previous contacts. Something in her told her to answer, despite her exhaustion, and she lifted the phone to her cheek.
“Hello?” She murmured.
“Emily,” a deep voice replied.
The sound was like a jolt to her system—it was one she hadn’t heard in months, but one she’d never let herself forget. She bolted up in bed.
“Aaron?” her voice cracked.
“We need you. Declan’s in danger.”
Emily was out of bed and on her feet in a flash. “Did Ian find him?”
“Sort of, it’s a long story. We have Ian in custody, but we need you.”
Emily grabbed her duffle bag from her closet—one she’d kept packed with essentials since moving into her Paris apartment, in case she needed to flee in a hurry.
“I’m on my way.”
“We have you booked on the 7 am flight out of Paris; can you get everything together by then?”
“Oh, love,” Emily smiled. “I’m already packed.”
“The ticket is in your email. We’ll see you soon,” he paused. “And Emily?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
“I love you more,” she breathed, hanging up before he could argue.
***
Emily knew she should sleep on the flight, to make up for the sleep she hadn’t gotten the night before. But she couldn’t relax, knowing Aaron would be waiting at the airport to take her back to the BAU. They’d have to separate once they returned to the office so Aaron could debrief the team and reveal that she was alive, but she was itching for those few minutes of alone time on the drive between the airport and the office.
When the plane landed, Emily had to fight her instincts to keep herself from elbowing past the passengers slowly grabbing their carry-ons from the overhead bins and barreling her way off the plane.
Her fingers impatiently tapped the seat while she waited. An elderly lady sitting next to her smiled.
“Meeting someone special?”
All Emily could do was nod.
She ducked out of the way, gesturing for Emily to go past. “Go ahead.”
“Thank you,” Emily said on her way past, slinging her duffle bag over her shoulder and running as fast as her legs would take her.
Not caring about the judgmental looks she received, she sprinted through the airport and out to where Aaron would be waiting to pick her up. Naturally, he stood right outside the doors he claimed he’d be at, a rare smile on his face, standing next to one of the BAU’s infamous black SUVs.
“Aaron,” she sobbed, throwing her duffle bag to the ground and wrapping her arms around him. She took a deep breath, familiarizing herself with his usual cologne.
He smelled like home.
“I promised I’d bring you home to us,” Aaron said into her ear.
His words brought back the memory of being in the hospital all those months ago, Aaron vowing that their separation wouldn’t be for long. She’d clung to those words every day since.
It wasn’t until she pulled away that she took in his unusual appearance—the unkempt hair, the outgrown facial hair, the gray t-shirt underneath a blue button-down, the sleeves of which were rolled up to his elbows.
“This is a new look for you,” she mused, raising an eyebrow.
Aaron ran a hand through his already messy hair. “I have a lot to fill you in on. But it’ll have to wait. Are you ready to see the team?”
Emily’s stomach churned. It was a reunion she was eagerly anticipating and dreading in equal measure. She didn’t know how to anticipate their reactions.
But despite it all, she nodded. “Let’s go.”
***
When they reached the BAU, Aaron headed up first to meet with the rest of the team. Emily stalled in the car for a few minutes, anxiously fidgeting with her hair and outfit until she got a text from Aaron with the go-ahead.
She slung her purse over her shoulder and headed for the elevator.
Everything at the BAU felt the same, but different. On the surface, everything looked as it did when she left. But she knew there were months worth of memories that had taken place in her absence. Would she ever be able to catch up?
She swallowed her nerves; there would be time for that later. For now, she needed to focus on Declan.
Emily lingered outside the round-table room, careful to stay out of anyone’s eyeline, but close enough to hear the conversation happening just a few feet away.
Her heart swelled at the sight of her friends, even if it was just their backs. She knew she missed them, but she hadn’t realized how much until she was this close to reuniting with them.
“Everything alright?” Morgan asked, every bit the stubborn man she’d remembered. Despite Aaron telling everyone to take a seat, Morgan maintained his standing position.
Aaron crossed his arms. “7 months ago, I made a decision that affected this team.”
Emily held her breath.
“As you all know, Emily had lost a lot of blood after her fight with Doyle. But the doctors were able to stabilize her.”
Emily ran a hand down the scar on her abdomen, a permanent reminder of what she had endured and survived. Her heart ached with the other reminder it gave her—of the baby she hadn’t known she was pregnant with and had lost that day.
“And she was airlifted from Boston to Bethesda under covert exfiltration.”
Penelope lifted her head toward Aaron. Emily could read her shock even from her distant position.
“Her identity was strictly need-to-know. And she stayed there until she was well enough to travel. She was reassigned to Paris, where she was given several new identities, none of which we had access to, for her security.”
Aaron’s voice was even, calm. But Emily could read the pain interlacing it—the pain of their long separation.
Morgan took a staggered step back, and Penelope’s jaw dropped.
“She’s alive?” Penelope breathed.
“But we buried her,” Spencer mused.
“As I said, I take full responsibility for the decision. If anyone has any issues, they should be directed toward me,” Aaron continued.
“Any issues?” Morgan said. “Yeah, I got issues.”
Emily cringed but knew this was her cue. She took slow steps from the hallway toward the round-table room. She felt every face turn to her, her heels clanking with each step was the only sound in the room, but she could only look at Morgan—at her former partner.
“Oh, my god,” Penelope said softly, through her tears.
In an instant, the room was on its feet. Spencer reached Emily first, and she almost staggered under the weight he threw at her. She rubbed his back, heart aching for the boy who had already lost so much, on top of which, he’d had to live 7 months thinking his friend was dead.
“I’m so sorry—I really am,” Emily said, pulling away from Spencer and taking Penelope’s hand, who was staring at her with a wonderstruck expression. “Not a day went by that I didn’t want to…”
Emily broke off when she made eye contact with Morgan. Took in his heartbroken, pained expression. She took a slow step toward him. “Really, I… You didn’t deserve that. And I’m so sorry.”
Carefully, Emily reached out to wrap Morgan in her embrace. For a moment, she was afraid he was just going to stand there, rigid, but eventually, he thawed enough to place a hesitant arm around her, and she had to fight back tears of relief.
They would be okay. Eventually.
Emily felt Aaron watching her from across the room, but she couldn’t look at him. She knew she’d only fall apart.
She needed to focus.
“There’s so much I want to tell you guys,” she said. “And I will. I promise. But right now I really need to know what’s going on with Declan.”
***
By the time the case was over, Emily was mentally and physically exhausted. It was a long day, and she hadn’t slept for almost 48 hours. All she wanted was to go home and fall asleep under the same roof as Aaron and Jack.
She could sleep peacefully, now that Ian was dead and Declan protected. A luxury she hadn’t had in almost a year.
But when they pulled up to their home, Aaron asked Emily to wait for a moment in the car. She was too exhausted to question it, so she nodded, resting her head back against the seat and taking a moment to close her eyes.
The next thing she knew, she was being gently shaken awake. Her eyes flew open, and she turned to find Aaron standing outside her car door.
“Sorry, love. You can come in now.”
“How long was I out?” She asked, feeling dazed.
“Just a couple of minutes,” he assured her, offering her a hand.
On the other side of their car, Jess was pulling out of the driveway in her familiar sedan. Jess raised a hand in a wave before driving out of sight.
“Oh, I didn’t know Jess was here; I should’ve said hello…”
Aaron smiled. “It’s okay, honey; she was just dropping off Jack. You’ll get a chance to talk later.”
“Jack,” her heart skipped a beat. How much had he grown while she was gone? What had she missed?
Hotch slung Emily’s bag over his shoulder, leading her through the front door by her hand.
As soon as they were inside, Emily marveled at how nothing in the house had changed—everything was exactly as it had been 7 months ago. She didn’t know if Aaron had done that on purpose, but it brought her peace—this rare sense of normalcy.
“I know you’re tired,” Aaron said, setting her bag down. “But I was hoping we could play one game of Scrabble before bed.”
Emily smiled. “I suppose I can stay awake long enough for that.”
They made their way to the dining room table, where a board was already set out and waiting. Emily frowned as they approached, spotting letters on the board.
“It looks like someone already started a game,” she teased.
It wasn’t until she was right in front of the table that she noticed it was also covered in rose petals. And it wasn’t a random game that had been started—there was a message for her, spelled out in tiles.
WILL YOU MARRY ME?
Emily’s hands flew to her mouth in surprise, glancing to Aaron for confirmation. He was grinning from ear to ear, and behind him, Jack snuck into the room, holding a ring box open, revealing a silver band with a teardrop stone.
“Will you marry my daddy, Emmy?” He asked.
His little voice opened the floodgates of the emotions she’d kept carefully guarded for 7 months, and she burst into tears, throwing her arms around the little boy.
“Of course, I will,” she said, kissing Jack on the cheek.
She gently took the ring box from the boy and handed it to Aaron.
“Yes,” she said to him. “Yes.”
He gingerly collected the ring, setting the box aside on the table, and placed the ring on her finger. Then, she threw her arms around her beloved—her fiance—and kissed him.
When they parted, Aaron was still smiling. “I never want to spend a day apart from you again.”
“Agreed,” she said, kissing him again.
“I’d marry you tomorrow if I could.”
“Why can’t you?” she asked.
“You should have the wedding you deserve,” he frowned.
Emily shook her head. “Any wedding to you is the wedding I deserve. Let’s elope. Tomorrow. We can bring the team; maybe it’ll melt some of the ice between us.”
Aaron smiled. “Whatever you want.”
Emily sighed, never feeling more content than in this moment. “I could get used to that.”
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