It had been three days since they caught the capitol bomber, and since the aftermath had now died down, Alex Kirkman decided that she should invite Tom's chief staff to a celebratory dinner with their family.

Ten minutes into said dinner, Seth was talking to Tom and Alex while Emily talked to the kids, an empty seat next to her for Aaron, who was running late. Over years of working for Tom, Emily had become a family friend of the Kirkmans, and hence had also come to know Leo and Penny, even babysitting Penny a few times. Emily was especially fond of little Penny, who definitely seemed to look up to her.

At the present, though, the girl sitting next to Emily wasn't paying any attention to her, or her brother, who sat on her other side. Having grown bored of the conversation already, Penny had taken to picking apart and slowly eating her bread roll.

"So, Leo, any girls in your life at the moment? Boys?" Emily asked.

"Nah," Leo shook his head. "It's a little hard meeting people with a secret service trail,"

"Good point." Emily laughed empathetically.

"That's why I'm going to marry Mr Aaron!" Penny exclaimed, suddenly deciding to pipe in.

Seth almost choked on his own spit, while Tom looked completely dumbfounded. Emily hid her laughter, quirking an eyebrow, as Leo attempted unsuccessfully to do the same. Alex simply raised her eyebrows, having already known about her daughter's puppy crush.

It was Alex who spoke first; "Penny, you can't marry Aaron,"

"Why not?" She questioned, arms crossed, pouting.

"Because he's old," Leo turned to his sister. "And definitely too old to marry you."

"He's even older than Em," Seth chimed in.

"Hey, only by two years," Emily defended herself, shooting Seth a death glare. She did have to admit that while Penny's puppy crush was pretty funny to her and Seth, being close friends with Aaron, it was also pretty cute.

Penny scrunched her nose, deep in thought, as someone knocked on the door.

To say that Aaron was confused when he entered the Residence would be an understatement. His boss and the First Lady looked bemused, while Emily, Seth and Leo tried not to laugh, to varying levels of success, at the timing of his entrance.

"Sorry I was late, I just had a few things to take care of," Aaron offered. He was well aware of everyone's eyes on him, especially Penny, who was looking him up and down, biting her bottom lip in thought.

"Yep, you are too old for me to marry you," Penny finally declared as Aaron sat down, causing Emily to laugh a little at her friend's confused expression.

"Sorry?" Aaron's confusion only grew.

"Don't worry," Penny continued, unfazed, "You don't have to marry me, you can marry Emily instead!" She grinned.

This time, it was Emily's turn to almost choke on her own spit. She couldn't bring herself to look at Aaron to see how he had reacted, so she looked down in an effort to conceal the heat rising to her face. She should have known that confiding in a curious seven year old about her crush on her colleague was risky. A large part of her hoped that Aaron wouldn't think anything of the seven-year-old's words.

Leo didn't even try to conceal his laughter this time, nor did Seth, especially seeing his friends' reactions. Tom was still completely at a blank as to how he should react, while Alex just smiled knowingly.

"Thank God I wasn't the only one who noticed," Seth muttered, just loud enough to earn an elbow to the side, courtesy of Aaron.

Much to everyone's relief, the slightly uncomfortable silence was interrupted by their food being served, and within a few minutes everyone had forgotten about the incident. Everyone except Emily and Aaron, of course.

After dinner, Aaron offered to walk Emily to her car, deliberately ignoring Seth's smirk.

"So, after I walked in, what was that about?" Aaron asked. They hadn't been alone for sixty seconds before he brought it up.

"Well, it seems like the President's daughter has a puppy crush on you," Emily explained. "It's sweet,"

"And why all the talk about getting married?"

"She told everyone she was going to marry you, so Leo told her you're a bit old for her. That was when you showed up." Emily couldn't bring herself to mention what else Penny had said. Not when she was so unsure on where their relationship stood.

"Well, at least she picked you for me to marry, not some stranger, or someone completely terrible," Aaron smirked.

"Aww thanks," Emily replied sarcastically. "So I'm still partially terrible?"

"Hey, take the compliment." Aaron laughed a little, causing Emily's heart rate to double.

She took a deep breath. It was now or never. "Penny may have coerced me into admitting that I like you when I was babysitting her once,"

Once again, Emily looked down, away from Aaron.

"You do?" Aaron asked softly. When Emily still wouldn't look at him, he gently placed one finger under her chin, lifting it until their eyes locked. "You like me?"

Emily took a deep breath in. "Yeah," she exhaled.

As soon as the word left her mouth, Emily felt Aaron's lips collide with her own. Once the initial shock passed, she kissed him back, her stomach experiencing the Fourth of July as her fingers explored his curls and his lips moved against her own. They broke apart a few seconds later, Emily now unable to suppress her grin.

"Well, now I guess we have to get married." Emily let out a laugh.

"Wouldn't want to disappoint Penny, the President might fire us," Aaron chuckled, linking his hand with Emily's. The two fell into a comfortable silence as they continued walking the empty halls. "But seriously, how about dinner first?" Aaron hoped Emily couldn't hear the nervousness that crept into his voice.

Emily smiled. "I would love that."

*My first time writing for Designated Survivor, even though I finished it a little while ago. I'm sad there aren't too many Emron fics around so why not publish this little fic I wrote in the middle of the night. Hope you enjoyed it!