A/N: My entry to the PYOP Challenge. My assigned scenario is Character A and Character B + a surprise birthday party. Just a bit of AU future fluff :)

Surprise!

"You are absolutely sure that you have everything?" Emily asked him, almost able to hear the scowl through the phone as he answered. She knew full well that even if he was the slightest bit unsure of what 'everything' entailed he would tell her that he had it all under control.

She had, very generously she might add, of course offered to help him. But no! He wanted to do everything himself. He had even scoffed at her. The man had scoffed! Then he had proceeded to tell her that he was in fact the Unit Chief of a highly specialized FBI unit and that he profiled serial killers for a living. Doing something as simple as planning a birthday party would be a piece of cake, quite literally.

He had been the one who had suggested having a surprise birthday party for Jack's tenth birthday. So naturally he had wanted to be the one to take charge. Even though he had little to none experience pulling together a crazy birthday celebration for ten boisterous boys and girls.

Frankly, sometimes that man could be really annoying. This, right here, was one of those moments. Stubborn, thy name is Aaron Hotchner. But if he thought he could do it all by himself then she wouldn't stand in his way. No, she was going to lean back and enjoy the show.

After she had righted a few of his wrongs, of course. Poor Aaron had some many things on his mind that one of them was bound to slip away.

She glanced over her shoulder at the big white cardboard box held together by red string resting in the back seat. The cardboard box containing one Superman themed birthday cake, big enough for twelve, that Aaron was supposed to have picked up earlier in the day. Good thing she had called the bakers before she had left the office. She did not want to be the one to stand in the middle of a group of ten-year-olds when they realized that the most important thing was missing.

She considered just bringing in the box with her straight away. But she decided quickly that that wouldn't be half as fun as watching him squirm.

"Hey, honey," she said as she kicked the front door shut behind her, suppressing a snort as she took in his frazzled countenance. "Everything still going okay?" She raised an inquisitive eyebrow at him.

"Everything's fine," he said, his lips tilting in what was supposed to be a smile but more resembled a pained grimace.

"Are you sure?" Emily prodded.

"Yes." Hotch huffed back, shooting her an exasperated glare.

"Okay," she said, smiling. "So you've picked up all the food? The soft drinks and the burgers and hot dogs?"

"I have," he said, pulling open the fridge, showing her a mountain of groceries, enough to feed a small army, or ten ten-year-olds.

"And the decorations?"

"They are all nearly up," he said, smiling proudly. "I almost broke my back putting up the "Happy Birthday, Jack" poster but I managed." His smile grew wider. "You should never have doubted me."

"Oh, I never doubted you, Agent Hotchner," she smiled running a hand along his arm. "By the way, where did you put the cake? I didn't see it in the fridge."

He froze. His face dropped and his eyes widened comically. "Oh, damn it!"

A/N: Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed this little fluffy piece :)

x Sussi

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