Epilogue

Aaron and Dave walked in the back door Tuesday afternoon and both of the profilers immediately noticed something missing. They heard the dryer running. Both in just their suit coats, they walked into the kitchen. "Where's the rug for the entry way Rosa?" Dave inquired, already fearing the worst.

Rosa read him like a book. "No worries Senor Dave; it was as much my fault as Maximilian's." Aaron smiled at the Spanish name that Rosa already had for her new charge. "I was vacuuming the carpet and he came to me but I wanted to finish the small area I had left. When I got done a few minutes later, he was waiting by the backdoor, with his head hanging." She waved her hand. "It was only wee-wee," she smiled, "and the rug washes."

As they questioned Rosa a bit more about how Max was adjusting, they heard the thunder of two growing sets of feet coming down the stairs. Rosa laughed at the sound as Aaron shook his head, loosening his tie and collar to look over the homework Jack had on the lunch counter.

-00CM00-

Wednesday morning the team was in the Round Table Room, along with Strauss. Each Wednesday, when the team wasn't around in the field, she'd sit in on the briefings. She and the other ladies were enjoying a friendly conversation about a recipe of JJ's that Alex had tried. "Ooooo," Prentiss said. "That's one of my favorites as well."

"James went back to Harvard this morning so he loved the Cajun food good-bye dinner," she smiled.

Hotch and Dave walked in last, having gone over a case in Dave's office before they joined the briefing. As they sat down, Morgan looked at them and smiled. "I gotta ask; how's the new addition to family doing?" Strauss raised her eyebrows in question as she sat down.

Rossi smiled at the bespectacled, lively dressed Tech Analyst. "Hit it Garcia."

"Absolutely my mon ami," she smiled. Garcia punched the video play button on her remote.

From the opening, they all recognized the area as the nook of Dave's kitchen. As the camera panned over, there was Jack and Max on the floor. Jack was on his stomach, his elbows holding up his shoulders, his socked feet in the air with his legs bent at the knees. In his hands, he held the end of a white tube sock that had a knot tied in the middle. At the other end, was Max with the sock in his mouth, tugging and shaking his head with all his might. It was an exercise that Brian had suggested to get the last two puppy teeth out. And Max was getting strong enough to pull Jack a bit around the floor.

Jack laughed loudly as Max tugged and pulled him across the tiles. The team, along with Strauss, was already giggling along with Jack's laughter. They all watched more, as their laughter grew.

All of sudden, Max dropped the sock and pounced on Jack, licking his face. He walked all over Jack with his huge paws while Jack rolled, laughing uncontrollably, trying to get away from the out pouring of love. Max licked his ears, his face, his hair, and his neck, anything he could get at as Jack laughed harder and rolled more. In the background you could hear Rosa and Dave laughing as well.

Jack's laughter was infectious. The more they all watched, the more the room filled with laughter. The video ended when the camera started to shake. Garcia looked at Rossi. "Dad started laughing too much," he said, rolling his eyes with a smile. Hotch tried to stifle his laugh and failed.

Blake looked around the room, shaking her head. "And all of you had me shaking in my boots about our Unit Chief," she laughed. The team laughed more.

Emily looked at her, rubbing her shoulder. "This is our time; family time." Alex laughed, now knowing she was really part of the "family".

Erin Strauss looked around the table with a huge smile. "We all needed that for what's coming next." The team all nodded their agreement with smiles.

Reid looked at the Unit Chief with a smile. "Thanks Hotch; that was perfect."

Aaron smiled and then looked around. "Let's get started," he softly said.

###

A/N: Y'all know me; I've got to end on a happy note, especially after writing the heavy duty stuff. And I had to get the team in this story somehow.

And to that point, my end of story shout outs. As usual, I start with the wonderful, goofy gang that is my online family at CM Rev. I luv each and every one of them.

To all my Twitter pals, old and new, all over the world that helped me through this one that was very tough to write. When I was in the heavy parts, I had to come up for air to find a balance. Many of you, including a new Tweet friend TYP, were just special. None of you really knew what was going on; yet you were just there. Thank you.

Rockie waves and hugs to my 'Sconnie sister hxchick and the OK teacher, who I keep imploring to breathe deeply; daily and often.

Lastly, thank you to everyone that first off, accepted the minor story line of Hotch and Rossi and stuck around to read. And thank you all for the reviews, favorite or following alerts or just reading. It's greatly, greatly appreciated.

I know I say it every time, but it's true and from my heart. You very kind folks humble me.

*Knightly bow*