Hotch made sure to evenly distribute the candles along the outer edges of the vanilla cake Emily had gotten for Grace. Batting Morgan's hand away, the Unit Chief did his best to make it look as good as it could.

"Come on man, I can't help even a little bit?"

The brunette man glared to his subordinate, hearing Garcia's heels click against the floors as she raced into the kitchen.

The blue eyed technical analyst stared down the two men by the stove. "You're making us wait out there because you two are arguing over who gets to decorate the cake?" She stomped over to her coworkers in her five inch heels and slapped Derek's arm.

"I didn't even do anything!" he argued, gesturing to Hotch. "He won't let me."

"Then get back out there and hold Gracie or something."

Hotch laughed as he watched the younger man almost pout before leaving the room. "You sure have him on a short leash, don't you?"

Garcia shrugged. "As long as it's covered in sparkles, who cares?" Stepping closer to the older man, the blond grinned. "Are you excited to spend the weekend with Em and Gracie?"

The Unit Chief eyed his friend carefully. Sure he had been spending time with the two women, a lot more time than he had ever spent with his own wife for the years they'd been together, but Emily needed him.

And he needed Emily.

"I am," he nodded to the younger woman, finally picking up the cake he had gotten ready. "And I know you already know where I want to take them and Jack but they don't, so try your best not to say anything alright?"

Garcia almost jumped. "I'll try!" she laughed, hurrying out of the kitchen to sit herself back down in the dining room.

The older man laughed, shaking his head as he exited the kitchen. With his hand before the lit candles to keep the flames from going out, he slowly made his way back into the dining room with his eyes glued to those of the woman he'd fallen for. He smiled, seeing her adjust the now one year old girl in her lap to look over to him. "Happy Birthday to you."

The others in the room started singing along with him, some with their eyes on the cake that had been made the day before and some watching Grace to see how she was taking the celebration.

Emily pressed a few kisses to her daughter's cheek, hearing her squeal in laughter as the cake was put in front of her. "Happy birthday, baby girl," she cooed, smiling wide when the one year old turned her head to face her. "Happy birthday, Gracie!"

Blinking fast, the brunette baby who had her mother's hands around her stomach to help her stand on her lap looked down to the flickering flames of the candles and grinned.

"Blow them out, baby."

Hearing her mother's voice, Grace turned to look at Emily who puckered her lips to show her what to do. Her tiny forehead creasing as she tried to focus on the face her mother was making, the one year old copied the older woman.

Emily's eyes brightened. "That's right!" Turning the little girl in her lap, Emily showed her how to blow at the candles. "Blow them out."

Hotch walked over to Emily's side when she beckoned for him, and he knelt down beside them. "Blow them out, Gracie."

Standing in front of the small family, Andrea Benton stole the camera from her husband. "Cheese," she whispered as she pressed down the button, watching both Hotch and Emily helping her granddaughter blow out the candles on her first birthday cake.

Emily shared a kiss with her daughter as she pulled her back, sitting her on her lap as her boss took the candles from the cake.

"Mama."

The brunette hugged the one year old close to her at the whispered word, seeing the smile Gracie gave her as she called her that. "Hi baby." Reaching forward, Emily stuck her finger in the icing of the cake and brought her finger back for Grace to suck on.

She looked over to the couples at the other end of the table as her daughter tried to practically eat off her finger, noticing Hennessy watching Grace with every movement she made. The Linnapes had lost their case in court, the judge finding Emily a suitable parent for little Grace. If there was anyone who could have been better suited to raise the green eyed girl it would have been Matthew himself, but Emily was a good second choice.

The best choice Matthew had made in a long time.

Pressing one more kiss to Grace's growing hair, Emily handed her daughter off to Thomas and wiped her hand off on a napkin before standing. Theodore had made his presence known the moment he walked in the door, but his wife, never having come to even try and appreciate the FBI agent for what she was doing, had kept herself quiet and off in the corner.

"Hennessy," she spoke up, watching as the redheaded woman moved her eyes up to her, "I want to thank you for coming."

Theodore made his way back to his wife from the kitchen, eyeing the interaction as he slowed his steps.

The redheaded woman eyed the younger mother from head to toe, taking in the semi formal blouse and skirt she wore for Grace's big day, and she held back her sigh. "Thank you for inviting me."

Hearing Theodore's breath escape him from behind her, Emily smiled. "I'm sure Grace would love some pictures with the both of you."

"Um, Emily?"

The brunette woman turned to see her friends gathering around her daughter who had frosting all over her face. "Gracie!" she laughed, rushing back over to the one year old and picking her up out of Andrea's arms. "What did you do?"

The green eyed girl giggled. "Mama!"

"We have to clean you up." Emily carried the laughing little girl into the kitchen and sat her on the counter, dampening a paper towel to use for her daughter's face.

Hotch followed the pair into the kitchen, leaning against the open doorway and watching as the woman he loved made faces at the giggling birthday girl on the counter. "She sure is going to be a handful in a few years, isn't she?"

Emily laughed, meeting the eyes of the older man. "She isn't one now?" she asked, gesturing to the frosting covering her daughter's face.

The brunette grimaced. "True." Walking up to the pair in the kitchen, Hotch smiled down to the birthday girl. "Are you excited for the weekend, Gracie?" Watching her grin up to him, he nodded. "You're going to have so much fun." He could hear his son telling everyone back in the dining room about the surprise he had for them that weekend.

Emily looked skeptically to the older man before starting to clean off her daughter's face. "Yeah, what exactly are we doing this weekend?"

"It's not necessary to go into detail," Hotch shrugged.

"What if you're driving us there and all of a sudden you have a heart attack and I need to get us to the hospital but I don't know where it is because you didn't tell me and then we all starve to death?"

The Unit Chief glared at the smiling woman before him. "A little dramatic."

Once her daughter was cleaned off, Emily hiked her up on her hip. "Please just tell me where we're going."

"It would ruin the surprise." He leaned into the younger woman and pressed a kiss to her dark hair, watching as Emily's eyes twinkled as she looked up to him. "You're going to love it, I promise."

Emily forced herself to contain the blush that wanted to creep up on her cheeks as she gestured to her daughter with a tilt of her head. "At least tell me what I need to bring for this one."

"Her cute little smile," he cooed to the little girl. Standing straight, he saw the look Emily was giving him. "And if you have them, little baby boots."

Watching as the brunette man left her kitchen, Emily wrapped her arms tighter around the squirming little girl in her hold. "Do you like him, Gracie?" Another whispered 'mama' had Emily smiling, kissing the one year old's forehead as Grace looked up to her. "You think he should stay?"

Grace beamed up at her mother.

"Me too," she smiled, her arm underneath Grace's little butt as she carried her back into the dining room to spend time with their guests.

Their family.