Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds. This is a work of fiction.

A/N: I really hope I didn't butcher the ending. But this is it for this story. Thanks for sticking around, your kind words really motivated me to finish. Hope you enjoy.

Welcome to the New Year

She makes the same resolution every year:

To be happier than the year before.

She spends most of the trip to New York City laughing.

At Rockefeller Center, Hotch falls on his ass twice and she skates circles around him. He's good at many things but ice skating is not one of them. She reaches down to help him up.

Immersed in a sea of millions in the heart of Times Square, they watch the fireworks as the ball drops. Just like that it's another year. They kiss again and much more back at the hotel room.

She hasn't felt like this in a long, long time.

Morning comes. The last day of their trip.

They make the most of it.

"Dad! Emily!" Jack calls as they walk through the front door of JJ and Will's home.

Jack sits at the table, a hearty breakfast on the plate before him. Will is trying and failing to get Henry to eat his eggs, while JJ follows behind she and Hotch, who had gladly taken Autumn when she opened the door, baby in arms. They are all still in their pajamas.

"Hey, Buddy," she says. "You ready to go?"

He is not.

JJ doesn't mind keeping him for a little while longer, is afraid that Henry will "start screaming" if Jack were to leave right now. No amount of bribery changes the six year old's mind, so they give him two more hours before they come back to get him.

"Uh oh, I know that face," she says as she unstraps Autumn from her carrier. Hotch grabs their bags from the trunk.

It's the first smelly diaper in four days, she doesn't mind changing it.

JJ forgets that she has a few errands to run and stops by the apartment to drop Jack off on her way. She's gotten a few more hours of sleep in and doesn't look like she woke up at five that morning to care for a newborn. Emily had apologized when she saw her earlier and promised to make it up to her.

"If you ever need a break from those two weirdos again, just give me a call," JJ says passing Autumn back to her and ruffling Jack's hair. Jack tells her that he will and runs off to scare Hotch, who is taking a phone call in the bedroom.

She raises a hand to wave goodbye to JJ and feels spit up gliding down the back of her shirt.

"Oh," JJ stops at the door. "I forgot to ask. How was New York?"

"New York was…"

She spies Hotch walking down the stairs, Jack on his back. Their eyes meet and they share a stupid grin.

"New York was great," she says.

"Em, you've got spit up on your back," Hotch says.

JJ bids them a farewell and tells Hotch that she'll see him at work on Monday.

Jack wants to know about New York, too. Mostly, he wants to know if they saw the big, big Christmas tree. He's back in the Christmas Spirit all over again and she decides that they will bring he and his sister when they go back next year. It'll be a celebration of all things, she thinks. Two birthdays (a first birthday and a not-so-first birthday), Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Jack's first time in New York. Among other things.

"Goodnight, Emily, I love you," her heart swells. The first time he'd told her was on his Christmas gift. The card read: To Emily, Love Jack; in his handwriting. This is the first time he's told her verbally.

"I love you, too, Jack."

She kisses his forehead.

At first, she thinks Hotch is talking to her cat. But then she steps around the sofa and sees that Autumn is sitting in her rocker at his feet. Instead of turning on its automatic setting, he uses his foot to rock her.

"Watch what happens when I stop," he says.

He does and Autumn starts to cry.

She remembers when he told her that he'd jump with her whichever decision she made. They made it out alright, she thinks. Well, not thinks. She knows. They didn't just get sweet little Autumn out of this. She got him and Jack. He got her. Jack got her.

It's thinking about their little family that sealed the deal for her.

Aaron Hotchner and Jennifer Jureau have one thing in common:

They are both good at lying to other people. Terrible at lying to her.

She knows he's looked at rings. Because why else would randomly ask for her ring size?

He told her in New York that he went back to the place he got her necklace the morning after Christmas. He knew that "one day" would be soon.

Hotch sleeps on his back, one arm wrapped around her shoulders, the other straight by his side. Autumn breathes close by in the dark, having gone to sleep an hour earlier. She, however, can't sleep and traces over the Foyet scars on his chest.

A lot has happened to them over the years. And she'd go through it all again to get back to this very moment.

She loves him.

He loves her.

And they told each other for the first time in New York.

He grabs her hand in the dark, links their fingers.

She presses a kiss to his cheek and settles in to sleep.

For the first time in a long time, she dreams.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…Happy New Year!

The kiss they share is slow and sweet. They press their foreheads together when they're done, breathless.

"I love you, Emily," he's the first to say it.

"You beat me by four seconds," she smiles. "I love you too, Aaron."

"Happy New Year."

This is also what happened in New York:

Morning, on the third day of the new year. They go to the courthouse, sign the papers. There is no ceremony. There are no rings, no witnesses (that will come later).

Together, they know what it's like to make that jump. To make it to the other side unscathed.

Together, they jump again.

end