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Penelope Garcia had officially gone boy crazy. And it wasn’t even near Valentine’s Day, yet. Honestly, you were pretty sure it had a little – read: a lot – to do with JJ and Will’s pending nuptials. As soon as she had heard that JJ accepted Will’s proposal, Pen went into bridezilla mode. You would think that title would be exclusive to the person getting married, but when that person was as easy-going and relaxed about her ceremony as Jennifer Jureau, you ended up with a very tyrannical Penelope Garcia running the shots.
To be honest, if you ever got married, you wouldn’t even consider hiring a wedding planner when you had Pen right at your fingertips. This wedding was going to be beautiful, and as the day got closer and closer, all your fluttering, detailed friend wanted to talk about was love and romance. Of course, the second you told her that you’d be attending the wedding alone, she’d lost her mind.
“What do you mean you’ve given up on love?” Penelope screeched as you poured sugar into your coffee.
“I didn’t say that,” You rolled your eyes. “I just said I’m not going to seek it out anymore. If my soulmate is out there, they have to come to me – I’m done doing all the heavy lifting.”
“Preach,” Emily said, holding up a hand for you to give her a high-five. You giggled and smacked your friend’s hand with your own, noting the way Aaron grinned down at the paper in his hand while the antics around him ensued. You were glad to see him out of his office and taking part in the crazy for once, god knows the man needed to loosen up a little, and you’d been begging him to simply join you all for coffee in the kitchenette sometimes.
“What are we preaching about?” Derek asked with a grin as he moved in on the conversation.
“Pen has convinced herself that I’m going to die a crazy cat lady because I’m not counting ‘he loves me, he loves me not’ on flower petals anymore,” You laughed.
“No,” Penelope said. “I have convinced myself that you have tempted the fates to throw their very best matchmaking skills at you. I bet you’ll have found the love of your life by the time JJ says I do.”
“Oh, I’ll take that bet.”
“What do you think, twenty bucks?” Penelope grinned.
“Twenty bucks and two weeks of coffee runs,” You giggled, shaking Penny’s hand.
“I would’ve thought by now, that you would know better than to mess with the universe,” Derek shook his head. “And Penelope Garcia.”
“Please,” You scoffed. “The universe needs at least eight to ten business days to get anything done, and JJ’s getting married in seven. And Penelope – well, she’s too busy with her Cupid ice sculptures to play matchmaker.”
“Ice sculptures?” JJ asked with wide eyes. “Pen, I thought we agreed on a small wedding?”
“Like that would have stopped her,” Aaron said with a sly grin over his coffee cup, catching your eye and making you smile. Penelope glanced back and forth between you and Aaron with narrowed eyes – a look that made you incredibly nervous for whatever scheme she was cooking up. A look she shared with Emily and Derek.
“I don’t have time for sass,” Penelope huffed. “Unlike you people, I have work to get done.”
You shared a quiet laugh with Aaron, taking another sip from your coffee before making your way back over to your desk to start on some of your paperwork.
All-day, you kept getting the feeling that someone was watching you and sure enough, every time you glanced up, you saw Derek or Spencer watching you, only to look away quickly and type something fast. Emily couldn’t be more secretive, even though she very clearly knew what was going on with the guys. Eventually, you couldn’t take it anymore, so you grabbed all the files you had finished so far and brought them up to Aaron’s office.
“Come in,” He called when you knocked gently on his office door, looking up at you with a little smile when you came in. “Hey.”
“Hi,” You sighed, dropping into the chair across from his at the desk. He glanced at the files you plopped down onto his desk.
“Everything okay?”
“Yup,” You breathed. “Just needed a break from prying eyes.”
“Still think this is a good idea?” He asked. “We could just tell them.”
“I am not folding on that bet,” You laughed. “We can tell them all when the wedding’s over and I have Pen’s twenty safely in my hand.”
“It’s been six months, (y/n),” Aaron said, reaching across the desk to hold your hand softly.
“The best six months,” You smiled at your boyfriend. “But I’m winning this bet.” Aaron grinned at your competitive streak shining through at your words.
“Well, the bet was that you would have found the love of your life by the time JJ says, ‘I do’,” Aaron said. Your cheeks heated at his words as your teeth sunk into your bottom lip. “Just dating me doesn’t mean you’ve found the love of your life.”
“Yeah,” You breathed. “Well, I think I already did.”
“Oh,” Aaron said, his mouth breaking open into a wide smile. “You did, did you?”
“Mhm,” You nodded with a little grin.
“Me too.” His voice was soft, barely a whisper.
“Which is why,” You said, holding Aaron’s hand up to kiss his knuckles. “We need to keep this a secret. If the team gets wind of our adorable, and jealousy-inducing love, then I will never get that twenty from Pen, or the delicious mochas she will bring me for two weeks straight.”
“You know I could just make you a mocha, right?”
“It’s not the same,” You lamented. “I want to win.”
“You are the most competitive person I have ever met,” Aaron laughed. “It’s no wonder you get along so well with my son.”
“Hey, Jack’s way more competitive than I am,” You giggled. “Remember last game night when he used those adorable puppy dog eyes to get out of jail in Monopoly?”
“Use every angle you’ve got,” Aaron grinned proudly at the memory.
“I should get back to work,” You sighed. “Or the wolves will get suspicious and start circling.”
Aaron watched you get up from your seat and walk towards the door. Before you could leave, he jumped up from his own spot and grabbed your hand, tugging you back towards him and into his arms.
“I love you,” He murmured, dropping a kiss on your lips.
“I love you too,” You grinned into the kiss, your hands immediately pressing into his chest as Aaron held you tight against him. There really was nothing like being in Aaron Hotchner’s arms – and for the last six months, you’d spent as much time curled into his body as you could.
It was only when another knock sounded on the door that you pulled away from your boyfriend and moved to gather some files from his desk as Derek walked into the room.
“Hey, Hotch –” He cut himself off with a smirk. “Oh, am I interrupting?”
“Nope,” You said, scooping up some folders and walking towards the door. “Just dropping off files and picking up new ones. Thanks for your help, Hotch.”
Derek’s eyes followed you suspiciously as you made your way out of Aaron’s office and back down to your desk. When you glanced up at your boyfriend’s office once more, you noticed the shades were open on his window. Panic flooded your senses at the thought that one of your friends had seen the little display of affection that you and Aaron had gotten up to in his office.
Looking around the bullpen, the only person you could see watching you was Emily. Her eyes held a curious sort of expression as she gave you a little smile. You couldn’t tell if she’d seen you, but the subtle tilt of her head made you feel like even if she did know about you and Aaron, she would keep it to herself until you were ready to talk about it.
The next week was filled with matchmaking galore. Penelope refused to let you give up on love – little did she know that you were about as far giving up love as JJ was. You had never loved anyone the way you loved Aaron, you’d never been loved the way Aaron had loved you. Falling in love with Aaron had been an accident – accidental eye contact turned to longing glances, a borrowed jacket turning into a late-night meet-up, watching Jack when he had a late meeting turning into a glass of wine on his couch and a kiss turned into several kisses. Months of kisses and sleepovers and game nights with Jack. You had become a staple at the Hotchner’s apartment in the last six months, so much so that Jack had started begging Aaron that you don’t ever go home. It made your heart swell that his sweet little boy loved you and wanted you around so much – it meant everything that he approved of your and Aaron’s relationship. Though, hopefully, Aaron had prepped him for this wedding to treat you like he treated the rest of the team, and not like his daddy’s girlfriend that spent five nights out of the week at his house.
Penelope had outdone herself with this beautiful wedding. As soon as you walked into Rossi’s backyard it was like you had walked into the most magical place you had ever been. The moment your foot hit the grass you felt the love in the air surrounding everyone. Romantic love between the couples in attendance, strong familial love between mother and fathers and their children, the love of pure friendship floating between all of you. The atmosphere was charged with it, and it made you sad. For the first time since the bet was made, all you wanted to do was walk into Aaron’s arms – consequences be damned – and kiss the love of your life.
You’d seen Aaron, of course, he’d been there with Jack already when you walked in. He’d smiled at your wedding outfit, murmuring a quiet, “you look beautiful” before taking off with Jack who wanted to play with Henry. Of course, you couldn’t keep your eyes off of Aaron. He looked handsome as hell in the crisp black suit he’d worn, and you couldn’t believe you’d held him off of holding you in his arms looking like that simply because you wanted to win a bet against your friend.
Luckily for you, you were able to sit with Aaron and Jack for the actual ceremony. You were so excited for your friends to be married – but you were also excited for them to say ‘I do’ so you could kiss Aaron and make your relationship known to your friends.
“I promise to love you and to cherish you,” JJ said, repeating after the officiant. Aaron squeezed your thigh discretely.
“I promised to love you and to cherish you,” Will drawled with a grin.
“Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
“I do,” He said.
“JJ, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
“I do,” She smiled. You smiled too.
“Then, by the powers vested in me, I now pronounce you, husband and wife.”
You stood, tears rolling down your cheeks as you grinned and clapped along with your friends at the newly wedded couple kissing. After a moment, Penelope turned around to you with a pout on her face and handed you a crisp twenty. Luckily, it was right after that that Jack stood up on his chair and turned to jump into your arms.
“(Y/n)?”
“Mhm?” Everyone’s eyes and ears were on you now.
“When you and my daddy get married, can I be the ring bearer like Henry was?”
And, while you’d expected shock, the only one who gave it to you was Penelope. While she pulled her money from your hands. The rest of the team smirked at you with their arms crossed over their chests. God, you hated profilers.
“Buddy,” Aaron laughed, kissing the top of his head. “You’re gonna be my best man when we get married.”
“When?” You asked with a raised eyebrow.
“When,” Aaron nodded, confirming the inevitability of your union, not the conditionality. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” You grinned, leaning in to kiss him and kiss Jack’s head.
When you turned back to Penelope, she had a fresh wave of tears rolling down her cheeks and the biggest grin on her face as she leaned into Derek.
“I knew it,” Derek smirked.
“Shut up,” Penelope wept. “They’re in love.”
“How do you take your coffee, Pen?”
“I’ll text you,” She cried.
You couldn’t even care that you had lost the bet at this point, not when Aaron’s smiling lips were freely pressing kisses to your forehead and Jack was snuggled up into your chest. The air was full of love, and you were more than happy to let yourself get lost in it.