Hotch's Niece | Criminal Minds

Happily

Hello!! It has been... years. For anyone who's been following me for a while, thank you. I just turned 18, have gotten into college, and am generally living a life I never expected when I was writing Hotch's Niece. That said, I wanted to come back and finish this story I began years ago. This is a short epilogue to give this story and all of you the closure you deserved. I hope to start uploading other works on here again soon, as I think this is a good way for me to get my writing out there. I love all of you dearly and hope this story was as fun for y'all to read as it was for me to write. Please keep in mind that my writing has developed and I'm out of touch with these characters. That said, here is the 30th and final chapter of Hotch's Niece. It has been a ride.

Written in the third person so I can move around from character to character as I please.

JJ wins in the end, because of course she does. Emily and Hotch are exactly the type to get married in the winter. Avery had put money down on the fall, and Spencer and Morgan, dumbasses that they are, bet the summer(Garcia had laughed. "Aaron Hotchner? A summer wedding? You're lucky you're cute, my sexy chocolate lover.")

Alas, everyone had to admit that December was the perfect time for a wedding. And what a wedding it was.

JJ, Avery, and Garcia were all bridesmaids, JJ being the maid of honor, and all the boys got to be groomsmen(Rossi cried when Hotch asked him to be best man. It was adorable).

Avery, finally in her pale pink dress, makes her way over to Spencer, looking handsome ever as he gets his tie fixed for the millionth time by Morgan.

"It's fine, Morgan, leave it be," he's muttering as she walks up.

"Hey, Peanut!" Morgan greets. She scowls in tradition but lets him pull her into a hug, and leans up to kiss Spencer(who she has somehow been dating for nearly two years now) on the cheek when a thought occurs to her.

"Y'all did JJ perhaps tell you who the flower girl is? She was awful secretive." Avery says. Emily and JJ had been secretly planning things, and she had a feeling Garcia was in on it too.

Morgan smirks and glances over Avery's shoulder. "Yeah, we invited a special guest for that one. A blast from the past, if you will."

Avery turns to see what Morgan is looking at and nearly bursts into tears on the spot. It's Izzie. Izzie and Steve and Natasha, all dressed to the nines. Izzie is in the cutest frilly dress that matches hers in shade of pink, and Natasha and Steve look incredible, of course.

"Oh my god, hello!" Avery squats down to Izzie's level, who by Avery's math probably just turned four. The girl looks confused for a second, and then before Avery realizes what's happening, she's catching a bundle of pink frill as Izzie catapults herself into Avery's arms.

"Avery!"

Steve had been good about calling Avery. She got photos from birthdays and Izzie's first day of school and everything else, and the occasional FaceTime call(Spencer sometimes surprised her with one after particularly nasty cases), so Izzie did recognize her. Avery just hadn't gotten the chance to see her in person again, until now.

Steve walks up to her just as she's lifting Izzie and herself into a standing position. He wears a smile, and Natasha, trailing behind, matches him. "Hotch called, said he was getting married and we had his flower girl with us. So, here we are."

That it had been Hotch was news but not entirely unsurprising. Emily has changed him for the better, and Avery is sure it was at least partly her idea. Regardless, she smiles and mouths a thank you to Steve over Izzie's shoulder. The girl is all but choking her, her arms tight around Avery's neck.