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“GOOD MORNING, PARTY PEOPLE~!” you yell, walking into VA Sweets with extra springs in your step. The morning regulars wave and laugh at you while you stumble in, unable to see over the stack of red boxes piled up in your arms. You place the boxes on the corner table and smile radiantly at the regulars. In your red, heart covered dress, red wedges, and pink ribbon tying back your hair to reveal the pink peekaboo highlights in your mid length black hair, your love and love of the day was no secret to anyone who looked at you. “Are y’all having a good Valentine’s Day, my darling wonderful friends?” you ask, opening the cases to reveal tiny, red, ribboned boxes with personalized, handwritten tags. You hand out the gifts with glee and a “Happy Valentine’s Day” to each patron.
“Miss Y/N, I appreciate the sentiment very much, but you know, I can’t have chocolate…” Mr. Haynes apologizes, holding up the tiny box with four chocolate truffles inside. You coo and hug the old man, squeezing him tight and pushing the box back toward him.
“Hence, me choosing gourmet white chocolate, no cacao whatsoever, and the fillings are sugar free for you, so the wife won’t mind.” He beams at you, biting into a truffle with a snap before melting into the seat. The other customers mimic him, biting into their own personalized chocolates and singing your praises. After two years of working in this bakery, you had learned their allergies and preferences and were always sure to take these into account when making your annual Valentine’s Day gifts.
“Is that an angel I hear, showing up early for her shift?” your boss pipes up as she exits the kitchen and looks at you from behind the counter. You run towards the kind, older woman, vaulting over the counter, and hug her, squeezing her small, frail body within an inch of her life, making everyone laugh at your excitable, laughable antics.
“Oh, I would have shown up earlier, if not for the traffic coming back from my aunt’s house and the studio. You know I love the bakery on Valentine’s day, which REMINDS ME!” you exclaim, running towards the corner table and pulling out two boxes for your beloved boss. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Adrienne!” You hold out two boxes tied together, and she grabs them eagerly, ripping the ribbon and tearing them open. In the large star shaped box was a veritable cornucopia of milk chocolate treats, her favorite, and in the small star box, she gasped as she realized, lay a delicate gold chain with a tiny pink pearl in a red studded setting. She tears up and wraps her arms around your neck in an impassioned hug.
“How come Adrienne gets a better gift than we do?” Mrs. Halory asks in jest. You reply with a smile as you pet the sniffling woman’s hair.
“You give me experience in my dream job and support me emotionally for two years, and we’ll talk.” Adrienne pulls back from your embrace only to hold your head to her bosom and lay her cheek on your hair, overcome with emotion.
“You’ll have to pry this sweetheart from my cold, corpse hands before I let you have her, Julia.” You and Mrs. Halory laugh at that before you take the necklace and reach around Adrienne and clasp it around her neck, careful of her short, brown and white hair.
“It looks very nice on you, Adrienne. I knew it would look perfect on you,” you say with a charming smile. Adrienne and Julia gasp at this, and they both squeeze you tightly, cooing at the adorable-ness that is you. The men, including Mrs. Halory’s husband, laugh at the impromptu hug-fest that shows no signs of stopping.
“How are you so charming, Y/N? Look, my own wife loves you more than she does me,” he asks with a sweeping arm gesture as you detach yourself from the two women and put on your pastel pink, VA Sweets apron.
“You just gotta remember to always treat people with the love you feel for them, Jacob, and, with Mrs. Halory, how can you not? She’s so easily lovable,” you say, taking her hand and pressing a sweet kiss to the back of her fingers. She squeals at that, and eventually, she leaves, but not before giving you a ten dollar tip you insist she take back and blowing a kiss on her way out.
“You’re such a sneaky charmer,” Adrienne comments as the place empties out in its mid morning slump. “You can be such a smooth talker.” You tsk at her, wagging a finger.
“Smooth talker implies I’m a liar, a con-woman. I’m no such thing, I just happen to love every wonderful, kind customer that walks through our doors, and I love to make them feel special,” you insist, bussing the tables. “Especially today. Valentine’s Day is a day where you tell the people you love how you truly feel, and though I believe you should show love every day, this day is the day where you go all out. And you’re certainly not complaining, are you, boss?” you tease as you turn around and see Adrienne fiddling with the dainty necklace you got her. She gives you an affectionate smile before tugging on your hair.
“I don’t, you lovely girl. Now, I’ll man the register, you go in the back and whip up some of those Red Velvet Whoopie Pies.”
“Yes, ma’am!” you yell, skipping into the kitchen, walking on heart-filled, Valentine’s-Day-Bliss air.
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“Bye, Erica! Give the boyfriend and the baby love for me!” you yell out the door, waving frantically as your beautiful friend from college leaves with her Valentine box. When her car pulls out the parking lot into the rapidly darkening night, you slump into a chair at the corner table, a good kind of exhausted after the after-dinner, Valentine’s-Day-Date rush. You gave away all of your gifts, all 78, except for two special ones in the bottom box. As you tug on the ribbon of the large, heart-shaped container, you fret, thinking of the person you desperately wished to give it to but also desperately wished would not come in this particular saturday.
“Mr. Suit hasn’t come in yet, huh.” You jump at the voice in your ear, putting a hand to your heart as you turn and glare accusingly at the woman behind you.
“You know very well he hasn’t, Addy… You would be all over me if he had,” you say, despondently looking at the door. For the past five months, a little boy has come in here every Saturday, getting something new every week. Most of those Saturdays, he comes in with a tall-drink-of-water man, his father, and you have not missed a Saturday shift since. Addy had teased you so thoroughly the first week the pretty blonde lady came in before patting your back consolingly and pushing you into the kitchen. You dragged your feet, your crush crushed to smithereens, before you heard the little boy call her Aunt Jess. When Addy saw that Valentine’s Day was on a saturday this year, she became convinced that the two of you were meant to be, if only you would say something to him. You finally got tired of her insistence and your own pining and promised that if he came in on that day, you would grow a pair of ovaries and ask him out. Now, ten minutes to closing time, you weren’t sure if you were disappointed or distraught when the parking lot remained dark and empty.
“At least you don’t have to work up the courage to do it now,” she says, petting you in a motherly attempt to comfort you. You sigh, closing your eyes and luxuriating in the feeling of her fingertips on your scalp as you accept the dejection you feel in your heart.
“You’re right,” you concede, looking up at her. “I guess it wasn’t meant to be, after all, Addy.” She only nods serenely, looking out the door. You’re just closing your eyes again when you both hear the sweet chime of the entrance bell.
“I’m so sorry, are you closed?”
Shit. You recognize that deep rumble of a voice. You open your eyes, and there’s Mr. Suit in all his finely dressed glory with little Jack by his side. The darling runs towards you and hugs your side, his brilliant smile melting your heart.
“Happy Valentine’s Day, Miss Y/N! You look really nice!” You ruffle his hair in thanks, wishing him a Happy Valentine’s Day as well as you look up at Addy. Well, damn, this is a scary, shit-eating grin if you’ve ever seen one.
“Oh, you made it just in time! We were just about to lock the doors,” Addy says, walking over to Mr. Suit and leading him by the elbow.
“Is that so? We’d hate to be a bother, we can g-” She interrupts him with a dismissive wave of the hand.
“Nonsense. Y/N doesn’t mind, do you, Y/N?” she says, grinning at you. You only glare at her for a moment before blushing and shaking your head.
“Happy Valentine’s Day, Mr. Suit,” you say, not looking at him and instead looking at Jack as you stand up and offer your chair to the little angel.
“And Happy Valentine’s Day to you, Miss Y/N. Is this the big surprise you’ve been raving about for the past three weeks?” he asks, gesturing to the stack of red boxes as Addy directs him towards his seat, right next to where you stand. You blush and nod, grabbing the box and moving it to the other chair so it doesn’t hog up their table space.
“Isn’t it wonderful? She had eighty personalized valentines in there, and she’s just about given all of them away except for two.” You glare at her over his head, but she only smirks as she traipses to the kitchen, abandoning you, while Jack perks up in his seat.
“Miss Y/N! Is one of those valentines for me and my daddy?” he asks excitedly. Aaron sees the way you tense up at this and turns to chastise his son on his presumptuousness but cannot before you pull out the drawer and take out a tiny blue box, handing it to his son.
“Oh, you didn’t think I would forget you, did you, Jack-Jack?” He bounces with happiness and tears off the ribbon. You and Aaron watch affectionately as he opens the box and marvels at the artistry of the chocolates inside, immediately stuffing a whole truffle into his mouth. He smiles at you gleefully with chocolate covered teeth, and you giggle, always gratified by children wholeheartedly enjoying the sweets you made them. Aaron turns to look up at you and smiles.
“Thank you very much for the valentine, Y/N. As you can see, he likes it very much.” At this, at the smile on his face you only see directed at Jack, you take a deep breath, square your shoulders, and blurt out the question on your mind.
“Mr. Hotchner, do you have a Valentine?” His eyes widen at this, and his smile drops into a look you would hope to God is not disdain.
“No, I do not, Miss Y/N…” he says, a confused tone in his voice. You turn away and grasp the last box in the open drawer, cursing Addy as Ed Sheeran’s Kiss Me starts to play over the speakers. You take the box- which seems much too obnoxious and forward now to your anxious eyes- and clutch it to yourself as you look down at your shoes. One more deep breath, one more jump off the romantic cliff in hopes someone will catch you, and you hold it out towards him, not missing the symbolism of holding a heart in your hands and hoping he’ll accept it. He gingerly takes it from your hands, and you pray he doesn’t notice their trembling as his fingertips brush yours.
“Are you asking me out, Y/N? In front of my son?” he asks, something unidentifiable in his voice. Without something to occupy them, you wring your hands together, your eyes closed in fright.
“I’m really sorry about that I didn’t know of any other time I could do it because I only see you around your son and I know what if I were to be with you if you would let me, Jack would be a really important part of our relationship which of course is not presuming that we have a relationship and I know that you would not want to say yes to me if Jack doesn’t like me and honestly neither would I and am I bothering you? I’ll stop bothering you I’m so sorry, I’ll get Adrienne to take care of you and your sweets are on the house I won’t talk to you again I’m so sorry.”
Mentally beating yourself up for even daring to ask, you turn towards the kitchen, ready to never work another Saturday ever again when a hand reaches grabbing your wrist. You were rushing so hurriedly, the sudden grasp pulls you back, and your foot slips out from under you. You close your eyes and prepare yourself for an embarrassing fall and painful contact with the floor, but instead Aaron catches you, his arm wrapping around your waist and pulling your back against his chest. Your face starts to positively glow, and you attempt to break free from his grip, but his arm tightens around you, warm and solid. You look up at him, your eyes only up to his chin, and he has a small amused and dare-you-say-it affectionate smile as his eyes search your face, lingering on your lips, red from your nervously biting them.
“Y/N… I never said asking me in front of Jack was a bad thing. Not a lot of women are okay with dating a man who has a child, let alone are okay with it and take him into consideration. That love and thoughtfulness of children is one of the things that I find to be very endearing about you.” Your eyes widen at that, your jaw dropping. Aaron’s eyes drift towards your lips, the hand that was holding your wrist letting go and moving towards your face, his thumb tracing along your full bottom lip. “I would like very much to be your Valentine, Miss Y/N, although, yes, we should ask what my son thinks.” The two of you turn around to see Jack on the edge of his seat, attempting to hold in his glee. When you kneel down seriously to ask him what he thinks, you don’t even need an answer; the seven year old immediately launches himself at you, his arms tight around your neck.
“Daddy, can I go on your date with Miss Y/N? I wanna spend time with her too!” he asks excitedly, his hands tangling in your hair. You blush as the boy practically accepts for his father, about to correct him before Aaron leans down and ruffles his hair.
“Sure thing, kiddo, if Y/N says it’s okay.” At that, your head whips back and forth between a giddy, clapping Jack and a smiling, indulgent Aaron. You gently take Jack’s arms off of you and stand up to share a word with him.
“I just want you to know, you don’t have to say yes to me just because Jack seems to like me I would hate for you to feel like I’m manipulating you that way you don’t have to make that sacrifice just fo-” Aaron cuts you off with a chaste kiss to the lips, his arms tight around your waist, lifting you up an inch off the ground. He pulls away just the slightest amount, his breath still warm on your skin.
“Jack, why don’t you go to the kitchen and keep Miss Addy company?”
“Yes, daddy!” the sweet little child exclaims, running through the kitchen door. When the door closes, Aaron starts leans in closer, pressing multiple small kisses to your face, light and imperceptible like butterfly wings.
“I am not sacrificing anything in wanting to be with you,” he says, kissing your eyelid. “You always greet us with the prettiest smile when we come in.” He kisses your nose. “You always give Jack a little more ice cream than the other kids.” A kiss to your cheek. “You refuse tips from the regular customers because you insist your friendliness and excellent customer service is just part of the job and not what makes you so special.” A kiss to the corner of your mouth. “You have been preparing personalized, allergy-and-preference-sensitive valentines for weeks. Each box has a hand-written card telling the recipient the flavor and ingredients of each candy. For weeks, you have been raring to go like a firework at the selfless prospect of showing love and giving thoughtful gifts to others without the expectation of reciprocation.” He leans in, his forehead a gentle touch against yours. “The fact you love my son and my son loves is just… the icing on the cake, if you will.” You giggle at his word choice and his rarely shown humor before gazing into his eyes, awestruck.
“So… for the record, you’re saying yes?” He laughs at that and leans in close one last time. The two of you are too busy smiling to kiss properly, and yet, somewhere in your hearts, you and he know the kiss is perfect.
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“Miss Addy?” Jack whispers as the conspiring woman and boy take turns watching the happy new couple through the window of the kitchen door.
“Yes, little one?” she answers distractedly, hand over her heart as she looks at you and the man who captured yours, all smiles. Jack tugs on her hand, and she lifts him up, the two of them peeking at the smiling, lightly touching couple together.
“Are my daddy and Miss Y/N in love?” he asks innocently. Adrienne coos at his cuteness, squeezing him tightly.
“Oh, yes, dear, they seem to be very much in love,” she says, looking out the window to the pair sitting across from each other, you blushing as Aaron tries the chocolate you made for him. “One only needs to look at them to tell.
“Do you think they’ll be together forever?” Adrienne smiles as the two of you hold hands and you lean towards him with the sweetest smile on your face that she has ever seen.
“Only time will tell, child, but yes,” she says, smiling at Jack who beams back at her, while they hug each other, overjoyed at the good thing that happened today. “I think your daddy and Y/N are going to make each other very, very happy for a very, very long time.”