Strolling down the aisles in the supermarket, Emma smirked at the half price turkey and pilgrim decorations. Thanksgiving had come and passed with the boys called away to some foreign country. As usual, the holiday was rescheduled for the next week when everyone could be together and Emma happened to like this tradition better than celebrating the actual holiday. It meant that Clay had come home to her once again, whole, healthy, in one piece. She was more grateful for that with every mission that he went on and every deployment that he returned back to her, and she hoped that she would never stop feeling grateful to have him in her life.

Checking her list, she marked off the items that she had already found: turkey for her father, green bean casserole for Brock, sweet potatoes for Ray with regular potatoes for Trent. Sonny would get one of her famous pecan pies later at the house, but that left Clay. Turning behind her, Emma opened her mouth and shut it quickly, not wanting to startle Clay and RJ as her heart melted into a puddle of goo on the floor. Clay was walking behind her in the store, bouncing RJ in his arms, gently stroking his back with his large hand trying to get him to fall asleep again after his nap was interrupted by an epic tantrum from Jameelah. Emma sighed, thinking of the little girl that had all of the men wrapped around her pinky finger. As she was getting older it was harder and harder to reassure her that daddy was coming home and that sometimes he had to go save other people and couldn't be there for things like Thanksgiving and dance recitals. Emma could remember dealing with the same thing when she was Jameelah's age and her heart broke for the girl, which is how she and Clay ended up on RJ duty while shopping for the annual Bravo Thanksgiving. Jameelah was getting some much needed attention from Uncle Ray and Aunt Naima

"Clay?" Emma asked striking out another thing on her list. She didn't hear him respond but felt his steady presence behind her. Taking the time to park her shopping cart, she turned around and faced him, eyes softening at the sight of RJ fast asleep

"Yeah babe," Clay said, shifting the baby in his arms. He could lift weights all he wanted but the dead weight of an infant was something he wasn't used to carrying for an extended period of time.

"Is there anything you want for Thanksgiving dinner? We're almost done here anyways," Emma scanned down the list hoping that she wasn't missing anything. She didn't want to have to come back to the store when they started cooking.

"I don't think I can have you for dinner, babe," Clay grinned impishly and moved out of the way when Emma's hand came out to hit his shoulder playfully.

"No, but if you're good, you can have me for dessert," Emma winked, walking towards the cash registers with her cart full of fixings for dinner that evening.

Standing in line, Emma and Clay playfully pushed against each other giggling and snorting, not paying any attention to the old lady standing behind them, smiling at their antics.

"Excuse me," the old lady cut in, with a soft spoken drawl.

"Yes ma'am," Clay responded, putting his hand on the small of Emma's back, other hand holding RJ close to his chest.

"I just wanted to tell you that you have a beautiful family, your baby is very handsome." The old lady's eyes twinkled in a way that reminded Emma of Aunt Betty when she was feeling mischievous, bright and happy, full of life.

Before Clay could correct the well-meaning women, Emma replied, blushing gently. "Thank you ma'am, I really do appreciate that."

"Absolutely dear, you all have a good holiday. Thank you for your service as well dear." Clay and Emma nodded, turning to their shopping cart and paying for the groceries. As the groceries are being packaged, Emma grabbed RJ from Clay's arms, swaying him gently before putting him in his car seat, still fast asleep.

As Clay put the last of the groceries into the trunk of the car, Emma settled in the passenger seat, knowing that Clay would insist on driving the short distance back to the Perry house. The trunk shut and Clay moved to the front seat, stopping to kiss Emma before turning the key in the ignition and driving out of the small parking lot.

Out of the blue, Clay says wistfully, "You'd be a great mom, Emmie K," stealing a glance at her when the light was red.

"What?" Emma said, laughing slightly.

"You're good with RJ and Jameelah, you'd make a good mom Em, that's all I'm saying," Clay babbled, nervous that he had said something too soon. They hadn't actually been dating for very long yet, but the future that she presented was clear to him. "Is that something you would want?"

"Yeah, Clay, in a few years. Not right at this moment," Emma admitted, picturing a little girl with curly blonde hair and green eyes running around her backyard with all of her uncles watching as she played with Cerberus. It was certainly a future that she longed for, the timing just wasn't right.

"Babe, I definitely don't think that we're ready for that right now, it was just a thought," Clay said, rubbing his thumb across the soft skin of her hand.

"I know, Clay." Emma said gently. "I just have a lot I want to do before we start having kids, and there's a lot of steps we need to take before we hit that point."

"Emma, I would marry you tomorrow if I thought we could. You're it for me, honey. You know that."

"I don't know what I did to be so lucky to have you in my life, Clay Spenser." Emma kissed his cheek before turning to look at RJ, still fast asleep in his car seat. Before long they were in the driveway where the entire crew was waiting to unload the groceries from the trunk. Emma went around to the backseat and tried to extract RJ without waking him, but as soon as she picked him up, his little eyes opened, fixating on Naima. His mouth opened and a small whimper escaped, but before it could turn into a full blown tantrum, Emma handed RJ to Naima and took Jameelah by the hand leading her back into the kitchen. "Hey Jameelah, want to help me bake?"

While the girls were mixing up the fixings for Emma's famous pecan pie, Naima, Victoria, and Lisa fixed the rest of the meal. The hours passed with giggles and snorts of laughter, lots of wine, and plenty of reasons to be grateful. Sitting down to dinner, Emma watched ruefully as Naima drank more and more wine and the conversation turned raunchier and raunchier.

Emma was grinning and sneaking sips of wine from Naima's glass when she wasn't looking, but she drew the line when they started talking about their sex lives. There was only so much that she could handle for one evening. When Naima drunkenly exclaimed that Ray should be grateful to have her because she was better than his hand, she made her excuses and walked over to the small table where Jameelah and Mikey were eating.

"Hey Jameelah, mind if I sit here?" Emma asked, pulling out the chair next to her.

"Yeah! I was telling Mikey what I was grateful for this year! What are you grateful for? Mommy said that we needed to be thankful every day but especially today Emmie," Jameelah never seemed to run out of energy or things to say and today was no different, especially hopped up on every kind of sugar imaginable.

"Well, I'm thankful for you and for Clay and for my family. I'm thankful that I have Mikey and my dad home this year," Emma paused as she watched Jameelah wrinkle up her nose. "What?"

"You're thankful that you have a brother? I have one, he's no fun," Jameelah pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. She still wasn't pleased that RJ was taking over most of the time that she had with mommy and daddy just because he was a baby. It wasn't fair.

"Yeah, I am honey. Without Mikey I would be all alone when my daddy goes away, you wouldn't like that would you?" Emma prompted, hoping that she could sway the little girl to a new perspective.

"No," Jameelah said slowly. "I just don't like that I don't get as much time to spend with mommy."

"Think of it this way honey, if I didn't have Mikey, or you didn't have RJ, we would be awfully lonely. Mommy and daddy love you very much, and I'm sure that they're going to be spending some time with you this week now that daddy's home." Emma explained gently, smoothing back a piece of hair from her forehead. Catching Uncle Ray's eyes, she smiled when he mouthed 'thank you' while trying to keep Aunt Naima upright.

"Jameelah, why don't you go put your pajamas and we can watch a movie, I think it's almost bedtime," Emma said, collecting the plates and dishes from around the table. Standing by the sink, she washed and handed the wet dishes for Aunt Lisa to dry, taking in the sight of the kitchen table, not wanting to forget a single second. Jason sitting next to Clay, undoubtedly talking about hockey. Trent and Brock competing to see who could eat their turkey leg the fastest. Sonny grabbing his second slice of pecan pie. Ray gazing at Aunt Naima was love clearly written on his face.

There were times when Emma wondered if Clay looked at her the way that Ray looked at Naima. It was clear to anyone that was watching the two of them that they shared a love that was a forever kind of love. Emma watched as Uncle Ray switched Aunt Naima's glass when she wasn't looking, she had clearly had enough wine for the night. As the dishes were cleared and coffee was made, slowly everyone made their way to the couch to watch a movie, food coma settling in on all of the members of Bravo, Cerberus included.

As Emma put away that last of the dishes and Aunt Darcy, Aunt Lisa, and Aunt Betty sat around the table to gossip, she scanned the large living room for the younger members of the team. Mikey was pressed firmly against her father's side, watching the tv with rapt attention. Christmas movies always made him a little nostalgic and A Miracle of 42nd Street was no exception. Jameelah was sitting on her father's lap, lip pouted as his hand rubbed her back, trying to get her to relax enough to fall asleep. And RJ was lying on Clay's chest, clearly fighting sleep as his big brown eyes blinked shut and opened rapidly.

"Uncle Ray, you want me to put them down for the night?" Emma whispered, bending down over the couch to speak directly into his ear. When he nodded appreciatively, she nudged Jameelah off of his lap and sent her up the stairs to get cleaned up for bed before going to RJ and nuzzling him to her chest, chuckling at the shocked noise that came from Clay's chest. Jerking her head, Emma began to walk up the stairs, hoping that Clay would follow her, it would be a miracle if she would get both kids down and still have time to watch the movie.

Walking back and forth, Emma hummed gently while rubbing his back. The little boy was fighting sleep and Emma didn't want to put him in his crib until she was sure that he was asleep for good. Aunt Naima was definitely down for the night and Uncle Ray was just coming off of a mission, they deserved a good night's sleep.

Finally, finally when RJ's breathing evened out and his eyes stayed shut, Emma placed him in his crib and placed his stuffed bear in arm's reach. Emma tiptoed out of his bedroom and glanced at her phone, it had only taken fifteen minutes to get RJ to fall asleep, now the challenge was going to be Jameelah. From the hallway, she could see into her room and hear voices coming from inside the bedroom, but couldn't quite make out who was talking to Jameelah. Stopping just before the doorway, she smiled. She knew that voice, it was Clay. Peering around the door, she watched as Clay finished the last few pages of the book that he was reading to Jameelah, using fake voices and silly expressions. The man was far better with children than he gave himself credit for, and it made her heart ache for the children that they would one day have. She wished that she was ready to settle down and have children of her own, but for the moment she would settle for watching Clay with Jameelah and RJ, they were pretty cute kids after all.

Clay closed the book and turned off the light, kissing her forehead gently. Walking to the doorway, he shut the light and ran smack into Emma. "I didn't know you were here," He said softly as he closed the door, not wanting to wake either child when they had just spent the better part of a half hour getting them to go to sleep.

"I know, I wanted to watch. You're gonna make such a good dad one day, Clay," Emma said, putting her hands on his chest. "You're so incredibly good with them."

"You think so?" Clay wasn't normally insecure, he exuded confidence in every aspect of his life from his relationship with Emma to his career in the Navy. If he wasn't confident, the consequence would be disastrous, but when it came to children, Clay was more unsure than Sonny in a shopping mall. "I didn't have the best example, Em."

"No," she agreed. That was the understatement of the century, Ash Spenser shouldn't even be considered a man at this point. "But he did teach you some lessons, he taught you what not to do. Even if he was an asshole and was horrific to you, you're a better man than he will ever be because you would never think of hurting a child.

At a loss for words, Clay leaned down and kissed Emma softly, trading small kisses back and forth in the middle of the hallway. The girl in his arms was incredible, loving and good. He didn't know what he did to deserve her, but he was grateful that she was in his life. "Thank you, Emmie K."

"Of course babe." Emma didn't hesitate to reassure Clay. She had seen how he acted around the kids and even around Mikey. She just wished that he could see himself the way that she saw him.

Hand in hand, the pair walked back into the den, unsurprised to see the entirety of Bravo knocked out on the couches that surrounded the TV. Somehow they always managed to end up in this position, but Emma didn't mind. It was comforting to know that her family was together under one roof, all safe and sound. Snagging the last blanket stacked on the table, Emma spied an empty armchair. Curling up next to Clay, Emma felt his hand trace mindless patterns on her leg, watching the movie play silently on the screen.

"Hey Em," Clay spoke softly, not wanting anyone to overhear what he was going to say to Emma.

"Yeah babe," Emma said sleepily. She was safe, warm, and in the arms of the man that loved her, nothing in the world was better than this.

"You're what I'm most grateful for; today and every day." Clay wasn't expecting a response, knowing that his girl was tired and halfway to dreamland, but her soft voice responded and his heart melted.

"Ditto babe, ditto."

Clay felt her breathing evening out and just before he closed his own eyes, Clay looked around the room, trying to burn the image in his brain. If life could stay just the way it was in this moment, brothers surrounding him, children safe, Emma in his arms, Clay would be grateful for every day of his life.