The silence in the night feels strange in the moment. She's not sure why, after all, silence was a sound she had gotten used to over the past couple of years. She spent a majority of time alone in her house, just her and the silence that followed her around. It had never really bothered her, never really felt as unique however as it does right now.

Claire turns her head to the side, glancing over at Henry who is quiet as he drives toward her house. He notices her gaze and smiles at her, reaching out with his right hand to take hers. She returns the smile and finally moves her eyes to fall back on the open window next to her. She lets out a breath and the smile on her face only grows bigger.

The past five hours had been filled with more noise than Claire had been around since she and her mother had moved to town. She had been nervous to attend Henry's birthday party originally, knowing that she was going to meet not just his Mom's and Dad, but the handful of other adults who he called family and who were an every day influence on his life. The people he loved more than anything in the world. The people who would do anything for him at any given moment if he just asked.

She had spent hours trying to find the perfect outfit, wanting to make a good impression on these people because she knew that their opinion mattered to him. She had changed four different times before finally settling on a casual look that she knew she would be most comfortable in. No way she was going to be able to impress them if she didn't feel like herself.

The young brunette was relieved when she knocked on the door and it was JJ who answered, instead of someone she had never met before.

"Claire," she had said, opening the door to let her in and smiling at her sweetly. "It's so good to see you." JJ had pulled Claire into a quick hug which the younger girl accepted without hesitation.

It had been a long time since she had felt such a warm embrace from a mother and she had enjoyed getting to spend time with both of Henry's over the past few weeks. She had felt a little uncomfortable around JJ at first, getting the impression that the blonde was not to thrilled with Claire dating her only son. But as the time passed, JJ started to relax more and more around her, and the past couple of weeks had been pretty casual and easy. Claire's own mother had had never really been the same since the move that brought them here. She had become quiet and withdrawn. Sure, Claire knew that she loved her, and that she worked multiple jobs just to make ends meet for the two of them. But it never felt like she was there for the little things the way she saw JJ and Emily were with Henry. There wasn't small talk between them or dinner together at the table. There were quickly jotted notes that indicated how late she would be and where her plate of food was left for her to eat for dinner. It wasn't that Claire was jealous of Henry, but instead, it was the more time she spent with him and his mom's, the more she realized just how much she was missing her own.

"Sorry I'm late," Claire had responded when the hug ended. "I had to catch a ride."

"You should have called," JJ said as she closed the door and turned back to the girl in front of her standing in the hallway. "Someone could have picked you up."

"Thanks, I'll remember that next time," she replied.

"Well, you ready for this?" JJ asked, glancing down the hallway and around the corner where the sound of a variety of voices could be heard talking, laughing and enjoying the evening already. When Claire didn't immediately respond, the blonde moved toward her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She could feel the anxiety flowing off of the young girl in waves and while she was still trying to get ahold of the idea that this was her son's girlfriend, she had promised herself she would be more open and welcoming to the girl that Henry seemed so smitten with. She could only imagine how nervous Claire was to meet so many people all at once. "Take a breath. There is nothing to worry about."

The two made their way down the hall and into the kitchen and as soon as she entered the room, it felt like all the conversation stopped mid-sentence. Twelve sets of eyes instantly fell on her and for a moment, it felt like all the wind had been knocked out of her.

"Claire!" Henry said as he literally dropped his plate onto the counter in front of him and made his way to her side. "You made it!"

"Hi!" she replied with a warm smile as he enveloped her in a hug. JJ had moved away from the young couple and had gone further into the kitchen, back to her glass of wine on the table between two people Claire had never met before but could remember from photos around the house.

"Come in, I want to introduce you to everyone," Henry said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder in a similar fashion to how his mom had just moments before.

Thankfully, the others in the room had gone back to talking and were being less obvious about looking at her, but she could still feel their eyes watching her. She moved into the kitchen more fully and Emily was the first to say hello.

"It's good to see you Claire," the older brunette had said with a smile as Claire flashed her own back. "You know, you should have said you needed a ride. JJ or I would have been more than happy to come pick you up."

"Thank you. JJ said the same thing just a minute ago. I promise next time I'll ask," Claire replied. Emily smiled warmly before glancing to the person standing next to her, waiting to allow Henry to make the introduction.

"Claire, this my Mom," Henry said glancing at the brown haired woman next to Emily.

"Ashley. It's so good to finally meet you," Ashley remarked as she reached out with her hand for Claire to shake. Claire did. "I've heard so many great things about you."

"I'm sure not as many as I've heard about all of you," Claire responded with a little chuckle and both Emily and Ashley returned the smile. As soon as the introduction is over, a man made his way up, pushing between both Ashley and Emily, slinging his arms around both their shoulders.

"And this is my Dad," Henry said laughing at the look both his Mom's gave the man as he got between them.

"Hi Claire," Will said reaching out and shaking her hand as well. "So nice to meet you."

"You too Mr. LaMontagne."

"Oh please, call me Will. Mr. LaMontagne is such a mouthful," he said with a hearty laugh and a thick accent that surprised Claire.

"I'll try to remember that," Claire responded matching his laugh with her own as Emily and Ashley did the same.

Henry had dragged her instantly to a group gathered at the table nearby and four new sets of eyes instantly found hers.

"Everyone, this is Claire," Henry said as they approached. "Claire, this is..." he started but was cutoff by a brightly dressed blonde who stood up from her chair and pulled the younger girl into a very tight hug. As soon as it ended, she pulled back to look at her.

"I'm Penelope," Garcia remarked smiling with her whole face. "You are just beautiful sugar."

"Aunt Pen!" Henry shouted. "Please don't freak her out already."

"It's fine," Claire says with a laugh as she finds the blonde's eyes again. "It's great to meet you. I've heard nothing but amazing things about you."

"Well, I do take my fairy godmother role very seriously," she responds with a grin and a wink. Claire shifted her eyes to meet the dark man sitting next to her.

"You must be Uncle..." Claire stopped, unsure of which uncle it was sitting there.

"Derek," Morgan responded, sticking out his hand to shake hers. She does. "Nice to meet you."

"And this is Sarah and her husband Roy," Henry explained pointing at the other two adults sitting there. "Sarah was my nanny when I was younger."

"Oh yeah! Hi," Claire said remembering all the stories she had heard about his time with the woman who had taken care of him when his parents had been gone on cases or working.

The group made small talk for a few minutes before Claire is once again led to the other corner of the kitchen where the remaining guests stand chatting away.

"Guys, this is Claire," Henry made the introduction as they appeared in front of the men.

"Hi Claire, I'm Uncle Dave," Rossi said first reaching out to shake the young girl's hand.

"I'm Uncle Aaron," Hotch said next doing the exact same.

"Uncle Spencer," Reid said when her eyes finally landed on him. Claire's smile instantly grew.

She had heard stories about all of them. Every single one. But a majority of the stories were about the man she now found herself in front of. She knew that all of these people were important to Henry. That they all cared about him as if he were their own child. But she knew that Henry and Spencer had a bond like no other and that if anyone's opinion of her there mattered, it was going to be his.

"The godfather," Claire said while smiling at him. She had been told on numerous occasions that he was not the hand shaking type so she didn't offer the gesture his way.

"The one and only," Spencer remarked. "It's great to meet you."

"It's really great to meet you too," Claire responded. "All of you," she said again, glancing around the room to all the individuals she had just put names to faces to for the first time. "I've heard so many things."

"Not all true," Rossi said quickly shaking his head and getting a laugh from the other men around her. "Unless you heard good things. In that case, most definitely true."

"All good," Claire reassured the older man who nods.

Claire glanced around the room another time before finding Henry's eyes with her own.

"You alright?" he asked her.

"Yeah, it's just, I've never been around this many people who have guns strapped to them before," Claire replied noticing that over half the people in the kitchen have a holster strapped to their side.

Sarah, Henry's former nanny, walked over at that moment and giggled at her comment, placing a soft hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, it used to totally freak me out too," she said to Claire referencing her statement about the guns in the room. "You think this is scary, you should see them all get called in on a case. I've never seen people move so fast in my life!"

"I can imagine!" Claire exclaimed as the others started to chuckle around her.

For the next couple of hours Claire spent time bouncing between the different groups of people.

She talked about vintage cars with Rossi, explaining her grandfather had one he had been trying to restore for years and had stopped when her grandmother had gotten sick. He offered to come by and see what help he could be if she ever wanted it, only to be informed that he lived in Vermont. Claire could see how Henry referred to the man as the 'grandfather' figure of the group.

She spoke with Hotch about his son Jack and what it was like now that he was living away from him in college. He seemed stoic about the situation but Claire could tell he was a proud father who missed his only son, even if he was trying to hide it.

During her conversation with Reid, she had casually mentioned something about Dr. Who and her love of the show and it had instantly started a very in depth conversation about the subject. She had been told that he knew everything there was to know about the subject, but until she heard him going off on one of his statistical rants as Henry had called them, she hadn't been sure anyone could know so much about something.

Her stomach hurt from laughing so hard at Penelope and Morgan quipping back and forth at each other. Penelope would ask a question about Claire's life and Morgan would instantly be down her back for what he called 'interrogating' her. Their bickering was enjoyable to watch and she could see how they were the fun ones that could always make Henry smile.

Sarah and Roy had told her stories about Henry when he was a kid and the trouble he would get into and cause. Claire couldn't help but make a mental note about some of them to use against Henry later to tease endlessly.

They had all moved into the living room after eating and everyone was just enjoying the company of the others. Claire found herself watching the adults around her and her gaze landed on Henry's parents all gathered at the large couch in the center of the room.

JJ lay in the center of the sofa, her head resting back in her wife's lap as Emily mindlessly played with her hair with her free hand and held a beer bottle in the other. The brunette had her legs outstretched in front of her, resting on Will's lap who sat in a large plush chair that had been moved just in front of the couch for the sake of the conversation. He was sipping at his own beer bottle and laughing at the story JJ was telling. Ashley sat on the other side of JJ, her hands resting on JJ's legs which were outstretched in her lap. She had finished her glass of wine, which sat empty at the end table and was laughing at the blonde next to her along with her husband.

"I know, it's kind of weird isn't it?" Henry asked sneaking up behind her and startling her out of her stare. She turned back to see him and offered him a smile.

"I wouldn't say weird. Unique is probably a better word." Henry shrugged. "You are lucky you know. I don't know anyone else in the world that could have four parents, in the situation you have them, that got along as well as yours do."

"She's right, sugar," Penelope said to Henry, coming up beside them and watching the four other adults herself. Finally, she allows a huge smile to come to her face before clapping her hands. "Excuse me!" she shouted. Everyone glanced up to look at the bright blonde in front of them. "It's time for presents if you ask me!"

Everyone seemed to agree and gather around Henry who took the spot JJ had been in before on the couch.

Forty-five minutes, several hundred dollars and a pretty awesome chess board later, it was Will who clapped to get the attention of the group.

"I think your mom's and I have one more gift for you," Will said glancing at his son on the couch. He waved his hand. "Follow me."

Henry stood, pulling Claire who had been sitting next to him with him, following his dad with his three mom's just after. There rest of the group came as well as they made their way to the front yard where a brand new black Jeep Wrangler sat on the driveway.

"Are you serious?" Henry had asked glancing to his dad and then making eye contact with all of his mom's. "This is mine?"

"Yep," Emily replied quickly and Ashley nodded with a huge smile on her face.

"Under some conditions," JJ said, her own smile peeking at the corners of her lips. "You promise me that you'll never have more people than seat belts in the car at a time."

"And that you tell one of us before you go anywhere, every single time, even if it's just down the street," Ashley spoke up from next to the blonde.

"You have to keep your grades up too," Will stated.

"And?" Henry asked, his eyes moving to Emily who was the only parent to not give him a condition yet.

"And every single time we ask you to go to the store, you do it, no questions asked and no complaining," the brunette finished.

"Sounds fair," Henry said practically snatching the keys Will was holding out to him to take. "Can we go for a drive?"

The four all quickly made eye contact with one another before JJ nodded in agreement.

"Sure, just be careful."

Henry had pulled Claire with him to the Jeep, opening the passenger door to let her in and closing it behind her.

They had driven off and Claire now found herself in the silence of the night that she used to feel so familiar with. But after spending the evening with Henry's family, she now couldn't wait for the next time her silence was filled with all the noise, laughter and love that she was surrounded by tonight.

Henry really was lucky and Claire couldn't help but feel lucky herself that she had found him.