Indeed, Amaya was initiating a video call.

Will answered swiftly.

"Mom!" he greeted her.

Amaya smiled at his joy. "Hi, son. It's awfully quiet on your end."

"Yours, too." Will walked to his home theater and made himself comfortable in his easy chair. "Is Jubilation asleep?"

"Yes. Your sister takes joy in the littlest things. I watched her watch the rain for a few minutes. When I came back to check on her, I found that she hadn't left her perch. I was gone for fifteen minutes. Jubilation was utterly mesmerized by the water."

Will smiled fondly. "Jubilation sounds amazing."

"She totally is. How has your day been?"

"If I had to pick a word, it'd be 'nonstop.' Right now... I'm just happy to be home for the night. Michael's asleep. JJ and Henry are upstairs."

"That sounds nice." Amaya said. "I want to know all kinds of things and I know I can't ask about the case, I have one matter that's made me curious."

"Go for it." Will told her.

Amaya knit her brow. "Are you really not mad at me? You didn't just say that because of who all was in the office?"

"I meant every word." Will said in earnest. "I was just so little. How could I be mad?"

"Hm. A lot of children of divorce become angry. I'm impressed that you aren't now." Amaya remarked. "What was your like when you were growing up?"

"Dad literally never said your name. I think he also got rid of any picture of you."

"Nope." sad Amaya. "That was me. I took them because your father would've burned them, just to be petty."

"I'm sorry." Will said automatically.

"There is absolutely nothing for you to apologize about. Senior was the architect of his own destruction." Amaya said in a firm tone. "I mean it. You must have questions. Go ahead and ask them."

Will's first question out of the gate was a big one. "Mom, did you want me?"

"Yes. William, I wanted so badly to take you away with me."

"Then why didn't you?" he asked.

Amaya briefly rubbed her left temple with her free hand. "Surely you've noticed that I'm younger than I look."

Will tried not to laugh. "The fact that you've adult children in their forties and twenties, as well as a toddler is a major giveaway."

"So then how old do you think I am?"

Will squirmed in his chair. "Give me a hint? I don't want to overshoot the mark."

Amaya actually laughed. "I'm not in my sixties."

"Then… fifty-five?" Will asked after a beat.

"Also impressive. The correct number is fifty-six. Senior was a lot older than me. Everything was legal because it was a different time, and his marrying me was akin to an act of charity. I would have otherwise been homeless."

"Then was any of it real? Please tell me it was."

"All of it was always real. There was even a period of bliss, but that part just ended too soon. What I getting at now is that Senior never played age card. Except for one time."

Will had a bad feeling about what Amaya was going to say. "It was when you left, huh?"

"Yes." Amaya said. "He didn't have to say it, but we both knew that he was playing the age card. Your father wouldn't let me take you."

Will frowned. "Then did you know about Virginia yet?"

"Yes. I almost didn't tell your father about her. All I wanted to get out. Your father just had to get his last licks in, though: he forbade me from coming back because he said it would just confuse you."

"To which you said...?"

"That I would come back into your life someday."

"Now you have." Will quipped. "Because of Emily."

"Mhm." Amya nodded. "I love her. That woman is very charming."

Amaya studied her son. It was time to change topics.

"How did you meet Emily?" she asked.

Will gave a nervous laugh. "I first met Emily and JJ on the same day."

"Indulge your mother. Please."

"It was because of work." Will began. "The way that their unit operates is that they can't go to another jurisdiction to officially investigate unless they're invited in by the local authorities. In this instance, that was me. And... this was the case that dad died for."

Amaya made a surprised sound. "Oh. How...?"

"I'm going to save that story for when I can tell you in person." Will said seriously. "Trust me on that one."

"Okay. I will." Amaya decided. "Go on with your tale."

Will cleared his throat in an attempt to get back on track. "The BAU showed up to my precinct, but Emily wasn't a blip on my radar past a professional sense."

Amaya smirked. "But JJ was?"

"All the way. JJ is the best I've ever had, and we are each other's first loves. We went to a bar for our first outing. The rest after that is history."

"Perfect."

Will sighed yet again. "Remember when Emily said to you that she's got stories that you should only hear when you have alcohol in your system?"

Amaya showed him a glass of wine that she had within reach. "Yes. Why? What has she done?"

"The short version there is that she kept me from dying an explosive death on the longest day of my life."

"Excuse me, son?!" Amaya sputtered.

"It's the truth." Will said calmly. "JJ and I would both be dead without Emily."

"And now I want to hug her." Amaya studied her son again. "There's another thing, too, huh? It's all over your face."

That 'other thing' was the unique bond that existed between himself, JJ, and Emily. But Will didn't want to tell his mother now. She deserved to be eased into it.

"Yes." he finally said. "I have no words to describe the friendship I have with Emily. She'll probably say something similar if you ask."

"Okay, then. How did you meet Virginia? That's a conundrum I've been pondering all day."

Will chuckled. "Again, I defer you to Emily. She talked about Virginia so much after their first meeting that JJ eventually got Emily to ask her around for dinner."

Amaya arched an eyebrow at this last part. "Explain what you mean."

"Em's being staying with us for awhile. You'll have to get the details of her." replied Will. "But back to the point: when Virginia and I were finally in the same room, it felt like a missing part of my life had shown up. I love my sister so much."

Amaya's heart swelled with affection. "That makes me so happy."

"Good." Will approved. "JJ and I told Henry about you and the rest of my sisters tonight."

"How did that go? Did he handle it well?"

Will nodded. "Yes. He's a cool kid and very smart. And..."

"Yes?" Amaya prompted.

"Not only is Henry highly intelligent, but we think he might actually be a genius. He's also really gifted." Will cleared his throat again. "But I digress. Henry understood what we said and he is thrilled about everything."

"Thank the stars he took it so well. Does he know that Virginia is a novelist?"

"Yep. That is also another story..."

He paused, choosing his words carefully again.

"Have you known Zion his entire life?" he asked.

"Indeed." Amaya responded.

"Then you have to have noticed that Zion looks exactly like I did at that age."

"Yes. He looks like your clone. Tell me how this leap was made."

Will shook his head. "First tell me while you never even told Virginia why her son looks like me."

"A quote by Robert Brault comes to mind. He said, 'Worse than telling a lie is spending your life staying true to a lie.' That's what happened to me."

"Oh, no..." Will sympathized.

"I think about that every time I see Zion." admitted Amaya. "Now I've really got some explaining to do to everyone else."

"Yes." Will paused a beat to think again. "JJ and I have our differences in who we are as people, but we're also more alike than everyone realizes."

"You did call JJ your best friend. What are you talking about in this instance?"

"My wife is also a child of divorce. Her story is very long and so sad." said Will. "But when we were officially exclusive, we decided that we would document our life together in photographs."

"That's a good outlook." Amaya praised. "Very healthy."

"All of this is to say that I kept all of the photo albums dad had in the house, including the ones dad made of me as a kid. We've all been looking through them because I recently made the choice to find you."

"Has there been anything in particular that you've been looking at?"

"My baby pictures. Almost every day." Will told his mother. "The leap happened on the day Virginia came over. Emily was already babysitting him, and they came to the house early. It was kind of crazy. At least that's what JJ said. I wasn't there."

"What did she and the boys do when they saw Zion?"

"JJ dropped her groceries. The boys both stopped and stared. All three of them saw the resemblance between Zion and myself at once."

Amaya was back to rubbing her temple. "What about you?"

"It felt like my heart left my body when I saw Zion, but I kept my cool because I didn't want to freak him out."

Amaya shook her head. "Why is our family like this? Please tell me what Zion said. He's extremely observant."

"JJ said she showed Emily my childhood picture from one of the photo albums, from when I was the same age that Zion is now. He saw it. And asked if that was a snap of him."

Amaya hadn't been expecting that. "Is your life ever quiet?"

"Not since the day I met JJ and Emily. At least I've been enjoying every second."

"Excellent. Happiness is all I've ever wanted for you. Looks like all my lighting of church candles over the years worked."

Things were quiet between mother and son again for a few more moments.

But Amaya soon spoke again after have a bit of her wine.

"So. Henry knows about Virginia and what she does. He knows about me. Does he know about my occupation?"

"He does, and he also knows that you're a doctor."

"Good. And you said he's sharp. What did he say when you told him that one of my specialties is mathematics?"

"He geeked out because it blew his mind." Will said cheekily. "JJ and I have already learned a math gift runs on both sides of the family."

Amaya felt amused. "Let me guess—one of JJ's parents taught math?"

"Correct. JJ's old man is a retired geometry professor. Henry was in orbit when we told him that you work at the chocolate factory."

"Kids dream of a grandparent that will give them candy. I actually make it."

"Henry is a fan of your chocolate magma bars. We give them to him on special occasions, and now that he knows who makes them... he's probably going hit us up. Or you."

"He is my oldest grandchild." Amaya said coyly. "Don't think I'm not going to spoil him or his brother when I meet them."

Will capitulated. "Not gonna argue there. Michael is too little to understand what's going on. Just be his friend."

"Noted." Amaya said as she made a mental note to start putting toy baskets together for her new grandchildren.

"And Henry is extremely impressed with you. But the crowning jewel in his opinion is that your hair is turquoise."

Again, Amaya arched an eyebrow. "That was your boy's takeaway?"

Will shrugged. "Henry's ten. At the moment, he's upstairs with JJ, trying to decide what color to dye his hair. You inspired him."

"I'm positively flattered." Amaya ran her fingers through her long tresses. "Your father was a brunette. He's where you got your hair color from, but my natural hair color is black."

This information put Will into a surprised loop. "Really? I saw in a picture that Jubilation is blond, but your hair is actually black?"

"Yes. I promise you it is. The rest of your adult sisters like to color their hair, but all of them are blond. Genes inherited from their fathers' families." A new thought popped into Amaya's head. "Has Virginia told you that Zion isn't your only nephew?"

"She hasn't, but can you blame V? Poor thing has had a lot on her mind."

Amaya laughed. "Isn't that the truth? Phoenix and Lilith both have sons, too."

"Whoa." said Will in surprise. "No daughters yet?"

"Zilch. You and JJ would be the first one to break the spell if your twins are girls. Virginia could also break it. I know she wants another baby."

Amaya paused here. She'd had a feeling already that Will, JJ, Emily, and Virginia were each working to keep a secret from her. But what? Maybe Will would slip.

To the man's credit, he didn't flinch.

"Kids are a joy. Maybe there will be baby girls coming to the family this year." Will finally said. "I can't wait until we meet everyone."

"They're going to love you and your family." Amaya showed him her crossed fingers. "Let's will it into the universe."

"It'll happen." Will suddenly felt like a shy little boy. "Can I call you again tomorrow night?"

Amaya gave her son a look of motherly love. "Sure. I'd really love that."

Will gave a relieved exhale. "Okay, great."

"It was really wonderful to talk to you, William. I love you."

Will's heart felt happy. It was wonderful to actually have memories of his mother saying those three words to him. And he knew that she meant it.

So he was able to be totally honest in his answer. "I love you, too, mom. Have a good night."

"Same back at you." Amaya returned.

Both ended their calls at the same time.

Will sat his tablet aside and rose to his feet, stretching. He and Amaya had spoken for awhile.

But the next part of his agenda was clear.

It was time to hang out with his family.