After a year of a long distance relationship, Andrew Mendoza and his daughter decided it was best for them both to move to D.C. Keely was having trouble adjusting to that high school but more importantly to the city, Denver was not for her.

After talking to her mother with her father, both adults came to the conclusion that she would finish her first year of high school in Denver and then move back to D.C with her father. Andrew had then asked for a transfer back to the Washington field office.

This news could only make Emily Prentiss, unit chief of the BAU, happy.

This year was difficult for the two lovers : all their free time was spent between Denver and D.C.. Emily would take a few days off here and there so Andrew and Keely could come to D.C and she would fly to Denver when the team knew no cases were in the way. It was hard but they made it work.

During his last visit to D.C before moving back, Andrew had taken his girls with him to find the perfect house. He wanted to find that house where he could see himself end his days.. D.C was his home, Emily was his home.

He hopped that eventually Emily would want to live with him and his daughter but he feared she was not ready for big steps yet.
But god was he wrong and he couldn't love her more after that, even if he wanted to.

After their third house visit in the last two hours, Keely was becoming moody, and Andrew frustrated.

'I can't remember that finding a house was this difficult' Andrew said to the girls.

'Yeah well, it is' replied Emily, knowing full well the struggle.

'Since you are helping us, we all could move in together, the three of us' Keely said.

'Keely, i don't think..' tried Andrew but Emily stopped him before he could say more 'I've been thinking about it, at first I could only come up with why we shouldn't, but maybe we should, find that house and all..'

Andrew just stood there, too shocked to move or say anything, while Keely was grinning like a little girl at Christmas.

'Are-Are you sure ?' asked Andrew.

'Yeah, i mean, we passed all our free time together, and it's been like that for a year now... we could at least try' replied Emily.

'I'm in! Let's go, we still have a a lot of houses to see' Keely exclaimed.

3 visits later, they were in Dupont Circle, a neighborhood Emily knew well.

'I love it, wow' said Keely.

'I can't believe it..' murmured Emily at the same time.

'What ?' asked Andrew.

'I almost bought a house here, next street actually.. but then I moved to London' Emily answered.

'Well' replied Andrew, taking her hand in his and letting Keely go first, 'let's see what this one has for us'

'Yeah, let's go' Emily said.

This was 5 years ago. They were still living in this four bedrooms house they love so much, the one in Dupont Circle.
A few things changed during this time : Emily became the section chief of the BAU, Andrew tho, was still the head of the Washington field office and Keely was now at Yale studying criminal justice.

Andrew and Emily were also blessed by a baby girl four years ago. Alexie Hazel Mendoza. Emily was already a great stepmother, actually Keely had chosen to go to Yale thanks to Emily, so it all made sense for Emily to be an amazing mother.

This pregnancy was unplanned and extremely risky due to her age but everything went fine and in the end they couldn't dream for a better daughter.

Lexi, as they called her, was a little Emily. Her face just screams Emily, she has dark soft curly hair, but the skin and sweetness of her father. She loves her big sister as much as her big sister loves her, she adores her dada but in the end, she's a mama's girl. From the moment the screaming baby was placed on her mama's chest to this day, the bond that they share just continued to grow.

Being the section chief means that Emily was traveling far less than when she was unit chief. She still goes on cases with the team, a case a month, but that was it. JJ became the new unit chief as Emily's request. Rossi also retired while Emily was pregnant, but was still a consultant for the team. She was able to be the one to go get Lexi at daycare, while Andrew was the one taking her to daycare.

It was Friday and the team plus Emily just came back from a case in Los Angeles. It was after 4 in the afternoon when the jet landed and Emily knew she had missed picking up time. But when she made JJ unit chief, she promised herself to help JJ with paper work so they could both be present for their families. It was 4:30pm when the team and the two chiefs made it to the bullpen and their respective office. Emily has wanted to keep her unit chief office so JJ had agreed to take Rossi's instead. The case had been hard on everyone, but on the two mothers especially. Little girls and boys were found dead after being tortured and raped. All Emily and JJ wanted to do was to go home to be with their kids. What she didn't know was that Emily was going to find her lover with their daughter playing with Penelope in the debrief room.

'Hey, look who's here' JJ said with joy in her voice.

Everyone looked up towards the room

'What..' came from Emily. The team entering the debrief room at the same time.

'Mama!' Lexi said upon seeing her mother 'Hey baby' said Emily, while taking the little girl in her arms. 'I missed you so much my little Tesoro' 'I missed you more mama' came from Lexi

'Well i hope I was missed too' Andrew said making everyone laugh.
'I missed you too my love' said Emily just a few seconds before kissing him.

'I thought I would come here after picking this little one from daycare.. Emily said that this case was very difficult' Andrew explained his presence at the BAU.

'Well i can say you did good. I think we all needed to see a happy child right now' offered Luke.

'Yeah, and now we have a ton of paperwork to do' Matt said.

'I think we can have a few days off before we need to debrief and do the final report on this case. Why don't we all go home and meet up here on Monday ?' Said Emily.

'You sure Em ?' Asked Spencer.

'Yeah, I know JJ is the unit chief and that she can decide herself, but I think we all need a break from this case, have a weekend off won't make this paperwork disappear but it's all I can do right now' Emily told the other agents in the room.

'No you're right. Everyone go home, and don't come back here before 9am Monday morning' JJ said.

From the moment they put their feet in their house, Lexi wouldn't let go of her mama, and to be fair, Emily didn't have the heart to let go of her baby either. While Andrew was making dinner, both mother and daughter were taking a bath together, laughing and playing in the water. Seeing the joy on her daughter's face, Emily couldn't help herself but think about those kids they weren't able to save during that case, and it made her heart break just a little more imagining her little girl instead of them. She would do everything to protect her family. Lexi and Keely would always be her priority but she couldn't forget Andrew, the man who made her love life again, who gave her a family other than the team. He made her a stepmom first and then a mother. She was forever grateful for having him in her life.

That night, they ended up, all three of them, in the same bed. Andrew spooning his girls and Lexi lying in her mother's arms, with her head on her chest, a favorite position for both mother and daughter, and this since Alexie was a baby.

At this moment, Emily just thought about what her life would have been if she hadn't put her insecurities aside six years ago while on this case in Denver. She probably wouldn't have Andrew in her life anymore, so no Keely and no Alexie, and that was something she couldn't see. She couldn't live without them, they were her world.

'I love you, Andrew. So much'.
'I love you too, Em'.