"Hi Emily," a familiar voice said, obviously assuming she was speaking with the brunette.

"No, this is her wife Jennifer. Who is this?" JJ asked then saw Emily walk into the kitchen. "Excuse me one moment," she said into the phone then continued, "Here Em."

Emily accepted the phone assuming it was work and made her way back out of the room, "This is Emily."

The woman on the other line laughed a bit, it seemed like anytime she called the brunette she ended up hearing from or dealing with the blonde in some respect also. "Hi Emily, this is Sophia."

Emily had already excused herself and went into her father's office to take the call—of course the minute she had closed the door though the woman said her name and Emily realized she wouldn't be in the office long.

"How are you, Sophia?"

"Oh, you know," and it was true, Emily understood the job. "If I'm being honest, I didn't know if I should call you or not. You and Jennifer take having your hands full to another level. You haven't requested to be taken out of the system though, unless…"

"You're right, Sophia," Emily assured. She could sense the apprehension in the woman's voice causing her mind to race not only about what she had, but what Jen would think as well as the children. "Go ahead, tell me about the little one."

"Actually, she's not as little as you're used to," Sophia said. "We were called in by her school when she showed up with signs of abuse. Her mother died in childbirth, and she was raised by a single father. I'm not really sure what caused the change in him, nobody has been able to get her to open up which made me think of you and Jennifer. She has no other family, she's a very sweet little girl who is a bit lost. If you ask me, I believe it's been extra hard on her not having a mother in her life."

Emily's eyes welled with tears as Sophia spoke because it reminded her of how she grew up. Sure she had nannies however, Emily oftentimes felt uncomfortable in her own skin and very isolated. When you move around all the time it's hard to make friends which meant she couldn't even gravitate towards her friend's parents.

"How old is she?" Emily asked.

"13."

Emily's tears finally fell when she heard the age because that's such a difficult time in a young girl's life, especially when they don't have anyone looking out for them. Emily thought about her children and couldn't imagine them not having someone in their lives.

"Let me speak with Jen, can I call you right back?"

"Of course, I look forward to your call Emily."

She took a deep breath to compose herself then went to find the blonde.

Emily relayed the information and watched the array of emotions pass over her wife's face. Since Emily opened up the first night JJ came over to her place, the brunette has continued telling her wife things about her childhood.

JJ understood why this little girl was getting to Emily, she felt similarly when Amelia came into their lives although, JJ wasn't thinking about her childhood she was seeing a young Emily sitting in front of her in Amelia.

"7 kids," JJ said, more to help herself process things than anything else.

"Never enough," Emily said with a slight shrug.

She truly thought six was their cut off understanding Jen's need to carry a child and her want to try again if she wasn't carrying a boy however, that first night with the twins sparked something in Emily causing her to change her mind.

While JJ listened to Emily telling Brynley and Brooks their story, her thoughts also changed and she thought maybe they'd adopt again when the twins were older. Well, now they were older, and the question was being posed…yes or no?

"Never enough," JJ agreed.

The mothers left the kids with their parents and headed to Sophia's office where the little girl was. They've now had Sophia bring a child to their home, met Sophia in the FBI building with another, met Sophia at the hospital for a third and were now meeting at Sophia's office for a fourth.

"Wait!" JJ nearly yelled causing Emily to pull over on the side of the road so she could focus on her wife. JJ turned around in the car and pointed as she whispered to herself then breathed a sigh of relief. "Nevermind, I'm good."

"You were counting the seats, weren't you?" Emily asked feeling relieved something wasn't actually wrong.

"I was. You know how we always say never enough," JJ asked rhetorically because of course her wife knew. "Well, I think seven is our enough because we literally won't have any more seats in our Suburban's."

"No kidding," Emily said. She had already thought about their cars while on the phone with Sophia. When JJ was pregnant with the twins, they upgraded their cars to the extra-long suburban's meaning their cars held nine passengers—Amelia and Oliver were still in booster seats and then they had four car seats.

Lily and Oakley would graduate into booster seats when they were 7 per the national highway traffic safety administration although, because all the Prentiss children were off the charts small, most likely longer.

"It's great to see you," Sophia smiled when she saw the mothers arrive. Gosh she wished all the foster parents were like the Prentiss women—since placing Oakley with them she has tried to find other parents who lived up to the Prentiss standard. I mean, goodness this would be the fourth child they were thrilled to adopt.

"You as well, Sophia," Emily said with a smile. They spoke for a few minutes and then she led the women into the children's interview room where the little girl was sitting.

When the women walked in, they saw a little brunette sitting in the corner holding onto an older looking blanket and some type of stuffed animal. "Clarke," Sophia said. "I have some people who are here to meet you, honey."

The little girl finally looked up and the mother's hearts broke seeing her tear-stricken face—she reminded them a lot of Oakley who not only also had a tear-stricken face when coming to them but also brown hair and green eyes.

Emily sat down in the chair next to the little girl and greeted her first as JJ stood behind her wife. "Hi Clarke, I'm Emily and this is my wife, Jennifer."

Clarke looked into Emily's eyes then up at JJ when she heard the word wife. Emily could tell this was going to be another one of those situations where the child connected with her first and felt badly for her wife, it wasn't her fault though, it was just the way the cookie crumbled.

Oliver bonded with JJ first, and technically Oakley did too until her first episode. If Emily had to guess, she had a feeling the girls bonded with her first because she looked like someone they were attempting to replace the same way Oliver felt regarding JJ. It didn't truly matter though because all their children love their mothers equally, Emily is just home with them though. JJ also felt better about things after many conversations with Hotch and the birth of the twins.

"So, does that mean you don't have scary men?" Clarke whispered.

JJ stood there a bit confused however, Emily understood. "No honey," she reassured. "Jen and I are married to one another, not another man."

Ahh, that's what she meant JJ thought then found herself feeling sad for the little girl. She, like Emily and Sophia, wondered what changed in Clarke's father to make him start abusing her. Things weren't super clear, they didn't think she had been sexually abused however, nobody had a straight answer.

Sophia was called because Clarke showed up to school with bruising all over her arms, stomach and a cut on her face. She tried to lie telling the teacher and guidance counselor she fell down the stairs at home however, it was evident from the handprint bruises on her arms that wasn't the case.

Sophia knew Clarke would most likely be the last placement Emily and Jennifer accepted and felt extremely lucky at the cases she was able to give them. Oakley was the first child she worked with out of college, Amelia needed two women more than anything especially ones that would care for her in a way she'd never experienced before, Oliver was the sweetest little one who desperately needed love, and Clarke…she maybe needed them most.

Clarke's eyes welled with tears and she fell into Emily's arms; the brunette caught her easily and scooped her up and into her lap comforting her as she cried. JJ squeezed Emily's shoulder letting her know she was going to start signing the paperwork with Sophia and the brunette nodded in response.

"Shh, shh, shh, I've got you sweet girl."

"I swear you two have the magic touch," Sophia said to JJ.

"Emily sure does, I try my best."

"Oh please. I think sometimes you forget I've seen you with your children."

"Thank you. I'm assuming you've already taken Clarke to the hospital, right?"

"I did," she nodded. "Nothing was broken, they also checked her for internal bleeding and she received the all clear. I've tried to get her to open up but haven't been successful. I know you and Emily will be able to though."

"You sure do have a lot of faith in us," JJ said with a laugh.

"I have a right to, look at how well your children are doing."

JJ smiled. Sophia was right, her babies were all doing extremely well. Sure they've had their ups and downs, even exposed them to more trauma due to their crazy life however, it seems to only have made them stronger somehow.

While Sophia and JJ were talking, Emily told Clarke about their family. She knew it was a lot to take in especially considering it was almost Christmas which meant even more of their family would be there—the Prentiss family alone was big, imagine coming into a home and gaining six instant siblings.

Clarke seemed excited about it though and showed Emily her first genuine smile. She was very similar to Amelia and Oliver in the sense that she came from a very isolated and lonely home so the thought of having someone to always be there and play with appealed to her.

Emily was twirling some of her curls and said, "Your hair is exactly like our oldest daughters with these beautiful curls."

It was evident Clarke didn't know how to tame or style her gorgeous curls, something Emily was very good at. As she got older, Emily's curls were less defined, however, as a child she had very curly hair and thanks to Fiona knew exactly what to do with them.

"Really? I'm not really good at doing my hair because umm, nobody ever taught me…"

JJ chose that moment to walk back into the room and smiled, "Than it's a good thing you'll now have your own personal stylist."

Clarke looked up at JJ with a confused face and the blonde continued, "Emily does all our girl's hair each day, she can do any hairstyle you want honey."

After making sure it was okay by Clarke, Emily then went out to sign the paperwork and JJ got to tell the little girl about the activities their kids do to see if she was interested in any of them or something new.

It was made clear that activities weren't something her dad allowed, however, it didn't stop the wants she had. Clarke too wanted to dance just like Amelia, Oakley and Lily. She wasn't sure about soccer, something Oliver loved—Amelia also liked it the first year she played but then she switched to gymnastics with Ayla and Parker instead.

JJ knew her hopes of being a soccer mom was lost on Amelia however, thought she could most likely get Oakley to love it and hopefully Brooks as well. She knew Lily was going to follow Amelia with her love for dance and gymnastics because that's just who she was. And with JJ's luck, Brynley would most likely as well leaving her with Oliver, Brooks and maybe Oakley.

Clarke thought it was funny how much JJ wanted her kids to love soccer and didn't. She had honestly never played so who knows, maybe she would be on team JJ.

Sophia waved after they got into their car feeling very bittersweet knowing it was most likely the end of the Prentiss name being on her list. They were an incredible family and she felt very privileged to get to work with them.

Clarke, unlike Oakley, Amelia and Oliver came with three bags of clothes. Whether or not they truly fit her was unknown to the mothers, however, based on the clothes she was wearing they felt confident shopping could wait until tomorrow.

Normally they would have no problem taking her out to shop now but it was much later in the day than when the other three came to them so the mothers decided tomorrow would be fine. Plus, between their own closet and Amelia's they were certain Clarke wouldn't go without tonight and tomorrow.

Amelia's closet had clothes that would fit her for the next two years in it, meaning, all different sizes because it was possible with the medication she was on for her thyroid that she could have a random growth spurt. It had yet to happen, however, the mothers preferred to be prepared for everything and because of this, Clarke could easily fit into a fourth of Amelia's wardrobe.

When Emily looked in the rearview mirror she saw Clarke mouthing something to herself and quirked an eyebrow. Because she was focused on the road, it took her a bit longer to decipher what she was doing and smiled when she figured it out. Clarke was repeating the names of the six children over and over again.

"It's okay if you can't remember everyone's names, honey," Emily said, startling Clarke. She briefly wondered how Emily knew what she was thinking before trying to cover it up.

JJ also chimed in once her wife spoke, "Seriously, they won't take offense Clarke. I'm their mother and get their names wrong constantly."

"We both do," Emily added. My gosh, the number of times she's called the wrong child's name out was embarrassing.

"There are a lot of them," Clarke giggled.

"You're right, there are a lot of them," JJ laughed.

Twenty minutes later they pulled up to the biggest house Clarke had ever seen and her mouth dropped open. Emily bit her lip to prevent a laugh from escaping, this face was one she had seen many, many times before.

JJ made it seeing Emily's old house which was tiny compared to the estate they live in now, she made it a second time seeing the estate, Oakley was too young to process it, Amelia and Oliver made the same face though. Emily and JJ also knew Clarke would make it again seeing where she was going to live because the estate was much bigger than the elder Prentiss mansion.

"Your mom and dad live here?" Clarke said, shutting the car door.

"They do."

"Do they have other people who live here too?"

"No honey," Emily responded.

"Well, the staff has one wing of the house," JJ added.

"Staff?" Clarke questioned.

"Remember how I told you my mom was an ambassador?" Emily asked and Clarke nodded. "Part of her job meant having a staff who works for her and my dad and when she stepped down, she kept them on."

Emily knew Clarke didn't fully understand, however, she also knew within a few days of living with the Prentiss family she would. Amelia and Oliver were the same way and now that they fully understood, Emily knew they'd help explain things to Clarke in their own way. The only staff they have are Graiden, Melissa and the housekeepers Maria, Ellen and Sarah who come once a week unlike her mother who has someone for every part of her life.

"Ready to meet everyone, sweetie?"

"Yeah."

When Emily opened the door, she laughed seeing Lily run by her in just mermaid underwear followed by Allen who was chasing after her. She didn't know how or why Lily was naked however, she wasn't surprised. Out of all her children, Lily was their little spitfire wild child who kept them on their toes.

"I've got her, Allen," they then heard Elizabeth call out.

While they were still in the foyer the trio then saw Oakley run by yelling, "You not gonna find me, Lia!"

Hide and seek was one of the kid's favorite games when at grandma and grandpas because at home, they knew the typical hiding spots unlike at their grandparents. Oliver quickly ran by next, and the mothers were curious if any of them would actually notice they were back with another child or not.

"Wow," Clarke said, clearly overwhelmed by the house and the crazy children running around. When you come from a home where it's literally just you and an absent parent there's rarely ever any noise, the Prentiss home is the exact opposite.

The grandparents absolutely loved hearing the children play, it was something the Jareaus were used to because they had five little ones themselves, the Prentiss's though, it was a huge culture shock to them. It took a bit of time and to be honest, they were relieved the children didn't all come at once because it gave them time to adjust.

Emily asked one more time if Clarke was ready and then called out, "We're back. Where are my babies?"

"Timeout!" Amelia said in response. "Oakley, Oliver, timeout on the game, mommy and momma are back!"

She was the first one in the foyer and went right up to Clarke with a huge smile on her face. "Hi, I'm Amelia and I'm eleven. What's your name?"

"I'm—"

Before Clarke could answer Oliver and Oakley came running in followed by Lily who now had her shirt on but no pants. "Hi, I'm Oliver."

"I'm Oakley."

"Me Wily! Mommy pip me up pwease," Lily said, making grabby hands at Emily.

"Where are your pants, bug?"

"Me dunno!" Lily said with a shrug causing the kids to laugh.

The grandparents were standing in the doorway watching the interaction, they figured it was best to have the little girl meet her new siblings first before bombarding her.

"Babies, this is Clarke," JJ said as she situated Oakley on her hip.

"I'm nine, how old are you?" Oliver questioned.

"I'm six!" Oakley announced which made Lily speak up as well. "Me free," she said, holding up four fingers.

"No bug," Emily corrected, "This is three. You're almost four though."

"I'm thirteen," Clarke said softly.

"We were playing hide and seek, wanna play with us? We can show you around then you can help me find everyone, or you can hide too. You can help Lily," Amelia said the last part in only a whisper so Lily wouldn't hear.

Emily quickly checked her watch and then said, "I think after Clarke meets your grandparents and the twin's dinner should be ready babies."

This sparked something in Lily, and she started wiggling around in Emily's arms, "Gamma, gampa dare mommy!" she said, pointing towards the doorway where the four of them were standing. Gerald and Sandy were holding the twins as Elizabeth and Allen were chasing Lily before the mothers entered the house.

"They are right there, bug. How about we put you in some pants before dinner," Emily said to Lily.

As the little girl started to protest, Emily gave JJ a look and the kids ran up to their grandparents as JJ who was still holding Oakley and Clarke followed.

"No mommy," Lily whined.

"Lily bug, why don't you want to put your pants on?"

"Be'tause dey no have mewmaids on dem mommy," Lily said very matter of factly. Emily didn't know what to say to that because she was right, they didn't. "Wook, me undies have dem, dey right dare!" Lily said, pointing to the mermaids.

As a mother of six, Emily knew which battles were worth fighting and this wasn't one of them. To be honest, she really didn't care if Lily wanted to run around in her t-shirt and underwear. It's not as if they were going anywhere and the house was plenty warm.

"Hi Clarke, I'm grandma Sandy, JJ's mommy," Sandy said with a smile.

"We just call her grandma though," Amelia chimed in.

"Amelia's right honey. We're both grandma," Sandy said, signaling between herself and Elizabeth.

"And they're both grandpa," Oliver said pointing to Gerald and Allen.

"Grandma is holding," Amelia paused for a minute because after Brook's blowout it was made clear the diaper bag only had clothes typically Brynley would wear. "Brooks, which means grandpa is holding Brynley. They are identical but normally they have different clothes on so you can tell."

"Blowout?" JJ asked and Sandy nodded.

"That happens a lot," Oliver giggled.

Clarke smiled when the grandparents lowered themselves so Clarke could see the twins, they were really cute. If she didn't know better, she would have thought Emily had Amelia and Oakley in her tummy like Lily and that JJ had Oliver in her tummy because they looked exactly like the mothers. Clarke didn't realize that she too also looked like Emily the way the mothers and grandparents immediately did.

"Seems like someone lost the pants battle," Allen commented when Emily came into the living room with Lily.

"It wasn't worth battling a t-i-r-e-d 3 year old," Emily said, spelling out the word tired because she knew if Lily heard it she would deny being sleepy. Her nap wasn't as long as it normally was and Emily knew bedtime would be earlier tonight for her little bug.

"Jenny was the same way as a little one."

"Mom!" JJ protested.

"What honey? It's true."

The kids laughed at their mother's expense and JJ wore the cutest blush on her cheeks that Emily loved so much. "My little rebel," Emily winked.

"Oh, don't get me started," JJ teased her wife.

Just then Cindy told Elizabeth that dinner was ready, and the family made their way into the dining room. It was clear to Clarke that Emily and JJ handled serving the children and she waited not wanting to disrupt a system the mothers so clearly had down.

Emily asked Clarke if there was anything she didn't like that was being served and got a lot of I don't knows in response, something that happened when Amelia and Oliver came to them as well. When you don't have a parent looking after you or making meals, you just find whatever to eat that you can.

To much surprise, Clarke loved everything on her plate which made Emily confident the only picky eater they were going to have was Lily—no surprise there.

Oh Lily bug, she was pure Emily through and through.