"…what am I going to tell them?" Gerald whispered into the phone once he and Rossi had figured everything out.

"Whatever feels right. I'll keep your secret if that's what you decide…" Rossi promised. He had to admit, this was not how he saw the conversation going, but Gerald was just shocked as he was. And the first thing he thought about was Emily, to which, made Rossi feel best because it showed how much he truly cared about his daughter.

"I can't keep this from them," Gerald blurted out. "But I don't know what's going to happen…"

"Gerald, you had no way of knowing. It's not as if you were hiding this all these years," Rossi said. "I recognize that doesn't help ease all of the pain you're feeling, but it should help some."

"Thank you, Dave."

Gerald knew it wasn't possible to turn back the clock, he had learned that much with Emily, but he has been able to spend a ton of quality time with her and his grandchildren which means the world to him. Hopefully his family will understand, like Dave said, he had no way of knowing.

Gerald took Elizabeth aside first to tell her seeing as she was his wife, then Emily and Hotch together because he thought it would be best. Talking to one before the other in his mind didn't seem right to Gerald with this as once they knew, he didn't want it to come off a certain way. To put it simply, this was all new to him and he was taking a page from his daughters' handbook.

"Dad, what is going on?" Emily asked when the three of them sat down. It had been nearly two hours since handing her father the phone with Rossi on the other line and they had yet to hear anything.

Gerald briefly took the time to look between the two of them and couldn't help but smile. They both had his super dark, almost black hair, brown eyes, the same nose, their cheekbones were similar—even the way they were sitting was nearly identical.

"Dad!" Emily said again, snapping him back into reality.

"Right. Okay," Gerald said, taking a deep breath before beginning because once he did, their lives would forever change. "Emily, before your mother and I got married—" Gerald said, then shook his head back and forth while waving his hand to signal he wasn't satisfied with that. "No, I'm sorry. Before your mother and I even met…this is very difficult."

"You settled for mom?" Emily supplied. Although, she could see it. Her mother was a very forceful person, especially back then; if she wanted something, she got it. It was the Prentiss way.

"No!" Gerald exclaimed. "No. Emily, I love your mother, I do." He rubbed his face with his hands then switched gears a bit. "Aaron, let me ask you this. What do you know about your father?"

"Uhh, my mother always made-up stories about him when I was younger when I asked—" he said, caught off guard by the question. It was true though. His mother had done a year abroad in France during college and became pregnant, she didn't tell Gerald though because he lived there and she didn't. Sophia had come back to the states and had Aaron, and when he asked about his father she told him great stories, never letting him down.

Emily watched the emotions play through on her father's face while Hotch spoke and caught on, interrupting him, "Oh my god! You're not saying…we're…and you didn't…but—"

Gerald and Hotch had never seen Emily so tongue tied before and while one knew why the other was trying to figure out what the heck was going on. Hotch was slowly piecing it together looking between the two of them then it clicked and Gerald started again because he knew it would be best they heard it out loud.

"Before Elizabeth and I married, I was with Sophia—" Gerald said.

"My mother," Hotch interrupted, unintentionally.

"Yes, your mother. And no, I didn't cheat on either of your mothers. I met Elizabeth after Sophia went back to the states," he assured. Gerald wasn't a perfect man by any means, but he would never cheat and didn't want them believing so. "I had no idea she was pregnant with you Aaron. If I had," he said, choking up looking between his two children, because if he had known he wouldn't have had Emily and they knew that.

This was a lot to take in for Emily and Hotch. Of course for Gerald too but the two of them worked together, were together constantly, acted more like siblings than anything else and just found out they were actually were brother and sister. Emily was thinking about how different her life would have been if she had a sibling growing up in the lonely hell hole, and Hotch was thinking if the reality of having Gerald in his life would have been better than his mother's stories from what Emily had told him. While he provided Emily with some of her best memories, he was still a pretty absent parent thanks to Elizabeth controlling his life so Hotch wasn't so sure.

Now though, Gerald was a great guy and the two got along really well—he was very grateful to have him in his life. Hotch was also grateful Jack and Harper had Gerald, Elizabeth, Sandy and Allen in their lives as grandparents because only Hayley had her father; Hotch and Hayley's mothers had passed away leaving the kids with only one grandparent. The four grandparents were always happy to include Jack and Harper though which Hotch and Hayley were very thankful for.

"Holy shit," Emily said, coming out of her thoughts first and looking at her newly found brother.

Hotch raised an eyebrow at her then burst out laughing which caused Emily to laugh as well, something that threw Gerald off completely. If anything, he expected tears, yelling, storming off, basically any reaction but laughter. "Really? Newfound relation and you resort to profanity?" Hotch asked.

"Would you expect anything else from me?"

"Remember that once poised, clearly spoiled, rule follower act you put on when you wanted a job? You couldn't fake that for even a second?"

"Eww gosh, that was the worst. You practically made me beg too, you big asshole," Emily said, giving him a shove. "I had to carry around my box of stuff for three days, that's far from spoiled!"

Hotch laughed thinking about it and Gerald watched on having absolutely no idea what they were talking about. "I had zero paperwork for you," Hotch continued.

"Yeah, well," Emily said with a shrug. They shared a look that said enough—profilers just have that way about them. And more than that, the brother and sister were good. Emily then stood up, went over to her dad and hugged him. "I love you daddy," she said, then kissed his cheek.

Once she left, the two men were able to talk which was good for them. Gerald was able to tell Aaron how he knew he couldn't make up for lost time, but he'd always be there for him going forward and do whatever he could for him. Aaron appreciated it and they had a great conversation, although they had many in the past as well—as similar men in a big family with many, many females, they were able to speak often.

"Momma, do you think we can try and make one at home?" Oakley asked.

"Oh gosh honey, I'm not sure," JJ responded, with wide eyes looking between her daughters and the colosseum. "We should ask grandpa."

"Okay!" she smiled, skipping off towards her grandfather who was up ahead of them.

"What's up Oaks?" he asked, smiling when he saw Lily catch up to them a few steps later. Try as she might, her little legs just couldn't keep up with her big siblings.

"Can you help us make this at home, please?" she asked, pointing towards the colosseum.

"Hmm, we might need to wait until we get home, home girls," Allen said, referring to Fairfax. "I'm not sure we'd be able to find the right materials here," he explained. Allen loved how interested the kids were in building things, whether he taught them how to build something from scratch, or from a kit, they loved it, and he took pride as a contractor.

"We tan doe to da stoah, gwanmpa," Lily assured.

"You're right, Lily. We can check to see if the store has the materials we need, but if not, we can make something else today and the colosseum when we get home, okay?"

"Okay grandpa! What else do you think we can make?" Oakley agreed.

"Umm, gwanmpa—" Lily started to disagree.

"Lily honey, come with me," JJ said, holding out her hand for the little one to take knowing Lily would not be so okay with the art store potentially not having what they needed.

Brynley squealed, kicking her feet and JJ caught a roque foot before it got Lily in the head and she said, "Woah, momma. Bwmwee awmost getted me!"

"I know bug, she did almost get you," JJ agreed, grateful Lily was now distracted.

"Her not a big dirl wike me, momma. Me getta walk," Lily said, dancing around a bit when she said it to show how happy she was about it.

"You're right, my big girl," JJ winked.

"Grandma, you know how there were trap doors." Oliver said, assuming his grandmother knew the history of the monument the way he did then continued his thought. "Wouldn't it be so cool if we had some at our house too? What if they led to like, I don't really know but I'd think of someplace."

Sandy smiled and wrapped an arm around Oliver as they continued walking; she was very proud of her grandchildren for all their hard work in school and the extra studying they had done before visiting certain places. In reality, the kids just wanted to read up a bit on what they'd be doing each day however, the big kids had studied a few monuments already. "I think that would be very cool, Oliver."

"Maybe one could lead to the air and space museum!"

"I don't think you'd ever sleep if that were the case," Sandy mused, knowing it was one of Oliver's favorite places to go.

Oliver shrugged and offered up a small smile to his grandmother who kissed the top of his head because she just couldn't resist, he was too cute for his own good. Sandy saw so much of JJ in Oliver, it was uncanny really—he also had the most piercing green eyes that matched Clarke and Oakley's.

"What other facts can you tell me?" she selfishly asked him. Sandy couldn't help it, she loved hearing things from her grandchildren's perspective because even facts had their own little spin depending on who you asked; different grade levels meant a deeper level of understanding.

"So many!" Oliver answered, then proceeded to tell her more.

"What are you thinking about, honey?" Hayley asked her husband.

They were still at the colosseum, the initial tour was about a half an hour long but the adults figured to look around and appease everyone while not overdoing it, they'd be about three hours. That involved separating into little groups occasionally, although, nobody was ever that far because even when a group walked ahead, the others caught up.

They also switched often, for instance, Hayley pulling Clarke into her little group, or JJ taking Lily, Amelia going with her brothers and uncle, etc. Right now though, Jack was with his cousins and Harper was asleep in Hotch's arms so Hayley felt comfortable speaking freely with him.

"I wish we traveled more when Jack was younger," he said, catching Hayley off guard.

She followed his line of sight and smiled seeing Jack, Oliver, Amelia and Clarke laughing at gosh knows what. The four of them were thick as thieves, and then the boys were even closer than that. They had the most incredible bond, Oliver and Jack were more like brothers than cousins which was great for the both of them because they were surrounded by so many girls.

"I think he's had an incredible childhood so far, Aaron. Jack is a very happy little boy," Hayley said with a smile.

"Do you think he'll remember me being there having fun with him, or always working when he gets older?" Hotch asked, finally making eye contact with his wife.

"Oh Aaron," Hayley said, putting her hand on his cheek. "You're his hero, honey. You protect us from the bad guys and play action figures on the weekends with us. And dress up," Hayley added as an afterthought looking at Harper who was sleeping peacefully in his arms. "What has Jack said since he was 2?"

"I don't know," Hotch mumbled.

"Yes you do, Aaron," Hayley assured him. "Daddy does the best voices, right? Whether reading or playing with toys, daddy's voices are best. Aaron, you've changed so much these past four years. Jack was a little older than Lily is now when you started spending more time with us. Answer this question for me. Do you think Lily will remember having JJ in her life?"

"Of course," he said without any hesitation and then realized what his wife was saying. "Oh. I love you, Hayley."

"I love you too, Aaron. But you didn't exactly answer my question."

"Didn't I?"

"Technically," Hayley said, however, she was looking for a different answer. "How are you doing regarding your new, not new family?"

It's fair to say JJ and Hayley took the news rather similarly. Both went through the same, 'we totally called it' and 'this isn't news to us' conversations where they told their respective spouses the discussions they'd apparently had with one another regarding this exact topic.

And while they each brought up a different mother, Elizabeth and Sophia, in their could you imagine discussions, Gerald could be/was the father in both scenarios. So, Hotch and Emily sat through Hayley and JJ telling them those which was crazy because it was actually true. When the two saw one another after the new found siblings told them, they then had another huge discussion about how right they were from the start.

Ultimately though, the women only cared so much because they loved how a group of people took something so heartbreaking, depressing, scary, tragic, and dangerous in the job they did and turned it into something so rewarding, loving, heartwarming, beautiful, and made it a family. And now, they learned after years of protecting and loving one another as a family that they were truly related.

"I, well—you said it honey," Hotch agreed. "New, not new family. I know when we tell the kids things will change a bit; more for Jack because he will understand. He's already a cousin, Emily's already their aunt, spectacular Saturday's will be new for Jack and Harper when she's ready," Hotch answered.

"Aaron, this isn't just about the kids. You have a sister and a father," Hayley pointed out.

"I know," he said, although if he was being honest with himself, Hayley was right.

It was easier to think about how this would affect the kids. He was an adult now. He didn't want to play catch, or need advice on how to talk to girls, he didn't need help figuring out which school to go to, he was married and had kids of his own.

He was a successful guy and to make the situation even more odd, or maybe easier was his sister and father were people he knew and loved already. Hotch knew it made things much better, but the uncomfortable part about it was in the explanation/finding out. He also knew he was making it a bigger deal than it was because kids don't care about things like this that much and the team would be happy for them.

"Dad!" Jack called out, putting an end to the discussion. "Auntie Emily said I can have lobster on my pasta," he continued, running towards them with Oliver on his heels.

"We're both gonna have it," Oliver added, licking his lips.

The Prentiss children were huge seafood fans, lobster was something Emily didn't make often though because it was time consuming and as a mother to seven she didn't have all the time in the world to cook, crack, and prepare a lobster feast. Fish was a big go to in their home though, and if they went to one of Emily's restaurants, the kids almost always ordered lobster.

"Lobster, huh?" Hotch asked. "For lunch, buddy. That's a treat."

"Mhm. Auntie Emily said it was okay."

"It's fine, honey," Hayley assured, running her fingers through his hair. "Daddy's not saying no."

"No, of course not," Hotch smiled. "Maybe I'll have some lobster too."

"Yeah, we can all have it! But not Harper, cause' she doesn't really like it," Jack added.

"Brynley doesn't either, she gives hers to Brooks. Mommy says it's because he's a chunker," Oliver said with a giggle.

"Well, she's not wrong," Hotch mumbled.

JJ often tried to defend Brooks and his size whereas Emily didn't even hide it when she called him chunky. She'd pick him up and say, oh my chunky little boy, you're getting heavier by the day to which JJ would have a field day trying to justify his rolls on rolls. Brynley was small for her already Prentiss small. They were all just very little children, even Brooks who had rolls on his rolls was small. Much bigger than his twin, but small when it came to the height and weight chart. The children were all healthy though and that's what the mothers truly cared about.

"Are you guys coming or what?" Clarke called out, standing with the rest of their family waiting.

"Yeah, tomin' or whap?" Lily repeated, causing everyone to laugh because of the sass and the fact she popped her hip and pointed her foot out in front of her.

Jack and Oliver looked up at Hayley and Hotch who nodded and the boys took off running towards their family and the couple linked hands and walked over as well knowing they'd continue their conversation later. Hayley knew her husband would be okay though, this was good for him. She also couldn't help but smile when JJ made eye contact with her thinking back to last night.

"You too?" Hotch asked, making eye contact with Emily when the four of them exited the rooms they had been using to tell their respective spouse about everything going on.

"Oh good, I thought I was losing my mind," Emily said, relaxing a little bit.

"That's still possible, Emily. You do have seven children," Hotch continued.

"I do, but if I do go crazy, it's definitely going to be because of Jen," she laughed.

"Hey! You realize I'm standing right here," JJ pointed out.

"It's okay honey, they know you're crazy," Emily winked, kissing JJ's cheek and wrapping her arms around her. "How long have you two had these crazy conversations behind our backs?"

JJ looked at Hayley and they both shrugged. "A few months after Oakley was brought home?" Hayley said, trying to remember the exact date.

"Do you think it's because you were spending more time with Emily?" Hotch asked his wife knowing the two became super close before the mothers adopted Oakley due to Emily retiring and Hayley continuing to come over even though she was no longer spending nights when the team went away on cases. It made sense to him because it gave his wife plenty of time to be around Emily and realize certain mannerisms or likeness between the two of them.

"But how do you fit into this?" Emily questioned, turning to face her wife. "Hayley was spending time with me, not you." She couldn't figure out how the two of them would have so much time to discuss their thoughts without constantly being pulled away by the chaos of the Prentiss home.

"Hey, I'll have you know Hayley and I are great friends," JJ defended.

"We are!" Hayley added.

"I don't doubt your friendship, babe. But you two," Emily said pointing between JJ and Hotch, "have the same work schedule. That doesn't leave a ton of time for these girl pow-wows."

"You're forgetting about something, Em," JJ reminded her. It wasn't a huge deal, they were very busy mothers, very involved, they remembered the impossible when it came to all their children, so JJ wasn't holding this over her head, she knew her wife had just forgotten. "Soccer practice."

"Ahh, soccer practice," Emily repeated, tipping her head back. She completely spaced it because Hayley brought the boys for her due to all the girls having dance at the same time across town. Emily, JJ and the family made it to all of Oliver and Jack's games but practices were too difficult and Oliver liked his aunt being there with Matt and Luke. Plus, lots of times his mom came too when she could leave work.

"So, this conversation sparked when they adopted Oakley, and has continued at soccer practices all these years?" Hotch asked.

"And parties, family get-togethers, any time we've really been together it comes up," Hayley answered with a smile. "Who knew we were right all these years."

Emily and Hotch looked at one another then back their spouses and said, "I don't see it."

The blondes laughed and said, "You're kidding, right?"

"Em, you both have this almost jet-black hair," JJ said, running her fingers through her wife's.

"Your jawlines are very similar," Hayley said next.

"You both have brown eyes, beautiful long eye lashes," JJ swooned over her wife's, then cleared her throat and continued. "Hotch, for a guy you do have long eye lashes."

"What, mine aren't beautiful too?" he said, blinking a few extra times at JJ.

"Of course they are, honey," Hayley assured. "You both look like your father, that's what we've said for years. When Gerald came back into your life, Em, it got JJ and I talking even more because I always had this, could you imagine thought."

"And then, you know, the two of you bicker like siblings. You've been that way since we've all worked together, and you guys thought you were hiding it. We always thought it was because you knew Em when she was just a little one," JJ smiled, kissing Emily's cheek.

"I wasn't that little, Jen."

"You were learning how to drive," Hotch smiled, clearly trying to hold back a laugh.

"Shut up," Emily said, shoving him back again. "I'll have you know I can drive circles around you and could have back then too!" she continued as he lightly ran down the hall to get away from her.

Hayley and JJ broke into a fit of laughter seeing and hearing them, "How did we not catch on sooner?"

"I don't know. I'm a federal agent too, what does that say about me?" JJ joked. "I'm really happy for them though. What are the odds they ended up in the same unit and more than that, turning that unit into a family beyond anything else before finding out?"

"Fate," Hayley answered.