A few days had gone by, and the newest members of the family were settling in nicely. It really was a big adjustment for River but thanks to Emily and JJ, she was able to take as much time as she needed to just be—whether that was watching the kids play, taking a walk, relaxing in her room, or joining the activities/what the mothers happened to be doing if it was something other than playing with the kids, it was her decision.
Hudson and Emerson were loving having so much to do at all times with so many kids, the extra love and support given by Emily and JJ and meeting the people they'd call their family going forward as they trickled in each day. Due to the drastic changes though, the twins have been following Lily's nap schedule because they were not used to running around all day the way they have for the last three and a half. They were truly having so much fun and were full of smiles—Emerson has even come out of her shell a bit, although she and Hudson were very happy River was still here with them.
Today they were going out to fill the closets and get River a much-needed phone. Emily knew she'd need one, just didn't realize how much until she kept handing her own to River when the woman went on walks these past three days. It wasn't a huge issue to Emily seeing as they have a home phone and Jen was still home from work, but they wanted River to feel free, not as if she needed permission and when she had to ask Emily for her phone that was similar to what they didn't want for her.
"Can I help you with anything?" River asked Emily who was standing at the kitchen sink rinsing the dishes from breakfast.
Emily briefly looked down then back at River and shook her head no, "I'm almost finished here. We're going to be leaving in about an hour or so. I was thinking we—"
"Mommy, door!" Oliver called out.
"On second thought, maybe you could find Jen for me please," Emily said to River.
"Sure," she responded with a laugh. River has found the women occasionally have absolutely no idea where the other is when they aren't in the same room of the house—this isn't normally the case however, because Jen has been home from work and the kids are on summer vacation, their schedules aren't as structured which leads to playing in different areas sometimes and the mothers to be pulled in opposing directions.
"Oliver who is it, buddy?" she asked when he came bounding in.
"Mrs. umm—" he paused, recognizing who it was but not her last name, when the woman appeared behind him. Her children had great manners but sometimes when they were invested in what they were doing they called out a house guest and left them standing at the door, Emily was happy Oliver brought the woman inside the house.
"Jade, how are you?" Emily asked with a smile, signaling for her to take a seat at one of the countertop stools so they could speak. "How's Jake and Lyla doing? Are you all having a good summer so far?"
Jade was always impressed by the Prentiss women; how could she not be. They had the biggest hearts, a million children, knew the names of all their kids' friends, their parents, spouses, kept track of activities, were on top of appointments, homework, went on vacations to show their children the world, it was so impressive.
"We're all doing well, thank you for asking. Summer is great, we should get the girls together now that you're home from vacation," Jade said and Emily nodded.
"Of course. Lily would absolutely love that and so would we. Lyla is a big name in this house, Lily talks about her best friend all the time," Emily said with a smile. It was true, Lily told her siblings, grandparents, the team and mommies friends about Lyla, the pilot of their jet about Lyla, the water taxi driver in Venice, the hotel manager in Maui, multiple Disney World workers, and many more. She was a very vocal little one regarding her favorite things: butterflies, doe-doe, and Lyla.
The women spoke for a little bit about nonsensical mother topics over coffee then Emily said, "Jade, what's going on? I can tell something is bothering you, I can't try and help unless I know what it is."
Jade had come over here specifically for this reason, however now that it was here she felt so nervous. She felt like this was such a bad idea but maybe it wasn't, how would she know if she didn't ask. Ugh, she really wished her husband had come with her.
Jade ran her hands over her face then finally looked up at Emily who had continued to stand throughout the conversation because she was so used to being go, go, go. "I want to start off by saying I absolutely know this isn't my place, not even a little bit," Jade said which put Emily on alert. Not full alert though because she could tell how conflicted the woman was so it was clear whatever she was going to say had been thought about for some time now.
"I'm so happy the girls have one another. You know, when I found out I was pregnant with a little girl I used to think about firsts like these. I pictured she would meet her little best friend in preschool and one day they'd graduate high school together having been the best of friends since day one," she continued, wiping a stray tear. "Jake and I have spoken about this at length and one of the biggest reasons this decision is so difficult is because of Lily—"
"Jade, what decision?" Emily asked when the woman awkwardly paused in the middle of her sentence.
"We're going to have Lyla repeat preschool. Jake and I just don't feel as if she's ready for kindergarten yet," Jade said, feeling crushed for the ever-budding friendship between Lyla and Lily. The girls still had dance together but school was so much more and the mothers knew it to be true.
Emily wasn't completely surprised by Jade's decision as Lyla was their first child, she too understood what the woman was feeling. She had also considered the possibility of Lily repeating preschool and had already spoken with Jen about it. In fact, Emily already called and gave their deposit for Lilys spot just in case so they could decide towards the end of the summer.
They weren't going to base the decision off Lyla but Emily and JJ were going to speak with Jade and Jake at some point as they felt similarly seeing as the girls were already so close. Emily's main reason for possibly keeping Lily back was because once she started kindergarten she'd be in what society considered to be real school and right now, her little peanut still needed that extra help. There was nothing wrong with needing help by any means and hiring a professional is something Emily would do in a heartbeat, she was still just a baby though so keeping her in preschool and with her best friend might be best.
Before Emily could say anything, good or bad as Jade had no idea what the woman would say, there was a typical Prentiss interruption. "Brynley, get back here little miss so I can put these shorts on you!" they heard JJ's voice say as the baby came running into the kitchen followed by JJ and the offending garment.
"Momma, we set a trap. Make her come this way," Amelia called out. The kids loved to help catch their little siblings when they ran away for whatever reason and setting traps was one of their favorite ways whether using couch cushions, themselves, the twins favorite toys, or something else it almost always worked.
"She's coming back in," JJ let them know, then smiled at the woman. "Hey Jade, how are you?"
"Good, and you?"
"Oh you know," JJ laughed, waving the shorts around. "Just another day where one of her children doesn't want to wear clothes," she said, pointing towards Emily.
Jade laughed and Emily rolled her eyes, the women always referred to the kids as the others when they were acting a certain way or up at a certain time. "We'll have to get the girls together, Lily was just talking—"
"Momma, we got her!" Oakley said, running into the kitchen with a smile on her face and interrupting the conversation.
"If you'll excuse me, I have a very short window of time to get a little one dressed," JJ said, making her way into the other room. "It was great to see you."
Once again, right as Emily was about to speak, she was cut off by some more everyday chaos. "Mom, what time are we going to the ma—oh, sorry. Hi Mrs. Parker, I didn't know we had company," Clarke apologized, stopping short when she entered the kitchen with Hudson on her heels.
"Hi Clarke, it's okay. Go ahead," Jade smiled, letting the girl know she could speak with her mother. She was now used to the fact Emily and JJ were often interrupted by children while having a conversation, the older kids very incredibly polite, the littles didn't know any better and Jade found it to be very cute.
"Thanks. Mom, what time are we going to the mall? Uncle Derek said you're not answering your phone," she said, waving her own at her mom because he had texted her when he didn't get a response from Emily or JJ.
"Disorganized, impatient man," Emily mumbled seeing as she had told him last night when they spoke on the phone. She looked at the time then back at her daughter and said, "Let him know we'll be there in about an hour, please," she answered with a smile, winking at Hudson when he made eye contact with her.
"Can I hewp, pwease?" he whispered to Clarke looking up at her with his big blue expressive eyes.
"Yeah buddy, think you can help me pick out which emojis to send him?" she asked, taking his hand as they walked out of the kitchen together.
"Yeah!" he answered, jumping up and causing the women smile.
"Remind me, is that one of your nephews?" Jade asked when the kids were out of earshot.
"No, actually," Emily said with a little laugh. "Jen and I are adopting twin five-year-olds. A little boy who you just saw Hudson and his sister Emerson."
"Oh my gosh. You and JJ are literal saints."
Emily smiled and Jade's eyes just went wide as she continued processing the information, she was speechless. Jade honestly didn't even remember why she was here anymore, but Emily told the woman she would discuss everything with Jen and get back to her about it. They seemed to be on the same page because at the end of the day, they wanted what was best for their girls. Lily could only benefit from staying with her best friend, going to preschool each day doing what she loved and getting prepared for kindergarten fully. This past year she was dealing with her celiac disease and while Emily and JJ didn't know for most of the year, it didn't mean Lily wasn't aware and silently suffering. This could turn out to be the most beneficial year to set their Lily bug on the right track.
When the family got to the mall River was surprised to find twelve bags of clothes already paid for and waiting for them. She wondered if Emily and JJ did some shopping for the other children until JJ commented, "This will go in their neutral, can't have enough of, and too big sections."
"Excuse me?" River said with a laugh.
"Em has always done this with the kids closets, it's actually pretty genius. They all have a neutral section which comes in handy when we're looking for them to match, we can say pick out a white shirt or blue and we know they all have one—we don't do neutral in the sense of earthtones, just a solid but nice shirt. Can't have enough of would be things like underwear, socks, bows, pj sets, and easy grabs meaning they can pick it out themselves and without a doubt it will match. Then the too big section is self-explanatory, Em buys everything I just said in sizes they'll grow into just in case they have a sudden growth spurt so they will have something to wear already in their closet until we can go out and get some new clothes."
"Oh," River commented. She didn't know someone could be so prepared and had no idea what to say in that moment. Luckily for her, the kids came bounding over to them with Morgan, Penelope and Tara in tow now as the three were here to help and for bag duty, Emily even brought a second stroller just for all the bags because she had learned her lesson from the first shopping haul.
"Pip me up, Umple Drk," Lily insisted, pulling at his pant leg as he spoke with Amelia about something.
"Okay tiny princess," he said, tossing her in the air then continuing his conversation with Amelia.
"Are you two super duper excited for today?" Garcia asked the twins, holding each of their hands with a huge smile on her face while the other held onto their respective stuffy.
Even Hudson was a bit unsure about this place, there were so many people here that his grip on Penelope's hand was stronger than she thought was capable for a tiny human. When they stayed home Hudson and Emerson did very well, it didn't matter if people came over to the house, even if they wanted to interact with them as long as they got to stay with one another and they knew River was there they were good. This was not the house though, it was the mall and it was really big.
Before River could say anything the mothers were on top of it and she felt really relieved to know these were the people they'd grow up with because she still felt like a kid herself. It was crazy to think about the fact JJ was only five years older than her, but if you considered the fact she was help captive for five years and raised herself like Emily did, who knew. Needless to say, River sometimes felt like a child herself and was very happy the twins had actual parents to care for them now.
Emily and JJ scooped Hudson and Emerson up and soothed them while telling the kids to help decide on a store they may like. Tara was there to help with River, not that she needed it, but they had a feeling once the woman had a few outfits she'd call it a day and the mothers couldn't have that. She too needed a full closet, and they knew Tara could casually ask River what she liked without making it seem obvious and bring handfuls of clothes up to the register without being seen.
The last stop of the day at the toy store and from all the bags they already had, they were grateful the littlest twins were once again with grandma and grandpa, this time at their house. Brooks and Brynley were much happier with Sandy and Allen who were most likely spoiling them in some type of way, probably popsicles, and endless hugs and kisses. However, they'd be much happier at home playing and running around outside instead of strapped in a stroller at the mall. Emily and JJ asked the littles if they wanted to stay home and play but Lily and Oakley wanted to shop solidifying the fact they were Emily's children through and through.
"Woah," Hudson exclaimed, feeling much better seeing as they'd been at the mall for the last few hours now.
"Come on, Hudson. Let's go with Uncle Derek, we can find the best trucks," Oliver said, taking his hand. He remembered when he loved cars and trucks too and even though he still had some, they donated what he didn't play with to make room for his newest obsessions. Besides, Hudon was half his age and Oliver preferred cars to trucks anyways.
The girls would have much more overlap but that didn't matter, they all had their own sections in the playroom and these would be Emerson's first toys. "I'll help make sure they get more than trucks," Clarke said after the boys happily took off in the wrong direction.
"Morgan is headed to the baby section, while he's over there maybe you can give him a nudge," JJ suggested to her wife seeing as the man was finally dating a woman the team had met meaning, she was a keeper. "You can take Tara with you for backup," she winked, gently shoving the stroller full of bags in Emily's direction.
"Gee thanks," Emily said sarcastically. She had no problem with Tara, Emily just knew her wife wanted to go with Garcia and shop for all things little girl and do so with free hands while she pushed a heavy stroller and listened to Morgan complain some more.
"I love you so much," JJ smiled, blowing kisses in Emily's direction.
"Come on mom, I'll help you," Clarke assured, then tried to push the stroller. When she realized how heavy it was and the fact she couldn't even move the damn thing she tucked her cellphone in her shorts pocket and tried again. Emily watched as Clarke tried again and instead of the stroller moving forward, Clarke moved backwards.
"What was that about helping?" Emily laughed, putting her hands over Clarke's before walking forward with the stroller and her daughter.
"Why the heck is this thing so heavy?" she asked while they walked to meet the boys.
"Because your mother bought the entire store," Emily deadpanned.
"Mom, I watched you swipe your card," Clarke said, tilting her head back to look up at her.
"Oh look, there are your brothers," Emily pointed out, kissing the top of Clarke's head then patted her on the back as if to say, walk over to them and move along from who swiped the card. "Nice directional skills, Morgan. Baby wear, is there something you'd like to tell us?"
"What, no!" he exclaimed. They all laughed then headed in the right direction to pick out Hudson the toys he wanted while the girls did the same thing with Emerson.
By the time the family made it home, they were down three children who were incredibly worn out—two from their day of shopping and one from giving her opinion on absolutely everything because she wouldn't be Lily if she didn't. The big kids ran into the house tempted by the smell of Sandy's chocolate chip cookies while Penelope carefully scooped Lily out of her car seat, the mothers scooped Hudson and Emerson out of theirs, and Morgan started on all the damn bags.
"How come this is always my job?" he whined.
"Shut up, shut up, shut up," Penelope said, whacking him with one of her hands while cradling a sleeping Lily with the other. "Can't you see these little angels are sleeping, quit your whining and use your muscles."
"Ow baby, stop whacking me!" he whispered then caught doe-doe before the turtle took a nosedive onto the garage floor. "Look at those reflexes," he continued, looking at the mothers who now had the twins in their arms. "Impressive, huh?"
"The bags aren't going to bring themselves in, Derek," Emily commented, then shut the car door and kissed the top of Hudson's head when he involuntarily clutched her shirt. "Let's get these little ones down."
"River don't worry about it," JJ told her when she saw the woman opening the second trunk. "Morgan will get everything, we need to wash it all anyways so it's not going far."
River looked at the women who both nodded then back at Morgan who was loading his arms, and he agreed. "I'm just messin' around with them, I don't mind doin' it. Go relax, seriously it's all good."
"Wait! Grab your electronics, sugar," Penelope told her. "I'll help you set them up with all our contacts while the little munchkins sleep."
Morgan pointed to where the Apple bag was and River grabbed it then went into the house to find very happy children settled at the kitchen island eating grandma's famous cookies with a glass of chocolate milk with whipped cream. So much sugar, was the only thing Emily could think about when she saw them but then she realized it was still early and summer vacation, plus they are only children once. She was very happy the littles were asleep though because that was too much sugar for them which was why Sandy caved with the chocolate milk.
"River, you gotta have one of grandma's cookies. They are so good!" Oliver told her.
"The bestest ever!" Oakley agreed with chocolate on her face causing the woman to smile and Sandy to wipe it with a napkin.
"Grandma! What if I wanted that?" she asked teasingly.
"I think you'll live, honey," she answered, kissing the top of Oakley's head. "Can I get you some cookies and milk?"
"Oh, umm," River paused. It was still very strange to her when someone else asked to do something for her or it was already done before she could think about it.
River has had to do everything for herself and for two tiny humans for the past five years without being asked if that's what she actually wanted meaning, she didn't plan to have children, she wasn't even pregnant or have time to wrap her head around it—she was just thrown into the deep end. And now people were always there asking and doing things for her, not in a bad way, just in a nice, respectful, family way. Even the kids asked her if she wanted to play, or if she'd like a glass of whatever juice they were having, a snack, and other things that weren't what she was used to. All River could do was smile because this was such a nice and welcome change.
"Yes please, I'd love a cookie and some milk. Thank you," she continued.
"Great choice," Allen winked, taking another bite of his.
"Allen, you're cut off after that one. You've had too many already," Sandy said as she poured River a glass of milk causing the kids to giggle at his expense.
After JJ kissed Emerson sweet dreams for the remainder of her nap the little girl reached out and captured her hand halting her from leaving the room. "Momma Jen'fr?" she said. The mothers thought it was the cutest thing, as mothers to many starting at all different ages and stages, they have grown accustomed to being called certain monikers/names.
Hudson and Emerson were a first for them though, they didn't jump right for mommy and momma they added Emily and Jennifer on the end of it. If Emily had to take a guess, it was because River called them by name and even though the five of them sat down together to discuss how things would be different here they knew it would a few more conversations which was perfectly okay. This was new to everyone, not just the twins.
"What is it, honey?" she asked.
"Can umm, can you sit with me pwease? Just til I fall asweep?" Emerson asked with a yawn.
"Of course I can, baby," JJ said, sitting on the bed next to her.
"But…" Emerson said, sitting up to ask her next question. She pulled at her braids and JJ knew what was going on before the little girl even spoke. "Woah, hold on Emerson. Hold on, let me help you. Here, let's take one of these extra pillows and you can lay your head down while I'll get your hair out," she said, putting the pillow in her lap.
JJ really, really hated the tiny elastics Emily used in the girls hair because they were impossible to get out unless you had the tool that was near the tubs for bathtime. After what felt like twenty minutes JJ finally got the elastics out and unbraided Emerson's French braids just to find the little girl to be sound asleep again. "Oh no," JJ whispered realizing her mistake.
"Okay, I can do this," she said, talking herself up. Get it together, you can talk a serial killer down, but you can't escape out from under your own sleeping child. JJ took the advice her wife gives the kids and took three deep breaths then gently supported Emerson's head as she lifted her up off her own legs and then laid her back down onto the bed. She was almost in the clear when Emerson's arms clutched what she presumably thought was bubbles but was in fact, JJ's arm, and in the mother's case not the arm you may expect.
Only JJ would find herself in this type of a situation, truly. When she told Emily some of the situations she's found herself in, the brunette was left speechless because it could only happen to her Jennifer. Emerson's bed was against the wall on the right side of the room and she had somehow captured JJ's left arm—she may as well have captured both arms because without her right, JJ didn't know what to do. She was just hoping someone would notice she didn't come back upstairs forcing them to wander downstairs and realize she had become nap trapped. Then again, her parents, Morgan and Garcia were here so you never know.
Just then River walked by and out of habit she peeked in but she stopped when she saw JJ because she was one of the twins mother now however, the woman is what made her double back and she wondered if she should say anything or not. When she saw JJ try to untangle her body without disrupting a sleeping Emerson, she couldn't help but make herself known. "How long have you been stuck?" River asked, easily swapping JJ's arm out for bubbles.
"Oh gosh," Jen said, hugging River and providing the woman with her answer.
You'd never know the blonde had only been stuck for nine minutes…