Today Lily and Lyla were having another playdate while they painted Emerson's room, and the littlest twins were going back to grandma and grandpas so the mothers could focus all their attention on the task at hand. Hotch, Rossi, Reid and Garcia were also there because they were in charge of putting together Hudson's furniture and hanging decorations with the little boy himself along with Emily, Clarke and Oliver while Allen and Morgan switched rooms to start on Emerson's.

The men had finished Hudson's room by giving it two proper coats of paint after the family had their paint war, and it was now dry to begin the decorating process. Clarke had slept in Amelia's room the past three nights as they moved her furniture out first so they could paint Hudson's room, and the twins continued to sleep in their room downstairs—they wouldn't be sleeping in their big boy and girl rooms until they were completed. Luckily the big girls were flexible and didn't mind sharing in the meantime.

When Sandy walked into Emerson's new room with a tray of lemonade, she felt an odd sense of déjà vu seeing pink paint everywhere. "Jennifer Joyce, you know better," she said, shaking her head as she saw her daughter with Emerson on her shoulders and the little one about to put her pink handprint on Morgan's bald head.

Emerson at least had the decency to look a bit guilty when JJ spun them around, she even held her head down, although she was giggling because her uncle was making funny faces at her. "Mom!" JJ exclaimed with wide eyes due to the fact she was caught in the act—she felt like a little kid all over again and embarrassed for 'getting in trouble' in front of her own children.

"Wook gwamma, you wike the pink I picked all by myself?" Emerson asked, feeling like a big girl because she got to choose the color.

"I love it, honey!" Sandy answered with a smile. "It seems as if Uncle Derek doesn't know how to paint very well though," Sandy continued. "You're supposed to paint the walls, not one another, right?"

Emerson giggled and nodded. "He not know how to do it, gwamma. But momma say it otay be'tause we gotta wearn it and I teachin' him how to doin' it!"

"Oh well that's very nice of you, Emerson," Sandy said, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear after JJ took the little one off her shoulders so the grandmother could see her granddaughter. "Would you like some lemonade, sweetie?"

"Yeah pwease. And Oakwee and Amewia too?" she asked.

"Of course, honey. Let's wipe off your hands a bit then grandma will give you the special rainbow cup I got to match your new room," she said with a wink.

Sandy had just come from Hudson's new room and was blown away by the amount of progress being made in there, it looked absolutely incredible. She was in charge of bringing them drinks, snacks and getting lunch ready as that's the job she asked for—Sandy also drove Lily to and from her playdates and stayed for a while to see her granddaughter interact with her bestie that she speaks so highly of. Seriously, it was the cutest thing.

Sandy also loved to see how similar the twins were while seeing their individuality come out for the first time. They spoke almost identically, not just the way they pronounced words but the way they processed their thoughts were spot on with one another which blew the family away. And while their rooms had a lot of similarities, there were a lot of differences as well celebrating how much their individuality was cherished and celebrated. The mothers never wanted them to feel as if they were grouped together or had to do certain things just because the other was, that's not what Emily or JJ wanted for any of their children. Individuality was a big part of being a Prentiss no matter who you were.

Finishing Hudson's room first was the plan because of Emerson's little twin syndrome, so when his room was completed that night, the mothers put their plan in motion. Emily and JJ knew if his room was ready and they tempted the twins with having a sleepover together, Emerson would get comfortable with the idea of being two floors away from River. Realistically she cared more about where her twin slept than River but because she spent the first five years knowing River was also there, Emerson was a little nervous from being away from her. She did like that she'd be close to her mommies though, so if she had Hudson and them, she would be okay. Emerson's room would be ready in two sleeps meaning Amelia and Clarke were officially moved out and playing musical rooms with their siblings and moms.

Luckily painting the big girl's rooms would be far easier because they just liked to play music and actually paint, unlike their little siblings who got a bit crazy when painting. Actually, it was their uncle who made things crazy, but their siblings fed into it and they didn't as much because they just liked to paint. There was something really cool about the downstairs bedrooms that Clarke always pointed out to Amelia, probably because she has an eye for photography—the walls were wainscoting and because of that, they had such a vibe, according to Clarke.

She helped Amelia design her room beforehand the way Emily and JJ did with the twins so the little girl could envision what she was getting herself into. She wanted it to be her transition from a girl's room to a big girl's room, and due to this, Amelia wanted the wainscoting to be painted white. The wainscoting only went three quarters of the way up, so she wanted a unique pattern painted with aqua, baby blue, white, light coral and a deep coral in a relaxed V shape, with a light gray to outline them all. It was going to look so cool. She was going to decorate it with coral-colored curtains, fairy lights, coral pillows, a coral beanbag chair for reading, a coral blanket spread across her white bedspread, and more.

Clarke also wanted a big change. She still loved purple, but she didn't want it to be so prominent in her bedroom the way it was before they painted it arctic blue for Hudson. She wanted something very similar to Amelia, sticking with white for the walls and her bedspread and choosing a lot of purple accents but for a different reason. Clarke does a lot of photography in her room and realized if she had a white canvas to work with, things would be a lot easier. She also got this cool beanbag that was white with a black pattern running through it and she knew would make the coolest photos. A lavender, teal, and gold marble wallpaper was put above the wainscoting to match the gold lamps Clarke had, the gold knobs, and hints of teals in the art she chose.

Their teen rooms were…my goodness. Emily and JJ weren't ready for their babies to grow up so quickly, it wasn't okay. And more than that, how was it possible in nine days they were going to have a fourteen-year-old—the mothers were certain they didn't sign off on it.

"It's true…" Emily whispered, running her fingers through Clarke's hair a few nights later. She was clearly deep in thought and barely gave Jen anything to work with as, it's true, could lead the blonde down far too many paths.

JJ looked up from Amelia who was snuggled against her and into her wife's eyes then asked, "What's true, babe?"

"The saying, 'don't blink'," Emily said, trailing off as a single tear streamed down her cheek.

Amelia's room had been finished for two days now but she refused to sleep downstairs without her sister. She wanted their first night to be together and because Clarke's room would be complete tomorrow, Amelia chose to sleep with her mommies, Clarke, and Lily who just happened to sneak her way in between the girls after they had fallen asleep.

"Oh Em," JJ responded and reached over their children to wipe her wife's tear. "I don't think we need to worry, babe. They still need us just as much as this crazy starfish does," JJ said with a laugh, signaling Lily who had her arms and legs casually thrown over Clarke and Amelia.

"It's always the little ones who take up the most space," Emily commented.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" JJ asked, feigning offense.

"You smoosh too, momma," Clarke mumbled, pushing Lily's hand off her as she rolled over to face Emily with her penguin stuffy in tow, placing it between her face and her mom's chest and snuggling in as she fell right back to sleep.

JJ's jaw dropped open, and Emily just shrugged as she rubbed Clarke's back and helped untangle Lily's other limbs from Amelia's body. It was true, their little ones always found a way to take up so much of the bed it was unreal. JJ did the same thing though and Emily swore her wife must have passed it along to the kids because she herself didn't move while sleeping. JJ however, my goodness, sometimes it seemed as if she was doing a gymnastics routine in her sleep.

"She told you," Emily winked.

"Eh, whatever," she said with a small laugh. "I love you, babe."

"I love you too, Jen."

And with that, the mothers fell asleep.

The next day Clarke made a big deal of not wanting her mom's to see the final product before she was finished with it—she had worked really hard with Amelia, Uncle Morgan, Auntie Penny and Auntie Tara to finish decorating and her mother's respected the fact Clarke wanted it to be a surprise. Music was a huge part of the big girls' decorating process, more specifically Uncle Morgan's music because a lot of it was funny to them. Clarke and Amelia thought he had the funniest and most embarrassing dance moves and loved to make fun of him while having fun in the process.

When a familiar song came on, a memory popped into Clarke's mind, and she couldn't help but stop what she was doing and burst out laughing. "What's so funny, gumdrop?" Garcia asked.

"Remember that time we went to pick up dinner for everybody, Uncle Derek?" Clarke asked him. It was one of the first times she was alone time with the man, and he did everything in his power to make sure the little girl was comfortable with him. "You asked me if I wanted to DJ and this song came on…" Clarke continued but couldn't stop laughing from the memory.

"Oh no, this isn't gonna be good for me…" Morgan mumbled.

"Derek Morgan, what did you do?" Garcia questioned, gritting the words out through her teeth and slapping his arm in the process.

"Ow baby girl!" he whined.

"It's so funny," Amelia added, leaning over on Clarke's bed because she was laughing so much too. It wasn't uncommon for their uncle to play with them even if the other adults didn't and after her sister heard this song when she went to get the food with him, oh gosh, it turned into a whole thing that it shouldn't have. So much so, Emily and JJ would totally kill him if they knew.

Morgan had already changed the song so Garcia and Tara wouldn't hear it and now the women were very curious as the girls were breathless from laughing so much. "I didn't really know any of his songs…" Clarke said. "But then this song came on and Uncle Derek like, screamed the words," she said, bursting out laughing again.

"I didn't mean to," Morgan said, defending himself. He knew the women would be mad at him because the screaming most likely caused Clarke to jump, and it did. He instantly regretted it, turned down the volume and apologized to which, Clarke said wasn't a big deal, she just wasn't expecting it.

"Then I thought he was trying to make me laugh by making up words to the song, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized he was telling the truth," Clarke giggled. "So embarrassing..."

"Hey!" Morgan chimed in.

"It kinda is, Uncle Derek," Amelia added.

"Not you too," he said, scooping her up and tossing the little girl over his shoulder. Amelia squealed and that caused the girls to laugh even more.

"Okay, I have to know what he said," Tara told them. "It's too funny not to. You girls clearly have the best memories," she smiled.

"I'm still mad at you, chocolate thunder. But I'm glad my cupcakes are happy about the good times," Garcia added.

"I don't know what the song is called but just know at the time Oliver was still nine, Oakley was six, and Lily was three," Clarke explained. "So, I kept hitting next on the playlist until all of a sudden a song came on and the lyrics said, 3, 6, 9, damn, she's fine…"

Garcia gasped and Tara covered her mouth with her hand as the girls laughed again, then Penelope started whacking Morgan's arm over and over. "This is the music you listen to with your nieces, have you lost your mind? They're still babies! What is wrong with you?"

"Em and Jayje are going to kill you," Tara said teasingly as she knew Amelia didn't always understand sarcasm and she didn't want the little girl to take her seriously.

"You're missing the point!" Clarke exclaimed, with a laugh. "It was literally like, perfect. Our siblings were actually 3, 6 and 9. That's never gonna happen again."

"And Uncle Derek said that sometimes in songs people say stuff that means something else. Like, we say you're pretty but, in the song, the music guy said she's fine because pretty doesn't rhyme. And Uncle Derek thinks Auntie Savannah is pretty…he was just making a silly video for her when he was showing Auntie Savannah his nieces and nephew that were 3, 6, and 9, but with us too," Amelia said.

"Video?" Garcia questioned, staring daggers at Morgan.

"Oopsies. I'm sorry Uncle Derek," Amelia apologized.

"It's okay, mini princess," he assured her, then faced Garica. "Baby girl, you gotta understand. It was the PG version, and we just danced around to the song, promise!"

"It's true," Clarke vouched. "We just had a dance party, Auntie Penny. Uncle Derek wanted to do something for his anniversary because he was away on a case and thought if all of us were in it too, maybe he'd be forgiven…but probably not."

"And maybe not in the dog couch anymore," Amelia giggled, mixing up doghouse and sleeping on the couch. The kids only knew about it because of their uncle who often found himself messing up no matter how much he tried; he truly had a knack for putting his foot in his mouth when it came to Savannah.

"Oh gosh, I've got to see this," Tara said, fully invested in Morgan's downfall. She knew how badly he screwed up with Savannah on multiple occasions and could only imagine how mad Emily and JJ were going to be seeing their children dancing to Get Low.

"Zip it," Morgan teasingly whispered to the woman, even though he too was just as nervous. He wasn't a stupid man—he did a lot of stupid shit but that didn't make him stupid. And because the littles didn't understand the meaning behind the lyrics to the song they were dancing to, Morgan felt it was okay to record the video for Savannah then continue their dance party to the age-appropriate playlist he had, and they'd be none the wiser.

What Morgan hadn't considered was the possible consequences of his actions, aka the big kids remembering—he took silly videos all the time with his nieces and nephews, it was nothing new. When they were working really hard cases and needed a smile, Morgan would look at the password encrypted files, thanks to Garcia, of his little monkeys and feel much better. Whether it was pictures of him and the tiny princesses playing dress up, videos of running obstacle courses, double bouncing on the trampoline, playing soccer, or dancing around—the whole team had them. Morgan's greatest joy in life was being an uncle, he seriously lived for those children, and it showed.

The moment was interrupted by Brynley storming into Clarke's room with a happy smile on her face, followed by Emily's voice. "Clarke, I respect you don't want mom or I to see your room yet baby but we're ordering lunch. How does Chinese sound?"

"Hi Brynley, what are you doing down here?" Amelia asked, then lifted the baby up and sat her on the bed.

The big sisters smiled at their little sister and made silly faces at her until Brynley had a glimmer in her eyes and held onto the curtains that had yet to be hung up and grabbed ahold of them. Clarke saw this and attempted to lift her baby sister off the bed but wasn't fast enough, Brynley face planted onto the curtains with a happy squeal and held onto them the way she holds onto her stuffed ducky. Clarke had a feeling they'd never get the curtains back at this rate, not to mention her sister was drooling on them because the littlest set of twins were getting in more teeth.

"Me, ap! Me do," Brynley squealed when Clarke attempted to take away the curtains from Brynley.

"Bryn, you can't play with these," she said. "You're just a baby, you can't hang up curtains."

"Me do, me do, me do!" she screamed, piercing her big sisters' eardrums.

Clarke walked out of her room with her right eye partially closed, with the baby still holding the packaged curtains and Emily instantly felt bad that she brought Brynley downstairs. Unfortunately, the baby wouldn't let go of her mother so Emily brought the little one down with her and assumed she could get it all done per usual until Brynley heard Amelia and Clarke's voices and begged to be put down. She played Emily into letting her down then ran into Clarke's room as if she knew her mom couldn't follow.

"Help, please," Clarke said to her mother.

Emily carefully untangled Brynley's hand from the curtains then accepted the baby as she cried, unhappy she couldn't be a part of the design team too. The mother bounced her while cupping Clarke's cheek and gave her a soft smile, "I'm sorry baby, I didn't realize this one would cause such problems for you so quickly. Is your ear okay?"

"It's fine, mom," Clarke assured. "And Chinese is fine by me. What do you think?" she asked, looking towards her sister who was now standing next to her.

"Yeah, I think so too," Amelia answered. "Can we have those green beans please?"

"I already put them on the list just for you girls," Emily responded with a wink. "I was thinking orange chicken and steamed veggies too? And do you want white rice, veggie, or both?"

"I think…" Amelia said, looking towards Clarke who just shrugged to say she didn't care. "Maybe veggie."

"You've got it, babies."

"Me, mama. Me do, dis duppy me!" Brynley added, tossing her stuffed duck in the air just for Emily to catch before it landed on Amelia's head. Catlike reflexes were part of the job, both the FBI and motherhood. Emily felt like she spent half the day catching toys, food, sippy cups, stuffies, pacifiers, and children before they fell.

"Yeah Bryn, that is your ducky. If you don't hold her, you're going to lose her," Emily warned. She wouldn't actually take the duck but if she told the twins they'd 'lose' their stuffies, it caused Brooks and Brynley to think before throwing them again.

"No, no mama!"

"Yes, yes Bryn," Emily teased.

"Yo, what about us Em?" Morgan called out from the doorway.

"You really think she's going to buy you Chinese food after the stunt you pulled?" Tara asked the man.

"I, uh…well, yeah?"

"Come put whatever you want on the list, Morgan," Emily said as she walked back up the stairs.

"You lucky, lucky man," Garcia said, shaking her head at him.

Clarke and Amelia made a huge deal of showing Emily and JJ their new rooms and it was fair to say they didn't disappoint with their reactions. Both girls felt so much pride in the work they put in and were very excited to have mothers and siblings who cared so deeply for them and their happiness. Emily and JJ were feeling super emotional their eldest daughters would be sleeping in their new rooms tonight because this was the beginning of the end, so to speak.

They would never not be their babies however, the girls were growing up and the mothers couldn't deny it—Clarke was starting high school and Amelia was growing leaps and bounds each day. They didn't need Emily and JJ the way the littles did, and it showed. Their babies were spreading their wings, and it was time to give them room to fly. Not a lot of room of course, because then again, they were still so little but enough room to let them try new things and let them make their own decisions while still catching them when they fall.

"Me gonna sweep here too, mommy. Cwalk an Wia say it," Lily said proudly, gaining Emily's attention as she jumped off Clarke's bed and into her mothers' arms.

"Oomph," Emily grunted, catching Lily unexpectedly when the little one flew at her. Thank goodness for my reflexes, she thought to herself. "Lily bug, you have to be careful babe. What if mommy didn't see you coming?" Emily asked, looking into Lily's blue eyes.

"You awh-lwees see me tomin', mommy!" Lily answered with a cheeky smile, causing Clarke, Ameila, and JJ to laugh.

"Yeah, mom. You always see this crazy jumping bean coming," Clarke added, tickling Lily's side. "But Lil, we're not gonna have a sleepover tonight…maybe we can during school vacation," Clarke continued.

"Umm, me no fink dats wite. Probabee bah-fore dat," Lily said, nodding her head at the statement she made.

"How about we discuss the sleepover situation in a little bit, bug," Emily suggested, knowing by bedtime tonight Lily would forget all about it. She shot a wink at Clarke who caught on and agreed with her mom causing Lily to agree, and then the five of them went upstairs to join the rest of their family who were already back upstairs after coming down for the big reveal.

Lily had stayed downstairs with her older sisters because she just had to point out everything she loved so much, which made the tour of the bedrooms far longer for Emily and JJ because the little bug constantly interrupted Amelia and Clarke to state her own thoughts. They loved how invested Lily was because it was something so unique to her—honestly, Lily just wanted to be like her big sisters, plain and simple, it was very cute.

After bathtime that night, JJ got most of the kids snuggled up downstairs with a movie and was making popcorn when she saw a flash of brown hair dart past. She didn't think much of it only because JJ knew based on hair color alone it was Oakley, Emerson or Lily and that wasn't anything to worry about seeing as Lily would make herself known before reaching the top of the stairs. When a lamb stuffy appeared on the counter followed by a small giggle, JJ smiled and played along pretending to be shocked by the furry friend.

"Bubbles, how did you get onto the counter by yourself? I didn't know you could fly!" JJ asked and heard another giggle from under the kitchen island where the little girl was hiding. "Where's Emerson, does she know you came upstairs by yourself? Hmm, did you come up here for a special treat? Maybe some ice cream…" JJ tempted.

Emerson crawled around the corner and peeked up at her mom who was still talking to bubbles, seemingly unaware that she was there, then continued to crawl until, "Eeekk, momma!" Emerson squealed, as JJ scooped her up and peppered kisses all over her face. "How did you see me?" she giggled, continuing to squirm around until JJ sat her down on top of the island.

"Bubbles told me you were here!" JJ responded, causing Emerson to gasp and look back at her furry friend.

"No way, momma!" she said in disbelief.

"Yes way, Emerson!" JJ teased, loving the fact that her daughter truly believed it was possible bubbles could communicate with her mothers.

"Did you div her ice cweam?" Emerson asked, twisting her little fingers around in the cutest and somewhat nervous manner.

"No sweetie. Do you think we should have some before we bring the popcorn tray downstairs to your siblings though?" JJ asked, and Emerson nodded. "Okay, let's do it!"

JJ loved these little moments with her children. It wasn't anything life-changing for them, in fact, the kids most likely won't remember these small memories when they get older, but she will. Emerson giggling under the kitchen island in her footsie pjs while momma spoke with her stuffy before sneaking a super-secret few bites of ice cream, the smiles shared watching the popcorn pop together, dumping it into the bowl and adding the Prentiss special…

"Go ahead baby, you do it," JJ said, handing Emerson the bottle of sprinkles to add to the popcorn. It wasn't true popcorn without sprinkles, rainbow sprinkles to be exact.

"One, two, free, foah, five, six, sevin, eight, nine, ten, and me…" Emerson counted before holding her hand palm side up and shook the sprinkles into her hand then quickly brought it to her mouth and started over again causing JJ to burst out laughing.

"You cheeky little monkey," JJ said with a smile, holding Emerson close while she continued to shake the bottle of sprinkles into the bowls of popcorn they had. "What about momma, do I get some too?"

"I not to ten yet," Emerson said. "I gotta get ten, den we getta have em'," she answered with a smile.

"Oh, momma didn't know the rules. Okay, one, two…ten!" JJ announced, and Emerson went into a giggle fit, falling against her mother as Emily walked by with a smile and the last of the bathed children. She too enjoyed these precious moments and wasn't going to interrupt.

These truly were the moments they lived for.