"Mommy, we need your help with something!" one of the little girls yelled from the other room.

"Hold on one minute please, Oakley," Emily said as she continued to cut up some avocados for the kid's snack.

"I'm not Oakley," Amelia said, running into the kitchen to see her mom.

"Oh goodness, I'm sorry baby," Emily apologized. She was embarrassed to admit how many times she and JJ called the children by the wrong names; it was bound to happen though because there were so many of them and from the other room, quite a few sounded nearly identical.

"It's okay mommy," Amelia said, wrapping her arms around Emily as she stole a piece of avocado. "Can we have some applesauce pouches too?" she asked, looking up at her mother and batting her long eyelashes.

Emily ran her fingers through Amelia's hair and nodded, "I think there should be enough in there. Momma and River are going shopping after her test, count them before your little siblings come running in here though, please."

Today Jen was taking River to take her driving test to get it out of the way. She had studied for the past week even though she most likely didn't need to and felt confident, at least to take the test. River wasn't sure she felt comfortable going out by herself yet, but she wouldn't know unless she tried and that wouldn't happen until she could legally be on the road. Emily and JJ weren't going to push River to do anything before she was ready, they did suggest once she renewed her license to go down the driveway and turn around at the gate. Their neighborhood was gated and extremely large, the Prentiss driveway alone was a mile long which would at least give River a sense of driving alone. River could take as many laps as she wanted until she felt safe and go from there.

"There's ten, we're good," Amelia said, putting them out on the countertop where her mom had laid out the rest of the snack she had put together for everyone.

"Perfect. What did you need help with sweet girl?" Emily asked.

"Oh, umm something is wrong with the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs. Brooks kept standing up then plopping down while holding onto it and I don't really know, it kinda just didn't really close anymore. Me, Ollie and Clarke used a jump rope to hold it closed but I think we need a new one," Amelia said, stealing a piece of pineapple this time.

Emily sighed, not at Amelia or Brooks, just at the fact they needed a new gate because they're a pain in the ass to install. "Thank you, baby. I appreciate you, Oliver and Clarke helping to keep it closed so nobody could get hurt. Can you please go tell your siblings it's snack time?"

"Okay!" Amelia said, about to run into the other room.

"And Amelia?" Emily said, capturing the girl's attention once more. "Let's play outside for a while, okay?"

"Yeah!"

After Emily got the kids settled with their snacks outside she made two quick phone calls, one to Allen as he was the contractor of the family and one to JJ so she could pick up another baby gate on the way home. "Yeah babe, I already bought it no worries. You just need to show them the confirmation email."

"Wait, Em!" JJ said before her wife hung up the phone. "Did you order it from Target or Home Depot?"

"Brynley Grace if you don't want the banana just leave it on your plate, please, do not smoosh it in your hair!" JJ and River heard through the speakerphone in the car. While Emily was talking to the little one, River pulled up the email on JJ's phone and let the woman know the baby gate was at Target causing the blonde to nod and head towards the store.

"Can I have her banana please, mommy?" Hudson asked, tiptoeing his way over to his little sister. He was too cute for words and clearly a growing boy who loved having seconds almost every meal after always receiving a yes in response.

"You sure can, buddy," Emily responded with a smile. "Jen, you still there?" she asked into the phone. When JJ said yes, Emily continued. "The baby gate is at Target and your father is coming over to install it when you get home. I think your mother is coming too and they'll probably stay for dinner."

"Sounds good babe, see you soon. I love you."

"I love you too."

They had already spoken about River's test, she had passed with flying colors and when she was ready, the girl would be able to drive which would be great for her. She was confident when out with the family or even one of the women, it was actually one of her favorite things besides being outside. While grocery shopping River also enjoyed picking out items whether on the list or not, it made her feel in control of her life even though it was something so simple. Just picking out her outfit each day and having a choice other than three dark and dingy options was so freeing.

"Hey mom, can Claire come over tomorrow please?" Clarke asked when Emily hung up the phone.

Emily continued to wipe Brynley's hands as the little one was finished with her snack when she looked up at her daughter who was waiting patiently for an answer and she nodded at her. "Is Hannah going to come as well?"

"No, she's still visiting her grandparents in Florida. Do you, oh my gosh—" Clarke exclaimed when Brooks came running towards her with food all over his face and hands. "Come on dude, you're almost two. Shouldn't you at least get the food in your mouth by now you big chunk?" she teased as Emily swapped Brynley for Brooks, letting the little girl run around as she wiped him down.

"You'd think," Emily said with a wink towards her daughter. "Do I what, sweet girl?"

"Oh, umm…darn. Brooks, you made me forget my question," Clarke said looking at her little brother with a laugh when he smiled at her. "Amelia and Oliver are having friends over tomorrow too, right?"

"Yes. Olivia is coming to play with Oakley as well, why? Do you and Claire have something particular in mind that you wanted to do? I'm sure we can call your grandparents to take you girls somewhere if that's the case."

"What? No!" Clarke exclaimed. "I mean, I don't know I was just wondering. Claire and I haven't really thought about what we wanted to do yet. Sometimes she likes to just come over here because our house is way different than hers and there's always something going on."

"That is very true," Emily agreed. She briefly looked around and counted heads to make sure all her babies were safely playing in the backyard then focused back on her daughter who was now sitting next to her on the grass. "Is that what you want to do?"

"I don't really care. I like being home more than I like being at my friend's houses though. I kinda feel a little nervous sometimes when I'm there. Not the whole time but if I get too in my head about it and if it gets like, I don't know like too quiet, I feel kinda anxious and want to come home. I'm almost 14, I don't think I should feel like this, but I can't help it. Am I always gonna feel like this?" Clarke said, finally looking into her mother's eyes, showing her the tears welling in her gorgeous emerald eyes.

"Oh baby girl," Emily soothed, cupping Clarke's cheek. The girl crashed into her mother and Emily cuddled her close and rubbed her back while whispering sweet nothings until her tears subsided because this was a conversation she wanted Clarke to hear.

Emily was grateful the rest of her children were running around like crazy monkeys and didn't notice their sister was crying because she knew Clarke would be embarrassed as she was the oldest. There wasn't any reason to be, but Clarke felt like she needed to be that much stronger as the oldest, at least in front of her siblings, and then if it was just she and her moms, she could be whoever. Clarke broke down with Amelia and sometimes cried in front of Oliver when the three of them spoke about things they had been through, however, that was different than this, at least that's what she thought.

"Clarke, there's absolutely nothing wrong with what you're feeling. You've been through so much in your young life sweet girl, it's not uncommon to feel safer in your own home. Even if you feel comfortable with your friends and their parents, their homes are an unfamiliar place with different sounds. Plus, I don't think anybody else's homes sound like ours," Emily said with a wink to try and get a smile out of her little girl.

"Yeah, it's really crazy here," Clarke laughed while Emily wiped her cheeks dry of the tears she cried.

"Sweetie, what you have to understand is you've had a life different than most," Emily began.

She and Clarke had spoken about the trauma she had suffered many times to help the girl process what she went through, it was good for her to work through everything in a healthy way. Something Clarke had a hard time understanding was the neglect—she just thought it was her dad not paying attention to her, but in reality, it affected much more than the lack of parent/child bond.

"Let me try and explain it a different way," Emily said, deciding to use one of her many siblings as an example to help Clarke understand. "Lily is four, right?"

"Yeah?"

"And she has her best friend, Lyla. Now because there are so many of you, Jade brings Lyla over to play with Lily to help your mother and I. Jade also doesn't have any other children, so she stays, Oakley, however, started having playdates at Olivia's when she was four, but the two didn't have their first sleepover until they were six. Obviously here because you know mom and I don't like our babies sleeping somewhere else. My point for telling you this though sweet girl is, due to all the neglect you suffered, you weren't introduced to the steppingstones of growing up."

Emily cupped Clarke's cheek again and smiled softly at her. "You've made so much progress in the past six months, baby girl. I can't tell you how many times mom and I forget you haven't been with us since you were a little peanut like—"

"The one who just went down the slide on his stomach with a stuffed cow on his head?" Clarke said, unamused being compared to Brooks but at the same time, so happy being compared to the almost two-year-old because that meant her mom's thought about her at all stages of life not just as an almost teenager.

"Brooks, are you okay bubba?" Emily asked, watching him stand back up after picking up his stuffed cow and run back around to the steps of the kiddy toy slide. "Mama, me balalalala mama sibe!"

"Be careful please, chunky monkey!"

Brooks smiled at his mother then went back up the three steps, ignoring what she said and sliding down face first once again, squealing in the process. He truly was a boy in every sense of the word. Oliver loved certain boyish things, but he was a neat freak like his mothers and sisters unlike Brooks who preferred to get dirty every opportunity he got.

"Listen sweet girl," Emily said, focusing back on Clarke once she did one more scan of the yard. "I know you think like the feelings you're experiencing aren't quote on quote normal for an almost 14-year-old, but they are. Everyone gets nervous in new situations and most haven't had to deal with everything you have had to. You have truly flourished Clarke. Mom and I have watched the most beautiful personality shine through; you've completely come out of your shell. You're smart, funny, quick-witted, the most incredibly talented photographer, humble, and the best big sister. You have four full years of high school sweetie, and I know you're only going to continue to sparkle. And let me tell you one more thing, normal is overrated," Emily finished, kissing the side of Clarke's head.

Clarke hadn't thought about the fact she still had four more years before her life truly started, that made her feel better. Her mom was right though, a lot of times she too forgot she had only been here for six months because she received so much attention from her moms, siblings and family members that it felt like she had been here for far longer. That thought made her feel a bit better, she really had done a lot in six months and more than that, she had friends for the first time in her life. Claire and Hannah didn't care if they spent time at the Prentiss home or their own, they just wanted to hang out altogether. Clarke wasn't sure she was ready to tell her friends everything but maybe she'd tell them a bit more before they started high school so she could go in with her two best friends by her side.

"I love you, mom," Clarke said, wrapping her arms around Emily.

"I love you too, baby girl," Emily said, kissing the top of her head as she rubbed Clarke's back.

"Umm, mom…" Clarke said when she realized her mother obviously wasn't looking in the direction of the chaos happening in front of them. "What is it, sweetie?"

"Lily somehow turned on the splash zone and they're all—" Clarke continued, pointing towards her siblings who were now running through the sprinkler tunnel with rain showers, water play tables, soaker buckets and adjustable shooters. It was a new summer toy they found at Costco and the kids were obsessed with it especially if the bouncy house wasn't blown up.

"Oh my gosh, their clothes!" Emily laughed, tipping her head back. You could either let these little moments get to you or make the most of them and Emily always tried to make the most of them.

Allen pulled into the driveway right when JJ and River arrived home with the groceries and the new baby gate which was great timing, not only to help carry everything in but to install the gate before the littles came back inside. "How did your test go, River?"

"Great, I passed," she said, unpacking the bag in front of her and putting the eight boxes of applesauce pouches onto the countertop. "I was a bit nervous once I got behind the wheel, but it was like riding a bike, it all came back to me."

"That's fantastic, honey," Allen smiled. "Now when you feel ready, you'll be able to hop in the car and go," he continued.

They all understood River's apprehension and respected the fact she wasn't quite sure if she could handle going out alone due to the fact she hadn't in five years. River had developed a panic disorder, understandably so, but she wanted to start with talk therapy with Emily before going on medicine for it. She did however take the bubbles they gave the kids because they were herbal supplement anxiety drops, and you didn't need a prescription for them. River didn't have anything against prescription medications, she just wanted to wait until she tried a few other techniques first. It was her decision, and she was free to choose what she wanted to do, something Emily and JJ were trying to help her relearn as she reacquainted herself with the outside world again.

"Yeah, I will," she agreed with a smile.

"Do you two need any more help with the groceries?" Allen asked seeing his daughter come into the kitchen with more bags.

"This is the last of it, dad," JJ told him. "The baby gate is still in the car if you want to go grab it. Em text me a picture of the current one, it looks like the kids used a jump rope to hold it shut and they've been outside since."

"How did it break in the first place? Nothing like this has ever happened before," Allen questioned.

"No idea, Em was in the middle of making the kids a snack when she called me so we didn't get a chance to really speak," she answered, continuing to put away the groceries.

"Got it. Okay, let me go get the gate," he said, heading out to the garage.

"Why don't you two go see the children, I can finish this," Sandy suggested.

"Mom, I'm confident Em didn't invite you over to put away our groceries. I can handle it, thank you though. River if you want to go play with the crazy monkeys go ahead, I've got this," JJ said.

"No, no. The least I can do is help," River assured.

Emily and JJ had discussed everything with River about a week and a half after she was settled with the family knowing they'd be able to have the same discussion with her again at a later date as well. The most important thing was keeping River and the kids safe, happy and healthy while slowly working on the case because pushing River wouldn't be worth it. They also wanted to give River her independence but to do that, she needed a few things including a cell phone to get in contact with the family if need be, her own money, a valid license and a car for when she was ready.

That's why they spoke with her about the live-in nanny position and what that entailed including helping with the kids, putting groceries away, helping with some of the tasks the mothers do, and more. Not all at once, slowly but surely as it wasn't fair to burden her when she was already dealing with extreme trauma. Right now, they were only looking for help with Hudson and Emerson as that's what she was used to and playing with the kids because they loved River already. If she wanted to do anything else, it was up to her.

When Allen came back into the house with the gate he went to the staircase and burst out laughing at the temp fix job his grandchildren had done with the baby gate currently in place. "Oh my, these kids are something else," he smiled. Allen unwrapped the jump rope and when he did, the top half of the gate nearly fell off onto him. "Woah, talk about broken. This is a mess."

"Oh my gosh!" JJ screamed, looking out the slider door once the groceries were put away.

"What is it, sweetie?" Sandy questioned.

"My children are running through the bouncy house and the splash zone in their clothes," she answered with a laugh. "Oh, poor Em," she continued. "She's getting splashed left and right out there."

"I'm sure she doesn't mind, honey. Emily always finds a way to thrive in the chaos," Sandy assured, placing a kiss on her daughter's head.

The three women made their way outside leaving Allen inside to finish installing the gate to find Emily laughing when Amelia got Oliver out of the game by diving through the bouncy house as he slid down the slide. "These shorts are holding me back!" Oliver announced after his sister got him out.

"Your cotton shorts?" Emily teased.

"Yeah, cause' they are all wet and much heavier when I slide down," Oliver said with a similar sass to Lilys.

"Maybe you should have put your bathing suit on before playing in the water," JJ said, causing all the kids to turn and look at her, River and Sandy then make their way towards them.

The three accepted hugs then quickly realized by doing so they were now all wet, something they didn't plan for because when the children were so excited to see them, nothing else mattered—it was just so special and they all knew there would come a day when the children wouldn't run up to them screaming their names and run into their arms so they cherished each and every time.

"That wasn't really an option," Amelia told JJ seeing as the game was now paused.

"And why's that?" JJ asked.

"ME!" Lily squealed, then ran back to the trampoline to jump with Oakley, Emerson and Hudson who had already gotten out of the game by the big kids.

"Yeah, Lily turned on the splash zone while she, Brooks and Brynley were under it and in their clothes. Then mommy blew up the bounce house so we could all play but none of us wanted to go inside to change," Amelia continued with a shrug. It wasn't a big deal; they were just clothes, and they had a dryer.

"Ahh, I see," JJ smiled. Her kids absolutely loved to just be kids and that made her and Emily so incredibly happy. Their older children deserved it more than anything as they didn't get to have the childhoods they deserved so making up for lost time was very important for them. "Go play babies," she said, giving their wet heads another kiss before they ran off to play again.

"So, how much did you buy that wasn't on the list?" Emily asked with a laugh, knowing each time her wife went grocery shopping they ended up with far too many sweets in the house.

"I have no idea what you're talking about…" JJ said, trailing off with a mischievous smirk.

"Mhm, I'm sure you don't," Emily responded, helping Brynley take off her soaking wet shirt to match her twin who was happily running around in his diaper. She didn't truly care what her wife bought though, it wasn't a big deal to her because the extra junk food was for JJ not the kids.

"What happened to the gate, babe?" JJ asked, now snuggling Brynley who was wrapped in a towel for a few minutes while Emily rang out the baby's wet clothes. River had already joined the kids on the trampoline and Sandy had taken Emily's place judging the game so they could continue to play while the mothers spoke.

"Brooks," Emily answered simply. "Amelia told me he was pulling on it as he stood and plopped himself down repeatedly. The kids tried to get him to stop however, we know how well that works," she stated with an eyeroll.

The little boy didn't listen to his siblings when they told him no, only his mother's—they were hoping it was a rebellious phase he was going through because there was no reason why he shouldn't listen to his siblings, especially when they were telling him something for his own good. Amelia, Oliver and Clarke were trying to spare Brooks from getting hurt by the gate potentially falling on him if/when it broke, but he refused to listen to them and kept going until they tied the jump rope around it and the game became no fun to him anymore.

"I should have guessed, he does the same thing in his crib," JJ said. Thankfully the wood on his crib was far stronger than the baby gate, not to mention it hadn't been opened and closed a million times over the last four years as they bought brand new cribs for the twins. "I'm honestly a bit surprised this is the first time we've had to replace one of them, we do have nine children."

"No kidding. Leave it to the eighth," Emily said with a laugh, watching as he summersaulted into the bouncy house causing Oliver, Hudson and Clarke to quickly move out of his way so they wouldn't bounce on top of him. "He's going to give me a heart attack one day."

"You and me both," JJ agreed.

"This is your payback, Jenny," Sandy commented, not taking her eyes off the two girls who were still playing the game. Clarke and Amelia were often the last in the game when it was just the Prentiss children, Oliver made it to the end as well when he was in his bathing suit, his cotton shorts however, really threw off his game.

"Payback for what, mom?" JJ asked.

"Being a crazy child," Sandy answered with a smile. "Your father and I were constantly worried about you getting hurt. Even when we got you into soccer you still wanted to play football with your brothers at home," Sandy said, shaking her head thinking about it.

JJ didn't have a comeback because it was very true and she distinctly remembers seeing both her parents holding a hand to their chest many times while she played with her brothers, the same thing she and Emily do watching Brooks. Not to mention the fact her father was installing a new baby gate after Brooks broke the one they had. They definitely did have some wild children. Crazy, crazy Prentiss monkeys.