Cheer tryouts were here and it's fair to say Clarke was beyond nervous. With dance and gymnastics she was automatically on the team because they welcomed everybody but cheer was different. Emily asked Clarke if she wanted her there during tryouts however, Clarke declined because she was in high school now and didn't want the older girls to tease her for having mommy there. Emily understood and even though she knew teasing wouldn't be an issue due to school rules, she honored her daughters wishes.
Cheer was also different than dance and gymnastics because the upperclassman was there as well—it wasn't just Clarke's age group and younger, it was older girls who intimidated her, Clarie and Hannah a bit seeing as they were newly freshman.
Four girls who were clearly friends ran up to Clarke and her friends and gasped when they saw her. "Oh my gosh, you're so pretty. What's your name?" one of the girls said to Clarke.
She blushed and said, "Thank you. I'm Clarke and these are my best friends Claire and Hannah."
"I'm Aria and this is Taylor, Maggie and Kathryn," the junior said. The girls had seen them around the hallway however, due to them being new to the west wing they didn't know their names until now. "Do you have any brothers?" Aria questioned.
Clarke and her friends occasionally talked about boys but not in the way Aria and her friends did as juniors. They were recently 14 and even though Clarke was wise beyond her years she was still a little young for her age when it came to friends and boys seeing as her dad never allowed her to have anyone over. "Umm, yeah I have three…" Clarke didn't truly understand the point of the question until the girl continued.
Aria gasped and then asked, "Do they go to school here? I bet they are super cute!"
"They are!" Hannah commented, urging her friend to tell the girls about them also not realizing the older girls were asking because they were interested in possible crushes.
"Two of them do but—"
Before Clarke could finish Maggie interrupted and said, "Oo, what grades are they in…do we know them? So does that mean your older brother is in college!"
"Umm, no," Clarke answered with a laugh. "And I'm not really sure if you'd know them but probably not. Oliver is in fourth grade, Hudson is in kindergarten and Brooks is only two so he stays home with my mom."
"Oh," Maggie said, a little disappointed they weren't older. "I bet they are super cute though! Do you only have brothers? I have two older sisters that are in college, Aria has a brother who is a year younger and these two don't have any siblings," she said, signaling towards Taylor and Kathryn.
"Actually, I have five sisters too," Clarke answered with a faint blush.
"Wait, so you have three brothers and five sisters?" Kathryn asked with wide eyes. "Oh my gosh! Are your sisters older or younger…or both?"
"Younger. I'm the oldest."
"That's so cool! Your house must be super crazy. I thought my house was loud with me and my two sisters, I can't imagine what it would be like with more," Maggie commented.
"Her house is so cool. She has like, everything there! Clarke takes the coolest pictures and her mom put in a dark room so she can develop them without having to wait to use the school's dark room! There's also a dance and gymnastics room!" Hannah gushed; she absolutely loved her best friends' house.
"Seriously?" Aria asked, and Clarke nodded. "That's so awesome. We could totally practice at your house when you guys make the team!"
"Do you all go to gymnastics and dance too?" Clarke asked. She was a bit embarrassed by her friends gushing over her house and didn't even know if she'd make the team but if she did, these new girls would be great friends too she thought.
"Yeah. Well, Taylor and Maggie never took dance lessons but we've all done gymnastics since we were little. Kathryn and I danced too but when we made the team, we stopped so we could focus on cheering. How about all of you?"
The girls spoke for a bit longer and then the coach blew her whistle started tryouts. Emily caught the end and smiled seeing how invested her daughter was. Due to tryouts being after school Emily was able to bring the kids home and get them a snack before heading back to pick Clarke up. JJ was still home and River was obviously there too—it made things easier having two sets of hands there to help and it gave Emily the opportunity to have the tiniest bit of one-on-one time with Clarke on a school day…kind-of. Speaking of which, JJ had started Whacky Wednesdays again and Emily had decided that until Jen went back to work, she'd do them too knowing Brooks and Brynley were taken care of by River. Emily was planning on starting them full time once Brooks and Brynley started preschool knowing how precious time was with her babies.
"Alright girls, you all did great! I'll post the teams on the front board come Monday afternoon," Coach B said. Something Clarke and her friends didn't know until they heard Coach B's speech at the beginning of tryouts was that everybody would make the cheer team, the only difference was whether they'd be on the JV team or varsity. Clarke, Hannah and Claire all decided that if one of them made the varsity team but the others didn't, they would decline her spot on varsity to stay with their friends. This was something they wanted to do together so being on separate teams would defeat the purpose.
Emily watched as the four older girls said goodbye to Clarke, Hannah and Claire before getting their bags and she didn't make herself known until her daughter spotted her. She didn't want to embarrass Clarke in front of her new team, especially because as she kept reminding herself and JJ, 'this was high school now'.
When Hudson, who nearly begged his mom to come with her, saw his sister he took off running and screamed, "Cwalke!"
The girl's new friends saw this and couldn't help but walk over to the duo after watching Clarke scoop her brother up and give him a great big hug. "Hey little dude, did you have a good day at school?"
"Mhm, I getted to be the wine weader!" he exclaimed.
"No way! Did you make sure everyone stayed in a straight line or did you lead everyone in a bit of a wave?" Clarke asked.
"Umm, I maked sure to just go in a wine but only go-ed a wittle wike this," Hudson said, swerving his hand in an S shape. "Are dose your fwiemds wike Ee-fin and me?" he asked, peeking around his sisters' shoulder to look at the four girls standing there.
Clarke spun and smiled at them when they waved at him. "Yeah, they're trying out for cheer too. This is Aria, Kathryn, Maggie and Taylor."
"I Hudsin! But sometimes I getted called Huddy but weally only my twim call me it!" Hudson announced.
"Woah, you have a twin?" Aria asked, obsessed with the little boy already.
"Mhm. Her name Emahsin but I call her Emmie be'tause umm, I just do," Hudson said with a shrug.
"You're so cute!" Maggie gushed.
"Fank you!"
Emily walked over and said hello to Claire and Hannah and then introduced herself to the girls as well. "Wow, you look exactly like your mom Clarke. You're both so pretty," Kathryn commented and Clarke's heart swelled. She had dreamt of hearing that when she was little and since being adopted, she's heard it so many times it nearly made up for when she was a little girl.
Emily took Hudson from Clarke and swirled her fingers around Clarke's ponytail knowing how much her daughter loved hearing that. "I'm sure you will all make varsity with us," Maggie said. They had been on the team since freshman year—it wasn't common for freshman to make varsity but they were shoe-ins due to their background in gymnastics and dance. Maggie assumed Clarke, Hannah and Clarie would make the team too for the same reason.
"Then we can all practice at Clarke's house," Hannah said, then looked at Emily for approval.
"Of course, we'd love to have you girls over," Emily said, winking at Hannah who often spoke before thinking things through. It was an adorable quality.
"Awesome!" Maggie said, then looked down at her phone when she got a text. "Oh, my sister is here, Taylor and I gotta go. See you on Monday!"
Aria made sure to exchange numbers with the three freshman and then walked out with them. Emily made sure Hannah and Claire had rides home then smiled when Hudson gave them a great big hug before leaving. "How was it, sweet girl?" Emily asked.
"Umm, really good. Well, I think…" Clarke said with a brief shrug. "I don't really have anything to go on but it was fun. I don't know if I'll make the varsity team but it's okay because JV would be good too. We all agreed that we'll be happy either way because we get to do it together."
"I'm so happy for you, honey," Emily said, then opened the door to help Hudson into the car.
As Emily pulled out of the school parking lot Hudson rolled down his window and screamed, "Bye," to Clarke's new friends who were waiting for Kathyrn's mom to get them. Clarke didn't have it in her to be embarrassed by him because he was too darn cute.
"Bye Hudson," the girls called out and Hudson beamed. Emily just shook her head knowing her little boy was already becoming a magnet for the older girls—not in a bad way of course, they obviously thought he was super adorable which he was.
Come Sunday a screech echoed out through the main floor of the Prentiss home by none other than little Miss Lily. The adults cringed at the deafening scream then heard, "DOE-DOE DONE!"
Emily and JJ looked at one another then back at the peanut and said, "Lily bug, doe-doe isn't gone. You had her all morning, she's in the house somewhere."
"Mommy's right honey, she can't crawl that fast," JJ teased in hopes the little one would calm down.
"But, but, umm, she not here and me know-ed me putted her wite dare!" Lily said, stumbling over her words and pointing to the empty baby stroller in the playroom. "She cwa-lin way weally fast be'tause her haf supa-powers now!"
"Oh," Emily said, internally laughing. "I didn't know you gave her superpowers. Do you think maybe you brought her upstairs for your nap or maybe outside when you were bouncing on the trampoline?"
"Umm, pwobabee no," Lily said with certainty. "Her in dare be'tause me umm…" she continued then trailed off while deep in thought. "Umm, me fink her on the tampoween still. Me haf to chep out dare."
Lily took off running towards the back door and attempted to open the slider door however, couldn't because of the child locks and the fact she was still so little. "Mommy hewlp me pease! Doe-doe pwobabee not wanna be out dare wifout me!"
"I'm coming baby, hold on one minute," Emily said as she walked through the kitchen towards the door. "Wait for mommy bug, I'll go with you," she continued. Emily didn't want Lily tripping down the stairs from the nervous energy she had and took her hand to make sure that wouldn't happen—not to mention the fact it was pouring which meant Emily would need to put doe-doe in a rapid cycle.
Lily gasped when she saw her furry friend on the trampoline and wasted no time in holding her close when she picked up the stuffed animal even though it was dripping wet and soaked her shirt in the process. Crisis averted, doe-doe was safe and sound.
Oliver and Amelia came upstairs when they heard their sister scream and asked JJ what happened because they were worried something was truly wrong. "Lily misplaced doe-doe. We all know how she gets when that happens, don't we?"
"Mhm, so that's why she was screaming," Oliver said as more of a statement than question.
"It was. What were you two doing?" JJ asked. Due to the Prentiss grandparents being gone yesterday, they rescheduled their spectacular Saturday outing to today meaning Clarke and Oakley were still out.
"We had a Wii tournament." Oliver answered, then quickly added, "Mommy said it was okay because it started raining and we couldn't play outside anymore."
"It's okay, buddy. Who won the tournament?" JJ asked. They didn't love the kids spending a ton of time playing video games/or using screens but they had been outside all morning and then it began downpouring which meant anything was fair game.
"Umm, we both did. I beat Amelia in soccer then she beat me in tennis so we are kinda still in a tie now. We played two games of each but we both keep winning," Oliver said.
"I think you two should have a tiebreaker then, don't you?" JJ tempted.
"Can we come too, momma?" Emerson asked, and Hudson agreed.
"Yeah, how about we all go downstairs to cheer them on!" JJ said, and the kids took off running. River and JJ each scooped up one of the twins and they ran into Emily and Lily on the way down who also joined after getting the sass queen a new shirt. The littles loved to watch their siblings play for a bit before playing with their toys down there instead. Hudson and Emerson have tried to play but they didn't really understand so it wasn't that much fun for them. The bigs were very patient with them though and continued to try and teach them anyways.
When everyone was settled JJ asked, "What should the tiebreaker be? Volleyball, golf, or swimming…what do we think?" she questioned, looking at mainly the littles.
JJ and Emily loved that the kids only enjoyed the sports games on the Wii because it was physically demanding meaning, they weren't just sitting on the couches staring at screens for extended periods of time. "Umm, I fink swimmin' be'tause we haf a pool!" Hudson answered.
"Yeah, I fink that too!" Emerson added. "I don't weally know the uh-fer ones that much, but I know wolleyball a wittle," she continued, and the adults smiled hearing her mistake the V for a W.
"That's the one umm, I fink it the one you pway in the samd," Hudson said, referring to the games way of playing.
"You're right, buddy," JJ said, then watched as Oliver scrolled to swimming and selected two players.
The kids counted down when the saw the huge 3, 2, 1 appear on the screen and cheered on their brother or sister as they began their first race. "Go Owwie, fastah, fastah!" Hudson said, jumping up and down.
"You gotta go fastah, Lia!" Emerson screamed with a nervous excitement.
"Me, me, me!" Brooks squealed, attempting to jump up and down too copying his brother. Brynley threw her ducky up in the air while stomping her feet and the mothers smiled seeing how invested they were in a game neither understood.
Amelia and Oliver tied twice more and decided instead of playing again that they'd rather really go swimming. Soon enough all the kids were changed and real water games were played.
"Grandma, do you think momma would be upset at me if I don't wanna play soccer like she did?" Oakley asked Sandy.
"Of course not, honey!" Sandy exclaimed. She knew her daughter was holding out on Oakley following in her footsteps with soccer the way Oliver has and Hudson wanted to but she was certain JJ would never be upset if Oakley decided she didn't want to. JJ had asked Oakley at the beginning of school and it was clear the little girl was feeling a bit unsure whether she wanted to do gymnastics like her big sisters or play soccer this year. "Your momma wants you to do whatever activities you choose and if that isn't soccer guess what?...it's no big deal, right? You get to pick, not momma or mommy, or us for that matter," she said, pointing between herself and Allen.
"Grandma is right, Oakley. You know, between you and me, your momma could never be a dancer like you or your sisters because she's too clumsy," Allen joked.
"It's probably because she drinks too much coffee," Oakley said with a giggle and the grandparents laughed.
"I bet you're right. Do you not want to play soccer?" Allen asked, shaking his head back and forth with a face that let Oakley know he wasn't the least bit upset.
"Umm, I like to play at home but I don't really wanna play like Ollie does. 'Liva is gonna do gym-nas-tics," Oakley said, sounding out the word and referring to her best friend Olivia. "…and I wanna do it with her but I don't want momma to be upset. She still gets to see Ollie play and Hudson said he wants to play too so that's probably enough I think."
"Oakley honey, you don't ever need to worry about wanting to do something other than soccer. Dance and gymnastics are fantastic choices, right Allen?"
"The best! If I could move that way I would, but I think I'd dislocate a hip if I tried," Allen teased while attempting to do a silly dance pose and Oakley laughed.
Oakley knew deep down that her mom would never ever be upset with her but she felt better after making sure with her grandparents too. "I think you could probably do some of my dance moves but not anything else," Oakley giggled. "But that's because you're old."
Allen gasped then stood up and threw Oakley over his shoulder and tickled her sides. "You take that back missy. I'm still a spring chicken!"
"No you're not, grandpa. You've been here a long, long time! I've only been here for seven years and you've been here like, probably fifty!" Oakley said, assuming 50 was super duper old. Little did she know, Allen was a fair amount older than fifty.
Sandy laughed at the innocent comment, kids truly say the darndest things. Today was a low-key spectacular Saturday due to the rain—Oakley's only request was that they paint. Sandy asked if she wanted to go to one of the Children's Museums but the little one said no. That being said, she did want grandma's extra chocolate chip cookies which was something Allen readily agreed to knowing he'd get to enjoy his wife's cookies too.
On Monday Emily arrived a bit early for pickup from cheer practice with a different little in tow. The girls had dance where River went to accompany them while JJ took Brooks and Brynley to Oliver and Hudson's soccer practice. After arriving home the day before from her grandparents day, Oakley told JJ she didn't want to play soccer and JJ made it perfectly clear that all she wanted was for her daughter to be happy whether that be at dance, soccer, gymnastics or something else. Oakley was very happy and assured her mom she'd still play soccer at home with her which made the mother smile.
Lily however, did not have dance on Monday's seeing she was in the peewee class—that was actually the name of her class, one that only met two days a week instead of three. Lily didn't mind though, she just liked going with her bestie Lyla and was more than happy to play every other day. Emily made the mistake of putting Lily down when they got into the school and the little one took off running in search of her big sister causing the mother to chase after her.
"Lily, wait for me baby," Emily called out. "Hey, come back her peanut. We don't want to interrupt Clarke's practice, wait for mommy."
Emily quickly caught up to her daughter and scooped her up just in time to avoid a collision with another parent who was waiting outside the gym doors and wearing a huge smile on her face. "Hi there, little one. You must be super excited to see your big sister, huh?" the woman assumed, and she was correct.
"Mhm," Lily answered shyly, resting her head against Emily's shoulder and playing with her necklace. She was completely hit or miss when it came to new people either telling them about all her favorite things or becoming very shy.
"Hi, I'm Samantha Montgomery, Aria's mother," the woman said, holding out her hand to the mother.
"Oh hi, your daughter welcomed mine with open arms at tryouts. I've heard only great things. I'm Emily Prentiss, Clarke's mother," Emily said, shaking the woman's hand.
"That's very nice to hear. And what's your name, cutie?" Samantha asked the little one.
"Me Wily," Lily answered, just above a whisper.
"Lily is a very pretty name," she said then looked at Emily and said, "Gosh I miss when they were this age. Are Lily and Clarke your only children?"
"Me haf wots of sissy's an bwovers!" Lily exclaimed, and Emily nodded.
"That's right, huh bug? We actually have a very big family, I have seven other children," Emily said and Samantha's eyes went wide.
"My goodness, and you're so young! What's your secret?" she said half-jokingly.
"This little monkey keeps me young," Emily said with a laugh, tickling Lily's belly. "They all do really."
"Is Lily your youngest?"
"No, we have twin 2-year-olds. The rest are older than Lily and younger than Clarke, she's our oldest."
"My gosh, you must have a very busy house," Samantha said with a laugh. "I thought I had my hands full with Aria and Liam, he's a year younger than Aria putting him in tenth grade. Do all your other children attend Brookwood too?"
"Me go to pee-kay so me tome here nepxt time," Lily chimed in.
Emily smiled and nodded at her daughter, "Lily's right, she attends the Learning Tree and will come here next year. I have a second set of twins who are in kindergarten, one in second grade, one in fifth, one in seventh and obviously Clarke's in high school now, she just started her freshman year."
"And me tuh-sims too, mommy!" Lily added.
Emily laughed and agreed, "Yes, your cousins too; my brothers' children also attend Brookwood. I have a nephew in fifth grade with my son and a niece in first grade."
"And two mo'ah too!" Lily said, holding up two fingers to show her new friend Samantha. It was fair to say Lily had come out of her shell completely.
"That's right, baby. Auntie Hayley is pregnant with twins," Emily agreed.
"Three sets of twins in the same family, wow! I still can't get over how great you look after having so many kids," Samantha gushed.
Emily and JJ didn't make a habit of telling people they adopted most of their children because they agreed it was their kid's story to tell—nobody in the family was ashamed by any means, in fact, the mothers celebrated adoption and felt beyond lucky to have each of their sweet babies but understood as they got older that it was their decision unless directly asked. Emily knew Clarke hadn't shared the fact she was adopted with her new friends on the cheer team yet, mainly because there wasn't any time to, so she wasn't going to do it for her. Emily thanked Samantha and then the mothers started talking about other things while waiting for the girls to finish practice.
When Emily saw the girls packing up, she finally let Lily down and the little one took off into the gym and ran right into her sisters' welcoming arms. Clarke made another set of introductions like she did on Friday with Hudson and the girls fawned over the sass queen who looked exactly like her big sister but with blue eyes instead of green.
"You tan tome to me house and pway wif me," Lily announced to the older girls.
"We can? I think that would be so much fun," Maggie said. None of her friends had siblings who were so young and the four girls were in love with Clarke's siblings already and they had only met two so far.
Claire and Hannah absolutely loved their best friends' siblings and enjoyed the fact that Lily always wanted them to play with her toys when they came over to hang out with Clarke. She was too cute. "Mhm, me haf so many dowees and we haf a tampoween and a swide and we tan doe swimming too!"
"Wow, we can do all those things at your house?" Aria asked, and Lily nodded fervently. "We'll have to come over if your mommy says we can," Aria said even though she already knew Emily invited them on Friday.
"She say you tan, me know-ed it!" Lily said and Clarke giggled at her sister who thought she had the authority to invite anyone she wanted over to their house.
"We'll talk about it later with mom, okay Lil?" Clarke said. "Mhm, but she say dey tan," Lily added and the girls just smiled.
"…and if you ever need a hand, I'd be more than happy to drive Clarke home after practice if you and your wife need the help. Although, I'm sure you two are pros with managing the kid's schedules," Samantha said as they walked towards the girls.
"Thank you so much, Samantha. The same goes for you, Jen or I would happily bring Aria home. I'm sure River would gladly bring her home as well if she's the one to pick up Clarke from practice," Emily said. The mothers had spoken about their spouses and Emily mentioned their nanny River who would now be a third set of wheels to pick up the kids from activities.
"Hey Mrs. P, guess what? We all made varsity!" Hannah exclaimed, once again thinking before she spoke. Clarke didn't mind though, she knew she'd get the opportunity to tell her moms all about her day and was too happy to be upset at her friend for spilling the beans.
"Oh my gosh, that's amazing girls! I'm so happy for you, honey," Emily said, giving Hannah a brief hug before kissing her daughter's temple as to not embarrass her in front of her new teammates. "Great job, sweet girl! I'm so proud of you!"
"Thanks, mom," Clarke said with a faint blush.
"They are the only freshman who made varsity, it's gonna be a great year," Aria beamed to Emily and her mother.
"Congratulations girls! Varsity is a big deal, I'm sure you are all very talented," Samantha gushed.
The girls spoke for a bit longer and then they all went their separate ways. Lily made her own thoughts very clear to Clarke on the way home and Emily smiled at her daughters who were very invested in the others days and activities, it was so sweet.
"…so you think you're gonna cheer the loudest for me?" Clarke asked her sister with a laugh.
"Mhm, be'tause you me big sissy so me prowbabwee da woudest!"
"I'll definitely have the biggest cheer section," Clarke said, already a bit overwhelmed by how many people would be there to watch her competitions.
"Clarke Prentiss, our little varsity cheerleader as a freshman. I'm so, so proud of you, baby. Wait until mom hears your big news," Emily said while looking in the rearview mirror at her daughter.
"Oh my gosh, she's going to go completely nuts…" Clarke said, internally super excited to see her mom's reaction.