Today school pickup required Emily, JJ and River to drive because they were taking a lot of extra children home with them. River took most of the big girls, JJ took Parker, Ayla, Olivia, Jack and Crew along with their respective Prentiss child and Emily had two sets of twins, Lily, Harper, Clarke and Claire in her car; it was chaos already.

Emily had already unloaded the girls' bags when she got home from drop-off this morning and set up the trundles that were going to be used tonight. Clarke and her friends, seeing as there were four additional girls, would either split up between her bedroom and the nanny's quarters or all spread out on the extra-large sectional in the second playroom downstairs.

It wasn't clear whether Jack and Harper would actually be spending the night or not yet, but considering the Hotchner's now lived two houses down, it didn't need to be decided until bedtime. Crew and Olivia were leaving tomorrow before the Hotchner gender reveal, even though they were invited, because their families had other plans but Ayla and Parker along with Clarke's friends would be coming to the party.

Before the kids ran off in different directions, Emily made them all a small plate of green noodles, an assortment of cut up fruit, and some slices of avocado for a snack as dinner would be served a bit later than normal tonight because the mother was ordering in. Emily knew it would take a good chunk of time figuring out what everybody wanted from the Chinese restaurant; she knew Chinese was a safe bet for the children and it would save her from having to cook for all those kids.

"What are green noodles?" Aria whispered to Clarke as Emily put together the girls' plate.

"Umm," Clarke hesitated, then peaked at which type her mom had actually made. The Prentiss children loved pesto noodles which were green because of the sauce, but they also loved zucchini noodles too—it obviously tasted different than normal pasta however, the kids liked their mom's green noodles more. "These are the zucchini ones with a parmesan garlic sauce, they're really good," she whispered so her little siblings wouldn't hear.

"Clarke's right, they're so, so good," Maggie told her friend, digging in for a second bite. "Mrs. P, can you text this recipe to my mom please? I could eat these every single day!"

"I sure can, Maggie," Emily said with a smile as she handed out the last two plates to Aria and Clarke.

"My mom too?" Kathryn and Aria asked after the girls had taken a bite of theirs.

"Of course," Emily laughed. She made them at least twice a week for her children because they were a healthy source of vegetables to go with dinner and something the littles thought to be pasta—Emily was a big fan of nutrient filled options for meals because she had very active kids and making sure their bellies were full of good energy was very important to her.

"Mama, me! Mo-ah, mo-ah pease!" Brooks squealed, banging his hands on his highchair tray as he did.

"Eat your fruit first please, Brooks. Mommy will get you more noodles in a few minutes," Emily said, shaking her head at the chunky baby. He was such a foodie. All the Prentiss children were but the boys were something else; Brooks, Hudson and Oliver had seconds of breakfast and dinner nearly every day and Emily made it a point to pack additional snacks for them to take to school each day just in case.

"Me too mommy…please?" Hudson asked, batting his long eyelashes at his mother.

"Woah, look at you! You've already eaten all your fruit and avocado too buddy," Emily mused. "You're my big eater, aren't you?"

"Mhm, be'tause I a big boy!" Hudson exclaimed.

"Yes you are baby." Emily saw that Lily and Brynley had finished and gave Hudson the extra on their plates knowing she could give him more if he was still hungry afterwards. One by one the kitchen emptied; the littles headed off to play leaving the big girls because they got served after as they'd be able to patiently wait.

"Uh-uh, Brooks Morgan no sir!" Emily said, causing heads to turn towards the baby who was about to drop some blueberries off his tray and onto the floor. "If you're not going to eat your blueberries, leave them please."

"No!" Brooks squealed, loving the word even when he didn't mean it. Everybody watched as he continued screaming the word no in between putting handfuls of blueberries in his mouth.

"A true chunk at heart, he can't leave any food behind," Clarke commented, handing her brother one of her sliced peaches after Brooks demolished his blueberries.

"Tay-to, Tahwp!" Brooks said with a smile, accepting the peach from his big sister.

"You're welcome, Brooks," Clarke laughed, loving the way he pronounced her name.

"Ah-wia, tome pway wif me and Emasim. We pwayin' pimciss dess up pah-tee!" Lily said, taking Aria's hand in the process and dragging her towards the playroom. Lily had spotted Aria when she came downstairs to get more water and refused to allow her to go back upstairs as she wanted to play.

"Lily, let Aria at least refill her glass before playing with you bug," Emily said.

"No mommy, me wanna pway wif her and Emasim do too!" Lily whined.

"I know you do baby, but guess what? Ollie's boys only pool time is almost up, do you and Emerson want to go swimming?" Emily asked, giving Aria an easy way out. Even though the big girls loved spending time with the littles, Emily knew Clarke was going to talk to her friends about her past and that would take an uninterrupted chunk of time.

JJ had taken the boys swimming and allowed them to have a bit of solo time before being bombarded by all the girls in the house because even though they loved their siblings, sometimes it was fun to have some boy time. Amelia and her friends were playing Wii downstairs, the littles were in the playroom with River, Oakley and Olivia were in the dance room with music blasting and Clarke was upstairs in her mom's master bath with her friends practicing some makeup ideas. Emily and JJ's bathroom was ginormous which meant the girls would have plenty of space to spread out while taking advantage of the vanity and double sinks with endless counter space.

They had a cheer competition next weekend and Clarke was hoping the big girls would be able to help herself, Hannah and Claire learn how to master a subtle but pretty look. Clarke also knew upstairs would be the quietest place so she could talk with her friends about her past while giving Amelia and her friends along with Oakley and Olivia plenty of space to hang out downstairs. To be honest, Clarke knew her moms would help her do her makeup for the competition so she wasn't completely focused on what her friends were showing her, but it was still fun to say the least.

"Yeah, we wanna doe swimmin'. Maybe Ah-wia wanna doe too, mommy!"

"I think she'd love to a bit later, bug. How does that sound?" Emily asked, straightening out the Tiana costume that was sliding off Lily's shoulder.

"Otay. But her prowbabee not haf the same bae-fing suit me do wike Emasim. Maybe she haf one dats cwose to me, you fink?"

"You have all different colored bathing suits, I'm sure you three can match," Emily assured.

"I brought a white and green bathing suit," Aria told the little girls.

"Me haf a gween one, me know-ed it!" Lily exclaimed.

"Oh good! We'll be able to match and swim later, I promise," Aria said.

"Otay, tome on Emasim, wet's doe!"

And with that, Lily and Emerson took off towards the pool house knowing that's where most of their bathing suits were. Emily found it was easier to have cubbies for the kids suits rather than keeping them upstairs in their closets because the littles always needed help anyways and rather than running from room to room, the mothers were able to help them change in one spot.

"I want to tell you all something," Clarke announced, gaining the attention of her friends once Aria had come back upstairs. "It's kinda a lot, and I'm really hoping you won't think differently of me afterwards…"

"You can tell us anything, Clarke. Even if you like I don't know, killed someone, we'd still have your back. We'll even help you bury the body," Maggie assured.

"Oh my gosh, it's nothing like that," Clarke said with a laugh. "But good to know."

"You do realize her moms are feds, if anyone could help us hide a body…" Hannah trailed off.

"True. They'd be much better at something like that," Aria said. "Seriously though Clarke, you can tell us anything."

"So umm, I know you've all said how much I look like my mom but it's kinda just a coincidence…" Clarke began. "Let me backup so things make more sense. My moms met while working for the behavior analysis unit of the FBI and before that, my mom had already given birth to Lily. After they got married, they adopted Oakley then Amelia and then my mom got pregnant with Brooks and Brynley but before they were born, Oliver was adopted."

"Wait really? I totally thought your moms took turns having kids because you all look exactly like them!" Kathryn interrupted.

"Yeah, it just kind-of happened. When Brooks and Brynley were just babies, they adopted me, then Hudson and Emerson. I umm, well, my biological mom died in childbirth, and I grew up with my dad but he wasn't really a good person. Before my moms adopted me, he became abusive towards me because he drank so much…he's in jail now really far away, my mom's made sure of that because he's a scary guy."

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Clarke. I can't imagine what that must have been like," Aria said, being completely sincere. "You're so strong, I definitely wouldn't be so normal if that happened to me."

"Me either. I would be such an emo," Maggie commented, and the girls laughed.

"Were you in foster care or did your moms take you right away? If you don't want to answer I completely get it, I'm just wondering," Katheryn asked.

"No, it's okay. I was actually taken right from my old school to the CPS place and my moms walked through the door like, maybe two or three hours later then I went home with them right away. It was a few weeks before Christmas and because they knew Sophie so well, the social worker who brought them so many of my siblings, the paperwork was fast tracked."

"So your moms have nine kids, but they only actually birthed three, that's crazy. I literally never would have guessed that, I mean, you all have different colored eyes, but I just assumed it was normal you know. My mom and dad both have brown eyes but only Elizabeth has brown eyes, me and Evelyn have blue like my grandma," Maggie explained, referring to herself and her sisters. "You all look exactly like your moms, sometimes I think Evelyn was switched at birth or something because she looks nothing like any of us," she laughed.

"Oh my gosh, Maggie," Aria said, shaking her head at her friend. "Obviously Emerson and Hudson have the same birth parents because they're twins but do the rest of you all have different birth parents? Like, none of your birth parents had another kid that they gave to your moms, right?"

"Nope, we have all different birth parents. We all came from various situations," Clarke told the girls, not going into any further detail. "I'll answer any questions about my past but not my siblings because it's their story to tell, you know?"

"Yeah, that makes complete sense. Wait, I just have one question, but you don't have to answer it," Taylor said. "Were you all like, kinda on the older side besides Hudson and Emerson because they're still super young."

"Umm, it's half and half. My moms adopted Oakley when she was 3 making her the youngest, we don't really think she even remembers that she was because after umm, well to be adopted we have to go to court where my moms sign paperwork and the judge signs off then we have a party to celebrate…and anytime there's been another party, Oakley never comments on it. Like, there's tons of pictures around the house of our adoption parties but Oakley just thinks her picture is from a regular party."

"That makes sense though, she was still a baby pretty much. I don't remember anything from when I was 3," Aria commented. "Can we see the pictures?"

"Yeah!" Clarke said, then pointed them out as they went through the house. "This is from Oliver's," she said, pointing to one of the pictures along the staircase. "This is from the twins, and I think Amelia's is here too…" Clarke searched through the endless photos then said, "Oh, there it is." The girls then made their way into the living room where she pointed out the others, "This is from Oakley's, and mine is right there."

"Look at how tiny she was!" Kathryn said with a little squeal looking at the picture of Oakley.

"I know, she was such a little nugget."

The girls sat on the couch for a bit to talk and Clarke was happy to see how normal they were with her even after finding out. It was as if nothing was said to begin with which made her feel super grateful. Clarke also asked them not to mention it to her little siblings because only Amelia and Oliver knew some of what had happened to their big sister as they were still young. And as she mentioned, her siblings' pasts were their stories to tell not Clarkes. The girls understood and promised not to say anything then thanked her for sharing her past with them. It didn't change anything in their eyes, Clarke was still Clarke.

While Emily got the littles down for the night, River set up a movie for the middles in the living room so the big girls could watch another one downstairs. JJ found herself smiling when Emerson perched bubbles on the kitchen island while she made popcorn for the kids, the mother was so in love with Emerson's imagination and the fact she constantly wanted to be around even when the other kids were doing another activity together. The boys were still too young for a pg-13 movie but Amelia, Ayla and Parker were allowed as Emily had spoken with the girls parents to make sure it would be okay—she knew the big girls were 16 and watching a kids movie would be the last thing they'd want to do, but thankfully they didn't like scary movies and agreed Freaky Friday would be the perfect choice with the 12 and 14 year olds too.

Emily had put the littlest twins to bed already and was currently reading a second book to Lily as the tiny peanut claimed she was a big girl and could stay awake. To Lily, getting to read two books was much better than watching a movie anyway, especially because it meant one on one time with her mommy.

"Bubbles, what are you doing silly girl?" JJ teased.

Emerson giggled when she heard her mom talking to her stuffy and then she crawled around the island to where JJ was standing and poked her leg. "Oh Emerson, you scared me! I thought it was just me and bubbles in here," JJ joked, pretending to be startled by her daughter.

"Bubbles getted here be'tause umm, well I just bwinged her," Emerson giggled, reaching her arms up so JJ would pick her up and sit her on the countertop.

"I thought maybe she flew in on a floating mermaid shell," JJ said, keeping up her daughter's stuffed animal cover story. When they redid Emerson's bedroom, they found the most adorable mermaid shell pillow for the little girl to put her stuffy in, she was completely obsessed with it and often told her mommies stories of bubbles adventures that she went on like peanut butter did.

"No momma, her not fwoatin'. Hey, can I put the sprinky's in pwease?" Emerson asked, looking at the multiple bowls of popcorn that had yet to have sprinkles added to them.

"Of course you can, mousey girl," JJ told her. "But only if you share with me when you get to 10, okay?"

"Otay!" Emerson shook the sprinkles bottle and then started counting like she always did. "One, two, free, fo-ah, five, six, sevim, eight, nine, ten, then me and momma!" she said, then put some sprinkles in her own hand followed by JJ's.

"That's such good counting, baby," JJ praised. "Do you think you can go to twenty?"

"Umm, no be'tause umm, then, but…ten when I getta haf sprinky's, not tenty," Emerson stammered, trying to process what she was attempting to say.

It was too late to try and teach Emerson that ten plus ten is twenty therefore, she could still have sprinkles every ten shakes but it didn't negate how far she and Hudson had come already in kindergarten. In fact, the twins were quick to show their moms how high they could count on the days they learned new numbers. Emily and JJ found themselves often pushing the kids further, or correcting certain mispronounced words, something they didn't with Lily yet but only because the twins were super responsive to the endless praise and added learning opportunities.

"Okay sweetie, let's count to ten again instead, how does that sound?"

"Yeah," Emerson agreed, then started the process over again. When she hit seven, JJ interrupted, "Seven, right baby? Can you say seven…"

"Sevim," Emerson said again.

"Se-vin, can you say vin?"

"But I not to ten yet, momma," Emerson pointed out, still hung up on the fact she was short three numbers.

"Okay honey, we can try again another time. You're doing so good," JJ praised. It was Friday after all and it wasn't a big deal, in fact, the mothers thought their pronunciation was super cute especially because they said words the exact same way.

"Fank you!" Emerson said, then continued making her special popcorn for the bigs and middles.

Emily came downstairs just in time to bring one tray of popcorn and sippy cups filled with water into the living room for the boys and middles so JJ could bring the second tray downstairs for the big girls. They had a great system, and JJ knew her wife would have the middles say goodnight to her before Emily put them to bed so she stayed downstairs to watch Freaky Friday.

It was fair to say movie night in the Prentiss household was incredibly successful.

Saturday morning began with Lily and Emerson sprawled out in their mother's bed as the sass queen ended up having a nightmare about a talking giraffe and sleeping in the big bed come 3am, and Emerson snuck in around 6am because she wanted snuggles. Once the twins woke up, Emily laid them down next to her wife then went to shower as that's how she liked to start the day to have some mommy time because once the kids were up, things became go, go, go. It wasn't a bad thing, in fact, Emily loved always being on the move with her children, they truly completed her life in every way.

When Emily walked out of the bathroom half dressed for the day, Hudson pushed open his mom's door and walked in with a yawn and his blankie dragging behind him as he snuggled his stuffy. "Hi baby boy, did you have a good sleep?" Emily whispered, then scooped him up and melted when he snuggled into her with a nod.

"You're still a sleepy boy, aren't you?" Emily asked when her son yawned again, refusing to pick up his head off her shoulder. "Should we get you snuggled up with momma?"

"No, I want mommy snubbles," Hudson said, tightening the grip he had around Emily's neck.

"Okay rue, mommy snuggles it is," Emily assured, then wrapped Hudson's blanket around him and sat in one of the chairs they had in their bedroom. The chairs had proven to be one of the greatest design options for their room as this happened quite often and it made things easier for the mothers. They were both gliders so Emily and JJ could rock whoever they had in their arms and there was a footrest as well so everyone would be comfy cozy.

Twenty minutes later the twins started to get a bit fussy, and Emily knew she'd have to feed them something soon or they'd end up waking the other littles that were still asleep in her bed. She settled Hudson in bed next to JJ then took Brooks and Brynley downstairs with her as she got started on breakfast for the endless number of children sleeping under their roof.

Oakley and Olivia came downstairs next followed by Hudson who was all done watching Bluey as his tummy started to make silly noises and soon enough, the boys were sitting on the kitchen stools and excited for the large assortment of breakfast foods coming their way.

Emily smiled as she flipped the pancakes hearing all the different conversations being had by the kids and their friends, then heard some new voices coming up the stairs and knew some, if not all, the big girls were up as well. "Hi monkey, did you sleep well?" Emily asked, opening her arms to Amelia who walked into them with a sleepy smile.

"Yeah. Parker is still sleeping but my stomach started growling when I smelt bacon," Amelia told her mother.

"Your favorite, huh? Let's get you and Ayla a plate," Emily told the girls.

JJ was next, carrying two little brunettes, and soon enough everyone was awake besides Clarke and her friends. They were teens after all, it was common for them to sleep in especially because it wasn't even 8:30am. Emily assumed her daughter was awake though as Clarke wasn't one to sleep in and she was probably whispering with one or a few of the girls waiting for the rest to wake up because that was part of the sleepover experience.

"Want mommy," Lily mumbled after JJ kissed her wife good morning causing Emily to take the peanut so they could have their morning snuggles.

"Are you feeling better after the scary dream you had last night, bug?" Emily asked.

"The raffy talkpin' but her not nice, mommy. Me twyin' to be weally nice but her not wanna be so me get weally ah-faid. Her haf wots of spots be'tause umm, me dunno. Her purtle and bwoo, me weally no wike her."

"Wow, that does sound scary," Emily mused, kissing Lily's temple and holding her close. The imaginations her kids had were something else—she loved hearing about the good dreams they had and felt so sad when they had nightmares, especially Lily as she always had the hardest time falling asleep after.

"But then me det snubbles so it otay!" Lily exclaimed.

"Yeah, mommy and momma snuggles fix everything, don't they bug?"

"Mhm. Be'tause mommy momma snubbles mah-bic!"

"Magic snuggles," Emily said in agreement, sitting Lily on the countertop so she could pepper kisses all over her face.

Lily's squeal caused a reaction from Clarke and her friends who were making their way upstairs; Emily knew the girls were most likely awake because they could hear the littles voices talking away as usual. Clarke and Amelia were used to it, but it was never a problem for them because their rooms had soundproof walls and if their doors were closed, the sound didn't travel. Sleepovers meant open doors though because some of the girls couldn't sleep unless the door stayed open which was completely fine—Clarke and Amelia understood and honored their friends' preferences, especially because they preferred to sleep with their blankets and stuffies even though they were tweens and teens.

Clarke initially told her friends that one of her little siblings must have left their stuffy in her room but was quick to amend her statement when Claire and Hannah pulled out their own stuffies at bedtime. The cheer girls didn't think anything of it either, they told Clarke and her besties they had baby blankets that always stayed on their beds too. Maggie even had a cheer bear she typically slept next to and occasionally traveled to her friends' houses to make an appearance.

"Geez Lil, it's a bit early for squeals, isn't it?" Clarke commented jokingly as she kissed her sister's cheek.

"Me don't fink so," Lily assured.

"The queen has spoken," Emily said with a laugh, wrapping her arm around Clarke. "Good morning bean." Emily kissed the top of Clarke's head and smiled when she leaned into her. "Are you girls hungry?" she asked.

"Super! Which if you think about it, totally doesn't make sense because we had so much food yesterday but it's just all so good!" Maggie gushed. She loved all the food at the Prentiss household, it was always so yummy and Maggie ended up leaving with recipes for her mom to make at home because apparently her food isn't up to par anymore. "I text my mom this morning and told her I wanted green noodles for dinner tonight, I could seriously eat them twice a day."

"You sound like our kids," JJ commented, then sipped her coffee.

"Just wait until later today, you're going to be in a food coma after eating everything served at my aunt and uncles house," Clarke told her friend.

"Are you making seven dip, mommy?" Oliver asked, also feeling excited for the endless Prentiss/Hotchner party food he would be enjoying today.

Emily nodded while making plates for the big girls and the kids took turns telling Clarke's friends about all the different appetizer and main meal options on the menu. "Before you girls dig in, there's no allergies I should be aware of right?" Emily questioned.

"Nope, we're good!" Kathryn assured.

"That means it's just me and Lily, mommy," Oliver pointed out.

"What are you allergic to, Oliver?" Maggie asked.

"Coconut, so mommy makes me banana cream pancakes in a different pan cause' I can't even touch it," Oliver responded, showing the girls the separate pan his mother had used for his pancakes as opposed to the griddle with the endless supply of coconut banana cream. "And Lily is allergic to gluten, she has umm…what's it called?" he asked his mother.

"Celiac disease. We're a gluten free house to avoid upset tummies," Emily told the girls.

"Wait, aren't pancakes made with gluten?" Aria said, trying to think back to cooking class and the actual ingredients used.

"Typically yes, but not the ones I make."

"Oh, that's why the ones I made in class tasted so funny," Clarke commented, finally realizing why the pancakes she and her friends made didn't taste right to her. "I kept thinking I made the recipe wrong, remember?"

"Yeah," Hannah agreed. "Clarke was so confused, she said over and over that they tasted so weird but they seemed normal to me. I thought maybe her tastebuds were just off that day or something," she laughed.

"These ones taste so much better, I'll have to tell Mrs. Reynolds…maybe we can make them again and she can teach us the gluten-free way. I'd kinda be curious to see if everybody notices a difference or not, you know?" Clarke said.

"I like these ones more, there's so much fluff," Maggie stated. "Look at this, it's puffier than ever and jam packed with bananas and coconut adding the perfect amount of sweetness to even out the saltiness of the bacon. You should be a chef instead of a fed, Mrs. P—you totally missed your calling. Well, I guess that doesn't really apply to you because you're still super young…"

"Maggie, she already has a restaurant, remember?" Taylor said, lightly smacking her friends' arm in the process.

"Oh yeah! Is there anything you haven't done?" Maggie asked Emily, then turned to Clarke and said, "Your moms are seriously so cool. Maybe Mrs. Reynolds can have your mom make a guest appearance in class, I'm sure everyone would be obsessed with all her recipes."

"Yeah, can you do that mommy?" Oliver piped up. "Because we have people come into our other classes to teach us stuff, and you just stay home all day anyways…"

Emily, JJ and River laughed at Oliver's innocent comment, he didn't really understand what his mom actually did all day while he was at school but that's okay, he's still young. "Hear that, Em? You just stay home all day," JJ teased.

"Mommy runs a company, Ollie," Amelia said, but even she was a little confused as to what her mom actually did besides paperwork.

"But…oh yeah," Oliver responded, pausing to think of how he could make this work. "Maybe grandpa can help you then you'd have time to come to my class and theirs too," he said, signaling his big sisters and their friends.

"I'll think about it, buddy," Emily told him.

"Can I pwease haf more, mommy?" Hudson asked, and six more me too's could be heard causing the mothers to get to work and fill plates for the second time. It was a good thing Emily made enough food for an army every time she cooked because there were so many hungry children in the kitchen.

As Emily plated the last four pancakes and bacon, JJ kissed her cheek and said, "Another successful sleepover Prentiss breakfast in the books."

"And many more to come," Emily smiled, looking at all the kids filling up the kitchen island, breakfast nook and highchairs. Life was so chaotically beautiful.

"What's your final guess, chocolate thunder?" Garcia asked Morgan before the gender reveal announcement. The housewarming party was underway and after giving many, many tours, Hayley and Hotch were ready to release the canon misters to tell their family the good news. They were very lucky as the weather was perfect—not too cold, the sun was shining, and the beautiful fall leaves would make the perfect backdrop for the pictures Clarke was prepared to take.

"I'm going with girls," Morgan said, twirling Lily in his arms so she was now upside-down and breathlessly giggling.

"Be'tause me a dirl and Umple Drk wanna pway mo-ah dwessin' up," Lily exclaimed.

"You're right sugar plum, Uncle Derek loves playing dress up, doesn't he?" Garcia asked, and Lily nodded fervently.

"I think it's gonna be boys because mommy has so many girls so it would make sense for Uncle Aaron to have lots of boys," Amelia commented. She was convinced because Emily and Aaron were brother and sister that they'd each be destined for families made up of opposite genders.

"I fink they be wike me and Emmie, boy and dirl twims," Hudson chimed in.

"That would be super cool, wouldn't it buddy?" JJ asked, peppering kisses to Hudson's face after putting him on her hip.

"Yeah, be'tause then they be the same. I don't even know what it be wike if they not a boy and dirl twim be'tause we don't haf it!" Hudson explained.

The adults laughed at his innocence and walked down the steps to join the rest of the family who was gathered in the backyard where the canons were going to go off. They were going all out for these surprise babies as gender reveals weren't super popular when Jack was born, and they kept Harper's gender a secret until she was born. It was the perfect addition to their housewarming party because afterwards Hayley would be able to show off the nurseries, it would be great.

"3, 2…" Hotch counted down, then Jack and Harper pushed the button releasing the canons on either side of the marquee lights that spelt out, OH BABY X2.

"1!" Jack screamed, then the Hotchner children caused the mist to shoot up in the backyard. On the left side blue mist appeared and, on the right there was…

"One of each!" Oliver yelled in excitement, then ran up to his cousin and best friend to give him a great big hug. "You're gonna have the same as me, Jack!"

The family erupted in happiness and hugged the Hotchner parents as Jack and Harper were already running around the backyard with their cousins again. "Oh, congratulations son! Two boys and two girls, you must be so happy," Gerald said to Aaron. "I can't wait to meet them."

"Ahh, I'm so excited to share everything I know from raising two sets of twins with you," JJ beamed as she hugged Hayley. "We have so many clothes to pass down!"

"Yeah, you and Uncle Aaron will like, never need to buy clothes again," Clarke commented. "Mom always goes so crazy with our closets and the twins pretty much just wear an outfit once then they grow out of it!"

"Hey now, little miss," Emily teased, wrapping her arms around Clarke.

"What? It's true," Clarke laughed. "Maybe if you didn't feed Brooks so much he'd get to wear his clothes more than once."

Before Emily could comment, a little voice spoke up. "I can share my cwoves too, Auntie Haywee but they prowbabee be a wittle big be'tause me a big boy and they not even umm, they not, the wittle baby and the oh-ver baby not even here yet," Hudson said, stumbling over his words until he figured out what he was trying to say.

"That's very nice of you, Hudson. I'm sure your cousins would love to share your clothes one day," Hayley assured.

"Yeah, me nice!" Hudson beamed.

"I'm sure we can pick out some super special outfits for them until they grow into your clothes," JJ told the boy.

"I make sure to pick the bestest ou-fits for them, prowbabee they wike umm, maybe a dine-a-sor and umm, fwovers?"

"I think they'd love anything you pick, honey," Hayley smiled, cupping Hudson's cheek. He was such an energetic, magnetic, lovable little boy who couldn't get enough of the attention provided by his family—River had done a brilliant job giving the twins all the love they needed while held captive, but it was evident how much Hudson and Emerson, even River, thrived from the constant love and excitement of having so many people care for them.

"I wanna go pway now, otay?" Hudson announced, suddenly feeling done with the conversation as he saw his siblings run by.

"Oh of course. Have fun, sweetie!"

And with that, the party continued.