"Congratulations," Margaret says as she reaches out to shake hands with both you and Luke, her eyes lingering on your well-rounded stomach. You look up at the woman and nod, smiling your thanks as another contraction tears through your body. Refusing to vocalize the pain at this moment, knowing that the paperwork you and Luke were currently filling out needed to get done before you rushed him off to the hospital.

"Thank you, Margaret, for everything," Luke replies as he finishes scribbling his name on the last piece of paper in the small Judge's quarters. You lean down to start the process of signing the adoption papers littered across the tabletop, letting a strained breath escape through your clenched teeth. Luke looks over at you with a concerned glance as he takes in your strained appearance.

"Pen," he says, his arm reaching around to rub your back. Humming a response you continue to the next set of papers, not bothering to read them as you already knew what they stated. "Are you okay?"

Looking up at your husband you nod and give him a strained smile as a little whimper escapes your lips, as another contraction ripples through you. "I'm fine," you respond as you turn your attention back to the remaining pieces of papers, reaching out to bring the next one over to you.

"You don't look fine," he responds, reaching out to hand the completed pile of paperwork to Margaret who tucks it into her briefcase.

"Of course I don't look fine," you reply flippantly to him as your hand continues flying across the papers. "I'm in labor."

"You're in..." he trails off looking between you and Margaret, "labor? Right now, right here?" You nod.

"Yes," you reply as you continue onto the last piece of paperwork.

"Why didn't you say anything?" He asks as he reaches over to try and take the pen from your hand. You turn to him and let out a hiss to which he chuckles, Harlow had taken to pretending she was a cat recently and it seems that you had picked up on her tendencies.

"She will be our daughter before I leave this room," you say as you breathe through another contraction, pausing before you sign your name onto the last document. You stand, handing the rest of the paperwork to Margaret with a smile. "I'm going to go have another baby now, and possibly get my tubes tied because this one is fertile." You tell her while glaring at Luke over your shoulder. The man has the decency to look ashamed at himself as he ushers you out of the building and to the car, dialing his mother as he helped you into the front seat in order to update her.

"Tell the kids we love them," you can hear him say as he slides behind the wheel of the vehicle, turning the keys in the ignition he checks over his shoulder and pulls away from the curb.

"You going to be calm this time?" You ask him once he gets off the phone, his eyes darting to check his mirrors every few seconds.

"Calm? Me, of course, I'm always calm." He replies while reaching out to grip your hand in his.

"You were racing around last time, and you've been on edge with the finalizing of the adoption," you remind him with a gentle smile.

"We're outnumbered, Flower," he whispers to you, a look of horror in his eyes. You let out a laugh, quickly clamping your mouth shut as another contraction hits you.

Your home had never looked better, you decide as you settle yourself into the soft cushions of the couch a week later with Mateo tucked into your side. Smiling you look around the room taking in the cluttered appearance of toys scattered about the floor, coloring books littering the coffee table, Roxy sleeping in her bed, and numerous bottles coating a flat surface. The first time around you needed everything to be pristine for the twins, everything had a place and it should return to that place as soon as possible.

Now, as you sit on the couch with your son, listening as he tries to read to you from a book you notice the peacefulness of the situation. Glancing up at Luke you smile as he is walking around the living room trying to quiet down your newborn son, you think to yourself that your husband has never looked more handsome than when he was holding one of your children in his arms. You continue to watch him as your daughters lay on the floor, coloring a large sheet of paper with their brother's name on it. The Welcome Home sign two days too late but wanted all the same. Luke reaches out for the only thing that seems to get all of the kids to calm down at the same rate and presses the trigger while spinning your son in a small circle.

"Mama," Harlow says pointing at Luke, "pretty bubbles in the air!" You smile at her as you run your fingers through Mateo's hair, thinking that he was in desperate need of a haircut.

"Yes baby, they are pretty aren't they?"

"Can you help us with the glitter?" she continues to ask, reaching out to hand you the container and you silently laugh, knowing that glitter wasn't Luke's favorite thing in the world.

"You can't use glitter for him, he's a boy Harlow!" Mateo exclaims as he slides off of the couch and onto the floor. "We have to use green and blue!"

"No, we do not Mateo, boys can like any color they want and if he wants to like glitter than he can!" Emmy says as she leans back onto her knees with her hands on her hips. "My favorite color is green, like Daddy!"

"I really like red," Harlow says as she continues drawing in a blue heart on the corner of the paper.

"Well, I like orange!" Mateo says as he reaches out to grasp the crayon and holding it up to you.

"What do you think Alex's favorite color is going to be?" Mateo asks as he looks over at his younger brother who was now being lulled to sleep with the gentle sway of Luke's motions. The man looks up at you with a smile.

"I think he will let us know as soon as he can, Mateo," Luke says as he looks back down at his youngest son, a sense of pride rushing through him.

"What's your favorite color, Mama?" Emmy asks and you smile at her.

"All of them, Emmy, I don't have a favorite because they are all so pretty." Even gray, you tell yourself, even gray.

Twenty Years Later

"They're babies, Luke," you say as you buckle yourself into the car. "I don't understand why they wanted to have a child right away." Your husband chuckles as he slides into the car, double checking that your belt was secure before leaning over to press his lips against yours. Even in your late fifties, the man couldn't keep his hands to himself, and you find yourself wondering how many children you would have had, had you not gotten yourself fixed after Alex's birth. Turning to your husband you take in his appearance, his thick hair peppered with gray giving him an even more distinguished look than he had before.

There was a point in your last twenty years together when he had shaved his beard and you made him promise to never do it again. Shuddering you remember what a shock it was to you to see his face bare for the few weeks it took for him to start to grow it back.

"Do you ever regret it?" you ask him as he pulls out of the driveway and heads towards the hospital. "Not having more children?" He laughs and shakes his head as he merges onto the highway.

"Emmy was a nightmare as a teenager, I literally had to tear down the trellis so that she would stop sneaking out," he reminds you, "And Alex still lives at home and I'm not sure when he's going to move out, and that boyfriend of his is no good and I wish he would see that, but we're going to continue to support him," he continues as you begin laughing not needing for him to continue but he does. "Harlow, whoever would have thought that the kid would run off with Hank of all people, I didn't even know they kept in contact!" He says as he slows the car down at the next exit.

"And Mateo?" you ask him with a smile. Luke remains silent for a while, letting the words linger.

"Well Mateo knew he wanted to be with Amanda the very second she entered his third-grade class, don't you remember him coming home to talk about her?" you nod your head as you reach up to wipe a tear from your cheek.

"He did everything in his power to get her to give him the time of day, and she never did," you reply with a soft smile as you think back.

"Until his fourteenth birthday party, remember he wanted to have it in the summer so he could see her in a bathing suit, and Marcus pushed her into the pool," Luke says as he pulls into the parking spot and reaches over to unbuckle you, brushing a kiss to your lips before you both exit the car. He reaches out to grip your hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze as you walk into the hospital to meet your first grandchild.

"Mateo jumped in fully clothed to save her, never mind that she was a lifeguard and on the swim team." you continue, "they have been inseparable ever since." you finish the story as you both wait for the elevators to open, and you remember that your entire relationship started near one of these, the first time you saw him was when you were barreling out of one so many years ago.

"So yes, they want to start a family, and we're getting grandchildren when we still act like children most times..." Luke trails off as he reads the room number from the text message Mateo had sent earlier that day. Pausing in front of the door you smooth down the front of your dress as Luke enters the room before you. You watch as father and son clutch at each other in a tight hug, smiling as Luke pulls back to tell him how proud of Mateo he is before he places a kiss on the top of Amanda's head. You listen as Luke tells the woman how much he loves her and that she is the best fourth daughter a guy could ever ask for.

Mateo reaches into a bassinet and the thought of your grandchild causes you to rush into the room, pausing to give Amanda a fierce hug, thanking and congratulating her.

"Mama, there's someone we'd really like for you to meet," Mateo begins as he walks over to you supporting the head of the small bundle. "This is our daughter," he continues as he places her in your arms and kisses you on the cheek.

"She's beautiful," you breathe out as you look down at the small child. "What's her name?" You ask, looking up at your son who towered over you and had since he went through his first growth spurt years ago.

"Her name is Amalia."

There's something to be said about love. Something calming. Something beautiful. Something wonderful. You find yourself reminiscing over every move you made, every move he mad. You find yourself remembering everything. Before her, you never wanted children. Before her, marriage wasn't something you wanted. Before her, you didn't think you deserved to be happy. But before her…everything was dull.

Dull like the yellow paint on your kitchen walls. Dull like the blue of the sheets that adorn your bed. Dull like the shade of green that your dead grass was. Dull like the beige of the walls in this hospital room. Dull like the beating of your heart against your chest.

Though the color has been back in your world for a long time now, something over twenty-two years, you see them brighter now. With each rise and fall of her chest, the colors become more vibrant around you.

"Welcome back, Amalia," you whisper as you place a gentle kiss on her forehead. "It's so great to finally meet you."

A/N: I want to thank you all for reading this story, it was something so near and dear to my heart and I couldn't thank you all enough for sticking with me. I hope this is the happiest of endings any of us could have hoped for, and if you follow me on tumblr at itsdawnashlie you will be able to continue to watch this family through little drabbles from time to time.

Thank you all so much, I love each and every one of you!