Epilogue:

9 months, 3 weeks, and 13 days later

"Mommy!" Ethan shouted from the couch. "Riley is crying again!" He stood over her in the packing play in the living room. "Shh, Riley, Mommy is coming now. Don't cry."

Erin loved watching Ethan with his little sister. He was just a natural when it came to being a big brother. At first they were so worried that Ethan may be jealous of his new baby sister, given that he spent nearly five years of his life an only child, with his parents, aunts, and uncles wrapped around his finger. But from the first day, he had adored her, and had the most adorable protective instincts as a big brother.

"See I told you she would make you feel better," Ethan said to Riley, as Erin scooped her and got a bottle ready for her to feed. They had gotten on a near perfect schedule since Jay went back to work. Riley seemed to be the easiest baby in the whole world. She slept well, and fed at the same times every day. Jay was now back at work, and would pick up Ethan from school every day, spend an hour with them, before going back to the district wrap things up. He was home most days on the weekends.

Erin absolutely loved being home with her baby girl. It was so special getting to have the one on one time with her, and she was sure she would miss it once she went back to work in a few months. Riley looked up at Erin with her big hazel eyes, the same as her moms, as she fed. Her hair was dark brown, like Ethan's was, before it had fallen out and went into the lighter shade of brown it is now.

"Mommy, when is she going to become big enough to play hockey?" Ethan asked, as he gave Riley a finger to hold on to.

"Not for a few years, baby," Erin said, chuckling quietly at her son. Her baby boy had grown so much since she found out she was pregnant. He lost the chubbiness in his face when he turned five, and grew taller, what seemed like every day. Erin savored the moments he still called her "mommy" because she knew soon enough he would be too embarrassed.

Soon enough, Erin saw Jay's car pull into the driveway. Ethan sprinted from the living room to the back door to greet his dad, like he did every day. Like Erin, Jay knew that his son was growing up fast, and treasured this moment every day.

"Hello, ladies," Jay said, carrying Ethan upside down by his ankles as the boy laughed hysterically. Jay flipped him over, and leaned down to give his wife a kiss, and then kissed his baby daughter gently on her head as Erin burped her.

"How was she today?" Jay asked as he sat next to her.

"Great," Erin said, as Riley let out a little burp. "Good girl."

Erin passed their daughter over to Jay, who's eyes were wide open staring up at her dad. "Did we really have to make a kid with your eyes?"

"Well the first one has yours. It's only fair." Erin said sarcastically. Erin knew she was always going to have to be bad cop with their kids as they got older, especially with Riley. Jay was putty in his daughter's hands at one month old.

"Hey Erin, is there something going on tomorrow?" Jay asked sarcastically, looking over at Ethan who was trying to do a handstand on the hardwood floor. It constantly freaked Erin out how active this boy was, but then Jay had told her that he and Will were exactly the same, and that they would probably spend a lot of time in the emergency room for broken bones and stitches. His mom joked that they had their own private suite at the hospital.

"I don't think so, Jay. Maybe we can get that grocery shopping done?" Erin played along as their son came running toward them full speed. "It's my birthday tomorrow!" he shouted as he flipped himself on the couch, nearly running into Riley. Jay maneuvered his daughter to avoid the blow; they were still working on the "being gentle" concept.

"Easy, E," Jay said, "Remember what we said about being gentle when Riley was around."

"Sorry," he said, cuddling into his mom's chest in embarrassment.

Erin quickly diverted back to the birthday topic. "It's your birthday tomorrow? How old are you? Three?"

"I thought two?" Jay chimed in.

"Five!" Ethan said holding up his whole hand.

"Well it looks like I'm gonna have to start shrinking you, baby," Erin said running her hands through his hair.

"Maybe you'll stop calling me baby now that I'm gonna be," Ethan held up his whole hand again to show five fingers, "Five."

"Not a chance."

Ethan's birthday party was at one of Erin's worst nightmares—a trampoline park. He had asked his parents for a party there and to invite all of his friends from school, and they couldn't say no to him. Erin never had a birthday party as a child, and she just wanted to give her kids everything she never had. So if that meant a day at a loud and dirty trampoline park, that's what they were going to do.

A handful of Ethan's friends were there, as well as the Intelligence Unit and their families, Nadia, and of course, Grandpa Hank. It was the first time Ethan had had a party with friends of his own, and it was sweet watching him play with the kids he was forming friendships with. Surprisingly enough, the adults were having as much fun as the kids were, as Jay and Adam played on the jousting game they had set up, trying to knock each other into the foam pit. Jay complained that he would feel it in his back the next day.

As the day wound down, after the cake and ice cream and presents, and the guests left, Jay and Erin packed up the presents, leftovers, and the kids and drove home. Ethan and Riley both slept quietly in the car seats on their way home.

"We should take him to one of these parks every day," Jay joked, watching his son sleep deeply in the car seat as Erin drove.

"Absolutely not," Erin said, laughing. "I was terrified the whole time that he was going to fall and break his neck."

"You chase criminals around the city, have been in buildings wired with bombs, and have been fired upon, but you're scared of a trampoline park?"

"Funny," Erin said.

Erin glanced up in the rearview mirror, watching both of her babies sleep peacefully. Then she looked over at her husband, and gave him her biggest smile. She had the life that she only could have dreamed of as a little girl, a life that she didn't think she could have ever deserved.

"Thank you," she said, holding his hand as they pulled at the red life.

"For what?" he said reaching for her hand, and interlocking their fingers.

"For giving me a life that I could have only dreamed about," Erin said, her voice breaking as she felt her eyes fill with warm tears.

"I didn't give you anything, Erin. We built this life. Together," he brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. "I love you."

Erin flashed back to everything the two of them had been through. Regardless of how awful some days were, it brought them here. "I love you too. I wouldn't have life any other way."

And that's it for this one! Thank you to everyone who stuck it out and read this story. I love writing this family. I'm going to post the sequel soon. Maybe like...tomorrow? :)