never grow up, criminal minds

epilogue

- clara started officially dating landon shortly after their next christmas break, the two spending almost every day together

- clara never really made too many friends during the next year and a half of high school. sure, she talked to people and got along with them, but she never formed a close bond with anybody

- she and landon broke up one time during the summer after a fight about long distance and colleges, but they soon realized they could figure it out and got back together

- clara always had weekly sleepovers at emily's

- the team were the loudest people cheering at clara's graduation, effectively embarrassing the girl

- there was a graduation party at rossi's, landon, and all of the team and their families there (including derek and hotch) 

- clara goes to college at brown, majoring in psychology and minoring in theater

- the team came to any school plays she had, attending every single event they could for her

- landon studied in education, getting his degree to become an elementary school teacher

- clara made plenty of friends in college, even though she only stayed close to a collect few, but that's all she needed

- during her second year of college, spencer decided to go on a sabbatical and only teaches college courses

- clara teased he waited so long to take a break from being an agent on his own will because he finally had the house to himself (along with max)

- the joke went over spencer's head and he panicked, thinking clara thought he never wanted to always be around her, only relaxing when she explained the joke to him

- mittens stayed with spencer during clara's college years, but the minute she could she took her back

- after graduating college, clara, landon, and mittens moved into an apartment, landon starting his job as a third grade teacher and clara became a theater instructor for the same school and the nearby university

- landon proposed to clara when they were 24, the young woman excitedly telling him yes

- he had asked for spencer's blessing -- not because clara was a piece of property, but because he knew clara getting married was a big deal since she's the only child and he didn't want to be on spencer's bad side (he does still own a gun)

- penelope and emily helped with quite a bit of the wedding planning, and one of clara's best friends planned the bachelorette party (karaoke and way too many sugary treats)

- the wedding was small and simple, just full of their closest friends and family, neither wanting a big deal

- spencer cried and almost had a full meltdown during the first look with clara in her wedding dress, his baby girl all grown up

- spencer walked clara down the aisle 

- spencer had to stop himself from crying for the whole day

- penelope was a blubbering mess, seeing the beautiful girl she watched grow up, all grown and getting married

- emily did a good job of holding her tears in, only letting go after the wedding when she was alone; so, so happy for the girl she had a hand in raising

- rossi insisted his tears were due to allergies

- jj quietly cried happy tears, but managed to keep herself composed most of the time

- derek and hotch promised they never cried, but both cried in the privacy of their own homes later

- somehow at some point, clara and tara got into a "your mom" battle, going from targeting each other to ganging up on luke (he still doesn't know why)

- clara found out she was pregnant with her first child when she was 26

- she immediately told landon, the two sharing their worries and much more joy

- spencer was ecstatic when he found out he was going to be a grandfather, already planning how to spoil the baby and be the best grandfather he could be

- clara had a lot of morning sickness, landon always there to hold her hair back

- she went into labor three days early, the labor a long, painful one

- after 12 hours, she held her baby boy in her arms, the family of three enjoying a few days together before they let others come to see the baby (they facetimed though)

- spencer and max were, of course, the first ones to visit. max was immediately in awe of the baby that was held in his dad's arms while spencer beelined to his baby, checking on her and making sure she was okay

- they named the boy shawn lucas

- two years later, they had a girl named haley isabelle

- shawn is a mommy's boy and haley is a daddy's girl (which switches when they're teenagers)

- haley ends up being a complete copy of her mother and shawn is a carbon copy of his father

- the team express how it's scary just how similar the kids seem to be to their parents

- they grow up close to their grandfather, spencer spending as much time with his family as he can

- clara always makes jokes about how her kids have gone much longer than her untraumatized, but the jokes never land with anybody but landon (who even then is still hesitant to laugh)

- clara complains nobody ever appreciates her dark humor, calling everybody boring losers

- as jack, henry, michael, hank, and matt's kids get older, she and her family go any of the events they're invited to (birthdays, graduations, weddings)

- clara sometimes struggles with her sobriety, especially in times she's really stressed or having a few bad consecutive weeks. but landon is immediately always there to support her, and she'll often go to spencer or emily if she needs extra

- but she's never relapsed and she's proud of that

- clara's satisfied with the life she made for herself, one she never thought she would've had back when she was 15. she didn't think she'd live this long

- she wouldn't trade the world for the repaired relationship with her father, her wonderful husband, her adorable, amazing children, and the team who she still keeps in touch with even after they've left

- she knows she's loved and has people who care and will be there for her any time she needs it