EPILOGUE

Jo's illness and treatment brought many subtle changes to the McGuire Household. A most notable truce occured between Matt and Lizzie. This was not to say that they had forgiven each other of their faults, or that they didn't have their "disagreements" (of which there were still very many). Somehow, they had silently come to an agreement not to let any argument get to a point where their parents, particularily Jo, had to intervene. This held many more benefits than the kids ever thought would occur. First of all, the realisation that most arguments were pointless lead to many more laughing moments between the two. They found that they could bond over the smallest incidences. Sometimes, in the afternoon after they had done their homework, Matt would search the archives of VHS collections for shows they'd watch constantly as little kids, and pop them into the VCR. It helped ease them into a new and more comfortable relationship based on the good times. They also found that, without letting any argument get to the point of parental intervention, tension and stress levels in the house dropped somewhat. Most arguments occured when they each needed space. In those days, it was happening quite a bit, as they each had to discover their own ways of dealing with Jo's illness. It took a while, but soon they realised that rather than fueling a fight, it was best to just leave when a situation became tense. This, naturally, was never easy, as both of them always felt that they were truly in the right. In the end, humility was one of the things they had to learn slowly and painfully.

Another change was that of Jo's health. A week following the "bathroom incident" and the apologies, Jo began her first round of Radiotherapy. Each session involved a week-long hospital stay and several weeks of nasuea and general ill-health following it. This was extremely taxing on everyone, but most notably Sam, as he not only had to deal with caring for his beloved wife, but he had the home to run, the kids to raise and his career to keep on track. The stress of the months ensuing took years off of his face and he never quite recovered his once youthful vigour. Add to all this the constant problems arising out of Lizzie's hormonal moodiness (as well as Jo's, and before too long, Matt's as well) His relationship with his teenaged daughter suffered immensly as a result of the stress he constantly felt. Despite attempts to bond with each other, they didn't ever fully repair the relationship to the Best Friends Forever+ Father and Princess style it had once been. Then again, who actually knew? Perhaps this was how all fathers had to go with their daughters. Perhaps, in order for her to find that special (and hopefully forever) someone to fill their life, they had to break some emotional ties with that somone who had occupied their life for the many years beforehand.Maybe this was what it meant to "give them away"

Despite the disconnection they suffered, Lizzie and her father remained on good terms, and still loved each other grandly for all their life. Lizzie tried her best never to feel bitter about any injustice she incurred as a result of her father's parenting during the time of Jo's treatment. This helped with the healing time between them.

Jo herself became physically, emotionally and psychologically depleted. During the 18 month course of her treatment, she lost nearly thirty pounds, due to a lack of thrive. There were many days of depression where she could not even face the day, and spent them lying in bed. It took many years for her to regain her confidence and the vitality she once had. Fortunately, she overcame the cancer, but not without everlasting consequences. It was discovered early into her treatment that the cancer had spread from her ovaries to her womb. Fearing it would transfer to her cervix, or into her bloodstream and on elsewhere, she required a hysterectomy. Doctors targetted her pituitary gland and other hormonal centres. It took a year and a half for Jo to become clear of cancer, and another 3 years to regain the health she'd once taken for granted. Every 6 months brought a terrifingly and angst-filled check-up, which inlcuded tests for any strains of cancer. Thankfully, she remained in remission. Because the delicate hormones provided by her body were, for the most part, destroyed, it became difficult for Jo and Sam to maintain the level of intimacy they needed as partners. This had a significant strain on their relationship (which had a strain on the emotional wellbeing of Lizzie and the now teenaged Matt), in the end, they took up the good advice of their psychiatrist friends and entrered into marriage counseling. Jo required hormonal replacements for the rest of her life(to maintain an interest in certain activities), but this did not affect her in any significant way, beyond the occasional sigh thinking about what once was.

Matt had the misfortune of entering puberty amidst all the turmoil, and with Sam being otherwise pre-occupied, his middle teen years became years of confusion, well, perhaps more-so than the "nrom". Matt's final year of Junior High and First Year of Highschool were a mess.He struggled finding his identtity, and found himself mixing in with "the wrong crowd.". Eventually, his track of self-destruction was intervened with, before it became serious. This intervention took place in the form of a summer-long stint with a youth service. He spent this time in the wilderness, learning to rely on not only his self, but on the positive aspects of others. He learnt that it was never meant to be easy dealing with life's problems, but that with supportive peers and guides, he was worth something and capable of bringing himself happiness and personal success in any situation. Matt fought through his depressionable stage and went on to become a Public Relations officer (he always had a way with words and people). In adulthood, he and Lizzie maintained a close friendship.

Lizzie McGuire...well, a lot of things happened to lizzie. The events of Jo's cancer left her feeling more out of place than most teenaged girls her age. She had to fight through the hardest years of adolescence while her mother stood in the distance, too sick to give her the hand-up she so desperately needed most of the time. Despite attempts by her mother to build a bridge between Lizzie and her dad, it never became the support system she needed. Lizzie's support came in several forms, the most prominent being her brother, and her two strongest friendships . Gordo and Lizzie went on to become involved romantically for some time. They broke it off in favour of friendship, deciding it was the way to go for them. Lizzie went on to finnish highschool tenth out of the whole class of three-hundred. Gordo was valedictorian. Miranda was just happy to get into her Textile Design Course. Gordo decided to give any form of medicine a miss (despite his parents trying to convince him into psychiatry). In the end, he chose Laboratory Sciences, and went on to become chief researcher for Physics after recieiving his Doctorate in the subject, so in turn, he did become a doctor after all.

Lizzie tried several career options, including Vet Sciences, High-School Math teaching and a Bachelor of Performance Arts (in Dance) before settling into a Communications degree. She graduated at Twenty-six and went on to write an advice collumn for a teen-girls magazine. She met the man of her dreams working for the magazine (he worked for the IT department). They eventually married, with Miranda and Gordo as bridesmaids (sorry, Brides-maide and Brides-manservant).

And three years of wedded bliss brings everyone to where they are now.

Sun glistens through the third floor window. An extremely exhausted Lizzie McGuire-Stanley lies back in her bed as she contentedly observes the aww-filled cooing faces of her closest family and friends. They gaze adoringly at the pink wrinkledness that is Hailey Joanna McGuire-Stanley, 6 Pounds, 7 ounces. She can't help but let a sob escape as her first daughter is placed into the arms of her mother, and Hailey's Nana.

And not for the first time in her life, Lizzie felt a strange combination of feelings. All at once, she felt like a scared and terrified little child, wanting to grab hold of her mother's legs. Not wanting to let go as she must venture on into the new world of kindergarten (or in this case, motherhood). Yet, she also felt more grown-up than she had ever felt before.

It dawned on her that this was what it meant to be an adult. Aware of the fact that it is impossible to ever be totally in one stage, and accepting that we may never achieve whatever our true impression of adulthood may be.

And on that thought, Lizzie closed her eyes to take advantage of what would be the last chance to have a solid think about all of life's what-ifs, as she mentally prepared for the task of being the mother. The eternal well of knowledge.

The End.

Authors Note:

I'm soooooo sorry I left that all hanging! But I got very very pre-occupied (and lazy) at college over the passed year and a half.

I decided to finnish it there, having originally planned to do so much more. Then I read it over and thought to myself "Why, she has made some very good revelations, no need to put her through much more stress."

I had originally intended to give her bullimia and actually explore Matt's depression and fall-out. I decided against bullimia because it just seemed too...well, much. Adding on to what she already discovered seemed like too much. I have now tied the story off. I also toyed with the idea of having Jo lose the battle, but that seemed too dark for me, and I wanted to end it the way I did. It seemed more appropriate.

I apologize for commiting the un-pardonable Fanfic sin, that of not finnishing. Now I have. That is not to say I haven't thought about this fic, not one week went by where I didn't think about "what if's". I wanted to know how it ended, so I sat down with my computer and let it end.

I hope you have found as much resolution as I have.

THANKYOU for WAITING