A/N: Once again, I'd like to thank Sand n' Sable for her suggestion to write the epilogue I'm just sorry it's taken me over a year to write it.
About three months after Mary Jo found out that Ted was the father of her child; that beautiful baby came into this world.
When Mary Jo walked into Sugarbakers that afternoon she had the car seat in one hand and her briefcase in the other. Carlene walked over and smiled goofily.
"Are you precious?" She leaned down and tickled the baby's cheeks before looking up at Mary Jo. "What a beautiful baby. I can't believe she's almost a month old. I'm glad you brought 'em in for us to see." She shrugged.
"I couldn't help it. I love you all and you supported me. I had to share this bundle of joy with you." Mary Jo smiled.
"Well I'm glad you did!" Carlene smiled and stood up. Julia came out of the bedroom and walked down the stairs.
"Carlene, I thought I heard-" Julia started to say, but then she saw Mary Jo standing there, "Mary Jo!" She rushed down the stairs to hug a close friend and co-worker. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here for work." Julia smiled and gently pushed her shoulder.
"I thought you said you were going to stay home for a little while." Mary Jo shook her head.
"I couldn't do that. I had to come back." Julia looked in the car seat.
"You brought the baby." She smiled and Mary Jo stared at her.
"What else would I do? I can't leave the child at home," she paused and sighed, "I finally told Ted." Julia pulled the baby out of the car seat and delicately held it against her skin.
"What'd he say?" Mary Jo sighed.
"He said he'd be a part of the baby's life if I wanted it; but since we're divorced, he's not expecting any parental rights. It's not like we tried to have a child together. If I wouldn't have found out who the father was from the insemination we wouldn't know at all." Julia nodded and kissed the top of the baby's head.
"So precious and warm," she smiled, "reminds me of Payne when he was little." Mary Jo nodded.
"Yeah, I have a lot of memories coming back because of my kids too. This one reminds me more of Claudia; so quiet, where Quint cried all the time." Julia laughed.
"Sometimes they say second babies are louder than their older siblings." She replied and Mary Jo's eyes opened wide.
"Well, I'm done with this one. I have three beautiful babies as my pride and joy. I don't need any more." Then, Anthony walked through the front door and Julia went to sit down on the couch.
"Mary Jo!" He called and hugged her.
"Hi Anthony," she said, "I've really missed seeing you."
"We've missed you around here, but we understand that you want to be around to be mom," he smiled, "especially since this one is your last." Mary Jo nodded.
"Yeah, but I decided I might start coming back to work." Carlene's eyes opened wide.
"This means you'd have the baby with you more often here in the office?" She exclaimed and Mary Jo nodded. Carlene squealed and about jumped onto the couch next to Julia.
"You have to be careful Carlene," Julia scolded gently.
"I'm just excited. I'll try harder." She replied. Mary Jo looked around the office and took in a deep breath.
"It hasn't changed much at all since I was last here." She walked over to her desk and then looked back at Julia. "Where's Allison?" Julia and Carlene had all their focus on the baby and didn't hear her at first. "Julia?" That got her attention and she looked to Mary Jo.
"Oh, she's in New York for a little while. She's on a trip." Mary Jo nodded.
"Okay?" She was confused that Allison would leave the office, especially when they were down a decorator.
"I think she's going back completely." Mary Jo nodded again.
"Oh okay." Carlene looked over at Mary Jo excitedly.
"I love the baby's name. Can you say it again?" Mary Jo nodded.
"It's a name; you can say it as many times as you want." Carlene looked at her.
"Come on, just say it."
"Alright," Mary Jo smiled, "Julianne Olivia Shively." Carlene melted into the couch.
"I think it's so sweet of you to name your daughter after me and Charlene, Mary Jo."
"You're my best friends. I wouldn't dream of naming her after anybody else." She smiled in response.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed the epilogue! Once again, I'm sorry it took so long to get on here Miss Stacie.