A/N: Ah the epilogue—Chapter three for the day, which brings this story (finally) to its end. A big thanks to everyone that's bothered to read and has stuck with me towards the end. A double thanks and shout out to anyone that's left comments and thoughts throughout!

I've got a few more things in the works, but I'm not sure which I'll start with next. I think I've straightened out where I want to go with the What If series, so I may go there, but I also have another post patriot war story I'd come up with when I was still in the middle of this one. It's Charloe (because I can't help myself) but the drama itself does not come from them fighting—I know, rare of me..

I'll mull it over for a week or two before I get writing again. Thanks again for reading and commenting!

Three years later…

Chaos had erupted in the Monroe household. Four year old Bethany and her two year old sister, Courtney were running around the house, chasing the family cat. Lump had gone to that big lazy doorway in the sky and had since been replaced by the unfortunate feline that the girls were now torturing.

Monroe had made the mistake of feeding the one-eared, mangy tabby just once and somehow she'd decided he was worth following home. Of course, it had taken the animal another two weeks of his leaving food out before she'd let him touch her and another week before she'd come inside, but the cat had eventually become a part of their household.

"A little help here?" Charlie asked as she went about getting the baby fed. Little Mary was doing her best to stop the oatmeal she hated from passing between her lips and was having a good time at it.

"Girls, stop chasing the cat and sit down for breakfast," he murmured without looking up. Charlie whipped her head to look at him. He had final exams spread out on the table and was going at one with a vengeance with his little red pencil. He'd finally decided to stop hiding the fact he needed reading glasses and they were now perched on the bridge of his nose.

His office had long since been converted back into a bedroom and so the kitchen table was the only place he had to grade papers now. The girls came squealing back into the kitchen, hot on the cat's heels. They'd been impossible ever since Charlie had let it slip that Uncle Miles was coming to town for "Daddy's big speech."

In just a few days, the first graduating class of Frank S. Blanchard University would don their mortarboard hats and gowns, ready to accept their diplomas. Monroe had been asked to give the commencement address, something that Charlie was proud of. Of course, her husband was convinced it was being forced on him as some type of punishment.

The fact that Miles insisted on coming to see him give the speech only solidified it in Monroe's mind. The man could claim it was because he was showing his brotherly love and support, but he knew better. Miles was surely only coming to try and trip him up—it's what he did best. Every time he came to guest lecture, he always did something to embarrass Monroe or make his day miserable. This would be no exception.

The cat jumped up into his lap, desperate from escape. "What do you want, dumb cat?" he whined, even as he handed her a piece of sausage from his plate and rubbed behind her lone ear.

Charlie rolled her eyes at the pair. As much effort as he went through to get the thing to trust him, all he ever did was complain about the cat and insist he hated it. "When I asked for help, that wasn't what I meant."

"I'm almost done," he mumbled as he continued to work on the paper.

"How bad could they have done? You've been working on that one for over half an hour," Charlie mused as she started to wipe Mary's sticky fingers and face.

Monroe set the pencil down and admired his handiwork. "Oh, she aced the test—or she would have, had she not dropped this little gem on her way out the door." He held up the paper he was working on. It was some notes the student had taken during one of his lectures. Down at the bottom of the page was a doodle of a man hanging from a tree—it was quite obvious who that man was supposed to be.

Her perpetually immature husband had used his grading pencil to turn the doodle into what looked like a half-solved game of Hangman and had then written a giant red "F" at the top of the notes, having intended on attaching the page to her final exam. "Don't you thing that's a bit harsh?" Charlie asked, surprised that he'd failed the student because of it. He still got an occasional jab here and there, but for the most part, he'd learned to take them in stride.

"Read the note," he said with a self-satisfied grin as he reached for the coffee cup in front of him.

"I highly suggest you solve this puzzle and return it to me before I turn grades in on Monday. So, what is the answer?"

Monroe took a final sip of his coffee and gathered up his papers. "You got you're A back, learn how to draw." Grabbing the stack of exams, he dislodged the cat and got up from the table. He made it halfway across the kitchen before he dropped the stack, let out a yelp and grabbed his foot.

"What's wrong?" Charlie asked, turning in her chair and looking around the baby to watch him as he stood there whining.

"God damn it!" A quick scan of the floor revealed an old vintage Lego to be the culprit. "We have all girls. Why the fuck do we have Legos?" Most pre-blackout toys were hard to find because they eventually broke or wore out. The little plastic blocks of doom were another story entirely. They were virtually indestructible and of any toy his children could own, Monroe hated them the most.

Charlie let out a laugh at his discomfort. The glare she got only made it worse. "You're going to be late," she reminded him in between giggles.

"I'll remember this the first time you step on one of those damn things," he snapped. Still, he softened and bent to kiss her before limping his way through the house to finish getting dressed for work.

The following Tuesday…

"You're such a moron," Rachel said as she smacked Miles in the back of the head.

"What?" he asked innocently. "I didn't do anything?"

Rachel shot him a nasty glare. "I know what you were doing, and it wasn't nice. This was a big deal for him."

Miles just grinned like an idiot. "He didn't even want to do it. Besides, if I wasn't there to try and make him mess up, he'd have been worried about what else I was up to, and then he really would have messed the whole thing up. I was helping him."

Rachel just rolled her eyes while Charlie tried to hide her amusement. Priscilla had been kind enough to take the girls with her on a walk halfway through. They'd squirmed out of their seats and the older two had been insistent on standing next to Daddy on the podium—they'd barely been caught in time.

Charlie looked across the lawn and watched her husband while he chatted with a few colleagues. He'd long since ditched the cap and gown Blanchard had insisted he wear—something about it being tradition. Of course, Monroe had griped about it for days beforehand and had increased to full out bitching just that morning, but he'd still done it. As much as he'd tried to downplay it, the role he'd played in the ceremony was an honor.

Monroe and Aaron were talking to another professor and walking back towards the others when a voice stopped them. "Hey Professor Monroe!"

Both men stopped and he turned to address the student. "Mr. Perkins," he said as he held his hand out to shake the young man's hand. "Looks like you survived graduation, after all. Congratulations."

"Thanks professor—and thanks again for helping me get into the med school program next fall. My mom's still freaking out about it." The boy's face had a grin going across it a mile wide.

"It was my pleasure, Mr. Perkins," Monroe said. It hadn't taken a whole lot of work on his behalf, truth be told. He'd just brought it up to Charlie's grandfather and had let the young man's records do the rest.

When a new doctor had moved to Willoughby, Gene had finally agreed to Blanchard's offer to help get the medical school up and running. Although he'd initially argued that trained doctors were few and far between, he couldn't ignore the fact that eventually there'd be none left unless someone started training them. He would teach of course, but he was also in charge of admissions for the program.

Monroe chatted for a few more minutes with his former student about his plans for the future when Johnny Perkins happened to look up. "Hey professor, there's a hot blonde over there checking you out." The young man sounded dumbfounded.

Monroe looked up to see Charlie watching them. She bit lip her as she smiled at them, raising a hand to wave. She was wearing a little sundress that showed off her curves in a demure and somehow yet agonizing way. "That, Mr. Perkins would be Mrs. Monroe."

"That's your wife? Damn! Professor Monroe's got game!"

Monroe laughed as he offered the young man a mock salute. "You have no idea. Good luck in medical school, Johnny." He left the graduate staring in awe as he walked across the law to where she was waiting for them.

"Hey you," Charlie smiled as he bent for a quick kiss.

"Where's the girls?" he asked, straightening.

"With Priscilla—Mom and Miles said they're going to take them back to the hotel to stay with them tonight. Mom says she wants some grandma time."

"You're actually going to help me get her alone, Rachel? Happy birthday to me," he grinned wickedly.

The older blond just shot him an icy look, "Ew! Don't make me regret it, Bass."

He ignored her discomfort over his implying sex with her daughter, in fact he continued to bait her. "Where do you think the girls came from, grandma?" He was standing there with his arm casually draped around Charlie's shoulders, not a care in the world.

"And this is the man you chose to marry, Charlie. Aren't you proud of yourself?" Despite the chill in her tone, Rachel was actually biting the inside of her cheek to keep a straight face.

A short while later the girls were safely in the back of the wagon, on their way to a hotel sleep over with their grandmother and uncle. Once most of the students and their families had gone home, Monroe was finally free to leave. With no children for the evening, Charlie and Monroe decided to stop by the bar in their neighborhood for a few drinks. It was rare when they both were able to go out at the same time, so they made sure to take advantage of it.

Much later, they walked hand in hand towards home, both pleasantly buzzed. "So, what do you want to do this weekend?" Charlie asked casually.

"Save it. I know about the party—Shawn ratted you out," Monroe replied as he raised their joined hands so he could kiss the back of hers.

"Damn. I was hoping to actually surprise you this year," she whined.

"Can't happen. I'm really good at getting people to talk."

She just shook her head at him. Some things would never change. "Well… What do you want to do tonight then?"

He stopped her on the sidewalk and whispered something in her ear while he nuzzled her neck, not caring that the whole damn neighborhood could see. Charlie sighed in contentment at the sensation—and then she elbowed him to get him to stop before they made a scene. It was dark, but still early enough that people were out. "Really?"

Monroe grunted theatrically and then pulled her back over to him. "Why not? It took Chuck and Jackie five tries to get a girl." Charlie and Jackie had both been pregnant at the same time this last time around and Jackie had finally gotten the girl she'd wanted.

"I'm not going to keep popping out kids until we get a boy, so get that idea right out of your head, idiot."

He bent Charlie backwards, earning a giggle as he leaned over her to kiss her. "We can at least get one or two more in there," he insisted as he pulled her upright, catching her when she slumped against him dizzily.

Charlie steadied herself and resumed walking. They were almost home and still had the whole night ahead of them. "Says the guy that doesn't have to carry a kid around for nine months."

He continued to pester and tease her the rest of the way. By the time they unlocked the door, they practically fell into the house. After a very enthusiastic round of drunken sex, they lay there a little dizzy and sated. Charlie rolled over to him and caught the satisfied look on his face. "You look extra happy," she mused.

Monroe just grinned at the ceiling. He thought about that for a second. He had a good job that he loved (embarrassing public speaking aside), good friends, a hot blonde wife, three beautiful mini versions of her to spoil and maybe eventually, a fourth. "I am. It's not every day you realize that you've got everything you never knew you wanted."