Wow, here we go guys...the epilogue. It's bittersweet for me. This is a bit different as there isn't any dialogue in this chapter - just narrative. And, it's a time jumper. I really hope you all like it.

Thank you SO much to everyone that has alerted and reviewed! Thank you for going on this journey with me. I really appreciate those of you that have complimented me on my writing. I was nervous to post this story in the beginning so to know that people not only read it but enjoyed this story has truly warmed my heart. So thank you again! :)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything other than my imagination.


EPILOGUE

Two Months Later

Kurt had had a long and hard day at work. When Ms. Spencer told him that he would be working closely with Paul Brewer to learn exactly how to start a new line, she hadn't prepared him for exactly how difficult it would be. He felt bad because he had told Blaine that he would be home an hour earlier but this wouldn't be the first time Kurt was running late. Blaine really was the best fiancé in the world. He was very understanding of all of Kurt's demands at work.

Blaine had been working very hard himself. Noah Rhoades had been having Blaine assist on nearly every suit the law firm was working on. Assisting in this law firm was totally different than when he was doing it while working for his father. The partners in the law firm respected Blaine's opinions and listened to him. Noah had told Blaine a few days ago that very soon Blaine would have his own case.

Kurt opened the front door to their apartment. The nameplate outside their front door simply read 'Blaine Anderson & Kurt Hummel'. He knew that would change once they got married. After they got married it would read 'Blaine and Kurt Hummel'. After the last conversation he'd had with his father, Blaine had decided he wanted to lose the name 'Anderson' permanently and become 'Blaine Hummel'.

Kurt felt bad about arriving home late but Blaine had been running a bit late himself – having received some last minute news as he was leaving the office. They sat down and ate dinner on the table that came from Blaine's apartment in Westerville. Their trip back to Ohio had been uneventful. Kurt made one last effort and tried to get Blaine to attempt to make peace with his father but that was not something he was willing to do. His mother had come to help them move things out and saying goodbye to Trevor and Carly had been bittersweet but Trevor was coming back for the wedding and he was going to be Blaine's best man.

After they ate Blaine informed Kurt that Kurt's attackers had been sentenced earlier that morning. Jace Lavine and Tony Watkins had received 22 years each. Apparently the judge read all of the information that Det. Walton had provided and while he understood why Kurt didn't want to go through a trial, he wanted them to pay for what they did to him. Kayla Jones received 10 years behind bars.

Kurt suddenly felt a relief and tension disappear from his body – a tension he didn't realize he was holding. It was over. He just knew it. He would never have to worry about them again. Suddenly he felt a sense of peace that he hadn't felt before. Life was good.


One year later

Blaine stood nervously in front of a full length mirror in the back room of the church. Today was his wedding day. Sure initially Kurt had been against a church wedding but the second he walked into the cathedral he knew this was the place. The ceremony would be nonreligious and Kurt had honestly been surprised they had been granted access to have their wedding here but New York was becoming more and more progressive. Blaine had been honest about just wanting Kurt to be happy and have his dream wedding but Kurt had been honest too and made sure to include Blaine on every single decision. Surprisingly, they agreed on nearly everything so the arguments had been kept at a minimum.

Trevor stood by his side, calming Blaine's nerves as best as he could, reassuring him that yes, Kurt was here and he wasn't going to be stood up at the alter because Kurt had suddenly come to his senses and realized that Blaine wasn't worthy. Burt had even poked his head into the room and told Blaine that he was proud to be welcoming him into the Hummel family. His mother and Cooper were in attendance and while he had long made peace with his mother, the closeness he felt towards his blood family was nothing like the closeness he felt towards the entire Hummel family – Finn included.

Rachel was on the other side of the church calming the same nerves Kurt was feeling. He had put so much effort into planning the perfect wedding, he was sure something was going to go wrong. When Rachel assured him that everything was going as planned, he began to have an irrational fear that Blaine was going to run out on him. It was Carly, their chosen flower girl, that convinced 'Kurty' that 'Blainey Bear' loved him very much and they would have a very happy life together. Kurt smiled and realized that he was being irrational and that everything would be perfect.

And it was. The wedding was absolutely perfect. Burt beamed with pride as Kurt and Blaine said their vows to each other. They danced at their reception and fed each other wedding cake and Blaine kept his promise and carried Kurt over the threshold of their apartment that night before heading to Paris the following morning for their two week honeymoon. Yes, life was good.


Four years later

Life could not be going better for the Hummels. Kurt's children's line at The House of Rosaline Spencer had been such a huge success when it launched several years ago. Kurt had chosen the name Carly by Kurt Hummel because he wanted to acknowledge Carly's influence. In fact, now that Carly was eight years old her mother had allowed her to accompany Trevor on a visit to New York and Kurt was able to convince her to allow Carly to model a few of his designs. The media had assumed that initially that Carly was the adopted daughter of his and Blaine's. Little did they know.

Madison came into their lives that year. Two years after their wedding, he and Blaine had begun looking into expanding their family via surrogate. They knew that adoption was always an option but honestly, they did want biological children. One year into their search they selected the perfect surrogate. She became pregnant on the first try. They decided to use Blaine's sperm for their first child. They would use Kurt's for their second.

Maddie had been born right one her due date and she was already sporting black hair. This made Kurt extremely giddy because he always dreamed of having a little girl with Blaine's curls. Kurt was also happy that he'd have a child of his own to dress up and he had found brand new inspiration for his clothing line.

Blaine was such a great father. He took to it instantly. He was quick to get up in the middle of the night when Maddie woke up crying. This wasn't to say that Kurt was a hands off father. Quite the opposite actually. He loved cuddling with her and they both took shifts depending on what each other's work day looked like in the morning.

Blaine was quickly becoming one of the top prosecutors in New York. His services were constantly being requested and he found himself having to turn potential clients down due to lack of time. Blaine knew that he could be the top prosecutor in the entire country if he put 100% of himself into it but instead, he chose to put 100% of himself into being a husband and father. Those were the two most important jobs to him and he intended to keep it that way. After all, he had promised Kurt that he would always be there for him, and that was a promise he intended to keep. Yes, life was good.


Three years later

Three years after Madison was born, Avery came into their lives. She was born via the same surrogate they used for Maddie. This time they used Kurt's sperm and she had the bluest eyes when she was born. The doctor said that all newborn babies have blue eyes but Kurt and Blaine knew that Avery's eyes would never change…they just knew it.

Maddie was the best big sister. They were afraid that after their surrogate became pregnant they would have a hard time explaining things to her or that she would get jealous that she was no longer the only child. They made a point to get Maddie excited about having a new baby in the house and boy, oh boy was she excited.

Maddie often times was woken up by Avery crying in the middle of the night. She would get up and pad her way into Avery's nursery and sit by her crib and sing to her. Kurt and/or Blaine more often than not found her like that – singing soothing lullabies to her baby sister at two or three in the morning.

Maddie, only three years old, had already taken quite an interest in music. Blaine could already tell that she was going to have an amazing voice and they both agreed that they would enroll her in voice lessons as well as ballet the following year.

They also knew that she would be quite the heartbreaker when she got older. Kurt was right – Maddie had indeed inherited Blaine's thick hair of curls. She was a beautiful child and they could already tell that Avery would also grow into her looks.

Kurt and Blaine had discussed whether or not to have a third child and try for a boy. In the end, they realized that they were happy with the family they had created. They each had a biological child between them and having two girls in the house evened out the numbers.

Their friends and family were doing well too. Finn had married Lindsey the year prior and she was currently pregnant with a little boy. Burt had officially retired and Finn had taken over the shop, which was still running and enjoying success – and Kurt would always attribute that to Blaine's intervention on Burt's behalf all those years ago. Rachel had also married Marc. They were happy together but had decided to wait on starting a family. Rachel had finally achieved her dream – after years of staring in off-Broadway plays, she had been cast as Elphaba in the newest opening of Wicked on Broadway. Kurt and Blaine made a point to attend her opening night and were blown away by her performance.

Professionally speaking, Kurt had found international success with Carly by Kurt Hummel. Milan and Paris were chomping at the bit to get Kurt to bring his designs for fashion week. Kurt shared Blaine's mantra of family being more important than business but he also realized what a big deal this could be. Blaine surprised Kurt by arranging for Burt and Carole to come and spend some time in New York with the children so they could both travel to Europe. In addition to Kurt working on his line, they used the time as a second honeymoon. They still made connecting with each other a large priority in their lives but having children, young children at that, did sometimes put a damper on sexy times.

Blaine had been offered a full partnership with the firm, which he gratefully accepted. Despite Blaine being firm on the number of clients he was willing to take on at a time, he had gained national notoriety with one of the most difficult cases that the firm had seen in years. It was one of those cases that gripped the nation. It was a kidnapping case and it was very near and dear to Blaine's heart because the child kidnapped had been Maddie's age. Blaine had put his all into that case. So much so that Kurt and the kids had begun to feel a little neglected. Kurt never once complained because he knew why Blaine was fighting so hard. After the case had ended with a successful conviction and maximum prison sentence for the felon, Blaine had surprised Kurt with their second honeymoon to Europe.

Kurt's line was a huge success in both Milan and Paris and the time away was exactly what Kurt and Blaine needed to reconnect. They had never been closer when they returned to New York and Blaine made a promise to Kurt that he would ever let a case cause him to be distant from his family ever again. Yes, life was good.


Fifteen years later

Maddie was now 18 years old and following in her godmother's footsteps having gained admission to NYADA. Her talents at acting, singing and dancing amazed both Kurt and Blaine. And she truly had grown into her looks. She was stunning. Maddie had Blaine's beautiful curls and even though she wasn't Kurt's biologically she had these piercing blue eyes. She knew she was beautiful but Kurt and Blaine had made a point to raise her with humbleness and to never take her looks or talent for granted. She never did. She was the sweetest girl. Maddie had begun dating her boyfriend, Ryan, last year. She swore they would be together forever. Whenever Kurt or Blaine would even suggest she explore her horizons, she would always point out that they had found each other when they were 16 and how they had wasted so much time by being apart. Every time she would bring that point up, Kurt or Blaine would have no response. Honestly, she was right. It wasn't that they had any issues with Ryan. He was a nice guy that treated Maddie with nothing but respect. But yes, Maddie was right. Sometimes your soulmate does enter your life at an early age.

Avery was now 15 and she was their little surprise. She took no interest in following her big sister's footsteps into performing. Nor did she take an interest in following after Kurt and venture into designing. Not that she didn't have the talent for it…she sung like an angel and inherited Kurt's body and was long and lean, which made her a beautiful dancer. She was a beautiful girl too. Her blue eyes had remained and she had long, blonde hair that sometimes Maddie was jealous of (though Kurt couldn't understand why…he always loved Blaine and Maddie's curls). She also exceled in her art classes at school so Kurt had told her if she was interested in designing, Kurt could help give her some pointers.

No, she wanted to follow Papa Blaine and become a lawyer. At only 15 years old, she had become quite the advocate for gay rights. All these years later it seemed like equality would take one step forward and one step back…as it stood currently, 37 out of 50 states had legalized gay marriage. This was completely unacceptable in Avery's mind. Yes, she was fighting for the rights of her parents even though gay marriage was legal in New York and Kurt and Blaine had been married for 22 years now, but she was also fighting for herself.

Neither Kurt nor Blaine had been surprised when Avery came out to them the previous year. Even as a little girl she was always interested in other girls as opposed to boys. This year Avery had her first girlfriend. Nikki was a sweet girl and she was out and proud as well so both Kurt and Blaine were happy that their little girl had fallen in love with someone who could love her back. Both Kurt and Blaine knew that if Avery made it her mission to make gay marriage equal in all 50 states then that's exactly what would happen. Avery had a way of just making things happen.

Kurt and Blaine had never felt more proud of their family. They had raised two bright and intelligent children who were going to do great things in this world. The two of them were also doing great things. Blaine had been so proud when Avery announced that she wanted to become a lawyer. He decided he would help and get her started early so she was offered an internship over the summer, working in the office with Blaine. She never received special treatment just because she was his child, but he always made sure she knew she was respected and she mattered. She never wanted Avery to feel like he had felt all those many years ago at the treatment of his father. Blaine's own career was still piping hot. He was still one of the most sought after attorneys in the entire country. But he never allowed a case to take away from his time with his family. He knew what it was like to lose Kurt, and while that seemed like it was a lifetime ago, he never wanted to feel that pain ever again.

Kurt had pretty much performed a miracle with his career. His children's line had become so famous that several years ago he wanted to branch out and design men and women's clothing while also keeping the children's line. He seriously considered leaving Spencer's behind and opening his own fashion house. In fact, many people in the business had asked him over and over again why he hadn't. The truth was, Rosaline Spencer had been so kind to him over the years that he did feel a sense of loyalty towards her. With this, he went and had a heart to heart with her a few years ago and the unthinkable happened. Rosaline Spencer was so adamant about keeping Kurt with the business that she offered him a partnership. Kurt could buy into the company and become an equal partner. And that's what he did. And three years ago, The House of Rosaline Spencer became The House of Spencer and Hummel. The media had a field day – but only in the best possible way. And this allowed Kurt more creative freedom to really focus on designing what he was passionate about. Some days he would design for women, other days for men and other days for children.

Personally, the two of them were in the best possible place. They grew more and more in love with each other with each passing year. Now that their children were older, they were able to take more vacations together. Sure they took vacations as a family but they both knew the importance of keeping each other their top priority. After all, if the parents are happy then the children are happy. Their days would be chaotic but they both reveled in the last moments of each day when they would curl up next to each other in their king sized bed and snuggle close, whispering "I love you" to one another. There was nothing better in the world. Yes, life was good.


Forty-five years later

Kurt and Blaine, now 94 and 93 years old respectively, had lived quite an amazing life. Blaine, being more articulate with words had been keeping a journal of their lives together. He began the journal on the night he proposed to Kurt. The two of them would sit outside together, on the beautifully landscaped lawn of the retirement home and read it together. Though both of their bodies were fighting the ailments that came with old age, neither of them suffered from memory loss. They simply enjoyed reminiscing about their lives together.

Maddie had not been happy about her fathers choosing to live in a retirement home over living with her and Ryan. Yes, Maddie had indeed married Ryan, proving once more that soulmates can be found at an early age. They had three children of their own: Belinda, Bethany and Burt – after Kurt's Dad, who had passed away while Maddie was pregnant with young Burt. Maddie had completely followed in Rachel's footsteps and became a huge Broadway star. She had been offered a few TV roles during her career but she knew that Broadway was her true love and she had been taught to always keep family first so she chose to stay in New York. Ryan was a construction manager that oversaw many of the high rises that continued to add to New York's skyline.

Avery was their free spirit. She had finally settled down with a wonderful woman by the name of Shelly. They spent some time traveling the world together before Avery got serious about becoming a lawyer. And damn, was she a good one. She was one of the leaders that spearheaded the charge to get gay marriage legal in all 50 states. Kurt and Blaine were happy that they lived to see full equality but they were so proud that their daughter played such a huge role in making it happen. Avery and Shelly had decided not to have children of their own like her fathers did, but instead they chose to adopt from foreign countries. They had four children – each from a different country.

Avery also offered her home to her fathers when it became apparent that they could no longer maintain their apartment lifestyle. But no, Kurt and Blaine had prepared for this when they set up their retirement funds. They knew their children had full lives and they would not burden them by becoming an obligation of sorts. Together, they had chosen a beautiful retirement home just outside of the city and their extended family came to visit them often.

More often than not, they would find them just as they were today – sitting outside in the sunshine with Blaine's journal, remembering their great lives. They thought back to the days that each of their daughters got married and how different each wedding was. Maddie was very traditional in her ceremony while Avery had a hippie wedding. They thought back to when their first grandchild was born and how Maddie had called them in the middle of the night asking them to come to the hospital because her water had broken. That moment had caused them to remember the night Maddie was born and how afraid and excited they were.

They thought back to when Blaine received news that his father had passed away. Blaine had been slightly regretful that he had not made peace with his father before his passing but he tried to make up for it by becoming closer with his mother. Suzanne would come visit several times a year and when she became too old to live on her own in Ohio, they moved her into a spare room in their apartment until she passed. Blaine took the passing of his mother harder than he thought he would. He took the passing of his brother the hardest. Cooper lived a good long life though and Blaine was thankful that he had no regrets regarding his relationship with his brother.

They thought back to when Blaine had decided to retire from law when he was 60. He knew he still had a few good years of law left in him but he had reached an age where he just wanted to focus on nothing but his family. Kurt however, continued designing until he was 65. He had reached a level of success that he never thought would happen as a shy, gay, bullied kid from Lima, Ohio. Truthfully, he wasn't ready to retire but the arthritis in his hands made his work more difficult and thankfully, Kai, one of Avery and Shelly's little boys, had taken an interest in design when he was younger so Kurt was able to pass the reigns to a family member.

They thought back to the years they spent together after they had quit working. They spent a lot of quiet cozy nights in their apartment, watching movies, or reading to each other. They did some traveling and they spent as much time as possible with their children and grandchildren. More importantly, they continued to fall in love with each other. They very seldom fought during the years and that only served as a platform for their love to grow stronger.

They had spent today sitting on a bench outside reading as the sun began to set. Maddie and Avery had come to visit them today. Quite often they would bring their spouses or a child or two would tag along. Not today though. Today they had spent time together – just the four of them, laughing and retelling old stories from their childhoods. After their daughters had left and Kurt and Blaine had retired to their room after dinner, Blaine took Kurt's hand and kissed it. Kurt had been right – they had grown fabulously old together. They preformed their bedtime rituals, Kurt still using the same skincare routine and Blaine playing their wedding song on his mp3 player -I Giorni by Ludovico Einaudi…they walked down the aisle to that song and had played it every night since before falling asleep. They crawled into bed together and snuggled close, wrapping their arms around one another. They exchanged an "I love you" each and closed their eyes. Soon after, they truly transformed into Ally and Noah from The Notebook, taking their final breaths together. Yes, life had been good.


The end.

If you haven't heard I Giorni by Ludovico Einaudi I highly suggest you take a listen. It is a beautiful piece of classical music. I first stumbled on it while reading the fic "Little Numbers" (and if you haven't read that then you're nuts!) and absolutely fell in love with it.

I've had people suggest that I continue to write and I have a slight AU floating around in my mind but I havent even begun to start it. I like to have things mostly planned out in advance so you guys don't have to wait forever for updates. If you want me to continue to write - favorite me as an author so you'll get notified when I do post something new! :)

Thank you again for all of your reviews and I'll thank you in advance for the reviews that I know you're going to leave for this epilogue. I hope you all liked how it turned out. I love you all! :)