A/N: Here it is, the end of the road. If you didn't read yesterdays update, then go back! If you have, then read on!

Epilogue

"I am late! I am so late!" Kate gabbles as she jumps the last few steps and dashes into the back room. "Hey, Mike, where's my-"

"Here." Mike interjects, holding up her phone charger, a smug grin on his face. He's still in his pyjamas, and has already tried to coax her back to bed several times. (Okay, so he'd succeeded twice, which was why she was so very late!). He seems to be enjoying her panic and disorganisation though, peering at her with an annoyingly serene look on his face as he rests a hand on each of her shoulders. "Remember, organisation is the key to success."

Kate casts a quick glance over the boxes strewn across their new living room. As Kate had oh-so-smugly teased that she was 'the only one with a real job', Mike had taken up most of the responsibility of packing up both houses. However, his warped sense of humour had not exactly made things easy when it came to unpacking, with boxes labeled things like Clothes Kate Looks Super Hot In or Kate Seriously How Do You Have This Much Stuff In Your Wardrobe - We Need To Marie Kondo This Your Next Day Off. The girls had certainly not helped things, packing up their own things with enough care, but then labeling others as Random Junk Box #5. In fact, as far as Kate could see, the only box that was actually labelled correctly was the new collection of Pool Toys that Mike and the girls had bought as soon as they'd put the deposit on a house with a swimming pool.

"Mike, I love you, but I haven't had coffee yet, so tread carefully." Mike stands up straighter, and mimes zipping his lips shut. Kate rolls her eyes. "You right to find the girls' uniforms, or is that too much responsibility?"

Mike gives an enormous yawn and examines the land of boxes around, looking unconcerned. "Nah, the uniforms are in the Boring Crap box. I'll sort them out."

Kate resists the urge to chastise him over that particular decision, knowing that she is running late. "Alright, I gotta go." She takes the phone charger from him and presses a quick kiss to his lips, just because he can.

"See you tonight." He calls after her, like a promise.

On the way to the station, she calls Cal. It's not as though she particularly needs to call her sister after only twelve-odd hours since they last spoke, but she can't quite quell the protective streak in her that is freaking out about living away from Cal after all this time.

"I promise, I still haven't joined a cult, gotten pregnant, dropped out of uni or started taking hard drugs." Cal says by way of greeting, and Kate can practically see the mixture of smugness and exasperation on her sister, even though it's simply a phone call. "You do know you don't need to keep checking up on me."

"I'm not!" Kate protests automatically, indicating a left turn. She can practically feel Cal's judgement through the phone, and she corrects herself. "Okay, so I might have been simply making sure you're okay. I'm allowed to be protective! My baby sister is all by herself-"

"With three other housemates." Cal points out, though she sounds amused.

Kate drags a hand through her hair and sighs softly. "I just miss having you around, is all."

"Miss you too, Katie. But you don't need to call me twice a day."

"I know." Kate agrees, dragging a hand through her hair and trying to tug it one-handed into some semblance of neatness.

"Speak to you tonight." Cal replies, laughter in her tone.

"Robert, my PC is running really slow." 2Dads whines, chewing on a gingerbread man he'd gotten from who-knows-where.

RO looks to Kate as she walks in, as though begging her to save him, but she simply flashes him a you-know-it-won't-stop-him sort of look and moves to sign in. RO glares at her for a moment before turning his look of disdain back on 2Dads, brushing gingerbread crumbs from the desktop. "Take it to a computer shop." He instructs moodily, turning back to his work.

"But I did!" 2Dads presses, biting another leg off of the gingerbread man. "They said I needed to disable my cookies, but I've been biting the legs of these friggin' gingerbread men all day and it's done nothing!" A wide grin suddenly splits his face as he looks to RO for a reaction. Dutchy and Kate both let out a snort of derisive laughter, but RO remains stony faced.

"I do actually have work to do." He hisses, turning his back on 2Dads once more.

2Dads looks faintly disappointed, but hides it well, pulling himself back to his feet and trudging over to the locker rooms. "So, let me get this straight?" Dutchy begins as they begin to stow their possessions and get ready for shift. "You bought gingerbread men... for that joke... for Robert of all people?"

"No. I didn't buy them." 2Dads finishes the rest of the biscuit and rolls his eyes moodily, confessing in a rush, "I couldn't find any gingerbread men in store, so I baked them. They taste all wrong, too." Rolling her eyes at the lengths 2Dads will go to mess with 2Dads, she quickly gets into her uniform and moves to the kitchenette to grab a much needed coffee.

The day doesn't improve from there. 2Dads spends most of his free time trying to get some reaction out of RO. At first, Kate had thought he was trying to annoy him into shouting, but lately she's been getting the funny feeling that 2Dads is trying desperately to elicit a laugh from him. She's not entirely sure which of these is the better goal, but between this and the sheer amount of stupidity out today, plus significantly less caffeine than she would have hoped, she is at the end of her tether.

First, they are called out to a fire outside a busy shopping centre, and spend much of the trip there tense and prepared for casualties. When they arrive, however, it's to find a single rubbish bin out the front smouldering. "Probably from a lit cigarette tossed inside." Buffer muses, dousing the flames. "Barely worth our bloody time."

After that, they had cleaned up fuel and broken glass at a road range incident that, from what Kate could make out in among the cursing and shouting, had originated because one driver had winked at the other driver's girlfriend in the passenger seat. Then, barely two minutes after sitting down to eat lunch back at the station, a window washer had gotten himself stuck in his harness while cleaning apartment windows because he'd been too busy checking out the woman inside. Kate had drawn the short straw for abseiling down and freeing him, and after listening to his gabbled explanations ("But honestly Babe, you should'a seen how smokin' hot this chick was, but!") had to refuse to give him her own number after he began hitting on her.

"Why are all the crazies out today?!" Kate groans, half-an-hour later, as she settles herself back in the truck, rubbing at her sore temple.

Charge gives her a supportive pat on the back, and it's all she can do to hope that, when she returns, Mike has unpacked her bath bombs and wine.

Even as she pulls her car up in the driveway and gets out, she can hear the splashes and laughter coming from the backyard. Conceding that it's entirely possible that Mike has spent the whole day in the pool and that her house - their house - will be in just as much disarray as before, she huffs and forgoes the front door, moving up the side gate of the house.

They'd bought it after seeing it together; yes, okay, so it was the house Dutchy had been talking up ever since he'd found out they were first moving. It wasn't perfect. The back deck needed to be completely redone, the walls all seemed to need a fresh coat of paint, and the garden surrounding the pool was more akin to a jungle than a backyard. But it had screamed home, for all of them, and they were happy. The girls each had a room to themselves - a whole floor in fact, with the attic rooms being split into two, though with a small secret hatch in between the two so the girls could talk whenever they wanted. It was close to the school, Mike's workshop and Kate's work, and there was a spare room for Cal when she wanted to visit.

So despite the tough day that she's had, she finds herself relaxing as she stands and watches them laughing together. She can't quite make-out the aim of the game, but Mike is astride a bright pink inflatable flamingo and holding a pool noodle like a joust (and shirtless, which definitely sends a flush to Kate's cheeks.) The girls are at the other end of the pool, Bridie on a boogie board and paddling towards him, Rose right behind on an inflatable pineapple lilo.

"See you guys are working hard." She calls over the pool fence, just in time to see Bridie slap the edge of the boogie board into the water and send a wave of water in Mike's direction, causing him to splutter.

Mike shakes the water out of her eyes and beams at the sight of her. "Hey! The girls are picking on me! Get your cossie on and come and join us!" He gestures to the line, where her swimming costume is still hanging from yesterday. Kate looks at it, realising that a swim is just the thing she needs right now. "Come on!" He presses.

Three quarters of an hour later sees Kate cursing that moment of self-indulgence. Now, not only is she faced with unpacking, but she also has to find her shampoo and conditioner. They drip-dry in the fading sun, then wrap themselves in towels and make their way to the back door. Kate takes the lead and opens the door, the kids right behind. Expecting to be faced with the same old boxes, she feels herself stop in the doorway. At least half the boxes are now gone, with the living room looking a lot more... liveable. There are cushions on the lounge, their TV is setup, and pictures line the walls - of herself and Bridie, Mike and Rose, of Rose and her mother, and Cal and Kate and Bee, and Mike and Kate. All memories of their lives before and after they met. "Wow, Mike." She murmurs in awe, looking around and making her way slowly into the kitchen. When they first got there, they'd just unpacked the plates and cutlery. Now, the cupboards were full of all of their utensils and pots and pans, the pantry stocked with sugars and flours and coffee.

"It's not all finished." Mike warns. "I've really only tackled our clothes, plus the kitchen and the bedding." He shrugs modestly. "But it's a start, hey? Starting to look a bit more like home." Kate moves forward and fingers a picture of Cal and Kate together that she's sure she's never printed. "Oh," Mike follows her gaze. "I stalked Cal's insta." He explains, grinning.

She kisses him, because everything about this day has just gotten better. The girls make fake gagging noises in the background. When they've pulled apart, Kate turns to Mike. "Well, I guess it's into the shower and Bee, make sure you wash your hair. We can try and get the knots out while it's still wet."

"Oh..." Mike looks abashed. "Yeah, I totally haven't gotten the rest of the girly... hair stuff... out yet." He turns to the kitchen, water droplets trailing down the back of his neck, and begins to rummage in a drawer. "Uh, if you find that, I'll get a start on dinner, hey?"

"Urgh, Mike..." Kate turns back to the boxes. "I have no idea how you've sorted any of this stuff."

"Well," Mike grins at her, still rummaging in a drawer. "You obviously haven't been paying attention to my super-awesome packing classification system, then." He winks at the girls, who both giggle.

"Oh, for goodness'..." Kate trails off, turning boxes around in frustration to reveal their labels. Mike's Cool Toys. Christmas Decorations for Decking the Halls. All The Crap from the Laundry Cupboards of Doom. "Mike!" She calls out in frustration, turning another box around. And then she leaps back, hands over her mouth, staring at Mike's words across it and decorated with hearts and stars.

Marry Me, Kate.

"What the-" She whips around, expecting to see Mike's teasing face laughing at her gullible self, or else still digging around in the kitchen. But he's not. Mike is there, bent down on one knee, hands clasped around a small box in his hands.

For a moment, she's simply frozen, and stupidly aware of how her hair is still dripping down her back, and she's wrapped in a towel and he's in board shorts and the girls are blue-lipped and smiling widely, admiring the scene. "Kate," He begins, and she notices that his hand is shaking slightly as he opens the box to reveal the ring inside. And, God, she has no idea about carats and stones and cuts, but it's beautiful and perfect and so is he and- "I've loved you since I met you. No one has ever... intrigued and captivated and dazzled and infuriated me like you do. Will you marry me?"

She lets out a sound somewhere between a sob and a laugh. "You... you decided to propose by... annoying me?"

Mike shrugs, looking uncharacteristically nervous. "It... it felt right. After all, I'm pretty sure I just annoyed you into dating me, anyway. Well, that and my irresistible charm." Kate lets out another laugh, and takes a step forwards, still in shock. "Is it working?" He presses, biting his lip.

"Honestly?" Kate begins, taking a step forwards and pulling him to his feet. "Yes." She answers, closing the distance between them and leaping into his arms. "Of course I'll marry you!"

The End

A/N: That's it, folks! It's been a hell of a ride and super frustrating at times, but I'm happy with how it turned out and I hope you are too. Thank you so much to every single person who ever took the time to send me a review. You'll never know how much those messages mean to me. Thank you for your enormous support with this story. I always start out with a general idea of where I want to go but this story took on a life of its own. From the dream I first had that prompted this, with Mike and Kate both having daughters who are school friends and being convinced to bungee jump together by them (yeah, weird I know, but it was a dream) to here and now, it's incredible. I wanted to finish both of my current stories by the end of the year but life was really full on for a while there and I honestly didn't know if I could ever write again. Your messages of encouragement and get-off-your-butt were the things that got us here, so thank you! Until next time!