Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the CSI franchise. I play with the characters but unfortunately I can't keep them. Otherwise, I'd have a few of them chained to a bed in my non-existent basement and you should be glad I don't own it because I'd add so many hook ups that they would have to change its name to Grey's Anatomy j/k.

A/N: Welcome back my dear readers! It's been so long that I doubt many of my original readers will even find out I finally managed to complete and post the epilogue... I am older but probably not much wiser, specially English-wise XD Despite my teenagerish writing, I am now an actual ophthalmologist with my internship finished and a year of real practise by myself in a public hospital. I am not saying this to brag. Years ago I didn't think a thing like that was possible, like Morgan I had to get out of my depression and learn how to treat me better. It's still a work in progress, but this text is for those like me who thought there was only ONE way out. To tell them there is always some small hope. I'm not a model to follow, but I still hope that if I can at least get someone to get help from friends, family or a shrink if they need it, I'll be happy. I started the story mainly for the English practice, but the themes I developed, spoke to some of my personal "demons". Morgan and Hodges deserve a worthy epilogue to end their story in this fictional universe half-taken from CSI/ half-invented by moi. I'll seriously try but no promises. On with the show! PS: I am so putting in a lemon, so be advised.

SEVERAL YEARS LATER

Hodges' POV

He realised he really had gotten a more relaxed personality over time, and that the old adage that kids would automatically do that to you, wasn't false at all. Despite those nosy Nick and Greg criticising his diaper changer ways... What if he used sterile lab gloves, it didn't harm anybody, and it made his older offspring laugh when they saw him clean up any mess they'd managed to make in a heavy protective suit. Still, who would have imagine him with children not so long ago. He used to call them something along the lines of germ riddled, keep them away please, monsters. It was also true that when they were you own, you just loved them to death, and everything else mattered less. Like privacy or a tidy home...

Having three kids always made your extremely more lax, he rapidly discovered, as the stay at home dad, when they were really little. He actually found fascinating how their little grubby hands darted around in the mud to look for new insect specimens to marvel about. He hadn't cherished so much when they tried to understand how electricity worked by cutting a live lamp cord with metal scissors from the kitchen...he didn't even want to imagine how they got to those... Kids really were a wonder and real life changers.

Morgan and him had decided to name their oldest ones, who were twin girls (or so he had been told by the US tech, and he would have gone directly to the floor right then and there, if it hadn't been an actual hospital floor), Sam and Max. They were a mixture of their parents, scientifically inclined but with great bravery or recklessness... depending on your point of view. When they were really small, even if they'd had developed eyes on the back of their heads, it wouldn't have sufficed... They also were thick as thieves and managed "great" conspiratorial works to get what they wanted. They also had him wrapped around their little finger. Like mother, like daughters.

Luckily they had gotten most of their looks from their mother. Morgan didn't completely agree, and sometimes she delightedly called them her mini Hodges, to his personal chagrin. They were soon starting their 1st year of high school and had graduated from bugs to a whole lab set and Krav Maga training. He had been firmly opposed to the latter, but one against four was a lost cause... Well, at least he knew they could kick anyone's ass, if they were accosted. You had to look on the bright side...

Their youngest had been named Bailey, AMAB. He was a shy boy, but influenced by Sam and Max specially, he got out of his shell, and now in 5th grade he had tons of friends. According to Morgan and some old photographs, he was growing up to look a lot like his granfather Conrad in his prime, to the pride of said granpa. On the other hand he sometimes talked like an university lecturer, which made the grown ups raise an eyebrow and look in his direction... But he really hadn't encouraged the kid to pick up the dictionary and all the encyclopedias until he knew them by heart... Well, it was still funny to see Greg or Finn surreptitiously checking their phones to check what the heck Bailey had meant.

At first he had worried that being a bit of a geek, would bring him the same problems he had in his childhood, but on the contrary, he used his knowledge not to brag but only to help other kids like a mini advocate. He was even popular! Oh, how the times had changed when a Dr Who fan was the hero of the class. He still didn't like being in the spotlight, and often would hide out from his twin sisters, before they got him to be their magician show helper for example. He always tended to go to Morgan for confort when he was little more than a bean sprout, and he still hadn't fully outgrown the habit. Old Mr K seemed to favourite Bailey out of them all, and with its passing, they both had bonded even more. New kitties, grandbabies of Kobayashi Maru, still were around to remind them both of him.

People often asked about their non-conforming names, or why they let them wear whatever clothes or hair colour the kids dug at that moment. Their main answer was a solid "none of your business". If the person was someone they cared about, they explained they liked the names (he still hadn't copped out to Morgan where he had found the inspiration for Sam & Max) and that children should be just that, taking their time to experiment and grow up, without the constrains people put around gender cues and "pink is for girls" and in reverse. It had taken him some time to adapt to this himself, he was kinda old fashioned in some ways, but it certainly had been for the best.

Their particular kids, like most of the offspring form people from Las Vegas Lab's night shift, had the luck to have a ton of nice "aunts and uncles", apart from their actual grandparents. Specially Lindsay and Greg, and D.B. and Finn loved to have the children around. It was curious how things ended up falling in place like some sort of a secret puzzle. Not that they had doubted that someday the old couple would somehow seal the deal. It worried them a bit that their entire house decoration tended on different shades of blood trajectory photos and weird fungus. What D.B. and Fin considered classy, or what they considered romantic, and others not so much, could fill an entire area of the National Library. The important thing was that they were happy, retirement seemed to have been good for them to finally confess their unspoken feelings.

Morgan and him still worked side by side. Him of the Lab Coat, still messing with Lindsay and the new CSIs with his smug remarks, but still presenting top-notch job if he could say so himself. Morgan had rejected the offered position of County Sheriff, and she preferred to continue working the field as a senior CSI under the orders of their new boss, the powerful red headed Catherine Willows, who was also well known for her inheritance of shitload of casinos from her late mob father.

She was a mother figure to them, being one of the oldest surviving members of the original team, and she was harsh when she had to be but, more often than not, an easy going boss who trusted them to know how to best approach their work. Still, nobody could ever replace Gil in his heart of hearts, pigs in bottles and all. He might be still out there with Sara saving the marine life, but now he sometimes called, usually to Catherine, and he sent postcards from exotic places to the Lab signed by the two unusual lovebirds.

Ecklie was having the time of his life now that he had managed to chuck out his annoying beeper forever. With stability and his grandkids on the picture, he was pretty amiable with him... except if his daughter decided to mess a bit with him... and Morgan tended to do it for fun. Then the bone breaking handshakes and forced smiles would make a return for a while, and he tried to keep away with him for his own safety. He wasn't being paranoid, you weren't if they were actually out for you, no matter the chuckles from his own household.

His mother, still very much marching at the sound of her own band, sometimes took all of them in sudden exotic holidays or decided to paint overnight, literally, the children's bedrooms in their own house without telling them... *sigh* Force of nature 1, Parents 0. Conrad and Olivia had a nice place with a big swimming pool and a home movie theater room with a popcorn machine incorporated. She had affirmed that that was the definitive way to have their grandbabies with them all the time possible. Obviously she had been on the right track, and they spent a ton of time together. He only hoped their twins didn't learn too much of her grandma (forbidden word there), the though of two Olivia like terrors flashed through his mind making him shudder.

He seemed to be in a pensive mood today. Perhaps it was that Morgan and him were celebrating their anniversary today. It wasn't a pretty round number like 50 or something like that. But every one of them was precious to him. He still reminded with absolute detail how their story had started, and although she didn't need to check on Sheldon anymore unless it was to say hi, the whole ordeal they had both been through. Luckily Jennifer and her father had ended with new lives in Witness Protection.

They've been such an absolute mess, they hadn't known how to cope with all the stuff happening so quickly, too quickly at times in fact. It seemed like a jackpot that her sweet brunette was perfectly okay now, and that she still seemed to love his own grouchy self.

They both had ended up learning each other's bodies like a well read criss-crossed road map, damn he still got a bit red thinking of some of the stuff they had done at the start (including the escape by bedroom window) and along the time. She hadn't gotten tired of him as he had feared at times. She would kick him in the shin if she heard him say that... but he couldn't believe that someone so pretty, courageous and funny had stayed with him. Wendy or Elisabetta seemed like a blip in time, galaxies apart. Morgan was, and had been for ages, the only woman he could ever love with all his heart.

Every year together was a blessing. She still was the boisterous head-strong woman she had met her first day on the Lab, but she had gained many more positive qualities over the years. She was a portentous mama bear, who was extremely loving, but also fair and no non-sense when the kids needed it. He was too much of a softie in the end... She had great adaptability and an attitude for leadership that may be put to the test soon... Also she seemed to enjoy her geeky shows as much as himself, even if she tried to fake some disinterest, to get him to clean up the kitchen in order to watch one or two. Fortunately the kids were all completely on his side on this *mischievious grin*

Well, enough reminiscing, the sun rays were already very visible through the curtains. Morgan was just beside him, snoring lightly, and their offspring were with their grandpas until lunch. It was time to wake his lover in a special way, and it wasn't breakfast in bed what they tended to do in anniversaries. Also, she had started to frown a bit, time for Operation Sweet Wake Up to start!

Morgan's POV

She was having a very funny dream. Sammie had just discovered instant glue and its powers. Max had provided the idea for the evilish plan and execution. If Hodges wasn't such a suspicious creature by nature, and had a keen eye for details, he would have had glued his fingers to the laptop keys. She hadn't been able to stop laughing, and Hodges couldn't even stay angry at them, when they said they just wanted for him to spend less time working, and more with them in puppy dog eyes. She had kept mum of all their whispering of how cool their joke was going to be. His laptop had to go to te repair shop nonetheless, and he had been almost unplugged for a week *smirk*

Her twins were so grown up now, they already had dreams about their future careers, even being so tiny in her eyes still. Sam had made it very clear she wanted to be a cop, and Max had been fast to come up with her own plan, she would be a CSI and they would work together as a team. It was impossible to tell them there were far safer careers, and a bit hypocritical, and that they didn't have to be in the family business... it was to no avail. Even her lil' Bailey had started commenting he would like to maybe work in the Lab as a Tech, maybe a blood specialist. She didn't know if she should feel proud or scared, probably a bit of both... but now she finally started understanding her dad a whole lot more.

A memory of them with their kids, dressed to the nines, drifted forward. Finn was reading her vows. Most people couldn't keep from laughing when she promised to always love his roots, in his hair or the forensic ones he liked so much. Then it had been teary and sweet. D.B.'s had included a long diatribe on out-there science that only he, and maybe Gil, could understand, so she had had to make an effort to keep herself and the rest of the bunch awake, and listening until he changed tacks and got all sweet and romantic, CSI style, telling her he loved her since the first time she had mounted her self-created blood spray scenery and so on. They had to leave early in the end because Bailey, who had been flower boy, but allergic to some of the strange strains D.B. had chosen, had started sprouting red blotches all over his skin. Luckily, it was only a minor reaction and a polaramine pill and multiple orders of don't scratch it, had worked. She still had to keep his loving husband from a full blown panic attack, and prevent him to take their child unnecessarily to the E.R.

The dream shifted to the las time Jacinta and Lydia had come to visit, they were married now and had a baby they'd named Rose, in Jacinta's sister memory. They played in the pool of his dad's, full of floaties. She already knew as much sign language as Jacinta, or Gil Grissom for that matter, and could keep up with the fast talking new exited young mothers. They had tons of questions about rearing up your child, and she said there was not a single magic bullet but, just in case they were like her daughters, she told them an extensive list of how to super baby proof the house. Hodges added some more very much need items to the list when he came to bring them some drinks... but she refused to translate his recommendation on lots of latex gloves when changing the kiddo. In the end, she just told them that probably the best advice was to hear them out always, no matter how tired you were or how brattish they were being. It was probably an advice they didn't really need, even if nervous first timers, the loving part they seemed to have it down pat completely.

Another change and she was last week in Willows office, her boss was considering retiring and wanted to see if she would take up the position. Greg didn't want to, he was a free soul, and with Sarah and Nick out on different fields, she seemed like the perfect candidate. She still hadn't made her mind about that... She didn't want to spend more hours in the Lab than absolutely necessary, but her loyalty to Catherine and her work, were pulling the rope in the other direction. It was confusing and her last night talks with David had consisted of that topic in particular. He was still so good at listening with his cute smiley face, looking at her like there was nothing more interesting in the world. She probably was going to accept the post but it generated some anxiety in her mind.

Suddenly, she still mostly asleep, she started to feel some cold draft, followed by sweet warmth. From the world of dreams, some nice tingling was filtering itself. She was getting a bit hot under the collar, and her mind eye reminded her of some of her hottest moments with her husband. Then she felt a love bite on her exact favourite spot on her neck, filling her with passion, and she finally opened her eyes to see the fervent look on David's. He had uncovered her and was mixing breathing cold air on her sensitive bits with slowly passing his warm hand delicately over them... Well, until he hadn't been able to keep from attacking her neck, that is.

-"Good morning love, happy anniversary"- he nonchalantly said, like he hadn't been trying to arouse her seconds ago- "time to wake up the princess like she deserves"- it was a mixture of playfulness and ferality. She still lightly punched him at the princess mention.

-"Happy anniversary naughty boy"- she was as good at giving that at receiving, and she knew what her words did to him.

He kissed her full on the mouth while his hands continued to feverishly caress her neck, collarbones and eventually her breasts.

She teased his lower lip with her teeth, kissing him back with the same passion. Her own hands tickled his back before taking a more firm grasp on it. She drew a satisfactory grin when she raked her nails over it, and he gasped loudly and pressed himself flushed against her, . He was really hard, he had been playing a bit longer than her... well, he would have to wait and learn to be patient *smirk*

When he rutted himself against her core, as arousing as it was, she stopped him with just a look.

-"Now, what should we do with what we have here?"- she liked to take charge usually, although sometimes the roles were reversed.

She gripped his hard on tightly as he gritted his teeth from moaning.

-"You don't need to be so restrained David, I love the sound of your voice"- she teased.

-"I just want you so much"- in it there was a pleading tone.

-"Keep using that sweet mouth of yours, and not just for talking"- she wasn't Lady Heather like but a bit of role play was fun for the both of them.

From there, Hodges continued to kiss and bite her nipples, moaning as she teased his cock with her dexterous hands and sometimes her thighs. His tongue knew how to perk up her nipples and made her go crazy with pleasure.

She reversed their positions, and they kissed savagely, and felt each other's impending states of doom. She was wet down there form his ministrations and he continued hard as concrete, preseminal fluid coating his glans. She had to take a dive to taste him.

When she encircled his cock with his mouth, teasing him with her tongue, he gripped the sheets hard with his hand, and he swore from above. She started playing with it more forcefully, and hearing him moaning and panting so heavily, was the best aphrodisiac ever.

-"Please, stop"- he begged sweetly- "I can't contain myself from much longer"- then he pleaded seductively- "I will make you up for it".

She knew what he meant exactly, and a luscious Hodges between her legs was extremely tempting... so she agreed and let him retake control.

Soft and rough kisses and lots of "I love you"s and "I need you"s followed, he was on top again, descending licking every inch of her body, his tongue tickled her belly button and he was soon kissing, oh so near, but not where she most desired it. She wanted him to press his tongue on the tiny nub, already enlarged to thrice its size from all their foreplay. He kept kissing and nibbling on her thighs licking it all clean and making her mad with desire.

He finally took pity on her an starting stimulating her labia with his mouth. She didn't even try to suppress the sounds that escaped her mouth. They stirred him on, and soon he was licking her clit and masturbating her with his fingers masterfully. She bit his lip. He had just looked up in the exact moment, and he immediately got up to kiss her and wordlessly ask for permission to enter inside her. His pupils blown wide and his member palpitating against her thigh.

Morgan wanted nothing more, so she directed his dick to her center and raised her hips. After that he penetrated her with care and started a maddening pace for both. They knew they weren't going to last long, so he started caressing with his hand the little nub between their bodies. She felt inflamed, at the point of no return.

-"David, I am about to..."- she barely managed the words.

-"Come for me pretty"- he whispered seductively. And with just that and a final flick on her clit, she started trembling, the orgasm making her even black out for a second or two. He didn't stop thrusting, even if he had to be close as well, his cock throbbing and pulsing inside of her. Finally, he came thunderously, mumbling her name and how beautiful she was.

They snuggled together after a bit of clean up.

-"Please, promise me we will always celebrate all our anniversaries like this"- she said through half lidded eyes.

-"You make me promise that every year"- he teased her playfully.

-"You say that like you don't like them as much as me"- she gave him the stink eye and tickled him a bit.

-"Ha ha ha. Stop. Not fair"- he tried to counter argument- "And you know I do. A lot"- he added sweetly kissing the point of her nose.

He always knew what to do to endear himself even more to her.

They got some clothes on and continued on her usual anniversary plan, which was well... making breakfast between the two of them, and then eat it watching some old tv show if it was Hodges turn, or a new procedural one if it was hers. Okay, maybe breakfast on the bed or prickly roses were the norm for other people, but simply this, was pure bliss for them.

Later they would celebrate it with their kids and friends and family. That was going to be boisterous. She looked at his partner, still incredulous at how much he had changed, to think of suck a noisy and messy party, as something really nice. For people that said that love faded over the years, maybe they would make a good case against that hypothesis. Hodges was rubbing on her again, she chuckled to herself.

-"Years ago, when you broke with your fiancé, you know I got Finn and myself drunk with tequila shots to find out?"- she questioned him still reminiscing a bit.

-"Really? I don't know if to say sorry or just hug you"- he said half chuckling.

-"Not funny, I was really worried"- she said lightly tickling him- "I was already head over heels for you even then, even before the whole case that unravelled my personal demons"- she was so glad Jennifer was safe and in Wit-Sec- "I think I probably was in love with even much much earlier but there were always obstacles... Remember that kiss in the hospital? You were a perfect gentleman"- she chuckled a bit embarrassed.

-"Of course I remember it, even the taste of it, please don't get creeped out"- he quickly added, still a bit self conscious- "I probably was already in love with you but I didn't know it either, and things were complicated... Also you know my self-steem, specially women-wise"- he chuckled a bit.

-"Do you think we could have been happier if we had realised things then and cut short the eternal dance of will/won't he like me?"- she asked seriously wondering.

-"Maybe, who knows?"- he answered truthfully- "but things have worked out and I wouldn't change a thing. This is our history".

The two looked at each other smiling, sharing something special wordlessly. They later chatted about the plans for the day, and eventually went to pick up their kids and prepare for the big party. They knew there would be tons of excitement for many more years to come, good and bad, but they would always be there for each other.

THE END

AN: I didn't know what I was about to write, that and well, learning to be a real eye doctor, made writing the epilogue seem unapproachable and, in the end, impossible. I don't think it's the best chappie I've written by far and you probably wanted more and better. It is also extremely cutesy and has, perhaps a not so well executed, lemon which I know some people don't specially like. Still I can promise you in my world, they live happy lives forever. As the ending suggests, with their ups and their downs, but that's how life is and this was their story (in my world). Hodges wouldn't change a thing and I'm going to take his word for it.

This is actually a goodbye to the wold of writing fanfics, at least for a long long while. I still think Modges and other couples out there need much more love and writing is a marvellous thing, even if you are not a professional writer or that good. But I am busy with work and family stuff and just want you to know if any of you ever read this that I think every reader has made my heart flutter, every good or bad review, make me feel like a VIP and every favourite and follow like I could burst with happiness. You have given me a lot of self-steem =)

I couldn't say goodbye without pointing out that Sam& Max is an old computer game with a dog and a rabbit solving crimes, appropriate in a way, Bailey a reference to Grey's Anatomy because I like it and that I picked gender neutral names to imply that not every kid is cis, some will turn out to have been trans all along. I am kinda a social justice warrior XD BTW a shameless plug to Tab's comic in discordcomicsdotcom for reading characters who are not all cis vanilla people just in case it is your cup of tea.

To end this tale I just want to say this: I am Paula aka Yukimi87, and I wish to say goodbye to you all and wish you the best in your lives.