[Quick Note: I made Jack/Jenn re-married, and Mike/Carrie married officially. Just because I felt like it. Muahaha!]

~*~Epilogue~*~

(About 10 months later. Christmas Eve.)

Chloe snapped the last snap on Wesley's pants and lifted him to his feet. She held on to him as he stood on the bed, and Chloe adjusted his clothing for him. They were in a spare bedroom at Alice Horton's house, having just excused themselves so Chloe could do a quick diaper change.

Wes leaned forward and clamped his tiny hand on to the silver chain around Chloe's neck. She had to pry his hand away as she frowned at him.

"Now, now... I told you not to pull on Mommy's necklace."

Wes let go of her chain and laughed with amusement. Chloe shook her head and grinned at him, smoothing down his soft blonde hair with her hand. He really did look a lot like Brady, right down to the mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

Chloe stood and pulled him up into her arms. She smiled at him and gave him a kiss on the forehead. Wes leaned forward and laid his head on her shoulder. He was such a loving child, perhaps because he was so loved by not only his parents, but the rest of their family and friends.

She made her way back into the living room that was packed from wall to wall with Hortons. Every Horton, by blood or marriage, that lived in Salem was there for Christmas. Not only that, after months of phone calls and letters, Chloe had finally got to meet her brother Mike. Mike had flown in three days ago with his wife Carrie, excited to meet the new branch on the family tree.

Wes held out his arms reaching towards Brady, who gladly took him out of his mother's arms. "Come here, kiddo... Let's give mommy's arms a rest."

Chloe smiled and kissed her husband on the cheek thankfully. Mickey noticed that Chloe and Wes had returned, and cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"Now that Chloe and Wes have returned, we can get started with the ornaments."

Chloe sighed with contentment. She had heard about the now famous Horton family Christmas ornaments, and now she was a part of the long-running family tradition.

Chloe watched as one by one her family began placing their ornaments on the tree. Jack, Jennifer and Abby placed their ornaments on, with Jack making a sarcastic remark about being glad to be allowed back on the tree after a few years of absence. Bo, Hope and Shawn were up next, placing an ornament for Zack, in his second Christmas as a Horton, and a special ornament for J.T., who would always be an honorary Horton. Mike and Carrie put theirs up next, with an ornament for Mike's son Jeremy. Lucas, Will, Mickey, Maggie, Doug and Julie all placed their ornaments on the tree quickly.

Mickey and Alice began putting on ornaments for the family members who were absent, like Bill. And, ornaments for those that had passed on, like Hope's mother Addie. Alice turned to Chloe and smiled at her, her eyes twinkling in the glow of the Christmas lights on the tree.

"Well, Chloe... I guess it's your turn. As the new members to the family, you get to add your names to the tree for the very first time."

Bo was grinning from the sidelines and he commented to Alice. "If we keep this up, we'll have to get you a bigger tree next year, Mrs. H."

"You're the one that has to carry it in here, Bo Brady. So, you get whatever size you can handle."

The rest of the family laughed softly. Chloe, Brady and Wes came forward, and looked into the box with the other ornaments. Chloe took the ornament labeled "Wesley" out of the box and handed it to her husband. Brady moved his hand so that Wesley's hand was holding on to the ornament too and they placed it on the tree together.

Wesley's blue eyes lit up with amazement at the sparkling lights of the Christmas tree. He leaned back and began clapping his hands happily, expressing his joy with an adorable. "Oooooooohhhh."

Chloe laughed at her baby boy. He wasn't old enough yet to really understand Christmas, but he definitely enjoyed the lights, the snow and the shiny paper on the presents.

Brady hung his ornament up next and then shook his head with disbelief. "I'm a Horton... wow."

Shawn patted him on the shoulder and laughed. "It's not a disease, Brady. It's a family."

Chloe giggled softly and nodded in agreement. "He's just not used to being related to yet ANOTHER family in this town. You know, the only one he wasn't related to before."

Chloe kissed her husband's cheek and smiled at him. She reached into the box and pulled out her own ornament, turning it around in her hand to admire it. She carefully hung it on the tree, and sighed softly.

Alice walked over and hugged her granddaughter tightly. "It's been truly a blessing to have you in the family, Chloe. You too, Brady."

Chloe smiled and kissed her Alice on the cheek. "Thank you... I do feel truly blessed to be here tonight. With all of you."

Alice let go of her and she went to hang the last two ornaments on the tree, the one that belonged to her and the one that belonged to Tom. Chloe sighed softly, having heard so many wonderful stories about her grandfather, she sadly thought about the man she had never had the chance to meet.

Alice said a few words in honor of her husband, the man who was in her heart every day, and always with his family. She turned to Chloe after she was done and looked at her hopefully.

"Now, I know you have the voice of an angel, Chloe, and so does Brady... Would you mind favoring us with a little song as we put the angel on the tree?"

Chloe smiled at Alice and then looked towards Brady. He mouthed the words of a song title to her, and she nodded in agreement. Instead of going with the usual religious fare, they decided to sing something that reflected how they were feeling.

Chloe looked around all her for a moment, the smiling and joyous faces of her family surrounding her. The people that would always be a part of her life, for as long as she lived. The family that had fate had brought her to, the ones that she should have always known, but never did. The family that accepted her like they had known her for her entire life even though they had just met her.

Chloe began with the first line, and Brady joined her in on the second.

***Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Let your hearts be light.
From now on our troubles will be out of sight.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Make the Yuletide gay,
From now on our troubles will be miles away.

Here we are as in olden days,
Happy golden days of yore.
Faithful friends who are dear to us,
Will be near to us once more.

Through the years we all will be together
If the Fates allow,
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough,
And have yourself a merry little Christmas now.***

Her family applauded for them, and Chloe did a little mock curtsy of gratitude. Mickey had the angel on top of the tree, and there was a moment of quiet as everyone admired it.

Chloe looked at all of them again and decided now was a good time to tell them something on her mind. Her, Brady and Wes were splitting their time between the Hortons and the joint Black/Wesley celebration this year, and even though they were supposed to open presents with the Hortons on Christmas Day, Chloe wanted to give them a gift tonight. She could no longer hold back the secret she had been keeping for over a month.

"I... I know that we're not supposed to open presents until tomorrow, but I have one very special present I want to give all of you. And, it's not in a box, or under the tree. It's something else."

Brady smiled knowingly and wrapped his arm around Chloe's shoulder. "Couldn't keep it a secret for another day, could you?"

Chloe shook her head and grinned. "No, I couldn't. For the past month, Brady, Uncle Mickey and I have been keeping a secret from all of you."

Maggie stared at her husband in shock and playfully slapped his arm. "Mickey Horton, how could you keep a secret from your wife?"

Mickey shrugged innocently, and Chloe continued with a laugh. "Sorry, Aunt Maggie... I made him swear not to tell any of you. I didn't even want him to know, but he's the only lawyer I have in my family, and I needed his help."

Hope looked at her curiously. "Help with what?"

"Well, as you know... Since I've been married I've been going by the name of Chloe Lane Black. But, Lane is not my name, it never really belonged to me. It belonged to the people who adopted me. It doesn't really mean anything to me at all. So, I wanted to get rid of it, officially. And, I wanted to add something. Something that *would* mean a lot to me, and it's my way of thanking all of you for being so accepting of me and my husband and of Wesley. So... I'm no longer Chloe Lane Black. Two days ago, we made it official. I am now Chloe Horton Black."

Chloe was suddenly rushed by a parade of her family, hugging her tightly and commenting on how wonderful she was for doing that. Chloe held on to her grandmother's hand and smiled at everyone in the room.

"I just... I missed out so much by not knowing all of you for most of my life. But, now we have all the time in the world to make up for it. I love all of you, each and every one of you."

Alice winked at her and smiled. "We love you too, Chloe. I think that's a pretty unanimous feeling in this room."

They spent the rest of their time there around the Christmas tree sharing stories of some of the more memorable holidays of the Hortons' past. Chloe loved being filled in on all the things that she hadn't been around for. Instead of making her feel bad about the times she missed, she felt grateful to be a part of a family like this.

***

(Later, in the car.)

Chloe made sure that Wes was buckled in tightly and his seat secure before hopping into the passenger seat. Brady was about to turn the key in the ignition, so they could head over to the Wesley house to spend the rest of the night with their other family, but Chloe stopped him with her hand.

"Brady... Wait a minute."

Brady moved his hand away from the ignition and looked at her curiously. "What? What is it?"

Chloe sighed softly and frowned. "I... I'm worried about your Christmas present."

"My Christmas present?"

"Yeah... I'm just not good at buying gifts, and I tried to think of something amazing, something that would match all of the wonderful things that you've given me. And, I think I failed miserably. I just wanted to warn you before we open our presents in the morning."

Brady smiled and pulled her into his arms. "Diva... Don't be silly. There is absolutely nothing that exists in a store, or a catalog or anywhere that could ever match what you've already given me."

"I... I just want to give you something nice for once. You gave me that ring, and the scrapbook, and I've never been able to match that."

"Yes, you have. You do it every day. Your love, your heart, your spirit and your soul are the greatest gifts imaginable. I don't ever need a birthday or Christmas present again when I have you. Every day, you are a gift to me."

Chloe smiled at him happily, starting to feel silly about a stupid present that she bought in a store. She knew that her love with Brady transcended everything that material possessions could ever offer. "Brady, I love you so much. And, I do feel the same way. You're right, I'm being silly about this. Having you in my life is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me, it really and truly is."

Brady nodded in agreement and gave her a brief kiss on the lips. "Plus, you gave me the best gift of all. You gave me a perfect little angel named Wesley."

"I didn't do that. *We* did that. Together. We created a miracle, you and me. And, not just Wes... Our love, our entire life together, is a miracle that we created. I am alive because of you..."

Brady smiled and gave her another kiss. "And, I am alive because of you..."

Chloe sighed and laid her head on his shoulder. They had already experienced so many blessings in their life, and Chloe knew that there were still many more to come. Through bad times and good times, their love would survive everything.

~*~THE END~*~

Author's Notes:

It's the freakin' end. Can you even believe it's over? I can't. I didn't really know how to end my epilogue, I just wanted to hang some ornaments on the Horton tree, that's the main reason I wrote it. I hope it came out all right anyway. People are looking at me strangely today as I walk around singing Christmas carols in the middle of July. (At least I'm singing them on key!)

First and foremost, as I always do. I have to thank all of the faithful and loyal readers. You always stick by me even when I think I'm terrible and I should just destroy my keyboard and never write again. As I always say - I write because I love it, I *keep* writing because of you guys. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. And have I mentioned -- THANK YOU!!

Special credit to the songs that make the whole world sing:
"The Color of Roses" by Beth Nielsen Chapman
"Everything" by Lifehouse
"Baby Mine" (isn't that from Dumbo?)
"Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas"
"Dude Looks Like A Lady" by Aerosmith (Because I feel like it, and I've been listening to Aerosmith CD's all week.)

Once again, I do not own the characters of Brady and Chloe, or any of the other Days of Our Lives characters. They belong to NBC, Ken Corday and all those other rich guys in suits. Please don't sue me, because I have nothing to give you. However, if you would like me to take over ownership of Brady and Chloe, so I can force them to do my bidding, you may contact me at lazywriter24@aol.com and I will gladly come be a writer at your show.

And, a very special thanks to Nadia Bjorlin and Kyle Lowder for being the best damn muses I could ever hope to find. They'll never read this, but I thought I'd say it anyway because if it weren't for they way that they portray these characters, I might not love them as much as I do.

Okay, I think that's it for my babbling and random insanity. Love to all of you, and I'll see you with something else very very soon. (I've got a Mason fic and about three different Broe fics I want to do. Shock of all shocks! *ME* doing a Mason fic?!? That's a chance of pace because I've never ever done one before. Yikes. Wish me luck!)

Love, hugs, kisses and wonderful dreams of Broe-bliss,
Hope