Author's Notes: Thank you for all the nice and encouraging reviews! They really mean a lot to me! Especially since English is not my first language!

This is the last – and very short – chapter. I hope you enjoyed the whole fic! : ) It was fun to write it! Please don't hate me for this chapter. I just had to write it the way I wrote it. ; )

Please let me know what you think anyway. ; ) Thank you! : )

Chapter 8: "After All"

Abby was standing at the kitchen window, watching her family.

John and the kids were playing in the garden behind the house. The girls Jona and Noa were on the swings while John was sitting with their son Liam on the bench, watching them.

Her hand was resting on her slightly protruding belly. As usual, they didn't know if it was a boy or a girl. But Abby had a feeling like it was another boy. She liked it that they had 2 girls and 2 boys. She could hardly wait, 3 months could be so long.

She made John promise that this was the last child, though. It was not easy to convince him. But in the end he saw that 4 children are really enough.

The beeping of the timer brought her out of her thoughts. The spaghettis were ready.

She opened the window. "Dinner's ready!", she called out.

The girls immediately ran into the house, followed closely by John who was carrying their 2 year old son.

"Wash your hands, girls.", he said to them. They gave their father their famous eye roll before they disappeared into the bathroom. "And help your sister to reach the sink."

"Yes, Dad.", she answered, halfway gone already.

He knew he didn't have to tell her that. Noa was only 4 and a bit too small to reach it. But her 5 year old sister was always helping her.

"They have that eye roll from you.", he said and smiled at Abby before he kissed her cheek and patted her belly.

"I never roll my eyes.", she answered, rolling her eyes.

"Never, right.", he said with a grin, putting Liam in his seat at the table.

The girls sat down, too after they came back from the bathroom.

"What's with Susan and Luka? Didn't they want to come over today?"

"Yeah, they should arrive any minute."

She was just putting the spaghetti on the table when the doorbell rang.

"See, there they are.", Abby said on her way to the door, followed by John and Jona.

"Hi!", they almost said in unison, hugging each other.

"Hi Jona,." Jason said shyly.

"Hi Jason," Jona answered, hiding behind her mother's legs.

He walked towards her and placed a quick peck on her cheek before they ran back to the table to sit down and eat.

"Awww, they are too cute.", Susan said, smiling brightly.

"Yeah.", Abby said, watching them disappear. "Where's the baby?"

"Oh, she's a bit sick. I left her with my sister."

"Really? I hope she's fine.", Abby asked worriedly.

"Yeah, really. It's just a light cold.", Luka answered. "We just didn't want her to spread it around here."

"I'm glad she's okay. I really wanted to see her, though."

"Abby, she really didn't change much since you saw her 2 days ago.", Susan laughed.

"Probably not.", Abby winked, now laughing, too.

"Let's go eat now.", John finally said. "Before it gets cold."

***

"Oh God, I get rounder and rounder. The pregnancies are really not good for my body.", Abby sighed, sitting on the couch, looking down at her belly. Susan and Luka had left after dinner to go home and the children were in bed already.

"Is it just me or am I rounder now than I was with the other kids when I was 6 months pregnant? I really should eat less."

"Abby, don't be silly. You never gained much weight when you were pregnant."

She turned her head and smiled at him. "You're cute when you lie.", she said and kissed him.

"It's not a lie! You are beautiful, no matter if pregnant or not."

"Thank you.", she said, moving even closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder while he put his arm around her.

"You don't have to thank me, I only tell you the facts."

"No, I really have to thank you.", she said again, looking deep into his eyes. "If someone told me 10 years ago that I'd marry the man of my dreams, I'd have called that someone crazy. And if that someone told me that I'd survive cancer and have soon to be 4 wonderful kids, I wouldn't have believed him. But I married the man of my dreams. And I survived and we have 4 kids very soon. And I am happier than I ever thought I could be. My whole life was a misery before I met you. And now it's just perfect. I want to thank you for that."

She had tears in her eyes now and Carter pulled her into a hug.

"Hey, the same goes for me. I can't tell you how happy you have made me. You married me and gave me beautiful, perfect children."

She smiled at him. "We are just the perfect match."

"We definitely are.", he answered, kissing her deeply.

"I love you."

"I love you, too."