Chapter Seventeen: Two Months Later…
Brad caught the football behind the pine tree outside Colonel Jeff Sanders' home. Sean announced the touch down. They all sat down on a large picnic blanket to eat lunch under the clear blue sky.
As they ate, Brittany stood up, pulling Brad with her. "We have a little announcement to make," she said. Brad smiled and hugged her. "I'm gonna be having a baby!" Brittany yelled.
Christie shrieked, hugging her son close, "You're gonna have a little friend, Mark!" Ben rapped his arm around her and the kissed quickly before congratulating the soon to be mother and father.
"How long have you known?" Marian asked.
"Well, I've known for two days, Brad found out last night," she answered. At this Robert jumped up.
"So THAT'S why the power went out last night during the football game!" he shouted, jabbing a finger at Brad, who didn't deny responsibility for the occurrence.
"What? I was a little surprised!" he said, laughing.
"Well, if you all don't mind, I have a little surprise of my own," Mike said. He announced that in one week he and his girlfriend would be husband and wife, and they were all invited to the wedding.
Everyone was giddy with excitement, and conversation swarmed the blanket, yet there was one couple that wasn't quite into the talking just yet. Sean toyed with Melissa's new wedding ring, looking into her eyes with a coy smile.
"All this excitement, I don't think they could handle anymore," he said.
"You're right, we can wait a little bit longer to tell them our little secret," Melissa said. Sean put a hand on her stomach, and leaned in for a kiss. She laid her head on his shoulder and they entered the lunchtime chatting.
Mayfil was destroyed, the King of Death had been annihilated, and all evil in the world just seemed to die out. The Dragoons, however, did not separate this time. In fact, they were all preparing to move into the same subdivision with all the money they'd received for their efforts in the defense of Endiness for a decade.
From now on, they knew things would be okay. The next generation of Dragoons had fulfilled their duties, and could rest easy for the rest of their lives, assuming the need never arose for Dragon Knights. No such feeling of accomplishment had been felt by any of them ever before.
It had cost a week of sleep from Sean in the end, but he woke refreshed and without trouble. Now the rest of their lives could begin, normality could be experienced for the first time since they were teenagers, and in the end, they couldn't be happier…
THE END
Authors' Note: Hey y'all, we're really sorry about the LONG wait, but we were waiting for some decent review numbers! Please help this story go out with a bang of reviews, tell us what you think, even if you hate it. And wait for only a short while, and you will get the final installment of the Next Generation Series! Until Then!