AN: YAY! Over 100 reviews! I love you all so much, especially new reviewers. (okay, I love the old ones too). I REALLY can't believe that this is over. I started this story three years ago and I've only finished it now! Eek! I hope my writing's improved a bit since then.

Approximate Ages (for reference):

Shinju: 26

Koharu: 30

Kazuki (Kazu): 26

Tao: 24

All adults (aka normal characters, Tohru, Ayame, Kyo ect.): between 40 and 50

CHAPTER 16: Give 'em Hell Kid (epilogue)

It was a beautiful summer afternoon, with flowers blooming everywhere and a gentle breeze blowing down the back of Shinju's neck. It was a hot day, but she continued to work relentlessly in her garden, refusing to give in to temptation and go inside for a cool glass of lemonade. It had been almost fifteen years since the day Shinju's world turned upside down, and she found she had adjusted quite well.

Finally, with a sigh she finished planting and sat back on the heels. Shinju looked skeptically down at her enormous belly and thought exasperatedly, "Fricken' circle of life!"

She was seven months pregnant and it was driving her crazy. Now none of her pretty frilly sundresses would fit anymore. What was she supposed to wear?

"Shinju! Where are you darling?" Kazu called from their back porch.

"In the garden!" she called back. He was at her side in a flash, a small boy clutched frantically onto Kazuki's pant leg.

"Honey, you know Hatori said you shouldn't exert yourself. You're the head of the family, and besides, I really don't want you getting hurt." He scolded lightly; grabbing her by one arm and helping her pull herself up.

"Kazu, I'll be fine. Be careful, you're scaring Ryun," She dismissed his fears quickly. Ever since she was a child she had hated people mentioning her job as the center of the family, and now that she was about to have a child of her own people kept binging it up more and more. It was frustrating. She couldn't understand why they kept reminding her. It wasn't like she could forget.

"Don't make me call the doctor," He husband threatened, "I really am worried about you." Shinju sighed and allowed him to lead her into the house. The house they lived in was of a good size, with three story, five bedrooms and three bathrooms. Basically, it was the suburban dream. The downside was that it was conveniently located right next to the Main House. But still, it held them, their adopted son Ryun, and four foster-children who ranged from ages sixteen to two. Most of them were Sohma children who were orphaned or just need a better family to stay with for a while. Besides, Kazuki had grown up as one of eight children, so chaos was really just the kind of home environment he was used to. Still, Shinju liked to think their household was a little more organized then Hana and Haru's had been.

Shinju had quickly grown to love large families as well. She had always felt a little alone in her family of four, especially once Koharu had graduated high school and left her alone with their parents. A big family fit surprisingly well.

Shinju went inside the giant house and found herself ushered off to an empty room for some "quiet time". As soon as she sat down, she began to think about the last half of her life. The past fifteen years had been good and bad, glorious and horrible. Life was a mixed blessing, but she thanked God, and even Akito, for the life she led every day. And no, she never forgot him, yet she never heard from him again.

As a teenager Shinju had been popular and beautiful, and there had been more than a few guys who had lusted after her. But, in the end it was always the same; none of them could compare with her one perfect man. Through her whole life, Kazuki had been there for her; letting her cry when she needed, drying her tears when she didn't, and always loving her. Kazu had never made her unhappy, not like Akito had been, at least.

All her life, Shinju had know she was a little "different" then most kids, but with Kazu she had always felt like a normal girl. They had been in love for so long it was only natural that they ended up together. No one was surprised.

Koharu, on the other hand, had gone through many men. All through her school years, and early twenties, Koharu had skipped from man to man, never settling down for more then half a year. Then, she too fell in love, which surprised the hell out of pretty much everyone.

After years of running, Koharu settled down with reserved and unpredictable Tao. When the two of them went to Kyo and Arisa to tell them, Arisa had just looked Koharu up and down, and then welcomed her wholeheartedly into the family. "Hey, any child of Tohru's is welcome here any time," Arisa had said. Ko and Tao had gotten married when he was twenty and she was twenty-six. Since then they had had one redheaded son, Hito, who was spoiled crazy by dotting grandparents.

Uncle Momiji had found some good times too. He had gotten married and lived happily for a few years, before he had a heart attack. He had died that night, leaving his wife and daughter, Momiri, alone. They had joined the Sohma Main House not long after, and were well taken care of. Shinju had made sure of that, at least for a while.

Tohru had cried for weeks over the loss of Momiji. He was gone, but like Akito, he wasn't forgotten.It had taken all of them a long time to accept that.

Shinju had found it hard to accept that bad things could happen as well, but whenever grief began to overwhelm her she and Kazu sat down and talked about all the good things in their lives. She knew her life was good, and she planned to keep it that way. She swore that she would never end up like Akito. Anger would not control her.

Other sad things had happened to the family as well. Momiji's wife had run away a year after her husbands death. Momiri, who was five, ended up in Shinju's house, where she was a beloved daughter.

Hatori had found peace as well, accepting what he was, but never fighting back. He had never married or left the Main House. He remained an obedient servant, even when Shinju tried to force him to go out and live a real life. He said he was happy to play doctor. She had said she was happy as long as he was, but it hadn't quite been true. Truthfully, she had wanted desperatly for him to fight back.

Haru and Hana had managed to successfully send all of their children out into the world, and all of Kazu's brothers and sisters were out on their own now. Haru frequently said in his "elder brother voice" (similar to the "elder sister voice") that he was scared for the world now that his siblings were loose in it. And then he would laugh.

The other animals from Yuki's generation had all had very strange lives. Rin had run off and wasn't heard from for years, not until her son, who was Shinju's age, showed up at the Main House one day. It had been a very interesting time in Sohma history.

He had barged into one of the official buildings and said loudly, "Hey, I'm Natsuki. My mom used to live her, and I figured since you were her family, you're mine too. So, you have a place I could stay for a while?"

Shinju had started laughing right there. She couldn't help it.

Natsuki looked over at her and said, "What, you work here?" Shinju had laughed again, and the secretary who Natsuki had been talking to looked uneasily between the two of them.

"I'll handle this personally." Shinju had said to him.

"But Mrs. Sohma, please, I'll take care of it. This isn't your problem. I'll escort him out." The secretary said, rising from his desk. Natsuki stiffened and held up his fists, ready for a fight.

"I said I will take care of it!" Shinju said, standing between the two young men, "I am the head of this family, and this seems like a family matter to me."

She escorted Natsuki to her office. He sat down and looked appreciatively around, "Mom was right. You guys are loaded," he said, "So, you got a place for me here? I figure it's my birthright or whatever."

Shinju smiled her business smile and said politely, "And just how is that? Who is your mother, Mr. Natsuki Sohma?"

"Rin Sohma. You may have heard of her. Loud, mean, turns into a horse, you know the type. I suppose that's pretty common here, though." He stopped to smirk, "So what are you, a snake? I saw the way you handled that secretary."

"I am not a Zodiac animal." Shinju said, folding her hands patiently, "I am the Head of the Family, and if you want a place here you better damn well earn it. The Sohma name is not simply given away. We are a class of the elite, and no one who bullies my secretary gets a penny from me, got it?"

He laughed, "Damn, girl, you're fun. Too bad you're married. I saw the ring. Plus, we're probably, like, cousins or something anyway. So, how can I earn the Sohma name?"

"You get a job, and you work for me, and I'll let you have a house," Shinju knew she sounded a little mobster like, but hey, it got the point across. She was a "whatever works" kind of girl.

"It's a deal." Natsuki had said, and all in all it had worked pretty well. It was only after he had moved in that he mentioned his family. He had a two-year-old son, and a divorced wife who wanted nothing to do with them. Rin was dead, and Natsuki's son had inherited his mother's curse.

The two of them lived well and visited Shinju and her family frequently. Both were welcomed into the family.

Shinju finished reminiscing, and thought instead of everything that lay ahead. She had six children to put through school, for starters. Shinju stood up slowly and began to hobble off to see how the family was doing.

She stopped in the stairwell and looked down at the perfect scene spread out before her. Kazu was serving dinner to the kids, who all sat around the table, entertaining themselves each in their own way. The eldest girl, Mia, was holding a little brother on each knee and telling them some story which seemed to hold their attention well. Her next eldest was teasing his foster sister about boys and tickling the Momiri mercilessly. Kazuki, bless him, was trying to maintain order, but was obviously outmatched; still, he was laughing.

"Boy, am I lucky to have you all." Shinju said after observing for a minute, announcing her presence.

There were many cries of "Mommy!" a few "Shinju"'s and thena lot of, "But he/she did this!" and "Make him/her stop!"

Shinju laughed, taking a toddler up in each arm, "Calm down, kids. Daddy's trying to make you dinner!"

"Thanks, hon." Kazu said, serving the last plate. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, whispering, "Now I remember why I married you."

They all sat to eat, but not for long. Half way through a hectic dinner, Shinju stood up and said loudly, "Honey, I think it's time to go to the hospital."

Nobody argued.

Two hours later, Shinju was given a small, rather loud, cleaned up bundle of baby and told by Hatori that she held a, "rather healthy bundle of joy."

Kazu was in shock. They had all been thinking that the baby wouldn't be here for another month. Shinju sighed; life was always full of surprises. The kids had been left with Tohru and Yuki, who loved every second they could get with their grandchildren. Now it was just them.

"I'll go get you the birth certificate for you two to fill out," Hatori said mildly, "You can have a moment alone." He left then, closing the dorr meakly behind him.

Shinju looked at the pink, squirming, baby in her arms. She hadn't quite come up with a name yet.

"Well, it's a girl." She said to Kazu, "That makes it even in our house. Four girls to four boys. Give me a sec to think of a name."

"I concede the honor of naming our first born to you," Kazu said, "After all, you did just go through a little bit of work." He smiled. She smiled back. It hadn't been too easy.

After a moments thought Shinju said decisively, "Her name shall be Otika. May she live a long, trouble free life." Kazu laughed good-naturedly at the name and smiled down at his first daughter. She was beautiful.

"She's perfect. You know, I think we should keep this one," he joked, hugging Shinju gratefully.

Carefully, Kazu held Otika to him in a hug; she promptly turned into a fluffy yellow rabbit with barely opened eyes. They both stared at their baby girl. After a minute Shinju laughed, "Well, she'll still have a good life. Heck, cursed lives aren't so bad."

Kazu smiled. "I've always liked rabbits" he said cheerfully, petting his daughter gently between the ears.

Suddenly, tears filled Shinju's eyes. It was all so perfect. She had a loving husband, who was at her side and already positive, a kid who was cute and fluffy, and a whole family who loved her for herself.

"I'm fine," She reassured a worried Kazu, "I'm fine." And for the first time in all her twenty-six years Shinju knew it was really true. All the pain and sorrow she had suffered was a world away, but without that she wouldn't have grown to be the person she was now. Everything that had made up her life so far had been bittersweet, and that probably wouldn't ever change.

And for the first time, she really didn't care. Pain was just a part of life, as was love, and joy, and the everyday aches and pain of being a Sohma. This was her destiny, and she accepted it with open arms.

"Thank you, Akito. I understand now." She whispered, "I'll never give up."

THE END

AN: How many of you can guess the significance of Shinju's daughter's name? I thought it was rather creative when I first started writing this; I was even going to name Shinju it. I'm sure you can all figure it out. But, hey, if you cant, feel free to email me and ask! I guess it's rather stupid when you think about it.

Still, I thought it was creative two years ago.

Anyway, this is the end of the Cursed Child! I really want to read it over again. But I'm afraid of having to face all my spelling errors! Bleh. Hope you all had as much fun as I have.

Goodbye! I'll miss you all!

-A-san