Epilogue

Jack was playing with his son in the grass of their front yard on a Thursday afternoon. It had been almost three weeks since he and Audrey had gotten back together. The happiest three weeks of his life. He and Audrey had a closer connection than ever, and every day Jack felt lucky to have such a beautiful family. He still was going to therapy twice a week, but Jack was already feeling much better.

"Car!" Jack Jr. yelled, as a black town car and multiple black SUVs pulled into the driveway.

"Looks like Grandpa is here," Jack told his son, holding him back from running to the car until they were completely stopped.

Secret Service agents exited the car and then allowed Heller to exit. Jack Jr. ran to his grandfather who picked him up happily.

"Sir, good to see you," Jack greeted, shaking Heller's hand while Heller balanced the child on his left arm.

"You too, Jack."

They went inside to talk.

"Is everything alright, sir?"

Heller nodded. "Yes, I'm here for appearances."

Jack looked at him confused.

"Division isn't liking your resignation. They're having a hard time replacing you. When they found out that you're dating my daughter, they thought I might be able to convince you to return."

"Sir, I have no interest in returning to CTU," Jack insisted. "I want to -"

"Like I said," Heller interrupted. "I'm here for appearances. If they ask, I tried to convince you. But, I think you've made the right choice in leaving. You deserve to be with your family as much as possible."

Jack smiled and nodded. It still felt strange to accept that he deserved a happy ending. "Thank you, sir."

"There's something else, Jack," Heller told him, reaching into his pocket. He handed a box to Jack. Jack looked at it questioningly and Heller silently encouraged him to open it. Inside the box was a simple, but very elegant diamond ring. He looked up at Heller, questioningly.

"It was Audrey's mother's. When Alicia died, Audrey asked if she could have it someday when she got engaged. Of course, I wanted her to have it. I offered it to Paul when he asked to marry her, but Paul insisted that she would want something more extravagant. I should have known then that Paul wasn't right for her."

"Is this your subtle way of telling me that it's time to propose to her?" Jack asked.

Heller laughed. "This is my way of telling you that whenever you are ready to, that you have my blessing, and you have a ring."

Jack nodded and examined the ring. "Thank you, sir. You won't be waiting too long."

Audrey looked up from the counter where she was cutting a cucumber for a salad for their dinner with Kim and Stephen tonight to look at Jack who was approaching her. She eyed him up and down and smiled to herself. Jack stood behind her, moved her hair away from one side of her neck and kissed it. He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his hands on her stomach. Audrey looked back at him over her shoulder and smiled.

"Kim and Stephen are going to be over any minute," Audrey warned.

"I'm not doing anything," Jack said innocently. "Just saying hello."

Audrey gave him a quick kiss before shooing him away. She finished making the salad and getting dinner situated before Kim and Stephen showed up.

"Hey!" Kim called out. Jack and Audrey went to the door to greet them.

"-im!" Jack Jr. greeted, still not being able to say his 'k's yet. He ran into Kim's arms for a hug.

"How's my favorite sibling doing?" Kim asked him. Jack Jr. hugged her then wriggled out of her arms and ran off to find a toy. Kim looked up to see Jack and Audrey smiling at each other with a secretive expression on their faces. "What?"

They had been looking at each other like this a lot lately. Like they were speaking to each other telepathically so no one else could hear. And, their goofy grins made it even more frustrating not to know what was going through their heads.

Jack nodded at Audrey.

"I wouldn't tell him he's your favorite sibling anymore," Audrey told her. Audrey placed a hand on her stomach. "There'll be some competition soon."

Kim's jaw dropped. "You're pregnant?"

Jack nodded and Kim collected both of them in a hug. "Oh my God!"

"We found out last week. It's still early and we don't want to jinx anything," Audrey explained to her.

"This is such good news!" Kim said, happy for them. She was excited to have another baby in the family to play with.

They celebrated over dinner. Afterwards, Jack brought Kim to the back porch to talk.

"Are you happy, Dad?" Kim asked.

Jack smiled. "Yeah."

"You finally get to witness the whole thing," Kim reminded him. "It will be awesome. And, exhausting."

Jack nodded. "I'm sorry I wasn't around more when you were growing up. I regret it a lot."

Kim shrugged. "You're here now. That's all that really matters."

Jack nodded.

"So, what did you want to talk about? You brought me out here."

Jack pulled out the ring that Heller gave to him.

"It's perfect," Kim told him.

"You're okay with that?" Jack asked, unsure of how Kim would feel about him getting remarried.

"Dad, Mom has been gone for a long time. You deserve to be happy. She would have wanted this for you. I want this for you."

Jack thanked her and they hugged.

Jack was sitting on the outdoor patio couch by the stone fire pit that was providing the perfect amount of heat since it was a bit chilly that night. The fire was the only light in the backyard besides the twinkling stars overhead.

Audrey came walking outside and handed him the baby monitor. "You're on baby duty. My feet hurt and once I sit, I'm not getting back up."

Jack smiled. "Deal."

Audrey joined Jack on the couch, laying down on her back so that her head rested in Jack's lap. Jack reached his arm across her and rested his hand on her small baby bump. Audrey smiled up at him, loving that she got to experience this pregnancy with him. She felt so lucky. They laid like that for half an hour in silence, just soaking in the beautiful night.

"Hey, do you remember that night back in Washington at your townhouse?"

"Jack, there were many nights I remember in our townhouse," Audrey laughed.

"The one where I couldn't find you because you had gone outside on the back stairs to look at the stars."

"Of course I remember," Audrey smiled.

Jack looked around the townhouse for Audrey. She had been sitting with him in the living room when she said she was going to put on a sweatshirt and now it had been ten minutes without her return. Jack knew she hadn't left as he would have seen her move past the living room to get to the front door. Jack searched with no luck. He was starting to get worried. He became especially worried when he saw that the lock to the back entrance was unlocked. They never used that door and it was always locked.

Jack flung the door open and found Audrey sitting on the steps in one of his oversized sweatshirts just staring at the sky.

"What are you doing?" he asked, confused.

"Look! Stars!" Audrey told him excitedly pointing at the very few stars in the sky. Usually with all of the lights from the city, there weren't any visible stars. Jack smiled, loving how Audrey could be so content with the simplest things. "Come sit with me."

"It's fifteen degrees out," Jack reminded her.

"Please," Audrey begged. "Five minutes."

Jack had an idea. "I'll be right back."

Jack went inside the townhouse again and Audrey was disappointed thinking that he was not going to join her. However, her mood quickly changed when Jack came back outside. He now had his jacket on and was carrying two mugs of hot chocolate. Over his shoulder was a fuzzy blanket. Jack handed her a mug and put his down on the steps. He draped the blanket over them. He then pulled out a winter hat from his pocket and handed it to Audrey who smiled and put it on.

They sat under the stars, drinking their hot chocolates. Audrey stared into the sky at the stars, her eyes twinkling. Jack stared at Audrey, amazed by how beautiful she was. He felt so lucky to be with her. She was smart, patient, caring, and easily the most down to Earth person he had ever met. In this moment, he knew he could do this type of thing with her forever.

"Someday I want a house just far enough outside the city so I can see stars every night," Audrey told Jack.

Jack smiled and kissed her head. Someday he wanted a house outside the city so he could watch her be completely enamored by the stars. "Me too."

"I don't think I realized it then, but that was the night I fell in love with you," Jack told her.

Audrey smiled at him and then looked up at the stars. "I guess I got everything I wanted."

"Not quite yet," Jack told her. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the box with the ring. Audrey sat up and turned to him, her eyes wide with realization of what was happening. Jack pulled her onto his lap, facing him. "Audrey, I love you so much. I know I don't usually say this but I hope you know how much I appreciate how patient you've been with me and how you've stuck by me all this time. I needed that more than you will ever know."

Audrey touched her forehead to his, a tear falling from her eye.

"Audrey, will you marry me?" Jack asked, opening the ring.

Audrey kissed him passionately, unable to stop herself any longer. After a few moments, she pulled away to give her answer.

"Yes," she whispered, as Jack wiped tears from her eyes. She looked at the ring for the first time and saw that it was her mother's ring that Jack had proposed with. She let Jack slip it onto her finger.

They kissed again, both of them finding it difficult through their smiles.

"I love you, Jack," Audrey told him.

"I love you too," Jack replied.

They celebrated all night together under the stars and then again under the covers. They were both so happy to be where they were in their relationship. Jack and Audrey looked forward to their perfectly normal, boring lives together with no more faked deaths, kidnappings, close calls, or traumatic events. Instead, they would face the challenge of raising two children together, both of them believing that there was no way it would be more challenging than what they had already been through together. And, if it was, at least they would be in it together.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who stuck with me through this story. I'm sorry you had to wait so long but I hope it was worth it. Please review and let me know what you think!