Author's Note: I hope this was worth the wait. (I guess Sylar's mother wanted him to be an investment banker, but that's a tricky area nowadays. Stockbroker is the same line of work, because it's finance and economics. Just go with it.)

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Epilogue:

Her second week there, Elle confessed to Karen from next door that she had only stopped working just before the move and did not know anything about running a house or raising children. Karen had four children and a husband of seventeen years, and she seemed like the right woman to ask for advice. Karen's advice was to start at the beginning. Take everything one step at a time and prepared for a learning curve, especially when it came to their first child.

For Elle, the beginning was peach pie. She wanted to learn how to make that. Karen provided a recipe and helped Elle get the groceries, but she clearly found the starting point a little ambitious. As they set out the ingredients, Karen asked why peach pie.

"Peach is Gabriel's favorite." Elle did not know if that was necessarily true or just something he said to be nice, but he did eat a lot of it that first day. "When we first met, I, uh, bought one and passed it off as my own. I guess he always knew, but... I think it would be nice if I could learn to make one for real."

Karen smiled and handed Elle the measuring cup for the flour. "What does Gabriel do?"

For a second, Elle had to remember that he was not a watchmaker anymore. The name and the memories of the peach pie had momentarily confused her. "He's a stockbroker." He had faked credentials and gone into the line of work his mother always wanted him to. It turned out he had an aptitude for it. He understood how things worked, and that extended to the stock market. It helped that he was able to engage in untraceable insider trading thanks to his invisibility, phasing, and illusory ability. From what Elle understood, he was quickly living up to the reputation he had created for himself.

Flour done, Karen started on the next part of the crust. "So is your family still in New York?"

That was an deceptively difficult question for Elle. She still found it so hard to believe that they had no family. She had not had much family for a long time, but she grew up in a large facility, constantly surrounded by people, and now the only people she had in her life were Gabriel and this child. Her hand went instinctively to her belly. Not that she was complaining. "No, that's one of the reasons we left. We were both only children and, um, our parents are all... gone, so there's just no family left for either of us."

"Oh, I'm sorry, dear." Karen patted her on the shoulder, which Elle found oddly comforting.

Elle gave a brave smile, but she started to think about the life she had left behind, the only one she had known. Nothing from that old life translated into this one where they were an unremarkable stockbroker and housewife. She could tell Karen about the pie, but there was not much else from their history that she could talk about. She could easily lie about it; making up a new story was not the problem. She just did not know if she could really live the rest of her life cut off from that world.

–

Sylar had always intended to contact Peter, thank him for his help, but he never really got around to it. At first, there was so much to do to set up this new life and establish himself at work. Then there was the need to be wary, cautious, make sure Nathan was not going to be a problem. Besides, if Peter wanted to talk to them, he could easily find them. Sylar might have kept putting it off indefinitely if Elle had not called Peter herself and invited him over to dinner.

It was a Friday night when she was about six months pregnant. She did not tell Sylar that she had invited Peter, and when he knocked on the door, Elle got that same "Oh, right, I forgot," look on her face as she had when she invited Trevor over to his apartment a couple years before. Sylar supposed she thought he would try to talk her out of it, which is exactly what he would have done.

Recently, Elle had become a little preoccupied with the fact that they had no family besides each other. Sylar could tell from things she had said that Elle had this belief, whether actively or subconsciously, that Peter was going to be Uncle Peter to their child. He knew where she would have gotten that idea, from Sylar's own visions. Sylar just did not think that he would ever feel comfortable enough around Peter to think of him as part of the family, although he was willing to give it a try for Elle's sake.

Sylar needed to remind himself that Peter and Elle had almost no romantic history. Other than one kiss and what Sylar told himself was light flirting, they had never been intimate. It seemed that there was more, but those were visions and dreams. If Peter had ever really wanted to raise the child, or would ever want to, that was because he loved the kid, not the mother. Still, it was a little awkward.

It was made more awkward by Elle asking Peter to be their child's godfather, which was not something they had discussed at all. Peter looked between the two of them and said, "Maybe you should talk to Gabriel about that first."

Elle shook her head. "No. It was his idea. To have the child baptized. And you're the only person we know, and you're Italian, so I figure you must be Catholic, right?"

"Well, yeah, but I haven't been to church in..." He shrugged.

"Great." She was purposefully avoiding Sylar's eyes. She knew that he would not fight with her in front of Peter. "So will you do it? Baptism is important to Gabriel because he's very religious." That sounded a little sarcastic. "And I feel that if I'm going to start trusting someone with the baby's immortal soul, what's important to me is that it be to someone I know."

That did make sense, and Sylar had no other candidates in mind for godfather. In fact, he had not really thought about the godparent portion of the baptism. It was a nominal title anyway, and it did not actually require Peter to do anything or give him any rights. All it would really do is make Peter a little closer to being family. Sylar nodded. "You don't have to decide right now, but at least consider it."

Elle smiled broadly when she realized that Sylar was endorsing her pick for godfather. She got up from the table, supporting her back. "I made pie," she said, and she went into the kitchen.

Sylar would have helped her, but Elle had a very traditional notion of hostess. He took a sip from his glass. He wanted to change the subject. "She's been really working on learning how to bake. Her first pie was terrible, but she's gotten a lot better."

Peter leaned forward. "Do you really want me to be your son's godfather?"

Peter would know if he lied, so Sylar thought through his response. "Yeah. With your impeccable moral compass, you would know more about protecting a soul than either of us. I think you're the perfect person."

Elle came out with plates, forks, and a pie, and she did not drop anything. "Good news," Peter said. "I've decided to accept. I'll be your kid's godfather."

–

Elle was not oblivious to the fact that Peter and Gabriel thought she was having a boy. She insisted that they, especially Gabriel, stay open to the alternative, but they thought they knew better because of their dreams. Gabriel and Elle never discussed girls' names, but Elle knew that she was having a girl, and she knew what she wanted to name her.

Gabriel agonized over boys' names. Not naming the child Noah would not mean that it wasn't the same kid from the visions. And if it's the same kid, he already had a name. Eventually, when he finally decided, Elle agreed that Noah was a fine name and bided her time until she delivered a beautiful baby girl.

Elle held her daughter, scrubbed clean and wrapped in a sheet. She was too mesmerized to be tired. The baby was tiny, yet impossibly big, considering where she had come from. She had ten tiny fingers and ten tiny toes. She had a tuft of dark hair and bright blue eyes. "She has my eyes," Elle whispered.

"All babies have blue eyes," Gabriel replied in a very soft, reverent tone.

"No." Elle shook her head. "Those are mine. I can tell."

The baby made a tiny fist around Gabriel's finger. "What are we going to name her?" he asked.

"I was thinking Katherine, after my mother." She left off that she had been thinking it for about five or six months. There was no need for gloating.

"Katherine," Sylar repeated. "Do you feel like a Katherine?"

The baby gurgled, and Sylar nodded. "Katherine it is."

–

There was one parenting decision that none of the books helped with. When do you tell your child that she comes from a family of evolved humans and that she may someday develop what are commonly known as superpowers? Elle and Gabriel had differing opinions, and Elle had brought Peter into the discussion. It turned out that Peter agreed with Gabriel. It's better to wait.

They were all sitting around in the Grays' living room. Katherine, or Katie as she was now known, was sleeping in the other room. "Okay, correct me if I'm wrong," Elle said. "But didn't you throw yourself off a building because you thought you could fly."

As far as Gabriel was concerned that was an argument for not telling Katie until she was much older. He would have a heart attack if she threw herself off a building. Of course, he was imagining her doing that now, at eighteen months, when she had just mastered walking.

"I could fly," Peter said. "And as long as you don't tell Katie she's suffering from delusions of grandeur when it happens, you should be fine. Besides, didn't you burn down a house and cause a blackout when you were a child? Doesn't look like knowing did you much good."

Elle rolled her eyes. "That was only after I manifested. We'll have to tell her when she manifests, regardless."

Gabriel had known there was something different, even as a child. He did not know what it was, but he knew he was meant for more. On the other hand, even when he manifested, he was not aware that he had manifested. He had always been good at watches, and eventually he could see how other things worked too. He did not know that was an evolutionary advancement until he cut open Brian Davis's head.

It was not about the abilities for Gabriel. It was about the secret. Keeping something like that secret was a big burden to put on a child. They would have to explain if she manifested as a child, but why saddle her with that secret before it was necessary?

Elle turned to Gabriel. "What about Maya?"

That name surprised him. He had not heard about Maya in a long time, and it seemed like a strange moment for that jealousy to rear its head. "What about her?"

She gestured as though to say that he must remember. "She killed her entire village because she didn't know what she was capable of."

Gabriel remembered how tortured Maya was over that, and he felt sick at the thought of his baby going through something like that. He needed to be rational. "Knowing that she will develop an ability isn't going to prepare her for that if it's the one she gets." He stopped Elle from saying anything else. "I don't want to wait as long as Peter's parents did, but I don't want to tell her until she's old enough to handle it."

Elle seemed bothered by something, and Gabriel figured she was thinking about Maya poisoning all those people. It was a disturbing image. But instead, Elle said, "I do want her to have a normal childhood."

And just like that, an agreement was reached. They would tell Katie when she turns sixteen or when she manifests, whichever comes first.

–

"Mom! Katie's cheating!"

Elle put her hand to her head. She had decided that she did not want her daughter to be an only child like she was. Elle had such a lonely childhood. Gabriel half agreed with her; his childhood was not as lonely. There was one good thing about only children. Only children did not tattle to their parents. Michael was three years younger than Katie and quite a tattletale.

"I am not!"

Elle and Gabriel were in the kitchen, and their ten year old son ran in. "She is. I don't know how, but she told the thing to do something, and it did it."

Katie stayed where she was and yelled her side of the argument. "It was a glitch, and it just happened to happen when I said it."

"Three times?" Michael asked, incredulous. "The ninja was attacking her, and she told it to get away from her, and it did. And then she did it again and again. She's cheating!" He was really insistent that they believe him.

Elle did. She walked out of the kitchen. The video game was paused. "Katie, can you do something for me? I just want you to hold the controller and without pushing any buttons, tell it to unpause."

Katie stared back at Elle with an insolence and sass that she had most likely gotten from her mother. And the teen years had only just begun. "I'm not cheating."

Gabriel gave Katie a look and said her name in a very serious tone. He would never just tell Elle when the kids were lying; she had to figure it out from context clues. Katie sighed and balanced the controller on her hand. "Unpause."

Katie did not seem particularly surprised when the game started back up, although Michael started freaking out. "Keep going," Elle said. "Play without touching the buttons."

"Pause," Katie said quickly. "At all?"

Elle shrugged. "Yeah, why not? See if you can do it without speaking. Just think the commands."

The game unpaused without Katie saying a word. With a look of amazement on her face, she played for about ten seconds until it got too complicated and her player died.

"I knew it," Michael said. "She's a frakin' toaster."

Elle looked at Gabriel, knowing exactly who had introduced their son to Battlestar Galactica reruns. She turned back to Michael and Katie. "Don't call your sister a toaster. When did this start?"

"Today, I swear. It's just when it worked the first time, I did it again." Katie looked very concerned. "Am I really a Cylon?"

"There's no such thing as Cylons," Gabriel said kindly. "So no. But there is something we need to talk to the two of you about."

He gestured for Michael to sit on the couch, and once the boy had done that, Gabriel sat next to him. "Your mother and I..." He trailed off. "You know, I never got that talk. Elle, how does this go?"

Elle did not remember how her father had told her. She had never really been aware that it was something so strange until after she was much older. Both children were looking to her for answers. They really should have prepared for this better. "We can do things that are a little out of the ordinary. Special abilities, like being able to talk to machines, are an evolutionary development--"

"Like X-Men?" Michael interrupted.

Elle really wanted to tell her son that life was not like a comic book or science fiction show, but that would not be entirely accurate. "Yeah, kind of like X-Men."

--

END

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Author's Note: And it's done! I've never written anything this long before. Again, everyone has been great, and I am open to questions about anything. Thank you and good night. (This feels really good.)