Episode 22

"Graduation"

I don't own these characters, but it would be nice if I did.

Wait...In this story, I created some of the characters, so I will actually own them.

Anyways, I do promise to keep them true to themselves.

And as to the ones I create, who they are is up to me, so...

Boston

Fortunately for everyone, the next two weeks in Boston didn't have nearly the same amount of drama that Monday had brought them. Maddie and little Zoey were kept in the hospital for a couple of days, but by Thursday morning, both were given clean bills of health and released to go home. And for Maddie and Trevor, the fun was just beginning as they were about to experience the highs and lows that all new parents go through when they first bring their children home from the hospital. At first, when they had found an apartment in the same building as Maddie's parents, they were unsure whether or not that would be a good thing or a bad thing. But those next two weeks, they quickly realized how much of a godsend it was going to turn out to be. Maddie's parents had come a full 180, and were always over doting on their granddaughter. And that was just fine with Maddie and Trevor as it allowed them to catch quick naps while they did. Seems like little Zoey was nowhere ready to sleep through the night just yet, and both new parents were constantly up with her either feeding, changing or rocking her back to sleep.

And while the residents of the Tipton hotel did visit the new little family often, they did all have their own lives to lead and obligations that had to meet. For Zack, he did indeed meet with Moseby and London on Tuesday morning before heading to class, and they immediately gave him the green light for Harvard. So, that afternoon while he was having lunch with Maya, he put his cell phone on speakerphone so should could hear him tell Harvard he was taking them up on their acceptance and then break the news to BU that he would not be attending there after all. Naturally, she was so proud of him, and Zack was actually proud of himself too even if he did still have some lingering worries. But both still had classes to finish that week before they had their own spring break the following week. And after the week they had had, both were looking forward to a week of doing absolutely nothing. They had considered going somewhere, but with them going to Hawaii in a few months, they decided to save some money.

For Cody and Bailey, they spent the next two weeks engrossing themselves into trying to finish the first drafts of their Biology senior project write ups and power point presentations. And by the middle of the second week of their spring break, both were successful in completing both of those. They felt really good that all they had left to do when they got back to school was to edit them and make final changes. Of course, while they did have captive audiences, they did give both of their presentations to Carey, Zack and Maya on Thursday evening - after promising to buy dinner that night. Everyone else wanted dinner first before they would sit through them, so they agreed. And after their presentations finished, Zack and Maya had both fallen asleep and Carey could only say both sounded very interesting even though she had no idea what they had been talking about. Cody and Bailey both just shrugged and accepted those results considering their audience.

That left everyone with nothing to do on Friday, and fortunately, it was warm that day. So, they all headed over to Boston Common and enjoyed spending a day outdoors. But, on Saturday, they had something else to do as they had been talked into helping Maddie with the baby while Zack and Cody helped Trevor finish babyproofing their apartment.

And it seemed like baby Zoey immediately took to Maya and Bailey. Maddie couldn't help but notice this and smiled at them both. "You guys look like naturals."

Maya looked up at her. "I have no idea how. I'm an only child, and I've never babysat before. This is a first for me holding one of these..."

"Well, like I said, you're doing a wonderful job, and Zoey seems really taken with you..." She looked over at Bailey. "You too. I think you both are going to make terrific mothers someday..."

Bailey smiled at her. "I sure hope so. Cody and I plan on having six of our own someday..."

Maddie couldn't help but to laugh. "Six? Are you serious? Well, good luck with that, Sister! Let me know if that is still your plan after you have your first one!"

"Well, I come from a big family, and I want one of my own. I loved growing up with so many siblings, and I want that for my kids too. Fortunately, Cody is on board with that."

"More power to you then..." She paused. "But with both of your choices of boyfriends, I guess that's something you will have to deal with..."

Maya looked back up at her. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you two are dating twins. I'm pretty sure that runs in the family..."

Bailey laughed. "It does, but not to the extent you might imagine. I mean, Cody and Zack are monozygotic twins, and those only occur in about three out of every one thousand deliveries world wide."

Maya turned to her. "Mono what?"

"Identical twins. Dizygotic or fraternal twins occur more often, but that is two eggs being fertilized by two different sperm resulting in two children who have a very small chance of having the same chromosome profile. And there is a third type called semi-identical twins that occur due to the egg splitting before being fertilized bye two different sperm or due two two different sperm fertilizing the same egg creating a triploid before splitting. In either one of those scenarios, both twins would have the same genetic material from their mother, but different genetic material from their father."

Maddie and Maya just looked at her, and Bailey began laughing. "Hey, Cody wasn't the only one who took the Biology of Reproduction class...

Maddie just shook her head and laughed too. "Okay, you're definitely going to be Zoey's pediatrician some day! But until that time, don't think I won't be calling on both of you to babysit every so often."

Maya smiled. "I'd be happy too."

Bailey smiled too. "Same here. Cody and I would love to watch this little angel anytime." She paused. "Well, I guess that's assuming she won't mind the smell of formaldehyde for our first year of medical school..."

Maddie laughed again. "Well, we've already learned that freshly laundered clothes will make her spit up. So, I guess we'll just have to wait and see..." She shook her head. "Anyways, you'll have to let me know when your graduation at Yale is, and we'll try to come down for it. I want to see what the campus down there looks like."

"Well, its going to be the Monday after the second weekend in May. If you can make it, just let London know. There is a London Inn near campus that she is putting both of our families up in, and I bet she'll get you guys a room there too."

"And then Zack graduates the following Sunday..." Maddie sighed. "I can't believe I'm two months away from watching the twins graduate from college. I would say that makes me feel really old, but then again, Maya is holding my daughter in her arms." She paused. "Now, when they become fathers..."

Bailey and Maya just looked at each other and began laughing. "Something tells us you'll have several more years before you have to worry about that..."

Maddie just looked at them both. "You never know. I thought the exact same thing and look where I am now..."

Just then, baby Zoey spit her pacifier out, and as if on reflex, Bailey caught it before giving it back to her. As she was doing that, Maya and Maddie looked at her again. "Nice reflexes!"

Bailey grinned. "Well, besides our self defense class, Gertie and I have been taking Pilates classes too. They've helped my reflexes and flexibility..."

Maddie nodded. "Ahhh, yes...I've taken those before too..." She sighed. "Maybe I should start taking them again to help get rid of this baby weight I put on..."

"Maybe when Zoey starts sleeping more regularly?"

"From your lips to God's ears...let it be so!" She shook her head before looking back at Bailey. "So, more flexible, huh? I bet Cody loves that as much as Trevor did..."

Bailey just shook her head and smiled. "No comment..."

New Haven

The next day, Cody and Bailey finally returned back to New Haven to begin the homestretch. And when they arrived, they found Gertie and Tapeworm were already back too. So, they asked them how they enjoyed the boat, and Tapeworm could only grin and say he really wished he had gone to high school with them. Of course, he asked them if their spring break was as boring as they thought it would be. Cody and Bailey just looked at each other before laughing. After seeing the inquisitive looks from their friends, they explained what had happend on their first Monday back.

"Whoa!" Tapeworm paused. "So, how did you cut the umbilical cord, Cody?"

Cody paused. "You guys remember the pocket Leatherman you guys gave me for Christmas this past year?"

"Yeah..."

He sighed. "Lets just say I spent Tuesday boiling it in water to sterilize it again..."

And while everyone was happy to be back at school, they knew their time at Yale was soon coming to a close. Starting that Monday, they had five weeks of undergraduate classes left before they would be done with them at Yale forever. But unlike other seniors on campus who who were viewing the final weeks as a marathon they just wanted to finish, Cody and Bailey felt refreshed and viewed it like a final sprint. The sooner they finished what they needed to get done, the sooner they could sit back and just wait for graduation to arrive. So, for the first three weeks back, they focused each week on a specific class or classes to finish up their final big projects of the semester in. The first week was spent finishing and editing their final papers in their children's literature class as well editing them. And once they finished that, they spent the rest of their free time that week finishing and editing their final papers in their anthropology class. The next week, they turned their attention to editing their advanced seminar class and preparing their presentations they would have to make for those. And once they finished those to their satisfaction, they turned their focus back to editing and finishing their biology senior projects and presentations. That turned out to be perfect because they were scheduled to give their presentations the following Monday. So, like they had in Boston, they promised to buy Gertie and Tapeworm dinner if they would sit through and critique it on Sunday afternoon. Fortunately, neither one of them fell asleep that time.

The next morning, Cody and Bailey both gladly dressed up in their interview suits once again before heading up to Science Hill to give their findings to their Biology review board. Thankfully, the weather was pretty cool that day, so they didn't have to worry about wrinkling or sweating too much. Both fell very well prepared, and after experiencing pretty much every kind of scenario that could have been thrown at them during their medical school interviews, both proceeded to give their presentations with poise and grace. By the time they both finished, both could only smile when they each got a standing ovation from their panel of professors. That made them feel really good about how they had done on them. Of course, once they sat through several other presentations, Professor Cole pulled them aside and confided to them that theirs were the best they had seen so far and both were going to get well deserved A's on their senior projects. Naturally, they high fived each other as both were not only happy with their grades but with the fact they had already finished one of their classes for the semester a week before reading week was to begin.

And by the end of the following week, they would have three of their four classes of the semester over with. On Tuesday, they turned in their final papers in their children's literature class. And on Thursday, they turned in their final papers and gave their presentations in their EP&E advanced seminar. And on that Friday morning, they turned in their anthropology final papers. Naturally, Bailey's was about Princess Zaria while Cody chose a topic that hit close to home for him as well. No, it wasn't Galapagos Gertie but whether or not the Vikings were really the first Europeans to 'discover' the New World. Once those were turned in, all they had left to do for the semester was to study for their final in that class, and it would be the following Saturday morning. And even though this was the last thing they would ever have to do as undergrads, they still took studying for it seriously - even though both of them only needed to get above a 65 on the final to keep their A's in the class. About noon that next Saturday, when they walked out the final ever exam at Yale, they just hugged each other as they realized all they had left to do was graduate.

Of course, since their actual graduation ceremony wouldn't be until the Monday following the next weekend, they found themselves with a lot of time on their hands. For the first time in a long time, they had nothing they had to do, but that didn't seem to bother them in the least. The way they figured it, their families would begin arriving in town towards the end of the week, so decided to enjoy the down time they did have. Fortunately, come Monday at noon, Gertie and Tapeworm would be done with their last finals too, so they would have their friends to hang out with. Of course, Cody and Bailey, being them, they spent all day Sunday packing up most of their things they wouldn't need their last week on campus including their winter clothes and books. They figured that would give them less they had to do once their families were in town. Come Tuesday, while undergraduates were finishing their finals and moving out of their dorms, Bailey, Cody, Tapeworm and Gertie were living the life of leisure. One day, they headed up to Six Flags. Another day, they just spent it hanging out on the beach and relaxing. And on another night, they even went to see a minor league baseball game between the New Britain (CT) Rock Cats and the Portland (ME) Sea Dogs. Of course, they did catch some flack for rooting for the Sea Dogs, but they were the Red Sox AA team after all.

But come that next Friday morning, Cody and Bailey did finally have somewhere they did have to be – the airport in Hartford to pick up Bailey's family who were flying in that morning for the graduation festivities. And based on Cody and Bailey's past suggestion, they had been fortunate enough to find cheap fares on the same discount airline they used to fly in to Tulsa. Of course, since Hartford was a smaller airport than Boston, they did have a connecting flight in St. Louis. So, a little before noon, Bailey and Cody were waiting in the baggage claim area when they suddenly saw Clyde, Eunice, Grammy and Amy walking towards them. And immediately, Bailey ran over to them and hugged them all.

"Welcome to Connecticut!"

Grammy smiled. "Well, its about time we came up to see where you two have spent the past four years."

Bailey smiled back. "You're almost there. We still have to drive you all down to New Haven."

"How far are we from campus?"

"Oh, we're only about an hour away. Here in Hartford, we're really close to the border with Massachusetts, and New Haven is actually on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean."

"Wow...Getting to see my granddaughter graduate from college and seeing the Atlantic Ocean for the first time..." Grammy laughed. "This will be quite the trip for me."

Cody smiled. "Well, in a couple of months, you'll get to see and fly over half of the Pacific one too."

Everyone laughed before Eunice turned to him. "So, Cody, is your family already in town?"

He shook his head. "No, they won't be heading down from Boston until in the morning. Both my grandmother, my father and his girlfriend are flying into Boston tonight, and they'll all caravan down together." He checked his watch. "Besides, Zack's probably just now sitting down for his last ever college final as we speak. And Maya's last final of the semester doesn't begin until eight o'clock tonight. But, they said they'd see us all early tomorrow morning. Until then, how about we get all of your bags, and take you guys down to New Haven. We'll get you checked in to your hotel, show you our dorm and then give you a tour of the campus."

So, that's what they did. After getting their bags, everyone squeezed into Cody and Bailey's car before heading south on I-91 towards New Haven. An hour and a half later, the Pickets were checked into their rooms at the London Inn near campus. Once everyone freshened up, they all walked over to get their first looks at Cody and Bailey's dorm room suite. And when they saw it, they were all completely blown away.

Clyde just shook his head as he looked around. "This is where you two have been living for the past year? No wonder you guys didn't mind having to get come back to school after Christmas..."

Amy just nodded. "Yeah, this one is way better than your old rooms, and I thought those were pretty nice. Knowing I could have one of these when I'm a senior might have just given Yale a slight edge now."

Bailey turned to her. "Still no decision yet?"

"Not really. I have eliminated Brown, so its down to Harvard and Yale now..."

Cody smiled. "Good for you. Brown is such an ugly color..."

Eunice shook her head at her youngest daughter. "Such a rough life. Having to decided between the two best schools in the country..."

Bailey laughed. "Well, the good news for you, Amy, is that with me soon to be a graduate, you'd be considered a legacy and would have the right to request Berkeley to be your residential college. They tend to take that kind of thing seriously around here. Plus, Master Chun has told us that most incoming freshmen for next year have requested Berkeley as their first choice. Seems the other colleges aren't happy about that, but as a legacy, you'd get first priority to get in her. So, your senior year, you could end up living in a room just like this."

Amy continued looking around especially at their private bathroom. "Oh, I'll definitely keep that in mind..."

Eunice turned back to Cody and Bailey. "So, what you two been up to for the past week you've had off?"

Cody shrugged. "Nothing really. Just been taking it easy mostly and allowing ourselves to soak in the feel of officially being done with college..."

Clyde laughed. "Yeah, I heard you two say the same thing about taking it easy over your spring break, and look how that turned out for you! And Cody, welcome to the select club of men who have delivered a baby while having absolutely no idea what they were doing..."

"You have too, Clyde?"

He nodded. "Sure have. Five out of my ten daughters I had to deliver myself..." He laughed again. "By the third time, it became old hat to me. Besides, who do you think delivered your soon to be wife?"

Cody shook his head and laughed. "Well, I think when it comes time for us to have our first child, I'll leave it in the hands of professionals."

"You'll be a professional by then."

"Hopefully, in a completely different field. Once was enough for me, and I have no desire to do that for a living. I mean, getting yelled at when I didn't do anything wrong isn't high on my list of things to do..."

Clyde had to nod. "Yeah, I remember that part too. I don't blame you then for wanting to choose another field of medicine. Maybe surgery? There, your patient will be out cold and can't yell at you?"

Eunice rolled her eyes and looked at her two daughters. "Ignore them both. Until they actually have to give birth themselves, they have no room to talk whatsoever! I'm sure as scared to death as Cody was, your friend Maddie would have gladly traded places with him!"

Bailey laughed. "I think you're right about that, Momma. Well, you guys have seen our room. Come on and we'll give you the nickel tour of campus before taking you over to the dining hall so you can experience how we've been eating for the past four years. Hopefully, by then, Gertie and Tapeworm will be around so you guys can finally meet them too."

So, that's what they did. After showing them all around campus, Cody and Bailey brought them back to the dining hall at Berkeley College to give them a glimpse of just how good the food there was. Needless to say, Clyde, Eunice, Amy and Grammy were all very impressed with it and thought the food was delicious. Cody even grinned at his soon to be sister-in-law and asked if that gave Yale another leg up. She said it didn't hurt any. After dinner though, the Picketts were all worn out from their long day of traveling and sightseeing, so they were ready to head back to their hotel and call it a night. So, Cody and Bailey said they would meet them at the hotel in the morning for breakfast before bidding them a goodnight.

The next morning, they all met and had breakfast at the London Inn restaurant. And by a stroke of luck, as they were finishing up, the crew from Boston came walking into the front door of the hotel. Immediately, introductions were made, and the Picketts finally got to meet Mimi, Kurt, Maria, Maya, Todd, Tutt, Arwin, Maddie, Tevor and little Zoey. Of course, Eunice had already met Carey years before at the Tipton, and they had all met Zack, London and Moseby during their trip to Kettlecorn everyone's senior year of high school. However, Zack tried to stay as far away from Grammy Pickett as possible.

Maya turned around and looked at Zack. "What are you doing hiding behind me?"

He looked over her shoulder. "Grammy Pickett just gave me a dirty look. Its obvious she hasn't forgotten what happened four years ago..."

She laughed and teased him. "Awww...poor baby. I'll protect you from a woman who is 94 years old..."

But there wasn't a lot of time to sit around and chit chat as everyone had to get changed in their dress clothes as the Baccalaureate section that Berkeley Hall was assigned to was set to begin at 2:30 that afternoon. And once it was over, everyone was invited to a reception for the graduating seniors to be hosted by the President of the University. Once it was finally over, everyone headed out for dinner together before returning for the Boola Ball that began that evening at nine o'clock. The Boola Ball was basically a last dance for seniors and their families and friends. And since it was an open bar and everyone was in walking distance of their hotel, everyone had a fine old time. A little after midnight, everyone else headed for their hotel rooms as Cody and Bailey walked back to their dorm room.

"Okay, that was pretty tame for by Yale standards..."

Bailey laughed. "Well, I'm guessing it kind of had to be. They don't want parents to see what really goes on around here..."

Cody laughed too. "True." He paused and smiled. "You know, in less than 48 hours, we'll be college graduates."

She smiled back. "I know. And in less than 48 hours, we'll only have twelve hours to finish packing up all of our things and move out of Berkeley College for good."

"Good thing Arwin brought his work van with him. I think we can fit everything we own inside of it."

"I hope so..." She paused and grabbed his hand. "I'm just thankful that we don't have all the drama we had at our last graduation. Nobody is going to tear Yale down, and we've known for almost a year now that we're going to the same medical school together. I don't know about you, Sweetie, but I really looking forward to a graduation that I can actually enjoy and savor."

"Me too, Bails...me too."

The next morning, everyone met up in the London Inn restaurant for brunch again. Of course, the restaurant wasn't happy that such a large party would be eating for free, but with the owner of the company as well as the CEO being part of the group, they knew had to be at their best. Fortunately, with Cody and Bailey having their baccalaureate session the day before, they had some free time that early afternoon as the other colleges had theirs. But at two o'clock, they had to get in line for the Class Day exercises on Old Campus. Class Day includes the awarding of academic, artistic, and athletic prizes as well as the celebration of several other undergraduate traditions. One of said traditions was that students didn't wear their mortars, but rather any head gear of their choosing. Bailey chose to wear a baseball cap that had an interlocking 'SSH' on it while Cody chose to wear his MENSA one that he had finally gotten back from Woody. And to everyone's delight, Cody and Bailey both won several awards (with cash prizes) including them both tying for the highest GPAs in the departments of both Biology and EP&E. And once the awards were given out, it was time for the Class Day speaker to give a speech to all of the graduating seniors in attendance. Since Yale, by tradition, never had a commencement speaker unless a sitting American President was getting an honorary degree, who the Class Day speaker was was a big deal.

And once everyone saw who it was, they all turned as Carey fainted out of her chair. Clyde frowned. "Cody, is your Mom alright? Should we call for an ambulance?"

Cody just shook his head. "Nah, she'll be fine in a few minutes. I just wish we had prior warning that George Clooney would be the speaker so we could have prepped Mom for it." He turned to Zack. "Speaking of which, we need to keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't try to make a run towards him when she comes to."

Zack just sighed. "Yeah, I just wish we had some rope to tie her to her chair..."

Of course, when it was over, Carey did actually get to meet Mr. Clooney in person, and she almost fainted again when he shook her hand. Naturally, that caused Arwin to roll his eyes. Once they were finally able to pull her away, everyone returned back to Berkeley College for a reception for its seniors hosted by Master Chun. And that was when Cody and Bailey finally got to introduce him to their families and friends.

"Everyone, this is Master Chun. He's basically taken over Moseby's role for us here at Yale. He's the one who looks after us and makes sure we don't do anything stupid..."

Master Chun laughed. "Well, its a pleasure to finally meet the families of two of Berkeley's best. But, I don't think you had anything to worry about with these two. They certainly kept things interesting, but they were a joy to have around. I'm sorry to see them both leave and head off to the evil empire that is Harvard. I just wish I had more like them around here. And even worse, I fear what our ping pong team will be like next year without them..."

Once the reception was over, everyone was happy to get back to their respective rooms to change out of their dress clothes and back into some cooler clothes. Seems New Haven was having an early summer, and no one wanted to be in dress clothes longer than they had to. And once they had all changed, Cody and Bailey took everyone out to one of their favorite restaurants around campus to give them another taste of campus life. And after they finished eating, those who wanted to stay out a little while longer headed over to the Black Bear Saloon.

Zack looked around. "Not a bad looking place. So, this is where you all came to play trivia every week, huh? And you said you all made some money, right? How much money we talking about?"

Cody just smiled. "Fortunately, the amount we made each week was just under the amount we would have to report to Uncle Sam..."

But they had to call it a night fairly early as Monday morning would be when Yale's commencement would take place. Cody and Bailey had to be on Old Campus in their caps and gowns by 9:15 that morning before the graduating class of 2015 would begin their march to Cross Campus where graduation itself would actually take place. After marching in, they took their seats and sat there for the next hour and a half while the commencement exercises took place. They wouldn't receive their diplomas there but rather at a ceremony following the commencement back in Berkeley College.

And when both of their names were called, they both had a cheering section that seemed larger than anyone else's. And all of their family and friends cheered for Gertie and Tapeworm too when their names were called. Once the ceremony was over, everyone headed back to Berkeley where Cody and Bailey officially got their diplomas. By two o'clock that afternoon, everyone was in the Berkeley dining room to have lunch one final time. And as they all sat around a table, everyone was congratulating the two graduates.

Carey wiped her eyes. "My baby boy is a college graduate!"

Zack just laughed, but Cody reminded him that it would be his turn to be the brunt of her outbursts in less than a week.

After they all ate, Clyde looked over at them. "So, what's next for you two?"

Bailey shrugged. "We have to be moved out by noon tomorrow. From there, we'll head back to Boston and move back into the Tipton. We start work again a week from today, and in less than two months, its off to Hawaii for the wedding."

"Well, I wish we didn't have to leave to head back home in a few hours, or we would help you all out in the morning."

She smiled. "Don't worry about it, Daddy. Everyone else is heading back tonight too. The only ones staying here are Zack and Maya, and Arwin is letting them bring his van back in the morning. We'll be fine."

Soon enough though, it was time for people to began heading home. About four o'clock, the Boston crew headed back east while Cody and Bailey drove the Picketts north back to the airport in Harvard. Zack and Maya went with them but made sure Grammy and Zack were not in the same vehicle together. And at the airport, everyone hugged Bailey and Cody goodbye and said they would see them again real soon. With one final congratulation, everyone headed through security so they could go to their gate. Returning back to their cars, the four decided to grab some dinner in Hartford before heading back to New Haven. Once back, Zack and Maya returned back to their hotel room while Cody and Bailey returned to their dorm room to finish packing up everything.

By eleven o'clock the next morning, everything they owned was packed up and loaded in the back of Arwin's van. And then, Cody and Bailey had the task or rearranging the furniture in their room back to the way they found it when they moved in. Once that was done, they did one last walk around their suite. Bailey turned to Cody.

"It feels kind of funny knowing that we are about to leave New Haven for the final time..."

Cody grabbed her hand and smiled at her. "It won't be the last time. I'm sure we'll be back again someday if for nothing more than a reunion. Plus, we did tell Gertie and Tapeworm we'd come back next year for The Game. Besides, I'm sure one day the university will want to bring you back to honor you for your contributions to the field of pediatrics."

She smiled at him. "Maybe. I just I wouldn't trade these past four years for anything in the world. A lot has happened to us while we've been here, both good and bad. But, in the past four years, I think we've both grown up even more, and I think we're leaving here much stronger people as well as a much stronger couple."

"I would agree with that..." He smiled at her again. "And if possible, even more in love too.."

She leaned in and kissed him. "I think so too..."

"Unfortunately, as they say, life must go on. And even if they didn't, Yale is going to kick us out in about five minutes. You about ready to get out of here?"

Bailey nodded and smiled. "Yeah, because this time, we're leaving together."

They were about to leave when they heard a knock at their door. So, for the final time, they went over to answer it and found Gertie and Tapeworm standing there.

"Good. You two are still here. We were hoping to catch you before you left to head back to Boston."

"You caught us. You two about ready to head out too?"

Gertie nodded. "Yeah, we just got back from dropping our stuff off back at the storage place." She smiled. "Unlike you two, we'll actually be back her next year..."

Tapeworm smiled as he teased them. "Hopefully, our neighbors next year will be a lot more fun than you two were..."

Cody laughed. "Probably wouldn't take much..."

Gertie rolled her eyes. "Ignore him. I hope you both know how much we're going to miss you two. Its going to weird being here at grad school next year without you guys across the hall. In the past three and a half years, seeing you guys almost everyday has become a routine for me."

Bailey smiled. "Well, we have phones and webcams, so you can still see us whenever you want. Plus, you guys are going to see us in less than two months for the wedding."

"I know, but it won't really hit home until next fall when you guys aren't here..." She laughed. "Without you two here, I'll probably have to listen to him rant and rave about my schedule..."

Cody laughed. "I wouldn't doubt that. But like I just told Bailey, we'll be back here to crash with you guys for The Game next year. And you guys will always have a place to crash in Boston too whenever you want."

"We just may take you up on that."

From the open window, they heard a loud honk, and Cody just shook his head. "That was Zack telling us to get a move on..."

Tapeworm laughed. "Well, we'll let you guys go then. We'll definitely see you guys in Boston for the 4th."

And with that, Cody and Bailey closed and locked all of their windows before heading downstairs and turning in their keys to the front desk. When they walked outside, they headed over to their car parked behind Arwin's van. And once they got in and started it up, Cody turned to Bailey.

"Well, I guess its time to say goodbye to Yale and hello to Harvard..."

Boston

About three o'clock that Tuesday afternoon, everyone finally returned back to Boston. Fortunately, Arwin told them there was plenty of storage space down in the basement of the Tipton for them to store their furniture and books, so they began the process of carrying everything down there. Of course, while they were down in the basement, Bailey and Maya caught their first glimpses of the Arwenstein creature, and it almost scared them to death. But as quickly as they could, Cody and Zack calmed them down and explained the story behind it. Once they were assured that it was no longer in a working condition, both were fascinated by it. However, they had to get back to moving everything else down there. Once they were done there, it was time to begin taking the rest of their things back up to the suite on the 23rd floor. That evening, everyone went out to dinner once again as Mimi, Kurt and Maria had all decided to spend the week in Boston and still be there for Zack's graduation on Sunday. And it wasn't a major inconvenience as both Kurt and Marie had work they could be doing for their respective companies while in the Boston area. But for the 21 year olds, the next couple of days were spent taking it easy before heading back to work the following week. Before that though, they had to go through a second weekend of graduation activities at Boston University.

On Friday, the BU festivities officially began. From 4:00 to 6:00 PM that evening, there was a Senior Champagne Reception for graduates and their families to be followed by the 23rd Annual BU Comedy tonight hosted by Jeffrey Ross, a nationally known comedian and alumni of BU. Every one had fun with it as they realized the events for Saturday would a little more formal. That day, there was the Celebration 2015 Dinner for all of the graduates and their families from 5:00 until 7:00 followed by the 101st annual BU Night at the Pops concert. While Zack and Maya didn't particularly care for it, everyone else seemed to love it.

Sunday was when all of the excitement would happen. At 9:00 AM, the School of Hospitality Management had its own smaller convocation where Zack would actually receive his diploma. And there wasn't time to mill around afterwards as everyone had move quickly to get to the BU baccalaureate service that began at 11:00 AM. And once it was over, everyone had to get moving again on to Nickerson Field, BU's football stadium, for the university wide commencement at 1:00. Unlike Yale, Boston University would be having a commencement speaker, and that year, they had chosen quite possibly the university's most famous or infamous alumni depending on how you viewed him - the renowned shock jock and King of All Media, Howard Stern. And to everyone's surprise and delight, he actually gave a very good speech to the speech - even if some parts of it would have come with a R rating. They guessed he had been on satellite radio for too long without having to worry about censorship that he had almost forgotten how to hold his tongue.

And like less than a week before, Zack heard a large section cheering for him when he walked across the stage to shake the hand of the president of the university. Once the university wide commencement was over, he ran into Amanda there with her friends and family.

He hugged her. "Hey! Congratulations on graduating!"

She hugged him back. "You too!" Once she pulled back and grinned. "Who would have ever thought we would be standing here today after our very first day at Beacon Hill?"

Zack laughed. "Definitely not me! Its been a pretty wild four years, hasn't it?"

"You're telling me! If you would have told me that day how much my life would have changed in the next four years, I probably wouldn't have believed you."

"You and me both, but I definitely won't complain about how everything has turned out."

"Me either..." Amanda smiled. "But it will be nice to have classes with an old friend again next fall."

Zack paused. "Well, you might, but you won't be having any with me..."

She just gave him a look. "Did you decide not to go for your MBA after all?"

He shook his head. "Not exactly. I kind of sort of got accepted into..." And he mumbled the rest.

"What was that?"

Zack coughed. "Cough, cough...Harvard...cough, cough..."

Amanda's eyes went wide. "Did you just say Harvard?"

"Yeah...I originally wasn't going to go, but everyone's finally convinced me to give it a shot..."

She laughed again. "Well, congratulations again! From Beacon Hill to Harvard – that's quite the climb you've made there, Zack."

"I know..." He laughed too. "But if its too much for me, I'll be transferring right back here to BU with you!"

"Good, but part of me hopes to never see you on this campus ever again...well, except when you come back here to see Maya of course."

"Of course."

She looked over her shoulder. "Look, I need to be getting back to my family now, but give me a call sometime this summer, and we'll all hang out..." She paused and teased him. "...well, as long as you aren't drinking. I have no desire to ever have to put up with that again."

"Yeah, no worries about that again. It may have taken me twice, but I've learned my lesson."

"Glad to hear that. And I hope that once you're among the snobby elite of Harvard, you won't forget about us little people here..."

"I won't. Besides, I'll still be in town..." He grinned. "And I'll still need all the help I can get to convert Maya to the Nation and away from the evil Yankees..."

Maya shook her head and sighed. "I don't think he's ever going to give up on that..."

Amanda laughed. "Nor should he!"

Later that night, once Zack was able to finally take off his cap and gown, everyone headed out for another celebration dinner. And Kurt even said he was buying.

Mimi just smirked. "Well, finally you do something I can get behind..."

Once they got to the restaurant and after they had ordered, Kurt ordered a round of champagne for everyone.

"I'd like to make a toast to my two boys and very soon to be daughter-in-law for graduating college this past week. I'm prouder of you all than a man should be entitled to be. And Maya, I look forward to toasting you in a couple of years as well when you get your bachelors and doctorate degrees at the same time. You all should be very proud of your academic achievements. And I would like to further wish you all well as you all continue with your educations here in Boston. So, if everyone would please raise their glasses, let us toast the graduates!"

After a couple of 'Here, Here's', everyone took a drink of their champagne. And once they did, Mimi raised her glass then.

"My turn now. I'd also like to toast everyone because in a few short months, I'll be able to brag to all of my friends that I'll have two grandsons and a granddaughter at Harvard. And in a few short years, I'll be able brag that there will be three doctors and a future king of business in the family. Like Kurt said, I couldn't be any prouder of you all than I am right now."

Carey held up her glass. "I guess that leaves me." She shook her head and sighed. "I can still remember Zack and Cody when they were babies, and now here they are both college grads..." She paused. "And thank you Zack for actually graduating today. You are now 2 for 3 in graduating on days that you actually were supposed to! And I'm grateful that I'll have everyone back here in Boston with me again from now on. And not only that, but in less than two months, Bailey will officially join our family..." She paused again before smiling and teasing her soon to be daughter-in-law. "You still sure you want to do that?"

Bailey smiled and teased her right back. "Well, everything is already planned and paid for by now. Probably a little late to back out now, so I guess I'll still go through with it..."

Everyone laughed before Carey raised her glass again. "Here's to the next chapters in all of your lives. May the be as successful for you as the ones you have just now closed."

To be Continued...

AN: I was going to give this episode a clever title, but the actual titles of both of the SLOZAC and SLOD graduation episodes were 'Graduation', so who am I to break tradition? Anyways, thank you everyone for the continued positive reviews. As for the ones who appear to be...butt hurt by my stories, I ask the same thing some of my other reviewers have asked - why bother to read them? The funny thing is I bet they haven't even read any of my stories and just like to spout off to feel important. Oh well, any way, with graduation now now, we're moving into the final five chapters. Just remember, the final episode will be a three part one.