Disclaimer: I don't own, I rent.

As always: lyrics – flashbacks – present day.

Epilogue
"Never Grow Up"
May 2020

Your little hand's wrapped around my finger

And it's so quiet in the world tonight

Your little eyelids flutter cause you're dreaming

So I tuck you in, turn on your favorite nightlight

I couldn't stop the grin from appearing on my face as I stared down at the beautiful baby lying in the crib below me. I never thought I would be the maternal type. I always thought maybe after getting married, if my husband wanted kids, I would consider it, never that I would be the one pushing to have kids. But being here, where I am now? This I never would have expected.

Of course, I never expected to have a wife instead of a husband. I was certainly never attracted to women before. Sure, I could admire their beauty, there had been many times I had agreed with a 'yeah, she's hot' when the guys got talking about the attractive girls at the Robber.

But as far as actually being with a woman?

I would have called you crazy. Insane. Ridiculous.

But here I am with a wife and a little girl who looks like the spitting image of her mother with her blonde curls hanging over her face.

She was perfect.

"Jane! Jane, come here! Quick!"

I rolled my eyes as I climbed the stairs quickly, thinking my wife had another "huge spider" she needed me to kill for her. Approaching our bedroom, I heard her yell out for me again, "Jane, hurry up!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming, Maur, hold your horses."

The second I opened the door; she jumped into my arms holding me as tight as she could, wrapping her legs around my waist. Not prepared for it, I stumbled a bit before I found my footing and moved my hands to her thighs to support her from underneath.

Before I could ask her what was going on, she was kissing me. I fell back against the door I had just kicked shut and felt myself moan into her mouth. Must've been some spider, I thought to myself.

After a few moments, she pulled back and rested her forehead on mine. I watched as a huge smile broke out on her face.

"It worked, Jane."

"You mean…?"

"Yeah."

I kissed her again and moved to the bed, dropping her and collapsing on top of her. I captured her lips once again, letting my hand trail up her thigh and rest on her stomach.

"You're pregnant."

"I'm pregnant."

"We're having a baby," I whispered, and I couldn't stop grinning. Not that I would want to. We are really having a baby. In nine months, we will have a beautiful, perfect, wonderful baby.

"Yeah, baby, we're having a baby."

To you, everything's funny

You've got nothing to regret

I'd give all I have, honey

If you could stay like that

She looks so innocent. She hasn't had time yet to feel pain, to feel loss or heartbreak. There is something so wonderful about that. Part of me wants to protect her from that. To chase down anyone who would ever have the nerve to make her cry or break her heart.

The other part of me knows that she will have to live and learn just like everyone else does.

Thinking back, I knew I wouldn't change a thing. Even the times I hurt so bad that I nearly wanted to die. All of those moments led us here, and I definitely wouldn't change here.

My family thought I was crazy for walking out on my wedding. Ma nearly had a stroke when I told her I couldn't marry him because I was still in love with Maura.

Of course, Ma had always loved Maura, since day one. She was the girly daughter that I had never been and Ma was ecstatic to finally have a daughter to take shopping and teach to cook and whatever else it was the two of them did together.

But Ma quickly changed her opinion of Maura when she left me. I had been a little surprised, I had almost expected her to blame the whole thing on me, but she didn't. She took my side immediately and I will forever be grateful for that.

It took a long time for Maura to win her over again; it actually took even longer for Ma to forgive her than it did for me to forgive her. Even Frankie had frozen her out for quite a bit longer than I had and even though it was frustrating, I was secretly happy to know they were both on my side.

After I went back to the alter to explain to Mark that I couldn't marry him, a fact he took surprisingly well, I quickly changed out of the dress and into my favorite pair of jeans and my Red Sox jersey and Maura and I made our way back to her house.

It was a long night of talking, she filled me in on many of the details she hadn't mentioned before about Richard, she explained about her life in New York, and I told her all about Mark.

In the months after, I let Maura 'court' me, as she called it and I was surprised at how patient she was while she waited for me to forgive her.

I would never tell her this, but I actually forgave her long before I ever told her that. I knew all along that if she ever came back, chances are I would end up forgiving her eventually. I truly believed she was my soul mate, but it still surprised me how little effort it took on her part for me to want to give her a second chance.

But despite my quick acceptance of her apologies, she had hurt me, she had hurt me more than I ever thought anyone could, and despite how much I loved her, part of me wanted to punish her a bit for that.

Looking down at the sleeping baby girl, I couldn't help but be happy about how everything turned out.

Oh darling, don't you ever grow up

Don't you ever grow up

Just stay this little

Oh darling, don't you ever grow up

Don't you ever grow up

It could stay this simple

I won't let nobody hurt you

Won't let no one break your heart

No one will desert you

Just try to never grow up

I could stare at her all night and never get tired of the view.

I thought the happiest day of my life was the day Maura and I got married, then she told me she was pregnant and I thought there was no way I could possibly be happier. Then I got to hold that little baby girl in my arms and I couldn't believe I was even happier.

Every single day, I felt happier than the last.

Sure, it wasn't always easy. Maura and I still fought some days and there were nights it was my turn to get up with the baby and I wanted nothing more than to get some more sleep. Ma was still pushy as ever, asking us all the time when we're going to have more kids.

But one thing is for sure; I would never trade where I am for anything in the world.

I felt arms wrap around me from behind and instantly my smile grew wider. I rested my hands on hers and leaned back into her. She rested her cheek against my back and pulled me even closer.

"She's so beautiful," she whispered, moving around to stand next to me, arms still wrapped around my waist. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and pressed a kiss into her temple.

"Yeah, she looks just like you."

She smiled up at me, that one she reserved just for me. There was a time I thought I might never get to see that smile again and now I can't imagine my life without it.

I can't imagine my life without her, or without our little girl.

Our perfect little girl.

Even though you want to, please try to never grow up

A/N: I don't even know where to start here, but thank you guys so much for reading this. This is without a doubt the longest, most complicated, most invested story I have ever worked on and it's truly been an experience. I'm not quite ready to give up on these guys yet, so if you're still interested, stay on the lookout for the companion piece Wonderstruck, which should be up in a few days. Don't forget to review and let me know what you thought overall!