SummerSpirit18: You have eighteen high schools in your town? I don't think I'd call that a town. I'm actually not upset about not getting into boarding school, I sort of like being around my family (but don't tell them). And I would have missed my friends. That being said, I'm going to apply to be an exchange student in France next year. Way more fun than boarding school. I really liked what you said, "all the great words are kept for the end". I think that's very true. Except sometimes people get lazy and write crappy chapters, and then the best words are at the beginning.

Mrs-diAngelo25: My cousins sell drugs from the house. Talk about creeping you the fuck out, the first week we were there this drunk Russian twenty-year-old guy came to the door and asked for my cousins, I was like I'm not going to tell you they're here so that you can buy fucking drugs. And then I saw him the next night because he works at this little store and my sister and I went to buy ice-cream. And he kept asking questions, it was creepy. Anyway, I think eight aunts and uncles and twelve cousins count as a big family. I only see my family a few times a year, too, but I'm not exactly torn up about that. Thanks, I really loved writing the epilogue and I hope you like it.

Thalico: Thank you!

DontYouTouchMySeaweedBrain: Cute isn't exactly what I was going for, but thanks...I think.

Guest: I'm glad!

Eternyx: Yeah, I know. I finished typing it and I had this moment when I was just staring at my computer thinking "Holy shit, it's over".

azure-angel-of-darkness: Thank you!

Lacy Persienne: Okay, the review section of someone's story is not the place to post your own story. Get an account. And my suggestion is to never end your summary with "What will happen?" because it's boring. Also, your story isn't very good, no offence. Your writing is a little childish. Like how you describe Drew as "a big bully" and when Nico says "'You are the ugliest, meanest girl I've ever seen!" he sounds like he's seven. I guess it could be good if you practice and maybe get a beta reader. But before you do anything else get an account on the site, because you can't post stories in the review section.

MusicNinja13: I'm sorry, but it can't go on forever. He totally did, too. I love that part.

Sara: Thank you!

Epilogue

Nico thought that the weirdest thing he'd ever heard Thalia say was "I found the explosives" when they'd been playing a board game, but he was proven wrong when he walked into their apartment and heard Thalia yell, "Jasmine, get off the refrigerator."

He smiled and took off his coat. He heard Jasmine laughing (or was that Ivy? He couldn't tell) and walked into the kitchen to see one of his four-year-old daughters sitting on top of the refrigerator while her twin stood on the ground, looking up and laughing.

"Daddy!" Jasmine shrieked and Ivy turned around and hugged one of his legs.

"Hi Daddy," Ivy said. She was quieter than her sister.

Nico looked up and laughed. "Jaz, what are you doing up there?"

"Playin'," she answered.

Ivy tugged on his shirt and he looked down. "We playin' hide'n seek, bu' Jazzy winned 'cause I tan't det her off."

"Jasmine, get off the refrigerator," Thalia repeated, walking into the kitchen. She kissed his cheek and looked up at her daughter. "Come on."

Jasmine looked around. "I tan't," she said.

Nico chuckled and reached up to lift her off the refrigerator.

"Now put her down so you can take him," Thalia said, gesturing to the little boy in her arms. "I have to make dinner."

"I can do it."

Thalia shook her head. "It's my turn."

Nico rolled his eyes. This whole taking turns thing had been her idea, and Nico thought it was ridiculous. "Fine," he said. He put Jasmine on the ground and the two girls ran off to their bedroom. Thalia placed River in his arms.

"Grilled cheese?" she asked.

"Is it Tuesday?"

"Yeah."

"The girls had grilled cheese for lunch."

Thalia cursed under her breath and opened the fridge. "Pasta?"

Nico raised an eyebrow. "Why is the pasta in the fridge?"

"Because Jasmine got a hold of it."

Nico laughed. "Pasta's great. I'm gonna go put him down," he said, gesturing at his son, who had fallen asleep in his arms.

"Don't let him sleep, Nico, I don't want to be up half the night!" Thalia called after him as he headed down the hall.

"That's why I'm putting him down!" he called back. He knew that the minute he put River down he would wake up. Nico smiled as he watched River's eyes open, but the little boy wasn't crying so he decided to leave him there. He went into the bedroom that he shared with his wife and got changed out of his work clothes. He loved his job at the jewelery store (he'd kept the same one for years) but he wasn't particularly fond of the clothes he had to wear, the dress pants and dark blue dress shirts.

A few hours later when Jasmine, Ivy and River had all been put to bed Nico and Thalia were sitting on the couch.

"How was work?" Thalia asked.

Nico made a sound that was a cross between a sigh and a laugh. "Marissa is getting more annoying."

"That college girl who has a huge crush on you?"

"Yeah. I left the top button on my shirt unbuttoned today, and she buttoned it for me."

"Has she asked you out yet?"

"I think she's waiting for me to ask her out."

Thalia smirked. "Just as long as you never do."

Nico laughed. "If I do you have permission to slap me."

"I don't need permission."

He laughed and kissed her. She hummed and lay her head on his chest. He took her hand and began playing with her wedding ring. It was silver with a black stone and two tiny diamonds. They'd been married for seven years, since they were twenty-one. Thalia had been adamant about not having children, she insisted that there were too many children in the world who would end up in foster care for them to have their own. So they'd adopted Jasmine and Ivy three years ago. Both of the twins had black hair and blue eyes, although much deeper blue than Thalia's. Their biological grandmother had been Japanese and they both looked Asian. Their mother had died in a meth lab explosion while they were at daycare. They were one at the time. River had blonde hair and dark eyes, and the combination was slightly unsettling. He'd been taken away from his mother when he was four months old, and six months later Thalia and Nico had adopted him. He'd turned one two weeks ago.

Thalia hummed and sat up to kiss Nico again. He let go of her hand to move his to her waist, but she pulled away and said, "You know we're going to be up at one in the morning."

Nico laughed. "We should probably go to bed."

Thalia smiled and kissed him one more time before standing up and walking down the hall towards their bedroom. She stopped and turned around. "Then again," she said, "Neither of us has to work tomorrow."

Nico nodded seriously. "And if we're both up at one anyway it won't matter."

Thalia hummed. "I think I'm gonna take a shower." She opened the door to the bathroom and gave him a backwards glance before stepping inside and shutting the door.

Nico's face broke into a huge smile as he followed his wife into the bathroom.

Those things at the beginning were things that I've heard around my house. The first one, "I found the explosives" wasn't weird except I was sitting in the kitchen and I heard my brother say it, and that's a pretty scary thing to hear my brother say, he likes explosives. But he was just playing a board game. The other one, "Get off the refrigerator" was also in reference to my brother, but the very weirdest thing I've ever had to tell my brother was "Get out of the refrigerator", because it was like a hundred degrees out and he thought standing in the fridge would cool him down. For the record, it worked.

You guys. We made it. We actually finished the story. Well, I finished the story, but you guys stuck with me 'til the end, which sounds all pathetic and such but thanks anyway. Thanks especially to everyone who reviewed, because that's what really keeps me going, but the followers and favorites were amazing, too. A special shout out to SummerSpirit18 (my very first reviewer), Mrs-diAngelo25 (an awesome person and one of the people whose reviews I look forward to most), infinity heart star lightning (my favorite reviewer who I still haven't given the plaque to), and Lightning-And'Death (who took the time to write at least a paragraph review for every chapter when she sat down and read them all, I actually lay in bed at eleven o'clock waiting for my email to tell me I had a review from her). You guys are all awesome.

Thalia's views on adoption and having your own children are views that I personally share. I have nothing against having your own children but I intend to adopt.

As I told Eternyx in my response to their review, when I finished typing this I sat there for a few minutes thinking "Holy shit, it's over". I'm going to have to get used to not having this in the back of my head all the time. But I'm throwing myself into a new story so soon that one will be in the back of my head all the time.

I really hope you guys read my next story, I've got it all planned out, like, to the sentence, so hopefully I won't take a seven month hiatus from it like I did from this one. It's going to be a longer version of Without You By My Side, except I'm going to change the name. It'll be on my account soon, so keep an eye out!

Thank you guys so much for sticking with me, especially to everyone who didn't give up on me during the seven months when I sort of abandoned you. I'm feeling all sentimental because I'm sitting in the library alone at 7:15 at night listening to the American Idiot Cast Version of Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day (amazing version) and I'm posting the very last chapter of this story. It's sort of hard to believe that a year ago I sat here in the exact same seat (I have a special computer at the library) and posted the early chapters. And at that point I had it fixed in my head that Thalia was going to kill herself and the epilogue would be Nico twenty years later unmarried and sitting in a hotel room in Italy or somewhere. Pretty amazing how far we've come from then, huh?

Okay. I'm done, really. Thank you all again (I need to stop saying that) and I hope you all read my next story.

'Til then,

- Jez