Well, this is the end!

I hope it finishes as well as it started!

ENJOY!

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Epilogue

Lucy sat in the admissions office waiting for her turn. She had already seen two kids leave in tears. She had heard stories about admissions advisors tormenting kids that come in for interviews. Lucy always thought it was an old wives tale, but now she was even more nervous. She was suddenly glad that she told her dad that her appointment was next week. She didn't need him fussing over her and making her even more nervous. She and her daddy would explain it to him after he came back from his business trip. She managed to get daddy to stay away from the campus while she had her interview. He would probably be just as bad if he let himself.

Her foot tapped on the floor and she chewed on her bottom lip; dreading her name being called.

"Lucinda Mayer?" Said a woman's voice. Lucy looked up and saw a polite looking woman with tortoise-shell glasses and curly hair in a loose pony-tail. She reminded her of Aunt Maddie. Lucy picked up her bag and rose to her feet.

"That's me. You can call me Lucy,"

"Why don't you come on in?" The woman said as she stepped aside to let Lucy enter her office first. Lucy walked in and she took in her surroundings. The office reminded her of her dad's side of the den. There were books stacked on the floor in little rows along one wall under the window; just like her dad. He swore that he knew exactly what they all were. It was a system that only he understood. Lucy suddenly wondered if Amanda was like that. She sat down in front of the desk and saw a stack of unopened mail that looked like a light breath of wind would knock it over. Which was nothing compared to the stack of opened mail on the opposite side the desk.

"Well, Lucy, I'm Amanda Wesson," she reached out and shook Lucy's hand. Lucy prayed that her hands weren't sweaty. "How are you today?"

"I'm good, thank you. I'm nervous," she kicked herself for admitting that out loud.

"I promise to make this as painless as possible. Let's start with a little background information. From your questionnaire it says that your father is Noah Mayer, not the director?"

"Yeah. But he's just daddy to me,"

"Wow, a celebrity in the family. That must have been something growing up," the woman asked as she leaned back in her chair.

"My parents made sure that my life is as normal as could be. I was raised on a farm north of here and I went to public school in Oakdale. My dad's family is huge which was great when I growing up. They kept them grounded,"

"Them?"

"My dads. My daddy is Noah Mayer and my dad is Luke Snyder,"

"The writer? I think I have read everything he's ever written,"

"Yeah, I hated it when he would correct my English homework," Lucy said and Amanda laughed. "He taught me early on about expressing myself with words. He has been writing since he was in high school and he always said, "If you can't tell anyone how you feel, who's going to listen?" I was very lucky to grow up in a very creative house,"

"What kinds of things did you like to do growing up?"

"Well, movies were huge in my house, especially my daddy. He loves old movies. Every Saturday was movie night. He would sit for hours and explain how everything worked and why they were made this way or that. I don't think we ever watched a movie made before 1970. My friends loved it when I had sleepovers. My grandpa bred horses so I got to ride whenever I wanted. I also learned responsibility that way as well; he taught me how to take care of them to be sure that they were fed and groomed. I can saddle a horse in two minutes flat. My dad loved to read to me. He told me that there was nothing more perfect than a well written book. When I came into your office and I saw your books, I immediately thought of my dad. He has his books stacked the same way," Lucy said and Amanda laughed.

Noah was walking around the campus. He had imagined what the place would look like, but to actually be here. It wasn't anything extra special. He had built it up so much in his mind, that to really see it. He had called Will after he left Lucy at the admissions office and made plans for him and Lucy to have dinner with Uncle Will and Uncle Scott before they drove home. To think that Will and Scott have been married as long as he and Luke. He was aimlessly wandering when his cell rang. He pulled it from his pocket and laughed when he saw the display.

"Hey honey,"

"Hi. I tried the house, I thought you working from you studio today," Luke said as he leaned back into his bed in his hotel room. He had pulled off his tie and kicked off his shoes. He was on yet another press junket. It was supposed to last the rest of this week and part of the next. He made sure that he would be free next weekend for Lucy's college visit and interview. He just wanted to be at home with his husband and his daughter, for as long as she was still home.

"Oh, I was, but Lucy and I are shopping in Old Towne," he said hoping he sounded convincing.

"What's going on?" Luke asked, he wasn't buying it.

"Whatta mean?"

"You guys hate shopping. Especially Lucy. What are you really up to?" Luke asked and then stood to pace his hotel room. He and Noah had been together for nearly thirty years, he knew when he was lying. Noah winced; he'd been caught. He and Lucy should have thought a better lie before they did this.

"We're in Evanston, at her college interview,"

"WHAT?!"

"I'm sorry baby, she begged me not to tell you,"

"What? Why?"

"Because you have a tendency to get worked up and that would have made her even more nervous," Noah said as carefully as he could. He didn't want to hurt Luke or make him even madder than he already was.

"I don't believe this. My husband and my daughter plotting against me," Luke said as he threw up his hands.

"No baby, that's not what this is. She just wanted to do this all her own. You know you. You would have tried to help; sat in the office with her before her interview; met her interviewer. Lucy just wanted handle it by herself,"

Luke wanted to be angry; he really did. But as Noah's words rolled around in his head, he realized they were right. Luke has always been the more protective of the two parents. The first time he saw Lucy on a horse, he nearly had a coronary. When she was born, he baby-proofed everything, even though she was only seven pounds and couldn't even hold her head up.

"Luke, are you there? Baby talk to me," Noah was almost pleading. Sure they had their fair share of fights in the marriage, but when it came to Lucy they were always a united front. Making all the decisions together. Luke let out a long breath. His shoulders slumped and he sat down hard on the edge of the bed.

"You're right. I just want to take care of her,"

"She knows that. Baby, sometimes your heart is too big. She promised me that she would call you as soon as she was finished. You can be mad at me all you want, but just trust her decision,"

"I know; I will. I love you," Luke said softly and Noah relaxed. At least Luke wasn't too mad at him right now. They had had a few big fights in their long relationship. There was the famous fight in San Francisco during the press junket for There and Back Again. They didn't speak to each other for two days, but the make-up sex in Dallas was unbelievable. Noah still got hard when he thought about it. Neither one could even remember what the fight was about.

"I love you too baby. She will call you as soon as I see her,"

"Ok. Bye,"

"Bye,"

"So, Lucy, why should you be granted admission to Northwestern?" Amanda asked her final question. She was greatly impressed by the 17 year old. She was honest, funny, sweet and quite charming. She was raised by two very capable parents and they molded an excellent young woman. Amanda had seen many different kids sit in that chair and this was one of the rare times that she had made her decision before she even got to end of the interview.

"Well," Lucy said and her mind rolled back to everything she and Amanda discussed in the last forty-five minutes. Her crazy huge family, her over-protective, but extremely loving parents, her childhood, her favorite activities, her future and it all came flooding back to her. And she had her answer. "You know, you shouldn't,"

Amanda looked visibly confused, almost aghast by the sudden change in Lucy's demeanor.

"I would be honored to be granted admission; I mean this is my daddy's dream school. I have always wanted to come here, but thinking about everything that we just talked about. I think I belong somewhere else. Thank you so much of helping me realize this. And thank you for your time. I'm sorry if it was a waste,"

"Oh, trust me Lucy, it wasn't. If you change your mind, I am almost positive that there will be a place for you here next fall,"

"Thank you," Lucy stood up and shook Amanda's hands before she left the office. She had to find her daddy and she had to do it now. She hurried out of the building and out into the open air. She thought she left him just out here. She fished out her cell phone and hit her speed dial. It rang twice and he picked up.

"Lucy?"

"Daddy, where are you?"

"I'm on my way back to the admissions building. Is your interview done?"

"Yeah, and I have to tell you something,"

Lucy sat on the steps and waited for him to return. She was so excited that she couldn't contain herself. She bit on the inside of her bottom lip; her knee bounced; and her foot tapped. Anyone would have thought she was nervous. She saw him come around a curve and casually walk toward her. Lucy jumped to her feet and ran straight at him. She jumped into his arms and hugged him tight around the neck. As much as Noah loved to get hugs from his only child, he wondered why she was so happy to see him.

"What happened?" He asked; expecting the worst. Lucy loosened her hold and Noah put her back on her feet.

"Nothing. I got in, well, she said she's almost positive that I'm in,"

"Really! That's great! Oh, sweetie and I am so proud of you! We have to call your dad," Noah said as he pulled out his cell and was about to call Luke.

"No wait. I have to tell you something," Noah closed his cell and looked at his daughter, unsure of what she was doing.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I'm not going to Northwestern. And I know that you may be angry, but…I'm gonna call dad," Lucy was all over the place. She was talking a mile a minute and couldn't stand still. If he didn't know her as well as he did, he'd think she was on something. She took out her cell and called Luke.

"Dad, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about my interview being this week. But I think I have some news that will make you not be made at me," she paused and Noah watched her face light up. "I'm going to OU,"

"What!"

"What!" Both her dads said at the same time.

Lucy went on to explain that her family was too important to move away when she could stay in Oakdale and go to school. She didn't want to be away from everyone she knew. She would still be living on campus, but she wanted to stay. She didn't realize how important her family was until she spent the last forty-five minutes telling the woman in there so. Noah was picturing Luke doing a happy dance in the hotel room and Lucy was almost doing one too. He smiled at his daughter as she said goodbye to her dad and put her phone away.

"Well, I know of one CJ Hughes who will be extremely excited that you will be going to OU with him,"

"Daddy stop, he's one of my best friends," she said as she slipped her arm through his and they walked towards that car.

"Hey, your dad and I were friends first, Uncle Will and Uncle Scott were best friends, Casey and Alli…should I continue?"

"You've made your point. Come on we need to meet Will and Scott," she said hoping to shush her dad. Noah pulled his arm away and wrapped it around his daughter's shoulders. He would tease his husband later about how excited he was about Lucy choosing to stay closer to home, but inside…he was over the moon.

Luke hung up after talking his daughter about her staying home and going to school in Oakdale. He last he had been this happy was the day that Lucy was born. He sat down at the desk in hotel room and opened his laptop.

And started to type.

Faith was nearly ten months pregnant and was miserable. At first she loved being pregnant. She loved that she could eat whatever she wanted. She loved the attention, she was a middle child it came with the territory. She loved that she was making her brothers so happy that she would never be able to top this gift. She loved Luke and Noah so much that she didn't even need to think about it when Noah asked, but after 275 days, she just wanted this thing out of her. They had decided to induce her and her contractions were coming on real quickly.

She suddenly hated her brothers!

What was she thinking?

Luke was by her side the entire time. He held her hand; feed her ice chips; took all the hateful remarks without batting an eye. He also held her when she cried and begged him to knock her out. But she also saw the look on Luke's face when he first held Lucy. That one look was more than enough to make up for the last ten hours.

Faith was asleep as was Noah and Lily. Luke just could not sleep, not when the most perfect child ever created was sleeping in the same room. Luke picked her up and just looked at her. She had his light hair and Noah's cute nose. She got Faith's chin and Luke prayed that she got Noah's eyes. He held his entire future in his hands. Lucy was definitely the love of his life and he would spend the rest of his life making her happy. He watched her the rest of the night until he finally fell asleep at about 4am. A couple hours later he woke up and saw Noah feeding her.

There they were.

The two loves of his life.

THE END!

Well, what do you think!

I have to thank all you who gave me so much encouragement!

It meant so much that you all loved this story as much as I did writing it!

I made a lot of new friends during the progression of this story.

And I look forward to the other stories I have planned.

THANKS SO MUCH!!!