Whatever Happens - Epilogue

Danny wheeler was never a morning person. But ever since his son Benjamin Daniel Wheeler, or Jamie as he had been called, was born he was up every morning, bright and early. Letting his lovely bride sleep, he gently walked over to the crib in the corner of the room. Looking from above he sees his son happy and wide awake. He changes his, feeds him from the breast milk Riley had been pumping daily, and rocks him back to sleep. Then he assumes the position he and his wife, Riley Perrin-Wheeler, have started their days in ever since they got married 10 months ago. Riley's hand still looks like the hand of an angel, and he still wakes up with a smile on his face every morning. As his wife awakens, he sees the same smile that he has, smiling back at him. And with a good morning kiss, the happy couple begins their day. Both he and Riley are on maternity leave for the next 2 months. So as he sits in the kitchen drinking coffee as Riley holds Jamie in her arms, it seems to be the start of another ordinary day in the Perrin-Wheeler household.

"Danny?"

"Yeah," he answered taking a sip of his coffee.

"Did you remember to get the present?"
"Yes I did, it's sitting in the hall closet all wrapped and ready to go, next to my costume." He said that last part with a less then happy tone. He just had to remember, it's for Emma's birthday. The day went on as usual, cleaning spit up off of their clothes and playing rock paper scissors to see who got to change Jamie's diaper, until it was almost time for the party.

"Okay, I'm going to help Ben finish decorating and the come back here for a quick shower and then we're off to the party. I need you to put Jamie down for his final nap of the day in about 10 minutes." Riley said as she headed out the door, but not before she gave her two best guys each a loving kiss goodbye.

"Okay you got it. Say bye mommy, see you later."

"Oh and don't forget he likes a story before his naps."

Danny took Jamie's little chubby arm and waved it goodbye as Riley left to go make sure Ben had a good streamers to balloons ratio. As he looked down at the baby in his arms, he was surprised to see not a drop of sleepiness in those big blue baby eyes.

"Okay little man. You need to take your nap now." Danny explained to his son as he walked into the bedroom and sat down in the rocking chair next to the crib.

"Hmm let's see, a story. How about one where a beautiful princess marries her prince charming and they have a little prince of their own and he goes right to sleep and takes his nap, on time, so his mommy won't be mad." The little eyes never even blinked.

"Yeah I know that stunk, but I'm not a real good story teller. Usually there's a book or something for me to follow."

All this talk about stories had Danny thinking of a similar conversation he had with Riley, shortly after they were married. Right after actually, as they were dancing at the reception. That gave Danny a brilliant idea.

"Okay Jamie, this is the story about how a prince and his princess already had their happily ever after and we're talking about what comes next, as they were dancing at the royal reception … ball."

(Flashback)

Everyone was at the bar, drinking, eating, and dancing. Everyone except the bride and groom, who were outside in each others arms, looking up at the night sky. Danny could tell Riley had something on her mind, but he wasn't sure if he really wanted to know. He decided to be a good husband and ask his wife,

"What's on your mind?"

His question seemed to pull her from her train of thought. She turned around in his arms, so she was now facing him.

"Okay, don't take this the wrong way, but I'm just worried."

"Riley if you think getting married was a mistake and want to," she cut him off.

"Oh god no! Danny, marrying you is the best decision I've ever made, and the easiest one once I listened to my heart. I just mean, where do we go from here. We just made pretty drastic changes to both our lives and our friendship and as happy as we are, what's our story?"

"What do you mean, story?"

"I mean usually marriage is the end of the story, no one tells you what happens next and we skipped a lot of parts that were supposed to go at the beginning, like dating and … other stuff." Riley said that last part as a blush rose to her cheeks telling Danny exactly what she meant, and that made him even more confident in what he was about to say.

"Riley," he began as he placed a finger under her chin and lifted it until their eyes met.

"Our story began 20 years ago when you climbed in my tree house. We've been best friends for years, we know everything there is to know about each other and well, as for the 'other stuff'," he said with a raised brow, "we can figure it out one day at a time, and hopefully have lots of fun trying."

Riley went from blushing, to full on red faced.

"Our story is that we love each other and so we got married. The only part I care about is living happily ever after, with you."

"Oh Danny," Riley sighed as she tilted her head even more to reach Danny's awaiting lips. After kissing for a little while longer, they decided they should probably go back inside before rumors started flying, most of them probably started by Bonnie. They made their way to the middle of the makeshift dance floor and as they started swaying to the music, Danny whispered in Riley's ear,

"Whatever happens, I like the way our story is going so far."

She whispered back, "Me too."

(Flashback End)

"And so prince charming and his princess danced the night away, and then later on, headed upstairs to the royal bed chambers and well, lets put it this way, it may not have been the most romantic part of the day, but it definitely was a tie for best. And thanks to that night a little prince soon came into their lives." Danny said as he rocked Jamie in his arms and placed him in the crib. And as he tucked in his sleeping baby boy, Danny finished the story with, "and they all lived happily ever after."

Later that day at Emma's party, Danny was just coming back into the room after changing out of his Giggle Gang costume, just in time for cake. He walked over to Riley, who had Jamie in her arms, to give her a kiss and say that it was time for Emma to blow out her candles. They made their way over to the birthday girl, who was sitting in her highchair in the middle of the living room. Danny went into the kitchen just as Ben was placing the big number 2 candle in Emma's cake.

"So bro, you still worried about the terrible twos?" he asked his brother.

"You know what I was just thinking. Emma completely changed my life and turned my world upside down. But she is still the best thing that has ever happened to me. So if she turns it a little more with the terrible twos, it's a price I am more then happy to pay for all the happiness and great memories I get in return."

"I know exactly how you feel.' Danny said as he made his way to Riley.

"Have I told you yet today how much I love you?" Danny said.

"Yes, but it's always nice to hear." Riley said back with a smile.

"I want to thank you Riley. Thank you for giving me a wonderful life, and a beautiful son. But most importantly I want to thank you for saying yes when I asked you to marry me."

"Like I said," she replied, "best and easiest decision I ever made."

They shared a sweet kiss just as the lights were turned off. Ben brought out the cake and they all said 'Happy Birthday' to Emma, much like they did at her 1st birthday. And as Emma blew out her candle, with some help from dad and Grandma Bonnie, Danny glanced around the room at all his loved ones, seeing how, in a year, their lives had all changed so much. He couldn't wait to see what the next chapter, had in store.

THE END

*AUTHORS NOTE - Hi everyone! Thank you so much for reading my story 'Whatever Happens'. If you liked it or have any comments or questions please feel free to leave reviews. And keep an eye out for the sequel to 'Whatever Happens' called 'The Next Chapter' coming soon! Thank You!