EPILOGUE-

It was July, just barely two months since little Melanie Cerise Decker had been born, and Susan was happy to be celebrating her second fourth of July with the Deckers.

The day itself wasn't nearly as hot and humid as the previous year's had been and, for the first time in a long while, she'd woken up already reminiscing about the past. Only a year ago her, Bruce, and the kids had been moving into their new house across the street, she and Janet were still best friends, her and Roger had never slept together, and she and her husband had just chosen to dive headfirst into the strange and wonderful world of swinging with their new neighbors. It stirred up a lot of emotions for her, both good and bad.

For one, she truly missed having both of her children under her roof, missed seeing them every day, their smiles, and even making meals for them. On occasion, she even missed Bruce, back when things between them were still strong and steady and they had nothing but happy memories between them. But, had he not taken the new job at the stock exchange and bought their new home, they would have never met Tom and Trina, and that was just as important to her. As much as most people chose to focus on everything that she'd give up and lost, Susan had forced herself to look at the positive side, and her relationship with the two of them was the biggest out of all of them.

"You hungry?"

Susan shook herself out of her reverie and took a sip of the forgotten drink sweating in her hand, smiling at Tom as he sidled up next to her with the baby cradled in his arms, "A bit. You nervous?"

"Nah," he grinned and looked down at his daughter, "Should be fun."

Moving her drink from her right to her let hand, she wiped the condensation onto her cutoff denim shorts before resting it on his back, the warmth of his skin radiating through the thin cotton of his tank top, "Do you even remember how to host a summer party that doesn't end in an orgy?"

That got a chuckle out of him.

Melanie began to fuss in his arms and he shushed her softly, before shooting her a quick grin, "They can't all be perfect."

Susan smiled and surveyed the small group of people out by the pool. Trina was out there chatting with Brad, Sylvia, and a handful of other people that she'd only met in passing at their parties last August, Harry Reems was sitting on one of their new lawn chairs chatting with one of the newer stewardesses that had joined Tom's team earlier in the year, Laurie and BJ were swimming in the pool with Ricky, and most surprising of all... Janet was over in the far corner chatting animatedly with her work friend Henry and Doug, whom apparently had been dying to talk to 'Ask Janet' ever since Laurie had let it slip that she was an old family friend.

She still wasn't sure how Trina had managed to convince her to come to the celebration, but just to make things a little easier Susan had been treading lightly and staying as far away from the other woman as possible. It seemed to be working so far, and she wasn't about to test Janet's boundaries by leaving her spot just inside the house, where she'd been gazing out through the large floor to ceiling windows since people had started showing up.

One day, she hoped that they could be friends again, but knew that if it were to happen it would be a long time before Janet could look her in the eye and see anything other than the best friend that betrayed her by having an affair with her husband. It was a lot to ask of her, a lot to forgive. And she, for one, was just grateful that they were within a hundred yards of each other and Janet wasn't glaring daggers at her. It was a win in her books. A small one, but she'd take it nonetheless.

Susan smiled softly, her gaze shifting from Janet, over to Trina who caught her looking and grinned back at her before returning to her conversation, and then over to Tom beside her. He'd been observing her, that much was clear judging by the furrow of his brow and the look of concern and question in his eyes.

She leaned over and kissed him gently, reassuring him as best as she could.

"No, they can't all be perfect," she chuckled looking back out at the patio, watching as Trina started herding people toward the buffet of food as the first round of burgers and hotdogs came off of the grill, and took another sip of her drink, "but it's is a start."

"You gonna go out?" Tom asked her, glancing through the window along with her.

Susan shook her head. No, she was content watching the festivities from right where she was. Setting her drink onto a nearby side table, she reached out for the baby, and he carefully transferred her into her arms.

"Make me a plate when you get a chance?"

"Give me ten minutes," Tom told her as he leaned in and pecked her on the cheek.

Susan nodded, her heart warming as she watched him walk out onto the patio and greet their friends with a big smile. A stiff breeze rolled through, rustling the trees over in the corner where Janet and Henry had just started making their way toward the crowd, only stopping long enough to tell the Rick and BJ to get out of the pool, and then past Laurie, who was wearing a towel around her waist, just sitting down with her boyfriend on one of the lounge chairs as they chatted and took their first bites of food.

In her arms, Melanie stirred, drawing Susan's attention downward as the baby nuzzled into her chest. Brushing the back of her finger across the girl's chubby cheek, she started to hum and sway back and forth.

"Go back to sleep, sweetheart," she whispered, "you're alright."

The girl snuffled quietly and shifted one more time before her features fell slack. Rocking her for a few more minutes, Susan waited until she was certain that slumber had claimed her once again, before sighing contently and looking back out the window.

She'd been right.

All those months ago, when she and Bruce met the Deckers the night before they moved in, she'd had a gut feeling about them and she was glad that she had followed it. What had begun as an experiment, a one-night stand, swinging with their new neighbors, had changed her life- in good ways, in heartbreaking ways, and in ways that she'd never imagined. She may have lost more than her fair share and stumbled a few times along the way, but her eyes had finally been opened to a universe bigger than just her boring, little suburb, and that was something that she could never regret.

With a little help from her newfound friends and family, Susan finally felt like she was in charge of her own story.

End.

A/N: This originally started out as a "5 Susan/Trina kisses" fic that I abandoned about a decade ago and, when I rediscovered it on my hard drive, it eventually turned into this deeper dive into Susan's brain throughout and then past the end of the series. It took over a month of writing and editing for me to find an ending worthy of it. At times it truly seemed like the never-ending fic. I hope you enjoyed it!