A/N - thank you to everyone for reading & reviewing this story! I had so much fun writing it! This weekend, I'm gonna work on the next few chapters of The One at Horse Camp and get those posted.


CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
(chapter title - Epilogue)

Gretchen and Barney were now done with college and were starting their lives.

Ms. David retired and Gretchen took over as the theater teacher at Hamilton J. Polk High School. Gretchen made each class fun, just like Ms. David did.

Barney worked at Ross' dad's law firm, along with Marshall and Ross. The three of them opened their own law office and dealt with every law under the sun.

Jeoff and Hannah English (Gretchen's choir teacher and mother) are living life to the fullest. They bought an RV and live life on the road after they both retired.

The Stenson children - Cassandra, Stephanie and Hayden - are doing well, too. Hayden recently learned how to crawl and the girls love watching their brother grow.

Gretchen and Barney tried for another child when Hayden was old enough and instantly became pregnant with a little girl.

Gretchen gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on a snowy December afternoon four days after Christmas. For the first time, she had a home birth, assisted by both Barney and Robin, who studied to become a midwife.

"Can we name her Matilda?" Barney asked, watching Gretchen nurse their little girl.

Gretchen nodded, "Matilda would've love that."

"Her full name - Matilda Joy Stenson" Barney said.

Gretchen nodded, "I love it."

Shortly after Gretchen's mom married Jeoff English, Matilda passed away in her sleep.

Barney kissed Gretchen's forehead as he held her in their bed, "I'm gonna call our friends to let them know about Matilda."

Gretchen nodded and held Matilda - or Tilly - close, seeing her other children - ten-year-old Cassandra, nine-year-old Stephanie and two-year-old Hayden - standing in the doorway, "hi babies."

"Mama!" Hayden chirped cutely.

"Shh Hay. Mommy just had a baby" Stephanie told her brother.

"Hi Tilly" Cassandra greeted her newborn sister, then looked at Gretchen, "can we hold her, mommy?"

"Tomorrow you can - both Tilly and I need sleep" Gretchen said, watching Robin carefully take Tilly and put her in her bassinet at the foot of the bed. She looked at Robin, "thank you."

"You're welcome. Oh, Tiana's expecting" Robin said, referring to her long-term girlfriend, now wife.

"Congratulations! How are the fertility treatments going?" Gretchen asked as the children went back to their bedrooms.

"They're kicking her butt, but she's doing okay" Robin said, "I should get back to her. Congratulations."

"Thanks" Gretchen said. She yawned, closed her eyes and fell asleep as Robin exited the room.


The rest of the friends are all doing well:

Ross and Rachel married and had a daughter, Emma, who was Stephanie's age. They wanted more children, but Rachel kept miscarrying. Rachel is a fashion designer and Ross works with Barney and Marshall at their law firm.

Ted and Phoebe married and had twins - both boys - Kirby and Kody. The boys are the same age as Hayden and are in a play group together. Ted is a professor of architecture at Hayden College and Phoebe teaches music at the high school.

Marshall and Lily married and have two kids - Marvin and Ruby. Marvin is Cassandra's age and Ruby is two months old. Marshall works at the law firm with Barney and Ross, while Lily is a stay-at-home mom.

Chandler and Monica married and had twin girls Skylar and Jade. Chandler works at an office building and Monica is a chef. The twins are three-years-old.

Joey and Belle married after college and Belle became pregnant instantly. The two of them are starring on Broadway in the musical Juno. Belle plays Juno and Joey plays Paulie. Belle gave birth to a beautiful baby girl that she and Joey named Juno, after the first musical they starred in together.

Robin and Tiana stayed high school & college sweethearts. They married after college. Robin was a midwife and Tiana opened her own restaurant that served a little bit of everything - it was called Mix. Tiana and Robin also started fertility treatments and Tiana became pregnant. She is currently two months pregnant with a little girl, who would be named Gretchen.

Eric and Aiden married after college and got acting jobs instantly - Eric at the local theater and Aiden on Broadway in a play called Museum. The two of them talked about having kids and asked a friend of theirs - Gina - to be a surrogate. Gina is seven months pregnant with a girl that the guys are naming Erica - combining both of their names.

James and Michael graduated college and got jobs - James works on a children's TV program called My Neighborhood where he plays himself, showing the kids either in the studio audience or at home their neighborhood. Michael serves as a producer on the show. They don't have kids, but they have two cats - Heidi and Sophia and a dog - Simon.

Lastly, Hannah and Jeoff English are living their best life on their RV. They have visited all 50 states in their RV, except for Alaska. They went to Hawaii on their honeymoon and their anniversary. They are more in love more than they were when they met each other at the teacher party at the beginning of the school year.