We've finally made it. The last chapter. Thanks to everyone who's read my stories up till now.

I started writing TGAMM fics a little over 10 months ago, I initially planned just 3 stories, but the need for emotional comfort and a secret Santa brought it up to 5. I will be taking a break to write a new chapter or two for my Miraculous fic, after that I might write a sixth TGAMM fic. I do have a LOT of notes for a story about Molly and Ollie's wedding and the numerous shenanigans it involves. The Ghost Friends are such a fun group to write for I know I'll be writing for them again.

Honestly, this chapter grew to be longer than I planned. Little bits kept adding themselves in as I wrote more and more interactions. Heck, one gag with Pete was an autocorrect mistake that I kept and turned into a joke.

It was the following morning, Scratch's last morning in Brighton for the year. As much as he would love to sleep in, he didn't want to waste any of his remaining time in town. Packing only took a few minutes, though he had to make room for Libby's book and the dumb stuff he'd gotten at the dollar store… except for the pool noodle. Sharkie ate it.

Scratch recalled how living with the McGee's always brought surprises, though Molly and Darryl ambushing him when he exited the guest room was a new one. "You're awake! Good morning Scratch!" Molly shouted way too loudly for this hour.

"Gah!" Scratch jumped a little. "How long have you two been waiting outside the door?

Darryl pointed to himself. "I've been here for five minutes." Then he pointed to his sister. "Molly's been here for fifty minutes."

The young enhappifier was adamant to be the first one Scratch saw when he left the guest room. "We've only got a few more hours before you go, and I am not letting a single minute slip away."

"How do you wake up with so much energy?" Scratch shook his head, utterly bewildered. "Even back when I was a ghost in the dollhouse, you were essentially my alarm clock." … Hang on… the dollhouse… Scratch loudly gasped, suddenly remembering another detail he forgot. "The dollhouse! I just remembered something important I left there!"

"So Geoff went inside to get Sharkie's stuff, and he grabbed a few items for memorabilia," Molly disclosed. "Other than that, it should be untouched."

The three of them ventured back up to Molly's room. Scratch wasn't worried about Geoff going inside the dollhouse. "It's not something he'd take, and it's in a super-duper secret hiding compartment." He and the kids climbed up the ladder, and Scratch went over to his old lodgings. He immediately ran into a problem. His large human arm couldn't reach inside. "Come on-get in there… first Plan-B, now this?! What is wrong with people arms?!"

Molly slid over and reached inside the dollhouse. "Where am I grabbing at?"

"I may have made a secret compartment underneath the living room floor. I got frustrated over some scare reports and tore a hole in the floor, then I thought 'Hey, this would be a good space to hide important stuff'. I covered it with a carpet." Scratch regaled while Molly felt around for an opening.

"Pretty sure everyone has a secret compartment in the floorboard." Darryl had one too. Actually, he had three.

Moving the carpet and blindly searching the floor, Molly felt an uneven piece that jiggled at her touch. "I think I found it!" She used her nails to nudge the board up enough to grab whatever was inside. "Is it a cute photo of our family?" Her guess was dashed once she felt that whatever Scratch hid was in a small pouch.

"Is it Ghost World currency?" Darryl guessed, seeing the tiny bag Molly pulled out.

"Even better-" Scratch was handed the pouch and opened it up. "It's my stash of hard candy!" He held a handful of colorful candies in the palm of his hand.

Molly and Darryl fondly rolled their eyes. "Typical Scratch." Darryl chuckled.

"Oh, then I guess you two don't want any?" He offered each a piece from the stash. Molly and Darryl eagerly accepted and each took a piece. "Sharing my candy, how's that for typical Scratch? Hmm?" Scratch smugly asked.

The trio ate their candies at the same time, and an audible cracking sound synchronized with their expressions of discomfort. "Wow, this is REALLY hard candy." Molly grimaced, hoping she wouldn't have to see the dentist for this.

Not even Scratch enjoyed the sweet. "Might've left 'em out too long."

Darryl saw an opportunity through the pain in his jaw. "Look at it this way, you got a new bag of marbles. You're old enough to have played with those when you were a kid, right?"

Frankly, Scratch was offended. "How old do you think I am?!"

Molly leaned forward with a cute little smile. "We could guess OR you could tell us your exact date of birth, so I can plan your birthday gifts."

"Later." Scratch liked the sound of a birthday gift. He'd have to send stuff on their birthdays too. His attention went back over to his former post-living quarters. "It's crazy that I used to live in that dollhouse. My hand barely fits inside of it."

"You got more use of it than any of my dolls ever did," Molly laughed. "I almost didn't even bring it with me during the move!"

"It's a good thing you did! It was my only privacy around here! Course, I only ever got through a single bubble bath without being interrupted." If it wasn't Molly summoning him, it was the Ghost Council barging in. Scratch let his eyes wander the room. He'd been here before he got his memories back, thinking he hadn't seen it since his childhood. Looking back on his ghost memories, the room barely changed in the year he was gone. There were some new arts and crafts decorating the sides. A big bright orange teddy bear had joined the stuff animal pile. He missed the painting of his ghost self but figured it was hidden where his Todd-self wouldn't question it. The warmth and nostalgia it brought him doubled with his complete set of memories. "I've got a lot of good memories tied to this attic. From being a kid, and from being a ghost."

Molly understood just how important this space was to him, after all… "It's where we first met." She jumped up and stood beside her bed. "Riiiight here!" She paused. Thinking it over, Molly stepped onto her bed. "Actually, I think it was right here. Dusting the cobwebs."

"Oh yeah, where'd you put my cobwebs anyway?"

The girl looked guilty and let out a low hiss. "Iiiii may have gotten rid of them."

Scratch was a little bummed. "Aw, those were vintage…"

"Heidi Harrylegs could make you some new ones?" Darryl helpfully suggested.

His sister gagged, sickened at the mere thought of the arachnid that also lived with them. "Why are spiders necessary to the ecosystem?"

OXOXOXOX

Downstairs, Pete and Sharon could hear the trio happily talking up at the top of the house. "Just like old times." The father of the family said fondly, leaning against the kitchen counter.

While his wife shared his nostalgia, her attention was elsewhere. "Honey, your tie's in the coffee."

Pete had accidentally leaned too far onto the counter and gotten his snazzy tie dipped into his morning beverage. He wasn't upset by this, rather it reminded him of their early years as parents when he would frequently do the same. "Just like old times… except I don't also have baby vomit on my back."

The lively noises migrated away from the attic and downwards, until Pete and Sharon could hear a conversation walking towards the kitchen. "-and I think we buried it in the backyard." Scratch was in the middle of telling an anecdote from his childhood when he and the teens appeared. He noticed the other two adults in the family and waved his arm. "What's cooking fam?"

"Nothing yet." Sharon admitted. "We were waiting for you all before figuring out breakfast." She had the day off from work and a great desire to take a break from cooking.

"We wanted to do something special since Scratch is leaving later. I wore a special tie for the occasion-" Pete lifted his coffee-soaked tie. "Ignore that it's covered in coffee."

At the mention of breakfast, a loud stomach growl filled the air. Molly and her parents looked at Scratch, who shrugged. He wasn't the culprit this time. Rather, it was Darryl who admitted it was his stomach. "That one's me. If my pancake maker wasn't busted, I could fill our bellies with pancakes."

"And fill the room." Pete reminded his son of WHY the pancake maker was out of commission.

A flash of inspiration struck both Molly and Scratch. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" Molly asked, though she was sure he was on the same wavelength.

"Only if you're thinking of getting the mix while I heat up the stove." Scratch confirmed their ideas were synced.

The dream team high-fived and got moving, leaving the rest of the family to shrug and figure they should wait at the table. Scratch found the frying pan and dropped some butter into it, moving it around to grease the bottom. Molly grabbed the pancake mix from the pantry, and noticed a bottle of maple syrup. "Anybody want the tree tears?" To her chagrin, everyone else raised their hands. She hated the stuff, but if it's what everyone wanted, then she'd bring it.

Once Molly brought over the ingredients, Scratch passed her a bowl to mix the mix in. "Is this the kind you need an egg for?" Scratch was checking in the fridge already.

"Nope, just need water." Molly poured a cup of water from the sink and added it to the mix. "Pass me the big spoon please?"

"You know, a whisk is better for mixing." Scratch advised the girl, while reaching over to grab the utensil she asked for.

"Yeah, but I think our whisk still needs to be cleaned." Molly accepted the big spoon while explaining, and stirred up the dry mix and water in the bowl. Once done, she poured some in the pan for Scratch to cook. "Think ten is enough for everyone."

Her best friend gave her a dry look. "Two per person? Moll, you know I am a three-stack minimum guy." The first side quickly cooked and when the time came to flip it over… "Hey, watch this! Alley-oop!" Scratch tossed the flapjack out of the pan and caught it with ease.

That succeeded in impressing Molly. "Wow, you've gotten really good at that!"

Praise tended to make Scratch smug, and this was no exception. "I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I have gotten to be a pretty good chef. I cook almost as good as I eat."

"Um, I think the bottom is burning." Molly pointed out the smoke coming from the frying pan.

In the brief window Scratch looked away, the milky brown pancake started to darken. "AH! Get the plate-GET THE PLATE!" Molly did as he asked and held out a plate. Scratch tossed the pancake onto it in a hurry.

"Whew, it's only a little burnt." Molly set the plate down, it had a ways to go before it was a full stack. "Pouring in the next one!" She restarted the process and poured more batter in. A tiny splash flung out and landed on Scratch's arm. He eyed it hungrily. Molly knew that look. "Scratch, you can't lick the batter off your arm!"

"If there aren't any eggs in the batter, then it can't make me sick." He reasoned in favor of licking the spot.

The other three members of the family were content to sit back and enjoy watching the two work. Memories of hearing them fixing up a quick lunch or baking muffins for a bake sale came to mind. The light banter and strangely compatible dynamic had been missed this last year. You'd think they'd have known each other forever based on how well they knew the other. Molly and Scratch's teamwork was in peak form, the power of the dream team was unmatched… except when it came to keeping the pancakes from being burnt. Four of the ten and three-quarters pancakes got mildly burned from brief distractions. Those were the four they took for themselves.

After a good ol' McGee family morning, it came time for Scratch to bring his suitcase down and get ready to head out. "Dumb amnesia. I would've planned to stay longer if I'd remembered sooner." Scratch bemoaned his timing. Sure, he could extend his stay and meet up with Adia a little later than planned, but Molly would give him a whole speech about him having to go back out there and not be sucked back into the comfort of home that would keep him procrastinating again.

Molly had her own timing to bemoan too. "If I hadn't made a promise to respect your boundaries, I could've hugged the memories out when you first got here!" She was semi-joking. Though promise or not, she wouldn't have hugged him right off the bat anyway. That might've only freaked him out. And who knows if the hug would have worked if they hadn't been rebuilding their friendship?

"You know," Sharon was standing at the bottom of the stairs to meet the two when they came back down. "I wouldn't be complaining about this not happening sooner. It is a real miracle you remembered at all."

Oh, they were all very much aware of that. "I think we're all writing this down once Hanukkah comes around." Scratch knew he would, even if he was stuck on a screen and had to ask Molly to write it down for him. Unless getting invited to Libby's wasn't a guaranteed tradition. Why wouldn't it be? More holidays means more fun and more food!

Pete handed a little notecard to Scratch. "Writing stuff down is the perfect segway into giving you this-"

"Uh, dad? I think you mean 'segue' into giving you this. " Darryl corrected his father.

"That's what I said, right?"

"You said 'segway', like the thing mall cops ride on."

"Oh, is that what they're called!?" Scratch was getting drawn into the off-topic-ness too.

"Regardless," Pete shifted the conversation back on track. "We wrote down our phone numbers for you. Grandma Nin's too." Molly had popped by their room last night before bed and asked them to have it ready for the morning.

Scratch appreciated the gesture and tucked the paper away for safekeeping, intending on adding it to his phone once he was settled on the bus. "I'm gonna miss physically being here with you guys."

"You know," Darryl had a suggestion for him. "You could always visit by turning into a wraith-"

"NO." The rest of the family unanimously shut down that idea.

As tempting as the idea was, Scratch had spent enough time as a wraith. "You won't be seeing me as a blue ghoul anytime soon. I'm staying in my body as long as I can. I kind of need it to keep seeing the world. How else am I going to buy a kwah-sohn when I get to Par-ee?" He could always take one as a ghost, but it wouldn't be as satisfying.

While Molly thought Scratch's ghost was utterly adorable and squishy, she too had no desire to see him return to that form in the near future. "We'll miss having you around. But it'll make the wait worth it." Long-distance besties was an almost ideal situation. The single downside was the backlog of hugs she'd need to unload on him after a year. Thankfully, Scratch's thick build would prevent his bones from being crushed by said hugs.

Sharon had to add her own little maternal reminder. "And we will want to hear more about your travels when you call. Those videos cannot convey enough details."

"They do not," Scratch chuckled and confirmed. "Cob, I still have a lot I haven't told you yet. You'll have to clear a couple hours for the full recap."

They were all excited to hear more about Scratch's prior adventures, and all the ones to follow. "How many years do you think it'll take to go everywhere?" Darryl asked.

"More than I have left." Earth was a big planet. There was only so much ground he could cover in a year, and there was so much to do when he got there. Places he'd already been to would change and require a revisit too. "I'm going to keep traveling and seeing as much as I can till the day I die. After that… I expect a new dollhouse to be waiting for me." Molly's eyebrows shot up upon hearing that. "One that's more modern than my old one. With an elevator and a pool that's got a curly slide." Scratch made a swirly motion with his arm.

Him wanting to come back post-mortem (or post-Mortenson as he would later joke) sounded amazing. However, Molly knew the truth about the Ghost World and had to explain why that might not happen. The girl nervously scratched her arm. "Scratch, we'd love for that to be what happens… but there's something about the Ghost World-"

"I know." Scratch stopped her, placing a hand on the shoulder of the arm being scratched. "Geoff and Ollie filled me in. And I can tell you without a single doubt that I'll be a ghost." Scratch lacked complete confidence in many areas, this was not one of them. "Cause being your friend forever will be my unfinished business. And forever might take a little longer to complete."

Molly's lip quivered and her eyes shimmered. She was moved by not only his words, but by how sure he was in them. Not a single flick of fear that it may not come true. Molly couldn't help but give Scratch a tight squeeze. "We'll get the biggest dollhouse we can get!" She promised, giggling. "And they'll be tacos and strawberry soda with your name on it!"

"You better write it as 'Scratch McGee'." Scratch partially joked. "I won't ever forget again that I am an official McGee. The beloved and somewhat eccentric bruncle, who is here for the long run!... oh, and 'bruncle' is something Molly made up to call me-"

Darryl turned to his sister in outrage. "YOU STOLE MY WORD?!" Molly realized she'd forgotten to apologize before bed. All she could offer her brother was a big, guilty smile.

OXOXOXOX

Once the 'bruncle' debacle had been cleared up, the McGee's walked with Scratch to the bus stop. They could have driven Scratch over, but he was going to be stuck in a bus for way too long. He needed to stretch his legs while he could. Awaiting them at their destination were Libby, Ollie, June and Geoff.

"You made it!" Scratch sort of expected the rest of the gang to show up, and it still made him happy.

Libby stepped forward. "We'd never miss your send-off. It's our last chance to see you for a while."

Geoff pounced on his best friend, crying and getting snot on his shoulder. "A YEAR IS GOING TO FEEL LIKE TWELVE MONTHS!"

While the gesture and tears were sweet (not the snot though), Scratch exasperatedly reminded Geoff of a certain detail. "Geoff, you do realize you can open up a portal and come meet me wherever." The former wraith prayed he wouldn't regret pointing this out to his deceased pal.

"GASP! You're right!" Geoff instantly stopped crying. He had to start planning all the fun activities they could meet up to do! Snorkeling was a must.

"Did you just say 'gasp' out loud?" Scratch muttered. "Aside from Geoff, everybody else can call or text me. I will pick up unless there is no service, or I'm taking a bath. I love you guys, but I have limits… on second thought I should clarify the bath thing includes you too Geoff." He hoped to avoid any misunderstandings that would inevitably lead to an awkward time.

Molly was already looking forward to their first call. "I'll try not to spam your phone, but I will want to call as soon as you bring Adia up to speed."

"I'm telling her tonight hopefully, call me tomorrow afternoon just to be safe." Scratch had zero clue how he was going to reveal everything. He needed to have proof ready before she started thinking he'd lost his mind. "Oh! Geoff! Could you portal over tonight and help me explain all this to Adia? Nothing says proof like an eyewitness and real ghost."

Geoff was honored. "I'll do you better than a portal, I'll tag along with you! We can sit next to each other and talk for hours and hours and play 'I spy' and-" As the green ghost continued to list road trip activities, it dawned on Scratch that he might have made a huge mistake.

Checking the time, June alerted everyone to their window coming to a close. "The bus will be here in two minutes and forty-five seconds… forty-two seconds… thir-" Ollie tapped her arm, learning from his earlier mistake of putting his hand over her mouth. "Not helping?"

"Not helping." Ollie nodded.

Time was running out. Scratch had to get his parting words out to every living person here. "Gonna have to crunch these farewells… uh… June!" He pointed to the youngest girl first. "Keep doing your science and keep damages to a minimum unless they are comical."

June gave a thumbs up. "I'll do my best!"

Onto her brother next. "Ollie, as Molly's bruncle I am obligated to tell you to take care of her and if you ever hurt her I'll end you."

Ollie tried to keep his blushing in check. "You can count on me." he vowed.

Scratch turned to the girl wearing a turtleneck sweater in July. "Libby, I'll let you know when I finish reading that book. And save me a copy of your next one."

Libby already intended to. "I'll autograph it too."

Moving from his friends to his family, Scratch looked at Darryl. "Darryl, getting into trouble is fun, but I hope to see you become a model citizen by my next visit." He and Darryl stared for a beat, then they burst into hysterical laughter. "AHA-HA! That's a good one! Seriously, though, use your talents to help the family."

Darryl needed a moment to stop laughing, but answered anyway. "I can try, don't expect too much." He also had their secret 'bouncy ball' promise to look forward to seeing come to fruition.

Next were the adults of the family, y'know other than himself. "Sharon, I'm gonna want to see what kind of art you'll make."

Sharon hadn't let her new job leave her rusty when it came to painting. "I may have a few concepts I've wanted to try."

Scratch turned away from Sharon to face her husband. "Pete, you're actually a pretty cool guy. Not sure if I've ever admitted that to you before."

Pete tried not to get overly emotional. "You haven't, and thank you."

That left only one person left, the one closest to his heart and his best friend/'niecster' (term coined by Darryl, combining niece and sister). "Molly, I-" A loud vrooming sound started approaching. It was the bus. Scratch was almost out of time, and he had so much he wanted to say to Molly face to face. How could he possibly narrow it down to a few words?

Molly had also heard the bus and knew what it meant. It was time to say goodbye… no, not goodbye. Never again. While Scratch was stuck trying to figure out what to say, Molly beat him to the punch by giving him a big hug and saying, "Thanks, Scratch. Love you." She didn't need a big speech, not when she could convey everything with four words and a hug.

Scratch chuckled and hugged her back. "Love you too, Moll." Yeah, that about summed it up. Anything else could tell her later, and there will be lots of time for later. Peaking one eye open, Scratch looked around at the rest of the group. "Last chance for any hugs if you wanna get in on this-" Everyone took him up on the offer and formed a large group hug just as the bus came to a stop behind them.

The bus doors opened. This was it. The hug parted, with Molly being the last to let go. Last time she and Scratch/Todd were here, it was a bittersweet goodbye. Their futures had seemed so uncertain, as did their friendship. With a new promise and hopes for what tomorrow will bring, Molly felt secure that she and Scratch wouldn't drift apart. "Go out and have an enhappifying life."

"Until next time." Scratch promised. He and Molly finally let go, and he boarded the bus, Geoff following right behind him. The two took a seat in the middle of the bus, waving to their friends from the window as the motor vehicle closed its doors and drove off.

While Scratch was no stranger to traveling, his company wasn't the one he usually traveled with. Geoff drummed his hands against where his knees should be. "Wow. I've never ridden on a bus with my best friend before!"

"Wait just a moment." Reaching into his pocket, Scratch took out his phone and held it to his ear. "I'll pretend to talk on the phone when I'm talking to you. People would think I'm crazy and talking to air otherwise." There were maybe two other passengers and the driver on board, they'd surely pick up more people at other stops. He'd need to be careful traveling with a ghost, not for Geoff's safety-the guy could handle himself-but to keep himself from getting embarrassed.

"Ah, riiiight." Geoff got his own phone out and put it to his non-visible ear. "I'll pretend to call you too, to keep up the illusion."

Scratch opened his mouth to say something, then decided against it. He'll let Geoff have this. "It's going to be a couple of hours until we get to St. Louis. Better make sure you're comfortable." At least Geoff could float around and stretch if he wanted. Scratch was stuck in a seat that seemed fine when you first sat down, but after twenty minutes you start feeling stiff.

Geoff made sure he was comfy and slid his back down another two inches. Comfy. "I am really looking forward to going to the airport. I've never flown on a plane before. I died before air travel." If he was lucky, maybe he'd get to ride the baggage claim! Or get airline peanuts!

"Hate to break it to you, but we're riding the bus the whole way. It's only one state over." Traveling by bus was the cheapest option. Scratch had to save his money for the toasted ravioli he'd been dreaming of.

"Aw." Geoff was a little bummed, making Scratch take a mental note to invite him next time he had to fly. "Well, I'm still happy. I get to ride a bus and see a city I've never been to! I haven't been to any of the other states unless it was for scaring assignments. I really racked up my long deceasetance card!"

Truthfully, Scratch hadn't seen much of his home country in his travels. "Yeah, I still gotta knock a couple of stateside visits off my list. There's Oregon, Connecticut, a couple of areas around Los Angeles..."

His ghostly companion nodded along. "I like Maryland. Never met anyone named 'Mary' there though."

While she wasn't named 'Mary', Geoff would be meeting someone new by the end of the day. "So we should probably plan how we'll introduce you to Adia. I have zero ideas, so I am open to any suggestion." Scratch did not think that far ahead yet. He wanted Adia's introduction to ghosts to get off to a positive start. Chances are, if they don't ease her into it, she might punch Geoff in the face out of reflex. He's seen it happen to numerous mimes.

"Hmm…" Geoff grinned like a teenage girl who smelt gossip. "You haven't told me yet what your relationship is with Adia. Is she your girlfriend?" He fluttered his ghostly eyelashes.

Scratch shrugged, not embarrassed by the question but genuinely having no clue what the answer was. "I don't think so. It's different. I love her, she loves me, but neither of us has any desire to kiss or partake in any romantic cliches."

Geoff nodded sagely. "Ah, it's an aromantic queerplatonic relationship."

"Those are words?"

OXOXOXOX

Back at the bus stop in Brighton, the McGee family and friends had finished waving goodbye. The bus and Scratch (and Geoff) were out of sight. Molly felt a sense of peace, a true gentle smile lighting up her face. "Well-" She twirled around to face her loved ones. "Scratch has the rest of his day ahead of him. Let's do something with the rest of ours."

Everyone liked the sound of that, though their ideas of fun varied. "Let's set up a slippy slide!" Darryl suggested. An oddly safe suggestion- "We can set it up on a hill and grease ourselves in butter for more traction!" There's the reckless Darryl-brand of fun!

Pete had his own idea. "We can build a replica of Brighton out of building blocks! I might even have access to some blueprints for infrastructural accuracy." He tried to sound sneaky and cool. 'Tried to'.

Libby pitched her activity. "How about we set up a swimming pool? I could bring my turtles to swim with us!"

"Where would you even get a pool big enough for all of us?" Ollie asked. Libby wordlessly pointed to his sister and Darryl. "Yeah, that tracks."

June wasn't big on swimming, but she'd still help get what the group needed. "Swimming with turtles does sound interesting, however I would most likely sit that out. What I'd love to do is visit the county fair over in Mewline. They have a rollercoaster! Our town's Turnip Fest never has those!" The fair would only last until the end of the month and June needed her ride fix.

The city planner and one of the organizers of said Turnip Fest groaned. "We were lucky to book a ferris wheel for this year's!"

"I know you tried your best, honey." Sharon consoled her husband. "You know, I heard there's a jazz band playing at the bandshell this weekend…" And if they needed an emergency triangle player, Sharon would nobly volunteer.

As refreshing as some of these suggestions have been, Ollie had one of his own to share. "What about a camping trip? We could take nature hikes and roast marshmallows out in mother nature's beauty."

Darryl cringed. "Unless I can bring modern conveniences, I do not enjoy camping." He was a boy with a certain standard of living. It may also remind him of a time he wishes not to be reminded of.

"Oh! There's also a flea market over by the senior center!" Sharon remembered another local event.

"Let's limit it to one idea per person." June reigned in her partner-in-crime's mom's desire for bargain finds. Because if she could only suggest the coaster, then it wouldn't be fair for someone else to pick more than one activity.

"What do you think, Molly?" Libby asked her best friend, who hadn't pitched anything of her own yet.

Molly had been listening to everyone's different ideas of fun. Of course, she had her own, but she'd cycled through a bunch of them these last few days. And Scratch's trip was the highlight of her summer-nay, her whole year. If he was off filling his life with amazing adventures, Molly couldn't allow herself to fall behind.

"Let's do it all." Molly answered. "We've got half a summer left to fill with memories." And a whole year to fill with stories to tell Scratch when he called. "Buuuut I've had plenty of excitement lately, so why don't we chill and go see a movie?"

The Ghost Friends easily agreed with her idea. Ollie softly chuckled. "It does feel like we've been going nonstop since-"

"Since operation BUTTS?" Darryl couldn't resist bringing up the unfortunate acronym one last time. The name always got a laugh out of him… and a snicker from his mom.

Ignoring Darryl, Ollie continued, "-since we heard Todd was coming. I think some downtime is just what we need, Mollberry."

Libby couldn't agree more. "There is nothing wrong with resting between adventures. It leaves one more energized for the next one."

"Can the next one be the rollercoaster?" June raised her hand. She got several thumbs up in return. "Cool."

The adults were fine with letting their two kids and their friends go off on their own thing. "Go ahead kids, I think Sharon and I will check out that flea market she mentioned." Pete made plans with his wife, for their own version of fun… good deals on used wicker baskets!

"Call us when you're done, and don't fill up on too many snacks!" Sharon waved the kids off.

"We won't!" "We will!" The McGee siblings contradicted each other.

The teens walked off, with Ollie and Libby in the front. They thought it was odd for Molly to trail behind and were about to turn back and see what was up… only for Molly to jump in between them and link her arms with theirs. "Thank you-" Her voice was a quiet whisper only for the three of them to hear. "-for always looking out for me."

Molly would have broken long ago if not for her sanity protection duo. She hoped they knew how much she treasured them and that she'd go to the same crazy lengths to get them back as she did for Scratch. The four of them were linked by their forever friendships, woven together into a tight knot that couldn't be untangled. Libby and Ollie simply smiled at Molly, only for her to smirk and pull them all ahead into a dash, the three breaking out into giggles.

The younger duo made no effort to catch up. They walked behind at a normal pace. "Should we be included in that arm-running thing?" June asked Darryl.

"Nah, we've got our own thing." Darryl liked being on the Ghost Friends team, but he and June were the 'Chaos Duo'. A bond of mischief, neurodivergence and playing games till two in the morning that was their own forever friendship.

"You two better hurry up!" Molly called back to them. "Or we'll pick the movie without you!" She playfully threatened, which succeeded in getting the two to speed up their pace.

As the group continued on, talking over what movie to choose, Molly turned her head to look back at the direction Scratch had gone. Over on the bus, Scratch took a break from Geoff's ideas to surprise Adia to turn his head at the window and look back in the direction Molly was. The physical distance between them grew by the minute, but the emotional distance couldn't be any closer. They knew that they'd always be the best of friends and a real family. Together forever, no matter the form, they are…

The Ghost and Molly McGee!