February 18, 2031

Chicago, Illinois

Bass and Charlie Monroe's house

Four years, nine months, two weeks, and six days since Miles death.

"Mommy, nooooo. I wanna go play."

"I know honey, but just hold still for one second, and then you can go play, I promise"

Huffing like any angry four year old, little Will stood still so his mother could measure him against the wall. When she had drawn the line above his head, Charlie released his shoulders and said, "alright, I'm done. Go play."

Will ran off out the sliding glass door that led to the backyard, yelling happily the whole way. Charlie was standing in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room, staring down at the wall bearing her son's height marks. There were four of them, one for each of his birthdays, today being his fourth. They had brought him home from the hospital to this house, and it was the one Charlie planned to raise him in. She turned around to look at the opposite side of the doorway, the faded marks from her own past birthdays staring back at her. Her father had measured her every year from her first to her twenty-first birthday, and she planned to do the same for Will.

Caught up in her own memories, Charlie hadn't noticed her husband come through the back door, but snuggled into him as he embraced her from behind.

"What are you thinking, babe?" He asked as he kissed her on the cheek.

She turned around in Bass' arms and smiled up at him. "I was thinking that by the time Will's fifteen you'll have to measure him, either that or I'll have to stand on a chair. He's gonna be a giant, just like his grandpa."

Chuckling, Bass kissed his wife gently on the lips. "Don't worry about that yet. We've got plenty of time before then."

August 10, 2030

Charlie is 9 weeks pregnant.

"Bass, you know surprises aren't really my thing."

"Will you relax? Have I ever steered you wrong."

Charlie stood, blindfolded, on the steps of some unknown establishment. "Well, there was that one time that you convinced me to try and set my dad up on a date with my history teacher."

Bass snorted while he fumbled with the keys for the front door. "That was your fault for believing me."

"I was nine, Bass."

"Ok, fine," he leaned forward and gave her a soft kiss on the lips, "I may have misread the signals Ms. What's-Her-Face was sending, but this is different, I promise."

Charlie rolled her eyes at him, but then remembered that he couldn't see her eyes because he had covered them up, so she sighed exaggeratedly and nodded for him to continue. She heard a door open and then let Bass lead her into what she assumed was a house. She contemplated asking where they were again, but decided against it because she knew how he got about surprises.

"Alright," Bass stood in front of her and took her hands in his, "now I want you to promise that you won't get angry," He hurried on before she could interrupt, "and I know that sound really bad. It's just... I was in a bad place, and this was the only way I knew how to fix it at the time. Please try not to get mad."

Hearing the sadness, and possibly fear, in his voice made her nod. "Ok, I promise I'll try." Bass heaved a sigh of relief and lifted the blindfold from her eyes.

Charlie's eyes took a moment to adjust to the room around her. Blank, beige walls and worn, but clean carpets. Something about the room and the smell were familiar. It took her brain a few second for everything to click into place. They were standing in her father's house, the house that she had sold a month and a half ago.

"Bass! You can't just break in here, this is some body's house!" She looked at him with wide eyes, wondering what in the hell he was thinking.

Bass smiled at her sheepishly. "I didn't break in, Charlie. I used my key." He held up a small silver key on a red key chain. The same one she had given to the real estate lady all those weeks ago when she signed the papers to sell the house.

When everything finally clicked into place, she rounded on Bass. "You bought the house? What for? Why didn't you say anything?"

He put his hands on her shoulders, trying to calm her down because he knew if he didn't do it now that her anger would just spiral out off control. "Ok, please just listen and let me explain," he waited while she debated in her head on whether or not to listen, eventually, she nodded, giving him permission to speak.

"Yes, I bought the house. We hadn't made up yet and I was miserable. You and Miles were all I ever had, then Miles died and I screwed things up with you, and I honestly thought that was it. So I bought the house. I just wanted something to remember you guys by. And I'm sorry I didn't tell you right after we made up, I was worried about how you would take it. I know that's not really an excuse, but..." Bass stopped talking when he realized that Charlie was staring up at him with tears in her eyes.

"So this is your house?"

Shaking his head, he pulled her close. "No. This is our house."

Charlie nodded, wiping happy tears from her eyes. "But what about all the mon-"

"That money is yours. This was Miles' house, and when he died it passed to you. You sold it, so every cent of that money belongs to you." Charlie seemed to understand, but she looked a little confused, like she wasn't sure what to do with that information. Bass cupped her cheek, making her look into his eyes."Do you want to know what I think?" She nodded her head yes. "I think your dad would want you to put that money to good use, maybe use it to pay off your student loans and get yourself a car that isn't a total piece of shit."

She scoffed and smacked him playfully on the arm, but agreed with him. "Maybe we could use some of it to start saving for the baby's college fund. I think my dad would like that."

"Saving money for a kid that we can't even see yet? Yeah, that sound like something he would like. Miles, ever the practical one." Bass kissed her gently, whispering against her lips, "so you're not mad?"

"No, not really. I mean, I get why you did it. When we were fighting I took my necklace off and locked it in my jewelry box because I was afraid I would loose it, and I didn't want to loose the only thing I had left of you."

Nodding, Bass smiled as he fingered the 'M' pendant resting on her chest. "If you loose it, I'll just buy you another one. You're worth every penny."

Charlie slid her hands up his chest and kissed him deeply before pulling back. "I am, huh?"

Bass groaned in response, moving to kiss her neck. "Absolutely," he started pulling her towards the kitchen, "come on, I'll show you just how much."

January 28, 2031

Charlie is thirty-four weeks pregnant.

It was just after lunch and Charlie was sitting at her desk just outside of Aaron's office. Lately she hadn't even attempted to look professional when coming to work wearing maternity jeans (no underwear, of course), one of Bass' t-shirts (because none of her clothes fit around her stomach), and some slippers she had bought at Wal-Mart that at least passed for real shoes if you didn't look too hard. Basically, being pregnant sucked.

She was tired all the time, had to pee every five minutes, and was likely to scream at anyone who passed to close to her desk with a smile on their face.

Bass had taken to calling her every hour, on the hour, to check in. How was she feeling? Did she need anything? When was the last time she had a snack? As adorable as her boyfriend was, she and her ever growing belly had been plotting his death from the moment she hadn't been able to tie her own shoes.

When the elevator dinged open, Charlie had to resist the urge to shout at whoever had dared take the elevator instead of the stairs. Didn't people know that exercise was important? But she kept her comments to herself as a delivery guy came out of the elevator and said, "I have a delivery for Charlotte Matheson."

She motioned him over to her, indicating that she was who he was looking for. The man had her sign his tablet and then produced a small, dark blue box with a white bow on top, before leaving. Charlie stared down at the box, feeling a sense of deja vu.

Alex joined her at the desk, looking down at the box as well. "From Bass?"

"Has to be," Charlie shrugged, "we all know that he's the only one that calls me that." She removed the lid from the box and peeked inside. There was a small cupcake sitting at the bottom of the box with red frosting on top, as well as what appeared to be a white plastic ring.

Charlie lifted the cupcake out of the box, with a frown on her face. "What the hell?" She looked up at Alex, seeking conformation that it was in fact strange, but Alex wasn't looking at her. She was staring open mouthed at the door that led to the stairwell. Charlie followed her gaze to find none other than Bass coming towards them. He was wearing dark jeans and a white button up, with a few of the top buttons undone. The man couldn't not be sexy even if he tried.

Shaking those thought from her head, Charlie stared up at him questioningly. "What are you do-" But she stopped talking when he came around to her side of the desk and got down on one knee.

"I know that you don't want to get married right now, because you think that if we do that it will be just because of the baby. But I am here, right now, telling you that with or without this child, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. And I'm not saying we have to go out and do it right this second, because I can already hear you saying that there's no way your getting into a wedding dress looking like a, and I'm quoting here, 'whale'. But I don't care if you wear a dress or come in your freakin' sweatpants, I just want to be with you. So please, Charlotte Jean Matheson, will you be my wife?"

He pulled a little black box of of his pocket and opened it, revealing a silver band with a small diamond on top. It was simple and modest, and perfect. Charlie didn't even bother trying to hide the tears in her eyes as she nodded her head up and down, not trusting her voice. Bass shakily slid the ring onto her finger and she pulled him into hug, speaking through her tears against his neck. "Yes, I love you, Bass. Yes."

Bass hugged her tightly to him, well, as much as he could with the basketball protruding from her stomach, and kissed the side of her head. "I love you, too."

Aaron and Priscilla had come out of their offices to join Alex, and the three of them watched the newly engaged couple with smiles on their faces. Aaron pulled out his cell phone and started taking pictures. Priscilla raised an eyebrow at her husband who merely shrugged and said, "what? I promised Ben and Jeremy that I would take pictures so they could see."

Priscilla's eyes widened. "You knew? Why didn't you say anything?"

Aaron gave his wife a very serious look. "I didn't say anything because Bass said that if I didn't keep my mouth shut that he would liberate me from some delicate parts of my anatomy, and I don't know about you, but I rather like those bits right where they are."

Both Priscilla and Alex threw their heads back and laughed. The happy couple were so immersed in each other that neither of them noticed the cell phones snapping picture after picture of their engagement. Years later, Charlie would complain to Bass about him not warning her so she could have at least done something with her hair first.

February 18, 2031

Charlie is thirty-seven and a half weeks pregnant.

Ben stood in the waiting room of the maternity wing at the hospital. Aaron and Priscilla, Alex, Jeremy, Danny, and Rachel were all there as well, each one of them handling the panic in their own way.

Aaron had just returned from his fourth visit to the vending machine while Priscilla was frantically checking her many checklists to make sure they had brought everything. Alex was sitting, curled up in a chair chewing her nails like the entire planet had suddenly run out of food. Jeremy was pacing around the room, stopping occasionally to send out a mass text message to update the many people waiting impatiently at his and Bass' work for news. Danny was sitting down, attempting to distract himself by reading a book, but looking up at the doors leading into the patient rooms every couple of seconds. Rachel sat next to her son, her face completely calm, appearing utterly uncaring about the entire situation, but Ben knew better. His wife always feigned indifference when she was worried.

Ben himself had taken up position just outside the doors leading to the patient rooms. He had angled himself just right, so that when Bass finally came out he would be able to see him coming. It was a waiting game, and it sucked.

Jeremy was on the phone with his girlfriend, trying to assure her that he would be home in time for dinner, which succeeded in distracting Ben long enough for Bass to come bursting through the double doors. His hair was sticking up at odd angles, no doubt from running his hands through it so many times, and his face was tired, but that was nothing compared to the huge grin plastered on his face.

"She's ok! They're ok!"

They all bombarded Bass with questions, everything from 'what's his name, to who does he look like, and how much does he weigh?' Ben finally put an end to all of the questions by putting his hands in the air and yelling, "alright, enough! Let the man speak."

Bass smiled at him gratefully before taking his phone out of his pocket and passing it around. The newborn in the picture was red faced and crying, his face was squishy looking and completely indistinguishable from any other newborn baby. Bass stood tall, with a glimmer in his eyes, telling them proudly, "his name is William Miles Monroe, he's seven pounds, four ounces and seventeen inches long. Doc says he and Charlie are both perfectly healthy."

If the cheers erupting from the waiting room bothered anyone else, no one said anything, they left the family to celebrate the arrival of little Will as loudly as they liked. After a round of hugs from everyone, Bass tugged Rachel with him back towards the doors. He waited until they were away from the others before stopping to say, "look, I know you don't like me. Frankly, I've never like you either, but you are my son's only living grandparent, and I don't want him to miss out just because we can't get over some stupid shit that happened twenty years ago. So I'll tell you what, I won't bring any of it up, if you won't. Plus, your Charlie's mom, and whether she knows it or not, I think she could really use her mother right now."

Rachel stared at the man before her. Bass still looked like Bass, but if the last few months had been any indication, he wasn't the same womanizing drunk she had met all those years ago. But she wasn't quite ready to admit that yet, so instead she gave him a tight smile and said, "congratulations, Bass. I'm happy for you, and for Charlie. Now take me to see my grandson."

He wasn't sure what to make of Rachel's non-answer, but rather than argue on the happiest day of his life, he led her to the room where Charlie was. With his son, their son.

Opening the door revealed an exhausted Charlie, cradling a sleeping Will in her arms. She smiled at him as he entered the room, but it faltered slightly when she saw her mother behind him. "Hey, Mom."

Rachel wasted no time in hurrying over to her daughter, ignoring the slightly shocked look on Charlie's face as she leaned over to coo at her grandson. "Oh my goodness, you are perfect," she poked at his chubby cheek and smiled, the biggest smile Bass had ever seen on the woman.

Charlie stared up at the happy smile on her mother's face and couldn't help but smile right along with her, she was right, Will was perfect. "You wanna hold him?"

"Of course I do, he's my grandson, give him here." And just like that, bossy, know-it-all Rachel was back, but the smile still plastered on her face sort of took away from her attitude. Charlie happily handed over their son, and Bass watched the three of them from the doorway, thinking that maybe they could all get along, for Will's sake.

May 12, 2032

Will is fifteen months old.

Bass wrapped his arms around Charlie's waist from behind, kissing her neck while she looked around the yard at their guests. Aaron and Priscilla's backyard was decorated with twinkling white lights and tables laden with white tablecloths and lots of food, and alcohol of course. Charlie played with the ring on his finger absently, watching little Will tug at his Uncle Aaron's beard. Bass followed her gaze and chuckled when Aaron tried to pull away from Will's searching fingers, succeeding in making the little boy cry.

"He definitely knows how to get what he wants," Charlie said with a smile.

Bass continued to nuzzle his bride's neck, replying, "yeah, he's just like his mother."

Charlie snorted and turned around in his arms, trying not to stumble on the train of her gown. "That's funny, I was going to say that he's just like his father." She snaked her hands around Bass' neck and raised up on her tip toes to kiss him.

"Well at least he's not like Grandma Rachel, then we might have a problem."

She smacked his arm playfully, "be nice. Mom's trying." They both turned to find Rachel chatting away with Jeremy and his girlfriend Duncan.

Bass looked at her seriously. "I know. I'm trying to, it's just hard to suddenly stop hating someone that I've hated for twenty years."

"It's alright, I know your trying. And I know it's hard, but it really means a lot to me." Charlie rested her head in the crook of his neck and Bass kissed her temple gently.

"I love you so much, Mrs. Monroe. I'll do anything for you."

"I know, I love you too, Mr. Monroe."

Present

Charlie kissed Bass one more time before pulling away from him. "So I've been thinking..."

"Uh-oh, what is it every time you say those words that I end up doing some kind of manual labor?"

Charlie rolled her eyes and slid her arms around his waist, "oh, but I think you'll like this job though." She tucked her hands into the back pockets of his jeans, squeezing his ass and grinning up at him.

Bass pulled her close and whispered in her ear, "well, you certainly have my attention."

Giggling, she pulled back to look into her husband's eyes. "I've actually been thinking that maybe... we could, you know... have another baby."

Bass stared down at her with wide eyes. "But I thought you said that one was plenty?"

"I did, but that was a while ago, and now... Will is gonna start school in the fall and I was just thinking that it might be nice for him to have a little brother or sister." She was biting her lip nervously, and Bass had to resist the urge to kiss her. "But if you don't want-"

"Stop talking, Charlie." He kissed her tenderly. "I don't care if you want two kids or ten, as long as we're together, that's all that matters."

Charlie sighed with relief and he leaned down to kiss her deeply, slipping his tongue into her mouth and pulling her flush against him, loving the little sounds she made when he reached down to cup her ass. He started trailing kisses down her neck and she ran her fingers through his hair.

Panting, Charlie tried to push him away. "Bass."

"Mhmmm," he mumbled against her neck.

"Maybe we should wait until after Will's birthday party." Bass pulled away from her neck reluctantly, mumbling to himself about having a tease for a wife, and they both joined the party on the back patio, celebrating their son's birthday and enjoying time with their family.

A/N I honestly can't thank everyone enough for reading, favoriting, following, and reviewing. You guys have all been amazingly supportive of this story and I am so grateful. That being said, while this is the end of the story, there is more story that goes with this. As I was writing, I wrote a bunch of alternate flashback scenes that I am planning on posting as a series of one-shots. They all center around Charlie's relationship with Miles or her relationship with Bass, some are Miles and Bass, but it's mostly Charlie. I'll start posting those when I find the time to edit them. :-) Thanks again for reading, you guys are awsome!