A/N: I would first, like to extend my gratitude for all of you guys out there that have read, reviewed and waited patiently as I wrote this whole series. That being said, this is in fact, the end of the Ben!Verse. When I wrote that first story, I never expected it to take on a life of its own. But it did and I hope you guys enjoyed the ride. Will I ever write more stories in this verse? Probably not. I have the Rhapsody Verse to finish as well (the next story has been sent to the beta so now we wait...) as well two other stories that I have been writing for the past year. But you know, who knows really. I originally planned to never write more than one story with Ben and his family and look what happened. lol. So maybe someday.

Once agian, much thanks to my sister who helped type this last chapter.

So without further adieu, here is the last chapter. I hope you enjoyed the story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Epilogue

"Years from now, we're gonna look back on this moment and wonder why this day wasn't catalogued in history."

"Ben, shut up."

"AJ, seriously, look at him. I mean, just look at him."

"I can see him Ben. And I have been looking at him. I've been looking at him since you first pointed him out."

"But AJ. I mean look at him!"

"Ben."

"He's…look at him."

"Ben, he's beautiful."

"I mean, I made that. Half of that little guy is me. Isn't that amazing?"

"I never thought I see the day that you became a daddy Benjamin."

"Anthony James."

"What?"

"That's his name AJ. I couldn't name him Anthony Junior but Anthony James has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

"Ben, I don't-"

"I just figured, might as well keep the name in the family."

"Ben…"

"Because AJ? You'll always be part of my family."

"Ben, I don't…you have no idea…"

"Just remember though, as their only Uncle, you are so first in line for babysitting."

AJ looked at his best friend that had somewhere along the way become his brother and smiled.

He liked being part of this family.

Life was funny sometimes. Years ago, Tony would have never imagined himself being in this particular situation.

But life was like that most of the time. But Tony had learned that when life give you lemons, you make lemonade.

And when life gives you meatballs…

"On top of spaghetti," Tony sang in his kitchen, almost five months to the day since Benny had been released from the hospital, "All covered with cheese…"

"I loss my poor meatball," Benny chimed in, his singing interrupted with small fits of laughter, "When somebodied sneezed."

"It rolled off the table," Tony opened his arms wide, increasing the volume of his voice, "And onto the floor…"

"And then my poor meatball, rolled out of the door!" Benny yelled, laughing almost hysterically now.

"Tony," Morgan scowled good naturedly as she interrupted them, "That's enough. Make all the jokes you want-"

"It rolled in the garden, and under a bush," Tony stood quickly, evading the noodle Morgan threw at him when he ignored her and continued to sing, "And then my poor meatball, was nothing but mush."

"Run Uncle Tony run!" April cried out, "Before Momma gets you!"

"The mush was as tasty, as tasty could be," Tony invaded another noodle and dodged an oven mitt, "And then the next summer, it grew into a tree!"

"Hurry Uncle Tony, hurry!" Benny applauded from his seat at the dinner table, the brace on his arm making it difficult to clap but he did anyway, "Don't let her grab the spoon!"

"The tree was all covered," Tony laughed when Morgan missed him with a tomato, "All covered in moss!"

"And on it grew meatballs!" April yelled, helping her Uncle finish the song.

"And tomato sauce!" Benny howled, laughing and giggling at the whole situation.

"So if you eat spaghetti," Tony picked right up from where his niece and nephew left off, which only caused Morgan to become even more determined to smother him in her tomato sauce.

"All covered with cheese," Tony breathed, a bit winded with his attempts to evade capture.

"Hold on to your meatball! Least somebody sneeze!" Everyone, except Morgan, yelled at the top of their lungs as they finally finished the song.

"Your mine!" Morgan, using techniques that had been honed with her three children, finally tackled the NCIS Field Agent and using special abilities that were only endowed to mothers, Morgan wrestled Tony into submission using only a sauce covered spoon.

"Get him Momma!" Benny called out running over to the other side of the kitchen.

"Make him pay for making fun of you dropping all the meatballs!" April clamored in, applauding her mom's efforts to get Tony to stop laughing.

"Traitors!" Tony yelled, finally wiggling free and grabbing all three of them, "You're mine!"

"No!" April and Benny called out as they tried to slither their way out of Tony's grasp.

"Resistance is futile!" Tony said in his best evil voice.

"What's happening?" AJ asked, walking into the kitchen. Observing the plated of spaghetti on the table and the lack of Morgan's meatballs, AJ looked at the four people on the floor before guessing, "Mom dropped the meatballs and you sang that song again, didn't you Uncle Tony?"

Throwing his head back and laughing maniacally, Tony nodded, "Again!"

"No!" Morgan yelled but it was too late. Resistance was, after all, futile.

Tony paused momentarily, looking at the four people before him.

There was AJ, who would always bear the weight of being the oldest, who would always remember what it felt like to lose a father and have another hurt him. A boy who had had to grow up way too soon for his family.

Morgan, who would always carry the scars of losing two husbands, one to a bullet and another to the kind of evil that festers in one's soul. A woman who probably would never be fully comfortable with men she did not know and who would always bear the bruises and marks on her heart.

April, who at such a young age learned what it meant to be hurt and to have someone you love hurt another loved one. A little girl who would probably never understand what had happened and who would one day want to know why.

And finally Benny, who would probably always look for monsters in the dark. A little boy who would one day feel the ache in his arm and remember what had happened to him the night the Jabberwocky died.

A family who had already gone through so much and yet, had so many more years to go.

These four people were not the families that had been behind Tony's childhood TV screen nor were they the family that Tony use to dream about having when he was a kid at Military school.

"Come on AJ," Tony smiled and yelled for his oldest nephew, "Alright, you know you like the song, now break out that trumpet, alright we'll start in G major okay. April, it's not nice to do that to your brother and Benny, I see you buddy, don't you dare wield that noodle without my permission. Morgan just sit tight because you aren't going anywhere. Alright everyone ready? GO!"

"On top of spaghetti…."

But they were his family.

And years later when Morgan and he said the "I dos" and AJ was off winning track races for Ohio State and April was in the backyard blowing up things with the Chemistry Lab set that Abby had given her and Benny was quietly observing his new dad show him how to change the oil on a Mustang and Morgan was busy inside with the babies, Tony would look up and smile at them.

Because in the morning he would wake up for his run and he would catch a glance of another runner running right beside him.

And he would smile and so would Ben.

Because Ben always won these races.

And Tony didn't mind that he would follow Ben, follow him the whole way home-back to his family.

Back to their family.

And that was all Tony had ever hoped for.

"Hey AJ?" Ben called out. They would be graduating soon, Tony going to college and Ben off to the Army. But for right now they were waiting for P.E. to start.

"What Ben?" AJ asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He was definitely not a morning person and all he wanted was a few more hours of sleep.

Ben just smiled at his best friend's lack of enthusiasm this early in the morning and looked towards the other end of the field, seeing something that Tony couldn't see.

"I'll race you," Ben said seconds before he took off, looking back at Tony one last time.

"And one day, I'm gonna catch you!" AJ yelled before taking off after his best friend.

And while his father would hate the fact that AJ always came in second place, AJ had pretty much given up being the kind of son that his father wanted him to be.

Because Ben was the runner.

And while AJ wasn't his father's son, AJ would always be Ben's best friend.

"Hurry up AJ!" Ben called out somewhere in front of him, breaking AJ out of his thoughts.

AJ smiled, knowing that Ben would never leave him behind.

"Right behind you Ben!"

FIN