A/N: As the fact that this is the epilogue makes apparent, this is the end of the story. Thanks to all who read and reviewed!

July 18, 2015

Looking radiant in her wedding dress, Keesha began her walk down the aisle, her father by her side. Ahead was her soon to be husband Casey, flanked by his groomsmen. Keesha looked to the left to her bridesmaids: Wanda on the far left, Dorothy Ann in the middle, and Maid of Honor Phoebe closest to the altar itself. Exactly twelve seconds into Keesha's walk, Phoebe started crying. From the pews, timekeeper Tim pumped his fist. He had won the gang's bet on how long it would take Phoebe to cry once "Here Comes the Bride" started playing.

Finally, the time had come. Keesha reached the altar, grabbed Casey's hand, and listened the priest. Their vows each concluded with "I love you and I like you." Through the powers vested in the priest from the state of Ohio, the two were now officially Mr. and Mrs. Casey Adams.

The reception had been going on for about two hours and the party was in full swing. The rest of the gang and their significant others were having a grand old time, all in various states of inebriation. Eventually, the group began to congregate at their assigned table (Keesha and Casey having been smart enough to not intermingle them with the other guests).

The first two to sit down were Arnold and Kathleen. The two were having a blast on the dance floor, but Kathleen needed a break. Now five months pregnant, she tired more easily, and as much as she loved dancing, her feet could only handle so much at the moment. The two were soon joined by Ralphie and his date.

"Hey Arn. Hey Kathleen," Ralphie started. "This wedding is certainly going smoother than yours did." He tried to wink but predictably failed.

"Well, at this wedding a certain person hasn't gotten wasted and puked everywhere," shot back Kathleen, her voice a mix of teasing and irritation.

Ralphie blushed. "Good point. This time though I have a reason not to drink so much." He put his arm around his girlfriend and smiled.

"A little late for us, but I'm glad for you Ralphie," Kathleen responded. "Right, Arnold?"

"Um, yeah, sure," Arnold stammered.

"Really, Arnold? You still find me dating Ralphie awkward?" Tiffany Woods asked. "You and I hadn't seen each other since high school."

Arnold attempted to say something, but trailed off. He turned to Kathleen, who just laughed at him. "You are too much sometimes dear. I'm sorry for my husband, Tiffany. He clearly hasn't gotten over the fact he was a man-whore in high school."

Tiffany smiled. "No problem. The important thing is this guy next to me is happy."

"Oh I am," Ralphie smiled back and kissed her. "Likewise to you." Tiffany nodded her consent. The two talked a little at the reunion, but it was a few months later before they saw each other again. Tiffany had moved back to Walkerville to work as a nurse and was happy to see a familiar face. They got to talking, and here they were, four months into a relationship. It added to a period of transition for Ralphie. The previous fall he started working part time on his Masters in criminology. It would take a while, but that would be his ticket out of the tedium and danger of being a beat cop.

Their affection was interrupted by the arrival of Carlos and Martina to the table. "Ah, good to see you two are still in the 'everything is awesome' phase of your relationship," Carlos teased. He sat down in a chair. Martina sat down on his lap. The two wasted no time in semi-tastefully exploring each others bodies. Martina's engagement ring was worn prominently on her left hand. The question was finally popped in September of the prior year, and the wedding for the moment was scheduled for March 2016, presuming that was enough time for Martina's family in Colombia to make arrangements to travel to the States.

"Jeez, how have you two managed to get hornier since the engagement?!" exclaimed a disgusted Dorothy Ann, who entered the scene at that exact moment.

"We want to get plenty of practice so we're a well-oiled machine on our wedding night," Carlos said with a grin.

CARLOS! GROSS!

"Oh, don't pretend it isn't natural," Martina chided. "But in the interest of peace we'll stop for now." She got off Carlos's lap. "At least until we hit the hotel room we booked for the evening."

"Anyway," DA interjected, desperately trying to change the subject. "Kathleen, Arnold, do you know the sex of the baby yet?"

"We actually want to be surprised this time," Arnold started.

"But we think it's a girl. There are parts about this pregnancy that feel different that the first time, and that's the hunch I'm getting," Kathleen finished. "Also, are they any pickles in this building?"

"I'm not sure that's how it works, but OK," DA responded.

"Hey, you didn't become a gynecologist, so don't pretend you're an expert," Carlos snarked.

"Shut up Carlos," DA shot back. "I did have to study…down there too in medical school."

Looking around awkwardly, Ralphie figured it was his turn to change the subject, "How is the doctoring going anyway, DA?"

DA smiled. "Still exhausting, but I can't complain." In the past year, DA had officially become a cardiology resident. She found the human heart fascinating even though it dismayed her how people destroyed it. Of course, that would keep her in demand once her residency ended, thus increasing her chances of getting out of Hartford. Even though it was three years out, she still counted down. 1047 days to go…

At that moment, Tim and his date joined the party. They looked slightly flushed from dancing.

"I thought you didn't dance Tim," DA chided, albeit with a playful smile on her face.

"Circumstances changed" was the response from Tim, who turned to his date, Annie, and grinned. After the reunion, he took DA's advice (or nagging, as he put it) and asked Annie out. She said yes, and while dating while living together started out a little awkward, it was working more than any of their previous relationships to date.

"Good for you man," Arnold said. "Who knows, maybe you'll be next to have one of these things."

Tim and Annie both struggled with that insinuation. Finally, Annie spoke, "Thanks Arnold, but I don't think we're at that point yet. We'd like to live together, just us, first."

"I'd settle with just not living with Jeff anymore," Tim quipped. He then sighed. "Can't quite afford it yet though."

"Art business not going well?" Carlos asked.

"The usual for both of us. Getting by just enough so we don't have to move back home," Tim responded.

"Yeah, could be better. Could be worse. We both still believe, and that's the important thing," Annie stated, putting her arm around Tim's waist, who responded in kind. Professionally, things hadn't changed much, but Tim still was committed and had no regrets, save for one. He was behind in recreating his drawing from the reunion for everyone. Only two were finished. Wanda received the first copy (she played the war veteran card). Keesha received the second as a wedding gift.

"Good to hear. Besides, you can't be the next to get married. It's my turn," Carlos said with fake pride. Martina tried to stifle her laughter, but couldn't.

Ralphie put up his hand. "Are you sure about that? Because I think my mom and Pheebs's dad are going to be next at the rate they're going."

The gang took a look at the dance floor, where Dr. Tennelli and Mr. Terese were in each others arms, seemingly oblivious to the rest of the world. Their kids' hunches on reunion night were correct, and their on again/off again relationship was very much on, and this time it seemed certain some sort of ceremony was forthcoming in the near future.

The group's eyes moved towards two women coming towards them, in the form of a slightly inebriated Wanda and a peevish looking Phoebe. The taller woman spoke first.

"What's this about you all betting on how long it would take me to cry at the ceremony?"

Tim turned to Wanda with an annoyed look. "Why did you tell her, dumbass?"

Wanda gave him a wry smile. "Because seeing her mad is fun. Plus, it's keeping her mind off having to give the maid of honor speech."

"Ugh, don't remind me!" Phoebe rubbed her hands together in nervousness.

"How's the job going, Pheebs?" DA asked in an attempt to calm her down.

Phoebe beamed. "Wonderful! It's…it's felt right since day one." She paused, then frowned again and folded her arms. "I'm still mad at you all though."

Carlos laughed. "No matter how old we get, making fun of Phoebe will always be a favorite pastime of ours."

Her sentimentality being fodder for mockery aside, the last year had been an exhilarating whirlwind for Phoebe. After giving the job offer from the animal shelter much thought, she ultimately decided to take it. She tossed the pros and cons of both jobs in her mind over and over again before she remembered the advice from her father and Miss Frizzle. While she liked living in San Francisco and still felt passion for social work, she thought about how everyone she loved and cared about lived either in Walkerville or close enough to visit. She also thought about how much she loved animals. Keesha was right. Running an animal shelter (eventually) was the perfect Phoebe job.

Resigning from her job in San Francisco was the hardest thing Phoebe had ever done. While her bosses and most of her cases seemed to understand, some clearly felt betrayal. Phoebe's heart went out to them, but back in Ohio, there wasn't much she could do for them anymore except give them her contact information and pray for them (which she did almost every day).

When she got to the animal shelter though, it was obvious from the start the work fit her like a glove. It took some time to convince some of the older workers that she wasn't still just the enthusiastic kid volunteer, but otherwise it was clear she could handle the job as well as the next level when it was time. With that, she felt comfortable setting down some roots. Within a few months, Phoebe was renting a small house with a yard big enough for her two rescue dogs.

Wanda broke the silence. "Damn, this got boring real quick." She took a swig of clear liquid from an unlabeled bottle.

"Is that vodka, Wanda?" Arnold asked.

"No, it's water, thank you very little," Wanda shot back in irritation. She handed the bottle to Kathleen. "You try it."

Kathleen took a sip while Arnold looked on nervously. "It's water, dear. Relax."

"Since I started flight school, I have to be more careful," Wanda said with pride. "I even gave up pot."

Ralphie had picked that moment to take a drink of water himself, a drink he immediately coughed up in surprise.

"Really Ralphie? Did you think I was toking up all that time I was in the Air Force?"

"No, but..."

"Grow up Ralphie."

"Did Wanda just tell someone to grow up? Did we enter the Twilight Zone?" asked a bewildered Tim. In response, Wanda folded her arms in mock indignation.

Phoebe stepped in this time to clean up the mess. "We're all happy for you, Wanda. We know it hasn't been easy." The others nodded. Each of them had been on the receiving end of at least one late night call from a distressed Wanda. Each of them had to help calm her down when the trauma of her past became too much. However, it was enough to convince Wanda to seek counseling, and it was starting to help. The late night distress calls were becoming less and less frequent, and a few months ago, Wanda entered flight school. It will take a while before she can make a living flying, but for once, Wanda felt like she had some control over her life.

Finally, the bride joined the group. "So, here's where you all have been hiding."

"Where's the husband?" Carlos replied.

Keesha took a deep breath, realizing at that moment Casey was now her husband. "Pow-wowing with his brother to make sure he doesn't say anything stupid in the best man speech."

"Ugh, no speech mentioning please," Phoebe begged.

Keesha smiled and patted her best friend on the back. "Relax Pheebs, you'll be fine."

At that moment, Kathleen stood up. "Sorry everyone, I need to head to the ladies' room. This is what happens when a baby decides to rest on your bladder." She looked at Arnold. "Also, I was serious about the pickles."

Arnold was about to stand up, but was stopped by Martina. "Take a break Arn, I'll go find some pickles."

Annie also stood up. "I'll go with you."

As Kathleen started to walk to the bathroom, she was followed by Tiffany. "I'll join you. Make sure everything's alright." Kathleen started to protest, but saw the look on Tiffany's face and smiled in recognition in what that look meant.

The four ladies left, leaving just the original Frizzle eight sitting at the table.

"They all left so they could make fun of us, didn't they?" Carlos asked.

"Probably," DA replied dryly.

"Hey, they voluntarily entered our craziness," Tim noted. "They've earned the right to blow off steam."

"And maybe they wanted to give the eight of us some alone time," Phoebe suggested.

A long silence permeated, but for once it wasn't awkward. It was a silence of a group of friends who had been together long enough that words were no longer needed to fill every single moment. Even if that silence, they barely noticed the noise of the rest of the reception still humming at full bore. It was as if the world was just that table with the eight of them in it.

Eventually, Arnold broke the silence with the question that will be forever on their minds. "Any word from Ms. Frizzle?"

Ralphie, Wanda, and Phoebe - the three currently living in Walkerville - each shook their heads. "Nothing since that night," Ralphie said sadly. Wanda grabbed her copy of the note from that night from her purse and read it yet again.

"You really keep that with you all the time?" asked Keesha.

"Yeah, so what?"

Keesha started to say something, but backed off. "Nothing."

"Yeah, c'mon Keesh," Carlos interjected. "Be honest, who here refers to the Friz's note all the time?" Eight hands immediately went up. "There you go."

"Touche," admitted Keesha. She turned to the rest of the group. "Seriously though, thank you for all for coming. It wouldn't have been the same without you all here."

"You're welcome, but of course we'd all be here," DA replied.

"Yeah, life keeps us from each other most of the time, but the big stuff…that's what close friends do. They share those moments." Ralphie added.

"That might be the most profound thing you've ever said, Ralphie," remarked Tim, who got a scowl in return for his troubles.

"Dick."

"And another heartwarming moment between us is gone," Keesha snarked.

"What did you expect? It's how we are," Carlos replied with a smile.

Arnold stood up to get the group's attention. "Well, before the others get back and we have to rejoin civilization, a toast to twenty great years of friendship," he started.

"And here's to another twenty years," added Ralphie.

"And more!" finished Wanda.

The eight clinked their glasses together.