Epilogue

A/N: Hello and welcome to the final chapter! This epilogue is basically going to finish off the story in three primary acts/time periods, either way you want to look at it. If I hadn't confirmed it before, I'll go ahead and confirm it now: This story will be getting a sequel! I can't really get a whole lot of details to you guys yet, but in the author's note at the end of the chapter, I'll go ahead and elaborate on when exactly you can expect the story to be out. Um, I don't really want to tell you anything about this chapter. But, I will ask that if you like Bwen, then you might want to check out my latest story: Ben 10: Bride To Be. If you haven't already done it, I really suggest you check it out. Hope you enjoy the final chapter!

The Next Day...

Last night was probably the best night of my life. For two reasons. One, I killed Vilgax and ensured that what he did to Gwen, would never happen to anyone else. And two, I had found out that Gwen was actually alive, and she had just been hiding while I took care of Vilgax. When I woke up, she was still asleep, still snuggled up against me.

I think that I had truly found happiness. I know that I had said that I found happiness years ago, when we were in Riverside, but I have to be honest. Riverside was an honest to God nightmare. The city didn't even exist in the first place. And Hex with his fear powder or whatever. A straight rip-off of DC Comic's Scarecrow. The real point here, is that I was happy. I was truly happy.

I gently ran my fingers through her hair as she slept. She shifted in my grip as she slept and I continued to run my fingers through her hair. I smiled in spite of myself, as she began to wake up. Once she woke up, she just laid there for a few seconds, before sitting up and looking at me, with my smile still on my face.

"What, are you admiring something?" she asked, as she sat up the best she could.

"Yeah. You." I said, as I wrapped my arms around her.

"You are such a doofus." she said, touching noses with me.

"You are such a dweeb." I said, as we continued to touch noses.

"I'm your dweeb." she said, before she kissed me.

We kissed for several seconds. After we pulled away, we touched noses for a few seconds.

"One more." I said, once we had finished touched each other's noses.

She kissed me again.

"One more." I said, once she had pulled away.

She kissed me again.

"One more." I asked, again.

She smirked, before giggling. I giggled as well, as our lips met again, for the fourth time in under a minute. I savored every second of the kiss.

Later That Day...

I was in the basement, where I had placed my most sacred possession into a shoe box. I had glued the box shut and now I was working on using duct tape to secure even more.

"What's in the box?!" I heard my dad's voice from behind me.

I grinned, as I closed my eyes. I remember before Gwen and I faked our deaths, my mom and dad decided I was ready to watch my first rated R movie. And it was the movie Se7en.

After I had seen it, my father and I had referenced that one line at the end of the movie left and right. Now it seemed he wanted to start that up again. I opened my eyes.

I turned around to see my dad and his brother, Gwen's father, my Uncle Frank standing at the doorway to the stairs.

"Hi, father." I said.

He dipped his head in greeting, with a smile on his face. I turned my head in Uncle Frank's direction.

"Hi, Uncle Frank." I said.

"Hey!" he said, as he smiled.

"So, seriously. What's in the box?" my dad asked.

That's when he looked at my Omnitrix arm. I just smiled.

"That's what's in the box?" he asked.

I just nodded, with a sort of regrettable look on my face.

"But, why?" my father asked, with a confused look on his face.

"Dad, I've learned something in the past couple days. Bellwood doesn't need me anymore. What they need is a new hero, and there's plenty to go around." I said. "Now the world knows the truth. Not that I'm 'Ben 10: The Darkest Knight'. No. No. The truth is, that Bellwood is a city born of heroes."

My dad smiled.

"Well said, my son." he said, in a proud tone.

"Thanks, father." I said.

"You know, Gwen is going to start living here." my dad said.

"Really?" I asked.

"Really. And Uncle Frank and Aunt Natalie have extended their invitation for you to live with them when Gwen isn't here." he said.

"Thanks, I appreciate that she'll start living with us." I said. "But I'm just not sure about the invitation. I appreciate it and I know that Uncle Frank is cool with my relationship with Gwen - "

As I said this, Uncle Frank nodded.

" - but I just don't know about Aunt Natalie. As she and I have butted heads in the past, than I don't see how us living under the same roof would work. If Gwen leaves to go to her parents for a few days here and there, I'll just have to stay here."

"I approve of your relationship with my daughter, Benjamin." Uncle Frank said. "As for my wife, she'll come around. But staying away won't help that. I'm not going to say that you have to be with Gwen everywhere she goes. But you need to try. You need to try to be a part of this new chapter in all our lives."

I smiled at Uncle Frank.

"Do or do not, Uncle Frank. There is no try. And I am going to do all I can." I said.

Uncle Frank gave me a smile of approval.

"I'm glad that you are taking this seriously Ben." he said.

"So, what are you doing with that thing now, Ben?" my dad asked.

"I'm going to bury it. In the backyard." I said. "It'll stay there should I ever need it again. Which I shouldn't."

"I'm proud of you, son." my dad said, before he walked back upstairs.

Uncle Frank was about to follow, but I stopped him.

"Hey, Uncle Frank?" I called.

He turned back around and sat down on the hockey table, where I had put the Omnitrix into a shoe box.

"What's up champ?" he asked.

"Um, I know that Gwen and I will never be apart." I said. "But it's not enough. Do you know if my dad has a ring? Like, a wedding ring?"

Uncle Frank raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"I want Gwen to know how much I love her and us being able to hold hands in public now isn't enough." I said. "Uncle Frank, I want to ask Gwen to marry me."

Uncle Frank just looked at me, a few seconds before a smile came onto his face. He got up and put his hands on my shoulders.

"You have my blessing." he said.

I smiled in return.

"What about a ring?" I asked.

Uncle Frank looked like he was thinking for a few seconds, then he responded.

"You know what? I think I've got just the thing!" he said.

After he left, I stared back at the box.

"This isn't over. Think about whats happened. Think about what can still happen." Vilgax's last words to me before he passed out last night came back to me.

"This better be worth it." I said, as I picked up the box, leaving the basement.

One Hour Later...

I finished refilling the hole, flattening the dirt out over the filled hole, so grass wouldn't be able to grow for some time. I would do that everyday, so the grass wouldn't ever grow again.

"Your mother told me that I'd find you out here." I heard Gwen's voice behind me, accompanied with her footsteps.

I turned around, as I watched her come closer, stopping once she was at my side.

"Hey." I said, as I stabbed the shovel into the dirt, trying to look all bad ass in front of her.

"I was a little weirded out when I saw you out here digging a hole." she said. "So, what's in the hole?"

"I buried the Omnitrix." I said.

"You buried the Omnitrix? Why would you do that?" she asked.

"I don't need it anymore. Although I'm beginning to think that I shouldn't have buried it." I said.

"Why is that?" Gwen asked.

I reached into my pocket and brought out a small, rolled up package of jelly beans. I unrolled it, so I could open it back up again.

"Jelly bean?" I asked her, as I waved the bag at her.

Gwen reached her hand into the bag and took out a few, popping them into her mouth. I tilted back my head and allowed a few of the beans to roll into my mouth.

"It was something that Vilgax said last night, before he passed out. He said this," I said, clearing my throat after I swallowed the chewed up jelly beans. "This isn't over. Think about whats happened. Think about what can still happen."

"He's just trying to scare you Ben. I mean, you ripped off his arm." she said. "Do you really think that he can survive that? He probably went into shock very quickly after it happened."

"Yeah. You're probably right." I said, as I wiped my forehead with my sleeve. "Jesus, it's not even summer yet, it's early May and it's already hot as hell out here."

"You sure it isn't from you digging out in the blazing heat?" she asked.

"Eh. You're probably right." I said.

"Speaking of summer, did your mom tell you that we were off school for the rest of the year?" she asked. "We go back in September when our senior year starts. Summer vacation starts early for us this year!"

"No. No, she did not tell me. That's cool, I guess." I replied. "After the trauma that Vilgax caused us, we need a break. Jesus, he reemerged to attack us last November! That was a couple weeks before Thanksgiving! Can you believe that?"

"No, I cannot believe that. Although I highly doubt that Vilgax had a Earth calendar." Gwen replied.

"I think you might be right about that call." I said, looking back at her as I grinned. "You know, I'd like to go on a road trip this summer with Grandpa Max, but I don't know. It'll take time for our families to get used to us. And being away won't help that."

"That's very mature of you. You've matured a lot since we were ten." she said.

"Yeah. I have. I think you've seen it." I said.

I rolled the package of jelly beans up and put them back into my pocket. While I had my hand in my pocket, I reached down and grabbed the ring. The ring that my mom had given to me when my Uncle Frank told them all what I wanted to do, in what he called a "family meeting".

The participants were my mom, my dad, Uncle Frank, Aunt Natalie, who was reluctant to let me marry her daughter, but she joined the conversation over the phone and Grandpa Max came by to give me his guidance as well.

Gwen was left out of this conversation, for obvious reasons. She was curious afterwards about the conversation, but I dismissed it before going outside to bury the Omnitrix. But anyway, until I could afford my own ring to give Gwen, my mother gave me her wedding ring to borrow, until I was ready to propose to Gwen.

And now was that time.

"Oops." I said, dropping the ring on the ground after I brought it out of my pocket.

"What happened?" Gwen asked, with a confused look on her face.

"I dropped something on the ground while I was digging." I said, as I scanned the ground for the ring.

"Want me to help you look for it?" Gwen asked, as she began to look at the ground as well.

"No, I can I find it." I said, as I got down on one knee, for one, to get a better look and for two, to initiate the next part of my plan.

After searching for about ten seconds, I hadn't found it.

Where is it?

I eventually found it, shining in the grass. I took it in my hand and looked up at Gwen, who gave me a confused look as I opened up her hand, dropped the ring into her palm and closed her fingers and thumb around it.

"What?" she asked, as she gave me a confused look.

"Gwen, open up your hand." I said.

She did what I told her, too which she gasped when she saw what I had placed in her hand.

"Oh, what?" she asked in a tone of both surprise and shock, as she looked at me, with shock.

Her eyes were glistening with what I hoped were tears of happiness.

"Gwendolyn Tennyson," I began. "will you marry me?"

She looked at me with confusion.

"But Ben, we're not even out of high school. We can't get married!" she said. "And besides, this is your mother's wedding ring!"

Now it was my turn to be confused.

"Are you saying you don't want to marry me?" I asked.

"No Ben, that's not what I'm saying." Gwen said. "We're still in high school. So, when do you plan on us getting married? Today? Tomorrow? Next week?"

"Gwen, that's not what I was getting at. Look, when Uncle Frank and my parents said that we could be together no problem, it wasn't enough for me." I said.

I sighed.

"So, I told your dad that I wanted to marry you. That's what the meeting today was about. We don't have to get married today, or tomorrow or a year from now. I just wanted to know if you would marry me when the day comes." I said. "I mean, come on. I really hope you appreciate the amount of courage I had to work up to do this, Gwen."

"I do appreciate it." Gwen said.

I stood up so I could face her face to face, being on one knee didn't seem important anymore.

"So, I'll ask again." I said. "Gwendolyn Tennyson, will you marry me?"

"Yes! Of course I'll marry you!" she exclaimed, as she pulled me into a hug.

I was a bit surprised by her hug, but quickly returned her hug.

"One thousand times yes." she whispered in my ear.

We pulled away from each other, just enough so we could see one another's faces. I brushed a strand of her fiery red hair out the way, so I could see her eyes. I couldn't help but smile as I looked at her.

"I love you, Dweeb." I said.

"I know. I love you, too, Doofus." she said.

With no other words to be said, we kissed.

Three Years Later...

"You may kiss the bride."

As soon as he finished saying those words, I pulled her into a tender kiss. The her, being my beautiful bride, Gwendolyn Tennyson. Today was our wedding day. As we kissed, several people clapped, several people didn't.

A good few things had changed since that day, when I proposed to Gwen three years ago. Gwen's mother, Natalie finally came around and reluctantly attended the wedding. But just because she approved of our relationship didn't mean she had to like it.

Also, most of our family, as well as our extended family, that includes the weird Anodite/alien bloodline (long story that I really don't want to have to tell). Not everyone in the family approved of Gwen and I getting married. But, who cares? Ken, Gwen's brother was my best man. And Kai, oh, don't ask me how, but she was Gwen's maid of honor.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned my head, to see Ken smiling at me.

"Congratulations, bro." he said, still smiling.

Oh, yeah. Ken and I are brother-in-laws now.

"Thanks." I whispered, as I awkwardly shook his hand with my back to him.

This is the best day of my life!, I thought, as I stared into Gwen's enchanting, emerald green eyes.

Of course, the best day of my life was yet to come.

Two Years Later...

"Just look at him. He's beautiful." I said, gazing lovingly at the small thing wrapped in a bundle of blue towels.

"I can see him, Ben." Gwen said, in a tired voice.

"He's just too beautiful. Hi there, Kenny." I whispered to my newborn son, as I gently touched his nose with mine. "I'm your daddy. Yes, I am. Yes, I am."

I heard someone chuckling in the hospital room. I looked up and at everyone in the room. My parents, Gwen's parents, Gwen's brother and my brother-in-law, Ken, Grandpa Max and my friends Kevin, Kai, Cash and J.T.

I scanned the room for who was chuckling and my eyes fell on them. While keeping hold on our newborn son, I pointed at them.

"God father." I said, pointing at Kevin.

Both of his eyebrows rose in surprise, but he said nothing. I pointed at Kai next.

"God mother." I said, as I pointed at her.

Kai looked even more surprised than Kevin. She looked at Gwen and pointed at herself, mouthing the word: Me?

"If it's what he wants, I'm okay with it." Gwen said after a few seconds, in the same tired tone.

I looked at everyone in the room with Gwen and I.

"Um, excuse me everyone? Can you give Gwen and I a couple minutes?" I asked.

They all either nodded or said "of course", before filing out of the room.

Grandpa Max stayed in the room to talk to me for a couple of minutes.

"Hey Ben, did you hear that NASA is going to attempt to terraform and colonize Mars here in the next month or two?" he asked.

"I think I did hear about that." I whispered, as my newborn son shifted just slightly in his sleep. "You know what? I did hear about that! I was actually going to volunteer for the training and to be on the crew to go up there. But then, Gwen found out she was pregnant and well, you know how it is."

Grandpa Max nodded.

"I do know how it is, Ben. You and Gwen will be great parents." he said. "Congratulations."

"Thank you, Grandpa Max." I said.

After that, he left the hospital room, leaving Gwen and I alone.

"I can't believe it, Gwen." I said, as I sat down in a chair next to her hospital bed. "Look at what we've created together!"

Gwen gave me a tired smile.

"You said that already, Doofus." she said.

"I know. I just can't stop saying it. I love you, Dweeb." I said, getting up to give her a quick peck on the lips.

"Forever and always." she said, once I had sat back down.

I looked back at our son, who had opened his eyes and was looking up at me.

"Look, he has your eyes." I said, as I got up to show Gwen.

"He has our eyes, Dweeb." she said, in a loving tone, as she giggled.

I looked back at Kenny, who was blinking as he looked at me.

"He's just too beautiful." I said again. "I love you, Kenny Maxwell Tennyson."

I heard a newborn begin to fuss, but it wasn't Kenny.

"Shh, little one. Everything is just fine." Gwen whispered to the small bundle of joy wrapped in pink towels she had in her arms.

I smiled in spite of myself, as I got up and walked over to the other side of the bed. I looked at my daughter wrapped in pink towels, who was beginning to fall back asleep.

"I didn't forget about you, Jenny Sandra Tennyson." I whispered, as I gently kissed my daughter's forehead. "I love you, just as much as your brother."

When Gwen and I found out that she was pregnant with twins, we were scared at first. But, that was soon replaced with excitement. Sure, there may be accidents along the way, not to imply that we got pregnant by accident, but there are lots of pleasant surprises as well.

"Ben, you always dub a new chapter of our life." she said. "Like you dubbed when Vilgax died, 'A New Beginning'. What is this chapter of our lives called?"

I thought for a moment, before speaking.

"Birth of the Tennyson Twins." I said, beaming with pride.

"That's fair." Gwen said.

I smiled, so proud of not only myself, but proud of Gwen as well, proud of what we created together.

"This is the best day of my life!" I said.

The End...?

A/N: And that's the end of this story that I've written over the course a couple years. So? Was the ending to this story satisfactory? So, just a recap of this chapter. Ben buried the Omnitrix in his backyard, feeling like he didn't need it anymore. Ben told Gwen's father that he wanted to marry Gwen, and he gave him his blessing. Gwen proposes to Gwen, they get married. Their twin children Kenny Maxwell Tennyson and Jenny Sandra Tennyson were born and that's pretty much where it ends.

Now to the details about the sequel. You guys probably won't see a sequel to this story for about a month, we'll see. The story is going to be called "Ben 10: The Vilgaxian Order". And it's going to take place about twenty one years in the future, when Ben and Gwen are in their early forties. There is going to be a little Bwen here and there, but the story is ultimately going to focus on their children's lives. There will be quite a few original characters created just for the story.

So, thanks for being so patient for this chapter, the epilogue. It's been a blast writing this story. I have very much enjoyed it. So, without anything else that needs to be said, look around for the new story in about a months time, I'm going to go, so have a fantastic day and bye!

Update: As of October 9th, 2017, the sequel is now up!