Epilogue
"He's good for her, I think," DG said absently, playing her fingers in the grass she was sitting in.
"Think so?" Cain asked, his own eyes on the laughing pair quite a ways away from them.
"Well, I think they're both good for each other," she revised. "She needs a good friend. A sister's a sister, but nothing beats a best friend."
Cain's eyes flicked down to the girl leaning up against his chest, twirling long blades of grass in her fingers.
"Besides, he makes her laugh," she continued. "She didn't laugh much before." At the pause that took them, her eyes shot up to his, almost accusatory. "What?"
"You," he said simply. He acted as if he wouldn't expound, and she punched him lightly on the shoulder. He offered a dry laugh as he rubbed the offended shoulder. "You're a piece of work, Princess."
"Keeps you on your toes," she responded, curling back up against him.
Her eyes retreated back across the garden to watch her sister and royal aide Ambrose walk amongst the flowers. She was subdued, with a pretty smile on her face as she watched Ambrose pontificate. He used his arms far too much when he talked, and Az had divulged to DG that she often had to duck out of the way as he gesticulated excitedly. He spoke with his hands, it seemed, and he talked a lot. Cain and DG, sitting together under a tree whose leaves seemed to sparkle with crystals, only caught snippets of their conversation.
"I think I lost an electron, the other one says," Glitch said, swinging one arm around to help the words out of his mouth.
"Wait, wait," Az said quickly, her shoulders shaking with laughter. "I've heard this one."
"What?" Glitch looked taken aback. "Who? When? Has someone been stealing my jokes again?"
"You did. Not five minutes ago, among the hydrangeas," Az countered, smiling broadly.
Glitch blinked oddly in thought, and Ambrose was quick to take his place. "Forgive me, sometimes my synapses don't fire right."
"You're forgiven, Ambrose," Az replied, her fingers brushing along a flower's petals.
"Please," he offered a full, kind smile. "Call me Glitch."
"Come on," Cain said at last, pulling himself out from under her. She took the short tumble into the grass, her support gone. She pushed herself up on both hands to pout up at him as he dusted off his pants.
"I was comfortable," she groused. She took his proffered hand and picked the stray grass from her own long skirt. "I don't want to go back yet. Mother's gonna have a fit when she finds out I skipped my history lesson."
Cain's mouth dropped open. "DG, you skipped a lesson?"
"I did it all the time on the Other Side," she said, waving a hand flippantly at the question. "Besides, you're way more interesting than history. All my tutor needs is a pink bow, and I could call her Umbridge."
His eyebrows drew down slowly in confusion. His mouth opened to tell her something, but she was up on her toes to kiss him before he had the chance. As always, she left him stunned in her wake. He caught up to her more quickly than usual, that time, his hand on her upper arm to spin her back into him.
She had her eyes closed, smiling brightly as she waited for him to return the favor. When he didn't immediately press his lips to hers, she cracked one eye open to stare up at him. He had fixed her with a stern gaze, a hand on each shoulder. She sighed and rolled her eyes.
"What? Please don't lecture me, Wyatt, I've had quite enough of that."
"Jeb's coming in today," he said, his voice low. DG's sarcastic smile fell off her face rather quickly.
"And Emma?"
Cain nodded, and she noticed that he had taken to running his thumbs up and down her arms as he held her square to him. She lowered her gaze to hover somewhere near his throat.
"Have you heard anything?" she asked.
"He sent word that he was headed down a day or so ago, and to make up a room for him and his girl. They're like to stick around for a few days. Resistors in the west are finally laying down arms, so Jeb's free for longer than usual this time." He paused, his eyes tracing her face in a way that was familiar and comforting to her. "They're getting married," he told her at last.
DG's smile brightened almost immediately. "Are we invited? Do I have to wear an awful bridesmaid dress?"
Cain cocked an eyebrow at her, and she shook her head.
"Nevermind. Another weird Other Sider tradition." A sigh escaped her, and she glanced over her shoulder at Glitch and Az in the garden. "What's the occasion?"
"The Queen and Consort's anniversary dinner," Cain returned. "And yes," he cut in before she could remark, "you have to wear a dress."
"If I'm wearing a dress, you're wearing a tux. I'll make sure the tailors take in the butt, so I'll have something to do all night."
She took his slack-jawed, red-faced silence and twisted it to her advantage, pressing herself up and in for a prolonged kiss. Just as she felt that he was giving in, he pulled back, only just. When she pouted and tried to move back into him, he pulled his head back even further, smiling.
"Tease," she grumbled.
"Back to the palace," he ordered. "We can avoid your mother all you want after Jeb and Emma get in."
"Deal." They shook hands on it, and walked arm in arm through the garden and back to the castle at Finaqua.
They waited together in the reception hall, a rather squat room in comparison to the high ceilings that dominated the rest of the palace. For the upcoming celebration, the walls had been decorated with hanging tapestries that seemed to change color when one walked past them. One moment, they seemed blue, and at the next, a deep purple. They reminded DG of a peacock's feathers, and warm memories of zoo trips brightened her face every time she passed them.
They spoke in quiet voices, for anything above a whisper tended to echo anywhere in Finaqua. Cain was sure it had something to do with magic, and DG claimed his fear was based on his inadequate knowledge of magic in the first place. DG was apparently getting quite good at it, having doubled her efforts after the run-in with Zero and his Longcoats two months previous. As their conversation wound here and there, Cain's fingers ran absently over the tops of hers. DG wordlessly observed the pale band around his ring finger where he'd once worn gold, and wasn't sure how she should feel about the empty space.
The door opened on the other side of the room, and Cain shot up out of his seat in an instant. DG muttered something about him moving quickly for an old man, but he'd learned to ignore her jabs about their age gap. Standing in the doorway were Jeb Cain and Emma Bradley. Cain was across the room quickly, pulling his son into a tight embrace. DG was at his side, pulling Emma into her own arms like she was greeting some long-lost redheaded sister.
"Fancy meeting you here," DG said with a lopsided grin as she pulled away. "I heard the news."
Emma's face surprisingly blanched for a moment, but Jeb stepped in to get a hug from DG, speaking as he did.
"Don't make too much of a fuss over it," Jeb implored. "It'll be something simple, friends and family."
"Don't think you're getting out of being Maid of Honor," Emma returned, her color back in her pretty face. "I already spoke with your mother, and she's agreed to let you go."
The girls exchanged a smile, flicking eyes to father and son as if they shared a wonderful inside joke. DG supposed that they did, and wondered how many of her friends back in Kansas would have laughed at her situation--attached to a man twice her age, his son marrying a girl no older than DG. Then again, it was Kansas. She only had to stretch her imagination so far.
"Well, come on in," DG made a motion for their guests to step past them. "Mi casa es su casa, and all that nonsense."
"I don't understand her half of the time," she heard Cain mutter to his son.
Jeb brought about a smile, something that DG had been glad to see. It had taken a long and arduous talk to get him to believe that his father wasn't some lecherous old man pawing at a princess--Cain forgave him quickly; he hadn't known his father for eight years, and there was no telling what to expect from a man he hardly knew. Once Jeb had seen the two of them through a week, he'd backed off with his well-wishes, and that was all he'd had to say on the subject. DG was seeing him for the first time since he'd left nearly a month and a half ago, to hold fortifications against the few straggling Longcoat resistors in the west.
Emma, of course, had been all for it. She'd secretly confessed an interest in whether Jeb and his father were alike in more ways than one. DG had blushed furiously and blustered something about bases that Emma thankfully didn't understand.
As the four walked together further into the reception hall, DG felt a hesitant hand on her shoulder. She turned to Emma, whose pale and freckled hand lay gently on DG's upper arm. Her eyes said everything. They said 'girl time' and the time was now. DG nodded minutely, then whirled on the boys.
"Why don't you two catch up on manly things?" She took Emma's hand in hers and drove her back toward the door. "We'll be in the garden."
"DG--" Cain protested, looking out of the loop.
DG's eyes shot back over her shoulder. "Girl stuff."
That was obviously enough to set Cain back, for he turned back around to face his son with an oddly stone-faced expression. He had obviously inquired into the meaning of 'girl-stuff' before and had likely suffered for it. Jeb nearly laughed.
They sat together on a white marble bench near a row of pretty orange flowers that DG had yet to learn the name of. The sounds of Az and Glitch were far off, probably getting lost in the maze again. It seemed to be their favorite new pastime.
Emma kneaded her hands together, her eyes focused on her knuckles as opposed to the flowering plants surrounding them. DG wondered absently what marital advise she would have to offer, and why Emma seemed so adamant on getting DG alone.
"I'm pregnant," Emma said quickly, as if it was painful.
DG's smile brightened immensely. "Emma, that's great! How'd you find out? You know when it's due?"
"I--" Her voice cut DG off, but both girls stopped talking at the same time. Emma was the first to continue. "The doctor told me that I'm about two months along."
DG's smile remained for a moment, unsure of what the problem was. When Emma's familiar tears returned, DG's smile fell several notches. After another precious few moments, DG's face fell completely.
"Two months," she repeated. "Oh, Emma. You don't think... Did you and Jeb...?"
"I don't know," she replied, her voice suddenly wet. She paused to wipe at her eyes. "To be honest, Jeb and I slept together the night before the ball, so it's completely possible. It's just..." She turned to face the princess, and the most terrified look seized her eyes. "DG, what if it's his?"
A chill went through DG at the memories her thin, fearful voice evoked. Fire in the glassy, staring eyes of Adrian Zero, pleading for his life without words. The way rage had filled her to her eyebrows at the mere thought of what he'd done to Emma. The way she felt guiltily satisfied at the sound he made as he hit the floor of the orchestra pit.
"I want it to be Jeb's," Emma continued. "But every night, I hear him. Like he's still breathing in my ear. I wake up and I swear that he's right there next to me, not Jeb. He's never going to leave me alone, DG, not even when he's two months dead." Her voice was trying to be strong, but as she wiped the tears away, even DG felt a lump trying to coalesce in her throat.
"Whose do you think it is?" DG asked, squeezing the girl's hand tightly.
Emma sniffled piteously, her red hair falling down into her eyes. After a long moment, she said simply: "Jeb's." She nodded slowly, biting her lip.
"Then it's Jeb's baby," DG replied encouragingly. "I know nothing I say is gonna make it any better or worse than it already is, but listen to me, Emma. That boy loves you, and he's gonna marry you. If you think it's his baby, and he thinks it's his baby, then it's his."
"You don't know, DG," Emma cried. "He was all talk with you. What if it'd been you, and you didn't know if it was Cain's baby orhis? What would you think?" Her eyes were full of tears, just a step below accusatory.
DG shook her head. "We haven't..." She snapped her mouth shut, rethought her words, then tried again. "I'd be just as scared as you," she said finally.
This, surprisingly, seemed to calm the redhead, and her broken sobs devolved into hiccups full of tears. DG pulled Emma into a tight hug, and it was over. As they left the garden, they were met by Az and Glitch, who were just as excited to see the woman and to hear news of the wedding. Glitch offered to teach the bride-to-be how to dance, and quickly went about a demonstration of his prowess by taking Az by the hands and leading her in a waltz around the hydrangeas.
The anniversary dinner was a small affair, considering how large an event the ball and other such events had been in the past. All those present at the jail break and face-off against Zero had been invited, as well as several heroes from the double eclipse. Jesse Harkness, newly promoted Captain of the Western Battalion, arrived in a fine blue tunic with one of the surviving young women from the jailbreak on his arm. They both cleaned up well, and Jesse still held a glint of adventure in his eye. He'd taken the news of his father's death remarkably well, and said that the man had died a hero's death; the best any of them could ask for.
The dining hall was long and bedecked in the luxurious tapestries that DG was so fond of. The table was made out of a wood so dark-brown that it seemed nearly black, with chairs to match. Two identical chairs sat at the head of the table, where her mother and father would take their seats once everyone had been greeted at the door. DG forwent any supposed formality and embraced her parents as she and Wyatt Cain entered the double doors to the room together.
"Happy Anniversary," DG said as she pulled both of them into a tight embrace. "You guys look great."
Ahamo chuckled to himself, looking slightly embarrassed at the compliment. "You don't look so bad yourself, Sweetheart."
"This old thing?" She asked, taking a twirl. The light blue dress fanned out around her as she did, the material light and buoyant. She had chosen it for that express purpose, and the way it had made Cain's eyes bug out the first time he'd seen her in it. She prided herself in the way she seemed to raise his blood pressure from time to time. 'DG, you're gonna give an old man a heart attack,' he would say, and she would follow, usually, by sticking her tongue out at him and proclaiming him just old enough.
"I have you sitting at your father's elbow, DG," the Queen said, shaking Cain's hand politely as she did with every other guest. "And Mr. Cain beside you. Is this all right?"
"Perfect," DG responded with a smile. Cain shook hands with Ahamo, who pulled the man into a quick embrace. As Cain pulled away, a strange look focused on DG's father, Ahamo pointed a single finger right at Cain's chest and lowered his eyebrows knowingly. Cain nodded, clapping Ahamo on the shoulder in the same deliberate way.
As he led her away to the table, already half-full of resistance fighters and royal aides, DG leaned in to whisper up into his ear. "What was that, some kind of man-code?"
"Something like that," Cain laughed back.
The cooks her mother had hired had apparently been working on the feast for a week. This, at least, was what DG assumed upon seeing the massive amount of food that had been set out on the table before them. She said something about keeping up her girlish figure, and she managed to laugh at the indecision on what was right to say crossed Cain's face.
Only minutes later, Az arrived with her hand cradled in Ambrose's arm. Everyone was glad to see the two halves of his brain finally learning to cooperate with one another, one side taking over when necessary. Ambrose took care of the advising. Glitch was a people person, and quickly became what DG liked to call the Palace PR. Ambrose also seemed to have infused Glitch with some of his tidier mannerisms and his gentlemanly formality. But no one could deny that the smile he wore when he escorted Az into the dining hall belonged to Glitch.
Az had benefitted from her friendship with the royal aide, and no one was happier to see this than her mother. The once hard-faced woman who had held the O.Z. in her iron clutch was gone, and a softer, more gentle girl emerged from her ashes. She smiled often, in a nearly childish way. She'd been seen more often with Glitch than with anyone, besides her sister. The three would often hole themselves up in the library for hours, swapping stories and laughing until the rafters echoed. Az never let Glitch see her cry. That was DG's job, and when the nights got too hard, the elder princess would crawl into DG's bed beside her and weep into her pillow. DG never uttered a word of displeasure at being awakened. It wasn't in her to do so.
Ambrose pulled out the chair at the Queen's elbow, and Az sat with a kind smile of thanks. Ambrose sat beside her, checking his shirtcuffs before glancing up at his company across the table. Glitch twitched into his eyes as he looked from Cain to DG.
"Have you seen Emma today?" He asked DG, leaning back in his chair and smiling brightly. "She plain outshines her dress. Glowing, I tell you. Like someone stuck one of the suns behind her eyes. That girl's ready to get married."
Cain's fingers twitched as they held onto DG's, and she took a moment to glance in his direction. He was watching his place-setting very carefully, as if to make sure every piece was in its place. He cleared his throat as he looked up at Glitch.
"You heard, then?"
"I know they're supposed to announce it today at the dinner," Glitch began, looking over his shoulder to be sure that they were alone, "but Azkadee and I heard all about it when they showed up. Emma was fit to bust, I think."
Cain's eyes met DG's inquisitive ones, and she saw the worry he'd tried to hide. Emma hadn't yet told Jeb about her fears for the baby, but Cain had managed to pull it out of DG. He was quite the persuader when he wanted to be, and she hated and loved him for it. She made him pinkie swear not to tell Jeb, and when she explained that she got to break his pinkie if he broke his promise, he was quick to assure her that he had no intention of squealing. She still grinned at the thought that he knew she could break his pinkie.
It wasn't long before Emma and Jeb entered the room, graciously welcomed by Queen and Consort. The redhead did indeed seem to be shining, from some inner glow that only DG, Cain and Jeb knew about. It wouldn't be long until she couldn't hide the growing bump on her abdomen. DG secretly hoped that she got married before she'd have to explain the lump under her pretty white dress. Then again, she wondered, did the purity of the white wedding dress have the same meaning in the O.Z.? She still had quite a bit to learn.
Jeb took his seat beside his father, with Emma next to him and looking just splendid. Glitch leaned across the table to compliment the young lady in her raiment and her natural glow. She waved away the compliment, and the princess was glad to see no evidence of her previous sadness anywhere in her.
In no time, the Queen and Consort arrived to stand at their places, twin seats at the head of the table. True partnership in love, neither leading or following, but both stepping together through life, and meeting obstacles in the same stride. It made DG's chest fill with butterflies.
"For years," Queen Lavender began, "I was separated from my husband. And still, every annual on this day, I would send my love to him with all of the heart I had left in me. The strength of my love for him never faltered, and my heart stayed true, despite its breaking every moment we were apart."
"When I was sent to the Realm of the Unwanted," Ahamo continued, "for my safety and to protect the secret of the Emerald, I was sent away from my first and only true love. Every annual on this very day, I'd watch the sky and send my love to her, wherever she might have been. Never knowing, for fifteen annuals, broke me to pieces inside, but for every piece gone, I loved her even more."
"We're gathered here to celebrate a union," Lavender picked up the threads. "A union tested by time and tried on so many occasions."
"Or perhaps you've only come for the food." Ahamo's comment caused laughter, and Lavender shook her head kindly. "Too many words are wasted on something as intangible as love," he continued, passing his gaze over all that gathered at the table. "So, let us stop this talking and move on to something far more tangible."
"Hear, hear," Glitch announced, raising his glass in toast. DG giggled and raised her own. As the entire table raised their glasses and clanged their forks against the crystal of the wine goblets, Lavender and Ahamo could only submit to the tradition. They swooped together for a kiss, which was met with applause all around.
At the break between dinner and dessert, Queen Lavender rose to announce an announcement. DG turned her giggle into a cough, and Cain's hand squeezed hers under the table. Jeb and Emma also stood, and the boy declared their plans to be married. This elicited rather informal cheer from the gathered Freedom Fighters, including Jesse Hark, who stuck his fingers in his mouth to whistle. Emma blushed and laughed as any good bride should. DG was glad that the girl seemed to have pressed her worries aside for the dinner and for the announcement.
Ahamo also stood to offer his congratulations to the young couple, and that they were invited to use the gardens on the royal grounds of Finaqua as their site for the wedding, if they should so choose. Emma brightened quickly, and only one look at her lovely face all lit up made quick Jeb agree.
"We'll take you up on your generous offer, Majesties," Jeb said, bowing slightly. Emma curtseyed beside him, holding tightly to her fiancé's hand.
As dessert was doled out, talk returned to a murmur between peoples. Cain searched for his fork for several moments before he sighed at the uselessness and turned his eyes on the girl beside him. She produced his fork with a flourish, a childish gleam in her eyes.
He took it back, smirking slightly himself. He seemed ready to dive into the slice of cake that had been laid before him, but his utensil hovered just above it.
He watched his son talking animatedly with the girl who would wear his ring, who would be married to him, and who desperately loved him. Their smiles looked too painful to keep on as long as they had, but they never seemed to notice. Cain set his fork down beside his plate and turned slightly to the princess at his side. She almost didn't notice him.
"DG," he said quietly to get her attention. She turned from watching Glitch offer his dessert to Az, her own pretty smile playing at the corners of her mouth. "I was thinking..." He dragged his eyes up to hers, and then tried to shrug off the emotion she saw behind them. "Maybe we should get married."
She didn't say anything for quite some time, and in their silence, Cain was glad to hear that no one had caught his private words in their own ears. Or, if they had, they were pretending not to be listening very well. She was still smiling, just a little brush of a thing across her lips. They parted when she spoke, and Cain's eyes shot back up to her eyes.
"Are you proposing to me, Wyatt Cain?"
He thought of several things to say to that, and each time, they failed to leave his throat. He cleared it quietly, as if that would help, and was subjected to DG's light little laugh.
"Only," he began, suddenly wary of all the people around them. He had let the spur of the moment get to him, and he mentally kicked himself for not waiting until they were alone. "Only if you want to." He wanted to slap his palm against his forehead for letting the ridiculous sentence slip through his lips. "What I mean to say is--"
"If you're gonna pull out some line you've already used a million times, forget about it," DG cut him off. "I'm a kid and you're an old man. I'm a princess and you're my guardian. You've got a kid who's just about as old as I am, and now he's getting married. I know all your excuses already," she said as the corners of her mouth turned up even more.
"You don't have to rub it in," he grumbled, more aware of how old his son was today than any other day before.
"Wyatt, I wouldn't be the only one getting married, here. You'd be in on it too, you know." Before he could interject something he probably thought was witty, she continued. "Do you love me?" She asked, as if out of the blue.
"You know I do," he responded, now definitely worried that someone would poke their heads into their whispered conversation.
"I want you to say it," she said very plainly. She'd done so on several occasions, for she knew Cain to be a man of action rather than words. He sighed, and one side of his mouth ticked up in a sideways smirk.
"I love you, DG, and I want to marry you." He very nearly laughed. "And if you want me to say it again, forget it. I know all your little tricks by now."
"Not all of them," she whispered mischievously. He ignored the double meaning on purpose, flicked his eyes to her parents to be sure they weren't glowering down at him, then ducked in to place a kiss on her temple.
"Later," he said as he swiped a bite of her cake and stuck it in his mouth. "This is your parents' dinner, after all."
"You just don't want to upstage Jeb," she murmured, stealing a bite from his cake in return. As she finished chewing and swallowing, she added: "I haven't even said yes, Mr. Cain."
His face was blank as he watched her for several minutes. She was equally as deadpan, stuffing bites of cake into her mouth. After another silent moment, her dam broke and she snorted in laughter. His loud, boisterous laughter surprised her. It was something she'd never heard, something so bright and powerful that it almost didn't seem to come from him. She hoped to several names on high that she'd hear it again, and often. Her laughter grew to meet his, and the two became a laughing, shaking mess in no time.
Most talk had stopped abruptly as soon as Cain's laugh barked out of his chest, and all of those eyes watched the pair dissolve in their fit of unexplained and unwonted laughter. Jeb's mouth hung slightly open, a piece of cake halfway to his mouth. Az seemed unsure as to whether she should join them or be worried.
DG's laughter tinkled away into light giggles, and Cain heaved a great sigh as he wiped one of his eyes. She watched his smile with bright, shining eyes, savoring it. She didn't have to say anything, and he was glad for it. Unspoken seemed to be their language, and he preferred it that way. She gave another quick hiccup of laughter and began to work again on her dessert. Cain shook his head slightly, still grinning like a boy at Christmas, and copied her movement.
"What's so funny?" Ahamo asked after the two had calmed down, half of his own smile quirked up. Some of the guests seemed to melt back into their own conversations, but any who knew Cain well seemed very interested in knowing why he suddenly decided to break into laughter.
Cain shrugged. "DG knows a few good jokes. Something about a fish?" He turned to DG for clarification. A panicked look came into her eye, and Cain seemed to be ignoring her angry glare.
"Oh, yeah," she stalled. Think, think! Any crappy joke would do. "So, these two fish were in a tank. One said to the other, 'Do you know how to drive this thing?'" She paused, a bright smile on her face as she looked from her mother to her father, waiting expectantly for their judgement. Cain's shoulders shook with silent laughter. Husband and wife exchange a glance, and Ahamo began to laugh lightly.
"DG, that has to be one of the worst jokes I've ever heard."
DG shrugged and went back to her cake. She linked her fingers together with Cain's as his hand lay at his knee under the table. She felt his thumb run the familiar trail over her knuckles, every single one, over and back again, never tired of the way she felt in his hand.
"Someone's been stealing my jokes," Glitch muttered under his breath as he stabbed moodily at his own dessert. Az chuckled to herself.
Cain stood up at dinner three nights from the anniversary dinner and asked the Queen and Ahamo for permission to marry their daughter. Az jumped up and threw her arms around her sister, squeezing her tight in her joy. Glitch uttered a wolf-whistle, which made Cain's face turn an unsure shade of red. Ahamo agreed immediately, grabbing Cain's hand with both of his and shaking it enthusiastically. Queen Lavender admitted that it was DG's choice who she married, and that she had little leverage to go on, considering her own marriage to a Slipper. She would, however, have to grow accustomed to the idea of her daughter wed to a man nearly as old as her father.
DG laughed as Cain grumbled again about age differences. "Don't have a heart attack, old man," she whispered before she pulled herself up into a kiss. He gave her a twirl as they locked themselves together at the lips. She loved the sound of his laughter.
AN: What a trip. Wow, guys, this was an epic journey for me, and you all have no idea how much I appreciated having y'all along for the ride. All the way, you helped me out and kept my chin up. The encouragement kept me on my feet and kept me moving. I'm sure I would've petered out a long time ago without all of your support. So, this is for all of you! Dedicated to everyone! All of my reviewers and readers who made this story so awesome, and so fun for me to write. I looked forward to anything and everything you guys had to say, and I've been a ball of warm-fuzzies since the first chapter went up. Sure, it probably sounds cheesy, but it's all true. Thank you, Thank you all!! (Must mention a special thanks to Thayne for beta-ing for me when my old beta bailed. Thanks much!) Well, now that it's over, I must say that I've been mulling ideas of what comes next in my head. Let me know if there's something you'd like to see in the future (i'm considering a side-ficlet on what happened to Jeb/Glitch/Az when they were separated.) perhaps more CDG or mebbe a sequel. I'm your humble servant! I know I don't have to tell you now, because it's already happened, but to one and to all...STAY AWESOME!!!