A/N: Nearly two weeks after Christmas, and here's the finale. When I started this, I knew there was no way this would be done by Christmas, but I didn't expect it to go on this long, lol. Thanks for all sticking with me on this silly, adorable little AU Christmas story! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. :)

Please review one last time!

Disclaimer: I do not own Covert Affairs.

Epilogue

Annie crept along the side of the Anderson house, Auggie's hand tucked in hers, while she clutched the brightly wrapped birthday package against her protruding stomach. She giggled in anticipation, and Auggie shot her a look. "Shhh! She's going to hear you."

Annie snorted and rolled her eyes. "Please. She's in the living room with your parents."

Due to their constant emails with the Andersons (particularly Ari), they knew her early June birthday was only being celebrated with close family, so they wouldn't be wrecking a larger-than-life, five-year-old's highly-anticipated birthday party by this surprise visit.

She peaked through the living room to ensure she was right—that Ari wasn't listening to them—and quickly ducked back down when she thought Patrick saw her. "C'mon," she said. "We have to hurry!"

As soon as she'd seen that line on that pregnancy test a couple weeks after New Years' Day (after she'd gotten over the shock that they had gotten pregnant the first month they'd tried), she'd started to put this plan into motion. She knew that by early June, she'd be nearly 24 weeks along, and already showing, and they could announce their baby's name to Auggie's family. Besides, she was way too excited to surprise Ari with a visit on her birthday.

She waved good-bye to Stu—who had insisted on accompanying them the whole way even though Barber came, too—and slowly twisted the knob to the front door. It easily turned beneath her hand, and she was glad for the fact that Lydia and Patrick didn't lock their front door when they were home. She slipped inside, bringing Auggie with her, and she tiptoed through the living room until she reached the wall that separated the living room and the dining room. She could hear them inside, eating, while Ari boasted about some accomplishment earlier that day. When there was a slight lull in the conversation, Annie squeezed Auggie's hand, and they jumped out in the middle of the open archway between the two rooms, screaming, "Boo!"

Ari screamed in surprise before unadulterated, pure, breathless excitement flashed across Ari's face. "Annie!" she screamed, tripping out of her chair in her haste to get to Annie as soon as possible. She collided, running full force, into Annie's legs. "Annie, you're here!"

"Hey!" Auggie protested next to her. "What about me?"

Ari grinned up at her big brother easily. "Hi," she said, her eyes twinkling, and Auggie instinctively reached for her, throwing her up into the air and catching her easily, planting a big kiss on her cheek.

"Happy birthday, Ari."

She grinned at him and kissed him back. Then she noticed the gift Annie held in front of her. "Is that for me?"

Annie smiled. "Yeah, baby girl." She handed it to Ari, whose eyes widened eagerly.

"After dinner," Patrick warned, and Ari sighed, handing the present to her father for safe keeping.

Lydia got up from her chair to retrieve some plates for them. "Are you guys hungry?" she asked, her back to them. "You probably came a long way… I know it's only macaroni and cheese, but Ari got to decide…"

"It's fine, Mom," Auggie called. "We'd love some."

She turned around to set the plates on the table and welcome them with a hug when she realized what Ari's present had been hiding. "Oh, my—" Her voice dropped off, full of emotion, before she could finish what she had been about to say, and tears filled her eyes.

"Surprise!" Auggie called with a wry grin.

Lydia rushed over to them, cupping first Annie's cheeks, then Auggie's, before she pulled them into a tight hug. "I'm gonna be a grandma…"

Auggie rolled his eyes for Annie's benefit. "Mom… you're already a grandma. To five kids."

Lydia pulled back and sniffed, wiping her eyes before she rolled them. "Not to any child of yours. It's about time you gave me a grandbaby."

Auggie turned to Annie and they both laughed. "I told you she'd say that," he said.

Ari looked up at them both, touching Annie's stomach curiously. "You're 'unna have a baby?" she asked curiously, and Annie nodded with a smile, lifting Ari to her hip.

"Yeah, sweetie. We're having a little girl."

Ari's eyes lit up and she threw her arms around Annie's neck in a childish hug. "A girl?" she asked, her voice full of wonder. "Can I play with her when she's born?"

Annie chuckled at Ari's enthusiasm. "Maybe. She's gonna be really little and fragile, so we need to be careful."

Ari's face dropped a little. "But when she gets bigger, then I can play with her, right?"

Annie laughed. "Yes, then you can play with her."

She carried Ari back to her seat, depositing her there, and both she and Auggie sat in two empty chairs at the table. As he served Annie and Auggie what was left of the food, he said, "So, did you pick a name yet?"

Annie glanced at Auggie and grinned. She'd heard of horror stories of women who shared the names of their babies and their families hated them, but she really wanted to share this with her family before Lillian arrived. "Yeah, we did, actually. We're going to name her Lillian Aurelia." She smiled, just thinking about the name. "Lillian is kind of a mix between my mom's name, Vivian, and your name, Lydia. And Aurelia because we wanted to honor Ari, too, but we didn't think Lillian Arianne Anderson sounded very good… so we figured Aurelia could get the nn Ari, too."

"For me?" Ari asked proudly, grinning widely, and Annie laughed.

"Yeah, baby girl."

Ari shot up in her chair and threw her arms around Annie's neck. "She's my baby, too!"

They all burst out laughing, and Patrick reached over and tugged Ari back into a sitting position. "Ari…"

She looked apologetically back at her father. "Sorry, Daddy." She quickly turned back to Annie and Auggie, already chattering to them eagerly about how she would teach her baby how to walk and talk and swing and paint and play all the "funnest" games and how to eat string cheese the right way.

After watching Ari open her Christmas presents and tucking her into bed, Annie, Auggie, and his parents chatted late into the night about planning for the baby and how often Lydia and Patrick would get to see Lillian, and Lydia insisted on planning a baby shower before they left to go home again.

As Annie listened—and slowly started falling asleep in the protection of Auggie's arms—she couldn't help but love this life that they were embarking on. Part adventure of the real world, part adventure of parenting, part adventure of being Santa Claus's wife. Somehow, she had gotten everything she wanted. She wasn't sure how she had managed to hold on to her sense of adventure while staying close to her family, but she wouldn't give it up for anything.

She could definitely get used to this.

A/N: And that's the end! I'm not sure how pleased I am with this epilogue, but I can't figure out a better way to do it, and I'd like to move onto other projects.

Please review once more on your way out!

Lots of love,
Ash