Over 400 reviews. 400. Reviews. Wow guys, I'm so amazed and so grateful! Thank you to each and every one of you, I can't thank you all enough for sticking with me and my stories during these few years it took me to write them, it's been a long, crazy ride, I've had two children and married my lovely husband, and meanwhile you've all supported my writing while my life has change dramatically. For that, I thank you all! I really do! Enjoy this chapter, I hope its pleasing to you all & a nice fitting close ;)

Blossom

"So, I can't help but notice Brick isn't here?" Buttercup asked, a speculative look on her face as she surveyed the apartment.

"Yeah, he's just gone to do a grocery shop with Ruby, the house is basically empty." I answered, stroking Junior's gorgeous little face. Bubbles was squealing excitedly, holding her arms out for a cuddle. Gently I passed him into her arms.

"Oh right. You trust him to do a grocery shop? Butch would come home with nothing but beer, potato chips and pizza." Buttercup said, smiling warmly at the baby as Bubbles cooed at him.

"He's got a list. He shouldn't stray too much from it. Plus, Ruby's with him, she'll keep him on the straight and narrow. How's Sage doing?" I asked as Buttercup passed him into my arms and I sat him up right on my lap. "God, you're getting so big little man!"

"I know, he's almost 6 months old now. Time flies too quickly. Has the little fella got a name yet?" Buttercup asked.

"Yeah, I was wondering about that! I asked Boomer, but he said he'd let you tell us." Bubbles said. "What is your name little guy? What is your name?"

"He does have a name, yes. Brick let me choose, after everything, and I decided that he looked like a Brick Junior. But we've mostly been calling him Junior." I said, smiling proudly at my son in Bubbles' arms.

"You named him after Brick?" Buttercup asked, obviously shocked.

"Aww, cute! Hello Junior! Does that mean we get to call your Daddy Senior now? Like an old man!" Bubbles said in a baby voice to Junior.

"Well, its something I've been thinking about doing awhile now, if the baby was a boy. It might seem silly but; I kind of see it as a little way to make up for everything that Brick missed with Ruby. Plus, he does look like a Junior." I explained as I tried to untangle a handful of my hair from Sage's iron grip.

"So what's Brick going to do to make up for abandoning you all for several hours, not long after Junior here was born?" Buttercup asked, and I gave her an irritated look.

"Buttercup…" Bubbles said, her tone loosely scolding.

"What? Seriously, you forgave him just like that?" Buttercup questioned, clearly surprised by my fleeting forgiveness.

"Buttercup we've just had a baby! And we have Ruby to think about. We're a family. It makes all the difference." I said, smiling over at Junior warmly; Bubbles was still fussing over him.

"But he left you hours after –" Buttercup began but I cut her off.

"I know what he did. And I'm not saying what he did wasn't wrong, because it was, and you know as well as I do that after having a baby you're an emotional wreck enough as it is, so having to deal with all that was the last thing I needed, but I'm not prepared to dwell on it. We have two children to think about, there's no time for being petty over things." I explained best I could.

"Blossom, being pissed with Brick for what he did would not be being petty! He went on a drinking binge, when he's supposedly a former alcoholic! That's not nothing, is it?!" Buttercup cried. Bubbles looked over at her, her expression tiresome. She passed Junior into her arms.

"I think your Aunty Buttercup needs a dose of cuteness to get rid of her grumpies!" Bubbles cooed.

"Good god you're going to be unbearable when you and Boomer start spitting babies out." Buttercup commented, but Bubbles only held her arms out to take Sage from me. After untangling my hair again, I passed him over.

"No it isn't nothing, but he assured me it was just a lapse. And I believe him. I'm sure it won't happen again." I said, beginning to get annoyed, I didn't think this was going to be a lynching session.

But Buttercup smiled down at Junior, stroking his soft red hair, and her crabby demeanour softened. "I guess I know what you mean, things are much easier between Butch and I because I let everything go."

"So you've finally realised it was Him controlling him that night?" Bubbles said, bouncing Sage on her knee as he giggled.

"I knew all along it was Him, I'm not an idiot. It was just hard to look past what he almost did. Lordy lordy lordy I'd have killed him, you know, if he had done what he threatened to do." Buttercup added.

Bubbles and I nodded. "We know." We said in unison.

"But, as much as I could hold a grudge about it, I'm not going to. It wasn't his fault, it wouldn't be fair to keep punishing him about it."

"How grown up of you Buttercup, well done." I said with a wry smile.

"Shut up." She muttered.

"So, what now?" I asked, glad conversation had steered away from Brick and I. As far as I was concerned all that was over now. I didn't want to keep thinking about it all, we'd just had a son, focusing on being a happy family was far more important in my eyes.

Buttercup shrugged, passing Junior back into my arms, and looking at Sage lovingly; he was looking more and more like Butch every time I saw him. "God knows. We're just dancing around each other at the minute I guess, avoiding talking about anything too heavy. Keeping it light."

"Do you want to be with him?" Bubbles asked, and Buttercup hesitated. "Don't think, just answer. Do you want to be with Butch Jojo?"

"I dunno, yes, I suppose." Buttercup burbled quickly, her cheeks reddening.

In Buttercup speak, that was a yes for sure, she just didn't want to admit it to Bubbles and me.

"Well you know what I think? I think that life is too short." I said, and they both looked up at me, Buttercup's face still covered in a telling blush. "There's not enough time to spend your days doing things you don't want to, or not allowing yourself to be who you want to be. Look at all the things Brick and I missed because we didn't allow ourselves to be happy and have what we wanted. You should never disallow yourself to be happy, and you shouldn't let anyone get in the way of your happiness, whatever it may be. If you love the guy, love him. Don't waste your time thinking of the if's and the but's. Just, be happy you know?"

They'd both fallen quiet as I had spoken. Buttercup looked over at Sage, then down at the floor. "Hmm. I guess I never thought about it like that."

"All I'm saying is don't stand in your own way. Either of you." I said, looking to Bubbles, whose cheery expression had become thoughtful at my words. "How are you and Boomer, Bubbles?"

She looked up at me, cocking her head to the side. "Oh, kind of the same I guess. I mean, my divorce isn't settled for a few weeks yet, so I'm not exactly free to date, as such... But I will be soon, so, I guess we'll talk then." She mumbled sheepishly, her cheeks going very pink too, her smile small and sweet.

"That's all happened so quickly. It was such a long process with Tim." I muttered, remembering how stressful that period was.

"That's because Tim wanted to make it a drawn out experience for you. Zac is chomping at the bit to get out of our marriage." Bubbles said bitterly.

"You're better off Bubbles. So much better off." I assured her, stroking her leg gently. "You deserve someone who will take care of you, and wants the same things you do. Like Boomer, maybe." I added with a smile, and she smiled a cheeky smile back. "He would look after you. Remember how great he was when Brick went AWOL?"

"He was good." Bubbles murmured, still smiling like a school girl.

"And he loves the kids. Again, don't hang about for no reason. Take what you want." I said, smiling encouragingly.

"Stop trying to hook us up with your boyfriends brothers!" Buttercup cried playfully.

"Stop fighting that you both like them!" I replied just as jovially. "God, think about how much easier my life would have been if you'd fallen for them both years ago! I would have never predicted this you know!" I said with a wink.

Buttercup

I pulled Sage's coat around him tighter, and he burbled happily as I tucked the blanket around his kicking little legs. It was mid September now, and just beginning to get cold. And as Sage sat in his pram, watching the world go by, I once again hoped he wasn't feeling the cold.

Looking up, I craned my neck around the corner of the street to see if he had come out yet. I think this was the construction site he was working at at the moment; it was to rebuild a restaurant, or was it a gym? I couldn't remember, but I think this was where he'd been the past couple of weeks.

They really seemed to like him here. Him and Boomer were getting on well, but then they would, I bet they were vital members of their team what with their super strength.

At least he had a job, and he had managed to keep it. Better than I thought he would do. But I guess I was pretty good at underestimating him.

I noticed him walking around the corner then, raising his hand to his colleagues to say goodbye. He put the hood to his jacket up against the fall wind, hunching his shoulders slightly. I took the handles of Sage's pram and began to walk his way.

He saw Sage and me then, and his face lit up in surprise. "Hey, what are you doing here-"

I let go of Sage, grabbing him by the scruff of his jacket and pulling him close to me, my lips meeting his boldly. He was too surprised to react at first, but after a few seconds he began to kiss me back, his hands holding the back of my head firmly.

I pulled away slightly, mostly to check Sage was still there. He was watching with wide eyes in his pram. When I looked back at Butch, his eyes were even wider.

"What was that for?" Butch asked, breathless.

"Just, just kiss me again." I gasped, and he obliged, wrapping his arms around the small of my back and pulling me close to him.

"Look, I don't want to be the one to put myself out there, and I know you don't either, but I think if one of us doesn't we're going to be beating around the bush for years on end, never actually making anything of this when we could. We could make this something, and, and I don't think we should waste any time." I said, playing with the strings to his hoodie. He watched me intently, his eyes still looking dazed.

He nodded. "O-okay. Okay then."

I kissed him again, deeply, my hands tangling in his black spikes.

He held me tightly, kissing me back, then I pulled away sharply. "But only if you want to." I mumbled, feeling my cheeks blush red.

"Yes. Yes! I do." Butch said animatedly, nodding his head.

I smiled. "Good. Well, are you free, now? Cos, I have a bit of a surprise for you." I muttered, and his brow raised in confusion.

"Yeah, I'm free. What is it?"

"Come with me," I said, taking the handles of Sage's pram. "You'll see."

Bubbles

Boomer placed the cup of coffee down on the coffee table in front of me, then took a seat on sofa next to me, placing his own drink down too.

The door to the coffee shop we were sat in opened and shut, a fall breeze sweeping in and making me pull my coat around my shoulders closer.

"God, its such a cold fall this year." I noted, picking my coffee up gratefully. "Thanks for this, I'll buy the next ones."

"No problem." Boomer said. "And it is pretty chilly for September. I think I need to invest in a warmer coat for work."

"You should do, being outside in the cold all the time can't be fun." I commented, and he shrugged.

"You warm up pretty quick once you get working. The boss there has been showing Butch and I a lot more of the technical stuff at the moment. We're not doing as much of the lugging stuff about anymore, its good."

"That is good! I bet it makes it more interesting." I said, and he nodded.

"Yeah, definitely. Feels more like a proper job too. Just call me Boomer the builder." He winked, and I laughed.

"I'm glad you're enjoying it more." I murmured, and he nodded again, sipping his coffee gently. There was a moment of silence as we both drank from our coffee cups, knowing there was an elephant in the room.

I wasn't going to avoid it though, I'd met up with him to talk to him, so couldn't see the point of making idle conversation all evening.

I cleared my throat, and he looked around at me, placing his cup down on the table.

"So my divorce will be final in a few weeks time." I mumbled, and he nodded slowly.

"Yeah... How do you feel about that?" Boomer asked, and I shrugged lightly.

"Happy, sad, disappointed, grateful... But happy, overall. I mean it clearly wasn't meant to be, on more than one basis." I answered, and Boomer cocked his head to the side.

"Yeah." He muttered.

"Its like I said before, I deserve real love. Real, proper, all consuming, can't live without each other love, we both do." I said, and he gave me that puppy dog look again, as if he was questioning if that were true. But it was true, we did both deserve it, everyone does. I truly believe that. And for all their sins, Boomer and his brothers were included in that. "So anyway, we have a few weeks till my divorce hearing, and I think we should use that time to our advantage."

He still had that innocent little puppy dog look on his face, except it was more hopeful looking this time. He didn't say anything, so I carried on.

"You're already my friend, a good friend, and in this time, I want you to become my best friend. You know, my go to guy. I want to know you inside out, and you the same with me. Then once its all final, I want you to become my boyfriend." I said, and he was nodding enthusiastically.

"Okay." Boomer said, this ecstatic smile appearing on his face, it looked kind of reined in, like he didn't want to show how truly happy he was about it, just in case. "Yeah, okay."

"Can we do that?" I asked, smiling myself now.

He nodded even more excitedly, shifting closer to me on the sofa. "Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!" His smile was truer now, and I liked it.

"Good," I grinned. "Well I'm excited for all this to be over for even more reasons now. God, when we have kids I'm going to make sure they don't marry so young. It all seemed so romantic and glamorous at the time, but its just fallen apart so easily. I mean, I was heartbroken at first, but even I've moved on quickly. What does that say about how much I really loved him? Love needs to be stronger for marriage, marriage is supposed to be forever. I'll wait much longer next time, I'll be sure."

"Huh," Boomer said, picking up his coffee mug. "That's a shame, cos I was gunna ask you to marry me right here and now!"

"Boomer!" I cried, giggling and lightly shoving his arm. Some of his coffee slopped out of his mug and straight onto the floor.

"Oops." He mumbled, looking down at the puddle on the floor then over at me. "What?! Guess I'll save that for another time then?"

"Yes! I think you should!" I laughed.

He put his mug down, and placed his hand on top of mine. "I am gunna make you so fucking happy! We're going to have a million and one kids, and a big ol' house and, I'll get a proper job and, and, can I kiss you?" He asked, totally overjoyed.

I laughed as I nodded my head. "Yes!"

He beamed at me, leaning in and placing his lips against mine passionately.

It gave me those familiar butterflies, and that yummy warm feeling you get when you're falling in love.

Butch

When Buttercup stopped in front of the State Registers Office I gave her a puzzled look. A puzzled look that quickly turned to a panicked one, and she rolled her eyes at me.

"Stop looking so scared, I'm not marching you down the aisle you idiot. Just trust me okay? Come on." She said, steering the pram through the automatic doors.

I gulped in relief and followed her inside. She was at the reception talking to the receptionist, then she parked the pram by the stairs, beginning to unstrap Sage.

"The waiting room is upstairs." She explained, handing Sage to me as she took her changing bag off the pram and began to float up them.

Wordlessly I followed her, wondering why there was no elevator, but mostly wondering what the hell we were doing here.

Sage leant his head against my shoulder, clearly getting tired, and I kissed the top of his head. You never do get over that baby smell, even when they're looking less like a baby every day.

Buttercup sat down in the waiting room, and I noted that she looked a little nervous, which just baffled me even more. What was going on?

I sat down beside her, popping Sage on my knee. He smiled at the few other people in the room, until Buttercup scooped him up, holding him closely. I think she was trying to busy herself.

The other people in the room were mostly couples with young babies in car seats; probably here to register their births or something. I looked at Sage; surely Buttercup had registered his birth months ago?

I opened my mouth to ask Buttercup that same question, when a woman popped her head around the corner of the door.

"Miss Utonium?" She asked, and Buttercup stood, balancing Sage on her hip. "Come right through."

She began to follow this woman and I watched her go, until she stopped and hissed my name sharply. "Come on?!"

"Oh, coming." I muttered, following behind.

She led us into a fancy office with a solid looking mahogany desk and three chairs around it.

The woman, a large blonde with tiny glasses, sat on the far side behind the computer and gestured for us to take a seat, which we did. I started looking around the room to see if I could try and guess what the hell was going on.

"So you're here to put the fathers name on your child's birth certificate, is that correct?" She asked, and I blinked, surprised.

"Yes." Buttercup answered, looking at the woman, who I now realised was a registrar, with a serious expression. I was totally dumbfounded.

"Okay, I can see you have opted for the acknowledgement rather than the paternity test." The registrar mumbled to herself as she clicked away on her computer. "And you're here to sign the acknowledgement of paternity, sir?"

I realised she was talking to me now, and Buttercup was looking at me expectantly.

I nodded slowly, still bowled over by the gesture. "Yeah. Yes, I'll sign it, he's mine."

The registrar smiled as she looked over at Sage. "Yes, that's plain to see." She commented, then looked back to her computer screen.

"Do you have the child's original birth certificate?" She asked and Buttercup nodded, taking it out of Sage's change bag. "Wonderful." The lady mumbled as she looked it over. "So, what is the father's full name?" She asked, looking at me again.

"Oh, err, Butch Jojo." I muttered, looking from her to Buttercup, still completely stunned by all this.

"No middle name?" The registrar double checked, and I shook my head.

"Just Butch Jojo."

"Okay." She mumbled, typing on the computer. She printed a sheet of paper out and presented me with a pen. "If you could sign and print here Mr. Jojo. Its just a legal document stating that you recognise Sage Utonium as your son, and give permission for your name to go on his birth certificate."

I scribbled my name on the piece of paper without even looking it over, I could have just legally agreed to give Buttercup both my arms and I wouldn't have known, I was too shaken up about what Buttercup had arranged here. I was on the birth certificate, as Sage's father, and as a technical sperm donor, I didn't even need to be. But she wanted me there; she really meant all this.

"Brilliant." The woman said as she took the piece of paper from me and began typing on the computer. She asked for the original from Buttercup, then typed away again.

I looked over at Buttercup, and both her and Sage were looking at me. Sage was of course smiling, for the son of two people who sneer more than they smile, Sage was a smiley kid, but Buttercup was too, she had this little smirk on her face, and it was contagious.

The printer whirred again and the registrar turned in her swivel chair, taking the pale blue sheet of paper from the printer. "There we go, all done and official for you. You'll have to destroy the old copy. Is there anything else I can do you for?"

"No, no that's everything." Buttercup said, taking the certificate and getting to her feet. "Thank you very much."

"Yeah urr, thanks." I mumbled, following Buttercup out.

"I don't think I've ever seen you this quiet, not since you found out you were a father anyway." Buttercup said as we left the State Office.

"I just, I don't know what to say!" I said as she began to push Sage down the street. "I know how hard finding out I was your kids father was for you, because it was just as hard finding out I had a kid, and you were the mother at first, and for you to do that, what you just did, its just so huge."

"Yeah well, finding out you were the donor was hard but, I wouldn't have Sage without you, and without Sage, I wouldn't have you now, would I?" She said as she walked along, and I noticed her cheeks were slightly red.

"You're blushing again." I noted and she rolled her eyes, but smiled.

"I am not. I don't blush!" She answered, feigning annoyance.

"Right. We sure are gunna have a stupid story to tell when people ask how we ended up together." I said, thinking about how crazy the past 6 months had been.

"There isn't really anything normal about any of it." She agreed.

I slinked my arm around her waist as we walked, and she leaned into me. "I really wouldn't have changed any of it though you know."

"Me either." She said, resting her head on my shoulder.

Blossom

"I still can't get over how mad this is." I said, shaking my head slightly as I looked at the living room filled with people. Boomer, Bubbles, Butch, Buttercup and Sage were over, all crammed in the living room with Brick, Ruby and Junior. They'd all turned up with a tower of pizzas, and everyone had hunkered down for the evening.

Butch and Buttercup were sitting very closely, Butch occasionally putting his arm around Buttercup, he could barely keep his hands off her. And as for Bubbles and Boomer, they'd barely let go of each other either. They weren't being as PDA-y as Buttercup and Butch, but I hoped they didn't think I hadn't noticed them holding hands as they sat together on the sofa.

It seemed that my little speech about not wasting time had gotten to them both, because it appeared that they were doing just that. It was really nice to see.

Boomer had even spoken about moving out of the apartment soon, to give me, Brick and the kids more space, and Junior could have his own bedroom. And I'm guessing Bubbles has room at her house...

Everything seemed to be slowly falling into place. Junior was here, Brick, Ruby, me and him were a family, Butch, Buttercup and Sage were a family now and they all looked really happy, and Boomer and Bubbles were seemingly taking it slow.

We were all together, and we were all happy.

Brick was sat on the armchair, cradling Junior in his arms. Ruby was sat on the back of the chair, looking down at him happily. I perched on the arm of the chair and Brick caressed my leg lovingly.

"Things have taken a surprising turn. Good kind of surprising though." Bubbles said, squeezing Boomer's hand. He smiled at her like she was the most precious, most beautiful gem he'd ever laid eyes on.

"If someone had told me a year ago this is what my life would be now, I wouldn't have believed it." Buttercup said, and Butch scoffed.

"Me either."

"Me either." Brick agreed, looking down at his children proudly, then over at me. I smiled at him warmly.

"So what happens now? Him's gone quiet but; that can't be forever can it? He's not just going to take all this sitting down." Bubbles muttered, and the tone darkened slightly.

"No, he won't. He'll disappear for some time; we'll have some peace while he comes up with something else. It could take a while though, he knows we can combat his power over us now, so he'll have to have a second plan." Brick said, his expression flattening at the mention of Him.

"How much 'peace' do you think we'll have?" Boomer questioned, and Brick shrugged and sighed.

"Who knows? What I do know is, when he comes, we'll be ready for him." Brick said, his face the picture of determination.

"But for now, we just let everything play out and enjoy our own versions of perfect." I said, kissing the top of Brick's head as Ruby nuzzled against it.

"Yeah, let's just focus on the future, as a family." Bubbles agreed, resting her head against Boomer's chest.

And what a weird family we were.

The end! Wow, thanks so much to everyone who read and reviewed! I can't believe the amount of readers and reviewers this story has had, and I'm so glad everyone has enjoyed it as much as they have. Can't thank you all enough! r&r (: