Chapter 13: Epilogue

If anyone asked Arnold where he thought he'd be five years from now at the start of his senior year, he probably would have had a different idea of where he thought he'd be. He probably would have said he'd be engaged, if not married, to Lila Sawyer and working as an anthropologist following in his parent's he has a five year old daughter with his former elementary school bully, Helga Pataki. They had talked about getting married, but they can't afford it on top of child care, college loans, and rent to have a big ceremony.

He also never pursued his anthropology career. He didn't feel right leaving his family to do his field work, and the last thing he wanted was to wind up like his parents, leaving them forever. Instead he has a degree in social work where he still gets to help people, something he usually had a knack for, but on a more local level. Helga never went to college. After the baby was born she finished out the last few months of high school, but decided juggling college and a new born was too much. Gertie and Phil loved their granddaughter and offered to babysit anytime they needed. It would have been no burden to them, especially since Helga and the baby had moved into the boarding house shortly after her birth, but Helga didn't feel right leaving her responsibilities all to someone else. It all worked out in the end, though. With Helga's natural talents in writing, she began to work from home and published same well acclaimed novels.

Although his life may have ended up a lot differently than he'd imagined, he wouldn't change it for the world. Sure, Helga and him had gotten together under bizarre circumstances, but maybe that's just how it was meant to be. Maybe Helga had been right in saying that they were destined to be together all those years ago, and that's why they named their daughter Destiny. It serves as a constant reminder and symbol of the bond they shared yet never knew. Sometimes life ends in an unexpected way, but that doesn't make it a mistake. It's just fate.

The End!

Weeeee! That's the end of this story! I hope it was at least sorta good to most of you. Thank you so much for following up with it each update & I love you all for it. Uhmmm, if you like my stories for some reason then I have another one that's up and in progress at the moment, and another one I have waiting for after that. Whether or not I decide to wait until I'm done with "Time After Time" to post the new one is up in the air. I'm impatient. Not too long ago I had three stories going at once because I'm crazy, but oh well. I'm done rambling. See ya another day & thanks again :)