Here's the epilogue for everyone who wanted one! Thanks so much for reviewing and reading through the whole story; it honestly means a lot to me.

Love Always,
Violet :)

"My life sucks." Brooke informed her best friend miserably as they sat in the hospital room.

Lucy gritted her teeth from the pain her body was producing but still accepted Brooke's distraction.

"It does not suck." She argued in between shallow breaths.

"How can you say that? I'm in the middle of a freaking divorce, Luce." Lucy cringed slightly and pushed back the 'I told you so' thoughts that were flowing through her mind - Ryan had already exhausted that saying.

Much to Ryan's and Lucy's dismay, Brooke ignored Jack's longing for a long engagement and the couple married about five months after Lucy's attempted wedding with Cody.

Now, three years later the same couple was in the middle of a nasty divorce. Actually, lets make that beyond nasty…you see, just like Ryan and Lucy predicted, Jack did have an affair.

What they didn't predict was that the girl with whom the affair was with was a sixteen year old New York socialite. Needless to say, Jack's going to be listed as a sex offender and he's on trial right now.

Brooke sure knows how to pick 'em.

"And you know what else?" Brooke continued miserably. "You can't even take me out to a club and remind me how much fun it is to be single because you're freaking pregnant!"

Lucy rolled her eyes and winced as another sharp pain ran through her.

"I won't be pregnant for long." Lucy told her friend and that seemed to brighten Brooke up a bit as she clapped her hands together once.

"So then you CAN take me out to a club!" She said excitedly.

"Shut up, Brooke. Lucy won't be clubbing for a while." A voice spoke up from the corner of the room.

After three years, Ryan hadn't changed much. He was still tall and slightly muscular, his green eyes still shined, his brown hair was still a sexy, disheveled mess, he still went for a morning run every day, and he was still a bit tan from all the California rays.

In fact, the only thing that had changed was his job status (he's moving on up in the architect business) and his relationship status (from single to married).

"Shut up, you're not the boss of her." Brooke argued.

"I know that! I just said she won't be clubbing because we'll be to busy taking care of our kid, Brooke. God, you're annoying."

"No one likes you, Ryan. Lucy, your husband is an ass."

Lucy didn't respond as the pain was slowly getting stronger; she clenched her fists in the sheets but neither of the siblings took notice as they were to engaged in their argument.

"I'm not an ass! I'm letting you live in our house, aren't I?"

"Guys…" Lucy hissed through the pain but still they didn't comprehend her words.

"It's as much my house as it is yours! I grew up in it too!"

"Guys…"

"Yeah but who pays the bills and whose name is on the deed?"

"Guys!" Finally both heads turned to the red-faced, black haired girl whose blue eyes were shining with annoyance and agony. "Someone go get the freaking doctor!" She yelled just as a doctor clad in scrubs walked into the room.

"No need, Mrs. LaDelt. I'm here. Let's take a look see as your charts… they say that the contractions are less then a minute apart. I say its about time we deliver the baby." He informed her and Lucy nodded as Ryan walked over to her and kissed her forehead. Brooke took in the scene for a moment before grabbing her bag, hugging her best friend, and walking from the room.

She sat down across from the room in an uncomfortable chair and leaned her head back against the wall.

It was hard for her to believe that in only a few moments time, her best friend and her older brother were going to be parents. They were going to be in charge of another human life.

With a sigh, she reached into her bag and pulled out the picture album that she had brought to the hospital to keep Lucy entertained.

She flipped through pictures of her and Lucy in high school; one when Lucy was in her cheer leading uniform and Brooke had on the school colors since they were at the championship game.

Our team lost and Lucy was in such a bad mood after the game, Brooke thought with a laugh.

Eventually the pictures progressed throughout their college years when they were able to meet up for vacations and such. Brooke got bored with those pictures and placed her finger in the middle of the album before flipping to that page; she laughed when she realized it was a picture of Lucy in her wedding dress when she was preparing to marry Cody.

As we all know, the wedding was a disaster…however, what happened after the wedding (between Lucy and Cody at least) was nothing short of funny.

Apparently after Lucy and Ryan kissed and made up and all that, they walked back to the church to get Ryan's car. Ryan was going to take them back to Lucy's apartment but her parents forced her to stay and help sort out the chaos that continued after Lucy had bolted from the church. Instead, Ryan was given Lucy's apartment key and she sent him over to her place to get her a change of clothes…what Ryan wasn't expecting was to find the runaway groom waiting for his would-be-bride.

"Lucy?" Ryan looked up as they entered the apartment and Ryan's eyes widened and he groaned.

Of course Lucy would give the guy a key to her apartment once they were engaged…

"Who are you and how did you get in here?" Cody asked in a threatening voice.

"I'm…" Ryan decided now was not a good time to introduce himself as Lucy's boyfriend…it would probably backfire and Cody would accuse Lucy of cheating and all that unnecessary drama. "I'm Brooke's older brother and Lucy gave me the key to the house so I could grab her a change of clothes…you know, seeing as how she's stuck in a wedding dress and all." He finished and Cody's posture relaxed; he could see the resemblance between Brooke and Ryan so he knew he wasn’t lying.

"Yeah…the wedding…not exactly my finest moment." He eventually said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"I'll say; you ditched your bride at the alter. You even come close to beating me for the asshole of the year award." He said in a cold voice and Cody instantly turned defensive.

"It's not my fault! I'm not ready to get married…I didn't show up for Lucy's sake. Would you really want her to marry someone who wouldn’t be able to remain faithful to her?"

"Hell no." Ryan answered automatically. Then again, he wouldn't want Lucy to marry anyone other then him. "But if that’s the case then you shouldn't have proposed."

Cody snorted.

"Please. And have my parents breathing down my neck for the rest of my life? Plus, I thought maybe I could make it work with Lucy…I do care for her, you know."

Ryan ignored the rude words that were waiting to shoot out of his mouth and instead went in a different direction.

"Does she know? Does she know any of this?"

"Well…no, that’s why I'm here. I was waiting for her to show up so I could…you know, explain this to her. She at least deserves that much."

Ryan rolled his eyes and took a deep breath before he moved and searched for Lucy's bedroom. He eventually found it and threw some clothes into his arms before walking back out to where Cody still stood.

"You should probably come with me." He informed.

"Why? Where are you going?"

"To see Lucy."

Brooke shook her head as she remembered the scene between Cody and Lucy; Lucy threw a fit when Cody found her in her dressing room. She screamed and yelled and called him all sorts of nasty names and she had every right to. Together, the had just spent thousands of dollars and a ridiculous amount of time to plan the wedding and he just left her standing at the alter in front of everyone they knew. She was embarassed, upset, and pissed off...luckily, the whole thing had a happy ending with Ryan so she wasn't to hard on Cody.

Anyway, the pair went the separate ways (obviously) and the last Lucy heard, Cody was still enjoying the many different woman the world had to offer.

Ewe, that’s a gross thought.

With a slight shiver, Brooke continued to turn the page. The next pages were mostly of Lucy and Brooke during Lucy's last days in New York. Once things ended between her and Cody and started heating back up between her and Ryan, Lucy talked to Gretchen who eventually agreed to move Lucy's position back to California.

Brooke still lives and works in New York.

Brooke smiled faintly at some pictures of Ryan and Lucy together on dates and at outings before finally coming to what she considered to be the most exciting part of the album: Lucy's and Ryan's wedding.

Ryan had proposed to Lucy about four months after her fiasco wedding with Cody and they got married six months later.

The wedding was in the evening on a beach in California because Lucy wanted something totally different from what she had planned with Cody.

Lucy's dress was a strapless chiffon dress that had a fitted bodice and flared out lightly from the waist. Tiny pearls and beaded lace made a delicate design near the bottom right hand side of the bodice and the back of the dress was laced up. Lucy's black beachy hair was straightened and then loosely curled before it was put to the ride side of her head so that the curls laid on the shoulder and the hair was held there by her mother's old beautiful pearl comb.

Brooke was her made of honor once more and Claire and a two of Lucy's other friends were bridesmaids; they all wore strapless, knee length, lilac colored bubble dresses also made of chiffon with a beaded satin bodice.

The wedding was beautiful but Brooke couldn't help but remember that Jack got really drunk that day and was really…horny that night.

Brooke blushed and turned the page.

It was a picture of a party and Lucy was holding a book…it was taken a few months after she married Ryan and it was the release party of Lucy's first book.

Brooke and Ryan assured Lucy that the book would be well received but the response to the book was way beyond anyone's expectations. The romance story was a #1 New York Times best seller among young adults for about nine weeks before one of the Twilight books was released and knocked Lucy's book out of first place.

Next was a picture of Lucy and Claire who was currently studying and playing softball at Arizona State. It may sound random but they had a killer softball team and offered Claire a softball scholarship which she didn't hesitate to accept.

Brooke continued to page through the photo album for another hour before she finally came to the end and threw the album back into her bag. She could have gone to the waiting room to watch some TV but she didn't want to miss her brother when he came out to inform her about Lucy and the baby, so instead she started counting the tiles on the floor.

97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103-

And then she fell asleep.

--

"So where is she?" Lucy asked tiredly as Ryan stepped back into the room after a moment or two.

"She's still here but she's asleep; I'll wake her up in a little bit." He promised and walked over to where his wife lay with their newborn child.

Alyson Marie LaDelt was born three hours after Brooke left the hospital room. She weighed 8.5 pounds and had ten tiny fingers and ten tiny toes - Ryan counted several times to check. Her eyes were a vibrant green just like her daddies and her tiny perfect nose was that of her mothers.

He grinned at the small pink bundle and eyed the little tuft of black hair on the top of her head. She was awake and eyeing both Ryan and Lucy carefully as if trying to imprint their faces in her mind.

"Don't worry." Ryan assured her. "You'll be seeing us every day." And as if his words had reassured her, she closed her eyes and fell right to sleep.

Ryan smiled as he sat on the side of Lucy's hospital bed.

"She's going to be beautiful." Lucy told him and Ryan nodded.

"She already is…which is why I think that when she's old enough, we should send her to an all girls preschool." Lucy groaned and rolled her eyes as a nurse came in a placed the sleeping child in a nearby bassinet before leaving.

"Shut up, Ryan. I don't even know if such things exist."

"We could start one!" He offered and Lucy took a second to glare at him before turning to stare at the child in the bassinet.

"You just got over your protective personality…don't bring it back, Rye." Lucy begged him tiredly; it had been a long day.

Ryan sighed and laid down beside her. He turned on his side and wrapped an arm around her.

"Fine, I'll stop. Oh, but when she turns sixteen and gets her first boyfriend…all bets are off." Lucy rolled her eyes.

"We'll see." She spoke before closing her own eyes as she started to lose consciousness. "I love you, Ryan."

"Forever and ever, Luce." Ryan finished right before Lucy fell asleep.

He leaned up a bit to place a kiss on the corner of Lucy's lips before looking over at his sleeping baby girl with a small smile. He fell back onto the bed and pulled Lucy closer to him as he prepared to fall asleep.

I'll love you forever and ever…

--

Brooke entered the hospital room after the nurse assured her it would be alright. Ryan was asleep with his arm draped over Lucy and her back was pressed hard against his chest; she smiled slightly at them but directed her attention towards the little bassinet next to Lucy's bed.

She walked over and felt her heart melt at the sight of the tiny girl wrapped in a pink blanket. Brooke didn't pick her up since she was sleeping but nothing stopped her from staring at her niece and running a careful finger down the side of little face.

She has her mothers hair…

Brooklyn felt the tiny amount of silky smooth black hair and froze when she felt the baby move in its sleep. She snatched her finger away and once the baby was sleeping soundly again, she bent down to kiss her forehead and backed out of the room to give the sleeping family its space.

She headed into the hallway and towards the elevator; while her brother, best friend, and niece may be tired, she only felt hungry.

She headed to the cafeteria and after getting her drink and a bag of chips, she was contemplating whether she should keep it safe with Mac & Cheese or try the meatloaf.

"You look like you're thinking to hard about the food. Listen, the Mac & Cheese tastes better but the meatloaf is more filling; plus, its not that bad…at least, not like the meat loaf they would feed us I high school." Brooke turned and was prepared to thank the guy and to also tell him to go away…but he stuck out his hand before she could do so.

"Michael Hanson, pleased to meet you Miss." Brooke eyed the man standing in front of her wearily.

He was a doctor; that much was obvious from the white lab coat and ID that read 'Doctor Hanson, Medical Surgeon.' He stood at about 5' 10" which was taller then Brooke but not taller than her brother. His brown hair was curly and short which worked for him and he had beautiful hazel eyes…his nose was little crooked and he reminded Brooke a tiny bit of a nerd but overall he was good looking and she couldn’t help the sharp attraction she felt for the man.

I'm in the middle of a divorce! She reminded herself before she smiled at the man and shook his hand.

"I'm Brooke LaDelt." She offered before turning and filling a paper plate full of macaroni and cheese.

"So what are you here for, Miss LaDelt? Your boyfriend work here or something?" He asked as Brooke walked up to pay for her food. Brooke laughed.

"I'm here because my best friend just had a baby. I'm currently not seeing anyone." Which was the truth…she was still married therefore she technically wasn’t single but she's wasn't seeing anyone either.

"Well it must be my lucky day then." Michael spoke with a warm smile and Brooke stopped walking to face Michael as the woman rung up her food.

Michael was really foreword, a little to foreword for her taste. However, there was something about this guy…a good something that she never felt with Jack or any past boyfriends.

"That’s 7 dollars and 50 cents." The woman spoke and just as Brooke turned around to pay; Michael handed over his ID card.

"No, it's on me." The woman shrugged and swiped the card before handing it to Michael who thanked her before grabbing Brooke's tray and carrying it over to a nearby table. Brooke took a deep breath and followed him; she sat at the table carefully.

"Why are you being so nice and…flirty with me?" Brooke demanded, tossing her brown hair over her shoulder.

Michael smiled, amusement dancing in his eyes.

"You know…most people say thank you after someone buys them food." Brooke opened her mouth to speak but Michael interrupted. "However, since saying thank you obviously isn't your style, I'll make your thank you simple…how about you just let me take you out to dinner tomorrow night?"

Brooke was dumbfounded.

"Wait…you want to take me to dinner and that will count as my thank you? Shouldn't it be the other way around?" Michael shrugged.

"I'm a bit stuck in the past; I'd rather it be me who took you to dinner. So, think of it this way: I want you to allow me to take you to dinner as a thank you."

"That still doesn't make much sense."

"So I guess that’s a maybe?" He continued and Brooke groaned.

She didn't want to date anyone, she really didn't. She just wanted to wallow in her self pity and in the single life for a while.

However, Lucy could tell that there was something about Michael…she was drawn to him. She liked him and he was flirting with her…he asked her to dinner…could she really expect herself to say no to him?

She smiled at the brown haired boy sitting across from her and shook her head.

"No, that’s a yes."

Michael grinned at her and warmth instantly flooded Brooke's body along with happy thoughts brought on by Michael's presence.

Brooke laughed to herself.

Who knows? Maybe Michael and I will pull a Ryan and Lucy and have a happy ending too…

And they did.