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Okay, so I took twice as long, and it's only half as much as I originally wanted... but it's done, and I'm happy with it. Enjoyz :)

Epilogue

.

Far In the Future...

"They're so precious..."

The words escaped a mother's lips, though she wasn't referring to her own children. Though it would only be a few more months before she could be.

"They are adorable," Amy agreed as she watched her three children run around Vector and Vanilla's back garden with their father.

New pink and white blossoms blooming in the trees above them swayed in the breeze, scattering colorful petals around the four energetic hedgehogs as well as Amy and the older couple.

"Why don't you join them?" Vector asked, cocking his large head in curiosity.

"Normally I would, but..." Amy smiled darkly. "I'm not feeling up to it today."

Her and Vanilla exchanged knowing, secretive glances, and this time Vector had the sense to keep his large mouth shut. Though he certainly could detect what she was talking about.

"They're growing up so fast, though... little Ray is already almost five..." Amy commented as she noticed her youngest son, a plum hued hedgehog, trying to catch up with his twin siblings.

"Just wait until they're teenagers," Vanilla joked and took a sip of tea.

"That won't be 'til far in the future," Amy said fondly. "Now, I'm just going to sit and enjoy it. But enough about me, Vanilla!" she gestured to the rabbit's growing stomach and then grinned up at Vector.

Luckily for the crocodile he didn't have to be subject to Amy's probing because shouts of "Uncle Tails!" pierced the air and interrupted the pink hedgehog.

"Oh, they sure do love him," Vanilla commented and smiled as the young fox descended from the air and was attacked by his niece and nephews clinging to his legs.

"Hey guys," the fox said nervously and put his hands on their crazy quills. "I only have two legs, you know..."

Sonic started snickering and Tails shot him a dirty look before glancing over at Vector and Vanilla, who were lounging underneath the trees bordering the garden. His heart jumped and a nervous feeling gripped his stomach.

Oh man... this is gonna be hard... but you know what... I want to do it. I love Cream... and this is just the more formal step. Besides, I'm an adult now... have a job, and I'm ready for this... ready as I'll ever be...

"Alright you guys, let Uncle Tails go," Sonic told his kids, and they obeyed their father. The older hedgehog knowingly locked eyes with his younger brother and gave him an encouraging thumbs up.

"You can do it, little bro," he said before turning to play with his kids again.

I sure hope so, Tails thought before once again turning back to Vector and Vanilla. He swallowed his nervousness, lifted his head up, and headed over to where they were sitting. The closer he walked to them, the more his blue eyes were drawn to the pair of rings on each of their fingers, and his heart skipped in anticipation.

Finally, he was standing right in front of them.

"Well hello there Tails," Vanilla drawled. She had a vague feeling of what this was about.

"Hey buddy, what've you been up to?" Vector asked in his overly friendly manner.

"Hi Tails," Amy said with an oblivious smile. She was probably the only one clueless of what was going on.

Tails shifted his weight from one foot to the other but then spoke in a confident voice. "I came to ask you two something..."

As soon as she heard thoise words, Vanilla knew, and her eyes misted up from happiness and nostalgia. She looked over at her husband only to see his intelligent eyes already on hers, nodding his approval.

... & ...

"Well, I knew that you loved that place, but I know you're going to love this even more..." Tails said while shooting his girlfriend a grin and squeezing her hand.

The young couple was leaving The Gazebo after a very romantic dinner and was now headed off to a special place that Tails refused to reveal. The spring night was cool and crisp, but Cream was comfortable in just a simple short chiffon dress. As the two walked along, Cream was trying to look at their surroundings to figure out where Tails had in mind, but kept coming up empty.

"If you say so... I'll believe it," Cream said and squeezed his hand back.

"I'm glad you have faith in me," Tails responded.

"Well I should... we've been together for... how long have we been dating?" Cream asked, tilting her head cutely.

"Officially, or non officially?"

"Oh you're so specific," Cream giggled.

"Well, technically, we've been 'going out' for only two years..."

"Yeah, but we've been seeing each other much longer," Cream said and turned to steal a quick, sweet kiss from his lips.

The fox stopped walking in surprise but by the time he realized what happened, Cream had already pulled back. He pouted, but then leaned forward to breathe against her lips, "It's still not long enough..."

Their lips met again, this time in passionate fury. Tails pressed his lips strongly against Cream's, kissing her in longing and need. His hands found their way to her slender waist to add to his desires. With every further kiss, his heart kept beating more quickly, until it felt like it would slam out of his ribcage. Panting from the rush, he finally had to pull away. The two locked eyes in love and passion.

"You really know how to kiss," was all Cream could say before she nuzzled against his shoulder.

The two resumed their walk through the city, eventually leading to the outskirts. Hard, bumpy sidewalks turned into grass and fields as a softer cushion for the couples' feet. Above them, the sky held a beautiful canopy of stars and an almost full moon. Cream was trying to enjoy the atmosphere, but noticed Tails kept glancing down at his high-tech watch.

"What is it, Tails?" she asked him.

"Um... nothing, you'll see in a second," Tails responded, and picked up the pace a little.

Is he just anxious to get out of here? Maybe he's tired... oh but I don't want to part ways for the night just yet... and why does his grip on my hand feel so tense?

They walked until they reached an open Chao Garden, surrounded by a meadow of flowers. Since it was dark, the Chao were sleeping peacefully and the flowers were just vague, shadowy forms. Nevertheless, Tails led them to a bench to sit and cuddle for a moment.

"Trust me, there's a reason that I brought us to a dark location," The fox tried to explain, though his eyes were trained to his watch.

"Is there something wrong?" Cream whispered.

"Urh, not really..." he said and swallowed nervously.

Come on, you're running late, it's going to happen in two minutes, you have to start now so that the timing is perfect... oh but that means, I got to...

"Um... actually..." Tails cleared his throat. "I sorta wanted to give you something."

Cream cocked her head in curiosity. "What is it?"she asked, when suddenly Tails extended a small, delicate flower bud right under her nose. She inhaled the sweet scent and smile. "Wow... thanks Tails..."

"You're welcome... it's called a Luna flower, it only blooms at the exact moment that the moon is perfectly full," Tails explained, one blue eye trained to the sky. "Which should be any second..."

Cream smiled and kept staring at the small flower in her hand. In this light it was impossible to tell even what color it was, though it looked to be either a purple or dark blue. The petals were tightly folded together, resulting in a tightly closed bud. It looked impenetrable, like it was guarding something priceless.

"It will only open at the right time," Tails explained in a shaky voice. He was sweating bullets, hoping beyond hope that this would work out perfectly...

A few more seconds passed by, and Cream looked up from the flower bud to the moon, which looked to be as full as ever, and then back to Tails.

"Just one more second..." Tails said, and looked back down at his watch which told him everything from the atmospheric pressure at that location to the moon phases to the time.

Cream waited patiently for a little while longer when to her delight, the petals started unfolding right in front of her eyes. Cream watched them expand and grow and had to gasp in surprise at the lovely thing she was able to experience. The flower was utterly gorgeous; the petals cascaded out from the center simliar to a rose but gave a wider base. The center of the Luna flower held ... wait, something round and shiny? She lifted the flower closer to her face to inspect it better, only for her eyes to grow in shock.

No... is that...?

"Tails..."

The fox took her free hand with one of his and with his spare, dislodged the engagement ring from inside the petals and held it up to her. Even in the dark night, the love reflected in that gaze was unmistakable.

"Cream, I've come to love you more than anything over the past few years, and there's no one else I want to spend the rest of my life with. But I wanted to wait until just the right time to ask you this..." he paused and lifted the ring to her. "Will you marry me, Cream?"

"Yes," she whispered without any hesitation and wrapped him in a hug. Their lips met almost by instinct, but inbetween kisses, Cream managed to say, "Oh... I love you Tails... thank you for asking... there's nothing that I want more than this... I'm so happy..."

"I love you too, Cream... me too..." Tails said and then melted into his fiancee's lips.

... & ...

The End

... & ...

If you didn't get what the first part of the chapter was about, it was Tails asking Vanilla and Vector if he could ask Cream to marry him. I thought it'd be a nice touch since this whole story was about Vanilla's reluctance to give her daughter away... and the fact that Tails thought to ask her (like a man would do traditionally) was just a nice way to end it... plus I got to show how the Hedgies are doing (very well)... and yeah, Vector and Vanilla are now married. :)

The second part... c'mon, it was ROMANTIC. I have a feeling it's been done before (hiding a ring in a flower), but I don't really care. And it feels terribly rushed, but I don't think I can add anything else... it's just a simple epilogue. ^_^

If you're wondering if this series is over... well, I don't know, honestly. I really don't want to leave it behind, I like thinking of the characters as one big continuous timeline of what could realistically happen in the future. This series started out as a one night stand... funny how that happens, so much can come from one little thing... and it eventually led up to marriage for Sonic and Amy, and then Vanilla's reluctance to let Cream date... and now... everyone's happy. :)

Anyway... for now, the series is done. Not to say I won't pick it back up, with adding other couples in this same style and timeline, but now... I got some older stories I need to finish... *smiles*But you can check my profile for that info...

Thanks everyone! Catch ya on the flip side, guys and gals...

~SilverDawn~