It's short, but it's sweet.

Two years later

Maria looked up with a smile as Eric joined her on the bench, softly swinging the two of them as they overlooked the forest. The nightly calls had sounded, right on cue as the sun began its descent. The mighty roar of Rexy, the lesser roar of the nano that she had adopted sounding right after. Some brachiosaurus let out their own melodies with the triceratops bellowing after. And in it all, Jack and Ripper let out their roars from nearby followed shortly by Blue's screech.

Maria smiled fondly as the trio emerged from the forest, heading towards the barn that was now open for them to leave as they wish. Blue let out a greeting call, a motherly chirp as she entered the enclosure picking up the pace as the hatchlings let out their cries.

Charlie, Echo and Delta rushed to greet their parents and aunt, their chubby bodies propelling forward. Charlie tripped over a rock, tail going over as she rolled with an alarmed cry. Ripper bent his head down and nuzzled the crying infant as she sought solace from him.

"She is just like her," Maria said softly to Eric as the two watched the infants get corralled into the barn.

Eric gave her a smile and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, drawing her near. "I'm glad they're living happily," he said softly as he looked up at the starry sky.

Maria nestled against him, eyes closing as she listened to the calls. The island felt fuller now after Tim shipped the dinosaurs over. Plenty of herbivores to replenish the herds, a good variety of carnivores to keep their populations from over-running. It was a long process, and in some ways it still wasn't done. Tim wasn't satisfied with her safety when he had come over for a visit over a year ago and had personally seen to it that she had proper fencing placed around her home. He was still donating several thousand dollars to keep her afloat, all in exchange for sending him daily updates on the dinosaurs.

Owen and Claire moved back to the mainland, doing everything in their authority to keep outsiders from coming to the island. They had taken Maisie with them, and while Maria was sad to see the girl go, she was thankful she was experiencing a normal life. Or as normal as it could be.

But she wasn't alone, oh no. Eric had stayed with her through it all. Through the recovery of Jack and Ripper, through the transfer of the dinosaurs. Even through the legal proceedings when it came to the agents and their demise. And in the end of it all, she was pleased to say that not only was Eric a true friend, but he was a damn good boyfriend.

She still had her friends and family visiting, all conveniently forgetting to call ahead. But she wouldn't change it for the world. Billy visited the most out of her family, he was ecstatic that his years of talking her up to Eric had actually paid off. And Kelly visited often, occasionally with her father but that was a rare occasion indeed. Her best friend had been ecstatic that she had finally found someone in her life other than a raptor and hybrid.

Barry popped up every now and then, his visits becoming less frequent the older his daughter got. Her parents came as often as they could afford, but would take to video chats when they found themselves really missing her. Her brothers popped up mostly with Billy, Dylan always uncomfortable and Chase having the time of his life.

And Maria?

Maria was in the prime of her life as she looked out at the dinosaurs that she had spent years training, loving and protecting. The bonds between them all couldn't be broken, not even in death. She opened her eyes as Eric tugged her off of the bench to head inside, a smile on her face as she glanced back at the barn where Ripper gave her a goodnight call.

She was home.

I got broken down, Blue and Ripper got together because I finally found those comics every one mentions and YEAH they're CUTE. And aunty Jack is there! Less unhinged because now she's in a positive environment! And Eric is there so Maria isn't alone and is in a positive relationship herself!

and yeah, I'm sorry it's short but this story doesn't have much else to add to it tbh. Everything that needed to be wrapped up could have been in a nice and sweet summary. But we're finally at the end of this story, two years of on and off writing has led us to this point and I'm so grateful to you all who have encouraged me to run with this crackpot story idea I had. So thank you, really.

And, as mentioned before, I'm going to be revisiting my first fanfic for this fandom and rewrite that trilogy. I didn't have enough canon knowledge when I first wrote it and (let's be honest) my writing wasn't that great back then. So it's going to be my next project and hopefully you all will enjoy it as much as you enjoyed this story.

Stay safe 3