Thanks for the reviews. ;)

Epilogue

"Okay, guys, time to pack up!" Kate announced at the sound of the bell, clapping her hands to get the children's attention. "I want everything put away by the time I count to ten. One… Two…"

As a couple of the kindergarteners took up the counting, she stopped in front of a small, blonde girl who was still absorbed in drawing what looked like a purple butterfly. "Olivia, did you hear me? Your daddy will be here any minute."

"Olivia," Kate repeated, enjoying the way that it rolled off her tongue. "I like it."

She was sitting up in bed with Jack beside her, cradling their hour old daughter while he read out the list of names that they'd made.

"Yeah?" he checked.

"Yeah," she agreed, returning his grin as he leant in to kiss her.

The night before was one of the longest nights of her life – second only to the night that her mother died, the night of Olivia's conception, she realised – but she forgot all of the pain when the doctor handed her her baby a few minutes after sunrise.

"You okay?" Jack asked as she settled her head back against his shoulder.

"Tired," she explained, closing her eyes. She couldn't remember a time when she'd been this exhausted… or this content.

"What I meant was, how are you?" he pressed, and when she opened them again, she saw that he was watching her with an intent look.

"A little sad," she confessed.

As amazing as he was, there wasn't much that he could do except bring her ice chips and hold her hand during her labour; he'd lent her his mother to help talk her through it, but it wasn't the same as having her own there.

She glanced down at their daughter, asleep in her arms, and smiled. "But I think I'm gonna be okay."

He kissed her again, softer this time, pulling back when they heard a gentle tap at the door.

"Come in."

"How're my girls?" her father asked with a polite nod to Jack as he entered the room.

After learning that Kate was pregnant, he had retired to a desk job so that he wouldn't miss out on his only granddaughter's childhood like he had hers.

"Great. We're calling her Olivia – Olivia Diane Shephard," she told him.

He nodded again, swallowing hard, and she could see that he was getting choked up as he stooped to kiss her, stroking her daughter's tiny cheek. "She's beautiful, Katie. Your mom would be so proud."

"You think so?" she asked with a hopeful smile, feeling her own eyes fill with tears.

More than anything, she wanted to believe that wherever she was, her mother was looking down on them, and that she was happy, because she finally was.

"I know so," he agreed.

"But Mommy, I wanna finish my picture," Olivia complained.

Her teacher was setting up for parent night so Kate had agreed to take both classes for the afternoon.

"You can finish it at home, sweetie, okay?" she told her, returning her crayons to the box.

For a moment, she was afraid that her daughter was going to stage a mutiny, but when she lifted her head, her face broke into a bright smile.

"Daddy!" she cried, snatching up her drawing and leaping from her chair.

Kate turned to see Jack standing in the doorway, watching them with a smile.

Still clutching her artwork Olivia ran at him across the classroom and he caught her, picking her up with an exaggerated groan. "You're getting too big for this, you know," he told her and she giggled, offering him the sheet of paper. "See what I made?"

He accepted it with his free hand, examining it with the look of someone in an art gallery. "Wow. Look at that, Mrs. Shephard – isn't that great?" he asked Kate as she approached them.

They made such a cute pair, Olivia with her fair hair and Jack with his dark, but with matching sets of deep brown eyes.

She smiled. "It's beautiful."

"Let's get married," Jack said as Kate finished feeding Olivia and settled her back inside her car seat on his desk.

"You're not serious," she insisted, eyeing him with a sceptical look as she picked up her own sandwich.

"Why not?" he asked, frowning at her.

To prove his point, he took a ring box out of his desk drawer. "I've been carrying this around for weeks, since the day Livvie was born," he confessed, and she felt her eyes widen in shock as he opened it to reveal a small diamond ring. "I was gonna take you out and do this properly but I knew you wouldn't wanna be away from her for that long, so I'm asking you now – will you marry me?"

She realised then that it wasn't just an impulse, or a way of legitimising their daughter and appeasing their parents. He'd given it a lot of thought. "Yes," she agreed, smiling at him, feeling as though her face would crack as she gave him her hand and he slipped it onto her finger. "I'll marry you."

"You ready to go?" Jack asked Olivia, setting her down.

"Almost," she agreed, scurrying off to get her backpack.

"I'm here for the parent-teacher meeting," he teased Kate when she was gone, drawing her into a tender kiss.

"Jack, not in front of the kids," she told him with a soft chuckle, pulling away after a moment.

"You're right," he agreed, lowering his voice to a suggestive murmur, meant only for her. "I guess we'll just have to save it for later."

He brought his lips to her ear, his hot breath tickling the side of her face, sending a thrill of anticipation through her. "Maybe we can start working on that little brother or sister our daughter keeps asking for."

They had put off expanding their family so that she could focus on her career, but as only children themselves, Kate knew that they both wouldn't mind having at least one more.

Being around children all day had only increased her eagerness.

She gave him a coy smile, flushing when Olivia reappeared beside them, holding her bag out for Jack to carry. "Got everything?" she asked her, relieved that she didn't seem to have heard.

"Uh huh," she agreed, sliding her hand through his. "Bye Mommy."

"Be good for Daddy," Kate told her, dropping a light kiss against her forehead.

Six years had passed since that fateful consult, and she still amazed at how wrong she was in her initial impression of Jack; how someone that she'd sworn to hate could turn out to hold the missing piece of her heart.

Each day she woke up grateful to Tom for figuring out what she should have known all along: that he wasn't what she needed, just a step in the road that led her to Jack, who she now realised was the true love of her life.

The kiss that she gave him was soft and lingering, as lingering as it could be with the other parents trickling in. "I'll see you later," she told him with a grin as she turned and headed back inside.

Okay, so that's the end. Thanks again for all of your reviews and encouragement. ;)