The Writing of The Bonds of Love (Epilogue: Love), final part · 6:13pm Jul 30th, 2023
And here we are at last... The final third of the Epilogue's discussion, and thus, the final major installment of the Writing of The Bonds of Love.
No need to dawdle any further, I think. Let's get right into it!
~ Our Final Goodbyes ~
With Glory's fears allayed and our journey finally taking us to the Ponyville Schoolhouse, I gleefully took the chance to sneak Cheerliee a cameo. Certainly better than arbitrarily replacing during the time-skip. Why would that happen? Age. Why do you think I gave her the “Spry as ever” line? Same reason I didn’t comment on how old she, Sky Beak, Ocean Flow, and Novo would likely appear now: It would suck and bring down the mood.
Why yes, I did hate the eye wrinkles they haphazardly slapped onto everypony in “The Last Problem,” why do you ask?
Sadly, a cameo is all Cheerilee could be afforded, and not even a long one. She’s lucky she got as much as she did—It’d feel rather silly and awkward if school began, only for Glory’s family to all make her late, trapping her right outside the door to talk to her. Thus, Cheerliee’s here to go “Don’t worry, time’s frozen during dialogue” before de-spawning within the building.
As for the last second “Parent talk” they give Glory, I am significantly relieved by how well I portrayed it. I was worried the whole “Gallus and Silver talk so fast Glory can’t keep up with them” gimmick would feel like another one of those jokes that wouldn’t work outside the visual medium—like a certain cutaway gag from A.D.F.F.
Thankfully, I managed to word it well enough to feel natural and remain relatively comedic—helped by how I cracked and let Glory sneak in her own lines between her parents’ barrage of advice.
Most of said advice is just reaffirmation of stuff said earlier in the chapter.
Try to make friends, but don’t feel pressured to do so. Be nice regardless, and don’t be afraid to interact with your fellow students.
Careful with her talons ‘cause they’re sharp; just ask the grooves on Gruff’s floor from when Gallus scratched against them.
Don’t bite anycreature either. Not just because Glory did that earlier in the story, but also because it was a hilarious joke in Hippogryphs and You: A lecture on interspecies safety and I felt no shame in ripping that off.
…The fact Jack of a Few Trades commented on that same joke was absolutely not an additional reason why I did so. Nope. Not at all. What possible reason could I have for including something they liked enough to comment on?
I mean? It’s not like they thoroughly deconstructed my entire handling of Gallus’ character in a previous story to the point I felt compelled to include something they seemingly enjoyed purely for the purpose of appeasing them because I’m a total loser with zero impulse control and a desperate need for the validation of complete strangers that probably don’t remember I exist. Nope. No reason at all. 
In all seriousness, I am genuinely being hyperbolic there. I simply enjoyed the “Young hippogriffs will instinctively bite you” joke and wanted to incorporate it. Especially since it contributed to another aspect of Glory’s conceptualization that I’ll discuss later.
Don’t hug Horton, except during breaks from class, which Silver reminds Glory of since she was the one who got the “Horton” dialogue earlier, and because I still felt compelled to give her and Glory moredialogue together since Gallus got so much.
Don’t get in trouble in general, and the bundle of innocence that is Glory just has to ask how on earth she could do so anyway? The answer is our closure to the “Gallus falls asleep in class” joke, much to his exasperation.
Take plenty of notes, as suggested by Silverstream and affirmed by the family nerds, and ask all the questions she needs. Just don’t do either enough to be disruptive to class like I was as a kid.
Don’t lose/use her Pearl-piece—Something I couldn’t resist having Novo almost react to, but since this was Gallus-Stream and Glory’s moment, Smolder and Ocean prevent her from intruding on it.
Don’t try to fly because she can’t yet. Only slipped this one in here to explain away whether Glory could yet or not. Figured she was too young to know how; thus, she can’t.
And last and most important of all:
They then bent down and kissed one of Glory’s cheeks respectively before simultaneously saying, “Have fun.”
Glorious Pearl giggled ecstatically and kissed her father back first. After giving her mother a kiss as well, Glory beamed at them both, vowing, “I will!”
You know, it’s funny. I remember someone—and sadly I can’t remember who 
—lightly criticizing the Epilogue(Love) for how much kissing the characters do in it. And after re-reading it for the “Writing of…”? Yeah, they were totally right. 
Not that I mind, of course. My story, my rules. But even if that weren’t the case, I stand by how absolutely beautiful it is to see Gallus, Silverstream, and their family embrace how much they love each other. How much they love Glory. They trudged through all that heartache, paranoia, and drama; it was only fair they deserve their utopic ending.
Unfortunately, a part of that utopic ending is standing aside and watching their daughter, their Glorious Pearl, finally disappear into the schoolhouse and begin her own journey of life, friendship, and love.
Not before everyone gets to say goodbye, of course.
Sky and Ocean are only barely not bawling their eyes out, Gavin defaults to encouraging her to read all the books she can, and Novo demands Glory excel so her grandauntie can brag all day long about her.
And yes, Smolder and all of you, Novo does already do that. 
Speaking of Smolder, I’m sad to see she didn’t get too much to her own goodbye other than the snark directed at Novo, but well? Can’t drag the scene out longer than necessary.
Ocellus, thankfully, picks up the slack, mimicking Gavin’s own encouragement toward studying, while also having her own dialogue tag to show how hyped she is for the day she can sit and listen to Glory tell her all about what she learned in school.
Terramar, meanwhile, gives his niece yet more snark for the name incident. But since Gallus-Stream already got on him for it earlier, he genuinely promises to let it go from now on.
Yona still sneaks him a frown though, before focusing on Glory and promising to give her the best hug she can. And since she’s the best at everything, especially hugs, both because she’s a yak and she’s Yona, you can bet Glory spent a good chunk of the day excited for that particular hug. 
Sandbar, meanwhile, sneaks Yona his own little hug before getting the plot back on track and urging Glory ahead.
Glory smiled and raised a talon to open the front door; however, before she entered the school proper, she paused and closed her eyes. Glory then took a deep breath in, holding her talon to her heart before extending it outward, sighing quietly. “Daddy and Mommy love me,” she whispered to herself before looking back at the others again. “Bye-bye, Daddy. Bye-bye, Mommy. Bye-bye, everycreature,” Glory said, smiling as she cheerfully waved goodbye one final time. “I love you!”
And we love you, Glory! Especially your parents—They are so proud of you!
But though the parting hurts, endings are a necessity of any good story. Thus, Glory swivels about and begins her first day of school, leaving us all behind to stare after her.
…
I MISS WRITING GLORY!!!!
She was an absolute ball of delightful sunlight, both to write and to read, but her mere existence was worth the pain of her disappearance behind those wretched school doors…
And since I was sure that same feeling applied to the other present parents, I acknowledge that by having some of the ponies remain standing in the background, just as Glory’s family does.
Shame Novo had to ruin that, but the story is drawing to a close, so someone had to do it and I was determined not to make it Sandbar.
Thankfully, Novo is not only bold enough to believably be the first to leave, she also has a proper excuse to do so: Rescuing Mount Aris from her daughter’s volcanic shenanigans.
Yeah, sorry, Skystar, but your mom was the one who got to cameo here, so someone needed to stay behind and rule. Think of it as practice for when she eventually abdicates.
That’s assuming the citizenry survived her momentary reign, however. As Ocean— No, wait, it’d be funnier if Silver said it— But, well, actually, after Novo’s bullying, it was best for Gallus to acknowledge how Skystar has likely turned Mount Aris into a fiery wasteland by this point.
Terramar didn’t have much more he could provide the scene either—and has a pregnant sweetie he’s gotta return to—so he’s next to follow.
Gavin, meanwhile, gets delayed till later ‘cause I couldn’t figure out how to naturally have him leave yet. So, instead, Sky and Ocean are next to vamoose.
Not before Silver thanks them for coming of course, definitely not before Gallus gets a chance to hug his Dad and call him as such, and certainly not before the old parents ask the new(Relatively) ones if they’ll be okay being apart from their Glorious Pearl.
Short answer: Yes. Long answer: We’ll discuss it soon.
But while Sky and Ocean no longer have anything to contribute to this moment, I still adore them, and they absolutely adore Glory. Sooo…? I went ahead and had them stay in Ponyville so they could swarm their granddaughter once school ended.
After all, it’s not fair the other Graduated Six would be able to do exactly this since they already live in Ponyville while the Griffs don’t.
Where they would stay wasn’t much of a priority, so I hand-waved it. They’re not staying with Gallus-Stream to explain why they didn’t know about Sky and Ocean’s plans, which necessitated they already have a place to stay, so it was just a random hotel.
Point is: There’s no pool. 
Which means Ocean will have to stay as a hippogriff all! Week! Long! 
Nahhh, not really. Saddle Lake exists, which is the perfect excuse to kick Ocellus and Smolder from the scene next, via them escorting Sky and Ocean to the locale in question.
So after the Griffs all get done saying their own goodbyes—including some Novo-Ocean sister banter—buggo and drago get their turn to say goodbye to birdo and bluebirdo, apologizing for having to get kicked out of the scene.
They also afford the opportunity to hand-wave any potential implications of Silverstream being late to work due to the scene she and Gallus are about to have, so thanks, Ocellus and Smolder, for making sure Starlight doesn’t slap a fat ol’ tardy on Silver’s record. Not that she would, of course; she knows what the lovebirds are doing today, as Smolder addresses.
However… Because we were on the subject of Silver’s job at the school, I couldn’t resist further having a laugh at Luster Dawn’s expense. Or more accurately, Ocellus and Smolder’s.
Glad that Gallus sticks up for Luster again—having implicitly gotten to know the kiddo back when she was living in Canterlot—but his words are meaningless to the teachers who actually spend time with her in an enclosed environment.
I… Really hate how I made Silverstream out to be the only one who could break through Luster’s “episodes.” It’s probably the one time I ever came close to risking a “Mary Sue” situation, especially when earlier this very chapter, I explicitly confirmed Silver was equally a victim to Luster’s madness as her fellow teachers and friends were.
Buuuut? I wanted Smolder and Ocellus to have a reason to want Silver to return to the school sooner rather than later, and I thought it was funny to have them whine about Luster favoring Silver over them, and blah-blah-blah…
What truly made me commit to the decision, however, was a story implication I was going to have Silverstream herself comment on. Remember when Smolder asks:
“How come you’re the only one that can get Luster Dawn to stop spamming her magic all the dang time?”
Silver’s original answer was something along the lines of:
“Easy: I have my own personal line to Princess Twilight,” Silverstream flaunted, shooting Gallus a wink. “And she knows I’m not afraid to use it.”
Only not nearly as well-written as that. Furthermore, I didn’t like the idea of reducing Silverstream’s skills as a teacher(At least in relation to Luster) to mere “The students listen to me because they fear my husband. Not because I’m an absolutely awesome teacher, completely deserving of their respect. Nope. Just ‘cause I married Twilight’s personal bodyguard.” That felt ludicrous, so the line was instead replaced with Silver admitting she legitimately didn’t know why Luster liked her more, yet smugly rubbing that in her friends’ faces.
For the record, I do maintain part of why Luster supposedly respects Silver above Smolder and Ocellus is because she knows Gallus will not hesitate to drag Twilight off her throne and back to Ponyville to ground her. But I also want to clarify it’s not the only reason she likes Silver. Silver wasn’t kidding when she said she was Luster’s favorite, you know. After all…
“I’m everycreature’s favorite,” she bragged.
“Especially mine,” he purred, kissing her.
As irksome as the “Silver’s suddenly Luster’s fave professor now, I guess” issue was, I’m glad we got that exchange out of it. And Smolder’s reactions too.
Smolder didn’t get much time in the Epilogue(Love)—a shame, given the importance of her subplot—but dang did she use that time well! Her dialogue, her expressiveness, her fawning over Glory… Girl is living her best life right now, and it’s such a wonderful thing to see. Gallus-Stream weren’t the only ones who deserved their happy ending, after all. 
Of course, it’s because of everything Smolder went through in the story that I made sure to devote that wee bit of extra time to her here. And it’s because of everything she inadvertently put Gallus and Silver through that I had her be so passionate about being Glory’s “Cool Auntie.”
And then there’s Smolder citing Gallus as part of her family, teasing him over his newfound sappiness—yet more closure to Gallus’ younger self’s prankster persona—and getting teased by Silverstream of all creatures—yay, character development! 
—over both Smolder’s own newfound sappiness, and the sheer amount of it she’ll inevitably subject to her own sweetie and children one day.
Would you believe I fretted for a quarter of an hour over how to emphasize Gallus’ teasing Smolder about possibly having more than one child? True story. He originally said:
“I shudder to think of how much you’ll dote on your own kid. Or rather…? Kids,” he stressed, waggling his eyebrows.
With the possibility of adding “Plural” after the “Kids.” Why did I go with “Child” and “Children” instead? Why not hunt through the fandom for a fan-ascribed name for baby dragons, or just straight up say “egg” and “eggs”? Easy: Italicizing one single letter didn’t feel remotely emphatic enough. So instead, we have “child” and italicized the entirety of “children.” Just to make the teasing clearer.
It gets the intended effect at least. Character development or no, Smolder’s a well-established character with her own unique personality traits, one of which includes a strong aversion to all things openly touchy and feely. And while Smolder certainly has a greater appreciation for that now, both as an adult and especially after T.B.O.L., it wouldn’t feel right to forget it entirely. So when confronted with the teasing toward her own love life and possible motherhood, Smolder deflects entirely—to Ocellus’ amusement—opting to ignore the situation by virtue of ending the scene faster.
I’m certainly not complaining about hurrying the scene along before we bloat the word count even more, sooo… Win-win, as far as I’m concerned.
Thus, the Griffs all get their true final goodbyes.
Terry’s gets dragged out a touch longer to both give him and his sister one last major exchange and grant closure to his “I’m the only the normal one in this family” status via:
“You’re both weird.”
“And yet, you love us anyway,” Gallus accused.
“And yet, I love you anyway,” Terramar confirmed, grinning.
Novo teases Gallus one last time before rushing off to liberate Mount Aris from her daughter’s pyro-maniacal tyranny.
And now is the time for Gavin to finally say his own goodbyes, since it took, yes, that long to finally reach a point where it would feel natural for him to leave. I am still annoyed I hadn’t sneaked him even a line or two earlier, but alas. Not much else to say about his goodbye, sadly.
Which of course, just leaves Yona-Bar to depart. But since they’re the only other couple here—with their own kid along the way—it was only fair their departure is the most drawn out.
Not too much to say here either.
Will Glory be okay? Yona asks.
Answer: Yep. No time in the story left for the opposite answer.
How did Gallus calm Glory down? Sandbar asks.
Answer: [Insert generic dad advice here] … Oh, wait, no. I can’t think of any, so instead I have Gallus low-key troll Sandbar via a cheap, “My daughter was upset, so I helped her not be. Easy-peasy, really; you’ll figure it out.”
When will Yona-Bar finally have their kiddo? Silver asks.
Answer: Off-screen, after one last generic “Meet & Greet.” Because there’s no time left in the story to show their adoption.
Why are Yona-Bar adopting? I ask.
Answer: ‘Cause I have an inkling horses and yaks can’t breed, and there was no way in Tartarus I’d look that up for myself and risk getting put on a “Weird person” list at Google’s HQ or something.
Plus? It fits with T.B.O.L.’s overall theme anyway for at least one of the Graduated Six to adopt, considering Gallus’ circumstances.
Considered making it a yak they were adopting, but instead went with it being a pony foal since I figured they’d adopt from Ponyville since it’s their home and closer, as opposed to Yakyakistan all the way in the mountains.
Yada-yada, Yona-Bar are obviously excited to be parents, and their fellow parents make sure to advise getting more scrapbooks to ensure they capture even more moments with their child within those pages.
And that’s about all they can really provide in this moment, so out the scene they go, but not before Yona asks one last time if her friends will be okay—fulfilling the same role she had previously in the story.
And it’s because of that fact, I couldn’t help but have Silverstream be the one to reassure she and Gallus will be perfectly okay.
But with that comes Yona-Bar’s unceremonious exit, with one last “I love you!” exchanged between the married couples.
And here we stand with the main protagonists of The Bonds of Love. Gallus and Silverstream, lovebirds forever and parents to our Glorious Pearl.
Let’s see what final thoughts they have to share with us all before their story finally comes to a close.
~ Their Happy Ending ~
It was only appropriate they have one final dedicated scene together here in the finale. But unlike last chapter, this one is purely Gallus and Silverstream’s—no Novo or anyone else butting in last minute.
And to lead us into their scene I grind the pace to a halt to both allow you, the audience, a moment to collect our bearings from the sudden focus shift, and the parents a moment to hold each other and let it sink in how their daughter—their Glorious Pearl—is finally apart from them for the first genuine time, entirely alone and held within the terrifying halls of SCHOOL. 
In the midst of this, I kick all the other lingering parents out of the scene too. Because even though they were in the background, the last thing I wanted was to feel compelled to acknowledge them further beyond that just because they were present at all.
Again, the ending is for Gallus-Stream only, and it’s only fitting we go from them staring after Glory to them comforting each other over her absence.
Question was who to have cry first, and it was originally Gallus, but once I began writing this scene, Silverstream felt more natural, if only so she could be the one to point out Gallus was crying too, allowing him a chance to go “Yeah, I know,” completely unabashed he was doing so.
‘Cause guys can cry too, don’t ya know? 
Just ask Gavin.
The whole “She’s growing up → She’s growing up way too fast!” moment was intended to come later, but it too felt more natural to start with. … The fact I couldn’t think of any other/better way to begin the dialogue is entirely coincidental.
Thus begins our brief recap of the journey Gallus-Stream made in raising their little bundle of joy.
“‘Glorious Pearl! And the Quest for the Cookie Jar!’”
Not quite another sequel idea I kicked around but certainly inspired by one. I would have discussed/referenced the original sequel idea here, but to keep the conversation flowing at a good clip, I had to settle for the truncated Cookie Jar incident.
Glory’s facial expression in said incident, however, was the most hilarious thing to imagine, so I had Gallus and Silver laugh about it in-universe, though not without also expressing utmost relief they had caught her before she could hurt herself.
And because I still felt like I had gimped over Silver’s parenting prowess in favor of Gallus’ “Dad talk,” I clarified Silver rewarded Glory’s younger self with a cookie for her efforts.
But now that the main example of Gallus-Stream’s baby-raising antics has been unveiled, here’s a rapid-fire summation of other such antics—framed as the parents lamenting said memories being forever trapped in the past, for our sadistic benefit at the bittersweetness of it all:
“Playing with her in her crib…” he recounted, smiling serenely.
“Wheeling her around in her stroller…” she continued.
“Teaching her how to read…”
“Drawing and painting with her…”
“Holding her talon and helping her take her first steps…”
“Taking her to Saddle Lake and showing her how to swim…”
The crib, reading, drawing, and Saddle Lake were originally the only ones mentioned, but then I thought of the “first steps” one, and it was too adorable not to include, but it also threw off their speaking order, so I scrambled for an extra one—the stroller—to fix it, hence it feeling somewhat generic. Would have preferred a better, more personal memory, but at this point I was just trying to wrap things up.
Besides, it’s the Saddle Lake mention that’s most important since it brings us to another interesting detail regarding Glory, and Gallus by extension: Their seapony heritage!
Yep, this brief exchange—in addition to Gallus both having his own Pearl-piece and genuinely liking being one last chapter—effectively confirms Gallus has fully adopted his seapony form as part of his core identity.
More than that, however, it also confirms Glory has those same seapony instincts. In fact, that’s the last major detail I wanted to discuss about her: How I wanted her to have griffon, hippogriff, and seapony instincts to some degree. Truthfully, I was more concerned with the last of those three, but nevertheless.
Remember the stolen referenced “baby hippogriffs are all biters” joke from Hippogryphs and You: A lecture on interspecies safety? This is the true reason I did it: To incorporate a vaguely hippogriff-esque instinct into her character.
On the griffon side of things, however? Errr…? The only example of vaguely griffon-specific instincts in the show was the Bit-obsession thing. And um? No.
Glory is pure-hearted sunshine personified; her parents would do everything in their power to raise her to abhor the concepts of mindless greed and empty pride; and above all else: She’s a child. And regardless of her intelligence, whatever grasp on Bits she’d have would be relatively superficial and almost entirely beyond her control, considering her parents would, again, significantly influence her understanding and spending of any Bits she had.
All that, and I hate the idea griffons are biologically capable of rivaling dragons in terms of instinct-driven greed, at least regarding Bits. And I especially hated the idea of using Glory as a vehicle to acknowledge, let alone “prove” that.
So, instead, we settle for the simple tail-wagging she inherited from her dad, and little else. Though, given Glory’s a griffon, showing her having uniquely griffon instincts was even less of a priority.
Nope, as mentioned, the main instincts I wanted to show Glory had were her seapony ones: Because fat chance was I going to have time to show Glory in her seapony form—yet another reason I noted Glory didn’t know how to use her Pearl-piece yet.
Thus, while initially confused upon being shape-shifted for the first time, at an age when she was just beginning to understand how to read, write, and talk, Glory took to the water with absolute gusto—The fact she wasn’t even scared of the water, like Gallus, merely confused was yet more evidence she was born with seapony instincts somewhere inside her.
In fact? The “Climbing Phase” Gallus-Stream noted Glory had was originally a “Bathtub Phase.”
Glory’s seapony instincts were going to have been sparked from their first trip to Saddle Lake and grow into an obnoxious cycle of the toddler sneaking off into the bathroom every chance she got to overfill the—surprise, surprise—bathtub or dive beak-first into the toilet itself, just so she could satisfy those instincts. This extended to every body of water she found; be it a rainwater barrel or public fountain, if Glory could dive into it, she would.
It was adorable, hilarious, and Gallus-Stream’s complete exasperation over it was the icing on the cake. 
And yes, I am officially confirming that as canon—Glorious “Cannon-balled Into A Toilet More Than Once!” Pearl totally went through this “Bathtub Phase.”
Unfortunately, it would have been extremely tedious to explain any of this here, in the last ten minutes of the story, when it’s supposed to be devoted to her parents. Thus, the “Bathtub Phase” was thrown out in favor of a generic “Climbing Phase” because all babies go through something akin to that, or so the Internet had led me to believe.
Really sucks that had to be the case—It leaves Glory’s seapony heritage(And even her hippogriff one too, honestly) completely in the dust, examined solely in this fleeting exchange.
Ah well. It wasn’t the focus, so it’s a necessary sacrifice. Besides, next we get Gallus-Stream chatting about what they really miss about Glory’s infant years.
Or? More accurately: I had to awkwardly pad the exchange out to get to the one part of it I actually cared about and put effort into.
So instead of saying what Silver misses is simply hearing Gallus sing Glory to sleep, giving us closure regarding Mr. “I have the singing voice of a cheese-grater”—it took having a daughter to get him to open those gorgeous pipes of his—we have to first endure her saying she misses rocking Glory to sleep, so Gallus can make an empty “You always looked happy when you did” observational comment, so she can confirm it, then lead into him reading her bedtime stories which, while adorable, is only to finally get to her line about missing hearing Gallus sing Glory lullabies.
Speaking of which, one of Gallus’ lullabies was absolutely Hazel’s Lullaby from Infinity Train. No question, that’s canon.
Sadly, this brings our recap of Glory’s infancy to an end, concluding with Gallus asking what every parent is forced to ask eventually: Will our child be okay without us?
And… In a truly beautiful moment, Silverstream answers yes with so little hesitation, I didn’t even acknowledge she did say it without hesitation.
Now the question must be directed back at them: Will they be okay without Glory?
Answer: Yes, but they’ll both be counting down the seconds until they see their daughter again, suffering butterflies all the while. Gallus more than Silverstream. ‘Cause she spent half this story overcoming her paranoia and yada-yada-yada, we’ve been over this.
Gallus’ woes, meanwhile, are best summarized here:
“The years are just flying by, Silverstream… Sometimes, I’m not sure I can keep up.”
Firstly: Nice callback to how Gallus acknowledged he couldn’t always keep up with Silverstream’s constant physical intimacy last chapter.
Secondly: This is unquestionably me acknowledging the time-skip debacle as an in-universe plot point.
And thirdly: Silverstream has the best response ever to this concern:
“All the more reason to cherish the time we still have.”
Which is totally a theme I threw in specifically because we’re at the end and deserve a nice little bow to tie on their story, one highlighting—as mentioned—the skipped over passage of time, and the new, wonderful adventures that await them and their Glorious Pearl.
And of course I loved writing Gallus’ response:
“Heh. Don’t worry then,” he implored, cupping her cheeks tenderly. “I cherish every last second of every day of my life. Because I get to live my life with you,” Gallus rejoiced, kissing her.
This is mainly here to immediately resolve Gallus’ issues with life blurring past him without accidentally implying it was a legitimate character struggle he was now suffering from in his age. But yeah. As Silver mentions—after another snippet of physical intimacy(Which of course includes copious amounts of the “Serene” adjective/adverb):
“You’re never going to stop out-sweeting me, are you?”
“Nope. Never,” he promised.
Couldn’t have said it better, Gallus. 
Now… Where the hay do I go from here?
Glory’s gone, all the characters are gone, we’ve wrapped up the “Where are they now?” game, and Gallus and Silver just had a lovely exchange spotlighting how precious their lives are now that they’re living their lives together.
That should be a good spot to end things, right? Well, yes… If it weren’t for how laughably short this final Gallus-Stream scene would be if I ended it there.
So how to draw it out, then? Well, if Gallus got a moment dedicated to expressing how happy he is to be married, it’s only fair Silverstream get her own, especially considering how—yes, I’m complaining about it again—much her presence was reduced in favor of Gallus’ “Dad talk.”
Thankfully, plotting out Silverstream’s moment was relatively easy since there was one last monumental aspect of their marriage I had yet to acknowledge: The proposal. 
At the time, I didn’t have a solid vision for how it went down—parts, certainly, but not the whole—but that didn’t mean I couldn’t hint at it. Shame it was only a hint, but it led into something far more significant.
So Silver thanks Gallus for saying yes, he jokes back that she was the one who said yes—“quite adamantly” was all I was willing to describe, preferring to leave Silverstream’s true levels of euphoria entirely up to your imagination—we get a moment where they take a second to focus on their wedding rings—because YESSSS!!!! —and afterward, we get this:
Upon seeing him raise an eyebrow in confusion, she asked, “Remember Friends and Family Day, Gallus?”
“Of course I do!” he adamantly affirmed. “How could I ever forget our first date?”
“It didn’t have to be our first date,” she acknowledged, puzzling him even more. “But it was. Because I asked you if it was…”
“And I said yes,” Gallus said, grinning in realization.
“And you said yes!”
Saved the best callback for last, it seems. 
Finally! A.D.F.F. gets to be given the respect it deserves as the true beginning to this story, despite its “First Story Syndrome”-ness.
Even better: Look at how Gallus sees that day now! That was the day he was at his absolute lowest and darkest point, yet now, all these years later, he doesn’t spare that a single thought. To Gallus, A.D.F.F. is now nothing more or less than his first true date with his wife.
And best of all is the entwined reference to Ch.3(Expression)—what I proclaimed as when T.B.O.L. hit its stride proper. That reference coming in the reminder it was when Gallus agreed to consider A.D.F.F. their first legitimate date, kick-starting their entire journey to this point and beyond.
“And I’m so happy you did, Gallus; I love you so much,” she exulted. “And I— I can’t even imagine a life without you,” she said, placing a talon upon his chest and smiling tearfully at him. “So, thank you, Gallus. Thank you for saying yes.”
“A talon on his chest,” hmm? 
Why could that moment be emphasized in particular? Could it be I was referencing a particular Gallus-Stream artwork?
Nahhh, nope. Totally not referencing adorable Gallus-Stream art. No sirree. This is a significant, heavily emotional moment; we don’t have time to sneak in silly references to artwork I only discovered via fellow Gallus-Stream stories using it as cover art.
Nope, our focus is purely on halfheartedly joking in-universe about how, out-of-universe in the show, they likely aren’t together and are far lesser for it.
Jokes aside, this is still one my favorite Silverstream moments in all of T.B.O.L. purely for the sheer joy in her speech… It’s so good!
But Gallus still has to out-sweet her every chance he gets, so hecups her cheeks again—still a favorite gesture of hers, all these years later—and drops this phenomenal reply:
“You are the love of my life. You always have been, and you always will be,” he declared resolutely. “There was no other possible answer I could have given you that day,” Gallus said, kissing her.
I FING LOVE GALLUS-STREAM!!!
Also, of course there was no other answer you could have given her, Gallus; anything shy of an absolute “yes” would have ruined this story being a romance.
How to have Silverstream react to that proclamation? Well, I could have had her rib on him out-sweeting her again, but we did that joke earlier, and she just had her own “I’m so happy because A, B, and C” moment literal seconds ago. So we settle for a simple “I’m glad,” murmured through tears of joy and into her husband’s sky blue floof.
But since this is totally the final exchange of the story, we can’t end it there, so Gallus continues, acknowledginghow lucky he is Silver chose him—nice callback to Terramar’s words during the Mount Aris arc—only for her to turn his own previous adulation back on him: That there was no other creature she could have possibly chosen.
Some light teasing over Silver stealing his lines again—a callback to the beginning of this very chapter—only for Silver to drop this…interesting…line:
“Pfft! I don’t care about being original,” Silverstream refuted, waving her talon dismissively. She then tapped her beak against his, finishing, “I only care about you.”
You know? In any other context—Heck! At any point earlier in this story, Silverstream claiming she only cares about Gallus would be rather horrifying in light of the paranoia arc. 
Only made worse by how stupid a romance trope it is for the romancers in question to be so obsessed with each other, literally everything else in their lives is blatantly ignored.
For those reasons, I was moderately worried about Silver saying this.
But since it’s the end of the story, and I like to think you’re all smart enough not to get hung up on the line nearly as badly as I was, I included it, had Gallus mirror the sentiment, didn’t acknowledge any possible negative implications for it, and trusted everything that came before would prove that, no, Gallus and Silverstream do care for more things than each other—chief among them: Their daughter, their friends, and their family.
So yeah. No. “I only care about you” is not a bad line, it’s an absolutely gorgeous one—here at least—and that’s all it will ever be. Hopefully, I’ll be able to stop wincing at it now.
Either way, now is when I can finally end the scene and story, right? Right!?
Yeah, fat chance. I still needed to acknowledge them going back to work. So you know what that means: Another round of my semi-trademark triple ellipses, and ruining the mood ‘cause of arbitrary demands for realism.
And in a direct parallel to their earlier morning antics, Gallus is the one who resists the cuddles enough to remember “Oh yeah, we gotta go to work”; whereas Silver tries valiantly to postpone the inevitable. She even semi-quotes herself from this morning too with the whole “We just have to stay right here and cuddle hold each other.” line.
But while plot mandated Gallus try breaking apart from the embrace, this is the final scene of the story, so he’s allowed to not be a blatant sourpuss about it—admitting he too would love nothing more than to stay and hold her, resulting in the two embracing one last time, complete with purr, snuggle, headcrest, and tail-wag shenanigans.
Sadly, plot does mandate they break away, and the word count mandates they do so now.
So, since her constant “No, stay and cuddle me!” demeanor implied otherwise, I let Silverstream be the one to recognize they do need to go and fulfill their adult responsibilities. Not without snagging one last extra kiss though—asking for one, fittingly enough, the moment the cuddle ends.
And there it is! The final kiss of the story, so surely now I can end things off, right!?
No, silly, I still have to address their, ahem…! Plans for when they get back home.
So, we’ll just take all that massive description we put into their initial final kiss and just push it down further for when the true final kiss happens, and instead, we waste no time speeding through the flirting process.
“You were right, Silverstream,” Gallus whispered despairingly. “Being an adult is hard.”
There’s your closure on that earlier line.
Silver immediately realized the opportunity she had been granted and smirked impishly.
A line added retroactively to better lead us into:
“Yes, it is. But like you said…?” she trailed off, turning around and brushing her tail under his beak. “Being an adult does have some perks.”
And there’s your closure to the tail-under-beak shenanigans from the Mount Aris arc. And unlike his teenage self, Gallus is totally into it now.
Apathetic to the fiery crimson blossoming across his cheeks, Gallus smiled sultrily at his wife and concurred, “Yeah, it does. And pray tell, weren’t we going to enjoy one of them when we got home tonight?” he questioned as his wings twitched excitedly.
“Ohhh yes. Yes, we were,” she confirmed, smiling alluringly at him from over her shoulder. “And we’re gonna enjoy it for a good… Long… While…” Silver ended, emphasizing each word with a teasing swish of her tail.
Yeah, that last line in particular was the one I was most afraid would trigger the “Sex” tag issue. But hey, they’re married; they’re allowed to do this stuff, and I’m allowed to show that off.
Let’s just conveniently ignore they’re flirting like this right outside a school full of children, including their daughter.
It took a second, but once Gallus managed to return his gaze to her eyes,
Okay, this line I felt was definitely stretching it, buuut… I did avoid specifying where exactly he was staring—even though we all know where —and again: They’re married; they’re allowed to do this. Which is exactly what I had to keep telling myself back then to not needlessly fret it was too “Creepy” a line or something. 
I couldn’t possibly let Silver be the one to do all the flirting though, so I have Gallus go ahead and flirt back:
“Oh, trust me, milady. I wouldn’t have it any other way. In fact…?” Gallus strode forward, stroking a talon along her back as he did so, until he stood back in front of her. “I’ll be counting the seconds until we’re alone again,” Gallus swore, sneaking her neck a small kiss.
Not as immediately personal as Silver’s flirting since her tail-under-beak shenanigans were previously established, but that’s why I tagged the neck kiss at the end there.
Either way, Silver appreciates it.
“As will I,” she assured, blushing fervidly as she valiantly fought back the urge to pounce him then and there.
And there’s your closure to the “Pounce” element—also from the Mount Aris arc.
Again, however, we’ve gotta wrap things up ASAP. So Silverstream shelves her desperation for more cuddles:
“But sadly… That’s for tonight.”
“It’s gonna be a good night, that’s for sure,” he crooned, winking confidently.
“You know it,” Silverstream giggled.
Allowing Gallus to slam the focus right back onto the ending with:
“All jokes and teasing aside though…?” he began in a quiet voice. “There is another perk to being an adult.”
“Oh? And what’s that?” she asked, expecting another particularly risqué comment.
What Gallus instead said, however, was, “Being a parent.”
Which leads us into another rapid-fire checklist of various “Gallus-Stream fawning over Glory” moments, including:
“Like how to cook her own breakfast?” she joked.
Closure to that particular plot beat from earlier.
“Oh, she’s going to love flying!” Silver exclaimed, already anticipating the day they could all fly together as a family.
Implicit confirmation they plan to teach Glory to fly sooner or later, while also being a subtle callback to how one of Silver’s stated favorite things from Ch.2(Reprieve) was flying.
“Her sweetie,” Gallus said casually.
“She is going to find a sweetie, isn’t she?” she gasped.
Because of course I had to acknowledge this. I had only the one chapter where Glory existed, so I kinda needed to acknowledge her parents celebrating their daughter eventually finding love.
“Good thing we still have Cadence’s letters.”
“Good thing we know them all by heart.”
And there’s your closure to that plot element.
Ooooh, Gallus!” she squeed, dancing excitedly. “I can’t wait to dote on her sweetie!”
There’s Silver channeling her father and mother’s attitudes toward Gallus—upon winning them over, anyway.
“And I can’t wait to intimidate them.”
Hey, I may have reprimanded the whole “Parents intimidating their children’s lovers” routine with Sky Beak’s own attempt at it, but I couldn’t resist having Gallus halfheartedly threaten to do exactly the same, despite being on the receiving end of it himself once—just to further prove he’s emulating Sky’s parenting style beat-for-beat.
That said, I did reprimand the trope, so Silver chimes in with:
“You had better not!” she reproved.
“If I do, it will be jokingly,” Gallus clarified, meeting her stern glare with an adoring smile.
Although Silver tried to keep her glare going, it quickly faded away as she conceded, “Well…? Only if it’s jokingly. And Glory had better be onboard with it too, otherwise…?”
“Otherwise, I won’t do it,” he reassured.
Just in case you guys thought Gallus would genuinely try intimidating Glory’s inevitable sweetie.
Of course, if and when Glory does finally find her sweetie… That means a certain something awaits Gallus-Stream one day.
“I still need to walk her down the aisle, after all.”
“And I’ll need to help her pick out a dress,” Silver realized, nearly exploding in joy at the mere thought of doing so.
It’s such a shame a certain someone’s not around to experience any of this. 
“…I wish he had gotten to meet her, Silverstream,” Gallus whispered, his headcrest drooping.
“I know,” she whispered back, taking his talon into hers. “But it’s okay. We know he’s watching over her.”
Gallus gave her talon a squeeze and found the strength to smile once more. “Yeah. He is.” He snorted. “And I bet he’s doting on her way more than he ever did me.”
Silverstream shook her head with a smirk. “Yeah, he probably is. But I’m sure he’s cheering you on too.”
“He better be,” Gallus deadpanned at the sky above. “He’d better be cheering you on too.”
“If he knows what’s good for him, anyway,” she added.
They both then snickered and hugged once more.
The first three lines were the only ones I considered adding into the Epilogue(Love); the rest was written at the time I’m writing this, mostly because I wanted to add even more oomph to the moment.
So, yes. If it weren’t already clear: Grandpa Gruff isn’t in the Epilogue(Love) because he’s dead by the time it takes place.
So why didn’t I confirm that in-story?
Answer: I had no idea where to fit it.
This moment here, seconds before the end and right as soon as they finished talking about the great-granddaughter Gruff never got a chance to meet, was the only place it could have gone.
But it would have dragged the word count on even longer, likely would have rammed Gallus-Stream right back into a hug which would necessitate another scene dedicated to them reluctantly agreeing to split back apart and go work—which we literally just saw them do, so that’s doubly unnecessary—and would come out so abruptly as to feel less like natural dialogue and more expositional nonsense spewed purely for the benefit of the audience.
After all, why in the world would Gallus bring up how he wishes Gruff met his and Silver’s daughter now of all times? Surely he’d have said something similar years before? If not some time around Gruff’s funeral, then around Glory birth?
Point is this sequence would feel out of place in terms of the timeline, while suffering the additional issues of risking needlessly elongating the word count and submerging the mood back into that soul-crushing heartache I’d been actively trying to avoid.
So it was cut, and I left Gruff entirely unaddressed, trusting his absence would be implication enough…
When re-editing T.B.O.L. for this “Writing of…” I considered slipping that scene back in. Really considered it. For a time, I was genuinely determined to put it in and acknowledge it was the one and only major story change I made upon re-editing things.
But? I couldn’t. Partly because I forgot to put it back in during the re-edits for Epilogue(Love). Partly because I still couldn’t figure out where to best fit it in without throwing the pacing out of whack. And partly because… I really shouldn’t feel compelled to change something about a story I wrote two and a half years ago—where the fk did the time go!?—just because I’m vaguely unsatisfied with it.
I should have the strength to look back on what I wrote, no matter its quality, with at least some degree of pride, accepting its strengths and shortcomings, and striving to look toward the future and write even better stories. You know? Instead of latching onto previous ones and wasting my life away in a desperate, mad attempt to “perfect” it—which is exactly what adding the sequence regarding Gruff’s passing would feel like.
So there it is. There’s the story behind why Gruff is mysteriously absent for the Epilogue(Love).
I’ll leave most everything regarding Gruff’s passing to interpretation, but I will say this:
#1) The above quoted sequence is canon; Gallus-Stream had that exact conversation, just not here in the Epilogue(Love). Rather, they had it earlier in their lives; whenever that was is up to you.
And #2) Everyone in Griffonstone attended the funeral, and no matter what the most stubborn, prideful, and cold-hearted of griffons would tell you… Everygriff mourned that day.
But of course… Since I couldn’t add any of thisinto the story, that necessitated a different ending to the overall exchange, so why not keep the focus on Glory instead of those who’re long gone?
“I’m not ready, Silverstream,” Gallus stated, shaking his head fervently. “I’m not ready for our baby girl to grow up.”
“I’m not ready either,” Silver confessed, wiping her eyes dry. “Luckily for us, she’s not grown up just yet. And we still have a lot of time before she is.”
“We’ll make the most of it,” he vowed.
“Yes, we will,” she promised.
They kissed.
Now… Surely…now! I can finally end things.
…
Oh. Right. I have to actually show them going to work, don’t I?
Okay, well, that’s easy enough to speed through: Just have them wish each other goodbye and to have a good day at work, then bolt in the opposite directions! Yeah, that’s the way!
But! But…! Doing that isn’t a remotely satisfying way to end things.
Sooo…? How about one more true final kiss to end things on?
And, Gallus? Since Silverstream’s been the one nigh-begging to keep up the intimacy? Why don’t you get a turn to do that, just to prove you’re as much a cuddlebird as she is?
“Hey, Silverstream?” he called out after his wife.
Silverstream paused and looked back, leveling a wide, knowing smile at her husband. “Yeeesss, Gallus?”
Gotta love how Silverstream just knew he would do this!
Blushing, Gallus pleaded, “One more kiss? Pretty please?”
“For you, my love? Always!” Silver cheered ecstatically.
“Ha! You really couldn’t resist stealing just one more of my lines, huh?”
Shut up, Gallus, you stole her “One more kiss? Pretty please” line just now; you’ve got no grounds to complain. 
“Nope! Now, come on, sweetie,” she urged, beckoning with her talon. “Come give me another kiss.”
“As you wish, milady,” he said, darting forward to meet her beak with his own.
Figured it was only appropriate to have one more “As you wish, milady” to end things on.
Silverstream instantly reciprocated the affection and soon felt her husband’s talons return to her cheeks. Once they had, she repaid his touch by stroking her own talons along his back and pulling him even further into her loving embrace.
In response, Gallus folded his wings around his wife and held her as closely as he possibly could, embracing her with an even greater fervor.
Pure love radiated from the couple, and with every kiss of their beaks, every touch of their talons, and every beat of their hearts, that love only grew until it practically burst forth and washed over each of them, reinvigorating their passion and urging them to prolong the beautiful moment.
Unfortunately, like all good things, the moment ultimately came to an end, but they certainly made its finale worth it by having of one final, extra long kiss.
Gallus and Silverstream then mutually broke away with a happy sigh.
Eyyy, there’s your closure to the whole “Extra long kiss” thing.
And as I mentioned earlier, most of this was written for their previous “final” kiss, but it got postponed till now—the true final kiss. And yep. Certainly works. Is it a little over the top? Maybe. But who cares, it’s adorable!
And since I’ve quoted most of the scene, why not quote the rest just for funsies?
“That was a really good kiss,” Silver whispered, resting her head on her husband’s shoulder.
“All of our kisses are good,” Gallus contended, rubbing her back soothingly. “In fact? They’re not just good; they’re wonderful. Like you,” he praised, kissing his wife.
“And you,” she replied, kissing him back. “We’re so lucky to have each other.”
“Yes, we are.” Gallus then blinked away another round of joyous tears and said, “Thank you for being with me, Silverstream.”
“Always,” she promised. “Thank you for being with me.”
“Always,” he echoed.
“Heh. Who’s stealing whose lines now?” Silverstream asked, smirking slyly.
“Me,” Gallus confessed, sharing a laugh with her.
And there I go acknowledging Gallus stealing her lines now in-universe.
And last of all… It wouldn’t be the finale of the story if I didn’t callback to what was the original ending of the story:
For another heavenly minute, they merely held each other close and nuzzled lovingly, but soon, Gallus spoke up again.
“Hey, Silver?”
“Yeah, Gallus?”
“I love you,” Gallus said, smiling serenely.
“I love you too,” Silverstream said, giggling happily.
They then shared yet another kiss.
The exact same way Ch.13(Serenity, Part Two) ended. And look! I even sneaked in the whole “Serene” and “Happy” adverb mechanic too!
At long last… No more fakeouts. No more realism-mandated extensions. This is well and truly the—
END
Of course? That’s not quite the end to this discussion.
Yep! We've one final Blog Post for the Writing of... That being: My final thoughts on the overall story. I’d give ‘em here, but the word count got away from me again. Because of course it did. 
Hope you're all looking forward to that!
~ Additional Tidbits ~
— 1) This line here:
Gave me so much frustration, let me tell ya!
I sweated over it for what must have been a solid half hour, desperately trying to make it longer, to make it feel more natural, to construct in a way to naturally warrant a reply from someone else…
Eventually, I said “Screw it!” and just had it end unceremoniously, making Novo interject to keep the conversation flowing.
— 2)
Even now, there I am poking fun at myself in the text—This time about how I had to kick every character out of the scene one by one so Gallus-Stream could have one last scene of their own.
— 3)
As much as this exchange is about Yona-Bar’s future child, it’s actually more here to emphasize just how much family Gallus himself has now.
— 4)
And there’s your closure to that dang Clocktower—as well as an additional reference to how Silver’s still gotta go to work, thus reinforcing the necessity of her and Gallus’ separation later. So yeah. Say it with me, everyone: Thank you, Sandbar! :ajbemsued:
— 5)
How obvious is it I’m taking a moment to let Gallus-Stream bask in how great their current livelihoods are, thus re-emphasizing where their developments led them to be? Very obvious, you say? Good. That was the point.
— 6) So, Sandbar is obviously Glory’s godfather, since he’s the only major male character in the group—not counting Vellum or End Zone, for obvious reasons, and not counting Gavin since he lives on the other half of the world.
But who’s Glory’s godmother? Would it be Smolder due to everything she and Silverstream went through during that subplot? Ocellus on account of how much she helped out Gallus with his side of the story? Yona since she was Silver’s confidant throughout the entirety of T.B.O.L.? Or heck, would it be Scoop just for funsies?
Answer: It’s all of them. Silverstream refused to label just one of them as godmother, so they’re all godmothers. Yes, including Scoop, though how she managed to convince Silverstream to grant her that status is a mystery.
— 7)
Eyyy, there’s another thing Gallus copied from Sky Beak’s parenting
handtalon-book: Calling his and Silver’s daughter their “baby girl”!— 8)
Even when it’s as simple as a kiss, Gallus will never stop out-sweeting Silverstream. She gives him one; he’ll give her two—He’d give her even more than that if I could have gotten away with it without it blatantly screwing with the scene’s mood and pacing.
— 9)
And here I thought you couldn’t expect perfection from the world, Gallus and Silver? I guess marriage gave it that extra oomph it needed to be as such.
— 10)
Okay, Silver, stealing Gallus’ lines is one thing, but stealing Asriel Dreemurr’s is another.
— 11) Regarding Gallus’ role as Captain of the Royal Guard, FanficReader920 asked this:
Firstly: Whether Gallus suggested moving to Canterlot at any point, I’ll leave to your interpretation. But on this subject, I will say Gallus and Silverstream are both in agreement to move to Mount Aris if/when they retire. Or stay in Ponyville. Depends on what they want by the time they do retire, honestly, but at the time of the Epilogue(Love), they both lean more toward Mount Aris.
Secondly: About Gallus traveling to and fro between Ponyville and Canterlot…?
Ocellus enchanted Gallus and Silver’s wedding rings to let them teleport.
Remember the Sling Rings from Marvel’s Doctor Strange? It’s basically that. Concentrate on where you wanna go, a portal opens up, you walk through, and bam, you’re there.
This was another of those potential sequel ideas I came up with when writing the Epilogue(Love), and I did consider showing Gallus opening a portal to Canterlot right before closing it to go plead for one more kiss from his wife.
Unfortunately, doing all that would necessitate an entire paragraph/conversation explaining how in the world his wedding ring was enchanted this way and why, so I had to cut it.
This idea came about as a means of giving Gallus and Ocellus’ teleportation project one final dose of significance, while also tying into Gallus’ insecurities from around that time.
I.E. Gallus thought he couldn’t succeed as a mage because he didn’t have magic, yet it was his knowledge and work alongside Ocellus that allowed her to perfect the same teleportation spell he now uses to go to work without having to spend thousands of Bits on two-way Friendship Express tickets.
Not that he would have ever had to do that; Twilight definitely would have paid the train fare, but even she couldn’t have bought Gallus back the hours spent traveling between home and work.
Originally, I considered having Ocellus instead enchant their Pearl-pieces, or simply give them a charm or ornament for them to hang from the same string, but eventually I realized her enchanting the wedding rings specifically worked much better.
Wherever they are… Whatever they’re doing… At a moment’s notice, at a moment’s thought… They can return to each other’s side whenever they want.
Now that’s what I call one heck of a wedding gift!
Naturally, this is canon. I may not have been able to even hint at any of this in-story, but this is way too good a concept to sweep under the rug of missed opportunities.
So there ya go, FanficReader920, there’s your answer to how T.B.O.L. Gallus gets to Canterlot for work all the time.
But if anyone is worried Gallus being able to teleport to Canterlot and back means there’s no conflict in scheduling or time…? Do recollect Silverstream felt compelled to double-check Gallus would actually be available to pick up Glory after her first day of school with her.
I think that’s confirmation enough that there are still some scheduling issues.
Worth it though. Gallus gets to be a low-key mage, despite his teenage self’s anxieties he could never be; he and Silverstream don’t have to worry about mountainous train ticket bills; Ocellus gets to be awesome; and the Science Fair subplot gets to be plot relevant one last time!
— 12) I suppose it was only fitting The Bonds of Love made it to the Featured Tab in its final hours, huh?
media.discordapp.net/attachments/1043310651499618365/1052047283518185522/image.png
The chapter Gallus confronted Gruff, and the chapter showcasing Gallus-Stream are married and raising a child… Definitely the two most fitting chapters to deserve a quick hour-long Feature, if you’ll pardon the boasting.
I'm still reading the story it's going to take me awhile but I got to say this is going to be a very emotional roller coaster of a story of those two young love birds and including the other kids as well big fan of those two shipping by the way 🥰