(Ooh, that's such a pretty icon -- sorry, distracted by the shiny)

I was so nervous about the ending, mostly because I wanted to "go there" (because no one ever does), but I usually really hate to end things so depressing. My poor beta was just left staring at the computer for several minutes on end, because I didn't warn her that I was going for the more realistic type of ending. (Actually I wound up tacking on that final scene because after much discussion we decided it needed a little more of a wrap-up, at least for John and Carson).

Glad it worked though!