That's how long Never Too Late, which in its planning stages was only going to be an 18K-word commission, ended up becoming. GimmeABigPush's part was still commissioned at that many words, but as you may have seen, it sure didn't stay that way. Heck, by the time she was able to start her part, I'd already put in about 25K words.

That ended up being one of the best ideas I ever had and best writing decisions I ever made.

I'm not saying there won't be more volumes of the story added later, but that's for another time. For now, I think BP and my thoughts in the epilogue's credits (with a tiny edit so as not to spoil the ending if you haven't read it yet) sum up how we feel about this story, so I'm just going to repost them here.

GimmeABigPush’s Notes
I’m so glad that her story is being read and enjoyed now, because, at risk of being too punny, it truly was a labor of love.

I adore working on character-driven stories like this. It’s legit one of my favorite things to write, and I thank Evertide for trusting me not just with Maki, but also with Jeremy, who I think surprised us both in this story by showing his stuff. I fell wholeheartedly in love with “Team Hana”, and I’m just…so, so glad that other people are enjoying this story too. These characters really anchored the story down, solidly, and made it something compelling to read, but also to work on. Maki definitely wrenched my plans away from me a couple times, just like we wrenched hers from her. Turnabout is fair play, I suppose.

Something that I want to mention here is that, as readers of my other work will know, I tend to focus on the happy, fluffy, soft, and more gently kinky sides of this community!

But this story? Getting to explore something more…grounded in reality? Showing more of the tough side, the mental exhaustion side, the “what do we do when things don’t work out the way we planned and we’re ready to tap out” side? It really stretched me as a writer, and I loved doing it. It was a fun semi-departure from my super cuddly and fluffy and, y’know, “orgasm the baby out” type stories. It was SO FUN to work on.

And it was even more fun to see it grow with Evertide’s additions, and added sparkles, and added chapters.

It really turned into something super special, I think. And I hope you all think so too!

Thanks for reading. <3

Evertide’s Notes
When I wrote this, after finishing all my edits, expansions, and so on with the birth story, I felt kind of sad. It at last marked the end of half a year of work. Writing this story had blown all my old writing records out of the water, and it made me feel kind of like, after this...what if this is it? What if I’ll never go this far again?

Every time I come to the end of a story I love, in any setting, whether it’s my own or someone else’s, I remember one part from Final Fantasy Tactics Advance that really struck home with me a long time ago. The game takes place with the main character and his friends sucked into a fantasy book and being characters in this world, and how they react to this varies between them. But the main protagonist wants to leave and go home, and that can’t be done without all of them leaving the world, which the others don’t want to do. Sometimes they cooperate, sometimes they oppose him. At one point of the game, one of his friends stands ready to try to stop him. He tells her why he wants to leave, and she agrees that this world is a story in a book and maybe it’s not real...“But sometimes you’re not ready for the story to be over.”

I’d put too much time and too much heart into Maki’s story to not end it properly. I knew this epilogue had to be done. After so much buildup, and after BP brought the big-hearted finish of Maki’s birth story, I had to make sure her story didn’t just have a happy ending, I poured my heart into it.

But I also had a lot of fun with it. I already loved writing Maki’s call with her friend, but Maki’s mom is just so damn fun to write, despite writing her so little. I can play her up like a sitcom mom. I can have her overact, overreact, be overbearing, be nosy, and more...and yet, despite that, I wanted to stress that while she’s been like this a long time, and she and Maki haven’t always gotten along throughout Maki’s life, there’s absolutely nobody who’s always loved Maki (and her barely-mentioned sister) more than her mother does, and the only person in the world who’s happier for her baby's birth is Maki herself.

I let myself go crazy on the fluff, and I’d been looking forward to writing this last scene for months, despite knowing that once it was done, that was it. The post-birth cuddles, the call with Laura, Mom barging in, the heartfelt thank-yous to Sara and Jeremy, Grandma getting to meet her grandbaby, Maki showing that despite this not being planned she was glad her mom was here...

And, the final bit of Maki going to sleep was a way I could think back on my own experience while she thought back on hers. This is one of the biggest writing accomplishments of my life. I don’t know what will happen next, but I’m a better person for it.

And what better way to bring it full circle than by the closing line directly referencing the name of the story?

My thanks go out to everyone who read and gave feedback on this story. I hope I can thank you properly by continuing to produce stories that you enjoy. I write for many reasons, but knowing what I do is liked by others...it just feels good in ways I can’t put into words.

And, most of all, I thank GimmeABigPush for inspiring the seed of the idea that grew into this, for driving me to become a better writer, and for being someone I’m glad to have written this with. I’ve said it in the credits before, but I’ll say it once more: Without your encouragement, this story would never have been what it is.

See you later.