No matter what is happening in my life, there is no way that I was going to let Easter pass by without posting a CaReese story. I was stumped as to what I wanted to write, and yes, a baby announcement would have worked out great, but the more I thought about it, the more trite it seemed. You, the readers, deserve better. Then I went back and re-read my reviews for "I Just Called to Say I Love You". APFW wrote that "[CaReese] would be the couple rocking on the porch 40 years from now." And then I heard "Longer" and that's all it took! I hope you enjoy.

Song prompt: "Longer" by Dan Fogelberg

Longer

Life had been good to John Reese – probably even better than he could have imagined. He couldn't deny that there had been a time in his life when he swore it was all over and he didn't want to go on. Life had dealt him a hand he couldn't win at, so he gave up.

Until Joss Carter walked into his life.

He had been jaded by love and life and his own pride, but he hadn't been too jaded to noticed the second chance the heavens had decided to bestow upon him. And yes, it took a little time to win her over and get her to trust him – and stop wanting to arrest him – but once he kissed her, she had come to see things from his point of view.

But life hadn't been easy. No, there was still danger around every corner, and bad guys who wanted to kill the both of them. They had come close to death too many times to count, and it was only after nearly losing her for real that he began to understand what it meant to want to spend an eternity with a person who made him happier than even he could have imagined.

Once he had her in his arms, he vowed to never let her go. There wasn't anything he wouldn't do for her, and when he woke up every morning and saw her big brown eyes, he knew that a lifetime from now he would still feel the same – if not more – than he felt for her the first time he saw her. And even more than he felt yesterday. And when she slipped her hand in his, he knew that she felt the same way.

They had been thru thick and thin, good and bad, love and loss, and made it to the other side.

All of this was in his head as he sat outside on the porch and watched the stars. Lost in thought, he didn't hear the footsteps come up behind him.

"There you are," Joss greeted softly.

"Hey," he greeted and turned his face upward to kiss her. Joss met her lips with John's. Her heart skipped a beat. There was still no denying the electricity between them – even after all this time.

"Hi," she breathed, her eyes shining with love. "What are you doing out here in the cold?" she chastised.

"Thinking," John replied.

"You're going to catch cold," she chastised and wrapped a quilt around her husband's shoulders.

"No. But thanks for the blanket just the same," John said with a smile. "Come here," he invited and opened his arms.

"I'm too heavy," she protested.

"You're still the same as when I first met you."

Joss gave a sarcastic chuckle. "Yeah, right. Okay." Lowering herself into his lap, she snuggled close as his arms wrapped protectively around her. "So, what were you thinking?"

"About my time in Fallujah and how I used to stand and watch the stars while I was on patrol," he replied. "I made many a wish on those stars," his voice was wistful.

"Oh?" Joss was curious. "What kind of wishes?"

"The usual," he said. "Wishes for love and happily ever afters, to go home safely, and an end to the war."

"I think we all made those wishes," she comforted.

"But I didn't think mine would ever come true," he confessed with a touch of sadness to his tone.

Joss pulled back to look at the man she loved more than she ever thought possible. "And now?"

"They all came true. But that had to do with me finding you."

"I think it was me who found you," she corrected. "If you hadn't been brought into my precinct that night..." She shook her head at the thought of never meeting 'The Man In The Suit'.

"I think we were fated to be together."

"I think so," Joss agreed with a happy sigh and snuggled closer to him. John wrapped the quilt around her to keep out the chilly air. "But you drove me mad those first six months," she remembered.

"You loved it."

"I would have loved to have handcuffed you and thrown you in the back of my cruiser," she returned with a snort.

John stroked Joss' hair. "Well, you did manage to keep your promise to handcuff me, Detective. Many times, I might add." His blue eyes danced with mischief.

Joss pulled back to look at him. "I knew I should have arrested you the moment I laid eyes on you! I knew you were trouble!"

"You love trouble." John cupped her cheek in his palm. It still amazed him how after all this time she still fit so perfectly in his hand. She was still as beautiful as the first moment he had laid eyes on her, and his heart sang with the knowledge that she had chosen to spend her life with him. "You love me."

Joss touched John's hair. The gorgeous black darted with salt and pepper streaks had since gone all white, and the lines around his beautiful blue eyes had grown deeper over time, but he was still able to take her breath away by just looking at her. And no matter the situation or what life had thrown at them, he had always been there for her.

"You're stuck with me, remember?" she repeated the words he had told her that horrible night in the morgue right before their lives had changed.

"I could never forget," John's voice was thick with emotion. "I knew from the moment I saw you that you were going to change my life for the better." He took her hand in his and intertwined their fingers. Bringing her hand to his lips, he kissed her fingers.

"Someone had to."

"So, did you talk to the kids?" he wondered, briefly changing the subject.

"I did," she confirmed. "Taylor is fine. Looks as though he's going to be a grandpa. Again," she sighed.

John was concerned by her reaction. "What's wrong? Aren't you happy for him?"

"I am. It's just that I don't know if I'm ready to hear another of my babies call me Great-Granny Joss," she groused.

"I think it has a nice ring to it."

"Eh. You would, Great-Grampy John."

"Well, Jessica's kids are still calling us Grandma and Grandpa," John tried to comfort Joss.

"Oh, that makes me feel better," she returned with sarcasm. "At least we're going thru it together."

"Always together. Anything else you two talked about?"

Joss shrugged. "Just the usual. He gave me a hard time about us being on our honeymoon. Again. He wanted to know how many this made. I told him that I stopped counting at twenty."

"Every Easter." It was the start of new life life and Spring, but it was also the beginning of their lives together. "That Easter," he remembered fondly of the moment he knelt and offered her an engagement ring hidden in an Easter egg. "I asked you to marry me."

Joss remembered the moment her heart had stopped when she put the pieces together to decipher John's proposal. "And I said yes. I still have them."

"Have what?"

"Your proposal. I keep them in a small cedar box," she confessed.

"Really?" John was surprised by the revelation.

"They're yellow with time, and the words are faded, but I can still see them. Every Easter I pull them out and look at them and remember the scavenger hunt you sent me on just you could ask me to marry you."

"And I'd do it again."

"And I'd willingly say yes, again."

"Except the get down on my knee part," John said regretfully. "I don't think I'd be able to get back up."

"I'd help you."

John pressed his lips to the back of Joss' hand for a long lingering kiss. "I know you would." All around them the sounds of the woods filled the night. On the porch the lovers sat and rocked. No words were needed as they held each other.

"See the stars up there?" John asked quietly, nodding his head.

Joss turned her head to look at the little tiny bits of brilliance darting the midnight dark sky.

"I've loved you longer than those stars have been in the sky. And the fish swimming in the creek nearby," he pointed out, "I've love you longer than they've lived there."

"You sound like a song," Joss chided with a lilt in her voice, but her eyes filled with happy tears.

"Well, you do make my heart sing, Jocelyn." He laid her hand on his heart so she could feel what he meant. "I will love you until the end of time. And maybe long after that," he promised.

"That's a long time," her voice cracked and one tear slipped from her eye, followed by another.

"That's about how long I've been in love with you."

"Well," she said, not to be outshone by her husband's testimony, "my love is deeper than any ocean, and higher than any mountain."

"Is that a promise?"

Joss took John's hand and laid it on her breast. "From my heart."

"The best kind." Taking her lips with his, he kissed her slowly and tenderly. And the fire between them – although just a spark – came to life.

"What do you say I go in and start a fire and we continue this in the bedroom?" John asked, his voice low with desire.

"Who needs a fire when I'm in your arms?" Joss asked and snuggled deep under the covers. She melded her body to John's. Her head resting on his chest, she could hear the familiar thumping of his heart. It brought her comfort to know that he was always nearby. All she had to do was call his name and he would be there for her.

"Yes." John wrapped his arms tightly around Joss and held her closer than close. Deep under the covers, he felt her heat. Forty years together and they still fit together like a hand and glove. He took her hand in his and held it. It made his heart sing to know that whenever he reached for her, she would be there. Just as she had been there for him.

As the rocking chair made the slight creak against the wood of the porch, the lovers, surrounded by the night, and warmed by their love, held each other.

"Joss," John whispered, afraid of ruining the magic.

"Yes?" she answered just as softly.

"Thank you for finding me." He pressed his lips to her hair and breathed in her delicate, yet familiar scent.

Joss closed her eyes and snuggled against John. Her hand was tucked safely with his, and she gave a squeeze.

"Thank you for wanting to be found."

The End!

Happy Easter to all of my readers. May God bless you and yours.