"You've been a blessing to me," he almost whispered to her, his eyes locked with those dark chocolate ones he had fallen in love with on the first day he had met her. He wished he could take a single step forward and wrap her in his arms, pressing a kiss to her hair like he did when he knew she needed to be comforted, but he had just a few more minutes to go.

"I can't believe that I finally get to pledge my life to you," Derek smiled. "You're beautiful, you're brave, you're loving, and I could never ask for anything to change. How I ever got you to go out with me I'll never know."

The brunette whose hair was gently changing colors underneath the heavy orange sun and laughed. "Took a few years."

Derek laughed, hearing the priest to his side take a moment to chuckle. "I thank God every day that you agreed to marry me. I love you so much, Emily, and I hope to spend the rest of my life with you."

The brown eyed woman blinked back her tears as she smiled softly up to the younger man. "Derek, I don't think you understand how much I love you. You've been there for me since the beginning, even when I didn't think I could be there for myself, and you've made me feel like I'm worth the world. You know about all of my past, and I'm excited to share my future with you."

It took all he had not to reach forward and kiss her.

Emily's brows lifted slightly, recognizing the look on his face. "I can't wait to give you the children we want. I better get the future you promised me," she winked. "I love you."

The priest held his bible higher so he could read the small print. "Do you two promise to stay with and support each other through thick and thin, through sickness and through health, through the good times and bad?"

Derek couldn't hold back his smile. "I do?"

"Emily?"

Nodding, she tightened the hold on her small bouquet. "I do."

The priest looked to the two women standing a few feet away who were smiling to the couple before him, nodding gently as he closed his bible. "If you two would give each other your rings."

Emily let the younger man take her hand and let his coarse fingers slowly caress hers, watching as he played with the band of diamonds he had gotten for her. She felt the cold metal slip onto her finger and a shiver ran down her spine. It was a beautiful match to her engagement ring.

Derek grinned, watching as Emily carefully slipped his ring on, watching the silver with gentle eyes.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife," the priest behind the podium beamed. "You may now kiss the bride."

Finally able to reach forward and take the beautiful brunette into his arms, the FBI agent waited until the bouquet was out from between them and planted a kiss on Emily's pink lips.

She blossomed in his arms, her arms wrapping around his neck just as his wrapped around her waist. "I love you," she whispered against his lips, giggling as he dipped her.

"My babies!"

Emily was forced to let go of her new husband as her mother-in-law ran to her and hugged her tightly. "Thank you for being here."

After only a week of their engagement, the two had surprised their mothers with a trip to Tuscany only to let them know a day later they wanted them to be the only ones there during their elopement.

They stood in the garden of a villa, atop a hill that looked down over acres and acres of orchards. It was all they could have asked for.

"Sweetheart, I'm glad you invited me," Fran smiled brightly, pressing a long kiss to Emily's cheek before taking her son into a hug just as big as the one she had given her daughter-in-law. "If you hadn't invited me, you wouldn't have been able to make it to your honeymoon."

Emily chuckled at the look on her husband's face.

"Emily darling," the ambassador gently called, stepping forward. "I'm so happy for you."

Hesitating, Emily smiled. "Thank you." Stepping forward, the newly married woman hugged the woman who had made her feel inferior for years and years, her eyes ont he bouquet of lilies behind her back. She wasn't going to let anything ruin her perfect wedding day.

"You look absolutely stunning."

That took her by surprise. "Thank you," she said again, her breath almost gone. She turned quickly at the sound of her husband, walking into his arms once more and falling into his hug, her face buried in his chest.

"Can't believe you said yes," he whispered into her hair.

Emily laughed, looking up into those dark eyes she loved. "Can't believe you even asked," she snorted, pecking his smiling lips. "Come on, I want a glass of wine."

Fran's eyes almost fell out of her head. "Pictures first!"

Derek saw the look on his new wife's face and shook his head. "Mama," he protested, holding up a hand. "We're not really up for pictures right now."

The familiar brow knit and the eyes darkening had Derek's stomach twisting into a knot. That was the look he always got before he was punished back when he was younger. "What do you expect us to do when you feel ready?" Fran questioned, a brow raised. "Do you think we're going to come back here and you two will take the time to get ready again just to take a few pictures?"

The brunette in her husband's arms straightened her shoulders. "We can take pictures," she amended, a hand to Derek's abs.

She smiled along with him, knowing the orchards below and the sun setting behind them would look beautiful. After a few photos their parents took, Emily could feel Derek's hand run along the satin gown and fall to just above her ass. "I swear," she warned through smiling lips, "if you try and cop a feel five minutes after our vows, you're losing your hand."

Derek kept his smile plastered to his face, hearing his mother's excited squeals as he moved his hand back up his wife's back. If their team didn't kill them for not telling them about the ceremony, Emily definitely would.