Kerry slowly stepped into her apartment. Sighing heavily, she deposited her keys and workbag onto the small stand next to the door, then after kicking off her shoes and hanging her jacket, she limped over to the sofa and dropped onto it. She welcomed the way she sank into the cushions, loving the feel of their softness as they enveloped her.

With another heavy sigh, she thought back over her day. One just like all the others: Hectic, long, tiring, filled with many confrontations and subordinates who were always disrespectful of her. Everyone disliked her, she knew that. It was certainly made no secret. The nurses always had something to say about her when her back was turned. She heard every word said, she had great ears, not to mention the fact that their "whispering" skills needed much work.

Then of course there was her biggest headache: Robert Romano. He was, perhaps, the largest pain in the ass ever conceived. After his accident, or moment of poor judgment, as she thought of it (really, how could a guy who saves lives everyday by performing brilliant surgery then stand up underneath the rear rotary of a helicopter?), she had taken over his job out of necessity when no one else had stepped up to help. And since then Romano had treated her as nothing more then a Trojan horse. She was a threat to his career therefore she was the enemy. In his arrogant little world it wasn't his newly re-attached severed arm that kept him from his job, it was her, and he let her know exactly how he felt about that by refusing to cooperate with her on administrative matters.

Sighing heavily for a third time she looked at her watch, Sandy was due home any moment she realized. She suddenly found herself smiling in anticipation, the stress of the day forgotten. She was lucky to have someone like Sandy: Beautiful, smart, funny, and incredibly strong. "The one good thing in my life," she thought. Coming home to Sandy made her day that much better. Not to mention that as of now both of them were on a weeks vacation, with plans to drive up to New York to visit Sandy's family. It would be Kerry's first time meeting them and she was nervous. She wondered what her colleagues would think seeing Dr. Weaver, the tough-as-nails ER Chief -cum- temporary Chief Of Staff, nervous over meeting a few people. They'd probably get a good laugh over it, she supposed.

At the sound of keys in the lock, Kerry wearily lifted herself off the couch and grabbed her crutch. She made her way to the door just as Sandy was closing it behind herself. Looking up the firefighter greeted her partner with a brilliant smile.

"Hey there beautiful," she called as she kicked off her shoes and shimmied her way out of her jacket. "How was your day?" Upon closer inspection she could see the signs of fatigue that played heavily across Kerry's face. "Hmm, not so good I take it."

Kerry just shrugged, "Same as usual" was her reply, before she enveloped Sandy in her arms and kissed her lips. Then pulling only slightly apart to look at her, she continued, "How about your day?"

"One real fire," she replied, then kissed Kerry gently, "two false alarms," another kiss slightly deeper "and a lady locked in her bathroom." a third kiss more passionate then the previous, "All in all a pretty slow day." She brushed Kerry's hair back and stared at her lovingly.

Kerry looked down, she could feel herself blush. She never got tired of being kissed and held by Sandy. They had been together for two years now and she still melted under the loving gaze of her partner. Sometimes she still wondered what good deed she had done to deserve such a wonderful woman. She felt lips against her ear and surrendered to the sensations that ran through her, giving up her control and allowing herself to be supported as she leaned against her lover.

"You are very beautiful when you blush," the lips gently whispered to her before engulfing her earlobe. Kerry let the sensations take over for a few moments more before asserting great will power and pulling away.

"As much as I'd love for you to continue doing that, we really should finish packing," she sighed. "I want to leave as early as possible in the morning."

Sandy grinned and grabbed Kerry's hand. "I actually finished the packing after you left this morning."

"Really?" Kerry was a bit surprised.

"Yeah. There was something I wanted to do tonight instead."

There was no playfulness to what Sandy had just said. Kerry could tell by the serious look on her face that it was something important.

"What is it?" she asked.

Sandy tugged her hand and led her back to the couch, nodding for her to sit. Once Kerry had done as instructed, Sandy sat down on the coffee table in front of her. Kerry held her breath, suddenly nervous over what was to come.

"I'm not good at speeches or anything, and I'm nervous as hell right now," Sandy began, smiling "so don't hold it against me if I screw this up."

She reached into her pocket and brought out a small velvet box. Kerry let out her breath and immediately sucked it back in with a small gasp of delight. Sandy noticed and her grin grew even bigger.

"I've been planning this for a while now," she continued "but I hadn't found the right moment to ask you. This morning I decided it should be tonight, that way we'd have something to spring on my parents."

She chuckled slightly on that last sentence. Kerry would have too if her throat wasn't tight and her mind wasn't blown. She just smiled instead.

"So anyway," Sandy continued once again, as she opened the small box revealing two shiny gold bands. "I know right now we can't legally get married, but we can still exchange rings to let people know that we are together. It would be more symbolic then anything. And maybe down the road we could have a wedding ceremony. Of course that would only be symbolic as well. We could invite our friends and family, even some of our colleagues…" she trailed off when she felt Kerry's finger against her lips, realizing she had been rambling.

"Just ask me already, before I decide to ask you instead," Kerry whispered.

"Right," Sandy blushed. Taking a band from the box she slid it gently onto Kerry's ring finger. "Will you marry me, and spend the rest of your life with me?"

Kerry fingered the beautiful new ornament on her finger before reaching over and taking hold of Sandy's face.

"Of course," she breathed before engaging her partner, no, her wife, in a passionate kiss. After a few moments she pulled away slightly. Taking the other band from the box, she held Sandy's hand in her lap as she slid the ring onto her finger. "There, now we match," she smiled, wrapping Sandy in a big hug. Closing her eyes she realized that life was suddenly wonderful.