'A bride, a bride, I'm gonna be a bride!'

Winnie all but sang it as she wiggled in her seat, while Spike drove them through the gnarly traffic of Friday night rush hour to get them from their soon-to-be home to Rosenkrantz, one of Lou's favourite spots; they'd decided to begin a new tradition of going out on Lou's birthday to remember him in a celebratory way, instead of going out and. It hadn't been lost on her that Spike had proposed on his guardian angel-best friend's birthday and being the sort of superstitious person she was, Winnie had to believe that this was Lou's way of smiling down on them.

She was still in a haze about it. Spike had asked her to marry him. Marry him. Not like on the school-yard or in a work-wife type of way but his actual wife. Partners in crime until the end of time. That was a good one, she mused, looking out at the brilliant lights of the city which had never looked more beautiful than tonight. Maybe they could get that etched on their wedding bands.

Leaning over, she nuzzled against his shoulder and gave an excited little giggle. 'Think if we tell them we just got engaged, we'll get free champagne? Or free anything?'

'Maybe. Or maybe they'll be so dazzled by the ice on my fiancee's hand that they won't know they're asses from their elbows.' Spike felt sunlight rush through his veins at the use of the F word. Finally, finally, that little sliver of guilt he'd carried with him for almost a year about keeping the Scarlatti family antique hidden from his beloved Winona vanished and he was able to share it with the world that even then, she hadn't been just his girlfriend. 'Maybe afterwards, we can go to the new house and give it a proper christening.'

'I love you to the moon and back, but I draw the line at sex in someone else's house.'

'What about when we went to stay with your dad and Rachel? Or my mom's in Italy? Or Ed and Sophie's family cottage? Or Dottie and Raf's place? Or-'

'I mean,' Winnie interrupted as he continued to make a top-ten list of all the other homes not their own where they'd made love, 'it's neither our house nor owned by our close friends who are aware of the fact that part of the reason we stay in such great shape is because of all the naked workouts we have together. That's almost as creepy as being busted by the cops in a parked car.'

'Alright, alright, but we're still going to-'

'There's the exit ramp!'

Spike, being so lost in the fantasy of naked Winnie with him as they camped out like kids on the living room floor of their new home, nearly missed the exit ramp for Billy Bishop Airport which was a hop skip and stone's throw away from their restaurant of choice that night. 'Guess we better get used to using the Gardiner to get downtown, huh?'

'Or I could get the car my dad's always threatened me with, because the transit system...well, it's only a few blocks away I suppose.'

'I remember you mentioning the issues of living downtown and having the garage and repair fees and everything. You think that'll change since we're now going to have a house?'

'I found out about our house an hour ago, and in that time you proposed to me too. My brain only has room for so much,' Winnie laughed. 'Why or how did a black guy from Oakville make a nice family owned Jewish pub a favourite?'

'How does a Dutch-Metis black girl end up liking Thai food?' Spike countered teasingly as he parked at a meter. 'These things have a like a two hour limit, you know.'

'Considering the likelihood of getting a spot in a parking tower nearby-' Spike gestured up and down the street where pubs and restaurants all but glowed with vitality '-I'll risk it. Or I can set a timer on my phone and run out to feed the meter.'

'Why don't you just worry about feeding me instead.'

'Ohhh, so tempting to make a dirty joke.'

'You know, when I was in high school I never liked the really gory scary movies that were all the rage, so I would hang with my theatre friends at Hallowe'en and we'd watch Rocky Horror and Little Shop of Horrors and I always-always thought that song, "Feed Me Seymour" was very twistedly sexual.'

'It is,' Spike agreed, holding open the door for her; immediately they were both hit by the fragrance of fresh bread and herbs as well as the noise of a packed house with more people waiting for tables in the bar and lobby. 'I always thought it'd be cool to remake that musical only instead of Audrey II being obviously a plant, she should be a sexy woman by day and then turn into her alien form when she feeds.'

'Really? I thought the original Audrey and the Audrey II should be in on it together.'

'And then when Audrey II tries to eat original Audrey, it's really a set-up to get rid of Seymour now that Audrey II is powerful enough to take over the world.'

'Right there, that's why I wanna marry you.' Winnie grinned, kissed him before they stepped up to the hostess podium. 'Hi, we have a reservation for two, Scarlatti?'

'Scarlatti, Scarlatti.' The hostess mumbled it, then to Winnie's irritation, shook her head. 'Sorry, no, there's nothing here under that name.'

'Did I make it under Camden, possibly?' Spike inquired, leading to another scan and another shake. 'Well crap. I made that reservation a week ago.'

'I'm so sorry sir, you're welcome to wait but it will be about an hour.'

Winnie looked at Spike. 'You wanna wait, or you wanna try somewhere else?'

'I- hold that thought.' He pulled out his phone, saw Ed was calling. Right on time, he thought as he tapped the green icon to answer it. 'Eddie, what's going on?'

'We're here, everything is ready to go.'

'Oh, sure, yeah, that's sounds good.' Spike made a show of holding his hand to cover the microphone of his cell. 'Ed and Sophie wanna take us to dinner in an hour. You in?'

'Yeah, sure, where should we meet them?'

'Where should we meet you?' Spike repeated.

'Traffic reports say if you leave The Beaches now, you'll be here in about twenty minutes.'

'Sounds perfect. They're meeting us at our place, on Beverly Street,' he added to clarify after hanging up, 'so we can have as much to drink as we want.'

'What nice friends,' Winnie sighed, and Spike let out his own shaky breath of relief. They were almost home-free, just a few more minutes. Then the real party of the night would start.

The drive back to Beverly Street was, in Spike's mind, interminable - he was certain that they'd pass a vehicle they'd recognize or that a neighbour would be outside and comment on the flux of people at their house. But luck, or maybe it really was Lou, was smiling down on them and they made it with no incidents or suspicions.

'Maybe since they're meeting us here in an hour, we can celebrate this bad boy,' Winnie wiggled her fingers of her left hand.

'I cannot make our friends wait again, not after your birthday,' Spike chuckled, as he unlocked the house and opened the door to the darkened house for her, stepped in behind her to turn on the lights.

'SURPRISE!'

Winnie felt her senses get a second shock of the night at the burst of noise from the living room. There, crowded in front of the fireplace that never worked, was all of Team One and their spouses along with Winnie's parents, Rachel and Aaron, Raf and Dottie, Shelley and Wordy, while Dean Parker and Clarke Lane sat in the arm-chairs with little Sadie Braddock and Issy and on the sofa sat Greg Parker with Marina.

'Congratulations!' they chorused together, and Winnie actually pressed a hand to her heart as she fought to keep her composure before turning to Spike to playfully give him what-for - only to find him just as dumbstruck as she was.

'Did you do this?'

'This? No, I just asked Sophie if she could make us a romantic candelight dinner at home to celebrate in case we got...distracted,' he finished on a little wink, 'but this...what did you guys do?'

'When you told me that you were going to be asking for a special engagement dinner, I put my head together with this fine lady-' Dottie wrapped a friendly arm around Sophie's waist '-and we decided that just wasn't enough.'

'We've been waiting to have this night with you guys almost as much as you've been waiting to ask her,' Sam added, swigging from a can of ginger-ale; he'd pretend it was champagne so that he'd be safe to drive Jules and Sadie home. 'So, you know, basically since we saw Eddie answer Spike's phone when you were calling him last summer after the bombing.'

'We...' Gabriella started to speak but then pressed her hand to her mouth as she hugged Winnie first, then Spike. 'We couldn't be happier for you two, truly.'

'Congratulations, son,' Pietr added, pulling Spike in for a bear-like embrace before Rachel squeezed him like a python. 'For Winnie and on the house.'

'Yes, yes, you have to show us pictures and everything!' Rachel made no attempt to hide her tears of joy and let them flow freely down her friendly face. 'When will you move in, what will happen with this place, will there be-'

'Ray, she just found out about a house and got engaged, there's only so much room in her brain,' Pietr reminded his wife; it was the exact right comment to make, as the uncanny nature of how Winnie had said something almost identical to Spike helped clear away any possibility he might blubber in front of his team. The feeling didn't last long, though, when Greg got to his feet and leaning only a little on his stylish bamboo walking-stick he clapped Spike on the shoulder with one of his sturdy hands.

'Congrats again, Spike,' he said, then added in Italian, 'I know your dad would be very proud of you for picking such a great woman.'

'Winnie's the best,' Spike replied in Italian - he often forgot that Greg was mostly Italian himself, then felt a zip of horror. 'Oh, shit, shit shit! I haven't called my mother in Italy yet!'

'Got you covered, bro.' Clarke held up the iPad which was dialing in across the ocean, Issy pointing proudly to it.

'I help Cuh-Larke push dee but-tons,' she said importanty, and to Winnie's delight Sadie nodded along with her big-girl friend.

'Bud-ons,' she added in a tone just like Sam's.

'Thanks ladies and gents, and-'

'Michelangelo!'