'Lex, what do you think of this one?'

Sloan held up a purple onsie against her body, as if she was burping a baby. 'Too girlish?'

'Since you don't know what you're having, I'd say yeah,' Alexis agreed as they wandered Pea in a Pod looking for baby clothes for Sloan and Garrett's offspring. 'How come you guys decided to wait?'

'I wanted to know, but Garrett's hell-bent on being surprised.' Sloan rubbed her belly where her baby was doing loops and turns. 'Darling, Mommy's trying to shop and buy you pretty things, how about you let me do it in peace?'

Alexis watched her friend, and gave a little laugh. 'Is this what you consider a good mommy bonding moment?'

'Absolutely. You and Shane will get it when you have your own babies.'

'Sloan?'

'Yes, Lex.'

'What was going through your mind when you told your mother?' Alexis stopped at a rack of cute little shoes meant for someone Jojo's size and smaller. She wasn't at all surprised when Sloan gave her a beady look.

'Are you knocked up again, Alexis? Should we be shopping for each other?'

'No. No!' She shook her head fiercely. 'Just thinking about it, about what it will be like when we have that conversation with my mom and dad.'

'Ah, well, that's natural enough. Your mom just had another baby, and you've got me knocked up while you're planning a wedding, not to mention you've been through a miscarriage yourself.' Sloan gave a little c'est-la-vie shrug before zeroing in on a rack of lovely little summer dresses. 'So sweet. You think this means I'm having a girl, that I want all these adorable little dresses?'

'Either that or a very fey little boy.'

'You're horrible.'

'Blame it on genetics,' Alexis laughed, then answered her phone as it chirped at her with Shane's number on the caller-ID. 'Hey sweetie, I thought you 'd be asleep in you're working nights all this week.'

'I will be later. Listen, are you going to be long at the shop with Sloan? I need you home to talk about wedding stuff soon.'

'We shouldn't be too much longer, maybe an hour or two.'

'Just be here by four, okay?'

Alexis glanced at her watch; it was one-thirty now, but this was very unusual of Shane to make demands like this. Normally it was more like 'have fun, call when you're on your way home'. 'Okay, I'll be there. Love you.'

'Love you too.'

'What's all that about?' Sloan inquired, moving to the wall of onsies in all the hues of the rainbow.

'I have no idea, he just wants me home by four.'

'Weird. But marrying them or having their babies makes them see things differently so maybe he's just have a groom-moment.'

'A groom moment,' Alexis repeated.

'Sure. You have bride moments, why can't he have groom moments?'

Shane looked around the apartment, hoping everything looked as good as he thought it did. He had a big wedding surprise for Alexis and he wanted everything around their home to be just-so when he told her about it.

Returning to the stove, he brought over the pot of split-pea soup, set it beside the platter of smoked ham and cheesy bread that was the trademark serving style of his father's most beloved recipe. He'd no sooner set down the hot-hands used to transport the dish when he heard the locks turning on the front door and Alexis walked in, looking as interested as she did baffled.

'Okay, I'm here, what's the big rush?'

'Here, let me help you with that,' he offered, tugging her coat from her shoulders as a gesture of affection. 'Hope you're hungry, I've got my father's split pea on the table.'

'I've always room for that.' Alexis smiled at him patiently, like she did with her counseling patients who were convinced free apps from iTunes were the government's way of keeping tabs on ordinary citizens. 'You want a hand with anything?'

'No, no, I'm just making my girl a nice meal.'

She waited, smiling placidly, as he served chilled white wine in glasses to their places and filled their bowls from the soup tureen on the table. 'Okay, spill it. What's the big-fucking-deal you want to talk about?'

'I've found a great spot where we can get married.'

'No boats,' she replied automatically. 'Is there a boat?'

'There is no boat, but there is something equally awesome. What if we got married on the starlight roof of the DeHeere Towers?'

'That's the same place Meredeth and Javi had their reception, isn't it?'

'No, that was the starlight terrace. This is the roof, this is the actual penthouse rooftop of the city's tallest hotel. We'd have a gorgeous view and then we can have dancing and everything outside with the glass-ceiling terrace as a back-up in case it rains.'

Alexis thought about it. A hot summer day high above the city with nary a cloud in the sky and a light breeze teasing the edges of her gown as she promised to love and honour and cherish Shane in front of her family and closest friends. The image of it had the corners of her mouth turning up. 'I think that sounds lovely.'

'And the best part, Esposito gave me the name of the guy who did all of the babies' cribs. He can do a beautiful chuppah for us, and we can get the coverings for it to match our colours.'

'That sounds really cool.'

'Is that a yes?' Shane looked at her eagerly as he dipped a piece of bread in his soup.

'That's a hell-yes. I've always liked the idea of an outdoors wedding in the summer and that sounds like it will be beautiful. We're already planning the reception at DeHeere Towers anyways.' Alexis gave a jaunty shrug. 'Now the whole thing is there. But we still have a little bit of a situation to find someone to do the ceremony.'

'Well, I had a look at that website yesterday morning once the screaming in my head stopped. I think it's a great idea.'

'Me too. But the question is, who would we ask.'

'I was thinking Daniel Brick.'

'Daniel?'

Shane nodded, chasing the last dregs of his soup around with his cheesy-bread. 'He's a good guy with no particular religious affiliation. I'd feel kinda funny if we asked the Catholic boys and your dad wants to give you away so none of them can be asked. Daniel is good at public speaking and he won't try to hit on you because he has his own redhead.'

'What the hell does that have to do with anything?' Alexis was seriously affronted at the idea a religious leader leering at a bride on her wedding day.

'Just trust me, Lex. I've been to weddings where the priest or the rabbi was so wasted on ceremonial wine that they had to stop the marriage and sober him up before they could continue.'

'That's just wrong. Weird, and grossly distasteful and wrong. Are you finished?'

Now it was Shane's turn to look at his fiancee with a considering eye. 'Lex, are you okay?'

'Yeah, fine.'

'Alexis.'

'Ugh, you are way too good at that,' she grumbled as she poked around the slices of ham in her bowl.

'Something happen with Sloan?'

'No, not exactly, just...I asked her how she told her mother she was pregnant and she started to ask me about us having babies, and it got me...it got me missing the one we lost a little bit.'

'Oh, baby.' Shane shoved his chair back and rose to give her a hug. He knew that it hadn't been easy for Alexis to see her best friend get pregnant without even trying and have it stick, but Alexis being the kind person she was gave Sloan unconditional love and support. 'Lex, it will happen when it's meant to for us. And until then, you know what we we'll do?'

'Practice?'

'Yep. Lots and lots of practice. In fact, I think you need some practice now.'

Squatting like a weightlifter, Shane wrapped his arms around her legs and carried her over to the couch, tumbling her back.

'Shane, come on, we just finished eating!' she protested.

'Sex doesn't always have to be pretty or perfect, it just needs to do the job.' He tugged open the buttons of her top, revealing her curvy breasts in the cute pink bra and her belly slightly expanded from digesting her dinner. 'Besides, think of this as a preview for when we do get pregnant, and you're feeling all puffy and big and just want to bang me senseless.'

'That's true, and...oh, hmmm...' Alexis trailed off on a humming little sigh as Shane stretched himself on top of her and began to lay his lips against her throat. 'I forgot what I was saying.'

'Then you're going to forget a lot more in a few minutes.'

Half an hour later, they were tangled together on the floor, clothes still half on their bodies and hearts thundering away from good sweaty, just-because sex. Shane lay staring at the ceiling with Alexis curled against his chest.

'That's the first time we've done that in awhile,' she murmured.

'Skipped a condom?'

'Uh-huh. And I'm okay with it,' she reassured him, turning to look him in the eye, 'but I don't want to make a habit of it.'

'Noted. You want dessert?'