PROMPT: Gail attempts to plan to sweetly propose to Holly but fails and ends up doing it in the middle of the precinct.
In retrospect, Gail recognized her error. While she herself wasn't usually one to care that it was her birthday, Holly loved birthdays. They reminded her of a saccharine sweet childhood full of celebratory gatherings and thoughtful gifts. Gail hadn't had the same experience growing up.
So Gail had miscalculated just how pissed Holly would be when Gail 'forgot' it was her birthday.
But she hadn't really forgotten. Please. Gail Peck was a great girlfriend that remembered important dates. Of course she knew it was Holly's birthday. She had this entire thing planned. She was going to let Holly go the entire day thinking she'd forgotten, then surprise her later with a gathering at The Penny.
Everyone was in on it. They were to remember it was Holly's birthday, wish her happy birthday and all that junk, but not tell her about the coming surprise. Gail was going to pick Holly up at the morgue, as usual, and take her to The Penny with a rushed apology for forgetting her birthday, blaming it on the stress of her current workload (which, in all fairness, had been ridiculous lately) and promises to make it up to her over the weekend.
Then they'd go into the bar and everyone would do their dumb 'surprise!' because that's the kind of thing Holly loved. They'd eat some cake and drink some champagne (the same kind they'd drank at Frank and Noelle's wedding) and dance a bit. Holly would smile and laugh, asking how she could ever think Gail had forgotten her birthday as they kissed a bit.
Then Gail would pull out all the stops to make it the most memorable birthday night Holly had ever experienced.
She was going to propose. (She'd kept this part of the plan to herself.)
But Holly had ruined the plan by showing up in at the station around noon—this time under the pretense that Gail was just an asshole—and proceeded to chew Gail, who'd been assigned to desk that day, out in the middle of the squad room. She wasn't loud about it—Holly wasn't one to yell—but she still attracted the attention of the other officers milling about the area. They all stared and Gail wanted to curl up in a hole.
"Holly, please, stop," Gail pleaded softly, well-aware of everyone's eyes on them. Most of them were in on the secret party, though, and were trying to hide their amusement. Some were failing. Like Chloe, who literally had to turn around so Holly wouldn't see her laughter.
"No, Gail," Holly fumed. "You know I've had a rough few months. I left a job I loved because I missed your stupid face more than I loved the job, and I've talked about what I wanted for my birthday for weeks. How hard is it to remember a date, Gail?"
Gail knew Holly's outburst was all because of her crappy week. First, one of her interns had mishandled and tainted evidence, possibly ruining the prosecution's case (and she felt responsible). Then there'd been a flood in their basement that had destroyed two boxes that had held photo albums and memories from Holly's youth. Now, she thought Gail had forgotten her birthday.
Yeah, Gail really hadn't thought that one through.
"Holly, just listen to me," Gail said, guiding her girlfriend to sit on the edge of the desk.
"No, were you listening to me?" Holly said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I, yes," Gail insisted. "Just, wait! Stay here."
"Gail," Holly began to protest, but Gail interjected.
"Holly, trust me, okay? Please?"
Gail was begging. Gail never begged. It made Holly pause and really look at her. She was looking at her with imploring eyes. Holly didn't say anything, but Gail saw her shoulders relax.
"I'll be right back." Then Gail rushed off towards the locker room. Dammit how had she messed this up so badly? She felt bad for going ahead with this dumb plan even after the terrible week Holly had been having. She only hoped her surprise would make up for it.
She dug around in her bag that hung in her locker, gripping the little, navy blue velvet box in her hand. She glanced around, ensuring she was alone, then slipped it into her uniform pants' pocket and shut her locker door with a resounding slam. She took a deep breath. She'd wanted this to be special, memorable.
Well, it would be memorable, at least.
Holly was where she'd left her, leaning back against the desk, looking sad. Gail's heart clenched in her chest. She didn't want her to be sad. She was supposed to make her happy. She hoped she could change that.
"Okay, Holly, here's the thing," she started once she was standing in front of the brunette once more. "I didn't forget your birthday."
Holly looked skeptical.
"No, really," Gail said, looking around for help. "You can ask these guys. I had this lame idea to pretend to forget and then surprise you with a party at The Penny with all our friends later."
Holly looked around and noted all the officers and detectives nodding affirmatively. "Oh," she said, turning red. Then she got mad again. "And you thought I'd be okay with you pretending to forget?"
Gail shifted on her feet, ducking her head. "Um, in retrospect, I wish I'd gone about it differently, yes. I'm sorry, really sorry about that, but I hope I'm about to make it up to you."
Her heart was beating something fierce in her chest. Before that moment, she'd never considered a scenario where Holly said no. In her mind, she always gave an amazing speech before asking those four words, and Holly always said yes before kissing her enthusiastically.
But now that the moment was upon her, she was scared shitless that Holly would say no. She couldn't think of rational reason to think Holly may say no, but being rational wasn't always a strength of hers.
She squared her shoulders and reached out to take both of Holly's hands in hers. Holly looked up at her with questioning eyes.
"Okay, so, I had this whole thing planned out where I was going to take you to The Penny after work and everyone would be all 'surprise!' and all that jazz and then you'd realize that I'm not a jerk who forgot your birthday. Then you'd blow out the candles on the cake I ordered from your favorite bakery and people would give you stupid gifts while we shared a bottle of the same fancy champagne we drank at Frank and Noelle's wedding." She paused and took a deep breath. "Then I was going to give you this."
She put her hand in her pocket and pulled out the box, holding it in front of her.
Holly gasped. "Gail," she whispered, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth. She already felt the first sting of tears burning behind her eyelids.
The entire room became silent as Gail spoke, but neither women noticed anyone else in that moment. So they didn't notice that Traci had pulled out her iPhone to record the scene.
"I had this horribly sappy speech planned, but that's not really me, so I'm just going to say this. You've made me a better person, and I want to keep growing with you by my side, encouraging and supporting me in that way that no one else has ever done. And I want to do that same for you. I can't imagine not spending the rest of my life with you because I love you so much. And I just want to do everything I can to try and make you happy for as long as I live. So, Holly Stewart," she eased the box open as she dropped to one knee. "Will you marry me?"
Once again, in retrospect, Gail would laugh at her irrational fear that Holly may say no. But she was still surprised by the ferocity in which Holly tackled her with, nearly sending them both tumbling to the ground as she embraced Gail, who was still on bended knee.
"Is that a yes?" Gail asked, pulling back to look at Holly, who had tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Yes, yes!" And then she kissed her as applause and whistles thundered in the squad room.
"Way to go, Peck!" Gail heard Oliver yell, reminding her of their surroundings. She pulled back and felt her face turn red, but she had a wide, ecstatic smile on her face, matching that of Holly's. She pulled the ring from the box and slid it onto Holly's left ring finger, thankful that it seemed to be a perfect fit. (She'd taken one of Holly's rings to the jeweler to get a best guess for the sizing.) The ring was a simple cut, but stunning in its simplicity, which is why Gail had immediately known it was 'the' ring.
Gail helped Holly into a standing position, and they suddenly found themselves surrounded by cops offering their congratulations and well-wishes. And for once, Gail didn't care about the attention. Because all she could focus on was Holly.
Holly. Her fiancée.