Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, they belong to Janet Evanovich. I just like to play with them for a bit.

I'm a Tart lover (Merry Men! Yum!) and this is my contribution to what I'm hoping will become a more popular pairing/s in the Plum universe. I hope you enjoy!

This chapter is short – but I don't think it needed to be any longer, especially when I ended up writing it completely different to how I had originally planned!

Warning: this fic is not Babe or Cupcake.

What Comes Next?

Chapter Thirteen

But I can't expect Lester to marry me just because it's all organised.

Actually I wouldn't even want him to consider doing that...

I mean – we're only in a pretend engagement to keep Aunt Skye of his back, so of course he wouldn't want to marry me. Even if I do want all of this to be real, it isn't.

And to top it all off – I still can't believe I accidently told my family that I haven't had sex recently.

I quietly follow Lester and Stephanie inside. Both were silent the whole way home. The only sound was Stephanie flicking through the wedding album and this radiated through the whole car, as if it had been amplified.

I gently place the carry-bag containing our gifts in the lounge room and glance towards where Stephanie is starting to pace, her movements becoming more erratic with panic. Lester watches her in concern. Oh dear – maybe the surprise wedding wasn't a good idea – but the cards indicated...

Lester looks my way, pleading in his eyes. Of course, he wants to be alone with Stephanie...

I smile gently back at Lester and climb up the stairs. When I reach the top of the staircase I can hear Lester moving Stephanie over to the couch and sitting down together on it. Hmm...

Making more noise than necessary I walk to my room, opening the door, stepping inside and then closing the door. I sit on my bed thinking.

Of course I knew ever since Lester told me was engaged to Stephanie that it wasn't true – partly an Aunt's intuition, and partly because the cards told me so. I thought that my visit to Trenton would force Lester to own up to his lie, but instead he somehow managed to convince Stephanie to play along... Even going so far as to have already set everything in motion by the time I had arrived.

I was amazed and shocked when I was presented with what seemed like a real engagement between two people who loved each other.

And they did love each other - the week I arrived I could tell that they were both in love with each other. Stephanie was leaning into Lester's causal touches and going out of her way (unconsciously of course) to receive them. Lester watching Stephanie when he thought nobody was looking, with that soft smile curving his lips upwards slightly and a muted sparkle in his eyes...

Oh yes – they were most definitely in love with each other.

But neither of them had admitted it to themselves or to the other.

Honestly – children these days.

They've probably been in love with each other since they started the whole charade – why else would they both go through with it?

I smirk and check the clock. Five minutes have passed since I came upstairs. Slipping off my shoes, I slide across the floor and quietly open my bedroom door. I edge around the corner and sit silently on the top stair. I can see Stephanie and Lester sitting on the couch...

"Steph... Beautiful... Please stop panicking."

"But Lester, everybody thinks that we're really engaged, and now that they've organised an entire wedding... An entire beautiful wedding..." Stephanie sighs and flicks through the wedding album, "We're going to have to come clean."

I lean down further as Lester sighs and pulls Stephanie into a hug. He should tell her he loves her now. It would be the perfect moment.

"Beautiful – I was going to ask you this at Christmas lunch, but well..." Stephanie looks up him and Lester slightly clears his throat.

"Beautiful, I am completely and utterly in love with you. I love your shoe obsession; the way whenever you cook anything you end up with half of it on yourself; your cute little snores..." Lester pulls a small velvet box from his jacket pocket. I recognise that box...

Ohhh... So he was planning this anyway. Good boy.

"Stephanie Plum will you please do the honour of marrying me... For real."

I have to stop myself from clapping my hands in glee, as Stephanie blinks and looks very hard into Lester's eyes.

"You love me?" Lester nods and Stephanie hits him lightly in the arm, "Why the hell didn't you say anything sooner?"

Lester blinks shocked at Stephanie as she grins up at him.

"I love you Lester. As in forever love. For real love. And I want to marry you for real as well."

A huge grin stretches across Lester's face, "Well... in that case," he opens the velvet box "Would you mind if we used my parents wedding rings."

Stephanie gently takes hold of the velvet box, "They're beautiful Lester – I would be honoured to wearing your mother's wedding ring." Lester places a chaste kiss on her lips, "Well they're our wedding rings now."

I lean back and move silently back to my bedroom – from the quiet sounds echoing up the staircase, I don't need the cards or my eyes to tell me how this is going to turn out.

I smile, truly happy for my nephew and Stephanie.

And, at least now, all that hard work Helen and I did preparing and organising the wedding is going to be useful.