This was the last day of being on call. Luckily nothing happened during the night and they slept like the dead. Soon it was morning. Kate got up and got dressed and met everyone in the kitchen. Alex and Alice were missing. Holly had not shown either. Martha and Jim Beckett plus Jim Longworth were in a discussion. Jim Longworth noticed Kate standing there.
"Kate this is the last day I am taking you off call at midday I know we have the rehearsal dinner tonight so I am giving you time to get ready."
"Thanks Jim so my replacement from Tallahassee is coming today?"
"Yeah she should be at the station when we arrive."
"Det. Benson is a She?"
"Oh yeah I guess I did not tell you about her."
"You do not mean Olivia Benson?"
"Yeah did you work with her?"
"Yes a couple of Cases in NYC!"
"Well it must have been about 2 years ago she retired from NYPD and has been our replacement Det. for FDLE. She seems to like the change. She fills in at all the different stations around the state. I thought you met her last time."
"No not that I recall."
"Oh that right you were out on maternity leave."
"Jim! That is 3 years ago. Holly is 3 remember?"
"Oh Yeah well anyway she should be there."
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Rick and Kate got into the Cruiser and soon they were at the station.
Kate holding hands with Rick spied Olivia at the new espresso machine.
Rick was delighted.
"It is here! Wonderful"
Rick spies Carlos sipping his coffee with a terrible expression on his face and grabs him by the arm.
"Carlos my Man you need to taste this pure ambrosia from the gods."
Rick grabs his cup, throws out the old coffee and rinsed his cup.
"Hey I was drinking that!"
Rick looked at him and said.
"I have something better. From the look on your face you were not enjoying your coffee that much so stop complaining."
Rick prepared the liquid gold into Carlos's rinsed out coffee cup.
Carlos looked at Rick with a questioning expression but the smell was irresistible.
"Take a sip you will not be disappointed."
Carlos sipped and soon his expression was of wonderment.
"Say that is good!"
"I know is it not Great!"
"It sure is Thanks Rick."
Rick stood over and gave demonstrations on the proper use of the machine. He was making coffee for the whole station.
Kate walked up to Olivia and gave her a hug.
"Liv! How are you doing? What brings you to Florida? I thought you would never leave SVU."
"Kate look at you Wow what a ring is it Rick? You know I lost so much money on bets on you two!"
Kate blushed,"Yeah I hear it went city wide."
"City wide? No girl they were taking bets on you two in Vegas!"
Kate laughs.
"Well you can bet on almost anything in Vegas! Anyway you are looking great, Florida agrees with you."
"Yeah I just got tired of the same problems over and over again. With Stabler retired I took a new group in but it was never the same and I had my 30 with the dept. So I retired to sunny Florida. But I was not yet ready to retire. Your boss over there had something to do with my current job."
"Jim? He did for me too. He is a strange one. He held my hand all through my pregnancy with my Daughter."
"Daughter? Why are you not drinking coffee? I thought you main lined it like the rest of us? Wait! You are aren't you! How many weeks?
Kate blushes again then sips her tea.
"Almost 3 weeks. Rick is the father of all my children. Are you busy Saturday?"
"No I get off here at noon. Oh by the way great capture! I saw the video."
"Yeah, is that still running?"
"I saw it in Tallahassee yesterday."
Oh yeah the Interweb!"
"Yeah so what about Saturday?"
"Rick and I are getting married."
"Congrats! Oh so you are who I am replacing! Who would have thought it? Wait I was replacing a Det. Longworth."
"That is me."
"You are Det. Longworth?"
"Yeah I decided to reinvent myself down here. I changed my name to distance myself from the publicity of the trial and Nikki."
"Speaking of I thought you would be present at his execution. It is scheduled in 4 days.
You know they built a special prison with state of the art lethal injection machine for that bastard. The New governor Weldon has sworn not to stay the execution."
"Really? I do not pay much attention what happens in NY these days. My family is all here that is what is important to me now!"
Olivia was taken back by Kate's last comment. The quest for Dragon was her life but not anymore it seems she had moved on.
"I like to talk with some of the old timers down here they keep me informed."
"Is it true Stabler is here?"
"Yeah Kate it is true he lost his wife to cancer a while ago."
"Oh I am so sorry for his loss."
"He is coping."
"So that is why you retired! I hope you are very happy together. Invite him to the wedding too!"
"Thanks Kate yeah I will call him later. He spends most of his time fishing or golfing. However, Like Rick he has been called in on a couple of our harder cases."
"Just like old times huh?"
"Yeah speaking of Old times were you not a brunette? I like the red hair though."
"Yeah I dyed it to match my two daughters. They both have brilliant red hair."
Kate and Olivia chatted as they entered Rick's and Kate's office.
"So Rick is here too?"
"Yeah he is a civilian consultant. That was Jim's doing too. So tell me your story about Jim?"
"Well not much to tell we met in the grocery store and we were grabbing the same item I introduced myself. Callie was there too Plus Jack. Anyway I told him I was new and was trying to figure out what to do. I told him that I was a retired detective from NYC. He said he knew another one like that. He got my number and about a week or two later. I got a call from Colleen and the rest is history."
"So you like filling in?"
"Yeah it gives me a variety of Cases Mistress of Mud! And Caiman Man That was funny!"
"I am going to kill Daniel! Don't tell me that was over the Interweb too!"
"No that was courtesy of Carlos. He loves to send me funny videos. But turn about is fair play I saw yours you need to see mine."
Liv opens her smart phone and soon a video of her wresting a large snake was being shown and Jim was there was there too.
"Oh so you had the 20 foot python?'
"Yeah it fought back strongly. With determination Jim and I got it down!"
"It seems like it is a rite of passage wrestling with the wildlife down here."
"It does indeed. I have to say Rick must be very strong to pick up a 6 foot struggling Caimen and place it in the cage. I would never have thought he was. Funny he does not look like it."
Both Kate and Liv look out the window at Rick working the espresso machine.
"Yeah he is deceptively strong. I love his muscle tone! He picks me up and carries me as if I did not weigh a thing? He is amazing and I so lucky to be marrying him."
"Yeah I am happy for you Kate".
They both were hugging when Jim and Rick entered the room.
Jim looked at Rick then whispered "must be a women thing?"
Rick nodded.
Jim cleared his throat.
"Well since I guess you are all here and know each other. I just need the paper work from the takedown done then you can leave."
Kate and Rick finished the paperwork and placed it in the inbox in Jim's office. Jim was impressed how quickly they got the paperwork to him.
"A deal is a deal you are off until May 7th so get out of here. Det. Benson and I will handle things while you are gone."
"Oh Jim Congrats"
"Oh yeah Callie and I are getting married too tomorrow. Tonight is the dress rehearsal."
"So why are you not going on your honeymoon too?"
"Well Callie has to finish up school and Kate and Rick have to return so the station is not undermanned. We will have ours after they return."
"Well again Jim Congrats!"
"Thanks Liv."
Rick looked sad he wanted to stay for his pizzas. Kate knew that look.
She glances at the clock it was close to Pizza delivery time.
"Ok Rick we'll stay."
Rick brightened up.
"Stay?" Liv asked.
"Oh yeah Rick has pizza delivered to the station for lunch. Just wait there will be a line of troopers in here which I have to shoo out the door! He bought the big screen viewer in station too."
"I see I thought it looked new."
"Well with Kate here and Rick we have the best solve rate ever for any FDLE station."
Liv was very impressed.
Soon the pizzas were delivered and Olivia saw first hand what Jim had meant.
Jim had to give the same speech day in and day out since the pizzas started arriving.
Rick soon had his pizza and they left hand in hand.
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Getting back to the compound grounds the flowers have arrived and the caterers were setting up for the rehearsal.
The placing for the weddings on the beach was set up under a billowing canvas to protect the guests from direct sunlight.
Soon it was time for the dress rehearsal. Martha was being the lead in getting people to their marks. Soon Callie and Jim appeared with Jack and several members of Callie's family. The wedding dresses were hung in their respective closets. Alex was Best man along with Ryan and Javi. On Jim's side he only had his older sister who flew in. On Kate's side were Lanie, Gynethe and Alexis. Callie had her cousins and Alice. Jim Beckett acted as the priest. It went off without a hitch. The rehearsal dinner was a smashing good time! Soon the dinner was over and everyone returned to their rooms.
"Rick just one more day I can not even wait to call you husband! I love you so much I am not much for tradition. I will not force you to sleep with your brother. I could not handle the separation! Rick you have changed me for the better and I will be eternally grateful. You know Liv even mentioned the Dragon was being executed in 3 days. I did not even care. He was never my future but you are Rick you are my shining light!"
"Whoa Kate what a speech are you sure that is not the wedding vows for tomorrow?"
"Rick can you be serious for once. I was telling you I love you more than anything else in the world except your daughters."
"I know Kate you changed me too. I learned so much about myself waiting for you. I love you too."
"Make love to me almost husband!"
"I will almost wife."
They proceeded to make love in the shower, the basin and finally the bed where they fell asleep exhausted but extremely happy. Tomorrow is the wedding!
Meanwhile Owen was given his final instructions from Anson. Tomorrow was the day the Admiral would die!
Alexis being excited did not fall asleep she was not curled into Owen's arms. She picked up her phone to call him but it went to Voice mail. She sighed and looked at the messages from Sarah the travel agent. The flights into Miami were blocked. They are being rerouted to Tampa and Orlando. Some were allowed into Ft. Lauderdale but not many.
Alexis wondered, why is this happening?