Hello everyone! So Yes I realize it has been some time since I have updated this story but I needed a small break bc this is one of about 4 or 5 writing projects I currently have on the go and it's the longest fan-fic words-per-chapter I am writing - the average length is just shy of 3000 per ch, which I think we can agree is a high rate of output! So here we are! Back in the saddle once more!

Andonlini's was quickly becoming one of Winnie's favourite places to go with her boyfriend – there was nowhere else in the city where they were treated like royalty the moment they came in the door.

Tonight, it was as though they were movie stars, for when they arrived through the door Bruno himself was there, making such a fuss that other patrons turned their heads to stop and stare, and murmur questions as to who they might be.

'Michelangelo! And your beautiful principessa.' Bruno gleefully kissed both of Spike's cheeks before giving Winnie the same treatment. 'I'm told today is a very special day, no? The beautiful principessa is celebrating her birthday!'

'We are indeed celebrating her birthday,' Spike agreed with a proud mile-wide grin. 'She is the big three-four today and racing a five kilometre run tomorrow.'

'Ah yes, the big race for the charity is tomorrow. Hence the special menu.' Bruno winked in conspiracy, then took Winnie's arm to loop it through his to lead them to their table.

When they walked up a flight of stairs near the entrance to the lavatories and the kitchen's expediting pass, Winnie turned back to glance at Spike in bafflement. 'What is this?' she mouthed to him.

'Here we are.'

Bruno shoved the door open and Winnie let out a little gasp. They'd been given the best seat in the whole bistro – the rooftop terrace just for them. There was a single table for two set with candles, and a bottle of wine breathing already for them; a nattily dressed waiter was standing at attention, a white cloth draped over his arm, ready to be at their service. Candles were placed strategically around the patio so the flames danced like little golden ushers of twilight, and the air smelled deliciously of fresh greenery.

Spike felt his heart swell with love as Winnie turned to him, eyes bright and shining. 'You did all this for me?' she asked in that whispery way that told him she was perilously close to tears.

'Only the best for my Winona.'

'That means the food too.' Bruno ushered them over to the table, snapped his fingers twice to alert the waiter. He zipped over as Spike pulled Winnie's chair out for her, kissing her cheek as she sat down. 'Tonio will be taking care of you, whatever you need tonight.'

'Okay,' was all Winnie could come up with; she really did feel like a princess with treatment like this. She looked out over the rooftops of the city, saw the moving lights of cars in the distances, the flutter and coo of pigeons from the neighbouring building. When she turned back to look at Spike she gave him a tender smile. 'Mike, this is way too much.'

'No it is. You look amazing.' And she really did, Spike thought, like a lush fantasy created just for him. He felt his heart knock hard against his ribs as he let his gaze wander over her. 'You look all...fresh and juicy, like you stepped off the pages of a magazine or something.'

'The girls took me for lunch and a pampering afternoon,' Winnie replied, loving the way he openly admired her. It made those moments when she felt gross and disgusting totally worth it. 'I've been buffed, polished and waxed from head to toe.'

'Waxed?' Spike asked with the arch of his eyebrow.

'Oh, don't worry babe, I remember what you said back in the summer and I told the technician that too.'

'Good.'

Winnie caught the look in his eyes, leaned forward. 'They used this stuff on my skin so make it all soft. I told them you really like the scent of shea butter on me so when I got my full...body...massage-' she drew the words out, lingering on the syllables just to drive him wild '-I made sure they used the shea butter oil on my skin.'

Visions of Winnie lying naked and oiled up, the essentials just barely covered by pure white cotton, had Spike fighting to keep all the blood north of his belt. There would be plenty of time later for birthday banging, and he had a very naughty idea he was certain would turn her on like never before in their relationship.

'You are such a tease, Winona.' He inched over, gave her a long slow kiss then added on a husky whisper, 'I like it very much.'

The butterflies she always felt whenever he did things like that began flapping maniacally in her chest, and she returned his long slow kiss with a sultry smile. 'Same to you, Mike.'

'How am I a tease?'

'Because we're in public and you kiss me like that, it makes me feel like we shouldn't wait to go home to finish it off.'

Spike only winked at her and reached for the bottle of wine, poured them a glass as their server returned with the antipasti course. He'd picked the menu himself and was rewarded with the delighted look on Winnie's face as she saw the offerings - slices of melon wrapped in prosciutto, bread topped with tomato and mozzarella, olives stuffed with pesto, and a selection of grilled seafood brushed with a herb-and-garlic oil. Winnie may have loved good food but she took care of her body and was very conscientious of what she ingested. Someone who was that considerate of herself deserved the same respect from the man who loved her.

Winnie grinned as she gave her napkin a sharp snap before reaching over to select a few items to add to her plate. 'You know, I'm glad we're comfortable enough around each other that we can have something as date-unfriendly as garlic bread and still think the other one is sexy,' she laughed.

'Winnie, we ate pizza on our first date,' Spike reminded her, bypassing the olives in favour of the shrimp and calamari, 'and then we went to bed together that night and were making out before we fell asleep.'

'Ah, memories.'

Spike grinned, then made a remembering noise as he chewed. 'Oh, by the way. December fourth to the eighteenth. Make sure you bank as much overtime as you can before then.'

'Why?'

'Visiting my ma and company in Italy.'

'Oh.' Winnie swallowed her mouthful of tomatoes and cheese as she felt the swoop in her stomach. 'I thought we were leaving the seventh?'

'Nope.' Spike shook his head. 'First Monday morning in December.'

'Ah, okay, I did have that booked, I just thought it was the seventh,' she laughed, then sipped her wine. 'Mmm, this is really good. Where is this from?'

'The 'black sheep' farm. It's the family vineyard on my mother's side,' Spike replied proudly. 'That's the stuff we'll be drinking every night when we go.'

'More please.' Winnie held out her glass, then pouted when Spike shook his head no. 'I'm a big girl, why not?'

'This isn't the kind of stuff to get buzzed on and trust me you won't want to be buzzed until after we get to your party tonight.'

'Which is where?'

Spike chewed down the last of his calamari, winked at her. 'A surprise location.'

'Damn it. I thought you bomb guys were supposed to be fountains of information.'

'Yes we are, on the job. Besides-' he reached over and tugged the end of her silky hair '-it's fun to tease you because you look so damn cute when you pout like this.'

'Well you look very cute when you are baffled by my lack of kitchen technology.'

'Who doesn't own a microwave?' Spike exploded on a laugh. 'Or a coffee maker?'

'Me,' Winnie replied with such simple sweetness that Spike cracked up once more.

'God you're adorable. Tell me about the case you had yesterday with Team Two, the guy with the birds. I've been dying to hear about that one.'

They sat together, talking about the ins and outs of their work week - totally opposite schedules this two-week block had meant little time to see each other like regular adults - while they feasted on minestrone, spinach lasagne, and because it was Winnie, a dessert of raspberry sorbet with a hazelnut biscotti and one more glass of wine.

By the time the bill was paid Winnie realized she did indeed have a man who understood her perfectly - she'd gotten to indulge for her birthday dinner without going overboard since she was doing her race the next day, yet she had also eaten enough so that if she wanted a couple of birthday drinks wherever it was that he was taking her for her party, she wouldn't be too daffy off her nut or hungover the next day. A man like that was truly a great find and that he had eyes only for her made Winnie feel like Wonder-Woman.

As he drove them to their mystery location, he couldn't help grinning at Winnie; he could all but see the wheels in her fascinating brain turning like clockwork gears. No wonder he loved her, she was a puzzler just like him. Most people would probably think they had too much in common to make things work, but Spike knew differently, he knew that she had fundamentally different tastes on key things like movies and music and sports than him to keep it interesting on the day to day level. At the heart of it, they wanted the same things: to be good cops and to make sure the other knew how much they loved each other.

Spike was certain his birthday party for her would most definitely be proof of that.

When they stopped at the Goose, Winnie rolled her eyes, stuck out her lower lip. 'The Goose? That's all you got Mister Big Shot Surprise Guy?'

'Oh ye of little faith, Constable,' Spike laughed, opening the door for her, loving the smell of her perfume as she walked past him into the pub. He caught the eye of the manager behind the bar, who gave him a subtle nod. 'That way.'

Winnie looked over, saw a door that was usually closed off whenever they were there for the usual post-shift beer. Gripping Spike's hand, she followed him through, then felt her jaw drop.

'Oh my god!'

The room had been transformed into Winnie-Party Central, with purple and yellow streamers decorating the pool table, the buffet table, even the gift table; the sight of the last one through Winnie for a loop. There was a little mini-stage set up, complete with a TV screen and stereo that meant only one thing.

But more than that were the people - all of Team One, even the Boss, was there along with Wordy and Raf and their dates. They all held glasses of varying contents as they stood around talking; when Shelley caught sight of them she gave a little cheer.

'Hey it's the birthday girl!'

The group turned, almost as one unit and raised the volume of the cheer with everyone coming over to give her hugs. Spike stepped back to let her have the moment of birthday wishes, headed for the bar to grab the bottles of champagne for toasting his girl. By the time she'd made it through the crowd and back to him, the glasses were full and the bartender was helping pass them around.

'Alright, alright, a little toast here so we can get the gooey stuff out of the way.' Spike cleared his throat, waited until everyone had a flute of bubbly. 'I know that there isn't a single life in this room that hasn't been touched by the work of my beautiful Winona Michelle Camden, or by her friendship, or her loving heart. I know that my life hasn't been the same since you walked into it, and I am so thankful for that every day. To Winnie!'

'Happy birthday!'

They clinked glasses, and Spike wasn't surprised to see a little sparkle of tears in Winnie's eyes; he'd learned that despite her sturdy police shell off the clock she was a great big marshmellow at things like this. He knew when Jules had the baby she'd be a total basket case. 'Thank you, Michelangelo,' she murmured, leaning in for a kiss.

'You deserve the best.'

'And that means my own private karaoke party? How the hell did you pull this off?'

'Like any smart man, I asked my woman's best friends so you can thank those lovely ladies over there for saving my chestnuts from the fires of birthday hell, which as you told me is a very real thing.' Spike gave her another kiss and a loving tap on the ass to shoo her off with her friends while he accepted praise from Sam and Ed for his brainstorm.

'You called it right, Spike,' Ed told him with a shake of his head. 'Winnie did not see this one coming.'

'Why karaoke? The first time she came to karaoke with us she was bundle of nerves, like a little baby Bambi or something,' Wordy added.

'Because we were still trying to figure things out and you guys were being the cheesy overbearing parents,' Spike reminded them. 'Keep in mind, I'm the first one of us to really have a girlfriend like this.'

'Like what?' the officers chorused.

'You two have both been married for what, a century? Sam and Jules have always been part of Team One before they were involved, Greg and Marina had their own style. When baby birdie-' Spike pointed at himself with a sheepish grin '-finally got a lady that wasn't Sam's sister you guys turned into a bunch of goofy weirdos.'

'Yeah, we kinda did,' Ed laughed.

'Remember the cellphone incident?'

'Oh yeah, you definitely deserved some payback for that,' Wordy agreed, then wandered off to go find food.

'She's totally worth it though,' Spike told Ed, and the senior officer grinned wider.

'Yeah, nothing like the one who's worth it.'

Across the room, Winnie was deep in conversation when she glanced over her shoulder and saw Spike staring at her, felt that giddy little bubble just like the first time she'd kissed him. Trying to pull her brain back to Jules and Sophie, she made herself catch the tail end of their discussion.

'What do you think Winnie?'

'Huh?'

'Nursery colours.' Jules barely managed to smother the laugh that threatened to bubble up when she saw the dazed look on Winnie's face. 'We are waiting to find out if it's a girl or a boy before adding gender specific decorations.'

'Really?' Winnie finished off the last bit of her champagne, blinked a little. 'Is it really tricky keeping it to yourself, without calling the baby a he or a she around us?'

'Nope, we made a promise to each other that we want to surprise our families. It's one of the last true surprises you can have in a world full of Twitter and Facebook and Spoiler Alerts galore.'

'Fair point.'

'That's why we are having the post-birth baby shower, party, whatever you wanna call it, be all about cute clothes and gender specific gifts. My brothers and my dad are flying in for a visit for that one' Jules sipped her ginger-ale and orange juice, made a noise. 'Speaking of which, heard at the barn you and Spike are planning a little trip.'

'A trip?' Visions of tropical beaches and time away from the stress of the job danced in Sophie's mind. 'What kind of trip?'

'Spike is taking me to Italy to meet his family in December. I'm a little nervous,' Winnie admitted. 'But I guess that's normal, right?'

'Oh yeah, I was freaking out when Ed met my parents the first time,' she agreed. 'Don't worry, they are probably just as nervous to meet you, make sure they don't scare you off.'

'What if they do?' Winnie looked around for more champagne. 'I'm a black woman, more I'm a biracial woman, neither half of which is Italian. And I'm not Catholic either.'

'So? You make him happy, anyone can see that, and you love each other,' Jules pointed out. 'Off a wild hunch, I'd say that means a hell of a lot more than superficial things like skin colour or what church you might get married in.'

'Wow, okay.' Now Winnie's laugh turned obviously edgy. 'How about we get him through meeting my mother and sister at Thanksgiving, before we start throwing those kinds of words around okay?'

Sophie had been a cop's wife long enough to recognize the signs of someone who needed space. 'Okay, for now we can just load up on yummy bites from the buffet, courtesy of these.'

'What?' Winnie's eyes went wide at her friend's finger-wiggle. 'You did the food?'

'Oh yeah, even gave Spike the family rate, and the cake is on me.'

'Where is he?' She whirled away, fought the crowd to find her boyfriend; when she did, she planted a big fat kiss on him. 'Thank you for this, thank you thank you thank you.'

'You're welcome, welcome, welcome,' Spike replied, looping his arm around her hip. 'What do you want to dig into first, the song selection for karaoke, or the buffet?'

'Duh, food first!'

They headed for the table, leaving Wordy to chat with Leah and Raf who just stared after them.

'We still taking bets how long before they announce their engagement?'

'Talk to Sam,' Leah said, 'I've got next Christmas.'