Thank you so much, everyone, for continuing to make the writing process so inspiring and so much fun for me. And thanks to Nkeagle for answering an important question for me. It was a small thing, but I was determined to get that point right for this chapter. Happy reading!
Everyone in the Maternity Waiting Room was getting fidgety the longer they went with no word. Martha recognized the nurse who had changed the sheets on Kate's bed walking by and flagged her down and asked for an update on the Castle baby, but the nurse could only reply, "They're still in the delivery room."
Finally, Alexis spotted a familiar figure striding down the hall...although as Rick would tell the story himself later, and many times, over the rest of their lives he wasn't striding, he was floating. Kate and Lily had been moved to a regular room after Lily had had her footprints and a small blood sample taken, and been given her Hep-B shot. "Dad!" Alexis called.
Rick turned his head toward the sound of his oldest daughter's voice, and the fact that he could now officially refer to Alexis as "his oldest daughter" made the grin on his face grow even wider. Was it possible for a person to smile so widely and for so long that their cheeks would start to hurt? If it was, Rick was in for an aching face, but he didn't care. Kate was a total rock star in the delivery room, and Lily was here and healthy and beautiful, and he floated on over to where the rest of their family had crowded behind Alexis with such anticipatory looks, if he didn't start talking in the next instant, they might all explode.
He was in his white t-shirt and jeans, having left his short-sleeved sky blue button-down shirt in Kate's room, since he had used it as an improvised cloth to wipe the sweat from her brow during childbirth.
Finally, they could stand it no longer.
"Well?" Martha demanded.
"Spill it, Castle!" Lanie said.
Everyone else made similar murmurings and insistences.
His smile grew impossibly wider, and the look on his face could only be described as rapturous. "She's here!" he exclaimed. He picked Alexis up in a bear hug and whirled her around. "You have a beautiful, healthy baby sister..." He set Alexis back on her feet and waded into the fray as everyone else charged toward him at once. "...and granddaughter," he accepted his mother's tear-filled hug and then found himself engulfed in a hug by an unashamedly emotional Jim Beckett. "...and niece and goddaughter!" he exclaimed to the whole group. "And Kate is fine, and amazing, and beautiful-"
He was cut off when Lanie threw herself at him with an ear-piercing squeal and such force that it was in hugging her that he remained on his feet. When he had regained his footing, Alan was there to give him a one-armed hug and a hearty clap on the back along with his congratulations.
Jenny and Kevin all but elbowed Lanie and Alan aside and they both hugged Rick at the same time.
"Congratulations, Castle!" Esposito exclaimed, and then Rick was grabbing him for a hug, which Espo returned.
Surrounded by family, and feeling as on top of the world as he was feeling, when Rick reached out to hug the next person he felt touching his arm, he found himself face-to-face with a beaming Victoria Gates.
She spoke first. "Congratulations...Rick."
He beamed back at her. "Thank you...Victoria."
Then they hugged. The click of a shutter made them break the hug and turn towards Esposito, who was grinning and holding his phone up, pointed at them. "This was a 'pictures or it didn't happen' moment if there ever was one," he said unrepentantly as he lowered the phone.
"You're gonna have Ryan post that on the 12th Precinct's homepage, aren't you?" Rick asked, his smile not fading in the least.
"No, they're not," Victoria said, giving Esposito a look that promised dire consequences if he and Ryan even considered doing so.
Javier sighed. "I guess not," he said, "but it was still a picture-worthy moment."
"When can we see Katie and the baby?" Jim asked eagerly.
"And what is her name?" Lanie demanded.
"They're settled in their regular room now," Rick replied, "and they unfortunately have rules about the number of visitors. No more than four at a time, and I'm considered one, so..."
Everyone looked around at each other. "Big sister and grandparents should go first," Lanie said, and everyone instantly agreed. "But I better be in the next group!"
"Sure," Ryan said. "She can meet her godfathers last."
"Let's head on back, then," Rick said, clapping his hands together eagerly. "Big sister and grandparents first!"
The others returned to the waiting room while Alexis, Martha, and Jim followed Rick down the hall and around the corner to the second room on the right. The door was ajar, and Rick rapped on the door smartly before sticking his head in the room. "Are you up for some visitors?" he asked Kate.
"Yeah, she's not ready to eat yet, apparently," Kate replied, looking up from Lily in her arms to Rick, her face alight with joy, exhaustion, and wonder all at the same time.
Rick opened the door all the way and went straight to Kate's side. Alexis, Martha, and Jim stood crowded in the doorway for a few seconds, taking in the sight of Kate propped up in her hospital bed, the tiny baby dozing in her arms, and Rick sitting in the chair at her bedside, the picture of happiness.
"Is she asleep?" Alexis asked quietly.
"For the moment," Kate said.
"It's hard work being born," Rick said.
"I think it was harder for me than it was for her," Kate said, looking from Lily's sleeping face to Rick's happy, mischievous one.
"And worth every second, which you handled like the rock star that you are," Rick replied.
Alexis, Martha, and Jim quietly entered the room and then crept up to the bed. Kate looked at the three of them and beamed. "Everyone," she said, "Rick and I want to introduce you to our daughter, Lily Johanna Castle." She then looked down at the baby, who stirred slightly in her arms and cooed for the first time. "Lily," she said softly, "this is your big sister Alexis, your Grandpa Jim, and Martha is your grandma."
Martha moved the fastest, as she said, "Gram. Yes, my darling, just ask Alexis. She'll give me excellent references," as she looked at Kate expectantly. Kate was reluctant to let Lily go, but knew that of course everyone else would want to hold her. She carefully transferred Lily to Martha's waiting arms.
"Well, my goodness," Martha said, "you're so delicate, and so tiny. Hello, Lily. I'm your Gram. I am an actress, and an acting teacher, so I see many, many games of dress-up in our future." Lily squirmed slightly and opened her eyes, and looked up at Martha. "Katherine, she has your eyes!" Martha exclaimed in a hushed tone.
"Yes, she does," Rick said, his tone of voice leaving no doubt that he was thrilled and delighted about that particular genetic trait of Lily's.
"Welcome to our world," Martha said. "You will always be surrounded by love." She gently kissed the baby's forehead, and then carefully carried her the three steps to where Jim Beckett stood. "I believe it's your turn now...Grandpa," she said.
Jim hastily wiped his hands on the thighs of his pants again, and then accepted Lily from Martha, holding her carefully. He hadn't been at all surprised that Katie had named her daughter 'Johanna.' He had been expecting 'Johanna' to be her middle name all along. The only word he could come up with to describe the pangs in his chest as he held Lily for the first time was "bittersweet," because as overjoyed as he was to be a grandfather, and to have a granddaughter, not having Johanna physically here to enjoy this with him was the bitter part.
Jim looked down at his granddaughter and didn't even try to hide the tears in his eyes or his voice as he gazed down at her and said, awed, "Katie, she looks just like you did when you were born."
Kate was having a hard time fighting her tears at the sight of her father holding her daughter. For so long, she never thought this moment would happen. For five years, every time she hauled her dad out of a bar, or went to get him after a bartender had called her after taking his keys and cutting him off...every time she went through the house where she'd grown up and found all the bottles of booze her dad had stashed and poured them out...she had figured this moment wasn't in the cards for her, and wasn't even sure if she could keep her dad alive and get him to want to get sober before death stole him from her the way it stole her mother.
But as much as she hated that her mom wasn't here to dote on and spoil her namesake granddaughter, Kate couldn't be anything but ecstatic that her dad was here to dote on and spoil Lily, and to declare it his privilege, and his right, as her grandfather.
"Hello there, my Lily Jo," Jim said, instituting the use of the nickname by which he would forever refer to her, especially when he was feeling particularly affectionate. "I'm your Grandpa Jim. I'm very, very happy you're here, and that I'm here to meet you. We're going to have a lot of fun together, you and me. And you're named after a very special lady...your Grandma Johanna." He swallowed hard. "She can't be here with us...but you'll know everything there is to know about her. Your mommy and I will see to that, I promise you."
Jim then ever so gently shifted Lily so that he was holding her up over his shoulder. Seeking warmth, she snuggled against the side of his neck with a soft sigh. Looking Kate right in the eye, he said, "Yep, just like your mommy. She used to snuggle into the side of my neck when she was a baby too." He held her there for a moment before turning to Alexis. "Now," he said as he carefully brought Lily down from the side of his neck, "there's someone else here who really wants to meet you: your big sister. You're going to love her, Lily Jo. We all do."
Alexis accepted Lily from Jim and stared down at the tiny person in her arms as Lily, awakened when she was transferred from Grandpa Jim's shoulder to big sister Alexis's arms. Jim went over to Kate's hospital bed and leaned down to give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I'm so proud of you, Katie," he whispered so only she could hear.
"Thanks, Dad," Kate said before she kissed his cheek. "I'm proud of you too. And Lily is absolutely going to know who her Grandma Johanna was."
Alexis and Lily were looking at each with wide-eyed wonder. "I know I'm old enough to be your mom, but I'm your big sister, Alexis. We'll work on the name when you learn to talk, but when it's coming from you, I'll answer to almost anything. And as far as moms go, you got the best one in the whole world. And I should know, because she's become a mom to me too. And dads… We've got the best, most awesome dad in the world too, Lily. Someday you and I will get to gang up on Dad at Laser Tag. He might never win a game again."
"Underestimate me at your own peril," Rick said. "Besides, if Lily's on your team, that means Kate is on my team."
"Well, we have a few years to argue about all that," Alexis said. Lily looked up at her with fuzzy, unfocused eyes and what looked to Alexis like a tiny version of her own nose, both girls having noses that sort of resembled Rick's, and an amazingly tiny little rosebud mouth. "I never thought I'd have a little sister," Alexis said, "but you were worth the wait, Lily. Everything good, everything worth having, is worth waiting for, and fighting for. But you'll learn all about that in time. Right now, all that matters it that you're here with us, and we love you." She dropped a kiss on Lily's forehead before carefully walking her over to the bed.
"Hey, Lex, over here!" Before Alexis could give Lily to Rick or Kate, she heard Javier calling her from the doorway. Everyone looked over to see Javier standing there, holding up his phone, poised to snap a picture.
"This isn't going to be another one of your 'pictures or it didn't happen' things, is it?" Alexis asked, tongue-in-cheek.
"Very funny," Javier replied. "Mother's Day is next weekend, you know."
"Hey, it is!" Rick realized. He looked at Kate. "Your first one as a mom!"
"You just had to remind him, didn't you, Javi?" Kate said, shaking her head with a smile.
"You refused to let me get you a push present," Rick said. "But you're getting a Mother's Day present. Two, actually—one from me, one from Lily."
"Three: one from me," Alexis chimed in.
"Martha, Mr. Beckett, can you get in the picture?" Javier asked. Martha and Jim both went to stand on the side of Kate's hospital bed opposite where Rick was sitting. Alexis carefully handed Lily to Rick, then perched herself on the edge of the bed at Kate's feet. Kate rested her chin lightly on Rick's shoulder and wrapped her arm around his bicep. He was holding Lily and he turned her face toward Esposito. "Looks great," Esposito said. "Big smiles, everybody." He snapped the picture, then another one, just in case.
"I guess you'd better send in the next wave," Kate said after Javi had taken the picture and descended back to the waiting room to show the others, who were still waiting to meet Lily.
"Lily is absolutely beautiful, Katherine, as are you," Martha said, giving Kate a hug and a kiss. "And congratulations to you too, Richard. Of course, I know firsthand what a wonderful father you are. Lily is a very lucky little girl."
"Blessed," Rick corrected.
Alexis gave Lily back to Kate, and then hugged and kissed Rick and Kate, gave Lily another kiss, and promised to bring Chinese food back for both Kate and Rick in a little while. After Martha and Alexis left the room, Jim approached Kate's bed. "You're a mom," he said to Kate, his voice reflecting his awe.
"And you're a grandpa," Kate replied.
Jim's smile would have put the sun to shame. "Yes, I am," he said, grinning. "And I am going to love every second of it." He hugged Kate again, then hugged Rick, then wiggled his fingers in a wave at Lily. "'Bye-bye, Lily Jo," he said. "I'll see you again soon. I love you."
Lily's next set of introductions was to her two godmothers, and two of her uncles, who would be known to her as Aunt Lanie and Uncle Alan, and Aunt Victoria and Uncle Gerald.
When Lanie was holding Lily, and Alan was peering down at the baby over Lanie's shoulder and making funny faces, Lanie said, "She is absolutely beautiful, Kate. And Castle's over there grinning like a fool because she's your mini-me."
"I see Rick in her too," Kate insisted. "Her nose, for one thing."
"Now that you mention it, yes, her nose does look like Castle's," Lanie agreed. She looked at Kate. "I am so happy for you," she said. Then she addressed Lily. "And when you get older, Lily, do I ever have some stories to tell you about your mom and dad."
"Just remember, sweetpea, the only way you'll get the whole story is by talking to your mom and me," Rick said, addressing Lily.
"Oh, that reminds me!" Alan exclaimed suddenly. He pulled a handful of chocolate cigars wrapped in pink cellophane that proclaimed, "IT'S A GIRL!" from his jacket pocket. "While we were waiting to come and meet Lily, Lanie and I wandered down to the gift shop. I saw these, and I thought you might like to hand them out, Rick." He held out the chocolate cigars to Rick.
"Thanks, Alan!" Rick exclaimed. "These are great! I could only find bubble gum cigars when Alexis was born."
"It was my pleasure," Alan replied. "I've never been an uncle before. I'm really excited about it." He grinned, and then looked at Lily in Lanie's arms. "Hi," he said, pulling a funny face. "I'm your Uncle Alan. Yeah. I'll be helping your dad with your sci-fi education. I can actually speak Klingon. I'll teach you to speak it, if you want to learn it someday." Then Alan said, "qaStaHvIS yIn 'ej chep."
"Okay, I know that's Klingon," Rick said, "but I don't know what it means."
"'Live long and prosper,'" Alan replied. He waited for Lanie to say something about him speaking Klingon to Lily, but she didn't say a word, just kept staring at the baby in her arms.
Victoria stepped up then. "May I?" she asked, gesturing to the baby.
"Oh! Of course," Lanie said, returning from her daydream as she carefully handed Lily to Victoria. Lanie then went over and hugged Kate, then Castle. "Kate Beckett, a mom. I never thought I'd see the day," she marveled.
"You weren't the only one," Kate said, looking at Rick. "But then this guy crashed into my life and, well, here we are."
"You sure are," Lanie said. Kate could tell that there was something on Lanie's mind, but this wasn't really the time or place to discuss it.
Lanie and Alan said their goodbyes and left, and Gerald Gates congratulated Kate and Rick and smiled down at Lily while Victoria marveled at the newborn in her arms. "Well, Lily," she said, "I'm going to tell you a secret: your parents are two of my favorite people in the world. Oh, don't get me wrong, there were plenty of times when your dad tried my patience, but all in all, he's a really good person. And it is going to be my privilege to watch you grow up."
"Thank you, Victoria," Rick said.
"You're one of our favorite people too, Victoria," Kate said.
When Javi, Kevin, and Jenny came in, joined by Alexis again, Jenny gushed over Lily. "She looks just like you, Kate!" she exclaimed in a hushed voice.
"She really does," Kevin agreed. "We have a little girl at home who is going to love playing with you when you get a little bigger, Lily. I hope the two of you are going to be good friends. I know Sarah Grace wants that."
"Yeah, those are definitely Beckett's eyes," Javi said when he was holding her. "Your dad can be kinda goofy sometimes, but I guess that's part of his charm. Your mom and your big sister can tell you about that a lot better than I can," he told the baby. "You're going to have an amazing life, Little One. You have a lot of people who are gonna make certain of that, starting with your mom and dad. You got great ones. You really did. And a terrific big sister, too. And Ryan and me, we're gonna be your godfathers. So if anyone is ever giving you a hard time, your Uncle Kevin and me, we'll take care of it for you."
"Well, if your mom and dad don't get there first, because they will definitely mow down any schoolyard bullies that are dumb enough to come after you," Ryan added.
Jenny, astutely observing that Kate's energy was rapidly flagging, suggested that they leave parents and baby alone because Kate needed her rest. Alexis reiterated her promise to return with the requested Chinese food in a little while, and she, Javier, Kevin and Jenny all hugged Kate and Rick and told Lily they'd be back to see her soon, and then they took their leave.
When everyone had finally left, Kate and Rick both checked that Lily's full name was spelled correctly on the birth certificate. "I didn't have this much trouble changing my name at the Social Security office and the DMV," Kate muttered.
"Bureaucratic paperwork, one of my least favorite things," Rick agreed. He looked at Lily in Kate's arms. "Just ask Mommy how much paperwork I avoided at the 12th Precinct."
"All of it," Kate said. She looked at Lily. "He avoided all of it, Lily. Don't let him tell you differently." Lily wiggled slightly, opening her eyes to look up at her parents, recognizing their voices. She wasn't crying now, safe in her mother's arms, and with the voices of both her mother and father adding to her feelings of warm security. "Look what we did, Rick," Kate said as they both gazed down at Lily. "Look what we made."
He kissed Kate's temple. "I know," he said.
Lily began rooting then, and Kate exclaimed, "Oh! You're hungry, aren't you, sweetie?" A few seconds later, Lily had latched on like a pro, and Kate and Rick both gazed down at their daughter as she had her first feeding.
"Does it hurt?" Rick asked after a few minutes.
"Not at all," Kate said. She tore her gaze from Lily to look at Rick. "I kept my promise," she said to him. "Here we are again, at the hospital, but this time it's because we have a baby."
Rick's response was a beaming smile, and then he leaned in and gently kissed Kate's lips.
After Lily had finished eating, Rick changed her diaper, and Kate watched attentively. "I've never actually changed a diaper," she reflected.
"You can do it," Rick said, picking Lily up from her hospital bassinet after she was freshly diapered. He looked at Kate. "You are Kate Beckett Castle. You can do anything." Rick sank down in the hospital bed next to Kate, with Lily cradled in his arms. Lily yawned hugely as Rick gently smoothed the fingertips of one hand through her downy soft brown hair. Lily's yawn made Kate yawn too. The adrenaline had worn off, and now Kate was just exhausted.
"She has impeccable timing," Kate said. "She picked the best day in May to be born."
"May 7 is an excellent day," Rick agreed.
Kate settled back against her pillows. "Mmm-hmm, especially for us," she said. Rick looked at Kate and she could see the confusion in his eyes. "Think back," she said, "five years ago tonight..."
"2012," Rick remarked after quickly doing the math in his head. "May 7, 2012."
"Yes. Five years ago tonight, you asked me the second-most important question of our lives," Kate said. Rick looked at her, wondering what she was getting at, as she continued, "Well, you ignored my phone call...with good reason...so I showed up at your door, rain-soaked, ready to be happy, and praying I hadn't completely blown it, and that I wasn't too late. And when you saw that it was me, you asked me that question."
And then it clicked for Rick. "Beckett, what do you want?" he said, repeating his question from that fateful night.
And just as she had five years ago, Kate replied, "You." She paused for a few seconds and said, "I have to add something, though. I just want you, and Lily, and Alexis, and our family and our life."
"You have it," Rick said. "You have us. And you always will."
"That's the best part," Kate replied. "And Lily will always have you and me."
Rick looked down at Lily, who, now fed and with a fresh diaper, and having been nestled in her father's arms, had fallen fast asleep. Rick carefully got up and gently laid Lily in her bassinet, which he then wheeled closer to Kate's bed.
Kate fell asleep after seeing that Rick had wheeled Lily up next to her bed so she didn't hear him when he spoke. "She will, and it really is," he said. He looked down at Lily sleeping and just marveled. "And Lily will..." Rick trailed off when he looked up and saw that Kate was asleep.
He quietly rounded Kate's hospital bed, and stood there for a long moment, looking at his sleeping wife. "She's going to be as extraordinary as her mother," he said softly. "I know she is." He bent and gently kissed Kate's forehead, and then carefully got into the hospital bed beside Kate so he didn't wake her up, and closed his own eyes, because he could do with a nap himself, and the unwritten rule for new parents is to sleep when the baby sleeps.
Lanie and Alan walked out of the hospital in silence, but they hadn't taken three steps down the sidewalk when Lanie stopped, so Alan stopped beside her.
Lanie turned to look at him. "Alan, I've been doing a lot of thinking about you and me these past few weeks," she began.
"I noticed you've been preoccupied," he replied, turning to face her so they were looking into each other's eyes. "And you've been especially preoccupied today, although I don't think you were just preoccupied today because Kate had the baby."
"That's part of it," Lanie said. "Part of all my preoccupation, really."
Alan looked puzzled now. "Kate having the baby today has been why you've been preoccupied for the past several weeks?" he asked. "I know she's your best friend, but-"
"Not Kate giving birth to Lily, but what it means," Lanie said. She paused. "I'm not saying this right." She took a deep breath, then said, "Things are great with us. You and me, I mean."
"The greatest," Alan agreed. He still wasn't sure exactly where Lanie was going with this, but he at least knew she wasn't breaking up with him, so his stomach stopped jumping in his body.
"I've known Kate for a long time, and if you had known her before Castle came into her life, you wouldn't have known her," Lanie said. "He really changed her life. She never thought she would ever get married or have kids. That was one of the things that bonded us together at first, actually: two career women, working NYPD Homicide, neither one of us even remotely interested in marriage or babies or anything like that. But then Castle came along, and it took them a long time to get their act together, but they did it. And they got married, and now they have a baby. And somewhere along the way, although I've never told her this and I don't plan to, I got...well...kind of jealous of Kate, because for all that she insisted marriage and kids weren't for her, and for all the walls she had built up around herself for so long, when she fell in love with Castle, and finally accepted that she loved him, and that he loved her, and that it was the forever kind of love, they got married, and they have a family...and seeing Kate so happy and so...so settled, in a good way, made me want what she had for myself. And I didn't think I was ever gonna find it.
"And then I had this really crazy couple of days at work a little over a year ago. We had this murder victim...well, alleged murder victim. It was the most amazing thing. First he was poisoned, and I thought he was dead, but he wasn't. And then he was electrocuted, and I thought he was dead again, but he wasn't. And the craziest part of all, he got shot in the middle of the forehead, and he survived that too! And somewhere in the course of that certifiably insane 48 hours, after having mistakenly pronounced this man dead twice, I got involved in the search for the person who wanted this man dead in a way that I never got involved in any of the murder cases I worked with Kate and Castle and the boys over all the years we worked together.
"And when it was all over, and the wannabe killer was arrested, and the guy was okay, and resting comfortably at the hospital, he said that he was grateful, especially for the new friend he made, and that he hoped we could stay in touch. And when he...when you said that...I got butterflies in my stomach like I had never had before in my whole life. I knew that day that you were gonna be very special and very important to me, Alan Masters...and it didn't take me very long to tumble head over heels in love with you."
"I was half in love with you by the time we had that mind meld moment in your morgue," Alan said. "And I'm still falling, Lanie. I don't think I'm ever gonna stop falling in love with you. You're it for me."
"And you're it for me," Lanie replied, "which is why I've been so preoccupied for these past several weeks." She looked at him earnestly now. "I've been trying to find a way to ask you something very important, but I wasn't sure what you'd say. I'm still not completely certain what your answer will be, but I don't want to wait another second to ask you."
"To ask me..." Alan prompted.
"To ask you if...that is..." Finally, with another deep breath for fortification, Lanie just went for it. Looking up into his gorgeous brown eyes, she asked the question that had been going around and around in her head for weeks. "Alan, will you marry me?"
Alan's face registered a range of emotions in rapid succession: complete surprise, followed by sheer awe, utter, unconditional love, and then his entire face lit up with pure joy as he said, "Yes, Lanie. Yes, I will marry you."
Following Alan's reply, Lanie's expression matched his, pure joy and love as she launched herself at him for a long, passionate kiss, right there in the middle of the sidewalk in front of New York Presbyterian Hospital—Lower Manhattan, both of them completely ignoring the people on the sidewalk rushing past them.
When the need for oxygen forced them to break the kiss, they stood there, wrapped in each other's embrace, breathing heavily. When they had recovered themselves somewhat, before Lanie could say anything, Alan reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He opened the wallet, then opened the secret compartment in the wallet and removed a diamond solitaire engagement ring with the diamond set in a platinum band.
Lanie was shocked. "You...you have a ring?" she asked.
"Since a week before Valentine's Day," Alan replied. "I've been carrying it with me all this time, waiting for the right moment to give it to you. That moment is now. If you like the ring, that is," he added hastily. "If you don't, we can take it back and you can pick out whichever ring you want."
"I want that ring," Lanie said, gesturing to the ring Alan was holding between the thumb and forefinger of his right hand.
Alan reached for Lanie's left hand and slid the ring onto her finger. It was a perfect fit. "I sort of snooped through your jewelry box until I unearthed your college class ring, and then I took it with me to the jeweler to make sure I got the size right."
Lanie looked from the ring to Alan. "I love you so much," she said.
"I love you too," he replied. Then they kissed again, still oblivious to the people passing them on the sidewalk, and too happy and too much in love to care if anyone had told them to get a room or interrupted this magic moment for them.
