One month post op

"Hey, Denny," Izzie said, smiling.

He smiled, too, as she came in. "My favorite doctor."

"Aww." She stepped in, "I can't stay long. I'm in the middle of rounds, but I just wanted to see how you're feeling."

"I've never been better." he said. "In fact..." he paused, turned, and rifled through a drawer. "If you can stay for a minute, there's something I want to talk to you about." He found a box and opened it, revealing a ring. "Izzie, thanks to you, I have so much more time. I feel like I could do anything now. I feel like my life is endless and I... I wanna spend it with you. My life wouldn't be the same without you in it. What I'm asking is if you will do me the honor of becoming my wife? Will you be Mrs. Isobel Duquette?"

Izzie smiled, tearing up a bit. "Yes, of course," she said, crossing the room and filling the gap between them. She kissed him passionately, and he held her as tight as he could. "Now we have forever," he whispered, his voice tickling her ear.

She giggled and said, "Yes, forever."

Denny slipped the ring on her finger. The ring was a beautiful gold band with "Always" inscribed on the under side. Also, two gold branches with diamond leaves stretched over the band.

"Wow, it's beautiful," Izzie breathed.

"I saved it. It belonged to my favorite aunt, Aunt Sarah," he smiled. "She gave it to me years back after my Uncle Clarence passed and she told me, "Save this for when you meet the girl who makes your world stop." That girl is you, Izzie Stevens, and I knew it the minute I laid eyes on you that first day."

"Oh, Denny," she said, tearing up, "Really?"
"Yeah. It was love at first sight."

"I felt the same way. I knew there was something special about us from that first second, and even Bailey sees it now. She kinda busted my chops at first for falling for you, but she told me while you were in surgery, she said, "You know, Stevens, I see it now. A love like that doesn't come around every day. Don't let it get away."

"Really? We're talking about the same Miranda Bailey here?"

"That's what I thought," said Izzie, laughing, "but she's grown a little softer since Tuck was born, so you never know." She smiled."I gotta get back, but I'll see you soon, okay?"

He gave her a grin "Sooner than you think, Mrs. Duquette."

"I like the sound of that," Izzie enthused, kissing him quickly before heading back into the hall.

6 weeks post op

"Okay, Denny," Dr. Bailey said, unusually cheerful. "Today is your release day. You ready?"

Denny chuckled, patting the pocket of his coat which held the keys to the new place he was going to surprise Izzie with after she finished her shift. "More than ready."

Dr. Bailey smiled. Unbeknownst to everyone else, she had helped Denny find the house she knew Izzie was going to love. The huge house wasn't far from Seattle Grace, and there was plenty of room for their future kids to play, even for a horse or two if Izzie wanted, and Izzie had talked to him about how she wanted a mix of country and city life so the kids had the best of both worlds. He knew this was the perfect one and that she was going to be so happy.

Bailey winked at him. She had heard the keys jingle. She had taken the check down to the realtor herself earlier that day for him and had come back with the keys. "Stevens is gonna love this. It'll definitely get you brownie points," she told him, chuckling.

Denny chuckled, too. "Right?"

Izzie breezed in just then. "Who's ready for release?" she asked happily.

"Me," said Denny, giving her his trademark grin.

"I bet," she said, hugging him.

"But we're um, not going back to Meredith's," he told her.

"We're not?"

"No, I have something to show you. Can I drive?"

"Um, sure?" Izzie was slightly confused as she handed him the keys to her car.

Ten minutes later, Denny was about to pull up outside the house. Izzie was blindfolded and even more confused now than ever. "What's going on?"

"Patience," Denny whispered. "Almost ready."

When the car stopped, he lifted her out and took off the blindfold. "You can look now," he said. When Izzie looked, she saw this beautiful house. It was sort of ranch style and mammoth. It even had a fenced field, "Oh, Denny."

"It's ours, Iz. All ours." He kissed her.

"Really?"

"Really."