July 28, 2020
Evan Buckley's Apartment
Eddie held the door open as Buck passed him, arms full of shopping bags. They did curbside pickups for groceries and for some pots and plants the blond could put on the balcony of his apartment. Chimney looked up from where he was seated on the couch, reading a pregnancy book.
"Did you guys buy the whole store?" he exclaimed, tossing the book onto the couch and getting up to help put the groceries away.
"I don't think you understand just how much four grown adults eat," Buck grunted as he dumped all the bags onto the counter. Eddie added his share onto the counter and glanced up at the loft where the bathroom door was shut and the shower was running.
"Before you ask, lover boy, she got home twenty minutes ago," Chimney answered his unspoken question. Eddie hurried up the steps two at a time, leaving the other guys to gripe and complain about having to do all the work themselves.
Knocking out their pattern, Eddie waited to hear his girlfriend call out a "come in!". He slipped into the bathroom and sat on the sink.
"Hi," Mariana laughed warmly over the sound of the shower.
"How was work?" he asked, swinging his legs slightly. She poked her head around the shower curtain and grinned at him before going back to her shower. Her first nursing shift back had been today and Eddie wouldn't lie: after spending two solid weeks with each other, he missed her curled up next to him on the couch.
"It was good. I was a bit more worn out than normal but nothing a coffee couldn't fix. Did you guys just get back from the grocery store?"
"Yeah and we stocked up your clif bars," he assured her.
"This is why I love you," she teased. "I called the boys on the way home. They're good but they miss us. We've missed both of their birthdays so whenever we can go home, I'm throwing a little party."
"Marry me," he blurted out.
A thud came from the shower and then the water shut off. Mari yanked the curtain back so her head was visible and she stared at him with wide, unblinking eyes.
"Are you being serious right now? I can't tell."
"Dead serious."
Her hand shot out and she grabbed the towel hanging from the bar before disappearing behind the curtain again. In seconds, it was ripped away and she stood there wrapped in her towel as her wet hair dripped down her shoulders.
"Okay, where did this come from? What is going on?" she squeaked out.
"My will was updated today. This year has made me realize that we work a dangerous job and live in a world where the unexpected can happen. When I married Shannon...we were two young adults who thought marriage was just the logical next step. I don't want this to be just another step with you. I want you to have everything. I want...I want to grow old with you. I want to be by your side until the end. And if for some reason I don't...if I don't come back from a shift-"
"Don't say that," she interrupted him, her voice thick with emotion. He held his hands out and she stepped closer to him, grabbing his hands.
"If I don't come back, I want to make sure you and Christopher and Diego are provided for."
"Eddie," Mari breathed.
"I want you to have the house, guardianship over Chris, and all of my savings. I love you, Mariana Belicia Ramirez. I will fight to come home to you everyday but I need to know that you will be cared for if I can't be there. My will states that everything will go to you, but I want to make sure that's official. That you and the boys will be safe even when I can't be there."
"If you're asking me this, it better not be because you want to provide for me like some territorial caveman," she said. He laughed and pulled her in between his legs, his hands settling on her waist.
"I...when you tested positive, I knew that if it was bad, I wouldn't be able to go to the hospital with you, but I realized that even if we weren't in the middle of a pandemic, I wouldn't be able to. And that scared the hell out of me. I love you. I love our family."
"What about the boys? What if...Chris decides he doesn't want this?"
"Do you really think that Christopher is going to wake up one day and not want you in his life? That's exactly why I love you and why I trust you if the worst happens. Your first thought is always him and Diego."
Mariana stared at him for a beat, her brown eyes soft and full of thought. She studied his face for a moment before a smile grew on her lips.
"Are you at least going to ask me, you big oaf?" she murmured.
"Mariana Belicia Ramirez, will you marry me?"
She laughed and pulled him in for a kiss, his hands tangling in her still wet hair. He pulled back for air and pressed his forehead against hers. "I don't have a ring."
"I'm not a jewelry person."
"I can get you a ring."
"I won't be able to wear it at either of my jobs."
He pondered it for a second, his hand sliding down to rest against her neck as he brushed his thumb across her jaw. "Would it be a little too territorial caveman if you wore my dog tags? More than just a replacement ring but a reminder. That I'll come home to you and the boys. No matter what."
She pretended to ponder it for a second before nodding. "I think I can swallow my pride for that."
/
"I know you're probably wondering why we're here," Mariana said softly. "I asked your dad if this would be okay."
Christopher pulled his eyes away from Shannon's gravestone so he could look at the brunette. She brushed her hand through his hair and sighed.
"Your dad asked me to marry him and I said yes. But...we wanted to be sure that you guys were okay with that. I wanted to bring you here because I know what it's like to lose someone. And I want you to know that no matter what time of day or if a blizzard has hit Los Angeles, if you want to come here and talk to your mom, you can. I don't want you to feel like you have to call me mom or anything. Mari is fine. I just want you to feel comfortable and I want you to know that you're loved."
"Can I call you mom?" he asked. "If I wanted to?"
"Of course," she assured him. "You can call me whatever you want. I just...I don't want you to feel like you have to forget your mom or that you can't talk about her. She was your mom for a reason. She loved you."
"I know. Just like you and dad love me."
"Yeah, exactly like that."
"I miss my mom."
"Oh, buddy, I do too." Mariana scooted over so she could hug him. "But sometimes it helps to talk to them. Why don't you tell her all about what you're learning in school and what games you and Diego have been playing?"
They stayed for an hour until Christopher announced that he was hungry. Mariana totally let him convince her to get ice cream for lunch and he fell asleep by the time she pulled into the driveway from a sugar crash. Eddie opened the door for her as she carried him inside and to his bed. He would be up and goofing off with Diego in an hour or two.
"How was it?" Eddie asked her quietly once she stepped back into the hall.
"Good, really good. How did Diego take it?" she replied.
"Are interrogation skills and threats genetic? Because he was terrifying. But he approved."
Mariana snickered and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his chest as he rocked them back and forth. "So, what is he doing now?"
"Taking a nap."
"Conned you into ice cream?"
"I blame you and your negotiation skills."
"You know who is next, right?"
"I thought we weren't telling the team for a bit."
"Yeah, but we still have to tell Bobby and Athena."
His grip around her shoulders tightened and she looked up, finding his face a shade paler. Mariana laughed and patted his cheek before pulling away from him so she could go check the boy's work for distance learning.
/
Bobby sat down next to Mariana at the edge of the patio and held out one of the bottles in his hand. She raised an eyebrow at the action since she didn't drink and she was 99% sure he didn't drink unless he had broken his sobriety.
"Root beer," he explained. She nodded and took a swig of it before setting it next to her. A thin band rested on her ring finger, something Eddie had insisted on getting her. Athena had narrowed in on it the second the couple had entered the house. Pepa was watching the boys after promising that she wouldn't say a peep to her brother and sister-in-law.
"Are you sure about this?" Bobby finally asked. They watched their partners chat at the grill, talking about who knows what.
"I've never been more sure about anything," she answered.
"I mean...if you're not, you can tell me. We'll make a run for it. Athena can get you a contact in the witness protection program…"
She snorted out a laugh and shook her head, bumping her shoulder against his. "Thanks but no thanks. I want this, I really do."
"If I told you four years ago that we would be sitting here, drinking root beers, talking about you getting married…"
"I would host an intervention for you," she joked.
"I'm proud of you, kid. Immensely."
"For losing the Grinch act and letting my heart grow three sizes?"
"If that's how you want to explain it, sure. But I'm also proud of you for staying. For taking on two kids. For stepping up and going to therapy. You make me incredibly proud."
"Thank you," she said quietly. "I think if you didn't come to the house, I wouldn't be here. You always pushed me. Always expected the best from me. I failed you so many times and yet you never got mad. Never pushed me away."
"You and Buck are pains in the ass when it comes to paperwork, I won't lie. But I wasn't going to leave you."
Mariana looked out at the yard and sighed, a weight settling on her shoulders. "In my locker...there's letters on the top shelf all the way in the back. One for each of you. If I don't make it back, can you make sure they get them?"
"Of course." He didn't argue with her. They knew they had a dangerous job.
"Eddie asked me if I wanted a wedding with all the fancy shit. Honestly, Cap, I'm marrying this guy and it's like he doesn't even know me."
"Are you guys going to wait until you can do it at the courthouse or something?"
"Well, about that...Chimney happens to be an ordained minister."
"You're kidding."
"I wish I was."
/
Mariana squinted to try and see through the smoke billowing out of the window three rooms over. She crouched down and pushed forward, shining her flashlight back and forth and calling out for survivors.
"Ramirez, time to go," Bobby ordered. "We are seconds away from a flashover."
She glanced back at the stairs that were engulfed in flames and then at the window at the end of the hall. "Hey Cap, do you think you could move the jump cushion to the far east window?"
"You're kidding me," Buck exclaimed over the radio.
"Now would be preferable," she said, laying down as the dark smoke started to consume the hall and flames licked at the ceiling. She crawled towards the window, wincing at the crack of a beam above her. The ceiling sagged under the weight of the fire and Mariana decided to take the risk. Propping herself up on her knee, she pushed up and made a dash for the window. Glass rained around her as she threw her weight into the window and hurtled towards the ground, curling up on her side to protect herself.
The polyester of the jump cushion enveloped her as the air got knocked out of her lungs and her helmet bounced off somewhere to her right. She laid there for a moment, collecting her bearings and her breath when the cushion shifted and Eddie appeared above her, panic written all over his face. He kneeled down next to her and started running his hands over her to check for broken bones.
"Hey," she greeted casually.
"You are the most infuriating person," he spat out. "For fuck's sake, you could have left the first time Bobby told you but no, you just had to check the hall closet. I can't believe you."
"In my defense, there was no one in the closet. And you can't insult me, you chose this for the rest of your life."
"I thought we were teammates," he shot back and she pursed her lips, considering his words.
"Hey, I get to pull fiance privileges whenever I want. New rule."
"What privileges?!" Hen exclaimed. The couple looked up to find the three members of the 118 who hadn't been told yet staring at them in complete surprise.
"I'm invoking fiance privileges. You have to tell them," Mariana blurted out before scrambling off of the cushion.
/
"I, Edmundo Diaz, take you, Mariana Ramirez, for my lawful wedded wife to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do us part." He slid the plain silver band on her finger and squeezed her hand in reassurance. He had been through this once before but even he was nervous.
"I, Mariana Ramirez, take you, Edmundo Diaz, for my lawful wedded husband to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do us part," she repeated and slid the band onto his finger.
"You two can kiss now but keep it PG please," Chimney announced. Eddie cradled her face with his hands and pulled her in for a kiss. Mariana grinned into the kiss and pulled away so she could see him properly.
If you told twenty-six year old Mariana Ramirez that she would be standing in the firehouse four years later in her uniform marrying the man she loved on a whim right after a call, she would have called you crazy and probably punched you. But now, it felt like everything was entirely right.
The bell rang out for another call and the couple pulled away from each other. Mariana raised the chain off of her neck and Eddie snapped it out of its holder, pulling off the ring from her finger and sliding it on before he reclasped it. As he did that, she reached up to his St. Christopher pendant and did the same. Their rings hid under their shirts alongside their good luck charms.
/
Present
El Paso, TX
"Your...your wife? Since when?" Helena stammered out.
"About two months now," Mariana replied. "It was sudden and small. We didn't want to just call you out of the blue."
"It's certainly a surprise. I mean, usually we meet her first, Eddie," Helena said tersely.
"Well, she's going to be in our lives for a while so now's a great time to get to know each other," Eddie shot back, a tight grin on his face.
"Y'know, how about we eat? The barbeque should be ready by now," Ramon interrupted.
"Great idea!" Hen said. "Let me help you bring it inside."
Mariana shot Buck a look that screamed "help me". She knew this wouldn't go well, but now that they were actually here, the last thing she wanted was dinner.
With the in-laws.