Operation Sugar Plum

I ran around the park easily. It was dark but well lit. I had my Smith and Wesson gun strapped to my ankle and a burner phone in my running belt, along with my keys. Everything a girl needed for an evening run. To be fair, it was fairly late, nearly 9.30pm. I'd run an extra half hour today, just to see if I could.

My stamina had improved immensely across these last 8 weeks. I'd started out running a slow 3k. Tonight I'd run 15k. I wasn't too worried about the time it took me, though 1.5 hours for 15k wasn't at all bad. I had just wanted to run further. Push myself more. Once it became easy, it lost it's challenge. And now I knew 90% of running was mental, I'd really found it easy to up my game. I had come to love running. The solitude, the rush afterwards; not to mention the physical changes in my body were pretty impressive too.

Finally, content with my distance, I headed for home. I eased to a slow jog as I neared my apartment, only to come to a complete stop when I reached the parking lot. There were 3 Black Ford Explorers in the lot, Morelli's POS cop car and Eddie Gazara's police vehicle.

I looked up at my apartment. No smoke. No clue as to what was the latest disaster to befall me. I sighed. I'd been doing pretty well these last 8 weeks. Only the one slight hiccup. There would have been another hiccup, but Morelli had been out of town on an assignment ever since Mary Lou had come to see me.

I took a moment to try and find some calm. Joe was going to be in my apartment and I needed to not kill him in front of all of the witnesses. I took the stairs and tried to chain the anger inside of me. Not here, not now. Keep your cool Stephanie.

I refused to knock on my own door. So I used my key and walked in. All activity and buzz stopped. It was def com 4. Tank was there, with Hal, Ram, Cal, Manny, and Slick. Eddie was there with Big Dog, Carl and Joe. Tank, Joe and Eddie were pouring over a map in the dining room table. The Rangemen guys had laptops and all manner of equipment and guns spread out all over my apartment. The atmosphere was tense.

"Cupcake?!" Joe exclaimed with surprise. "What the hell?! Where have you been? I came to see you and you were gone over an hour, with your car in the lot and your cell phone here. We assumed you'd been kidnapped!"

I took a deep breath. They were here because I had had the temerity to go for a run without telling anyone. My life was a shit show. I gave Joe an unfriendly stare. "You know what they say about assumptions? They make an ass out of you. Normally a person has to be missing 24 hours before the cavalry panic."

Joe blinked at my tone. "You're a special case."

"So fucking special." I agreed flatly. "I'm fine. Fuck off out of my apartment. Leave the key on the side."

He frowned, "Cupcake – what the hell? Let's talk when everyone leaves."

"Let's talk never." I disagreed.

I turned to Tank. "I'm grabbing a shower. Can you see Officer Morelli out of my apartment?"

Tank had his blank face on, but I swear I could see happy in his eyes. "Will do."

I headed into my bathroom and locked the door carefully. I peeled off my sweaty clothes and showered, shaving all of the relevant areas. I took the time to moisturise too. I was hoping the room would be empty when I came out, though I doubted it. A girl can dream.

I pulled on some shorts. It was hot and I wanted to be getting ready for bed, but I expect I still had some form of company. I slung on a loose t-shirt and padded out barefoot.

Sure enough, everyone was still there, except for Joe.

"Steph-" Big Dog started, "It wasn't Joe's fault he went out of town. It was an assignment he couldn't turn down."

I smiled. It was the kind of smile that Joe would have recognised. He had seen it before, when I ran him over and broke his leg with big blue. "I couldn't give less of a fuck as to why he left. I was just happy he went. If he could fuck off again, that would be great."

I walked to my fridge. There was a cold beer in the door, or a bottle of water. I sighed a little and grabbed the water. I cracked the bottle open and had a good sip. It gave me a minute to regain some equilibrium. I wasn't mad at Big Dog, or any of the others. Ok, it was a bit absurd that they were all here because I went for a run and didn't check in with anyone, but their hearts were in the right place, mostly.

"I appreciate you looking for me." I finally said to Eddie, Big Dog and Carl. "As you can see, I went for a run. No big mystery here. Thanks for riding to the rescue, but I was fine this time. Good night gentlemen."

Eddie finally spoke up. "You went running?"

I gave him a genuine smile, "It's when you put one foot in front of the other foot as fast as you can. Some people do it for fun."

Eddie grinned at me, shaking his head. He gave me a kiss on the way out. "Glad you're ok Steph. Sorry for invading your privacy. We were worried."

I waved it away. "No problem, night Eddie."

Once my apartment was PD less, I turned to Tank. "So what's the deal here? Joe called and you all freaked?"

Tank winced a little. "Something like that." He admitted. "Morelli said he hadn't seen you for hours, that your car was in the lot, your apartment looked tossed and your cell was still in the apartment. We were working on a kidnapping scenario. We put plans into place."

I sighed, "Operation Sugar Plum?"

Tank grinned at my op name. "Operation Jack Horner" He corrected.

I rolled my eyes. Plum Pie. Of course.

"Did you call Ranger?"

Tank winced again. He nodded.

"Is he contactable?" I asked.

Tank nodded again, "Yeah his assignment finished 3 days ago. He was getting some R&R in Miami. He's en route."

I grabbed my cell from the kitchen side and speed dialled 1.

"Yo." Ranger answered, his voice showing no emotions. He knew I didn't have my cell on me so he was wondering who was calling him on it.

"It's me. I went for a run."

There was a moment's silence. "Good for you." He finally said.

It made me smile. He had been vastly inconvenienced by the whole saga but he wasn't pissed at all. He was just pleased that I went for a run. "Go back to the beach." I suggested.

"It's 10pm, the beach is more for daylight hours. I'm at the airport."

"Leave the airport, go get some Miami Vices and do some dancing. And you're wrong, the beach is awesome at night."

"I've never had a Miami Vice." Ranger admitted.

"Man you do holidays all wrong. If you're in Miami you have to have a Miami Vice, they're great to drink on the beach. Miami Vice is what you'd get if a strawberry Daiquiri and a Pina Colada had a baby."

"I'm more of a mojito guy." He confessed.

"Sometimes you've got to broaden your horizons Babe." I quipped. I saw Tank grin.

Ranger laughed aloud. "Missed you Babe. I'm grabbing the flight. I'd rather have warm beer with you than a Miami Vice alone."

"The beer is cold." I promised. "Come by when you land."

He hung up. Which I took as a yes.

Tank raised an eyebrow, "Is he going to kill me?"

I shook my head. "Nah, when it comes to me he would rather a massive overreaction than inaction. He's pleased I went running."

Tank nodded like that made total sense. "Could you take a tracker with you next time?" He pleaded.

I thought about it. I really did. When I had started running 8 weeks ago I hadn't wanted anyone to know I was running. It was a bit embarrassing that I was finally taking care of my body, and it was mortifying that my Dad had to have a heart attack for me to do it. I had gone to extreme lengths to hide it, even getting an emergency burner phone for in case there was trouble while I was out, rather than take my rangeman-tracked cell phone. But now, all of Rangeman and all of PD would know I was running by tomorrow.

I shrugged, "I guess."

Tank lifted what looked like a trolley cart token out of my bag. "This one's the smallest. You can tuck it into your running belt."

I nodded. "Ok, well, thanks for coming guys. Sorry to waste all of your nights."

"No problem," Hal spoke for them all, "Sorry for the invasion of your home."

I shrugged again, "Anyone can get in, it's like grand central station around here. I'm heading to the store, lock up after yourselves."

I grabbed my wallet, car keys and hauled on my trainers. I needed to buy some cocktail ingredients.

I turned back to Tank before I left. "Tank, make sure Ranger is offline tomorrow. He deserves his holiday."

Tank shot me a shit eating grin. "10-4."

I gave him a finger wave and I left the guys packing up all of their equipment. I ran out to the 7/11. They had everything I needed. Hilariously they also had some coloured fairy lights and some Hawaiian style luau necklaces. Ok so Hawaii wasn't Miami but maybe they had a similar vibe. They had some coconut cups and some reed matting. I was going all out. I got it all.

When I got home my apartment was clear. I moved the table out of the way and lay the reed mat down instead. I decorated the room with coloured fairy lights and used the table to set up a fake bar. I put the coconut cups there ready for use. All I needed now, was Ranger.

I hadn't been long at the 7/11 or decorating my apartment, so I figured I had at least 3 hours before Ranger got in, which would make it around 1am. I needed a power nap if I was going to have any staying power, it had already been a long day.

I tapped out a txt to Diesel cancelling our training session tomorrow. I got an instant txt back with nothing more than a smiling emoji. I guess Diesel was happy to have a lie in for the first time in 8 weeks. I was pretty psyched about it too. Ranger was on his holidays, he deserved a lie in and I wasn't going to wake him up for my usual 5-7am work outs with Diesel. I had never cancelled a session yet, but I forgave myself this one.

Diesel had been such a great support. After Dad's heart attack I messaged him asking for some ideas on how it would be best for me to get fit. Normally I would have asked Ranger but he was gone and I wasn't as comfortable with Tank. Instead of txting me a schedule, Diesel showed up at my door and took me running. He ran us to the park where he then told me to do pull ups on the kids' bars. I managed a grand total of 2 pull ups. Then he made me do push ups. Then he made me to do sit ups, burpees and squats. After all that I thought I was done but then he pulled out boxing gloves out of his rucksack and told me to don them. He showed me some basic self-defence and some kickboxing. The next morning it was rinse and repeat. The second day I did 3 pull ups. These days I could do 50.

I set an alarm on my phone and went to bed. Three hours later my alarm woke me up. I was bleary eyed. I hauled myself up and splashed some cold water on my face. I made myself a coffee and then added a small shot of rum. That made it a cocktail, right?

I put on some music, not too loud, given the hour, but enough to give the room a party vibe. I turned on the fairy lights. I was still in shorts and loose t-shirt. Not very Miami, but I didn't have anything with glitter or sequins so I figured I couldn't compete with Miami glamour anyway. I tied my hair up in a messy bun, more to get the hair off my neck in this warmth than for fashion.

I spritzed on a little perfume and brushed my teeth again. I made myself a Miami Vice as a practise round. I was just sipping on it when the locks on my doors tumbled.

Ranger walked in and paused, taking in the scene. He instantly broke out in a huge grin. "Babe, you never disappoint."

I smiled and raised my glass to him. "Happy Holiday Ranger." I set my glass down and walked over to give him a hug hello. Ranger set down his black duffel and shut the door. He wrapped his arms around me and I was instantly enfolded in a cloud of Bulgari and Ranger.

"Mm you always smell so good." I commented, still snuggled in his arms. He gave me a kiss on my forehead.

"Thanks Babe."

We stood for a moment, just hugging. Ranger was a great hugger. Well actually, Ranger was a great everything. I'm sure there are things he can't do, but I haven't discovered them yet.

Eventually I stepped back, I handed him my newly made Miami Vice, "here you have this one. I'll make a new one." He took the glass from me and unfolded his frame on my sofa. He stretched back, relaxing as he watched me make a new cocktail.

"You know your way around a cocktail set." He commented.

I flashed him a grin, "I watched a lot of Coyote Ugly and Cocktail when I was younger, did a few stints working behind the bar at university. Also I'm a total lightweight so if I make my own cocktail I can make it taste good but still be light on the alcohol."

Ranger looked round the whole room. "This is great." He said, "though your outfit should really be a bikini." He suggested with a hopeful wink. It made me laugh.

"It's your holiday." I shrugged, I disappeared back into my bedroom and pulled on a red string bikini I hadn't had the courage to wear in a good few years. Luckily, my running and better diet these last 8 weeks had really paid off. You couldn't see abs per se, but my tummy was as flat as it ever had been. I'd easily lost a couple of inches all round. I looked good but it needed a little something extra. I saw some strappy black FMPs. Yup, that'd work. Miamians always wore heels. I pulled on a sheer black beach top, leaving it open at the front.

I sashayed my way back in. Ranger actually sat up straight as I walked in. He did a full double take which really stroked my ego. And then he just stared and stared, his gaze got darker and hotter.

"Babe." He finally said on a rumble. "Madre de dios."

I smiled. Well that was flattering.

Ranger's brain seemed to begin to function. "Babe, you really have been running."

I nodded.

"Why?" He asked.

The million-dollar question.

I settled down next to him and took a sip of my own Miami Vice.

"My dad had a heart attack the day you you went into the wind."

"I'm sorry to hear that Babe, is he ok?"

I nodded, "It was scary as hell at the time. I'm not ready to lose a parent. My dad isn't the most present parent, but he is there. He's solid, reliable and he loves me. He's only 62, it's too young for me to lose him. It was a wake up call for him too. He's changed his diet loads, we all have. Mostly to support him, but also." I gave him a wry smile, "apparently we could eat healthier."

Ranger smiled at that but didn't say any I told you so's. He was a better man than me.

"So Dad has swapped out a lot of meat, mum's learning to cook fish. We're all eating more fruit, salad and veg, as well as wholegrains, nuts and seeds. We've cut down on dairy. I'm still having the occasional donut, but they're infrequent now. I suddenly realised that being healthy is important, not just for you but for me too. Dad nearly hit an early grave. It was only Grandma Mazur recognising the signs and calling 911 which saved his life. He's been fitted with three stents. I don't want that future, so I need to change. Running, diet. It's not about being thin, its about being healthy."

Ranger nodded. "I'm so proud of you."

My heart was feeling so happy, he was always so supportive of my choices. "Thanks, I'm proud of me too." I took a sip from my glass. "I'm still a liability. But I'm working on it."

"I'm always your backup Babe, you just call." I settled my half drunk cocktail down on the table and straddled his lap.

"You are always my backup." I agreed gratefully. I took his glass off him and set it down next to mine. Then I leaned down and kissed him.

I felt a moment's pause from him which I knew was surprise. I didn't normally initiate with him. Normally I was the hunted rather than the hunter, it gave me some sort of emotional deniability that I wasn't a bad person for fooling around on Joe. Now there was no fooling around, no guilt, no issue. The pleasure was all mine.

Ranger returned my kisses with equal enthusiasm.

He pulled back, "Bed?" He asked.

"Bed." I agreed. Fooling around on the sofa is great at 18 but sometime in my 30s I figured having an actual bed may make it more boring on paper but more fun in reality.

Ranger carried me effortlessly into my bedroom and laid me down. He carefully peeled the sheer top off me, leaving me in my bikini and my heels. He ran his eyes down me.

"Fuck." He said. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out some cuffs. "There's something I've wanted to do for a long time. Trust me?"

My mouth was dry and my panties were wet. I nodded.

Ranger disappeared into my bathroom and turned the shower on to warm. Then he came back and carried me bridal style into my bathroom. He placed me in the shower and carefully undid my bun, leaving my curls tumbling down.

He checked the temperature was warm on the shower and then he moved me into the stream a little as he handcuffed my hands to the shower rail. I was taller than usual because of the heels I was still wearing. I knew I looked good. Ranger agreed.

He let out a low groan. He took out his phone and snapped some pictures of me. Then he reached up and peeled his t-shirt off. He kicked off his boots and removed his socks. Slowly, way too slowly, he pulled his belt off his combats. He unsnapped the top of his combats and eased them off.

It was my turn to moan.

Ranger stepped into the shower with me and the temperature ratcheted up a degree. This was every fantasy of Ranger I had had come to life. "Happy Birthday to me." I murmured.

"It's not your birthday Babe." He replied, grinning.

"It feels like it is." I disagreed.

He gave me the wolf smile and stalked closer. "I'm going to make you scream." He whispered.

I looked at him with dark eyes. "Promises promises."

He knelt in the shower, the water pouring down him. He unhooked my bikini bottoms and slowly pulled them down me. He lifted one of ankles to get them off me and eased my feet further apart for greater access. He then proceeded to make good on his promise. He's a man of his word, after all.

I was awoken by the smell of coffee. I checked the time. It was nearly 10am. I pulled on some knickers and Ranger's shirt that was still on the bathroom floor. It smelled like him. Yum. I was hoping the coffee came with a Ranger but there was a chance Ranger was gone. I prepared myself for that possibility.

I walked out of my bedroom. Tank was there with Hal and Ranger. I was glad Ranger's shirt came to mid-thigh.

I sent a slight glare to Tank. "I said offline."

He held his hands up in the universal "don't blame me sign". "I'm just here delivering you coffee and breakfast." He slid me a sympathetic glance. "Ranger said healthy so it's bagels and salmon. Sorry. I was going to get you donuts be he said no."

I loved that he was throwing Ranger under the bus here. I grinned at him. "I'm on a health kick, you're still in my good books. As long as Ranger isn't leaving with you to save Gotham." Hal snorted with laughter and tried to cover it up with a cough.

"I'm staying." Ranger assured me, though he was smiling. I think he was amused I was trying to boss Tank around.

"It looks like a tiki bar in here." Tank commented.

"I was going for Miami, but the 7/11 had limited resources." I admitted.

Ranger crossed the room to me. "It was perfect." He said, giving me a kiss. I smiled at him. "It sure was." I said smirking.

Tank coughed. "Well, that's our cue to bounce. You kids enjoy yourselves now." He gestured for Hal to proceed him and out they went.

"I thought I was going to be ok this morning, considering how many rounds we went for last night, but then you walked out in my shirt. I can't get enough of you. I hope you can wait for that bagel. I want to eat something else right now." He kissed away any response I might have had and we made our way back to bed again.

An hour later and we hit the shower together. I found myself blushing as we stood in the scene of the crime. I would never, ever, be able to shower here again without that memory surfacing. My shower massager was going to have to hit overtime. It was a Thursday, but as a bounty hunter I made my own hours. I decided Thursday was a day off.

We dressed properly this time and we finally made it to breakfast, though it was a definite brunch by this point. I voted that we go to Point Pleasant and Ranger happily got behind this plan. I could see he was surprised and pleased when I strapped my smith and Wesson on to my ankle holster, covering it with bootleg jeans. I also hooked a pair of cuffs and pepper spray on. I was off duty, but I wasn't going to miss a skip if one strolled along.

We had the best time at Point Pleasant. I did wish I wasn't wearing jeans in this heat though. We walked along the beach together holding hands and we strolled along the arcade. Ranger and I played shoot em up games and naturally he kicked my ass but we had fun. He won me a fuzzy bear which was virtually half my size. We had hot dogs for a late lunch and I told Ranger about the time I ate 16 dogs when I worked for Dave's Dogs when I was a teenager. Which resulted in a "Babe" and a headshake.

Eventually we headed back to my apartment and we picked up a Chinese order on the way past. Ranger helped guide me on the healthier options. After our dinner we settled down for a movie, a brilliant "who done it" movie called Knives Out. We popped some plain popcorn which he assured me was totally healthy with minimal oil. We both loved the movie and to be honest I just enjoyed lolling on the sofa with Ranger.

I was snuggled in Ranger's arms on the sofa. "This was the best day ever. Thanks."

He gave me a kiss on the forehead. "I had a great time Babe."

I twisted in his arms and started to lift his t-shirt to gain access to some of his skin. I started kissing my way around his body. Turnabout was fair play. It was time for round 6.

Round 6 turned into round 7. I tapped out another txt to Diesel cancelling tomorrow. Ranger would probably go to work tomorrow, and so should I, but I doubted I was going get a full nights sleep again. I settled myself back down into Ranger's arms and I was out for count.

I was awoken by loud banging on my front door. "CUPCAKE! Let me in!" Joe. Fuck. I checked the time. It was 2am. He was drunk.

Ranger was watching me, expressionless. Waiting to see what I was going to do.

I pulled on Ranger's Rangeman t-shirt and tied my hair up so Joe could see the lovebites Ranger had marked me with. I grabbed my smith and Wesson from the bedside, checked it was loaded. I grabbed my cell. And I went to greet my cheating mother fucker of an ex.

I turned on the light in the lounge and went to the front door. Joe was still banging on the door.

I opened it. "Will you shut the fuck up? It's 2am you're going to wake Mr Wollesky."

"Cupcake-" he started. Drunk or not, he was a detective. He took in my t-shirt and the lovebites. His eyes narrowed.

"Mother fucker." He said conversationally.

"Get out." I said calmly clearly.

"Why?" He said, "Just tell me why?" He was doing the wounded party bit. Oh fuck that.

"You know why Joe." I got out my phone and scrolled to the picture I hadn't managed to delete. I kept it, so every time my heart softened even an inch, I'd look at this and the rage would wash over me again. It was a picture of Joe kissing Joyce Fucking Barnhardt in a motel. I could almost take it if it was Terri. I wouldn't still be with him, but I wouldn't hate him. But Joyce Disease Ridden Barnhardt. The bitch who stole my husband and destroyed my marriage? Ok so it turns out she did me a favour. And I guess she did another one here too. She showed me the man Joe really was. A womaniser who could not be trusted.

Mary Lou had been at a romantic get away with Lennie, and what are the chances they were leaving their room for dinner just as Joe and Joyce were fumbling with each other right outside their door? Mary Lou had taken photos and even a video. Then she had blown off her date night away with Lennie and came to my front door with her phone, a bottle of wine and a tub of ice cream. Ranger had left earlier that day to go into the wind, for 8 weeks it turns out, and my dad had had a heart attack the same day. Joe was the cherry on the shittiest ever cake. That was the worst day of my life. My chief supporter was gone and my Dad had nearly gone the same way.

Somehow, nearly losing Dad had put everything into perspective. Joe was a cheating manwhore and I wasn't going to waste another moment of my time on him. Luckily some good karma aligned and sent him away on an assignment too. Which funnily enough, lasted about 8 weeks.

Joe's face was pale as he looked at the picture on my phone. "Fuck." He finally said.

I was glad he didn't offer up excuses or protests.

"Get out." I repeated. "And don't ever come back."

"Cupcake – Stephanie – I – Christ – Steph-" He had nothing.

Ranger emerged from the bedroom. He was wearing his combats and nothing else. He had his glock in his hand.

"She told you to leave." He said quietly, menacingly.

Joe swallowed, hard. He opened his mouth again before shutting it with a clack. He turned to go.

"Call someone." I said. "You're too drunk to drive." It wasn't him I was concerned with, it was anyone else on the road.

Ranger obviously agreed. He hauled out his cell from his combats. "Who's on patrol? Send them to Steph's they need to take Detective Morelli home."

Ranger hung up. "Wait downstairs. They'll be here in 5."

Joe nodded and left.

Ranger and I were silent. We waited by the window until we saw a drunk Joe being helped into a black ford Escape.

"He is going to make it home, right?" I checked with Ranger.

He smiled a little. "This time."

"There's no next time." I said firmly. I closed the curtains, stripped down to naked and slipped into bed. Ranger joined me a moment later.

"You want to talk about it?" He offered.

I shrugged, "Not much to say. He fucked Joyce. We're done."

He nodded. "I'm sorry Babe."

I'm not sure what he was apologising for. Maybe for pushing me back to Joe, maybe for Joe being a man whore, maybe he was apologising for men everywhere. It didn't really matter. It couldn't undo what was done.

"No need to apologise. But you should be aware that if you ever so much as touch Joyce I'm probably going to shoot you."

Ranger gave me a horrified look. "The only way I would ever touch her is if someone pushed me into her."

I shrugged. "I used to have commitment issues with a little trust issues mixed in. Now I think my trust issues and commitment issues have gotten married and had babies. Now I have all sorts of hybrid shit going on. Which is ironic really."

Ranger pushed himself up on an elbow. He studied me. I could see he was trying to work out what to say without triggering said commitment phobia. "When you decide you want to be with me, we will do it, you and me. No one cheats. I will never cheat on you. Never. It's not in my makeup. I would break up with you before I would cheat on you. I get that you're going to have trust issues. But I have NEVER given you reason not to trust me. I always have your back, and I always will. I'll keep your heart safe too, when you decide to give it to me."

I sighed a little. "You're so smart and so stupid. You've had my heart for years. I want to be with you but you never made it clear that was an option. You have always had my back Ranger, but you've still battered my heart a little over the years too."

His jaw clenched. Before he finally nodded. "You've battered mine too Babe. Unhealthy patterns. That changes now Babe. Are you ready to do this?

I bit my lip, my insecurity rearing up. "Do you really want to? Not just some pity relationship?" I quipped. He didn't smile.

"I want this more than anything." He paused, "Why do you think I boarded that plane?"

"Is it Someday Ranger?" I whispered it, almost too afraid to hope.

He nodded, his face serious. "Yeah Babe. It's Someday. Are you ready?"

"More than I've ever been. It's just you and me."

Ranger gave me a slow smile. "It's always been you and me."

I nodded. "I know. Why did we fight it?"

He shrugged a little. "We both had some growing up to do."

I laughed a little at that. "This doesn't mean I have to stop jumping off rooftops does it?"

Ranger shook his head. "No Babe, this just means I'll be there to catch you when you do."

My heart melted. "I love you Ranger."

He flashed me a 200 watt grin. "I've waited a long time to hear you say those words Babe. It was worth the wait. I love you Stephanie." He leaned down and kissed me. I wrapped my arms around him. It was finally Someday. The rest of our lives began now.