A/N: Happy New Year everyone. Thank you again for all your kind reviews. Hopefully you enjoy this next chapter. Sorry for the delay in posting. Let me know what you think. I appreciate all of your reviews.

CHAPTER 4

"Come in," Elizabeth called when she heard a knock on the door.

"I hope you're decent," a familiar voice called back opening the door slightly. He was just stepping through the door when he saw a blur of movement and suddenly arms were thrown around him.

"Will.. I missed you," she exclaimed hugging him tight. "Can't breathe," he squeaked pretending to choke.

She let him go and punched him in the arm "I take it back I didn't miss you at all." He laughed and gave her a shove.

"You look nice" Will said, flopping down on the bed.

"Nice" she practically spat, "nice... I am getting married Will I would like to look more than nice." She planted herself back in front of the mirror and huffed.

"Wow, you are touchy today, calm down would you. You look great. And besides Henry wouldn't care if you turned up in a black bag. I don't know if you have noticed but he is kind of crazy about you."

She blushed, "Well I'm kind of crazy about him too. So come on tell me about your life, seeing as you never call me I have no idea what you are up to."

He rolled his eyes at her and filled her in on what he had been up to. Elizabeth missed her brother dearly and she was delighted to spend time just talking and laughing with him. She tried not to scold him when he talked about all the parties he went to and the girls he was seeing. Henry was always telling her she was too parental with Will and that she needed to be a sister and not a mother to him. So instead she just laughed at his stories and made a mental note to scold him another day. She didn't want to fight today.

"Surely you have heard enough about me now. How are you?"

"I'm great. I mean I'm getting married, I can't not be great," she shrugged.

"Lizzie you know that's not what I'm talking about. I know you were expecting a deployment but Iraq thats..." he trailed off not knowing how to end his sentence.

"Okay fine I'm not great, not great at all. I'm terrified. And when I think about it I just want to curl into a ball but I don't want to talk about that. Not today because I really do feel great about getting married and I want this day to be a happy day. I just can't think about him leaving yet."

"Okay but I just want you to know that I will be here for you. I know I never call and never come to see you but I will get better I promise. You won't be on your own." He said, giving her arm a reassuring squeeze.

"God, when did you get so soppy, you're gonna make me cry," she said.

"One last soppy thing and then I will get out of your hair. Mom and Dad would be really proud of you Lizzie, and they would love Henry."

"Now you are really trying to make me cry. I love you," she pulled him in for a hug.

"I guess I kind of like you too, right I'm gonna go get ready. Mary said that we are leaving in half an hour," and then he was gone.

She had just finished getting ready when the door opened again she turned expecting to see Mary or Erin but instead it was Henry with a stupidly big grin on his face.

"Wow baby you look amazing," he whispered stepping toward her.

"God you are so handsome," she grinned "nice job with the tie honey its perfect with my dress," she reached out for him and straightend his tie allowing him to wrap his arms around her and pull her close.

She rested her hands on his chest and gazed in to his eyes. He looked at her with so much love and admiration it took her breath away. He tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear and pulled her in for a kiss.

"Your mom is gonna kill you if she finds you here," she giggled, kissing him again.

"I don't care," he mumbled against her lips. "But I did come for a particular reason" he said taking a step back "apart from my desire to kiss you of course" he added hastily when she narrowed her eyes at him.

He pulled a small box out of his pocket. "I got you something," he said sheepishly. "I got you something too," she said reaching into her bag and pulling out a box. He sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her to him so she was sitting on his lap. They swapped boxes and she opened it. Inside lay a necklace with two pendants. One that said protect me and another that had a blue enamel heart on it. She broke in to a huge grin and her eyes instantly filled with tears.

"I thought that it might protect you when I'm away and the heart is to show that you carry my heart with you at all times no matter where I am. Do you like it?"

"Babe, I love it" she answered him her voice wavering with emotion "open yours." He opened it only to discover the exact same necklace. "I thought all the same reasons as you did. This will keep you safe and you will always have my heart with you. Always and forever."

"If this didn't prove we are meant to be together nothing will," he chuckled, "I love you."

"Two halves of a whole and I love you too" she agreed with him. She captured his lips with hers in a passionate kiss. They remained in their passionate embrace until they heard Erin yell up the stairs that it was time to leave, reluctantly they pulled apart.

"To be continued" Henry murmured. She held out her necklace to him silently asking him to fasten it for her, he obliged with a kiss to the back of her neck and held out his necklace for her to do the same.

"Let's go get married Lieutenant" she winked at him and they descended the stairs hand in hand.

Twenty minutes later the pair were standing in front of an extremely cranky judge with their family watching on.

"We are here today to witness the marriage of Henry McCord and Elizabeth Adams" the judge droned. Henry subtly rolled his eyes and Elizabeth and she had to bite her lip to keep herself from laughing out loud. It would be just their luck to get the judge who would rather be anywhere else but they weren't going to let his bad humour ruin their day.

"Henry, do you take Elizabeth to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, 'til death do you part?" The judge asked.

"I do" Henry replied confidently.

"Elizabeth, do you take Henry to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, 'til death do you part?"

"I do" she replied.

"Very well, do you have rings to exchange?" The judge asked in an exasperated tone.

"We do" Henry nodded. Taking the rings out of his pocket.

"Okay, Henry placing the ring on Elizabeth's left hand repeat after me this ring I give as a token of my love and devotion, with this ring I thee wed." Henry repeated his words and slid the ring on to Elizabeth's finger, giving her hand a tight squeeze when it was in place.

Elizabeth placed Henry's ring on his finger and repeated the judges words happily. "Henry and Elizabeth by the power vested in me by the state of Pennsylvania, I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride" the judge finished.

The McCords and Will started to clap and cheer as Henry pulled Elizabeth in for a kiss. Soon they were being pulled away from eachother by their family who were eager to congratulate them. The young couple couldn't stop smiling and laughing, they both felt so happy that they thought they might burst.

After a few pictures and a few more kisses they collected their marriage certificate and were on their way to the restaurant for dinner.

The evening was filled with laughter and joy as they celebrated. Patrick spent so much time grumbling about the price of the steak that even Maureen told him to shut up. Henry and Elizabeth were thrilled with how the day had turned out.

"Well Mrs McCord how do you feel?" Henry asked Elizabeth, leaning in close to afford them a little privacy.

"Perfect. Just perfect" she replied "I couldn't have asked for a better day, husband." He grinned when she called him husband. The closed the short distance between them and shared a sweet, chaste kiss.

"What do you say we get out of here?" He asked. Her brows knitted in confusion. "I got us a hotel, come on you didn't think we would spend our wedding night at my parents did you?" He wiggled his eyebrows at her suggestively as his hand squeezed her thigh.

"I didn't even think about it," she admitted. "But I am really really glad that you did" she giggled and placed another kiss on his lips. "Lets go" she murmured sliding her hand higher and higher up his leg until he let out a very unmanly squeak and quickly stood up pulling her up with him.

Their family all turned to look at them with surprise. Henry cleared his his throat and announced that they were leaving and would see them all tomorrow. And they ran out of the restaurant as fast as they could.

Henry opened the door to their hotel room and pulled Elizabeth in after him. He wasted no time pushing her against the door, his lips found hers hard and insistent. She caught his bottom lip between her teeth and bit down gently causing him to moan loudly. His tongue slipped into her mouth and they deepened the kiss. His hands slid down her back cupping her ass and pulling her flush to him. She began to work on his tie before working on the buttons of his shirt. He took a step back and quickly pulled off his suit jacket and shirt. She ran her hands over his abs, relishing how in shape he was. He pulled her dress up and over her head and froze when he caught sight of her in her new lingerie. "Like what you see?" She asked seductively. "Oh my god I love you" he growled. He picked her up and carried her to the bed.

After they lay together sweaty and breathless. Elizabeth was draped over Henry's chest her hand lightly running up and down his side, "wow" she managed to get out between breaths. "Ya, that was.." he searched for a word good enough to describe what had just happened. "Earth shattering," she finished.

He pulled her closer until she was almost completely on top of him wanting her to be as close as possible. Eventually their breathing calmed and they began to cool down. He pulled the sheet over them and stroked her hair.

"Was it just me or did that feel a bit..." he trailed off not knowing the right word.

"Different?" She asked pushing up on his chest so she could look him in the eye. "Yes it did, it felt deeper somehow, like we were more connected" she blushed.

He nodded stroking her cheek. They had always had a phenomenal sex life but that definitely had to have been the best they had ever experienced. "I wish we could stay like this forever," he said quietly. "Me too baby, me too" she kissed his chest.

They settled into an uneasy silence the weight of his words hanging over them. They were both thinking of his deployment and the fact that they would have to leave eachother so soon.

"Hey babe," he said lifting her chin so she was looking at him again "lets not think about that right now, we can think about all that tomorrow."

"You're right. Up for round two Mr McCord?" She asked her eyes twinkling at him.

He sprung in to action flipping them until she was pinned underneath him. "Oh Mrs McCord I am always up for round two" he said taking her earlobe between his teeth lightly tugging it, making her squeal with delight. It was going to be a long, sleepless night and for all the best reasons.