I grinned as I left Sara in the layout room. I am head over heels in love with that woman. I cannot believe how fortunate I am to have her in my life. I can't wait until shift is over. What I have to show her is monumentally important. I hope she thought so as well when she saw what it was. I grinned and chuckled as I headed back to my task.

The clock seemed to go slower than normal. Finally, though, shift was over. I made my way toward the locker room to stow my gear. On my way, I noticed that Sara was still in the layout room, staring off in the distance. I walked in and stood next to her. "Hey, Sar, shift's over."

She turned to me and smiled. I could tell that she was tired. "Ok." She put the evidence back in it's box and took it back to the evidence locker. I walked with her.

As we made our way to the locker room I glanced at her and smiled. "Hey, why don't you go home and take a shower and I'll swing by and pick you up."

She grinned at me. "Yeah, that sounds good. I think these clothes are starting to grow on me."

I raised my eyebrows, "We wouldn't want that now would we?"

She laughed. I love her laughter. I love everything about Sara.

We both stowed our gear and then made our way out to the parking lot. I walked Sara to her Tahoe and kissed her briefly before she climbed in and headed to her apartment. I stood there for a moment and watched her drive off. A grin was firmly etched on my face.

Warrick walked up behind me and chuckled. "You've got it bad, man."

I glanced at him and laughed. "Yes, I do." I walked toward my Tahoe and waved to Warrick before heading out.

About forty-five minutes after I left the lab, I pulled up in front of Sara's apartment. I chuckled. I was nervous. I knocked on the door to her apartment and she grinned at me as she opened it. I raised an eyebrow at her. "Ready?"

She chuckled. "I was beginning to wonder where you'd gone."

I took her hand as we walked to my Tahoe. I kissed her sweetly before she climbed into the passenger side. I love this woman.

Sara looked at me curiously. I'm sure she was wondering what it was that I had to show her. She wasn't going to have to wait long.

I threaded the Tahoe through the early morning traffic. The sun was low in the sky and an array of color spread through the clouds. Perfect.

I pulled into the parking lot of a diner. There's nothing inherently special about this diner, except that it's where I took Sara for breakfast on our first date. We've gone there often. I glanced over at her. "I thought maybe we could eat before I show you something."

She chuckled at me. "Good. Because I'm starving."

I laughed. I'm glad Sara's not one of those girls that feels she has to eat a salad in front of her boyfriend. God made us to need food and she's certainly not shy about eating it. Not that it shows. Sara is one of the most fit women I know. The fact that I'm in love with her doesn't bias my opinion in the least.

We had a nice leisurely breakfast. Our favorite waitress was there and we bantered with her. Once we finished we headed out to the Tahoe. Sara looked at me curiously as I pulled back into traffic. "Nick, are you going to tell me what it is you're going to show me?"

I chuckled at her and raised an eyebrow. "If I told you, I'd have to kill you."

She laughed. "Ok, I'll wait."

I pulled into the parking lot of the putt-putt golf place that we went on for our first date. She looks at me slightly amused. "Are we going putt- putt golfing?"

I just grinned at her as we got out of the Tahoe. I sure hoped everything fell into place. We started our game of putt-putt golf and as we approached the ninth hole I heard what I was waiting for. A grin spread across my face as I looked up. "Hey, Sara, look at that." I pointed to the sky.

There in the sky was a small plane towing a sign which read 'Will You Marry Me?'.

Sara chuckled. "That's clever." She turned back toward me and her jaw dropped.

While Sara had been looking at the plane, I had dropped to one knee and pulled out the engagement ring I had bought for her. I grinned at her. I don't think I could have smiled any bigger. I think my voice quivered from the emotion of the moment. "Sara Sidle, I love you. Will you make me the happiest man in the world and become my wife? Will you marry me?"

Sara had tears streaming down her face. Her voice was barely a whisper as she nodded. "Yes."

I slipped the ring onto her finger and stood up, taking her into my arms and kissing her deeply. My own tears had begun to mingle with hers. I couldn't believe that the woman that I was head over heels in love with wanted to marry me. I don't think any man could have been happier than I was at that moment.

Our game of putt-putt golf was forgotten.