Life is way too short for this!, a ghost busters (real/extreme) fanfic

Extreme Ghostbusters: Life is way too short for this

Sunday the thirteenth of February 2005, eight fifty-eight a.m., firehouse kitchen. Garrett Miller made a note of the date and time should he need to remember them one day, because he was having a moment. Generally Garrett wasn't a big fan of moments, preferring as he did to live from day to day and take life as it came to him rather than deliberating over what may or may not happen in the future. And yet here he was now, right in the middle of what was seemingly a potentially life-altering moment.

He was watching some married friends of his, Egon and Janine Spengler, as they hurriedly assembled the ingredients needed to gift-wrap a cumbersome hardback book that lay on the kitchen table. Janine finally located a reel of tape, saying as she tossed it onto the table, "I still think we could have got her something a bit more fun."

"We could have," her husband agreed nonchalantly. "But I've said before – and you agreed – that it's never too soon to start encouraging the genius in a child."

"I agreed?" Janine asked dubiously. "Egon, if she's smart she's smart and nothing she receives on her first birthday will make any difference."

Garrett's moment was lasting for a very long time – longer than most moments, he imagined. This conversation might just be developing into an argument, which would give him even more to think about. All married couples argued… made up… kissed each other goodnight… woke up together every morning… ate together… laughed and talked together… loved each other! Wasn't that the most important thing? Why couldn't he stop agonising over it like an irritating character in a soap opera and get on with it?

Janine provided his answer. "Still," she went on, "John presents a pretty good case for 'Baby's First Really Boring Book' or whatever it's called. That girl is not exactly the life and soul of the party."

"Indeed," Egon smiled slightly. "Giving her something 'fun' would be like giving Venkman something sophisticated."

The answer to Garrett's quandary was in no more than one word of Janine's sentence: "John". Her son John, child two of two – the other, Eden, having been born some five minutes before him. Twins. Fraternal twins. Two of everything, which must mean two very fertile people. A woman conceiving twins at forty. And her husband was older. Only a year older, it's true, but it still damn well wasn't fair!

"Aren't they being a little too quiet?" Garrett asked suddenly.

Egon and Janine both looked at him, puzzled. While Garrett was mulling over the injustice of life, their conversation had moved on to the dilemma of what they would do if the wasp that had crawled out of the plughole last night turned out to have an entire family waiting for it in the S-bend. However it didn't take long for Janine to realise that Garrett was probably talking about something other than the potential wasps' nest, so she asked reasonably, "Who?"

"The twins," answered Garrett.

"Oh, I see," Janine nodded her understanding. "Um… yes, Garrett, they are. Egon, go and stop whatever it is they're doing."

"Don't you usually do that?" asked Garrett, once Egon had left the room.

"Yes," said Janine, "but men are terrible at wrapping gifts."

"I'm not going to argue with that," Garrett smiled dryly. "I got Jo to do mine."

"Will we be seeing her today?"

"Yeah, you bet. Jo's always gatecrashing children's birthday parties."

That wasn't strictly true, but it was more an exaggeration than a completely unfounded accusation. Garrett's girlfriend of the last nine months had on occasion volunteered her services at a few small children's parties without prior invitation. The kids' parents were always grateful, and the children knew and liked Jo Kendall – she often visited their preschool because her mother worked there.

"Still too quiet," observed Janine, in an exaggerated stage whisper. "I wish Egon would raise his voice to them occasionally. I'd feel much more reassured."

The Spenglers really were the absolute TV nuclear family, Garrett reflected. A couple married with two kids, a boy and a girl, both indisputably theirs in every sense of the word. Of course these days that wasn't necessarily considered the ideal. Everyday norms were changing. It could be "normal" (and frankly what does that mean?) to get divorced, remarry, adopt, raise children in single sex relationships, have a complete stranger donate half of your child to you… God, what must that be like?

Roland Jackson arrived then, greeting Garrett and Janine with a friendly, "Hey."

Frankly this wasn't the person Garrett most wanted to see right now. He was reminded of Roland's parents, Sharon and Phil Jackson, who had seven children! So Egon and Janine had twins. So what? Two kids – that was their fair share. But how come Sharon and Phil Jackson could have seven children when some people couldn't have any? That wasn't fair!

"Hey," Garrett smiled weakly.

"You ok?" asked Roland, sensing straightaway that something was off.

"Yeah, I'm fine," shrugged Garrett. "Just thinking."

"You've been thinking ever since you arrived," remarked Janine. "I could practically hear your brain working. Is something on your mind?"

"Yeah."

"What?"

"Sorry Janine, that's my secret."

Garrett hoped – he really hoped – that he would have some good news for his friends sometime soon. But first he had to think through all of this stuff that had suddenly decided to jump into his head from out of the blue and confuse him. So far his musings on the subject hadn't thrown up anything too positive. However the next arrivals filled him with renewed optimism.

"So here you all are," remarked Peter Venkman, as he sauntered into the kitchen. "Why are you hiding in here?"

"I was just wrapping a present," snapped Janine. "You didn't all have to follow me in here."

"Oh well, too late," a new voice announced brightly, and eleven-year-old Jessica Venkman appeared in the doorway beside her father. "How many people are we expecting? It'll be interesting to see if we all fit."

Jessica's mother Dana was the next to join the ensemble, officiously carrying the birthday gift in what seemed to Garrett a matriarchal sort of way. She had married Peter, and then given birth to his daughter about a year later – all before Garrett knew them. Very conventional – but that wasn't all. Dana had also been married once before, not for long, and to an absolute jerk that Garrett felt had absolutely no right to the four children he had managed to sire. One of those children was here right now: the oldest son whom Dana's ex had walked out on when he was practically a newborn. The guy then went on to remarry and have three more kids. How come, Garrett thought bitterly, that asshole gets a second chance and I don't even get one?

"Hey," Oscar Wallance smiled brightly, as he followed his mother into the room. "No birthday girl yet?"

"Still waiting," Janine told him.

Oscar Wallance. There he was: Garrett's reassurance in the form of a boy happily living out the latter stages of Sweet Sixteen. Peter Venkman absolutely loved that kid. Technically Oscar wasn't even his, but that family cared not for a trivial thing like genetics. Emotionally Peter and Oscar were father and son in every other way, and Oscar never hesitated to call Peter "Dad". Garrett had often noticed (with some wistfulness, it has to be said) the way his friends' faces lit up when any of their children entered a room, and Oscar made it happen for Peter every bit as much as Jessica did. Here was tangible proof that blood and love have absolutely nothing to do with each other. Perfect.

But then another unwelcome thought occurred to Garrett. When Peter married Dana, she and Oscar had been a package deal. The kid was in their marriage ready-made – and before that Dana had had her son the usual way, probably thinking that she would be happy with her husband from then on (ha!). It could never be like that for Garrett and Jo – unless they put their relationship on hold while she married and had a baby with a deadbeat, which didn't seem like such a brilliant idea. Was Andre Wallance better than an anonymous donor? Impossible to conclude – but his method of making babies was certainly easier. Neither Peter nor Dana had had to suffer any emotional hardship in the process of getting their son. Heck, Peter hadn't even known that he wanted Oscar until he had him.

"So what's happening tomorrow night?" Roland suddenly asked Oscar. "I understand you're taking my sister out."

"Of course," Oscar smiled suavely. "Don't worry, I won't take her too far away – just someplace we can dance. And I'll have her home by ten, obviously."

"What did you get her?" Janine wanted to know.

"Nothing," Jessica cut in. Then, with a slight scoff, "He wrote her a song."

"Well, just a melody," Oscar added modestly. "I can't write lyrics and I wouldn't trust Danny with something like this."

"Aw – that's so romantic!" gushed Janine. "Who says Valentine's Day is too commercial?"

"AJ for one," Roland smiled dryly. "If you've written her a song, Oscar, she'll love it – lyrics or no. She's always trying to convince us that romance isn't dead."

Valentine's Day, thought Garrett. He hadn't even realised! Should he make a fuss or not? Come on, Garrett – you must know her well enough by now. But no matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn't reach a conclusion. Jo had just never mentioned Valentine's Day or anything remotely connected to it… except love. She loved him.

At this point Egon wandered back into the room with the twins. The place was really starting to fill up now; Slimer was hovering around, and plenty more people were expected. Ray Stantz and Winston Zeddemore soon arrived, both without their families, but Garrett thought about them anyway. Both were married, each had a child. Everybody around here was so conventional… except for the Venkmans.

Oscar's position in his family still reassured Garrett. He had to remind himself occasionally that no two situations were identical. Whatever happened between him and Jo, it would be nothing like any of the family set-ups he was being confronted with now. There was just no way of knowing what might happen – but there was no harm in considering these guys' examples. It was comforting to see how easily a man could bring up and love a child that wasn't his.

Garrett was chewing on this thought when Jo arrived. His heart skipped a beat when she met his eye and smiled. The intense feeling he got when he saw her still knocked him senseless. As Jo shook the rain from her dark-blond hair and walked towards him, she seemed to move in slow motion. He thought she was just the most beautiful creature. As he watched her, he blocked out everybody and everything else in the room. This, they both knew perfectly well, was love. Wasn't that all that mattered?

"Hey." Jo slid onto Garrett's lap and kissed him. "Aren't I late?"

"Yes," Garrett smiled dryly, "but so are they."

"It was probably a last-minute diaper-fill."

"Yeah. Such are the joys of parenthood."

"Are you ok, babe?" Jo asked anxiously, for she had caught the slight despondency in Garrett's tones.

"I think so," Garrett answered uncertainly. "Or at least I hope so. There's – um – something I want to talk to you about. But it'll have to wait."

"I'm intrigued," Jo smiled crookedly at him.

"Hey – what do you think about Valentine's Day?" Garrett suddenly asked.

"I think it's a brilliant excuse to make you take me out and give me a present," Jo answered smilingly. "Just make sure it's more tacky than romantic, ok? That's what Valentine's Day is all about."

"Oscar wrote AJ a song."

"Ah, dear Oscar – the last of the great romantics."

He loved her. She said she loved him, and Garrett believed it. He glanced at Peter and Dana. They were in love. Egon and Janine – yes, they were in love too. If you looked closely, you could almost see it. Eduardo and Kylie… just where the hell were they anyway? Well, wherever they were, they were together. In love. Not married. That was something Garrett hadn't considered yet. They were as good as married: sleeping in the same bed, raising two daughters together… they even had a joint bank account, for goodness' sake.

Here was further proof that every situation was unique. Eduardo Rivera and Kylie Griffin were as happy as the Spenglers, the Venkmans, the Zeddemores, the Stantzes… the only difference was that they were not legally married. At least one of them (Garrett strongly suspected it was Kylie) evidently felt that marriage wasn't right for them. Garrett considered the obvious question: why not marry? He remembered mentioning it to Kylie once, a few months into her first pregnancy. She had simply shrugged and said, "Why marry?" Well that was an open question if ever there was one.

Garrett looked around. He would have felt quite comfortable asking any of these people to relay to him their reasons for marrying – but did he really need to know? Every situation unique. Whatever they said, it would be quite incomparable to Garrett's own circumstances.

"Hey, Dr. V."

"Hey."

"Can I ask you something?"

"You can ask, kid."

"Why did you marry Dana?"

"Because I loved her. Still do as it happens."

"Eduardo and Kylie love each other. They're not married."

"Yeah, but they're weird. And anyway, I think Dana needed it. She wanted the security for Oscar's sake… and I don't know how sure she felt that I wouldn't get restless and take off again if we didn't marry."

See? Nothing like Garrett's own relationship.

"I married him because he finally pulled his finger out and got around to asking me," was Janine's answer to the question. "You know our history, Garrett. I would have married him the first time around – and this time I wanted to make absolutely sure it was final. Why do you want to know?"

He had been waiting for somebody to ask that. Smiling weakly by way of a reply, Garrett decided to stop this before anyone figured out the answer for themselves and got prematurely excited.

At last. At long, long last the Rivera clan arrived. Two of the youngest generation led the procession: Kevin, several weeks shy of seventeen, and his little cousin Conchita, three months off her fourth birthday. Kevin's girlfriend Kelly Williams was with them, attending the party for the same reason as Jo: she absolutely adored these kids. Kevin's parents Carlos and Beth followed, obviously not wanting to miss their niece's first birthday celebration. Even Carlos, who did not get along with his much younger brother, had a soft spot for both of those little girls. And then at last Rose arrived, frowning in a manner most unbefitting of someone celebrating a birthday, carried by Kylie with Eduardo following.

"Sorry we're late," Kylie apologised. "Rose seemed to sense something was up."

"Hey Oscar – help me out here," Kevin said suddenly, sweeping past Garrett to reach Oscar. "Kelly doesn't want to go out tomorrow night."

"Sure I do," argued Kelly. "I just don't want to go anywhere special – and I don't want a present. It's just another day."

Garrett was catching odd snatches of conversation such as these. Great day to start thinking about this – there were so many people here to confuse him. He decided to try and avoid the teenagers as much as possible; despite the relationship talk they were at entirely the wrong stage of life to be of any help to him. Instead he watched Kylie as she and Beth tried to jolly Rose along – unsuccessfully, I might add. The baby remained intent upon scowling, and firmly squashed any attempt at cheeriness with an adamant, "No." This had been her first word, "Kev" her second, and she had yet to utter any more phrases that were so distinct. However she quite frequently made noises that sounded a lot like "Mom", "Dad" "Chita" and "Beth".

Watching her now, Garrett could see the love in Kylie's eyes as she held her younger daughter. It is unarguably a strong bond between mother and child. Garrett wanted that for Jo… but he couldn't give it to her. The thought struck him quite suddenly and it really hurt. He tore his eyes away from Kylie and Rose, only to have them fall upon Eduardo and Conchita. That wasn't so bad. He didn't care so much what he was depriving himself of. He only cared what he might end up denying Jo.

Conchita caught Garrett's eye and she hurried over to him, asking anxiously, "Are you ok?"

"Don't I look ok?" asked Garrett. He really wanted to know. The last thing he wanted was to out-frown Rose at her own party.

"You look kinda sad," Conchita told him solemnly.

"Sorry." Garrett switched on a smile. "Is that better?"

"Yes," Conchita beamed at him.

Garrett suddenly caught sight of Jo as she extracted herself from a conversation with Kylie and Beth, which Eduardo had now joined. She smiled at him as she approached, and then suddenly she took Conchita into a crushing hug.

"Hi Jo," Conchita smiled enthusiastically.

"Hey sweetheart." Jo squeezed Conchita tight and tousled her hair. "Enjoying your sister's birthday?"

"It'll be better when there's cake."

"Of course. Everything's better when there's cake."

Garrett could hardly bear to watch. He turned his chair sharply and almost collided with Eduardo, who had evidently taken Rose from Kylie sometime in the last sixty seconds. Oh well, they might as well start a conversation. Eduardo might even come out with something helpful – unlikely as it seemed.

"She's getting to be real pretty," remarked Garrett.

"Yeah, she's beautiful," Eduardo agreed, and he dropped a kiss on Rose's forehead. "Are you having a good time?"

"Yeah."

"Don't look it."

"Sorry. I'm just wondering if I should ask you something."

"Go on – ask me," Eduardo invited.

"Why don't you marry Kylie?" Garrett asked bluntly.

"Because she won't let me."

"Has she said why?"

"She makes it sound very complicated, but basically it's a divorce phobia. Everybody in her family gets divorced. Kinda sounds like she anticipates leaving me someday, but she assures me that's not the case."

"But you're happy?" Garrett pressed.

"Yes, very," Eduardo answered, surprised by the question. "What is all this?"

"Just wondered," shrugged Garrett. "Can I hold her?"

"Yeah."

Eduardo handed Rose over, and she didn't object. She just stared at Garrett with big brown eyes in a way that seemed to ask, "Am I the only one who thinks this party is stupid?" He looked earnestly into her face and wondered how this would feel if she was his. Looking up at Eduardo he said, "Dr. V. says the kids are the best part of being married."

"Does he?"

"Yeah. What do you think? And don't say you're not married – I know that. You might just as well be."

"The kids are best part," Eduardo told him. "If you've got kids, that is. There's tons of other good stuff, and it was just as great before Chita came along."

"Really?" Garrett asked, with renewed hope.

"Of course. We love each other."

"Yeah," Garrett smiled slightly. However he felt another pang when he looked around for Jo and saw her still fussing over Conchita, and so he pulled his eyes sharply back towards Eduardo. "Do you know any childless couples?" he asked.

"No."

"Me neither."

"Does it matter?"

"I suppose not."

Garrett had long forgotten all of the psychology (sports psychology excepted) that he learnt at college, but he was suddenly reminded of the two main reasons for divorce: adultery and infertility. God, what a horrible thought! But of course, that was only statistically speaking. Statistics, as most people realise, mean virtually nothing. It's just numbers – the most impersonal thing out there – and not applicable to any one real situation. Garrett looked at Oscar and wondered if anybody had a figure for how many kids hate their stepparents. It's going to be ok!

He looked at Rose again. She had tanned skin, downy black hair, a narrow face, absolutely huge dark eyes – and she was pretty skinny too. That petulant frown was identical to her father's, and the scorn in her eyes reminded Garrett a great deal of Kylie. It was incredible: she really was half Eduardo and half Kylie. What must it be like to love somebody as much as they loved each other – as much as Garrett loved Jo – and one day make a little person together? How must it feel to see your physical traits combined in a life you had created? It was all such a mystery. Oh crap – somebody take this baby away from me before I start blubbing.

Fortunately Conchita came to his rescue. There it was: the flicker of light behind Eduardo's eyes as his little girl approached. She was so very precious and pretty and princessy – her father coddled her terribly. Garrett, on the other hand, wouldn't have the faintest idea what to do with a little girl. Neither would Jo, probably. Garrett could see himself and Jo with a little boy, but what about a girl? They would almost certainly turn her into another Jessica Venkman: sporty, energetic, heedless and uncaring of her windswept appearance. Peter always spoke of Jessica's tomboyish habits with fondness: "She's more masculine than her brother. Mind you, nobody spends as much time in front of the mirror as Oscar." Oscar – not his – but Peter said it with the same smile of parental pride.

"Hi." Conchita flashed her father a wide-eyed smile. "Has she cheered up yet?"

"You mean Rose?" asked Eduardo. "Nah, she's still sulking – aren't ya, Rosie."

"This is her first time, remember," Garrett pointed out. "I don't think she realises quite what having a birthday means. She'll soon change her tune if you show her some presents."

"Good idea," Eduardo enthused. "Try and get her to walk to them, Chita. I know we shouldn't force her but this is just getting silly."

Rose had obviously had the capacity to walk with help for at least a month already, and her parents knew this because she had given herself away a few times – dragging herself along by the coffee table when she was in a hurry and so on. But for the most part, Rose absolutely refused to walk because she didn't see how it could benefit her. Crawling was a perfectly effective way of getting around – why not just do that?

Holding her hands tightly, Conchita managed to lead her sister for a good three yards across the room. However Rose soon tired of the endeavour and pulled herself free, favouring her sister with a gentle shove and, just to make her feelings quite clear, a firmly spoken, "No."

"Well that was better than nothing," remarked Eduardo, smiling at Conchita as she looked at him with a small shrug of resignation.

"Yeah," agreed Garrett, "but now she's making a break for it," and he gestured towards where Rose was crawling at breakneck speed towards the stairs. Eduardo hurried after her and managed to snatch her up just before she made a nosedive onto the floor below. Garrett noted the panicked look Eduardo shot at Kylie. If Rose's birthday party had to move to the paediatric ward at the local hospital, her mother would be looking for somebody to yell at.

Life is way too short for this, thought Garrett, as his train of thought started to jump further ahead in time than he would have liked. Conchita was an accident. Kylie got pregnant in her final year at college. They just had a baby without even trying. Jo and I can't do that. There is absolutely no way in the world we can do what Eddie and Ky are doing. If I want to raise a child with Jo – however that might happen – we probably won't even have a chance unless we're married.

Was that a good reason to marry? Garrett knew what Kylie would say if he asked her: "It's as good a reason as any." That was probably true, and it wasn't even his only reason. He wanted to let Jo know exactly how much he loved her. He also wanted to show everybody else how much he loved her – and he wanted to do it with a really big party. And yes, he did want them to adopt a child or try IVF or something!

Garrett, you're an idiot, he told himself. You know what you want, so stop just thinking about it and go get it!

Jo was cuddling Rose on her lap when Garrett approached. It wasn't ideal, but he tried to derive some sort of encouragement from Jo's obvious happiness. She clearly adored that baby. Rose wasn't hers, but Garrett got the distinct impression that she could be, given the chance. So maybe Jo might not get the opportunity to have a baby of her own. Note the maybe, thought Garrett. It's still a possibility. But he felt so sure she could love a child that she hadn't actually given birth to. Just look at Peter and Oscar. Of course there was never any possibility of Peter giving birth. Is it different for men and women? Oh – just get on with it!

"Hey," Garrett smiled at Jo, hoisting himself onto the sofa to sit beside her. "Where do you wanna go tomorrow night?"

"I don't know – nowhere," shrugged Jo. "I'll come round to yours and you can cook, and then we can watch a video or something. Much less effort."

"Yeah, for you," Garrett smiled fondly. "You like my cooking, then."

"You know I do."

Well that can't be bad.

x x x

Garrett tried to plan the evening carefully, thinking that he really ought to make it special – but when Jo kissed him at the front door and then found her own way through to the kitchen, he realised that he had planned exactly nothing. A quiche and two large potatoes were baking in the oven. He had grated half a block of cheese. "Meet Joe Black" lay on a sideboard waiting to be watched. It was all so basic. Garrett wondered, Am I actually going to go through with this?

They talked and laughed while they ate. It was so easy, so natural – it felt really good. Jo spent a lot of time at Garrett's apartment. She practically lived there, but officially she was still living with her parents and two younger brothers. Garrett would really love it if she was there for him to come home to every evening, and if she slept beside him every night instead of when it was convenient. He wanted it so much it almost hurt.

Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins together made just as entertaining viewing the second time around (fourth for Jo). Garrett knew that this was one of Jo's favourite movies, and he found it very entertaining himself. He liked the way it combined humour, gothic, romance and an eighty-percent miserable ending. This time they didn't get to see the ending, though. Jo began the film viewing in Garrett's arms, leaning into him with her legs tucked under her, feeling happy and contented. However after the first hour, Brad Pitt and Garrett between them made her start to feel restless – so she started to kiss him (Garrett – not Brad Pitt) with increasing urgency until he suggested, just before the start of Anthony Hopkins' character's birthday party, that she might like him to take her to bed.

Garrett wished he could kick himself when he woke up the next morning and Jo was in the shower. He hadn't done it yet! How could he let himself get sidetracked from something so important? He should have done it while they were eating. Jo didn't want to talk during the movie or… after it. Damn, damn, damn, damn…

"Hey." Jo wandered into the room in an old towelling robe, climbed onto the bed and kissed him a few times. "Are you working this morning?"

"Yeah."

"I'm not."

"You wanna hang out here?" This is going nowhere.

"That's ok, I'll go home," Jo shrugged nonchalantly. "Unless you want me to be here when you get back."

"Actually…" Garrett said quietly.

"You do?"

"Always."

"Is everything ok?" Jo asked, puzzled. "You've been acting weird ever since Rose's birthday party. Hang on, I've just remembered – you said you wanted to talk to me about something. Have you done that yet?"

"No," Garrett had to admit.

"Ok, so let's do it now," suggested Jo. "Then maybe you'll stop being weird."

"I love you," Garrett smiled dreamily at her.

"I love you too," Jo smiled back.

"Will you marry me?" Wow – I honestly had no idea I was going to do that.

Jo looked at him for a moment. "Serious?" she asked, apparently stunned.

"Of course I'm serious."

"Yes!" Beaming, she flung her arms around his neck and squeezed hard. "Wow. That was unexpected. Is that why you were being weird?"

"Yeah. So… you really will marry me?"

Jo rolled her eyes and said, "Of course I will, you doughnut."

"Wow." The implications of her answer had only just hit him, and suddenly Garrett felt deliriously happy. "I'm so relieved you said that."

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Well…"

"Ugh." Jo hit him with a pillow and then sat away from him on the bed, saying half-jokingly, "Don't tell me you've got some kind of problem."

"I don't know." Garrett shook his head, trying to clear his mind. She wanted to marry him. Surely she must have thought about the baby problem too. "I've been wanting to do that for days but I don't even have a ring," he added.

"I don't want a ring," Jo smiled reassuringly. "I don't wear jewellery."

"Not even for this?"

"No. It's not about rings. It's about you and me."

"That's one of the things I like about you," said Garrett, reaching out to touch her arm. "You're so down to Earth."

Jo lay down beside him, not caring about the pain she could soon expect from the tangles forming in her damp hair, and they held each other for a good twenty minutes. This felt natural and safe, the sound of the rain falling heavily outside somehow adding to the general sense of security and happiness. Garrett wondered when would be a good time to bring up the baby thing. Not now, that was for sure.

"Do you have to go?" Jo asked suddenly.

"Yeah." He sat up and kissed her deeply, already worrying less. "When will I see you?"

"I'll be here when you get back," Jo told him. "Don't buy a ring in the meantime."

"Do you want me to get you anything instead?"

"Yeah – a Big Mac and a chocolate milkshake."

"Ok." He kissed her again before he got out of bed. "See you later, then."

They were both grinning stupidly, on a real giddy high. Garrett was so relieved. He'd asked her and she'd said yes. This might even be the happiest day of his life so far. He really didn't want to leave Jo now. She wandered out of the bedroom just as he was about to leave, so he pulled her onto his lap and kissed her again.

"You have to go," she told him firmly.

"I don't want to."

"Tough. You have to. Go on – piss off or I won't marry you."

x x x

Jo spent the morning calling people to tell them the good news, and Garrett just knew that this was exactly what she was doing. She was working a shift in the gym that afternoon and Garrett knew that all of her friends, colleagues and clients there would be hearing the news. But he didn't want to tell anybody until he and Jo had that talk.

Peter was at the firehouse when Garrett arrived. It was so tempting to ask him all of those burning questions: How long did it take you and Oscar to bond? Was it easy, or did you have any problems? Do you really love him as much as you love Jessica? Do you remember the first time he called you 'Dad'? What was it like? Do you think it would be different if he wasn't really Dana's son either? Garrett thought that he could bring himself to be impertinent enough to ask those questions, but he knew that he mustn't. He couldn't talk to anybody about this until he had talked to Jo.

She was still glowing with happiness when he went home to her in the evening, after working a late shift at the hospital. Her family were all really pleased; her friends had demanded to see a ring but it was ok, she really didn't want a ring – hey! They should order a pizza!

"Pizza sounds good," Garrett said warily, when Jo made the suggestion.

"What's the matter now?" demanded Jo, sounding slightly annoyed.

"You seem so happy," Garrett told her.

"I am happy."

"Good. So am I. But there's something we haven't talked about."

"Oh yes?" Jo asked guardedly.

"Babies." There. He'd said it.

"Ah." Jo nodded her understanding, and then sat down as sobriety undermined her deliriously happy mood. "That."

"Have you thought about it?" asked Garrett.

"Of course I have," Jo answered at once. "You know I want kids – and so do you, right?"

"Right."

"Well you know what I'm about to say," Jo went on. "When we're ready we talk to my doctor about IVF or we could try to adopt – I don't care whether it's ours or mine or neither – and just look at Oscar and Peter. We can do that. Now isn't that exactly what you've been thinking?" she finished, with a small smile.

"Yeah," Garrett admitted. "But I'm worried. I'm the one who… can't. It really hurts that I can't give you a baby, and I'm scared that you'll end up leaving me for somebody who can."

"It's not like you to be so antsy about what might happen in the future," remarked Jo. "We can try stuff, and hopefully it'll work. Maybe it won't – and I suppose we don't know for sure if that does happen it won't someday drive us apart, but frankly I can't see that happening because I love you."

"I love you too."

"There are so many ifs and maybes," Jo went on reasonably. "But let's save those for the future, huh? Right now all that matters is that I want to marry you."

"I want to marry you too."

"Ok, so let's get married."

"When?" asked Garrett, now almost totally reassured. Almost.

"Don't people usually get married in June?"

"Yeah, but you don't want a traditional wedding."

"Who says I don't?"

"You do… indirectly. You don't even want rings."

"I want a big party, though."

"Me too. Hey… about the kid thing."

"Ugh! What now?"

"Well, Mrs. Miller, I want to make it absolutely clear right now that we are not calling it Randy."

"Garrett."

"Yeah?"

"Shut up and kiss me."

THE END