Disclaimer: I do not own Strong Medicine or the characters. They belong to Whoopi Goldberg, and Tammy Ader, and Lifetime TV. Special thanks to my proofreaders and sounding boards! You guys are great!


A Few Months Later

Fall's nice cool days gave way to a cold, cold winter with Christmas quickly approaching.

"Alright, time to hit the day running." Lu announced as she looked up at the clock. A collective groan went up from the group of women seated around the lopsided circle. "I know, I know." Lu opened the glass door, "Chat room... tomorrow. You know the time, you know the place."

Waiting to enter the RWHC, Peter held the lobby door open for the steady stream of ladies making their way out, rushing off to their waiting jobs.

Lu stood at Lana's desk mumbling something about needing coffee before picking up a patient file and beginning to read.

Peter approached Lu from behind and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Morning Beautiful." he greeted her cheerfully as he kissed the back of her head.

"Morning." Lu yawned in response.

"Late night?" Peter questioned, turning her around to face him.

"Yeah, waited up for Marc to get home." Lu stood on her tiptoes and planted a quick kiss on Peter's lips.

"What time did he get in?" Peter gently brushed his hand across Lu's cheek.

"I don't really remember..." she replied tiredly, "But it was sometimes between one thirty and two o'clock this morning."

"No wonder you're tired." Peter moved over to the other counter and poured two mugs of coffee.

"Thanks," Lu took one of the mugs from his outstretched hand, "Marc says it's a hard drive from Arizona, but Christmas break is well worth it."

"I bet he's tired too." Peter commented after taking a drink of his coffee.

"Yeah, it didn't take him long to collapse into bed," she laughed, "Knowing my son, he'll sleep to noon... Speaking of noon, are we going to meet for lunch?"

"Ah, I wish I could sweetheart, but I have a house call I need to make. But how about dinner tonight... you , me, and Marc? I'll cook." Peter smiled at Lu.

"Sounds good." Lu replied as she spotted her first patient walk in. Giving Peter one last kiss she smiled. "See you later." Lu picked up her coffee and a patient file, "Kristen? You ready honey?" she called out just before disappearing into her exam room.


A Few Minutes Before Noon - The Same Day

Peter stood in front of Lu's apartment and knocked on the door. He waited a minute, hearing no movement inside, he knocked again.

Marc rubbed his eyes and groaned as an insistent knocking woke him from a deep sleep. He slowly rolled out of bed and stumbled out of his room. "I'm coming, I'm coming." he called tiredly.

"Good afternoon, sleepyhead." Peter smiled when Marc finally opened the door.

"Peter! What's wrong? Is it Ma? Is she ok?" suddenly wide awake, Marc fired off the questions rapidly.

"Whoa, whoa. Calm down. Nothing's wrong, everything's fine. I just came to see you." Peter spoke calmly.

Marc sighed in relief and stepped back out of the doorway, "Come on in."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Peter walked in and closed the door behind him.

"No biggie." Marc replied, "Come sit down." he moved into the living room and sat in the recliner.

"Marc I want to talk to you about something." Peter slowly sat on the couch facing Marc.

"Oh, oh... What'd I do now?" Marc eyed Peter nervously.

"No, nothing like that," Peter smiled, "More of a question."

Marc leaned back in the recliner, "Fire away then."

Peter scooted to the edge of the couch, "Well... you know that your Mom and I have been dating for several months..."

"Yes, I know and I think it's great," Marc interrupted with a smile, "I'm ok with it, more than ok."

Peter relaxed a bit, "Thanks. That wasn't the question, but it makes it a lot easier to ask my question."

"Well, what is it then?" Marc frowned in confusion.

"Ummm..." Peter slowly let out a breath he wasn't aware that he had been holding, "I... uh... I wanna ask your permission to marry your Mom."

Marc stared at Peter, dropped jawed, for several seconds before slowly responding, "My permission? Peter that is so old-fashioned."

"Well, when I do something, I like to do it right." Peter shrugged his shoulders.

"You're supposed to ask the woman's father... not her son." A smile crept across Marc's face.

"I know... I know," Peter leaned back on the couch, "But you're the main man in her life, you've been the ONLY man in her life for almost nineteen years."

Marc's smile broadened, "Well, it looks like Ma has a new leading man."

"Thanks." Peter sighed in relief.

"What?" Marc asked. "Did you think I'd say no?"

"I didn't want to make you uncomfortable or anything." Peter rushed to explain.

"Peter... I've known you almost my entire life. You're already family. Besides, there's always been a spark between you and Mom. I'm not blind, you know... it's about time!" Marc stood and started towards the kitchen, "Do you want a Pepsi or something?"

"No thanks, I've got to get back to the clinic." Peter stood as well.

"Hey Peter?" Marc turned back to face him.

"Yeah?" Peter stopped a few steps from the door.

"When are you gonna ask her?" Marc looked questioningly at the other man.

"Good question." Peter smiled and walked out the door.


Half An Hour Later

Peter walked back into the clinic with a pizza box.

Lana looked up from her desk, where she sat eating a salad, "Well? Did you talk to him? Where's the ring kid? I wanna see the ring."

"Shhh!" Peter shushed Lana, glancing towards Lu's office.

"Boy... Lana knows better than that," Lana put her fork down, "She ran outta here like a streak of lightening about ten minutes ago, headed for the ER... Now show me the ring."

"It's at home." Peter leaned against Lana's desk.

"Awww." Lana made a face at him.

"It's not like I carry it around with me." he couldn't help but laugh at Lana's sour expression.

"Carry what around with you?" Lu asked as she suddenly rounded the corner.

Thinking quickly, Peter replied, "A hammer."

"A hammer?" Lu frowned at Peter in confusion.

"Yeah, Lana's about ready to smack this computer into next week." Lana smiled, winking at Peter behind Lu's back.

"That sounds like something you'd do," Lu laughed as she turned to face the receptionist, "Just be sure to get all the patient information transferred to a new computer before you kill this one."

"Anyways," Peter kissed Lu's cheek, "We couldn't go to lunch, so I brought lunch to us." he smiled and held up the pizza box.


One Evening A Few Days Later - Four Days Before Christmas

Peter knocked on Lu's apartment door and fidgeted nervously.

A few seconds later, Marc swung the door open, "Come on in Peter, Ma's almost ready."

"I'll be right there." Lu called from her bedroom as she pulled her hair up and secured it in a french twist. She looked at her make-up and self-consciously adjusted the straps of her sleeveless dress one last time. She slipped her feet into her black high heeled pumps and walked into the living room.

"Wow! You look amazing!" Peter's jaw dropped when he caught sight of Lu's form fitting, ankle length, forest green velvet dress.

Lu blushed slightly and smiled, "So do you." she eyed Peter's white shirt and black tuxedo.

"Wow..." Peter said once more, handing her a bouquet of a dozen red roses.

"Thank you, they're beautiful," Lu laughed at Peter's expression, "Well, you told me to dress formal."

"Hey Peter, pick your jaw up off the floor." Marc laughed and then turned to face his Mom. "Here Ma, let me take those and put them in a vase for you."

"Thanks." Lu handed the roses to Marc.

"Where are you guys going tonight?" Marc asked as he moved to the kitchen and pulled a vase out of the cabinet.

"Chez Martinelli's." Peter couldn't take his eye off of Lu.

"Whoa!" Marc filled the vase with water and dropped the roses in, "Going fancy, I see."

"Dinner and dancing." Peter finally looked back Marc.

"Sounds nice." Lu picked her coat up off the couch.

"Here, let me..." Peter rushed over and took her coat. He held it open behind Lu as she slipped her arms into the sleeves.

Marc walked over and hugged Lu, "Have a good time," then looking at Peter, he joked, "Be sure to have her home by curfew... eleven o'clock."

"Ha ha, very funny." Lu ruffled Marc's hair, "Don't wait up." she kissed his cheek then turned and took Peter's arm.


An Hour And A Half Later

"That was delicious." Lu smiled as Peter led her onto Chez Martinelli's dance floor.

"Have I told you how beautiful you are?" he pulled Lu close, wrapping his arms around her and began waltzing to the music.

"Only about fifty times." Lu smiled and tilted her head up for a kiss.

Peter gently kissed Lu's lips and continued waltzing her around the dance floor, "You are the most amazing woman I know and I can not tell you how much I love you. You're my life, my whole world." Peter stopped dancing and reached into his tuxedo pocket. He pulled out a small black velvet box and slowly dropped down on one knee. "I can't imagine spending the rest of my life without you." Peter opened the box revealing a four karat, princess cut, diamond ring.

Lu gasped, her hand flew to her mouth and tears threatened to spill down her cheeks.

Peter looked up at her, tears in his eyes too, "Luisa, Will you marry me?"