A slightly shorter (but still plenty sweet) chapter. Guest (I still don't know who you are :( ), thank you as always for the review! They never fail to brighten my day and I want you to know that they inspire me a lot. I don't know you but I love you and I loved the suggestion that you put in the one for last chapter and I want you to know that I do keep that in consideration, everything in due time :)

—The Answer—

Andy turned back to Milo, suddenly conflicted on what to do. Just seconds ago she had been about to say yes to his proposal but now she wasn't so sure. Lu had been so insistent on their relationship with each other being equal to the one Andy had with Milo, being married to the latter wasn't anything close to being equal.

Milo quickly looked back from Lu to Andy. He knew that Andy would never marry him if it meant hurting Lu and he suddenly regretted not asking Lu's permission like he had asked Jesse and Lizzy's permission—whilst at the same time feeling like he shouldn't have to. Andy had made it very clear that her relationship with Lu was completely separate from their own relationship, but as he waited for her to answer he started to doubt if that was true.

Andy looked over her shoulder back at Lu who had her hand over her mouth, silently waiting for anything to happen. They made eye contact and Andy could see her nod slightly, as if to urge Andy to just say yes. With tears in her eyes she nodded at Milo and she could feel him lightly squeeze her hand, she was too choked up to actually say the word 'yes'.

A small smile spread on his face but he didn't want to be presumptuous. ''Yes?''

''Yes, I'll marry you Milo Morton,'' Andy said, pulling him up to his feet and kissing him on the lips. After they broke apart she looked in his eyes for a few seconds, smiling at him, wanting to remember that moment forever. When she finally looked away, and turned to the door to see Lu she found that Lu had vanished.

''She slipped out,'' Milo told her, holding Andy tight. He wasn't entirely sure why Lu had been there in the first place—as he hadn't planned to do this right now and he couldn't imagine Andy making plans to meet Lu up on the roof as well as him, but he was glad she had been. Increasingly more she was an integral part of their relationship—despite how separate they claimed their relationship was from his and Andy's— and he knew Andy needed her reassurance that it was okay. He appreciated that Lu had slipped out relatively quick though; he still wanted time alone with Andy, especially during important moments like these.

Andy put her arms around Milo, looking off into the distance at the firework. She could hear his heartbeat through his chest and it was soothing in a way. She was looking for the right words to say, wanting to tell Milo how much she loved him, but her mind was occupied with Lu. Yes, she had nodded, she had looked okay with it, but Andy couldn't be sure. Even though it hadn't dawned on her initially to ask Lu if she was okay with it, now all she wanted to do was find Lu and ask her.

''I asked Jesse and Lizzy a long time ago, before we even broke up, but checked with them again a few days ago. They were hesitant since they now know about you and Lu but were ultimately fine with it.'' He knew that even though he had neglected to ask Lu for permission, it was very important to Andy that he had asked her daughters.

''I'm glad.'' Andy knew that it was customary for the man to ask the woman's father but this was better. Despite how much she loved her father they were very different people, her daughters were much more important when it came to this decision. Not her father who still didn't understand why she had chosen to divorce Les, she had never disclosed the abuse to him or her mother, nor did she want to. It was now pretty much irrelevant and she'd worry for Les' safety if her father did know.

Andy could see Lu walking down the hall ahead of her and sped up to catch up with her. A smile crossed Lu's face when she found Andy walking next to her, knowing that Andy wanted to ask her if she was okay with the proposal but not sure if she should.

''I really am okay with it,'' Lu said, reiterating what she had already told Andy with just a simple look, she focused back on the file in her hands. Bob Jackson had sent over loads of paperwork for her to go through, needing to dot the Is and cross the Ts.

''I didn't say anything,'' Andy said, keeping her eyes half on Lu as they slowly made her way down the hall. There was so much she wanted to say but wasn't sure where to begin, and Lu seemed a bit distracted by the files. ''Are you though? Okay with it, I mean.''

''Don't worry about it,'' Lu said, ''I had been expecting it for a while to be honest.'' She had half expected him to propose the moment he decided not to get on the plane with Sandra, but had been pleasantly surprised when he didn't—she couldn't even imagine what her relationship with Andy would be like if he had asked her right away.

''I just know that it's important to you that both relationships are equal and they really won't be if I marry him,'' Andy said, watching Lu for a reaction. There wasn't much of a reaction but she did sense something, ''I need to know that you're one hundred percent okay with it, if you're not then I won't marry him.''

Lu threw her a look, ''you would've said yes without a second thought if I hadn't showed up.'' She immediately wished she could take back the accusation but knew that it would have haunted her if she hadn't said it. It had just been a hunch but the look on Andy's face confirmed it. She had expected it and even though she was okay with them getting married she was somewhat bothered by that. She saw an empty exam room up ahead and grabbed Andy's hand, pulling her in there with her. ''Look, of course I want there to be a balance between both relationships and I hope that you keep that in mind but I really am okay with this.'' She could see on Andy's face that she didn't quite believe her. ''I would love to marry you but that isn't an option. You and Milo have been together a lot longer and you can actually officially get married.''

Andy gave her a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, ''that's true,'' she said, disappointed that their relationship could never be equal to her and Milo's in this regard. She gave Lu a peck on the lips, ''I wish we could have that one day,'' she added quietly.

A small blush appeared on Lu's face as she leaned into Andy's body somewhat, ''are you saying you want to marry me one day?'' She asked. It had taken her way too long to get Andy to admit that she even had feelings for her, but now that they were an actual couple their relationship seemed to move quite quickly. And even though Lu hoped they'd stay together she also knew that most of their relationship had been more so based on lust than love.

''It's a bit soon to tell,'' Andy said, but couldn't help the grin that was on her face. Her hand was on Lu's cheek, ''I just wish we had the option.'' It was the first time she had actually come close to voicing this wish despite having thought about it more than once. ''But…''

''We don't,'' Lu finished for her. ''We'll see what the future brings,'' she said, knowing that it was never going to happen. She could see a bit of disappointment on Andy's face and was quick to ease her concern, ''I'm okay with the fact that we'll never have that, okay? I'm a realist and no matter how much I want to shout from the rooftop that I love you-'' she had actually shouted it from the rooftops when Marc graduated high school so the idea wasn't too farfetched in her mind- ''I know that our relationship will always have to be somewhat of a secret.''

''Maybe one day that'll change,'' Andy said, hopeful she was right.

Lu cocked her head, ''I'm not holding my breath,'' she joked. She put her arms around Andy's waist, ''if us remaining a secret means that our jobs won't be in jeopardy and you can still one day become surgeon general, then that's a small price to pay. And I honestly never expected us to be out anyways, I don't expect you to introduce me to your parents as your girlfriend, I don't expect you to do that with anyone besides our friends.''

Andy hated that they had to be careful about this. Just being in a same sex relationship could mean trouble with a number of people, her also being with Milo eliminated 99% of the remaining people. All she cared about was that Milo and her children knew. ''I wish you didn't have to be, but I'm glad you're okay with it.''

Lu smiled. ''I know I said I wanted things to be equal but all that I care about is that things are equal in your eyes, that you give both of the relationships the same amount of priority. I don't care what it looks like to the outside world.''

''Why are we doing this again?'' Nick asked as he put his tray down on the table. Andy had asked him—actually not so much asked as informed—that they were going to have lunch together. They never had before just the two of them and he couldn't possibly imagine why, it wasn't as if she had to inform him she was pregnant or anything…

''I remembered what you said about the fact that we haven't talked much since we ended our… relationship?'' The last word came out as a question; she still wasn't sure how to refer to the whole thing.

''Our liaison,'' Nick 'corrected' jokingly. He was equally clueless.

''I felt that maybe we should talk from time to time, I miss that from our relationship,'' Andy said honestly. It hadn't been quite until he had mentioned it that she had taken a step back and realized just how much she had given up by practically cutting Nick out of her life. ''From our liaison.''

Nick laughed at her. ''You miss me asking you inappropriate questions, making crude jokes about you and Lu…?'' He could see it coming back to her in flashes and he chuckled, knowing that that wasn't what she had missed. ''Better that than anything else,'' he said. A look of confusion crossed her face, ''better you miss our talks than miss me fucking your brains out.'' He said, his voice getting quieter and quieter with every word. He appreciated what she was doing but he still loved making her just the slightest bit uncomfortable, replacing the flashes of his jokes and comments with completely different ones.

Andy was lost for words for a few seconds. ''I just don't want you to feel that I used you for a while and then… replaced you when Milo came back.''

''I've told you many times that I don't mind you using me,'' Nick said, thinking back to the beginning of their relationship. ''It's not as if I expected it go anywhere. Like I said about the baby, I was mad that you didn't tell me about it but I understand why you did it, and I know I'm not exactly marriage material-''

''Except that you are,'' Andy interrupted him. ''I mean, I never saw you as such and I never considered our relationship going in that direction. But I know you better now and you're a good person, a good man, and any girl would be lucky to marry you, I want you to have that some day.''

''I hope so,'' Nick said. ''Well, you've already taken one possibility of the market…''

''As if you and Delgado would have ended up together,'' Andy said, squinting at him, not being able to picture it. Over the years she had watched Nick chase every skirt that his gaze had landed on, but she had never seen him give Lu much of a second glance, though she couldn't imagine why not.

''Really, still with the last name?'' Nick said, somewhat surprised by how unsurprised he was.

''Old habits die hard,'' Andy shrugged. ''There is someone out there for you though.'' Her thinking about him with someone else reminded her of when Peter had joined in one day, she remembered how comfortable they were with each other and how at the time she had wondered just how extensive their relationship really was. ''Boy, girl, whoever it is, I just hope that you find them.''

''Boy?'' Nick asked, raising his eyebrows, a look of confusion mixed with amusement on his face.

''Just something I sensed between you and Riggs,'' Andy said, wanting to keep it vague enough as not to offend him. She didn't mean to imply anything but for some reason it wasn't difficult for her to imagine there actually being something between them and she wasn't sure if that's because there was something or if it was just because her relationship with Lu.

''Really?'' Nick asked, growing curious. He scooted a bit closer to her, not wanting the whole cafeteria to hear every little detail. ''What did you sense while you were sandwiched between him and me, with both of us inside you, touching you everywhere, making you come over and over and over again… What did you sense then?''

Being with Milo and Lu who were both fond of making offhand sexually charged comments, making her feel uncomfortable in the best way possible, had made her immune to these kinds of comments. ''I'm just saying that you two seemed awfully comfortable with each other,'' she said, smiling at the fact that he hadn't elicited the response he had hoped for—whilst wondering why he would try to make her feel that way—''I'm not saying there was anything between you two, just simple curiosity.''

''Well, despite what his mother seems to think, Peter's very much straight,'' Nick said. He remembered how much he had teased Peter over the years because of what his mother thought. He couldn't blame her though, Peter was quite different from most men and Nick could certainly picture him with another man, although he wasn't sure that wasn't just him being hopeful. The fact that Peter had been more than willing over the years to share women with him, and how that always seemed to include their lips locking at one moment or another, Nick could pretend that meant nothing for the sake of his own sanity.

Andy squinted at Nick, ''how about you?'' She asked, noticing how he had conveniently left that out. True, she had only seen him chase skirts but it wasn't as if she had ever paid much attention to him until they started their relationship.

Nick looked down at his drink for a second, ''I'm about as straight as you,'' he answered, avoiding her gaze even when he did finally look up. ''I guess Peter is my Lu in that analogy, except he and I are never going to go anywhere,'' he added, desperate to change the subject, ''besides, last he told me has feelings for Kayla.''

Andy cringed internally for a second. Kayla had become like a daughter to her since having moved in almost three years earlier; Andy had already felt a bit strange to sleep with Peter because Jesse had once had feelings for him, to now have someone who was like her own child actually get into a relationship with him… it made her just a little uncomfortable.

Milo plopped down on the bed next to Andy, handing her a manila envelope.

''What is this?'' Andy asked. She had gotten home from work at a reasonable time but Milo had only just come home—despite Lizzy being home he was still staying over, something that was rather rare for them. She looked over at him as he made himself comfortable next to her, wondering if she was intended to open it.

''The annulment papers,'' Milo said, ''received them in the mail yesterday and considering our plans for the future I want to take care of it as soon as possible.'' It had taken a while for Sandra to get her affairs in order in Seattle and actually get around to filing for an annulment of their marriage, Milo was glad it was finally happening though. ''So, with that in mind,'' he reached into his pocket, pulling out a black velvet box.

A broad smile crossed Andy's face as Milo grinned back at her. She didn't particularly care about what the ring looked like as just the prospect of marrying Milo was much more important, but was still curious as to what Milo had chosen. She tried to push Lu from her thoughts as Milo opened the box, revealing a simple gold band with a single diamond on it. It was simple but elegant and suited her tastes. Of course she had seen this coming and they both knew she had already said yes, but to make it official still meant a lot.

Milo still felt a sense of nervousness despite this merely being somewhat of a formality. He knew Andy had talked to Lu after he had initially proposed and had no idea what had been said as they hadn't talked since; he could only hope that Andy still felt the same way as she had the day before. ''Andy March-Campbell, will you do me the honor-''

''Yes,'' she answered, interrupting him, her voice thick with emotion. She took his face in her hands and kissed him, blinking the tears in her eyes away. What she had told him months before was true; she had known for a long time now that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him, and considering the fact that Lu had claimed to be okay with it all the last traces of doubt had been removed from Andy's mind. Whilst she still didn't know what exactly her future with Lu entailed, she now at the very least had some clarity about what the future held, for the first time in a very long time; she was glad to have it.

Milo happily kissed her back before pulling away so he could slip the ring on the appropriate finger. He held her hand in his own a few seconds longer, glad at the sight of it finally in its right place. It had been a long time since he had bought the ring, before their break-up even, and he had looked at it from time to time imagining finally marrying Andy. Even when he was with Sandra and had committed himself to her he still knew that she wasn't going to be the one he would ultimately end up with, it had always been and would always be Andy who was the one for him. To finally have the moment be here… all he could hope for was that nothing would throw a wrench in their plans.