A/N: If you haven't read Jon's Girl this story might not make sense at some parts. However for the most part you should be able to follow along without much confusion. This story was written as a follow up to something that I mentioned in that story. PLUS this is my 101st story.
Popping the Question
Talea and Ponch had been dating for over a year now. In her mind she was sure that meant they were getting pretty serious. Just last week he had said he couldn't picture life without her. That meant marriage was in their future, right?
Well sadly for her, the question still hadn't come up. She was sure it would sometime, but what if it didn't? If it didn't she would be shocked. A little hurt too. "Why should I be the one waiting for the question? Why can't I just ask myself?" She thought, not realizing she'd spoken her thoughts out loud.
In the chair beside her, sat her older brother Marco Lopez. Only older by a year, and sometimes she felt like she was the older one. She often came to spend time at station 51 in between shifts at the hospital. If she worked a shift, but had the next day off, and her brother was working. Well, she'd pop over a few hours. She cleaned the place up for them sometimes, occasionally falling victim to Chet's pranks that were meant for Johnny.
But she didn't mind. Much. She enjoyed spending time with the guys. Even if it meant getting pranked every now and then.
"What are you talking about?" Marco asked, glancing to his sister. He wasn't up to much, just glancing through a cook book figuring out what to make for dinner that night.
"I'm going to ask him to marry me," she said, a grin on her face. "If I get everything together, I can even do it tomorrow night!" She added, sliding her chair back. She stood, quickly turning to head for the door. She stopped turning back to Marco. She sat in her chair again, letting out a sigh. "I have no idea where to begin!"
Her brother sat there, he'd never planned out a night quite like that. How did one even go about proposing? It would be a long night tonight.
oOoOo
Jon had been busy every night for weeks now, hanging out with some girl he met. Ponch wasn't upset, he was glad Jon had met someone. He just wished he could hang out with his best friend every now and then. He'd suggested double dates, but Jon brushed him off so quickly sometimes, that he just stopped asking.
He really was happy for Jon... but, again he missed his friend. All Jon talked about at work was Helen. Helen this, Helen that...and when Ponch would bring up Talea, Jon would just nodded politely then go back to talking about Helen. Ponch had never seen Jon so in love before. He knew he was one hundred percent guilty of spending time talking about the same girl for hours and nothing else, but he'd also talk about other things too...most the time. Maybe he shouldn't be upset, was he like that when he met Talea? What if Jon felt the way Ponch did right now...but about Ponch whenever he'd met someone?
The thought never had much time to sink in, because he kept pushing it aside. There's no way he could have been like that...right? Why couldn't they both talk about their girlfriends though? Ponch still hadn't even had a chance to tell Jon and him and Talea's trip to Hawaii a week ago.
Ponch didn't feel like going into work today and hearing another story about Helen and Jon. Just the thought kinda made him want to crawl back into bed and forget about today. So instead, he called in sick. "Sorry, Sarge," he said, with a fake cough for emphasis. "I'm really not feeling great." Please don't catch on...
Joe didn't buy it for a second, but he'd noticed lately Ponch's mood had been leaning more on the negative side. So maybe he just needed a mental health day, but was too afraid to say it? Putting that thought in his mind, made the decision to tell Ponch he could stay home a lot easier. "Alright, Frank. Stay home, but get better soon, okay?" And don't lie to me next time.
Ponch's mood instantly brightened. "I'll do my best, Sarge." Now his only problem was figuring out what to do for the rest of the day...the solution ended up coming easy to him. He fell back to sleep.
oOoOo
Talea left the station around lunch to go to Central. She talked to Getraer and told him her plans, and asked him to talk to the guys and see if anyone would want to come, but not to tell them what was going on. Just in case if Grossie's big mouth spoiled the surprise. "It's supposed to be real special. I don't want it getting spoiled, okay?" She had said. She even checked around a few times, before walking into the office. She hadn't heard from Ponch about him staying home. So she figured he was with Jon. She didn't even ask though, because she was trying to avoid him...the only reason being of course that she didn't want to accidentally spoil the surprise herself.
Getraer agreed to help out, him being the only one aside from Talea and the guys at 51 knowing what was actually going to happen tomorrow. He smiled to himself at the thought, this ought to put Ponch in a better mood..."I'll talk to the guys," he promised her as she left. Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.
The next night
The kitchen at station 51 had been decorated nicely with a mixture of CHP and nurse related decorations. Being as Talea was a nurse at Rampart and Ponch was a CHP, she figured the decor was perfect. She'd even drawn a nurse and a CHP officer on the banner she made, which now hung from the ceiling. The banner read in big bold letters 'Ponch, will you marry me?'
She felt nervous jitters as she made the last minute touches. Ponch would be showing up at 7, and the guys from Central should be there any minute. Talea tried to get ahold of Jon to make sure he was coming, but couldn't reach him. She wished she could have Ponch's best friend there, for Ponch's sake. But the night would be special with or without Jon. She thought she remembered Ponch mentioning something about Jon having a new girlfriend. Maybe his new girlfriend was keeping him busy tonight?
The thought of Jon being in a relationship was nice. She hoped maybe she could become friends with Jon's girlfriend, so that when Ponch and Jon got together, she and his girl could get together and hang out too. Have a nice friendship like she'd seen in so many movies. It would work, right?
She tried to push the thought aside for the time being, as there were other...more important things on her mind right now. She stood on a chair, adjusting the banner again. "I think it's all ready," she told Marco, as she adjusted the banner. There was a cake in the fridge with a CHP badge and a stethoscope on it. She already planned for the answer to be yes, and if it was now she'd just throw the cake at him... maybe? She wasn't sure what she'd actually do if he said no. It would crush her.
"You're really going to a lot of trouble," Johnny commented. "Don't you think you should just wait for him to ask?"
Talea rolled her eyes. "That's so old fashioned!"
Johnny shook his head, he could have said more... but what was the point? Talea already made up her mind, and there was no going back at this point. Everyone would be there soon anyway.
Out of everyone (excluding Marco), Roy had been the most supportive. Even offered to help as much as he could. He'd seen her and Ponch together, and he could tell Ponch really liked her. So if he could play even just the smallest part of helping keep them together, he was there for it.
Soon the door opened, some of the guys from Central letting themselves in. "What are we even doing here?" Bear asked, before making his way to the kitchen.
"We agreed to help Talea out with something. She's practically family at this point," Grossie commented, as he walked into the kitchen. His eyes widened and mouth dropped when he saw the banner. "I don't believe it." A smile spread across his face. "Guys!"
Jeb's eyes widened. "Why isn't Jon here already?"
"I don't think he's coming. He's got plans with that Helen chick," Grossie commented, shaking his head. He looked around the room again, "Ponch is really going to like this."
"Boy is he going to kick himself for missing this," Bear added.
Joe just sighed, he brought a thing of fruit punch, as well as some veggies from his garden. The veggies were for the guys at the station, he figured they might enjoy it. He knew his officers didn't appreciate a good veggie when they saw it.
"Everything's ready, now all we need is Ponch," Talea said. She bit her lip, then took a few deep breaths. This is going to go well. It really is. Just relax. She thought to herself, though she still worried regardless. Soon she could hear the sound of Roy's voice, as he talked casually with Ponch about a TV program they'd both been watching.
She could tell Ponch was in a good mood, by the sound of his excitement as he spoke with Roy. She didn't even have to be in the room to know he was smiling big, she could hear it in his voice.
The others all hide behind the table. The plan being Roy would turn the light on, everyone would shout surprised, and Talea would be center of the room, under the banner. Down on a knee with a plan gold band for a ring, but it was something. She didn't figure he'd want anything too fancy. It'd be too much stress to keep from ruining it at work.
Everyone waited, holding their breath, waiting in anticipation for that light switch to flip. In the back of their mind, some doubted he would say yes. What if he was too scared to commit like that?
Please say yes. Joe thought, as he bit his lip waiting.
"I hope dinner is as good as Talea made it sound," Ponch joked, as he headed into the room with Roy.
"I think you'll like it," he replied, flipping the light switch on. He didn't even know what dinner was tonight. What he did know was that Ponch would completely forget about dinner when he saw this surprise.
The second the lights flipped on, everyone jumped out yelling surprise.
Ponch was startled at first, stopping and taking a step back. He opened his mouth to say something, but then noticed Talea. The love of his life, down on...down on a knee!? He glanced at the banner, tears filled his eyes, he opened his mouth, but couldn't form words.
Talea took a deep breath not sure she could speak herself. "Ponch, uh...I love you...and," she paused looking up at the banner. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
Ponch stepped closer, getting down on his knees, he pulled Talea into a hug. Holding her close, he continued to cry. Overwhelmed with emotions. "Yes. Of course I'll marry you," he said, kissing her. Then going back to just a hug. He said yes, and it was one of the happiest moments of his life...but he couldn't help all the fear and anxiety rising up in him directly afterwards...and everyone was there to see it. Everyone but Jon...
There was an 'Aww' heard from the back of the room as everyone watched the happy couple hug.
The day was a success. Ponch and Talea would be getting married.
A/N: Thanks so much for reading! It means a lot.I just wanted to take a couple minutes at the end of this to once again mention I just hit 101 stories today. A while ago I reached 100 stories, but anyone that was following along in the old days, know most of those stories weren't very great. I took a lot down, and then started again. This time hitting 101 means a lot more to me than it did then.I worked quite hard for it, and I can proudly say I like my progress.Before I end this, I just want to quick shout out to JediJelsa777, thank you for your help with this story and so many others. Thank you for your continued support both on fan fiction and off. Our friendship means a lot, and I'm thankful you're also a reader of mine. I don't know if I ever told you or not, but I used to silently read your stories and just get so excited over how amazing they are. You have been a favorite author of mine for many years now...and I remember the day you reviewed a story of mine for the first time I just started crying and freaking out. Like AHHHHHH ONE OF MY VERY FAVORITE WRITERS IS READING MY STORIES! AHHHH! something like that. :') and now you're like one of my very best friends. So thanks for everything.
la-hija-de-Dios You've also been quite helpful in my fan fic writing. So grateful for all of your help on Oops. Including in the naming and your funny ideas for things I have written and haven't yet. I treasure our friendship as well.
Anerrorhasoccurredloadinglife...dude where do I begin? You've been my biggest supporter from day one on here. You've read some of my most cringey stories, and some of my best. But you're always supportive. Never thought I'd meet my best friend on a fan fiction site, but I did. I can't even picture my life without you. Can honestly say I probably wouldn't be alive or writing this today if it hadn't been for our friendship. You've been there in my lowest points and in some of my better moments... you've just been there for me. Almost six years now, crazy right?To the reviewers, the readers, the followers and the people who have added me to favorite lists. Thank you so much for your support.
To all of my friends on here. I love you guys, and thanks so much for the wonderful memories and many more to come. Thanks for being there for me. I value every single one of you.~Ponchy
