A/N - Hey guys! Thanks so much for all of the kind feedback on the final chapter. It makes me so happy to know that you all have enjoyed this story!

I've been crazy busy, but have been writing and editing in my free time. While I was editing the epilogue, I realized that it could really be split into two. I figured this way, I wouldn't have you waiting forever for it to come out. Part one picks up a little over a year after the final chapter. It will catch us up on Emily and Alison and set the stage for Part two.

Enjoy!

—

Emily listened to the light humming sound of the airplane as she sat in her seat during the long flight over the Atlantic. The plane had been in the air for over three hours, but the destination was still at least another four hours away. She'd been struggling to occupy herself throughout the flight. She had a lot on her mind. Plenty of good things of course- she was on her way to vacation after all, but there were some other things that were causing her to get lost in her thoughts.

When she'd booked this flight six months back, she had a certain plan for what she wanted out of the trip. She felt very unsure about that plan now and had even made arrangements to cancel some of what she'd had in mind. She tried not to feel disappointed. She knew that it would still be a wonderful trip, but right now, as she sat in silence on the plane, she couldn't help but wonder what could have been.

She felt something nudge her shoulder, finally pulling her from her thoughts. She couldn't help but give a little smile when she looked down to where Alison was slumped in the seat beside her. The blonde had fallen asleep about an hour into the flight, which was part of the reason that Emily had been stewing in her thoughts for so long now. Alison brushed her head against Emily's shoulder again in her sleep and Emily exhaled a brief chuckle at her. She lightly pulled her arm out from where it was pinned between them and wrapped it around the other girl. Alison snuggled into her side and Emily felt the soft smile return to her face. She felt bad for feeling the way that she did about the trip and knew that she just had to let go of whatever plans she had tried to make and just enjoy herself.

After all, surely Alison had some reason for not proposing to her yet.

Back when Emily had given Alison the engagement ring back and told the blonde that she wanted her to propose again, she had told Alison to do it when she was ready. The truth was, Emily would have said yes that day if Alison would have asked her. Leading up to that day on the beach, Emily had thought a lot about where she wanted her future with Alison to lead. They were taking their time, but Emily was one hundred percent sure that she wanted to marry Alison again.

But that conversation had taken place almost a year and a half ago, and Emily hadn't seen the ring since.

She hadn't thought much about it early on because they had been so busy. It had all started the previous May, when Alison packed up her apartment in Rosemont and officially moved back into the house in Rosewood with Emily and the twins. She didn't feel any hesitation when she walked out of the door the final time. She was closing the door on a period of her life that hadn't been particularly easy, but it had allowed her to grown and get a chance to prove herself to Emily and to her daughters again. It had given her the chance to win back Emily's heart.

A few weeks after Alison moved back in, Emily started her first year of physical therapy school. The change was a little hectic at first. The commute was tough for Emily to get used to. She'd never had a work commute longer than ten minutes before. Now, she had to leave the house over an hour before her class started to drive to the train station and catch the train into Philadelphia. She loved her classes, though, and once she finally got to the school and the lectures started, she remembered why she'd wanted this so badly to begin with. The material interested her all the way through to the last minute. This wasn't like high school or even college where she had to sit through classes that she really didn't care about. Everything felt relevant to her ultimate goal, and it invigorated her.

It never would have worked without Alison's help at home. The blonde was off from work for the Summer while the college was on break, and that allowed Emily to find her own footing without having to be the primary caretaker of the twins. Alison took over that role during the day, and in the evening when they were all together, Emily made sure to pick up her share of the parenting duties. Once they got their routines down, the days came together fairly seamlessly. Lily and Grace had initially been a little bit confused with Emily's daily departures for school. They were used to her spending her Summers home with them. After a few weeks, they got used to swapping one Mom during the day for the other. All in all, they took well to having Alison back at the house full time.

It was only brought up once, in a simple and short conversation over breakfast almost two months after Alison had moved back in.

"Mommy?" Lily spoke up from the kitchen table. "Why don't we ever go to your house anymore?"

Alison's brows shot up at the question. She was at the counter putting grape jelly on Grace's toast. She'd originally put strawberry on it only for the six-year-old to announce that she didn't like the pink jelly anymore. Alison had initially rolled her eyes, feeling annoyed at the time, but now after hearing Lily's question come out of no where she was glad that she wasn't facing her daughters. She inhaled a slow breath through her nose and turned around slowly to face them. Both girls had their eyes trained on their mother, staring at her full of curiosity.

Alison pushed a sweet smile onto her face and answered simply, "Because I don't live there anymore."

"Why not?" Grace tilted her head.

"Because you live here?" Lily guessed, following up on Alison's answer and Grace's question.

"Yep, I live here with you two monsters." And Emily too, she thought, as her heart warmed.

"Don't you have to go to work?" Grace questioned with a scrunched up nose. She had a skeptical look on her face. Alison could tell that she was trying to figure it all out in her head. The girls were old enough now that they could understand things, and Alison knew that it was important not make it too complicated. The twins often got caught up in the details.

"It's not too far away. I'd rather be closer to you two," she told them simply. She was signing up for a long commute just like Emily was experiencing, though. She was already dreading the end of the summer, but the twins didn't need to hear about that.

"I'm happy you live with us now," Lily told her with a grin.

Alison crosses the kitchen and kissed the top of the little girl's head before placing the toast back down in front of Grace. "Me too, sweetie."

"Yeah, me too," Grace piped up. She'd already shoved a big bite of the toast in her mouth. "Your house was really small."

The blonde couldn't help the half-offended snort that came out. She looked at Grace and then over at Lily, who was enthusiastically nodding to agree with her sister. Alison rolled her eyes with another laugh and shook her head. By the time that she sat back down, the girls were already diving into a new topic, and didn't bring up the living situation again.

Another thing that made the transition easy was that Pam had really cooled off in the six months since finding out that Emily and Alison we're back together. When Emily had initially broke the news to her about Alison moving back in, Pam had been hesitant. She didn't give Emily any grief about it, but she hadn't given her blessings either. Throughout the Summer, she'd dropped in from time to time to see Emily and her granddaughters. She observed the household. It was clear that everyone was happy, and it gave her no reason to object or voice concerns.

Emily hadn't had the heart to ask her mother if she would continue to keep the girls for a few hours each day after school. Pam had been helping out for years now, but the brunette wasn't sure if that was going to continue now that she had chosen to bring Alison back into the house.

But Pam surprised her.

Similar to the way that she'd offered to babysit out one night out of the blue, she didn't the same towards the end of August.

"Is Alison excited for the semester to start back up?" Pam asked Emily. She'd dropped by the house one Sunday afternoon when Ali had been out with the girls. Emily had been studying for an exam that she had the upcoming week, but she put her books aside to catch up with her mother on the porch.

The brunette nodded as she took a sip of lemonade. She knew that Alison had been looking forward to a new school year. She was taking a break on some of the doctoral work so that she didn't have to spend as much time at the college, but she still had a full schedule of teaching.

Her mother took in the response and thought for a moment. "What are your plans for the twins when she goes back?" She asked.

"We're not exactly sure yet," Emily sighed. She and Alison had tossed around a few ideas. Rosewood had an after school program that they were thinking about. It was only four days a week, though, and they would be cutting it tight with the timing of either of them getting back to Rosewood to pick them up. Hanna had offered to help out now that Aidan was starting kindergarten at the same school, but Emily and Alison really didn't want to burden her.

"I'd be happy to keep picking them up from school like I did last year," Pam told her.

Emily knew that she could have asked her mother, but she hadn't exactly been sure of how that would be received. She tilted her head at the offer, wondering if there was more to it.

"Why wouldn't you just ask me?" Her mother pushed.

"I wasn't sure if you'd be willing to keep helping me now that Alison is living here again," Emily admitted softly.

Pam's brows immediately constricted at the answer. "What does that have to do with anything?" She asked.

Emily shrugged, avoiding eye contact and answering the question. Her relationship with her mother had been good for the past few months, but she'd also steered a lot of conversation towards the twins, graduate school, and her friends in an effort to avoid talking about Alison. Her mother had made it clear that she didn't trust the blonde and Emily worried that she thought Alison was moving back in too soon. She'd just been trying to keep things as positive and amicable as possible.

"Hunny, no matter how I feel about your relationship choices, I will always be here for the girls." Pam leaned in trying to make eye contact with her daughter, "And I'll always be here to support you too."

Emily met her mother's eyes and gave her a small smile. Deep inside, she knew that Pam would always be there for her. It was a relief that she didn't need to choose between her relationship with Ali or her mother. That had been part of why shed'd been trying to keep those two parts of her life separate. It was nice to have that clarity and move forward with it.

As Emily and Alison started to settle into their rhythm for the Fall, there was one more big change that happened in their circle. In September, Spencer and Toby's baby was born and everyone's hearts had gotten a little bit bigger. It was clear from the first day when they all went to the hospital that Henry Cavanaugh already had a special personality that was all his own. Every time he opened his eyes, the bright blue orbs danced around the room curiously mapping out the features ofthe new things that he was seeing. Both Emily and Alison couldn't stop smiling during the visit to the hospital. They were both so happy for Spencer and Toby to finally have a child of their own. Emily couldn't wait to watch Toby grow into a father. She had seen over the years how good he was with kids and she had no doubt that he would be great with his own. Alison was happy for Spencer, but she was also happy that Spencer was finally joining the parents club and would finally understand how crazy life with kids actually was. Spencer could handle anything, but she was looking forward to watching her learn this new role too.

Emily remembered that day in the hospital vividly. She and Alison had driven down to Philadelphia with the twins on a Saturday morning to meet the new baby. Hanna had come with Aidan about a half hour later and met them all there. Everyone took turns marveling at the new addition. It had been exciting over the years to watch their circle grow bigger. It meant more love, more happiness, more reason to be excited for the future.

The kids had watched the new baby curiously. Aidan was used to new babies being around, and the twins had been fascinated with newborns ever since meeting Ava two years ago.

"Are you going to get another baby soon too?" Grace asked Aidan with her brows pinched in curiosity. The kids were five and six and while they knew that babies came from their Moms, they really didn't know much else.

"No, my Mommy says we're not getting anymore babies," Aidan told her seriously. He glanced up at Hanna who nodded her head in approval. Clearly they'd had this talk before. "Are you guys going to get a new baby?" He asked as if it was something that they could get from the mall.

Grace tilted her head at the question. She didn't know. They'd never talked about it at home. She looked at Lily to see if she knew. Her sister was usually paying a bit more attention.

"I don't know," Lily told her, stumped. She looked up at Emily. "Are we going to get a baby too, Mama?" She asked.

Emily felt her eyes go wide at the question. She didn't want to say no when she and Alison had talked about maybe having another baby someday. At the same time, though, she didn't want to answer the question in detail, especially not with all of their friends around.

"I thought you wanted a puppy, sweetie," Alison spoke up, saving her.

Lily thought for a second and then nodded her head wildly, "I do."

"You're getting a puppy?!" Aidan asked, excitedly.

"Maybe. If they can be good until their birthday, we're going to talk about it." Alison clarified. She eyed the twins, making sure that they knew it wasn't set in stone just yet.

"I'm going to be good," Lily confirmed. She looked at her sister, clearly more worried that she would ruin it for them.

Grace nodded. "I get to name it though."

The kids then debated the pros and cons of several different prospective names for their puppy. The puppy that they didn't have. Alison and Emily knew that they were too busy as a family to get a dog, so they were hoping that putting it off until the next June would buy some time.

Once the room had moved on, she had sought out the blonde's hand below the hospital bed. Alison had made it clear that she wanted another baby, and Emily wanted to make sure that she was okay. She squeezed her hand softly. It wasn't the time yet. They would get married first this time and make sure that their relationship was on solid ground. She was looking forward to their future when they got there.

But now, it was almost a year later and Alison hadn't even hinted at a proposal in sight. Sure, they were on their way to a vacation, but the trip hadn't even been Ali's idea. Emily had basically planned the whole thing as a surprise and then clued her in a few months ago. At the time that she was planning the trip she had big ideas. She'd spent nearly all of the free time that she had alone planning and making calls.

She wanted them to get married on this trip.

She'd arranged for a private dinner outside of the city. The pictures that she'd seen of the landscape were beautiful and the Eiffel Tower was even visible far away in the distance from the grounds. She had been able to track down a minister to officiate and had even found a jewelry store in Paris that they could buy rings at. At the time that she was doing all of this planning, it never even crossed her mind that they might not be engaged by now.

When she'd given the ring back to Alison, she had told the blonde to propose when she was ready. Emily understood that it might take a little bit of time to get there, but she really didn't think that it would be more than a few months. After Alison moved in, it had basically felt like they were married again. The transition had gone smoothly and despite little bickering arguments when both women were struggling during finals weeks, they had been solid. Did Alison actually not want to get married again?

About two weeks before the trip, Emily had finally pulled the plug on her plans. She could usually read the blonde pretty well and knew when she was up to something. There was absolutely nothing indicating to Emily that Alison had any plans of proposing in Paris. She kept the private dinner (it had already been on their itinerary for Alison to see anyway) but contacted the minister to let him know that his services were no longer needed.

She was bummed. And she was trying really hard not to act like it. As the flight cruised high over the Atlantic Ocean, Emily did her best to let her mind move on to other, happier thoughts. This wasn't going to be the destination wedding that she had hoped for, but she was still finally getting to go to Paris with the love of her life. It was going to be wonderful. She just had to let go of what she'd hoped for and let them make amazing memories.

—

Alison finally realized that something was up with Emily during the cab ride to their hotel.

She had noticed that the brunette was quiet earlier on the flight, but chalked it up to travel anxiety. She knew that Emily didn't really like flying on airplanes. Emily had told her plenty of times in the past that she didn't like feeling out of control while flying. She didn't like knowing that if something happened in the air, she had no control over the situation.

But they were on the ground now, and Emily was looking somewhat wistfully out the window and still not making much conversation. "Hey," Alison reached across the backseat for arm to get her attention. "You okay?"

Emily turned towards her, snapping from whatever stream of thought that she was in. "Yeah," she nodded, "just a little jet lagged I think." She gave Alison a small smile.

It would make sense if Emily was her lagged. They'd flown out of Philadelphia at 4pm and it was mid-morning in Paris the next day by that they had cleared customs. Alison had done her best to get some rest during the flight, but every time that she woke up, it seemed like Emily was awake. She inspected the other girl's smile. It didn't quite reach her eyes. It made Alison wonder if something else was going on. Had she pissed Emily off sometime in the last twelve hours? She couldn't really think of anything that she'd done. Sure, their bodies were adjusting to the new timezone, but they were finally on vacation. Alison was excited. Why wasn't Emily?

She decided not to push the other girl on it. Alison rubbed her arm a little bit and returned the smile. "I think we're almost there. We can clean up and get some rest."

They had figured that they would be a little bit tired upon arrival. Their plan was to take it easy on their first day and relax in the hotel before exploring a bit and grabbing dinner out on the town.

When they got back to the hotel, Emily told Alison that she was going to go ahead and grab a shower. "Want company?" The blonde asked in a flirty tone. She gave a mischievous brow wiggle to further her point.

Emily breathed out a laugh. "I'd like some company in bed afterwards," she offered.

"But not before?" Alison pouted.

Emily gave a small smile, "I think I just need some space to decompress after that long flight."

Alison nodded, accepting the answer. Emily had flown back and forth from Rosewood to California plenty of times during college, but the flight to Europe was double the time. Alison figured that if Emily wanted space, she should give it to her.

She heard the shower start after a few minutes and decided to spend the time that she was waiting by unpacking her bag. She'd been so excited for this trip that she'd packed over a week ago. She'd kept her suitcase sitting by the door the until it was time to leave and it had been a reminder of their trip each time she passed it throughout the week. She hoped that nothing was actually wrong with Emily. She really wanted to have a perfect, romantic vacation. She'd been dreaming about taking this trip with this girl since she was about thirteen.

The blonde took a small key from her purse and unlocked her suitcase. Her parents had always been big proponents of locking this luggage on international flights when she was growing up, and she had picked up on that habit. She pulled a few items from the top of the clothing pile and set them in the bed. She took a moment and inspected the drawer situation in the hotel room. She figured it would be nice to space out her things by putting the clothes into the drawers. When she picked up a stack of folded shirts, she saw something small and distinctive fall out and hit the floor. She gasped at the sight, staring down at the item for a good thirty seconds as her brain put together what it was seeing.

It was the ring. The engagement ring that she'd given to Emily years ago. The same ring that Emily had asked her to propose again with. The one that she'd given to Pam a year and a half ago and hadn't been spoken of since.

She kept staring at the ring lying on the white carpeted floor as if it had been magically transported there. She'd wanted to ask Pam about it so many times, especially recently. Was the older woman still on the fence about trusting her? Was the ring ever something that Alison would be able to earn back? When Emily had told her about the trip that she'd started planning for them, Alison's first thought had immediately gone to finally proposing again in Paris. It was the perfect romantic destination and would beat her crazy original pug-sweater proposal before she would even open her mouth. The problem was that she couldn't propose without a ring. And Pam hadn't given it to her yet. She wondered how in the world the ring had gotten there. She wasn't imagining this, right?

She came back to reality and quickly scanned the room with a swivel of her head to make sure that Emily hadn't seen anything. She let out a breath in relief that she was still alone. The shower was still running in the next room, so she was good. She picked up the ring off of the floor and inspected it. Yep, still the same ring. Her heart started pounding in her chest. Was this it? Was she finally getting the chance to propose again?

She shifted through the clothes in her suitcase and found a small bag with a note attached. The ring must have fallen out in the shuffle. She eyed the note, realizing Pam's neat cursive writing right away.

Alison,

Trust is a complicated thing. I've been holding on to this ring for four hundred and ninety eight days now. During that time, I've watched you and Emily continue to grow together. I've been proud of you as a woman, as a mother, and as a partner to my daughter. But we both know that it can only take one day to lose trust. I do know that I want to trust you. I love you and I see the love that you have for Emily. Despite anything that has happened in the past, I continue to see you as another daughter. As a parent, you will always want to protect your children, and while I'm not sure if I'm ready for this or not, I know that you and Emily are. I can see how much you love each other. I've seen that love grow everyday, and I want it to continue to grow as you enter this new phase of your lives. I wanted you to have the chance to use this ring during your vacation if that is what you want. I want to trust you and so you have my blessing. Good luck-

Pam

The blonde read the note over a second time. This was it. This was what she had been waiting for, right? Pam didn't say that she fully trusted Alison, but she said that she wanted to. She'd take that. A part of her was actually shocked at the words. Sure, she had been doing everything right, but as time had gone on she'd started to wonder if she was ever going to get Pam's blessing again. She wanted it badly for herself, and she could sense that Emily was starting to get impatient. Luckily, there had been so much going on at home that there really hadn't been time to address it.

In April, Jason, Aria, and Kate had come to celebrate Easter with Alison, Emily, and the twins. Normally, Alison was excited to see her brother during holidays, especially now that he and Aria were together, but she had some things that she had to talk to him about. She wasn't looking forward to the conversation, because she really didn't know how he was going to react.

She had waited until Jason snuck outside to hide Easter Eggs for the kids. She watched him from the window, and when the basket was almost empty she took one last big sip of wine and followed him outside.

"They haven't been peaking, have they?" Jason asked when he saw his sister walking up.

"No," Alison shook her head. She took a deep breath before adding, "There's something I wanted to talk to you about quick." Jason raised a brow, sensing her nervousness. "Can we sit?" Alison asked him. She motioned towards the front porch.

Jason followed her lead and sat down next to her. "What's up, Ali?"

Alison bit her lip. She and Emily had been talking this over for weeks. They'd agreed that she would talk to Jason about it today and she hadn't been nervous until about ten minutes ago. If he didn't agree, Alison wasn't sure how she and Emily would proceed. She looked up at her brother and could see the concerned look on his face. She didn't want to freak him out, so she just went ahead and started talking. "Em and I have been struggling with our commutes the last few months."

Jason nodded. He'd deducted as much from previous conversations about Emily taking the train to Philadelphia every morning, Alison driving to Rosemont, and both of them trying to get home to Rosewood in time to eat dinner with the twins. He knew the area enough to know that they traveled during peak traffic hours and what a headache it was.

"We've been talking about it and we're thinking of moving," she told him.

Jason's brows shot up. It shouldn't have been a surprise, but it seemed like Alison would live in that house forever. "Where would you move to?" He asked.

She shrugged. "We're not totally sure yet. We were thinking somewhere close to a train station for Emily and closer to Rosemont for me." They didn't want to move too far away. They'd talked about it and they wanted to stay close to Hanna and Pam who were still in Rosewood. The girls were young enough that they didn't think switching schools would be too hard on them. There was a private school near Rosemont College with a good after school program that Alison could commit to picking them up from on time each day. Pam had been a big help this first full school year, but they knew that they couldn't rely on Emily's mom forever. Plus, as the twins got older they were more aware of how their day was being broken up by all of the shuffling around. She and Emily had talked it over and felt confident that the move would be good for their family and for their relationship. Ideally they wanted to get into a new house before Emily's summer session started. "What do you think?" She asked her brother.

"I think that it's probably a good idea. You're both spending hours driving everyday. It makes sense." He nodded and looked back up at her with a light chuckle. "You were making it sound so serious."

Alison huffed out a nervous laugh. What she'd told him already was the easy part. "Well... we'd have to sell the this house before we did anything."

"Oh..." Realization finally hit Jason.

This was why Alison had been nervous. The house was technically in Jason's name. It was more of a formality than anything. The ownership of the house had been shuffling around since their family had moved out following Alison's disappearance in high school. Still though everyone, Jason included, referred to it as Alison's house once she started living there full time. Alison didn't particularly want to sell it. There was so much history tied up in that house that it physically felt like a part of her. The problem was that if they were going to move to a new house, they would need the cash to do so. They had some money tucked away in savings, but with Emily in school right now, they really didn't want to touch it. Selling the house was really the only way to make the move happen. "I feel like you and I should talk about it first though. I could handle the sale since you're not in town and then we can split the money after it closes. What do you think?"

Jason didn't answer right away. He took a deep breath and then stood up. He sat on the railing to face the house. "I'm not sure..." He told her. He looked the house over a few times. "You really want to sell it?"

Alison shrugged. There had been a lot of bad memories tied to this house, but there were also so many good ones. Aside from their shared memories growing up, Alison and Emily has made so many memories with their own daughters. It was more a move out of necessity than anything, and she felt like moving on from it was okay to do with the upside that it would bring to their family. "Are you opposed to selling it?" She asked. She and Emily didn't exactly have a backup plan, but if Jason didn't agree with the decision, they would have to come up with something. It wouldn't be right to go against his wishes.

"I'm not... opposed. It's just a lot to think about." He ran his hand along the railing. "Can I sleep on it? We'll talk more about it tomorrow?"

"Sure... yeah." Alison nodded. She was already feeling a little bit deflated. It seemed like she and Emily might have to go back to the drawing board on this one.

They went inside and enjoyed their Easter together. Later that night, Alison had relayed everything to Emily and the brunette calmed her down. "Whatever he wants to do, we'll find a way to make it work for us." She'd told her. They had been so much better at balancing each other out lately. Whenever one of them was down and needed something, the other was able to pick them up. It was just another aspect on this list of things that made their relationship stronger this time around.

Jason wound up calling the next morning with a proposition that Alison didn't see coming. It turned out that with Kate starting kindergarten in the fall, Aria and Jason had been looking for somewhere more permanent to live during the school year. They wanted to give the little girl stability in these early years and had already been thinking of making the move back to Rosewood. Jason offered to just buy Alison out of her half of the house. That way, she and Emily would be able to put a down payment onto a new house and Jason and Aria could just move into the old DiLaurentis house before school started. It was definitely a win-win situation.

Emily and Alison found a new house quickly and in the next two months had closed on it, making it theirs. Alison could remember the day that they signed the final papers and were given the keys. She had stood in the open kitchen with Emily, the two of them looking at the empty house that would soon be filled with their furniture and their family.

"Happy?" Alison asked Emily. She ran her hand over the marble countertop on the kitchen island. This was the house that they had wanted the most out of all of the ones that they had toured together. It had four bedrooms, and open concept main floor, and a finished basement. From the moment that they had walked in, they were able to picture themselves in it. They talked about watching the twins grow up here, expanding their family, and finally being able to build a household that was all their own.

"Yeah, I love it," Emily turned towards her with a smile on her face and a sparkle in her eye. "It's ours."

Alison felt her heart pick up at the words. It was theirs. It wasn't a house that she grew up in, or the house that she used to share with Archer; This one was hers and Emily. Their family's. "Ours," she nodded. She couldn't stop the big smile from making its way onto her face.

Emily's smile grew at the sight of Alison's dimples. She moved forward, placing her hands on either side of the blonde's hips and captured her lips in a heated kiss. The brunette was happy too. Alison could feel it.

They'd spent over an hour together in the house after that, ending with both of them naked on the hardwood floors of the kitchen. The new house was a fresh start for their family, and it felt like their future was moving forward. Of course there had been a few times where they felt stuck. Alison could remember during the loan application process, Emily commenting how much easier it would have been if they were still married. The blonde hadn't missed the edge in the tone at the time. She knew that Emily wanted to get married again. Alison did too, but she was waiting for the green light.

And now, as she stared at the ring, she realized that she finally had it.

She took a deep breath and nodded to herself, trying to bring her mind out of her thoughts. Prior to leaving on the trip, she thought that there was a chance that Pam might give her blessing, but when that didn't happen she assumed that the other woman still wasn't ready. She could hear Emily's shower running, and moved to tuck the note and the ring deep into her suitcase. The last thing that she needed was for the brunette to spot the ring and have another proposal ruined.

She walked to the window and took in the view of the city, trying to calm herself as her emotions raced. Emily had obviously put some thought into their hotel room. The view was amazing, and she could see several of the city's landmarks. She looked around, was she really going to propose on this trip? Here? In Paris? It should have been a dream come true, but she felt herself panicking. She gazed at various points of the city, taking another deep breath. How was she going to figure out the perfect proposal on such short notice?

"Whatcha doing?"

Emily's voice startled her. She turned around and saw the brunette standing there with wet, freshly combed hair and wearing a white hotel robe. Alison had been so deep in thought that she hadn't even noticed the shower turn off. She pushed a small smile onto her face. "Just taking in the view," she told her and raised her brows. "It's beautiful."

"I agree..." Emily walked up closer to her. She put her hand on Alison's hip and leaned in for a kiss. When they parted, she continued to look directly at Alison, dark eyes peering into her own.

It was clear that Emily wasn't just talking about the city outside of their window. Alison could see the shift in the brunette's demeanor. She was much less tense than she'd been on the plane and in the cab. Maybe she just had been jet lagged like she said. She certainly seemed refreshed now. Alison leaned in and pressed her lips against Emily's again. She always craved being close to her and struggled to resist when Emily was in such a loving mood. She wanted this to be a trip to remember and that was going to require her to let go of her own anxieties about the ring and meeting expectations. "You smell good," she commented.

"The soap in there is really nice," Emily commented. Her smile morphed into a sultry smirk and she shrugged nonchalantly. "You should check it out."

Alison thought for a minute. "Will you join me if I do?" She asked.

"I was just in there..." Emily laughed.

"I know, but..." She reached down and took Emily's hands in her own. She started walking backwards, towards the bathroom, and felt herself smile when Emily followed her lead. She knew that the brunette wouldn't turn her down- certainly not with the way that she had been looking at her.

They were finally in Paris. Together. And despite being nervous at the prospect of finding the perfect time and place to propose to Emily, Alison was determined to kick the vacation off right. She leaned in for one more kiss once they reached the shower and turned around to start the water. Before she could turn her body back towards Emily, she felt the brunette's arms around her and her lips on her neck. Emily slowly started to lift Alison's shirt off of her and Alison knew that it wouldn't be long until their trip was off to a good start.

—

A/N - Emison has to go to Paris together, right? I always thought that based on the timeline of their relationship and the divorce happening when the twins were still toddlers that it was unlikely that they ever made it there together. So I had to send them. Look out for Part two.

Cheers! Thanks again!