A/N: Thank you all so much for reading. It's been a blast writing this story, and I appreciate all your feedback along the way.

PS - Many of you may be familiar with JenRar, a Plum fanfic author. JenRar is in need of some support, and members of the Plum and Twilight fanfic communities have come together to create a fundraiser. They will be taking donations until Thanksgiving 2020, and anyone who would like to donate to the cause will receive access to a compilation of fanfic stories from authors of the Plum and Twilight fandoms. These stories will be exclusive to the fundraiser for at least a couple of months. Some of the wonderful Plum authors participating include babefan2019, sonomom, Girliegirl1179, Roscommon, and Christibabe. If you are interested in learning more, search for the group "Fanfic Fundraiser for Jenny Rarden" on Facebook.

Epilogue

Ten Months Later

"Quit lollygagging! It's time to go!" My mother's voice carried up the stairs and propelled me back to my formative years. I'd heard that particular refrain countless times in all manner of circumstances. Today, the overriding emotion in the Plum household was eager anticipation.

"You look great, Grandma," I said again. She'd insisted that we get ready together. After a morning appointment at the Cut 'N Curl, a mani/pedi at home, and then nearly an hour fussing with makeup, I had reached my limit with the primping and prepping.

"You don't think my dress clashes with my hair?" she asked, tilting her chin this way then that while she studied the mirror.

Since Grandma's new hair color was somewhere in the neighborhood of Tweety Bird, it was a fair bet that anything would clash. But since my mother was right and we actually did have to get going, best not to bring that up. "Not at all. Your dress complements the undertones."

Grandma pursed her lips and then nodded. "I think so too."

"So are you ready to go?" I took the liberty of collecting her shawl and small beaded purse from the top of her dresser.

"You seem awfully antsy," she told me. "But I guess I can see why you'd be in a hurry. Are you nervous?"

I ushered Grandma out into the hallway. "Why would I be nervous?"

"Just wondered if maybe you were having any second thoughts."

"Of course not!"

"I didn't think so," she assured me. And with that, we hustled down the stairs.

My father was in his recliner in front of the television, where he would remain until the moment we were ready to walk out the door. He'd done this dance before and knew that there were still several precious moments of relaxation ahead of him even after my mother had issued her warning to lollygaggers.

"Looking spiffy, Dad," I called to him. He wore a dark gray suit with a blue tie. It was fine that he was slouching in his chair, since no wrinkle would dare appear under my mother's roof.

Hearing us come down the stairs, my mother bustled out from the kitchen. She stopped when she saw us and pressed her hands over her heart. "Oh, my. Don't you look beautiful."

"Thanks," Grandma said. "It's because the green in my dress complements the undertones in my new hair."

My mother's gaze slid to Grandma, and her eyes widened when they caught on her hair. I watched her struggle with that one for a moment, but apparently not even Tweety Bird could upset my mother today. "Isn't that nice," she managed.

"Should we get going?" I encouraged, starting to edge towards the door.

My mother's attention was still on Grandma's hair, and she gave a small grimace.

"On second thought, why don't we have a quick sip of some liquid courage?" I suggested. I needed to nip that grimace in the bud. "I think we could all use it."

My mother looked relieved and immediately turned for the kitchen. "Yes, I was going to suggest the same."

"Good thinking," Grandma agreed. Then she elbowed me in the ribs. "I knew you were a little nervous."

My mother whirled on us, her hands strangling a bottle of whiskey and her eyes containing way too much excitement. "Are you nervous? Because if you are, I'm sure it's not too late. You could -"

"Stop!" I held up a hand like a traffic cop. "Both of you, stop. I'm not nervous. Why would I be?"

"I just don't want you to think that it's too late," my mother told me earnestly. "If you've changed your mind, I'm sure you could -"

"Changed my mind?" I cried. "No, I haven't changed my mind! I'm in love with Ranger. He makes me happy."

Grandma nodded sagely. "That's what I thought. And I can see why, if you know what I mean."

"Appearances aren't everything," my mother cautioned.

I rolled my eyes so hard I nearly fell over. "Seriously? Now you decide on this philosophy?"

"There's a lot more to Carlos than appearances." I jumped a little turned to see my father standing in the threshold of the kitchen. "And you only need to see the way he looks at Stephanie to see that he loves her more than life itself."

"Thanks, Dad," I said, trying not to get choked up. My dad's idea of an emotional conversation was when he heard that we'd run out of pot roast, so this meant a lot coming from him.

My mother sighed, and held out a glass with a finger's worth of whiskey. "You know I only want you to be happy, right?"

"I know. And I am. Thank you." I knew that was true, but I also suspected that my happiness wasn't all my mother wanted. Probably she wouldn't mind if Ranger and I decided to buy the house across the street, get matching boring jobs at the button factory, and start popping out grandkids. That wasn't going to happen anytime… well, ever.

"To being happy," Grandma proposed. The three of us clinked our glasses together and knocked back a bracing shot of whiskey.

The drive to the church only took five minutes, but the hunt for a parking spot took ten. I never would've expected for this to turn into such a circus, but the will of pushy mothers was not to be underestimated. Surely it would go down as the Burg Wedding of the Year. Oh boy.

We really were running a little late, and only a few stragglers were still making their way toward the big double doors. A gaggle of people, probably cousins twice or thrice removed, were loitering on the front stoop.

Grandma turned back to look at me, and I realized I had frozen on the blacktop. "You trying to hang back so you can make a dramatic entrance? That's a good plan. Count me in."

It was decidedly not a good plan. I didn't have any desire to draw more attention to myself than was necessary. "I think I left my phone in the car," I told her. "You go on ahead, though, don't wait for me. You don't want to miss out on the good seats."

Grandma didn't have to think about that for long. "You're right. We don't want to be left to the nosebleeds, or behind a pillar or something. Well hurry up! You don't want to keep Ranger waiting."

Truth be told, the knowledge that Ranger was waiting for me was the only thing that was keeping me from bolting. It felt ridiculous to admit, even to myself, but I was a little nervous. Not for the reasons my mother was probably thinking - I couldn't be more confident in the choices I'd made. But the idea of walking in there and having the eyes of the entire Burg turn toward me was not exciting.

I'd been the one who'd asked Ranger to do this today in the first place. I couldn't back out now. But I could at least be a little less conspicuous. Hopefully. It was that kernel of hope that had me trudging around the back of the building to the access door that was traditionally only used for Sunday school. Thankfully it was unlocked.

I gently lowered myself into one of the kiddie-sized chairs in the Sunday school room, careful not to step on my dress in the process. Probably I had about five minutes left before most everyone would be seated. I took up a staring contest with the door, listening to the indistinguishable buzz of voices from the other side. What was with these nerves of mine?

I hadn't seen Ranger since yesterday morning, and as corny as it sounded, I missed him. He wasn't traveling or needing to go 'in the wind' nearly as often these days, and I'd grown spoiled having him home every night. It had only taken him about a week after we'd wrapped up the Gabriella/Cordero case before he'd officially convinced me to move in. What can I say? Willpower has never been my strong suit.

So yes - I was excited to see Ranger. It was seeing everyone else that was giving me a tiny bit of heartburn. I could only imagine how much Maalox Morelli must have gone through in the past couple of weeks.

The exterior door opened and I turned in time to see my dad walk through the threshold. He gave me a gentle smile. "It's now or never."

He helped me to my feet and I was relieved to notice that the drone of voices had died down. Most people must be in the pews already. My dad offered me his arm and I took it, letting him lead me through the hallway and out to the vestibule just inside the main doors.

"Ready?" he asked quietly.

I took a bracing breath and let the warmth in my chest spread through my body. "Yes."

My dad opened the door in front of us and led us through it, and my eyes immediately found Ranger's. His gaze dropped down my body and then back up, and he raised an eyebrow ever-so-slightly. 'Babe', he mouthed and I grinned in return.

Then I turned my eyes to the front of the church to where Joe stood before the sanctuary. He was in his full casino pit boss glory, wearing a classic back suit. He stood with his hands in his pockets and was rocking a bit on his heels, belaying his nerves. I met his eyes and his smile widened. I winked at him, and he nodded in return.

My dad and I made our way down the first few feet of the aisle, shuffling to our seats. I slid in next to Ranger, and my father made his way down a couple more pews to the seat that had been saved for him next to my mother and Grandma Mazur. Ranger's hand immediately moved to my thigh and he turned to press his lips to my cheek.

"Took you long enough." His low voice in my ear never failed to give me goosebumps. "I was starting to think you were standing me up."

"Never."

"You good?"

"I am now," I answered honestly. "Just promise you won't leave me to the wolves when this is over."

He chuckled. "No regrets that we didn't do this?"

"None." My thumb began to absentmindedly play with the rings on my left finger. My anxiety over even attending a Burg wedding only reinforced my surety in our decision.

Ranger proposed to me on December first and we were married in a private ceremony three days later. He'd offered to procure us a marriage license without the three day waiting period - even promised it would still be legal - but I had wanted a little time to enjoy calling him my fiance. The glow of that still hadn't worn off by the time he became my husband, although that moniker had a pretty pleasant ring to it too.

Besides, I'd needed some time to pick a destination. There were a lot of desirable options and Ranger had said the sky was the limit. My priorities were sun, surf, and sand, since it had been a high of thirty degrees in Trenton that week. When I'd finally compiled my list and shared it with him, Hawaii had been at the top. Ranger confessed that he too had fantasized about being married for real the last time we'd been on the island together. That sealed the deal, and we were on a flight the next day.

It had been perfect. If I had to guess, I'd say that we were clothed for a maximum of twenty percent of the next two weeks. We'd spent our honeymoon in a luxurious and secluded bungalow with a private section of beach. I was counting down the days before we'd return for our first anniversary.

Sure, we faced some pretty serious flack from both sides of the family when we returned. But I still wouldn't trade it for anything.

A hush settled over the room, and we all turned expectantly as the double doors opened wide. The bridal party was significant, but you'd expect nothing less of a Jersey Italian wedding. Even half-Italian. The stream of flower girls and bridesmaids was followed by a pause while we all stood for the bride. Lauren Lovick appeared in the threshold, looking like an angel in white.

I turned back to see Morelli with a radiant smile and, if I wasn't mistaken, maybe even some mist in his eyes. He blinked it back and I watched his shoulders rise with a deep breath. His gaze never once left Lauren's as she made her way slowly down the aisle. My happiness for them, and for me, settled like a warm hand over my heart.

The ceremony drug on a bit, as Catholic weddings were apt to do. They'd chosen to go full-out with a mass and everything, so by the time the priest announced them man and wife, my butt had gone numb from sitting on the hard pew. Morelli dipped Lauren Lovick, now Lauren Morelli, in a passionate kiss while the onlookers exploded with joy.

No sooner had the recessional ended than Mrs. Giovichinni turned to me from her seat across the aisle. "Oh, dear. I can't imagine how you sat through that."

I braced myself for perhaps-well-meaning and yet probably-condescending commentary and got ready to wave her away.

"That's the worst pew you're sitting in. Anyone knows that. I'd imagine your rear ends are dead asleep."

I couldn't argue with her on that. We stood from the pew and started to join the crowds funneling out, and I caught Mrs. Giovichinni craning her neck to peek at Ranger's rear. Couldn't argue with her about that, either. "It did seem a bit long, didn't it," I agreed blandly.

"You two were smart to avoid all this nonsense." She waved her hand at the decked-out and jam-packed church.

I blinked in surprise and may have been gaping like a fish. Hadn't expected for a bonafide, card-carrying Burg Busybody to take that stance. If you listened to my mother, the entire Burg had been absolutely horrified by my elopement. Stella Manciatti's daughter didn't elope. Eleanor Steuben's daughter didn't elope. Only Helen Plum's daughter would dare buck the Burg traditions that had been instilled since birth.

Ranger swooped in with a hand at the small of my back and offered a polite smile to Mrs. Giovichinni. "Couldn't agree more. Have a nice day."

He maneuvered us to the exit and managed to smoothly extricate us from the sea of bodies. Dusk was beginning to descend upon us as we spilled out into the parking lot. People were hurrying to their cars, eager to get to the reception and the promise of an open bar. And speaking of… "Let me just find my mother and let her know that we'll see her there. I don't want them waiting for me."

"Are we going to the reception?" Ranger asked.

I stopped short and turned back to him. "Aren't we?"

He shrugged. "Up to you, Babe. I didn't think it would be up your alley."

Of course it wasn't. But I was expected, wasn't I? Wouldn't I feel a little guilty if I skipped? But I'd been making more of a conscious effort lately to try to separate my own conscience from that of the voice inside me that sounded an awful lot like my mother's. So I took a moment to evaluate whether I wanted to go to the reception.

"What about the cake?" I asked of no one in particular.

A corner of Ranger's mouth lifted in a wry smile. "I'll buy you your own cake."

Well when he put it that way… "Let me just go congratulate the happy couple real quick, and then we can go home."

"I'll be here," he promised.

It took some well-placed elbows and strategic 'scuse me's, but I managed to fight my way back into the church. Joe and Lauren were holding court in the corner of the vestibule and I inserted myself into the line of well-wishers. I tried hard not to make direct eye contact with anyone, lest they feel the need to come over and ask me whether I regretted breaking Joe's heart, or whether I was jealous of Lauren, or whether I was planning on keeping a little something going with Joe on the side. All of which I had already been asked in multiple variations ever since the invitations had gone out.

I hadn't seen Morelli much over the past year. Sometimes we ran into each other at the police station or at the market. Occasionally at the Tasty Pastry, which typically brought up an unusual combination of feelings. Our interactions had been cordial at first, and then slowly evolved into friendly. Morelli had been an important part of my life for years. I was glad that we'd been able to settle pretty seamlessly into a new sort of normal, though I had been a little surprised to receive a wedding invitation.

No doubt Lauren had a lot to do with that. I'd only ever had one true conversation with her. She'd sought me out about six weeks after Joe and I broke up. She said that he'd withdrawn from her a little after the breakup, but that he was starting to come back and wanting to get a little more serious. She wanted to know if he and I were really over, and if she had my blessing. I told her I wasn't Joe's Keeper, but that I wanted him to be happy, and I thought she could be a part of that. She seemed like a genuinely good person. I was thinking about hooking her and my mother up on some sort of date.

I watched her laughing with one of her bridesmaids. She kept a hand on Joe's shoulder, leaning into him slightly, while his arm was around her waist. They hadn't stopped touching since her father had handed her over before the ceremony. I knew that feeling - Ranger was constantly finding excuses to touch me, and I had to admit that I loved it.

Finally I made it to the front of the line, and I encountered Lauren first while Morelli was shaking hands with his Great Uncle Mickey. Lauren's radiant smile never wavered, and to my surprise she pulled me into a hug. "I'm so glad you came!"

"Thanks for inviting me." I awkwardly returned her embrace. "It was a beautiful ceremony."

She rolled her eyes. "It was a long ceremony. But thank you. And now your reward for sitting through it is that you get to come party, and the drinks are on us!"

Her smile was contagious. "We won't make it to the reception, so I wanted to come and give you both my best wishes."

"Skipping out before cake?" Morelli asked, turning to us. He moved his arm up to Lauren's shoulders and pulled her closer. "I hope it's not a matter of life or death."

"Nope. Just a prior commitment," I fibbed. Guess it wasn't a fib if you counted my commitment to no longer being fodder for Burg gossip.

"Well I'm glad that you were able to make it to the ceremony at least," Lauren told me. She reached out to lay a hand on my forearm and gave an affectionate squeeze. "It means a lot that you came. Thank you."

Lauren turned to face the next people in the line of well-wishers, and I shuffled forward a little until I was standing right in front of Morelli. "Congratulations," I told him.

"Thanks." His smile turned a little wry around the edges. "My invitation to Hawaii must've gotten lost in the mail, huh?"

I gave him a pointed look. "We all had so much fun the last time we were there, I can't believe we forgot to include you."

He chuckled. "I'm happy for you, Cupcake. He's a good man. The right man."

The last part of me that was still clenched with worry finally relaxed. "Thanks. You got the right one, too."

He turned his gaze to Lauren and the adoration on his face was unmistakable. "I know."

"Take care, Joe."

He nodded, and with that I shuffled out of the way to make room for the last of the line of people. The church had been slowly emptying out, and it wasn't difficult to make my way back out to the parking lot and find Ranger right where I'd left him.

As soon as I was within grabbing distance, he took my hand and reeled me into him. "I told your parents we weren't planning on attending the reception, but that we'd see them at dinner next Friday."

I braced my hands on his chest and looked up at him. "And my mother just accepted that answer? There was no argument over us skipping out early?"

"I told you, Babe. You just need to stand your ground. Your mother responds well when you speak with authority." The corner of his mouth twitched. "Come to think of it, so do you."

I scoffed and pulled away, and slapped at his hands when he tried to pull me back. I marched over to the Cayenne and didn't need any superpowers of observation to know that he was right on my heels. When I reached the SUV I turned around and leaned my butt against the passenger door, and Ranger kept moving until he was pressing me against the car.

"Take me home," I told him. Authoritatively.

"There you go," he praised. Then he brushed his lips over mine and pulled back to give me a private smile. "Would you still like to stop for cake first?"

Probably Ella would have already fixed up a dessert to go with our dinner. It wouldn't be wedding cake, but it might be something even better. She'd made some inroads with my mother and had managed to obtain the coveted pineapple upside-down cake recipe. Plus, with Ranger's warm body pressing into mine, my priorities were starting to shift away from dessert and onto other delicious things.

"Unnecessary," I decided. "Let's just go home."