"Phantom! Oh, Lee! This is so amazing. I've always wanted to see Phantom at the Majestic! And on Valentine's Day!"

"I'm glad you're excited, sweetheart. We are staying in a suite at the Hyatt in Times Square too. This is going to be a weekend to remember."

She squealed again and kissed him soundly. "So excited!" He laughed as she ran upstairs. He assumed her mind was now on what to pack for their trip in three days so he sat on the couch in her living room and texted Beth.

"It's a go! Headed 2 NYC this weekend!"

"Congrats! So happy 4 u 2!"

"Thanks, me 2." He was excited and nervous and wanting everything to go well. He did love the beautiful, "over-the-top" woman upstairs. He couldn't imagine his life without her in it. He knew that underneath the sometimes crazy exterior was a kind, giving, amazing heart and he loved that side of her too.

"Lee!"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"I love you!"

"Love you too, Rosie."

….

Three mornings later, Lee picked Rosie up in his SUV for their trip. He had mapped it out and plugged the hotel into his GPS. It said two and a half hours via the NJ turnpike. It sounded doable.

"Rosie? You ready?"

"I've been ready, Lee. You're late." She had a cute almost pout on her lips.

"Now how can I be late if I told you I would be here around ten?" he asked as he kissed her pout away.

"Well, anyway. I'm ready."

"Rosie? We are only going away for two days. Do you really need four suitcases and a garment bag?"

"Yes, Lee. One is shoes, one is toiletries and two are clothes. I absolutely need all of them."

It didn't surprise him a whole lot but it did give him a glimpse into the future. They would need a cargo van if they ever had children. They had never had the children conversation but he definitely wanted at least two. He never had siblings so he wanted his kids to have a built in playmate.

He grabbed two suitcases and her garment bag, leaving the smaller two for her.

Five minutes later, they were headed away from Philly toward NYC.

"Rosie?"

"Yes, Lee." She was gazing out the window quietly.

"What do you think about children?"

"Well, I teach them everyday so it's safe to say I like them."

"I mean, do you ever think about having your own?"

Rosie turned her head and looked at him. "Yes. I think about it all the time actually."

"You do?"

She stretched her hand out to take his. "I want children. I want my kids to have what Brenna and I had. She was my best friend."

Lee nodded and kissed the back of her hand. "I do too. At least two I think."

"Yeah. It would need to happen relatively quickly. I'm over thirty so it might not be as easy as it would if I was younger."

"You are thirty years and two months, sweetheart. You're hardly too old."

"I feel it sometimes. Like time is going so fast and it might be too late before I realize it."

"Sweetie, people have babies much older than you are. We have some time."

Rosie closed her eyes and allowed herself to daydream about babies. Babies with brown hair, gray eyes, and dimples, like the man sitting next to her.

"I love you, Lee Coulter. With all of my heart." The serious, calm Rosie was taking his breath away at that moment.

"And I, you, sweetheart."

….

A few hours later, they checked into their two bedroom suite and dressed for dinner and the show.

He patted his pocket, triple checking that he had the ring. He did, of course. She was going to be shocked, to say the least.

The restaurant was elegant, matching Rosie perfectly. She looked so gorgeous and classy in her navy dress. He could hardly believe the whole thing was happening and that a woman like her would even give him the time of day, but he was thankful.

After an expensive meal, they headed to the Majestic.

"Oh Lee! These seats are perfect!"

"I'm glad you like them."

She slipped her fingers inside his hand and kissed his cheek. "You look very handsome tonight." He smiled and returned her kiss.

"I'm so proud to have you on my arm, Rosie. There's no place I'd rather be."

She smiled and then gasped in delight as the lights flickered signaling the imminent start of the show. She squeezed his hand. "Here we go."

All through the show he was thoroughly distracted by the awe and happiness on Rosie's face. She hummed or quietly sang along to the music and squealed when the chandelier high above the audience began to shake and move.

Another thing distracting him was the ring burning a hole in his pocket. He knew the moment was coming fast and he wanted it to blow her away.

When the show was over, he stood and took her hand. "Oh, this was wonderful, Lee. I couldn't imagine a more wonderful night."

"The night's not over, sweetheart. I have something else planned."

"You do?"

"Yes." He smiled and led her backstage.

"Backstage passes! Lee Coulter, you are unbelievable."

She gasped when a woman, who looked suspiciously like the talented actress who played Christine, walked up with a bouquet of deep red roses. "Are you Rosemary?"

"Y…Yes," she stuttered, star struck. "You….you're Ali Ewoldt! You're amazing."

"Thank you," she graciously nodded. "I hear you're amazing as well. According to this kind gentleman here."

"Lee?"

"These are for you, Rosemary. I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's day." Ali handed her the bouquet and stepped into the shadows.

"Lee? What's happening? I can't believe this." He saw her eyes fill with tears.

He stepped forward and took her hand. "Rosie, sweetheart, Happy Valentine's day. I wanted to make this evening something you'll remember our whole life. A story you'll share with our children and grandchildren."

"Its been perfect. The hotel and dinner and this show, not to mention meeting Ali. I can't even believe this. Thank you so much." He loved that she still didn't have a clue that it was going to be even better.

"When I made that bet with the guys at work and ended up taking that cooking class, I never thought I'd meet the woman who completes my heart. Who makes me feel important. Who I love more than anything." He got down on his knee, causing another gasp from Rosie.

"Lee!" Ali popped out from the shadows to watch, but no one noticed.

"You mean the world to me, Rosie. I can't imagine being without you. Will you marry me?" He pulled the ring box out and opened it.

"Yes, of course I will. I love you so much!" He stood, slipped the gorgeous, two carat, princess cut diamond on her finger, and kissed her thoroughly.

"Congratulations!" Ali and others from backstage yelled, clapping.

"Thank you, everyone. Thank you for your help," Lee told them as he led Rosie back to their hotel for the evening.

…..

"Why is there so much pink?" Hunter said, wrinkling his nose. "Pink is for girls." Jack chuckled as he continued with his theme for the evening. There was technically more red than pink.

"Not sure if you noticed, but your Mom is a girl! Plus it's Valentine's Day. Usually there's a lot of pink and red to decorate for that day."

"I don't get it."

"You will one day, son. Now go pack your pajamas and clothes for going to Grammie and Pop's."

"Ok. I don't get why I can't stay here though."

"Mom and I have a date. Now scoot!"

Hunter squealed as Jack chased him to the stairs.

Jack finished setting out the red and pink tealights, waiting to light them until later. He then slid the chocolate covered strawberries and raspberries in the fridge and basted the roast that smelled amazing.

"Knock knock!" Charlotte said, peeking in the door.

"Come in, Ma."

"Whoa, that's a lot of pink and red."

"Good grief! It's Valentine's. She's a girl!"

"Yes, son, she is." She patted his cheek. "A bit nervous this evening?"

"No, I wasn't until everyone started mentioning the amount of pink and red in here."

"Who everyone?"

"Hunter and you."

"Sweetheart, he's almost six. Boys will be boys."

"You're a girl. Don't you like stuff like this?"

"Well, it's the thought that counts."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not a girly girl. I'd rather wear pants than a skirt and I'd rather be outside gardening than baking or sewing."

"Beth too. I just…this is our first Valentine's and we just got married three weeks ago. I wanted her to remember it."

"Jack, what she will remember is how you did all this for her because you love her. It's a wonderful romantic gesture. That's what matters."

"Ready, Grammie!" Hunter yelled as he galloped into the living room.

"Ok, Hunter. Let's grab Bruce and get home. Pop is ready for you." She kissed Jack's cheek. "Have a good night. She loves you. She will love this too."

"Night, Ma."

Hunter hugged him and then hooked Bruce's leash to his collar. "Bye, Dad. Tell Mom I love her. I sure hope she likes pink."

"Me too," he said with a sigh, looking around the room with a more critical eye. "Well, it's dark so maybe she won't notice."

He turned the lights down and lit the tealights scattered around the kitchen and dining room. Then he turned the fireplace on and the playlist he'd worked hard on over the last week.

Finally he headed upstairs to get dressed. He didn't shave, knowing she found his five o'clock shadow sexy. He put on his black suit with white button down, leaving the collar open. Then he added just a touch of aftershave and ran his fingers through his hair, leaving it slightly disheveled.

He stepped down into the kitchen just as she walked in the door. "Hey, Beth."

"Hey. Wow you look…amazing." He walked over and kissed her. "And smell amazing." Immediately, her hard, stressful day melted away and all she wanted was to have her sexy husband distract her with a perfect night. From the looks of his efforts, it was well on its way.

"Dinner will be done in about ten minutes, but if you'd rather take a bubble bath first, I can turn off the oven and let it rest."

"I'll take a bath later. I'll just go change and then we can eat."

He saw something in her eyes before she turned. "Beth? Honey, what's wrong?"

"I don't want to talk about it tonight. I want this to be perfect."

"But.."

"Its ok. Just a hard day. Tomorrow, babe." She kissed him and headed upstairs to change into her new red dress.

Jack watched as she ran up the stairs, already working on the buttons of her uniform as she went. He wanted to know what happened. He knew his wife, though. If she didn't want to get in to it right now, there was no point in pressing the matter. He turned his attention back to dinner and waited for her return.

Upstairs, Elizabeth headed to her closet, tending to her gun first thing. Once it was safely locked away she took off her uniform and physically shook off the day. She took a moment in the calm of her room to sit on her side of the bed and relax.

"Hi Snow," she squealed as her dark faithful friend pounced up next to her on the bed. "What are you laying on?" Elizabeth asked when she noticed a crackling noise under the cat. She lifted her up and pulled out a folded 8.5 by 11 sheet of paper with Hunter's little hand print on the front.

"Oh my sweet boy," Elizabeth whispered.

The note inside had many errors, but she could still understand it It read "Dear Mom, I love you so much. Thank you for loving me and wanting to be my mom. I will always love you. Happy Valentine's Day! Your son, Hunter."

Elizabeth brought the card to her lips before propping it up on her nightstand. This was something she would treasure forever.

Now it was time to go treasure the time she had with the hunky husband of hers downstairs. She laughed at her "hunky husband" thought, but it was true. She slipped into her form fitting red dress, touched up her makeup and let her curls cascade freely down her back, just like Jack liked, and headed down to join him.

"Just about ready, babe." Jack was putting the finishing touches on dinner as she entered the kitchen. "And not a moment too soon… wow, you look absolutely amazing."

"Thank you." she blushed, still not used to his affections, even with him giving them so freely and often.

Jack moved over to their dining room table which was decorated with a white tablecloth, red napkins, red roses and candles. He pulled out her chair for her, welcoming her to sit.

Dinner was just as good as it smelled, much to Jack's relief. They enjoyed it along with their wine and while talking about their amazing son and life together. Elizabeth gushed over the card she had received which of course Jack knew about. He loved watching the love in her eyes. It was so clear she was meant to be Hunter's mom, just like he was meant to be Hunter's dad.

After dinner they cleared the dishes together. Elizabeth reached over to the small speaker that had been playing during their meal, turning it up just a tad and began singing along with the slow romantic lyrics.

Mesmerized, Jack stopped loading the dishes and just watched as she swayed her hips to the rhythm of the music. This woman took his breath away by simply being her. It was wonderful. She never needed to try to be anything other that who she was and she knew it. His heartrate was accelerating faster than he thought he could handle, especially if she continued to stand so far away from him across the kitchen like that.

"Dance with me," he asked as the next song started.

"But the dishes…"

"They can wait. I want to dance with my wife."

"I suppose we can do that." she grinned. "It is Valentines day after all."

"Yes, it is." He pulled her into his arms, holding her as close as possible as the lyrics of Kane Brown's Heaven played.

"This is perfect

Come kiss me one more time

I couldn't dream this up

Even if I tried

You and me in this moment

Feels like magic, don't it?

I'm right where I wanna be

Everybody's talking about heaven like they just can't wait to go

Saying how it's gonna be so good, so beautiful

Lying next to you, in this bed with you, I ain't convinced

Cause, I don't know how, I don't know how heaven, heaven

Could be better than this

I swear you're an angel

Sent to this world

What did I do right to deserve you, girl?

I could stay here forever

I'd be fine if we never had to even leave this room

Elizabeth was all giggles and smiles as Jack spun her out and back in, singing all the words to her. How she ended up with such a romantic she'd never know, but she was loving every second of it for sure. The words of the song, "how could any moment be better than this", Jack was thinking the same thing as he pulled in her closer for a kiss.

"I love you, Beth. So much. Thank you for marrying me, for loving me."

"I love you too Jack. Thank you for everything." She held on tight as the song continued.

Everybody's talking about heaven like they just can't wait to go

Saying how it's gonna be so good, so beautiful

Lying next to you, in this bed with you, I ain't convinced

Cause, I don't know how, I don't know how heaven, heaven

Could be better than this

Could be better than this

Everybody's talking about heaven like they just can't wait to go

Saying how it's gonna be so good, so beautiful

Lying next to you, in this bed with you, I ain't convinced

Cause, I don't know how, I don't know how heaven, heaven

Could be better than this (heaven)

Could be better than this (heaven, heaven)

I swear this is perfect

Come kiss me one more time"

When the song ended, Jack pulled back slightly to look into his wife's eyes. In the candlelight, they were deep blue. Like the ocean on a starry night. Completely captivating.

"What are you staring at me like that for?" She laughed nervously.

"Do you have any idea how captivating you are to me?"

She searched his eyes. Seeing the deep dark forests within them. She could get lost in those eyes. She had a time or many before. "I could say the same thing to you, love." She stood on her toes to kiss him, softly at first, then pulling him in deep as she wrapped her arms around his strong shoulders.

Minutes later when they separated only for air, resting their foreheads against each others grinning, Jack asked, "Would you like dessert? I made us some chocolate covered strawberries."

"You did?"

He nodded proudly. "Go sit by the fire. I'll be right back."

Doing as she was told, Elizabeth walked over, grabbing a blanket off the back of the couch on her way. She smiled, taking in all the candles, flowers and other things Jack had set up for them for the night. There was no denying what day it was in the Thornton home.

"I like what you did with the place." Elizabeth smiled.

"You do?" Jack's head snapped back around. "I told him it wasn't too much pink!"

"Told who?"

"Hunter…" he huffed. "I told him you were a girl, It'd be fine. He disagreed."

"That I was a girl?"

"No! That I did the right thing."

"Okay," she laughed. "Something tells me there's a story here. So you had a disagreement with our son over this?" she gestured around the room.

Jack shrugged his shoulders. "I just wanted tonight to be perfect. He walks in and pointed out how this was a lot of pink."

"It is a lot of pink."

"And then I started worrying that maybe I went overboard." Jack sighed and ran his fingers roughly through his hair, making a cute mess of it, in Elizabeth's opinion.

"Jack, love, this is wonderful. Hunter is right, this is a lot of pink… and no, typically I don't favor the color but you know what I see right now?"

"What?" He tried to turn away but she stopped him, holding both his hands in hers.

"I see once again that I am the luckiest woman in the world. I have a wonderful, loving man as my husband. A man who decided to go all out for our very first Valentine's Day together." She brought his hands to her lips. "How can I not look around this room and fall completely in love with you all over again?"

With a statement like that how could he not kiss her? And boy did he ever. Her knees felt weak as his hand on the small of her back held her firmly against his body. Just when she felt she couldn't take any more, he lifted her up in his arms, barely breaking the kiss.

"Where are we going?" she asked, catching her breath halfway up the stairs a moment later.

"Our room. The strawberries can wait."

…..

"Good Valentines Day?" Jack asked, feeding her another strawberry as he was sitting behind his wife in their big Jacuzzi tub.

"The best." She took a big bite. "Mmm, this was a great idea."

"The strawberries or what happened before the bath?"

Elizabeth turned, giving Jack a knowing, playful glare. "It's been a wonderful night, love. You know it." Jack laughed.

"It has. Without interruptions!"

"I know! I love that boy, but it was really nice to have another evening just us."

"I get it. Really." He smiled. They were a great team. Elizabeth let out a relaxed sigh and leaned even further back into his chest. "You okay? Sure you don't want to talk about your day?"

"I'm fine. I promise."

"I could play my detective game on you again." She give him her playful glare again. "Or not…" He laughed. "I'm sorry. I just worry about you."

"Nothing to worry about. Lee was out on leave today. I'm so used to working alongside him now, him not being there was like missing a limb out there," she gave a small laugh. "I'll have to ask if that's what it was like when I was gone."

"Was that all it was today?" He dipped his head low to lightly kiss along her shoulder. He know he was asking a hard question, but he could read her like a book.

"Are you sure you aren't a detective?" She teased.

"Maybe in another life. So tell me." He continued his line of kisses along the other side.

"Its fine. There was just a perp that was resisting arrest. Really resisting. He didn't like the idea of being taking down by a female cop."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Nothing I can't handle. The guy was just a jerk to mankind. That's all."

Jack wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. "I'm glad you're safe."

"I was never in danger. He was though."

"He was?"

"Yeah. The more he made me mad the more I was about to really lose it!" They laughed, breaking the tension again.

"You really are something, Beth. I'm one lucky guy."

"Might feel even luckier when I give you your Valentine's gift tonight," she giggled.

"Oh really? What is it?"

"Something… for you. But I have to wear it. Trust me. Won't look good on you."

"Hmm, I think I'm ready to get out of the bath now."

"Jack!" she laughed. "We still have strawberries left!"

"Alright. But when they're gone…"

"You'll get your gift, yes."

When the strawberries were gone and the bubbles in the bath had dissolved, the couple decided to curl up in bed for the rest of the night and simply enjoy each others presence. While Jack took the plate their dessert had been on downstairs, Elizabeth slipped into Jack's gift. A silky little light blue negligee. It was similar to one he'd loved on their honeymoon. She decided, now that she was more comfortable, to get one just a little more bold, but still within her limits for the occasion.

Downstairs Jack rushed around the kitchen. He rinsed the dish and dropped it in the dishwasher. He was in such a rush, he was a bit surprised he didn't break anything. After double checking to make sure every candle was indeed blown out he ran back out to his waiting wife.

"Alright babe, everything's taken care of downstairs." Jack stopped dead in his tracks. "Holy…. Moly…"

"You like it?"

He just nodded.

"I hoped you would. Happy Valentines Day, love."

"Happy Valentines Day, indeed!" Jack's eyes darted back and forth between hers, to the fabric covering her. It was short, stopping high above her knee, higher than he'd seen anything on her before. It was mostly lace, in a beautiful shade of blue that truly brought out her eyes. "You're beautiful."

"It's the outfit."

"No. It's all you. You are what makes the outfit" He rushed towards her, unable to hold back as he pulled her down onto their bed. This whole being able to love each other without interruptions was fantastic.

*ring ring ring*

"Ignore it." Jack groaned.

*ring ring ring*

"What if it's about Hunter?"

Jack ignored her as his hands and lips moved about her.

*ring ring ring*

"Jack?"

"I know…." he sighed, prying himself away. literally. It was very difficult. He looked at the caller ID. "Its Rosie. I'll call her back." He tossed the phone off to the side and climbed back on the bed.

*ring ring ring*

"Jack?"

*ring ring ring*

"Jack?"

*ring ring ring*

"She's not going away, is she?"

"No. I have a feeling you should answer."

"Why?" Jack was confused."

"You're her only family right?"

"Right…."

"Just trust me and answer."

*ring ring ring*

"Hello…. Hey Rosie… You what?! No way! Congrats! I hope he knows how lucky he is! Of course we're going to have to celebrate! Yes, call my mom and dad, they'll love to hear the news from you. They love you. Alright. Bye." Jack hung up and laughed. "Rosie and Lee, they're engaged! Wait… you knew?"

"I had a hunch."

"My wife, the future detective." She giggled. "Now, where were we?"

"Right here…" She pulled him back down with her, picking up right where they left off. It truly was the perfect Valentine's Day.