With only a couple of months left to go, Andy had taken some time off work to stay home and help Virginia with the house and baby-planning. She had fought to stay at work right up until she knew it was inevitable. Between the pressure of the other resident doctors, and Andy, she knew it was time. Being a first-time mother at her age was uncommon and she was well aware of all the risks that followed. Her stress levels were already higher than most pregnant women, and she didn't want to push it.

The visit with Andy's family went well and they went home a few days later. It brought things together for Virginia, getting to know his family. It made things feel more real to her, after years of just accepting she'd never have children. There was so many people waiting to love and welcome their baby into the world. Not just their families, but the entire LAPD and all of the best surgeons in the city.

Ever since the visit, Virginia began seeing more and more of the fatherly side of Andy. Shopping for the baby with him had become her new favourite thing. It was adorable seeing his reactions and excitement. He had this half-sided grin she'd never seen before the night he found out they were having a baby girl. It was constantly reappearing; When they would shop for cute little baby outfits, choosing a paint colour, even when they were in public and complete strangers would stop and congratulate them. Virginia hated strange women touching her belly, but she got used to it, because she loved seeing the proud smile of the soon-to-be father.

One of her favourite stories to tell that involved the proud-father smile was one a few months into her pregnancy.

Andy opened the front door to a dark hallway. Like many nights recently, he'd come home and find her asleep either in bed, on the couch or even one time in the bathtub. He gently placed the bag of groceries on the counter, and shed his jacket and sweater. Virginia had overcome most of her cravings but she still couldn't move on from the cheesecake. He slid the dessert into the refrigerator and put the other items away. He was almost sure she was asleep when he heard a giggle coming from down the hall. He went to their bedroom and slid the door open, revealing a huge pile of opened boxes and Virginia in the middle them. "I thought you were sleeping," he spoke, sitting behind her so she was between this legs.

He rubbed her back, which she loved, and began examining the photos around them.

Albums were scattered, old photographs laying loosely, and baby clothes and other items that were barely held together. Of all times to be reminiscing, it had to be at this time of night?

"I was talking to Brandon on the phone and we starting talking about old times and so I thought I'd get out all these boxes from when I was younger."

He ran his hand through his short hair, dreading having to help tidy it back up. Maybe she'd be too tired and she'd let them just leave it until tomorrow.

She held up a tiny, frilly, pink romper, "Wouldn't this be adorable for the baby?"

"I thought we were going to wait until we know the gender before we start planning outfits."

She smirked and looked up at him with a twinkle in her eye. "I know, I'm showing it to you for a reason."

And that was the smile that she was now addicted to. He was so enthralled by this child, that wasn't even born yet; How much more attached could he get once she was?

_ AC _

Provenza was sitting at his desk, pretending to read over a bunch of boring forms when he heard the clacking sound of heels, or as he heard it — freshly baked brownies. He shot up from his chair and followed the sound, which soon followed the delicious, chocolatey smell.

"Good afternoon, doctor. Are these for me?"

It was now impossible for her to come into the office without something baked, without disappointing everyone. Virginia handed him the container. "Yes, but make sure you share."

As she was handing him brownies, a shimmer caught his eye. "Yowzah!"

He reached for her hand, holding it up and revealing a dainty silver ring, with several fair-sized diamonds. "You're kidding!?"

She giggled, "I told him simple, but he still didn't listen."

The next thing she knew Provenza was calling everyone in the office over to admire the rocks on her finger. Eventually Andy came from around the corner and the crowd surrounded him next. "So you're finally tying the knot!" Said lieutenant Tao.

Everyone knew it would happen eventually, they were just waiting to hear how Andy was going to do it. They were eventually able to escape, after they'd told the story probably about a dozen times.

Amy, the newest member of major crimes joined the rest of them. "How did this happen?"

It wasn't the hardest question in the world to ask a woman, when the woman you're asking is Virginia Dixon, but Andy wanted it to be perfect; He needed it to be perfect. Not just for his sake, but for both of them. As a married couple, they would be telling this story, the story of that very night for the rest of their lives together. He wanted it to be a big, beautiful, enchanting surprise, but not overdone, or tacky. That wasn't them; they were very private people and Virginia deserved something that wasn't going to make her uncomfortable or embarrassed. Provenza had always joked about him asking her at the station, and after a while Andy started thinking he was serious about it, but that wasn't them. As much as they both loved major crimes, and all the detectives that they'd both grown to love, it was too much. Anything in public would probably make her anxious as well. He went over millions of scenarios before he finally decided on something simple and beautiful. So one night after work, he picked her up from work, just like any other evening, and drove her to the beach-side restaurant that was a new favourite of theirs. They enjoyed a small dinner of just burgers and fries, before going on a walk along the beach. It was one of Virginia's favourite things to walk along the beach; She says it's very soothing and always helps clear her mind. Which sounds like the perfect time to be making important decisions. He carried her shoes, while she finished the ice-cream cone he bought for them to share. He wasn't a huge fan of the frozen dessert, but knew she liked it and would never say yes if he didn't wasn't having one too, so he'd buy one for them to share, have a few licks and give the rest to her. After the walk, he took her back home. "You really know how to cheer me up, you know that?" And all he did was smile. She had no idea it was about to get even better.

When they arrived at the house, Virginia had a worried look on her face. "Andy did you leave the lights on this morning?" The windows were flickering with light, and she couldn't figure out where it was coming from.

"Oh yeah, that must have been me, sorry."

He opened her door and took her by the arm, walking her to the front door. When he reached for the keys in his pocket, he felt around to make sure he'd remembered to take the box out of his desk at work. He let out a silent sigh of relief, and twisted the key in the door. The door slowly swung open, revealing several candles dimly lighting the door like a scene from a romantic movie. On the coffee table was a bottle of her favourite red wine, and a gift bag with pink tissue paper peaking out the top. The stereo had been set to their favourite soft-rock channel and when he looked over, he thought he saw a tear sneak down her cheek. "Andy, what's this for?"

"Come in and I'll show you."

For the first time she didn't even bother removing her shoes, she was too eager to see what this was all about. All the candles were vanilla scented: one of her favourites. She took a deep breath in, letting her eyes fall shut and when she looked back at him, he was holding a small green, velvet box in his hand. He stood before her, hands shaking, going over the words in his head over and over again, waiting just long enough for her to beg him to tell her what was going on. By the look in her eyes, and the way she was nervously biting her lip, he had a feeling she already had an idea. "Virginia. I can't promise you perfection. My first marriage turned out to be a disaster, I go to work everyday not knowing whether or not I'll be held at gunpoint, or stabbed or blown up. I can't even promise you a lifetime at our age, but we both knew that, from the moment that I kissed you in the parking lot of that Burger King. All I cared about in that moment, is how beautiful you looked, and how badly I wanted to fall even farther for you. Over a year later, I am standing in front of you again and I only feel the same way even more. Now you're carrying our child, and we've pretty much already made the biggest commitment two people can, which is raising that baby together, the very best we can, with all the love in the world. What I'm getting at is, we've never strived for perfection, but we have made the very most out of what life has handed us, and I want to ask you, if you will do me the honour of making the very most out of the rest of our lives together."

His hands trembled now, as they lifted the lid of the box, revealing a silver ring, decorated with bands of diamonds. "Will you marry me?"

The answer to that is rather obvious, and once Virginia told everyone her answer they all started hooting and hollering, a few even jumping up and down and clapping their hands like the end of a movie with a happy ending. They were all invited, of course, but the two hadn't picked a venue or date yet. Andy was letting Virginia decided whether they were to be married before the baby was born or after. Religion wasn't a playing a huge role in the decision making process for either of them, considering he was divorced, they were already expecting a child, and if it wasn't obvious enough due to the size of Virginia's now-protruding belly, they clearly weren't saving anything for marriage. They did however, know by the time they left the office that day, that Provenza was going to be a best man. "Always the groom, never the best man," he joked.