A/N So here it is, a tale so sweet you'll probably need to see you dentist after you read this. A VERY HUGE thanks to sportsnightnut . Without her this chapter would not have happened as I had an annoying voice in my ear (that sounded a lot like my husband) telling me it was far too cheesy. I just pray that you all enjoy reading it as much as I have been waiting to write it.
Alicia and her children wandered through the various buildings on the Georgetown campus. It had been less than a day since Alicia had seen Will but she still found herself missing him. When did I turn into the woman who couldn't stand to be away from my man? Maybe it's because I'll be saying goodbye to my oldest baby soon. I can't believe he's in college and I won't see him again until Thanksgiving...
Alicia shook herself out of her silent reverie. She realized she'd zoned out for a good 30 seconds and her children were calling her.
"Mom, helllooo Mom?"
"Sorry, Grace, what were you asking me?"
"Zach and I wanted to see where you used to go to class, and the moot court where Will beat you!"
"He beat me once. And I came down with strep throat the next day so I don't think it even counts,"
"That's not the way Will tells it, Mom." Grace gave her mom a small wink.
"Anyway, the moot court is this way." Alicia started to head toward the building that contained the moot courts. She didn't realize that her children were checking the time on their phones and seemed to texting someone.
Grace checked her phone one more time and noticed a vending machine. She waved her mom over.
"Hey, mom, I'm thirsty and hungry. Can we grab something from the machines over here?"
Alicia met Grace at the machine, digging through her purse to scrounge up change.
"Mom, it's 2014, you can use your credit card. I can handle this." Grace took her mom's wallet and pulled out her bank card. Alicia didn't register that her son seemed to be in intense discussion with someone on the phone. Grace glanced up watching her brother, trying to look inconspicuous. She caught a wink from him and hurried to finish getting her snack.
Grace grabbed her mom's hand and started walking Alicia in the direction her mom had been leading them.
"Come on, Mom. Let's go see the courtroom."
"What about Zach?" Alicia looked around and realized that Zach had disappeared. "Where did your brother go?"
"He's got his phone. He can call us. Come on, mom."
Alicia was growing suspicious, but allowed her daughter to lead her and gave her directions as they walked.
As they arrived at the doors of the Moot Court room Grace stopped and looked at her phone.
"Hang on mom, I gotta answer this text from Connor."
"All right. Something is up and I want to know what," Alicia insisted.
"Nothing is up, mom. It's just Connor."
Grace's phone beeped a few minutes later and she stepped forward.
"Ok sorry about that, mom, let's go in."
The two women grabbed a hold of the heavy double doors and pulled. As they stepped into the room, Alicia looked around and was hit by a wave of memories. Memories of her and Will. Late nights prepping cases, moments that should have been romantic if she had just opened her eyes and actually saw Will.
That was when she noticed Veronica and Owen sitting on the panel along the opposite wall. Before she could comprehend her shock and bemusement, her son walked down and joined the panel as well as her daughter.
She barely registered everything that was going on around her when she heard the doors at the back of the room behind her. She glanced at her family who were all smiles then looked at the doors.
Will walked in dressed in a Georgetown Polo and a pair of jeans. Alicia's hand went to her chest. She'd never believed in fairy tales but it appeared that she was now in the midst of one.
Will walked to her then pulled in front of the dais in the middle of the room. She gasped as Will fell to his knee in front of her.
"Will, no..."
"Alicia Cavanaugh, I brought you here, in front of your family, in the place where it all began. To ask you a question. Now before you answer I will present my opening argument and each of these kind people behind us will provide testimony to assist you in answering this question."
"Will, I… you don't need…"
Will held up a finger to silence her, "You can rebut after each witness if you wish to do so, but first you have to listen."
"Almost 6 years ago I made a decision that would change my life. I sat with an 8000 dollar bottle of wine. And made 3 phone calls. As my courage grew with each phone call the message in each phone call became clearer. I found out later that you never got to hear the third and most important phone call. You have since learned that my plan was that I loved you. This has always been my plan. Through all the ups and downs. Through all the negativity my plan has always been that I love you. Getting shot and almost dying however was not a part of that plan. I'd never have imagined that my life would go from life before getting shot to life after getting shot. I'd never realized that life after getting shot could be this amazing. All of that amazement came from you. You and your children. So I can't guarantee that life will be sunshine and daisies, especially since we will constantly be at odds in the courtroom. You have a baggage that I know terrifies you. But my plan now is to love you and your baggage. My plan is to love you for as long as I am allowed to. We will never know what tomorrow might bring but together we can do anything. So my question to you Alicia Cavanaugh, is will you marry me? Will you let me spend the rest of our lives making you the happiest woman on earth?"
Alicia stood with her hand firmly grasped in Will's hand while tears poured down her cheeks. At this point Grace stood up and cleared her throat.
"Okay, my turn. Mom, I watched you walk through fire the past five years. Whenever you stumbled you picked yourself up and kept moving forward. But something was missing. The smile you used to wear was gone. Something had broken it. But a few months ago something changed again. The smile that had always reminded me of my mother was back. It only took meeting Will once to see the reason for that smile. I can't say I have life figured out, but I know I can figure out that if you don't say yes to him, mom, you'll regret it for the rest of our lives."
With that Grace blew her mom a kiss and sat back down. Alicia was stunned into silence. She really hated when Grace acted so mature; it just served to remind her that her youngest would soon follow her oldest into adulthood.
Will asked her if she had any questions.
"Grace, are you really okay with this?"
"Mom, you've spent the past eighteen years making sure we were happy, it's our turn to do the same. Do I wish you and dad could have made it work? Sure. But sometimes you have to choose a different road. I love you, mom, and I just want you to be happy."
Will smiled at Grace and nodded at Zach to take his turn.
"Mom, dad hurt you. He hurt all of us. He hurt our family, I've got enough of you in me to see that not everything works out the way you plan. So when you find something that does work, you taught me to stick with it and keep it going. So mom, please keep it going. I love you."
Alicia stood with tears pouring down her face. She had never in her life experienced such a rush of love like the one she felt at the words of her children. Again, Will asked if she had any questions. She shook her head and Will winked at Owen.
"I'd like to say that I supported your marriage to Peter, and that I thought you would make it work, because, hell, if anyone could it would be my sister. But that would be a lie. It's always been Will, and it will always be Will. You just had to see it for yourself. Think about it, Leesh, he's Mr. Georgetown. There is one condition, however."
Alicia offered him a watery smile, wondering what ultimatum her brother would issue.
"I will be your maid of honor and I reserve the right to give the sappiest and most embarrassing speech ever at the reception."
Alicia grinned at Will. "That may be your deal breaker, Gardner."
"Don't worry. I'll stuff him in a closet after the ceremony and no one will ever know the difference. Now if you'll direct your attention back to the panel, we have one more witness."
Veronica stood up and smiled broadly at her oldest child. "I've said it before, and I'll say it again. The older you get, the more you realize, there's only one thing: happiness, Alicia, the man makes you happy. Grab it. Grab it and hold on tight. Because in the end, nothing else matters."
As Veronica sat down, Will pulled a box from his pocket and opened it, showing her a gorgeous ring. It was silver with a small rose gold rose supporting a single flawless diamond.
He smiled up at her and asked her once more.
"Say yes?"
There is a link to the courtroom as well as the ring that I picked out for Will to give to Alicia on my it is a Belle ring. It seemed fitting with Alicia's guilty pleasure from Chapter 7 Mistakes we've made. Hope you all love this chapter and thanks soooo much for reading. Also I am planning on going further with this. Hopefully Alicia says yes...