A/N: Kind of a filler chapter to get some things out of the way. Enjoy!

When the team returned from diffusing a workplace hostage situation, they were pleased to find Jules waiting for them in the barn. Well, all except Andrea, who'd heard of the legendary Jules Callaghan whom she'd been chosen to replace, but heretofore had never met, but had been warned she wasn't permanently replacing. Now she could pretty much feel herself fading into obscurity as the guys all moved forward to hug her, even Raf who'd been telling her to a call he'd gone on that was similar to the one they'd just been on. He'd just stopped talking to her mid-sentence. She chewed her bottom lip and waited to see whether one of her teammates was going to introduce her or if she was going to have to introduce herself.

"You look way too happy," Ed remarked. "You really that happy to have so much paid leave?" he asked skeptically. If anything, too much free time would drive her crazy.

"Nope!" Jules reached for Sam's hand. "We're getting married."

"What? You mean you settled for Samtastic, here?" Spike asked, grinning from ear to ear.

"Congrats, you guys! Did you know about this?" Ed asked Greg, who looked less than thrilled. The other man gave a brisk nod.

"We wanted to wait and tell you guys together," Sam said as Jules looked to Greg, silently begging his acceptance with her eyes.

Receiving his barely perceptible nod, she declared, "You guys, I'm not coming back to the team."

The team fell into wide-eyed silence. "You're kidding, right?" Raf demanded, his voice dripping with disbelief.

She smiled sadly. "'Fraid not." She explained her reasoning and how she wanted to avoid both her and Sam being forced off the team, then noticed the woman hanging back a short distance away from the group. "Hey. You must be Andrea."

"Yeah. Hi," she said, coming forward with her hand held out.

"Oh, uh, sorry, Andrea, this is Jules," Ed said.

"So I figured. Nice to meet you, Jules. You're leaving some pretty big shoes to fill," she acknowledged.

"You'll manage. That's why they chose you. Right boys?"

Andrea felt a little better with the team's agreement, even if they weren't that enthusiastic about it. She got where they were coming from. They all clearly loved this woman and she was effectively abandoning them.

"So, I'm betting you didn't tell Natalie, yet?" Spike asked Sam. It was the only way he could think of that he hadn't already heard the news of their engagement seeing as his girlfriend wasn't the best at keeping things to herself.

"Not yet," Sam confirmed. Jules hadn't wanted to set Natalie off while she was stuck in a hospital bed unable to escape her future sister-in-law's bubbliness.

Ed pulled Greg aside. "Boss…"

"It was their news to share, Eddie. Besides, I was kinda hoping she'd change her mind and stay on the team."

"Is that allowed?"

"I don't know, but dammit Eddie, she belongs on this team."

"Hey, Boss, you're preaching to the choir here."

"Yeah, I know…I swear, if I had the final say, this wouldn't even be an issue."

Ed patted him on the shoulder, then returned to the throng, leaving Greg to his thoughts, which were travelling along the 'if only' track. There had to be a way to prove what he believed, that Jules and Sam could work together without endangering other people.

"Hey, Sarge, you coming?" Jules called out. "First round's on Ed!"

"Yeah, I'll meet you guys there."

"Nat? I don't think this one's me, either…" Jules declared with thinly disguised disdain as she twisted to look at the feathers that made her feel like a peacock. A fat peacock when one took in the poufy skirt. She'd only tried it on to escape the latest monstrosity Natalie had started cooing over. Hopefully she'd have moved on by the time Jules was ready to try on another dress.

"Come out, let me see!"

Jules huffed, then gathered up as much of her skirt as she could and walked out of the changing room.

"That looks amazing! You really don't like it?"

"I really don't," Jules confirmed. "Seriously, Natalie, all of these dresses are just…too much. I'm not into the whole… big, poufy, starched tulle skirt that doubles as a camping tent…thing. I don't want a train. I don't want feathers… I want…"

"Simple."

"Yes. Simple."

"Okay, sit tight and let me see what I can find."

"Am I allowed to sit in this?" Jules asked, afraid to crush the feathers.

Natalie just laughed and walked away.

"That was actually a serious question!" Jules called after her. She was about ready to change back into her street clothes and bolt. The only thing keeping her there was the fear of what Natalie would choose if left to her own devices.

"I still don't get why Natalie blocked off the whole afternoon for wedding attire shopping. It took us…what? An hour, tops?" Sam asked as he taped a box shut.

"Tops," Spike agreed, "but we're guys. All we needed to do was find the right colors. It's the dress that needs that afternoon," he pointed out as he wrapped a picture frame and set it inside of a box. Because of the role he'd played in saving Jules's life, he'd received the honor of best man by default.

Since they'd finished their assigned task so early, they were working on packing up Sam's apartment. He was officially moving into Jules's house before the wedding since he was practically living there since she got hurt anyway. He'd offered to let Natalie take over his lease, but she'd turned him down. Next thing he heard, Spike had offered to let her move in with him so she wouldn't be out on the streets… He shook his head over her antics, but didn't say anything about it.

When Sam's cell phone rang, he reached over to scoop it up, and looked at the caller ID. "It's my dad," he observed with a grimace before answering. "Hello?"

Spike listened to Sam's side of the conversation and gleaned that he had tentative dinner plans with his parents for that night. Can you say ambush? he mused. When Sam hung up, Spike remarked, "You know, you still owe me dinner."

"Well, I'd offer to pay for your food tonight, but my dad's footing the bill…"

"Wait, what?" His phone rang before Sam could explain, and he answered it, seeing it was Natalie.

Sam smirked as his friend paled. He could easily imagine what Spike was hearing.

Natalie was patting herself on the back for finally finding a dress that made Jules light up when her phone rang. "Hi, Mom! Really?" She quirked up an eyebrow at Jules, who was watching her curiously. "Dinner, tonight? Sure. I'm sure Spike would love to meet you, too. Same goes for Jules…" Both of Jules's eyes widened comically. "See you tonight."

"Did you just…?"

"Mom says Dad said Sam said you'd be there," Natalie explained as she pulled up Spike's number. "Spike! Hey! Guess what? My parents are in town and they want to have a family dinner. Mom's really looking forward to meeting you."

Jules called Sam, who answered on the first ring. "Did you tell your parents we'd have dinner with them? Seriously? You couldn't at least give me a day's notice so I could get ready?"

Natalie lowered her phone a little to say, "Don't worry, hun, you don't need that much work. You'll be ready in a jiff." After restoring her phone to her ear, she spoke into it. "No, not you, Jules. You seriouslyneed to do something about your hair."

"I swear, they didn't tell me they were coming," Natalie insisted when the four of them met up in the lobby.

"For what it's worth, I believe her," Jules testified, looping her arms around Sam's waist. Both of their men looked like they'd been force-fed a bottle of vinegar each, whereas she had had a chance to mellow out a little. What did she have to worry about? If Sam's parents didn't like her, it wasn't a big deal since they didn't spend a lot of time here. And it wasn't as if Sam was on great terms with his dad anyway, so uncomfortable family dinners would be kept to a minimum.

Natalie went about diligently kissing away Spike's frowns until he laughed and loosened up a little. "I still think your parents are gonna hate me."

"Are you kidding me? You'll be the first guy I bring forward they'll actually like…" Natalie confidently assured him.

"She's probably right, Spike. You've seen one of her least favorable picks," Sam pointed out before dropping his head to whisper in Jules's ear, "Let's get out of here after my dad says his piece." She nodded her acquiescence. He was positive his dad wanted something. It was the only reason he could think of that would bring his parents into town because his father wasn't the kind of man to fly off on a whim. Not even to visit his kids.

"Ugh, don't even remind me about that," Natalie lamented, laying her head on Spike's shoulder.

"Natalie. Samuel."

"Dad! Mom!" Natalie pulled away from Spike and hurried forward to hug each of them in turn.

Jules looked around and muttered under her breath, "Who the hell's Samuel?"

Sam heard her and tried not to laugh. "Mom, Dad, this is Jules."

"Or Juliana if you're gonna call him Samuel," Jules corrected. Nicknames were supposed to be a sign of affection and she wasn't about to one-up her fiancé with his own parents.

"Uh….yeah, you can just call me Spike," Spike said, without offering his proper name as an option. Truth be told, he was so used to the nickname he might not even respond to Michelangelo unless it was delivered by a certain Italian woman he like to call 'Ma'.

"Jules, Spike, it's such a pleasure to finally meet you both," Natalie and Sam's mother declared, hugging each of them as though they were already family. "You can call me Maggie."

"Juliana. Spike," the general acknowledged.

Spike grimaced and rethought his stance on the name. "Yeah, uh, sir? Mike'll do. Can we, you know, eat now?"

They all headed to the dining room, where they had a table reserved near the dance floor, and took their seats.

"It's so nice to see my children so happy," Maggie beamed. "Sammy's getting married…My Natalie's somewhat settled for once… I really just had to come see it for myself."

Jules smiled. It was hard not to when she was being praised by her future mother-in-law. "Are you coming back for the wedding?" she asked.

"Of course." The brusque response came from the general.

"How did you and Sam meet?" Maggie asked.

"I thought he was drawing a gun to shoot me and almost took him down."

Maggie blinked in surprise. The general raised an eyebrow. Natalie just stared.

Sam almost choked on his water. "You never even touched me!" he protested.

Spike snorted. "You would have been down on the ground if the commander hadn't shown up."

"It was just a photo," Sam assured his mother.

"You sounded like a gun enthusiast and then you reached into your jacket," Jules recounted.

"I was instantly captivated and not making the best first impression because of it," he countered.

Jules grinned. "Nice excuse."

"Very nice," Spike concurred.

"And you two?" Maggie inquired cautiously, turning to Spike and Natalie.

"I visited Sam at work and there he was. Nothing unusual." Natalie shrugged.

Her mother seemed relieved. "So, Spike, you work with Sam? You're in the SRU?"

"Yes, ma'am. I've worked with Jules longer. Or I did, anyway."

"Jules? You're a police officer as well?"

"Yes…" she didn't miss the brief glance between husband and wife. "I transferred out of the SRU, though."

"Why's that, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Well…it was time," she hedged.

"Mom, what's with the inquisition?" Sam asked, eyeing his father.

"What inquisition? I'm just trying to get to know the bride-to-be a little better. As well as the boyfriend," she smiled at Spike.

"All you need to know is that they're good people," Sam said, still looking directly at his father because it was primarily him Sam was addressing. He'd figured out what their game was. Let Mom do the talking while he did the judging.

"No…" Jules countered. "All they need to know is that I love you and I've got your back.

"Well I think they should know the waiter's waiting for our order and I'm hungry," Spike muttered.

Natalie grinned, and then cleared her throat. "I'm hungry, too, for what it's worth."

Over dinner, Maggie engaged Jules, Spike, and Natalie in idle chit chat while Sam and the general engaged each other in what almost measured up to a staring contest. Finally, halfway through desert, the general said, "You still won't return to the army, will you?"

"No, sir, I will not. As a matter of fact, now I'm even more sure this is where I belong."

"Because of her."

"Because of him," Jules cut in, her conversation having gone quiet when they started speaking.

"I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it, dear," Maggie interjected.

"This is where I want to be," Sam reaffirmed. "If this is all you guys came here for…"

"We wanted to meet Jules and Spike," Maggie insisted. "Well, that and make sure we were welcome to attend the wedding."

"Of course you're invited!" Natalie cut in, having gone over the guest list herself.

"Invited and welcomed are two different things, believe me. I've hosted enough parties to know."

"Of course you are," Sam said.

Maggie discreetly indicated her husband.

"You both are," Jules clarified immediately, earning a grateful smile from Maggie and Natalie. She was so glad introducing Sam to her brothers had gone so much smoother than this. All they'd had to do was hit a hockey rink, work out some testosterone-fueled aggressions, and badabing badaboom it was as though Sam were an old family friend. It was different with parents, though. Jules just hoped this was the general edging a foot toward reconciling with his son.

Later that night, Jules laid in bed, curled into Sam's side, and was half-asleep when he said, "I think he liked you."

"Yeah?" she asked huskily.

"Yeah."

"Good."

"I think my mom wants to take you home with her."

"Too bad you're not into loaning me out." She yawned. "I can't wait until all this wedding stuff is over and we're married."

"Me either. Wanna elope?"

Her hair tickled his chest when she shook her head. "I didn't say I didn't want the wedding. I want to celebrate with everyone. I just want to be married to you."

"The only way you're not my wife is legally. We're already married in my heart."

Smiling, and no longer sleepy, she turned her head and placed a lingering kiss on his chest.