***We're reaching the end of this story. I considered a sequel, and still am I suppose, but it probably won't be anytime soon. I've got some ideas for other, non-DC things that I want to explore a little bit. Plus I'm busier than I thought this summer, so it'll be a while before I do much of anything. But there's still a little bit more of this left. There's one more loose end to tie up! As always, thank you for reading and reviewing, and I still own absolutely nothing.***

"I don't much like having a pregnant woman sitting in my seat," Sig frowned at the patio seat Dana was currently filling. She leaned her head back to grin at him, and Norman offered an equally childish smile. "Both of you are ridiculous."

"You can't seriously be asking me to move, Sig. I'm 7 months pregnant!" Dana fake-pouted, which made Edgar smirk as he flipped burgers on the grill.

"That's exactly why I wish you weren't in my chair. If you weren't pregnant, I could kick your ass out. But since you had to go and knock her up," he motioned with his beer bottle to Norman, "she gets to do whatever the hell she wants. Including sitting in my chair."

"Technically," Kjiersten interrupted from her position across the table from her dad, between Jake and Josh Harris, "it's our chair. Or did you forget whose house you were out?"

"Don't you start giving me attitude now, Tyke. I'm still allowed to kick your ass."

"Hurry, Josh, let's go get me pregnant," she ordered as she half stood and tugged gently on his hand. Jake, Edgar, and Dana found great humor in the situation and laughed. Josh laughed, too, and pulled her back onto his lap to plant a kiss solidly on her neck. Sig and Norman, however, shared a look and shook their heads.

"Sex jokes are officially banned from the patio."

"Again, it's my patio. We get to make the rules," Kjiersten corrected.

"I'm your father. I get to veto unless you want out of the will," Norman countered. Kjiersten narrowed her eyes but had no comeback and opted to instead cross her arms and sink into Josh's body with an overly dramatic pout.

"New house rule," Jake began, but Kjiersten firmly kicked his knee to shut him up. When Josh had asked her to move in with him around mid-February, the three young adults decided they really needed a new place to live and had invested in a house they could rent for the months of the year they'd actually inhabit it with the option to eventually buy it. Secretly, Kjiersten loved the picturesque ranch-style house with the burgundy shutters and little garden out back that none of them had any desire to care for and hoped that she could spend the rest of her life in this little country home that rested half an hour from her father's house.

"No new house rules," Josh shook his head. "Your rules are messed up."

"My rules are in the best interest of the household," Jake insisted.

"That's highly debatable," Kjiersten shook her head. Dana laughed at the byplay between the three and gave Norman's hand a squeeze. She'd been worried about intruding on his relationship with his daughter when she'd moved in after the opie season ended, but their relationship was still just as strong, and it was clear-as-day that Kjiersten was paving her own way now with the Harris boys. It was nice to watch this new family forming right in front of her eyes as she was on the verge of having a new family herself.

"I'm gonna pee. Don't eat all the burgers," she ordered. Norman kissed the fingers of their joined hands before she disappeared through the sliding doors, then immediately sat up and started fussing with his pockets.

"You lost it, didn't you?" Kjiersten rolled her eyes.

"I did not lose it," he insisted. "And, hey, find your own seat. You can't share while I'm sitting right here." He motioned to how she was still sitting on Josh's lap, which made the latter blush and her roll her eyes as she moved back to the seat she'd been in before. "Ah ha!" He produced a black velvet box and put it dead-center on Dana's paper plate. "Look good?"

"Look's great. It's a box."

"Jake," Kjiersten rolled her eyes. "You can leave, you know."

"I'm just saying!" he held his hands up, but Kjiersten reached across Josh and smacked him anyway.

"Did you figure out a nice speech, Dad?"

"Nope," he shook his head. "I'm winging it."

"This is gonna be good," Edgar shook his head and looked at Josh for confirmation. Josh just shrugged and tucked Kjiersten's hair behind her ear so it stopped blowing in his face. Dana scooted back outside, grabbed her red plastic cup, and disappeared back inside without even a glance at the table. Norman stared after her, mouth open, brow furrowed. "Correction. This is gonna be fantastic."

She came back out sipping some of the sweet tea Josh had carefully taught Kjiersten how to make that morning and sunk back into her chair. "Kier, this is really good."

"Thanks," Kjiersten nodded. "Glad you like it."

"I do," Dana nodded. She leaned forward to set it down, saw the box, and immediately missed the table and spilled tea all over her feet. Norman motioned to clean it up, but Dana whacked his shoulder and the unexpected violence made him freeze. "That's not." He looked up to see her pointing at the ring box on her plate, eyes frozen wide.

"That…is?" he frowned. "Open it."

"I know what it is. I don't want to open it."

"Is that a no?"

"No."

"So…wait…Was that a no?"

"Please tell me you have a better speech than this planned, Norm," she shook her head. Edgar snorted at that, and Norman shot him a look.

"He doesn't," Sig assured her.

"Figures. You're going to spend at least ten seconds telling me how wonderful I am before I open this box. Your time starts now."

"Seriously?" She raised her eyebrows pointedly. "You know you're wonderful. And if you gave me more time, I would have a whole speech for you. I was just too damn nervous to have something planned. I don't want to live without you, Dana, which isn't something I ever thought I'd say again. I've spent a long time thinking about what it's going to be like when we start our family, but I realized that we actually already have. I love you, and I want to be with you. So…" he gently nudged the plate towards her, "will you marry me?"

She tried to keep a neutral face as she flipped open the box, but the ring that glittered up at her made her break into a smile that lit up her face. She threw her arms around his neck and exclaimed, "Yes, of course I'll marry you, Norman."

"Oh, thank God," Edgar sighed. "Now we can eat!"

The gentle early-September breeze ruffled the trees as Josh stared at the stone in front of him. He glanced back at Kjiersten, and she encouraged him forward. He looked back at the marker, made a face, looked back at her, and shook his head.

"Babe, I don't know about this."

"Josh, c'mon. It's your dad."

"It's a tombstone."

"Don't start this," she warned as she wrapped an arm loosely around his waist. "You were the one who wanted to come here; if you don't want to do this, I really should get back and make sure Jake's actually vacuuming like he promised."

"He's not," Josh assured her. She smirked at that and rested her head on his shoulder. "I just don't know what to say."

"Whatever you would say if your dad was really in front of you."

"See, you've got this down to an art form; it's not really as easy as you think it is."

"It's not as dramatic as you're making it, either," she rolled her eyes. "There has to be something you want to say."

"Well," he licked his lips, "yeah, there is, I guess."

"Then, I'll be over there looking at the really old stones," she pointed a bit down the line with an excited grin. "Come get me when you're done."

"Old stones? Really?"

"They were people, too, you know," she smacked his arm. "You know where to find me."

"No," he chuckled and grabbed her arm to pull her back to him, "you can stay." To emphasize this, he looped his fingers through hers and wrapped his arms around her waist. "I can say all this with you here." She wiggled experimentally, but Josh held fast. "Don't try to escape."

"I'm intrigued," she smirked. "What's going on?"

"I'm talking to my dad. Clearly." She smirked. "Right, Dad? …Yup, see, we're talking. He agrees." That made her laugh. "What was that, Dad? Kjiersten's a beautiful woman? Well, yeah, I already knew that."

"Josh," she rolled her eyes.

"Shut up," he shook his head. "I'm listening to my Dad tell me what a wonderful woman you are and how lucky I am to have you in my life." She blushed and looked down at their feet. He rested his chin on top of her head and continued. "Huh, Dad? I should ask her to marry me because I love her so damn much and want to spend the rest of my life with her? Well, I guess I could do that."

"Josh!" she squealed and tried to break away again. "You're not serious."

"Hey, this is coming straight from my dad; you bet your ass I'm serious. What do you think?"

"About marrying you?"

"Yeah."

"Sure."

"Wait, really?" he raised his eyebrows. "I don't have a ring or anything. I kinda made this shit up on the spot. Like, I didn't even consider this 'til maybe two minutes ago."

"I know," she laughed and tilted her head back to gently peck his lips. "That's what's so damn sweet. How can I resist such a well-planned proposal?"