Disclaimer: Rookie Blue does not belong to me. I am merely borrowing the characters.
A/N1 Thanks for the lovely reviews guys, great to know people are enjoying this story.
A/N2: Proposals need the right setting don't ya think?
After an hour with no let up Ruth suddenly fell fast asleep. She had exhausted herself and was carried up to bed.
At 15th Division Holly and Gail were still confined to the station.
"You know that girls' night we're planning?" asked Holly
"Yes."
"Why don't we invite you're mom along? She's great!"
Gail shook her head in that adorable style she has. "No! She'd be going on at Traci about when they're gonna have kids!"
"OK, point taken. Do you want kids? I mean I am not totally anti the idea and there are multiple ways now..."
"Left field question! Umm yeah I... one day. Do you want us to look after Ruth? Cos I'm open to that."
Holly hugged Gail hard.
"Thought so."
"But kids of our own you're open to that as well." This was clearly important to Holly.
Gail looked at her with kitted eyebrows. "Yeah I'm open to it. I'd like a few more days with just you first though."
"Oliver's cabin?"
"Yeah."
Just then Frank popped his head round the door to tell them they were clear to leave.
They went and found Oliver and told him they'd like to use the cabin from tonight. He gave them the keys and told them to have a good time.
They went home and packed for the trip, put their luggage in the car. They then drove to the store to stock up with supplies.
The drive over to the cabin was uneventful, as usual they shared the diving.
On the final approach to the cabin the roads were dirt tracks. Holly was driving.
"Glad we bought the Land Rover, an ordinary car wouldn't have been able to do this." She said.
"Yeah, When Oliver came up with Sam, Chris and Dov they used Sam's truck. I think that's why Oliver invited Sam."
When they got to the cabin it was already dark. They got out their torches and the fuel for the generator.
Once the generator was up and running they got the rest of their supplies.
After they had put everything away and had got a fire lit. They started cooking their meal. They always worked together in the kitchen. Tonight they were doing piri piri chicken. The chicken had been in its marinade in the car. So Gail cooked the rice and prepared the salad while Holly fried the chicken.
Much to Gail's amusement Holly used two thermometers. An infra-red one to see when the pan was hot enough and a probe to tell what was going on inside the chicken while it was cooking.
"I've told you about this before, Queen Nerd just cook it till it dries out and starts to char."
"That way the denaturing of the proteins goes too far..."
"Definite Queen Nerd."
"...And the meat goes tough. The problem is that all meat cooking is a combination of two heat dependent processes. The first is denaturing of the protein, the second is melting in water of a specific protein called collagen to make gelatin. The problem is that collagen melts at a higher temperature than protein denatures. And you want as much collagen to melt and as little protein to denature as possible. And you love my scientific explanations. Have you finished Brian Cox's The Quantum Universe yet?"
"How did you know... I should have known better than to hide something from you!"
"'Cos he's written a book on biology and done a TV series on it. We could watch it on Amazon. And there's a lecture he did a couple of Christmas's ago on quantum physics which is on youtube."
Gail had never been interested in science until she met Holly. Now, if truth be told, she couldn't get enough of it.
The ate their meal and washed it down with beer.
After the meal Gail seemed a little nervous.
"Everything all right?" Holly asked.
Gail decided to grasp the nettle.
"Let's go sit on the porch for bit."
When they got there Gail kneeled and grabbed both of Holly's hands so that she was facing her. She looked into Holly's eyes.
"You know, you've made me so happy and I'm so in love with you I can't life without you." tears were streaming down Gail's face as she said this.
"Gail, what's wrong you're worrying me!"
She let go of one hand and reached into a pocket drawing out a small box which she opened revealing a diamond ring.
"Marry Me!"
Holly reached into a pocket of her own and also removed a small box.
"Had to be first eh? Of course I'll marry you!"
They kissed. Tears were streaming down both their faces now. Then they exchanged their boxes and put on the rings.
Both then admired the ring the other had bought. Both were white gold. Holly gave Gail a ring with a central round cut diamond with blue sapphires either side. She thought the sapphires matched Gail's eyes. Gail gave Holly a ring with a single large-ish diamond but what made this ring special was its shape. It looked as though the ring avoided the diamond, one arc of the ring going one side of the diamond and the other arc going the other side. Also in the boxes were chains so they could wear the rings around their necks at work.
"Oh and once we're married I want to be Holly Peck."
"You sure? I'd be delighted, not to mention how pleased my mom would be. But only if you're sure."
"Yes I am sure. Your parents accepted us almost without question, mine never will." Holly's face turned sad and tears formed as she said this.
They sat outside for a bit cuddling together on a wooden swing seat.