So this is a very Esposito centric installment, but once you read the first two or three paragraphs, you'll understand why. And before you ask, the answer is no: the big Q doesn't happen in this fic. Also, don't know if it's really come across or been mentioned, but Lily's full name is Lourdes Lucita Maria, Lily is simply a short-form.

It was going to be an action packed day, no question. There was so much to do before he went home to pack with Meredeth for their trip out to Los Angeles and San Francisco - she'd been invited to do The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson again, on the Monday of their trip - but there were several crucial things to take care of before he went back to his regular work hours when he got back from vacation. There was no way in hell he'd line up these dominoes without arousing a few suspicions; even now it was a dicey affair to handle but he'd pull it off all while keeping it under his hat. He'd told Meredeth he'd be working until about five-thirty and he felt only marginally bad about the little white lie - he was off work at four but he knew by the time he got done doing what he needed to do, he'd be arriving home like he really was finished an hour and a half later.

The first step was the trickiest move to pull off but somehow, Esposito managed to do it. Somehow, he'd managed to get all the way up to East Fifty-Ninth and Fifth Avenue without anyone giving him the fish-eye. He had only a limited window of opportunity, so he only had time to make it strictly business.

He went through the doors of the building and out of habit nearly badged the security guard in a well-tailored Italian suit but checked himself when he saw his cousin in her equally well-tailored suit at a counter with a young couple, in the middle of a consultation, so Esposito hung back, hands in his pockets.

'Can I help you, sir?'

Esposito turned to the honey-voiced woman who appeared beside him soundlessly as a ghost. He shook his head. 'I have a quick appointment to see Francesca Mendes, when she's finished.'

'Oh you must be the cousin. I'm Trudy. Frannie and I share counter space and client lists.' The woman offered her hand which Esposito shook warmly. 'I've never seen her so excited to make a sale. Of course, you being family must have something to do with it.'

'My family have been placing wagers as to when this would happen, and she thinks she's going to hit the jackpot.'

Trudy pressed a hand to the Fendi scarf at her neck in concern. 'Oh dear. Gambling on an engagement. I don't know if I'd call that good luck.'

'The Esposito and Huertas clans do. And history's proven the higher the wage, the happier the marriage. So far, according to my sister, the pot's up to nearly seven hundred dollars.'

'Well, then I'm sure you and your soon-to-be fiancee will be very happy.' Ever the eagle-eyed businesswoman, Trudy saw the couple slip away to the cash till and escorted Esposito over. 'Francesca, your four-thirty is here.'

When she saw her cousin, Francesca forgot herself for a moment and raced around the glass cases of exquisite jewels to wrap her arms in pure familial exuberance. 'Javi! Oh, I'm so excited! Oh, this is huge!'

'But we're still the only ones who know about it, right? You haven't told anyone in the family?'

'I swear on Micah and Soladora's souls, it's between you and me. Come, come! I have your selections set aside for you to pick out!'

Francesca led him around to one of the glass cases, and pulled out three different rings. 'Now this one is a point-five carat princess cut stone on a classic solitaire setting. Simple, tasteful, elegant. The second one,' she continued, pointing to the middle one in the velvet display stand, 'this is the Lucida Rectangular, a specialty cut designed exclusively for Tiffany's and Company, featuring a full carat diamond. And the last one, this is-'

'That's it.' Esposito stared at it. It was a beautiful ring: a round-cut diamond surrounded on all sides by smaller round cut diamonds to form a star-burst flower on a single platinum band. It had no side stones, no channel settings or pave encrustation; it just let the middle cluster of jewels do all the talking. 'That's Meredeth's ring.'

'Are you sure?' Francesca looked at him. 'This is a very big decision, probably the biggest you'll ever make in your life.'

'Beautiful, classy, and original. That's Meredeth,' he replied with a grin. 'That's her ring, Frannie.'

'Okay, then.' Knowing that tone in her cousin's voice, the one that said he couldn't be swayed from his decision, Francesca took the ring out of the display stand over to the till to write out his paperwork. 'Now, I must warn you, this is the only one in stock, which means we'll have to order yours in. But it should be here by the twentieth. Is that going to be okay?'

'Yeah. I'm not popping the question until...' Esposito trailed off when Francesca's pen stopped on the page. 'How much you in the pool for?'

'Seventy-five for August fifteenth.'

'Then I'm leaving that sentence unfinished. I'm not going to skew the odds, especially considering that my sister seems to be the family bookie.'

'Damn. Okay, so I've got you set up on the payment plan, but you know you can adjust that at anytime, right?'

'Yeah.'

Francesca handed him the receipt and payment information in a sealed envelope. 'Got anywhere you can stash this that Meredeth won't find it?'

'I'll find a spot.' Esposito tucked the paperwork into the inside pocket of his suit jacket, then gave his cousin one last embrace. 'Wish me luck, I'm off to see your Tia Rosie.'

The next stop was even further uptown, on East Ninety-Second and Second Avenue, in the heart of Spanish Harlem. He paused a moment outside the building to smile at the banner over the door - a brilliantly coloured lizard with a fork and knife and bib; under the cartoon were the words The Salamander Bakery, established 1971. No matter how old he got, he always felt like he was six years old again, going to work with his mother and watching her knead bread, mix cake batters and greet every customer by name in English or Spanish while her assistant made him a little rack of raisin biscuits to keep him and Lily occupied.

He walked in the door, into madness. The customers were lined up to the door, and each one coming away from the counter with the trademark lime-green boxes he knew would contain delectable goodies. He knew it was small of him but he skirted the lineup and went straight to the counter. He saw yet another cousin of his, Daisy, filling orders of cookies - the daily special - and nodded at her.

'Hey, primo Tia Rosie's in back. Better make it quick, though, we're slammed in here today.'

Esposito passed behind the counter, through the little stone archway and saw his mother there, spooning cookie batter like a madwoman onto her Silpat-lined trays then shoving them into man-sized ovens.

'You look like Mrs. Lovett, Mami.'

Rosalita's head whipped up, surprise racing into her eyes. She raced over and gave her son a bone-crushing hug; because it was his mother, he didn't care that she'd gotten flour on his jacket. 'Javier, what you are doing here? Sit, sit, have a galleta. Such a mad house. If I'd known you are coming, I'd have made fresh coffee.'

'I can't stay long, Mami, Meredeth and I are leaving tomorrow for our little vacation out west.'

'Oh yes, Meredeth's going on the television again. Lily's told me she's going to D-V-R it,' she said, enunciating each letter to make sure she had the right ones. Because she could hear the bell of the door jingling as it opened and closed with more customers coming in, Rosalita dumped more butter and sugar into her standing mixer and set it blitzing. 'So why you come to see your mama? You got big news?'

'I have, actually.' Dusting the cookie crumbs from his mouth and hands, Esposito took a deep breath. It would be the first time he'd actually used the words out loud. 'I'm going to ask Meredeth to marry me.'

Rosalita turned around, mouth open in shock. 'I knew it! Oh, I just knew it! Haha, my boy!' She all but danced over to Esposito, who was grinning bashfully as she hugged him tightly against her. 'When? Who else knows?'

'I'm not saying when, I know you've got some money riding on it, and only Francesca knows. She helped me with the ring.'

'Have you bought it? Is it with you?'

'Just came from putting the first money down for it, but the ring is on order. I couldn't take the show-model home with me,' he explained off Rosalita's confused look. 'But listen. I don't want you telling Papa or Lily. I haven't even told Ryan or Castle or Beckett.'

'Why I can't tell your father? He'll have everyone buy his rum and beer tonight at the church.'

'Because Papa is a stone-cold vault except when it comes to Lourdes Lucita Maria George-Esposito and there is a reason I call my sister Fog-Horn Lilly-Horn and not for her cute impression of the Looney-Tunes character. I want as many people to be as surprised as Meredeth the night I do it.'

It ground her on her patience, but Rosalita understood her boy well enough to know there would be a whole new kind of hell to pay if she went against his wishes. 'You have asked Constance her permission?'

'It's my last call to make today. I wanted to tell you first.' Esposito shifted on the spot, feel once again like he was a little boy in awe of the formidable Rosalita Sanchita Huertas-Esposito. 'You're my mami.'

'Oh, Javier.' Now tears welled up, glossy and bright in her eyes as she waved butter-greased hands in front of her face. Knowing she needed to do something before she turned into a fountain, Rosalita grabbed a medium sized box off the shelf and began to pop in leftover sweet rolls she'd been planning to use for bread pudding, along with a dozen or so of the almond snaps she knew Meredeth liked. 'Here, take these for your sweetheart.'

'Thanks Mami.'

Esposito kissed his mother's cheek, then braved the still frothing-at-the-mouth-for-cookies crowd out front to escape with the most minor of dents to his torso. As he made his way to the subway station, he flipped out his cell and dialed Constance's number in Miami. On the third ring, Terrance, Constance's live-in companion answered.

'Oh hi, Terrance, it's Javier Esposito calling, is Constance available?'

'Of course, boy.' As Esposito waited, he could clearly hear Terrance bellow on his end of the line that Meredeth's New York copper was on the phone. Moments later, the formidable grandmother of his one-and-only picked up the call.

'Javier, so good to hear from you, and a little unexpected. To what do I owe the honour?'

'I...' Suddenly the little speech he'd prepared in his mind seem to stick in his throat like glue. 'I have to ask you a very important question.'

'This sounds serious. Is everything all right up there in the Big Apple?'

'Oh yeah, it's nothing bad.'

'Then just spit it out.'

It was solid, reasonable advice, which Esposito took to heart. He stopped just at the stop of the subway station's entrance-only staircase. 'Constance, your granddaughter is the love of my life and I would like your permission to ask her to marry me.'

'Well, of course, Javier! Took you long enough to get your courage up!' Constance's laugh was sweet and amused, and just a little wistful. 'Is it something you two have talked about?'

'We have, though it's mostly come in the form of the baby-talk, and we both know we want to be married before any little ones are making their appearance.'

'You're a good man, with a good family and good values. But more importantly, you love my Meredeth with all your heart and you want to show her that, so my only question is will I be around to see the question asked?'

'Of course. I have it already planned, but in the spirit of fairness since I haven't told my family, you can't know either.'

'Naturally. No need for the future in-laws to gloat.'

'I have to go, my train's going to be here in like seven minutes,' Esposito said, looking at his watch as he began to descend the stairs. 'Okay, so that's the first steps down. I'm sure I'll talk to you soon.'

'Absolutely. Take care, my boy and I promise, not a breath of a whisper to my pige.'

Esposito snapped his phone shut, and just barely made it onto the train; clearly the gods of fortune were using up his karma-bank credit as he'd have a hell of a lot of finagling and side-stepping to do if he had missed it. The ride put him a miserly three blocks from his house and because the night air was sweet as sugar, with the breeze promising a cooler night than the day had been, he sauntered a little as he walked toward Twenty-Fifth Street.

He stopped half a block from the townhouse as he saw the unmistakable silhouette of Meredeth and Arturo walking out the door and down the stairs for their nightly breath of fresh air. Yes, he thought, the ring did suit her - she was beautiful and classy and original. She was his Meredeth.

Picking up his pace, he walked down the street and held out the box. 'I come from the East, bearing sweet sweet gifts,' he intoned in a mock-reverent voice.

She turned around and Esposito felt his heart giddy-up when he saw the excitement in her face that it was him, home from work with a box of pastries. 'Hey baby! Oh, you went to your mami's bakery today, didn't you? They stick you on donut run or something?'

'Or something. Look inside.'

Meredeth lifted the lid and gasped in delight. 'Almond galletas! These are like heaven in cookie form. I have to get your mother to give me this recipe.'

'You haven't tried already?' Esposito asked, as he passed her the box and took Arturo's leash from her.

'Oh, I've tried, but all she says is they're a secret family recipe.' She shrugged good-naturedly. 'I'll get it from her eventually.'

All Esposito could do was grin as they ate pastries and walked the dog. 'Eventually' would be here sooner than she knew.

R&R&Enjoy!