demolished-soul - I can't wait to finish this plotline off - I'm taking a little break to have some lighter chapters, and then dealing with it properly!

Aphina - I kicked myself with that one - I keep having to remind myself there's a child involved. See, you keep telling me I'm funny, but it's still not sinking in!

laplandgurl - I mean, yeah, but I couldn't be that mean - I know I couldn't turn the guy down!!

sparkyCSI - I ended up going into work early... so I was in at 7pm rather than 1am - I finished at 2pm! I KO'd but managed to make it to my class! I loved the proposal too - it wrote itself (albeit at a different time)

RK9 - woot! Score one for originality! It has taken a while to get here, eh? But I'm glad you liked!

Alana Xavier1 - Sappy was needed. But I have to wrap things up first before I can plan a wedding - Don't want anyone thinking Sonny's gonna get his hands on it. I'll let you choose

Mauveine - It turned out longer than 15hours, and it was fine until the last hour, but the big boss bought lunch (and I thought he didn't like me, lol) but I'm back - prob not with daily updates, but back nonetheless! The proposal was my favourite bit - it's been written for ages but I've been trying not to jump ahead.

meadow567 - Actually, I never even thought about that. Hmmm. Good question - now I shall ponder.

miss wizard of oz - No worries - life gets hectic, and hey, I'm even worse! Yup, nice and mellow - I'm slowing it down!

What The Eyes Can't See

Chapter 172: What if I told you it was all meant to be?

It turned out that ghosts didn't need to sleep. And it was also a good thing that only Taylor could hear her when Maddy let out an ear piercing scream of delight when Taylor showed her the ring in the morning light in the kitchen.

'OH MY GOD!' Maddy yelled. 'Holy freaking cow!'

Taylor rubbed her ear. 'Geeze, Mads, I think half the dogs on the island might have heard that. And what's so unbelievable that I'm engaged.' Almost as soon as the words were out of her mouth, Taylor slumped back against the counter. 'Holy freaking cow,' she muttered, repeating Maddy's words. 'I'm engaged.'

Maddy grinned. 'Your mamma is going to be so happy.'

The smile slowly fell from Taylor's face. 'We are so not telling her any time soon,' Taylor told her.

Maddy nodded. 'Yeah, it's probably a better idea if you officially move into the house together.'

'She's still going to insist that we don't live together until we're married,' Taylor pointed out.

Maddy nodded. 'True, but I was referring to the fact that at least there would be a room for her when she insists on moving in and taking over the wedding.'

Taylor wrinkled her nose up at the suggestion. 'Yeah, we're not telling her until hell freezes over.'

Maddy shrugged. 'Tay, she's gonna think it has when she realizes you're not quite so good, sweet, innocent and virginal.'

Taylor rolled her eyes. 'Fair point. And on that note, I'm going to wake Cordy up, tell her the good news, and then take her to Ruben's so that me and Flack can go and attack the new house.'

Maddy cocked her head. 'Does he know about your DIY skills?'

Taylor glared at her. 'No, but it's not something that generally comes up in conversation.'

'Neither is marry me, but it happens.'

'Don't you have someone to haunt?' Taylor asked her pointedly.

'Morning, sweetie,' Taylor greeted Cordelia as sat up in bed.

'Morning,' Cordelia responded softly.

Taylor smiled and perched on the end of her bed. 'I have something to tell you,' she said. 'Me and Don are going to get married.'

Cordelia looked up at her, and then to Flack who was standing in the doorway.

'What's the matter?' Taylor asked when Cordelia looked down at the sheets – she hadn't exactly been expecting the child to jump for joy, but she had been expecting a little something more positive.

Cordelia's response came as a sniff.

'Cordy?' Taylor asked in alarm as Flack quickly joined her on the other side of the bed.

'What's the matter, Worm?' he asked her. With her head in a book most of the time, Flack had quickly christened her bookworm, or Worm.

'I don't want to leave,' Cordelia sniffed.

Taylor's mouth dropped open as Flack wrapped his arms around the child. 'What makes you think you're going anywhere?' he asked her.

'Because my mom did.'

'Cordelia,' Taylor said, firmly, wondering how she had managed to find that out. 'You're not going anywhere.'

'What about you?' Cordelia asked her quietly as she looked up at her.

'I'm not going anywhere, either,' Taylor told her.

Cordelia sniffed again but looked slightly more positive. 'Really?'

Taylor nodded.

'Can I stay with you forever?' she asked hopefully.

Taylor looked helplessly at Flack who gave the child's shoulders a squeeze. 'Cordy, forever's a long time,' he told her. 'And you have a real daddy who wants to see you.'

'But what if he doesn't like me?' Cordelia asked him.

'How could he not?' Flack asked her. 'He'd be crazy not to.'

'But what if he doesn't?' Cordelia repeated.

Taylor smiled. 'He will. But you can stay with us for as long as you need to.'

Cordelia stared up at her with her sapphire eyes and finally smiled. 'Can I be a bridesmaid?'

'Of course you can,' Flack told her, ruffling her hair.

'Drew, it's nine in the morning on a Saturday,' Danny grumbled as he stared up at the Brownstone in front of him. This place hardly looks like it needs us here this early.'

'I can't believe you're buying a house,' Lindsay told her as she stared up at the building.

'I'm not buying it yet,' Taylor told her. 'And you should see the inside of this place; it's not pretty. There's a reason why the windows are boarded up.' She walked up the few steps to the front door and made to put the key in the lock.

A loud screech stopped the key from turning. 'What the hell is that?' Lindsay demanded.

Taylor turned to her, puzzled. 'Huh?'

'That!' Lindsay exclaimed, pointing to Taylor's hand.

'Oh,' Taylor grinned. 'My engagement ring.'

Danny actually stumbled, practically falling backwards off the bottom step. 'Your what?'

Sheldon stepped forward and grabbed her left hand, examining the ring. 'Taylor, it's beautiful.'

Taylor beamed. 'Yup,' she agreed.

'I am going to kill Flack as soon as he gets here,' Danny told them as he stared in awe at the incriminating piece of jewelry.

'I'd rather you didn't,' Taylor told him. 'I have a few uses for him yet.' She paused. 'Besides, he still needs to bring the power tools.'

'Are you sure we should leave you alone with power tools?' Danny asked, only half joking.

Taylor glared at him. 'Just because I suck in the kitchen does not mean that I can't strip a wall of its wallpaper. And you've clearly never seen me with a circular saw.'

'Do you have any idea how terrifying that sounds?' Flack asked, appearing behind them.

'Thanks for the vote of confidence,' Taylor muttered dryly.

'We can do some decorating too, you know,' Hawkes offered.

Taylor shook her head firmly. 'Nope. You men folk are here for the lifting. Everything in there needs to go into that skip,' she told them, pointing at the object that was slowly being lowered off the back of a truck.

'I can't believe he proposed,' Lindsay exclaimed excitedly again.

Taylor looked up from the piece of faded wallpaper she was scraping from the wall and beamed. 'I know.'

'Have you thought about the wedding yet?'

Taylor shook her head as she resumed sponging and scraping. 'Not really. We haven't really discussed it.'

Lindsay laughed. 'Come on; I bet you've had ideas about your wedding since you were a little girl!'

Taylor looked over. 'When I was a little girl, I was going to marry Prince Charming from Disney's Cinderella – he was a cartoon,' she informed her dryly.

'Oh, come on!' Lindsay said, repeating her exclamation as she launched a sodden sponge at Taylor.

Taylor squealed as the sponge hit her between the shoulder blades. 'Look,' she yelped, launching it back. 'The most thought I've given this is that I want to wait until Chris is out of prison so that I can have my family there. That and I've promised Cordy she can be a bridesmaid.'

'You really haven't thought about it?' Lindsay asked, slightly shocked.

Taylor shrugged. 'No. You have?'

Lindsay nodded. 'I want my next one to be done properly.'

Taylor paused in the scraping and turned. 'Oh, Lindsay! I forgot. I'm sorry.'

Lindsay shook her head gently. 'It's alright. I think I'm finally over it. I just know I can't have the next time anything like the last time.'

Taylor smiled. 'Will you be a bridesmaid?'

Lindsay broke into a wide grin. 'Of course.'

Taylor bit her lip, growing serious. 'I'd ask you to be Maid of Honor, but I've always had that spot reserved for Maddy and it wouldn't feel right any other way.'

'Taylor, don't you dare feel bad about that,' Lindsay quickly told her, her hands already on her hips. 'I'm honored to be "just" a bridesmaid.'

Taylor gave her a grateful smile. 'I'm going to ask Don's sister too, and see if his niece and nephew want to be bridesmaids.'

'Ring bearer,' said Lindsay.

'Come again?' Taylor frowned.

'Ring bearer. His nephew would be a ring bearer, not a bridesmaid,' Lindsay told her.

'Oh,' Taylor shrugged. 'Well you've just made yourself my number one consultant.'

'Woot!' Lindsay exclaimed, punching the air. She pointed at Taylor. 'And you said that you hadn't really thought about it.'

'I can't believe that you proposed!' Danny exclaimed, (although it sounded undistinguishable from a grunt) as he hoisted the carpet onto his shoulder.

'Is it that hard to believe?' Flack asked, leading the sodden carpet through the window. (With the front room missing the glass in the window, the easiest way for the carpet to be removed, along with what was left of the ruined furniture, was straight out of the window.)

'Is there anything in this house that isn't wet?' Hawkes yelled from the sidewalk where he was trying to guide the carpet into the nearly full skip.

'It's not wet,' Flack shouted back. 'It's a new life-force.'

'I don't get how there is so much mould in the carpet,' Danny moaned. 'The house had been unused for years.'

Flack paused in his heaving to stare incredulously at his friend. 'You're asking the guy with the diploma to explain to the guy with the degree in science the ins and outs of mould?'

'Is this place fit to live in?' Danny asked instead.

Flack nodded. 'The mould is only superficial. Builders are in tomorrow to fix that tomorrow,' he nodded up at the hole in the ceiling above them. 'They're gonna check all the other floorboards at the same time.'

Danny looked down. 'You mean I could fall through this?'

'Danny, would you rather I swapped you with Taylor?'

'The same Taylor whose arm is in a cast?' Danny asked, eyebrow arched.

'Guys?' Hawkes' voice sailed through the window. 'Is there any chance that we could wrap up the mothers meeting and shift this carpet so we're not blocking the sidewalk?'

I suck at this - a new chapter of Gotham's Heroes is up!