I asked Jane to marry me last night and I'm still shocked she said yes! The night could not have been more perfect. Once she said yes, my now fiancée carried me upstairs and made love to me all night long. I am spent, and she is still sleeping. I'm quite grateful for planning this on a night when we didn't have to go to work the following day. It feels wonderful, to look down and see that ring on her finger. The one person I was worried about was Angela but she ended up taking the news rather well. At first she was shocked that I was asking for her daughter's hand in marriage. It did take her some time for her to adjust and get used to the idea of us together so I wasn't quite sure how she would react. She ended up being so happy that she even gave me that recipe without the least bit of hesitation. She was so excited she started talking of wedding planning right away. I am glad she is on board…

"Angela, I'm so glad you could make it. You don't know how much it means to me that you were able to join me for this."

"Maura, I've told you time and again, you're like my daughter too. Seeing Jane in her suit the other day nearly brought me to tears. Of course I always thought she would be wearing a wedding dress on the day she got married, but you know Jane… just had to go with a suit and be in 'her element' as she said. Still, she looked beautiful, and I'm sure you'll look just as beautiful as her. Have you already got an idea of what dress you want to wear?"

"I honestly haven't really thought about it too much. I want to try different styles. I am confident that I'll know which dress I want when I see it."

Maura had gone into the designer collections briefly and they didn't really shout out 'the one' for her. She knew Jane wouldn't care if she got married in a dress that was off the rack, and she didn't either. She just wanted the perfect dress; it didn't matter where she found it.

"I booked an appointment, so we should have at least one person all to ourselves. I'm sure they'll be able to give us an idea since this is their area of expertise and all." Maura said.

"This is so exciting!" Angela chimed in.

The two made their way into the boutique and were instantly greeted by a woman who was impeccably dressed, without a hair out of place.

"Good afternoon, how may I help you?"

"I have an appointment," Maura stated.

"You must be Dr. Isles."

"I am."

"My name is Kate and I'll be assisting you this afternoon. Please, follow me."

Kate led them into the boutique and directed Maura and Angela towards a couple of seats in front of a wall of mirrors. "Since you didn't know exactly what you wanted, I took the liberty of putting aside a variety of styles for you Dr. Isles. If you would like to look through them, let me know when you're ready so I can assist if you need with the fitting."

"Thank you Kate."

Maura walked over to the racks of dresses, all in different tones of white and champagne. She knew she wanted a white dress, that was for sure. Though she was far from being a virgin, Jane was the love of her life and to her that meant a clean slate and new beginnings.

As the afternoon progressed, she tried on dress after dress. Angela always had something positive to say about them all since they fitted her frame nicely, but there hadn't yet been one to really grab her attention. Just as she was beginning to lose hope, she came across the last few dresses left.

"Kate, I think I'm going to try this one here, I like the way it looks and I can't believe I didn't see it before."

"Of course Dr. Would you like some help?"

"Yes, please." A few minutes later, Maura came out of the dressing room and headed towards the wall of mirrors once more.

Angela's face lit up instantly. "Maura! Oh my God, that's it! That's the one!" You look beautiful my darling girl."

Maura smiled instantly, knowing exactly what Angela was thinking… this was her dress. It was perfect and exactly what she had been looking for. There wouldn't even need to be any alterations; it fit perfectly… as if it had been made specifically for her.

"I know what you mean Angela. I love it! This is the one, I can feel it! Do you think Jane will like it?"

"Honey, Jane will love you if you get married in a trash bag. Believe me when I tell you she won't be able to take her eyes off you when she sees you in this dress."

"I hope she likes it. I can't believe the date is so close already. I can't wait Angela. I know this is going to be a very special day for us… and now I have the perfect dress!"

Maura called Kate over and told her she'd found her dress. After a few minutes of talking about accessories, which Maura said she'd handle herself later, Kate helped her out of the dress and Maura retreated to dress back in her regular clothes. She made her purchase and Angela and she made their way out of the boutique, much happier than they'd been when they'd entered.

Excitement coursed through her veins. Jane would be her wife in a few short weeks and she couldn't wait for the day to arrive. She had just taken a step towards the rest of her life, and she couldn't be happier about it.