Author's note: Thank you, everyone for the great reviews. I'm happy to see that this story is so well received. Anytime you have any questions or have anything you would like to see happen in the story, just let me know in a review and I will make it happen or answer it, if it is a question. If I cannot answer your question in the context of the story, I will do so in an author's note. Thank you for reading. I look forward to seeing what everyone thinks of this next chapter.

Casey sat back on the bed, shocked. She could only stare at the ring, speechless, unable to formulate anything resembling a coherent sentence. She had been engaged only once before, to Charlie. Over the years, several people had proposed to her, but Casey wasn't one to enter into things too quickly. A quick relationship was one thing. Agreeing to marry someone after only two weeks was quite another.

But Olivia was different. They had been together for months, and they had been friends for almost thirteen years. It wasn't as if they had just met on the street one night. And in her heart, Casey knew that she loved Olivia. And she didn't have to try very hard to imagine spending the rest of her life with the older woman. In fact, she realized, it was a very appealing notion. Smiling, the redhead nodded, holding her breath. "Yes, Olivia, of course I will marry you!" she exclaimed, trying to rein in her excitement.

Olivia smiled, taking Casey's hand and gently sliding the ring onto her finger. It was a perfect fit, and Casey knew she would be staring at it for weeks. "Oh, it looks beautiful on you," the brunette murmured, sitting on the bed and kissing Casey softly.

Casey wrapped her arms around Olivia's neck, deepening the kiss. "I love you," she whispered. "With all that I am, and all that I hope to be," she added softly as they gently broke the kiss.

"I love you too," Olivia whispered, gently tapping Casey's nose. She smiled, wrapping her arms around the younger woman and sighing softly as Casey snuggled into her embrace. "I have never asked anyone to marry me," she admitted. "I was always comfortable with relationships that could end at any time. I never wanted to have someone forever. I couldn't even imagine the word. It seemed like such a long stretch of time. And I tried to think the same thing when you first accepted my kiss. But no matter how hard I tried to pull away, I felt drawn to you. I wanted you more than I have ever wanted anyone, and that scared me. But then I realized that I had two choices. I could make this like any other relationship, and watch it, inevitably, fall apart. Or I could make it permanent, and make you mine officially. I realized, then, just what I truly wanted."

Casey smiled softly. Olivia's words tugged at her heartstrings, and a warm glow oozed through her insides. If this was true love, she never wanted the feeling to end. "Well, if this is your definition of making me yours permanently, I have no complaints," she murmured, partially jokingly, but also completely seriously. She snuggled closer to Olivia, resting her head comfortably on the older woman's chest. She shifted, realizing just how many things they had left to do.

As if reading her mind, Olivia sighed above her. "We will have to disclose," she murmured. "It's no longer as simple as an ADA dating a detective in her borough. We cannot possibly hide our marriage, nor should we. I doubt IAB or your boss can do anything to us, but that is exactly why we have to disclose. We have to avoid any possible conflict of interest."

Casey nodded quietly. God, she hated the rules. In any company, there was an unspoken rule about not dating one's superiors, but there were always ways around it. In their line of work, though, their love was fodder for hundreds of defense attorneys, who could easily claim that evidence had planted, testimonies fudged, etc- all in the name of love. It was, in a word, stressful. Casey and Olivia had opted not to disclose until they knew where their relationship stood, and that it would last. It simply wasn't worth it to arrange a meeting with their bosses and confess that they were sleeping together. They weren't even officially living together yet.

There was so much to do. It wasn't as easy as arranging a wedding and signing a marriage certificate. Casey's head suddenly started to spin with all of the details, and she sat up, propping herself up against the pillows. "If it comes down to one of us having to transfer, I will do it," she murmured.

"What? No. Casey, you love your job."

"I do love my job," Casey answered, biting her lip. "But I can do that same job from anywhere in the office. You, on the other hand, are on the brink of becoming a Lieutenant and officially taking the reigns of the Special Victims Unit. If you transfer to another borough, you know as well as I do that your chances of holding that same prestige are very low." She folded her arms across her chest and crossed her ankles. "And besides. Of the two of us, you're the only one who specifically wanted to work sex crimes. I didn't. Now, I'm not saying I haven't grown to appreciate it, maybe even like it, but truthfully, Olivia, I can imagine myself elsewhere. I cannot imagine you at the helm of another borough."

Olivia sighed deeply. "I won't let you transfer," she replied. "We will figure this out. They will not transfer either of us, and if they try, well, then we will deal with it then. As long as we disclose before we even start to plan the wedding, we should be fine." She smiled, kissing Casey's forehead softly. "We will figure this out," she promised. "Trust me."

Casey, not wanting to discuss it any further, only nodded and mumbled a quick assent. Then she shook her head. "Okay, so when should we do this?" she asked, against her own will.

"I don't know. We need to arrange a meeting. We need to decide whether to tell our bosses separately or all at once."

Casey groaned. "Can we just do it all at once? I don't want to have the same conversation twice, or to answer the same questions a thousand times. And if we are together when we disclose, then we can better plan what to say. And if our bosses have different questions, we can answer them better together."

"I agree. So the next step is to arrange that meeting. It won't be until sometime next week, and even that is probably too soon. But I will attempt to contact Tucker, and you need to call your boss in the morning, too." Olivia sat up. "Another pressing matter is your pregnancy," she said. "Whether they ask or not, no one knows that you slept with another man before you slept with me. At this point, if we disclose, everyone is going to put the pieces together, and wonder just where the baby came from."

Casey sighed. Put that way, she sounded like a whore. On the one hand, she wanted to tell everyone to shove it, but she also knew she would have to answer truthfully, if asked. The worst they could do was judge her. They had no sanctions over what she did outside of work. "Hopefully they don't ask," she murmured. "I don't much relish the idea of explaining what happened to them."

"And then there is our living situation," Olivia went on. "You have been living with me unofficially, but your bills and your mail still go to your apartment. Your lease is almost up, in less than a month. At that point, you're going to have to decide what you want to do. It doesn't make sense to be married, but live apart."

Casey nodded. "You're right," she answered. "And I've already thought about that, long before you even proposed. I think, as you pointed out, it is easier to let my lease expire and move in with you officially. The only problem is, your apartment is smaller than mine, and there isn't anywhere to keep a baby."

"Then we will get a place together," Olivia replied. "In both of our names. How does that sound?"

Again, Casey's head started to spin. Who knew so many things could happen at once, all because of one little question? She hadn't assumed that they would never disclose, per se. But she hadn't expected the issue to arise so soon. At the same time, it was probably best that everything coincided at once. It made it easier to get everything taken care of comfortably, and to make sure their marriage started off on the right foot. "That sounds great," she sounded out. "But we shouldn't do anything until my lease expires, and we have disclosed. The last thing we need is IAB breathing down your neck about an apartment you share with an attorney, and wondering why you didn't tell them. Those guys are like sharks, smelling the tiniest drop of blood in the water and swarming their prey." Casey bit her lip again. "This is all moving so fast," she added quietly.

Olivia nodded. "I know. Are you feeling overwhelmed? If this isn't what you want, maybe we should slow down."

Casey shook her head. "No, it's okay. I'm just trying to process everything at once: becoming a wife, becoming a mother, shopping for a new house...it's all happening at the same time, and it's quite overwhelming." Then she smiled. "But it's also amazing, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. But are you sure this is what you want? I hope you are not doing this simply because you feel pressured."

"No one pressures me into anything I don't want to do, Casey," Olivia answered firmly. "No. I am asking this of you because I am tired of waiting. I love you more than I have ever loved anyone, and I want you to be mine. By that same token, are you just accepting because you feel pressured?"

"I just said no," Casey answered automatically. But she knew in her heart that she meant it. She wasn't one to agree to things she didn't want to do. She kissed Olivia passionately, moaning softly as Olivia tangled her fingers in her long scarlet hair. As they pulled apart, their gazes meeting, Casey smiled softly, almost wistfully. "Just imagine it," she murmured.

"Imagine what?" Olivia asked.

"Imagine how it would sound," Casey answered cryptically. "Casey Benson. Hmm. I could get used to that. It sounds so natural, so perfect."

Olivia smirked. "Yes, yes it does," she agreed. "Just imagine yourself as my beautiful wife," she added. "Casey, I love you very much, and I am so happy to be embarking on a lifetime with you."

"Shh, don't say that," Casey whispered. "Half of all marriages start that way, then they end." It was rather disconcerting to think that nearly half of all marriages in the United States ended in divorce. It was for that reason that Casey never entered into anything she wasn't fully ready for, because she refused to become a statistic. She didn't want to be a woman who would get married half a dozen times. She wanted her first marriage to be her only one, and she didn't care how old fashioned it sounded.

"Not ours," Olivia promised, breaking Casey from her thoughts. She threw her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. "What do you say we go out for a celebratory engagement date night?"

"Isn't that a bit redundant?" Casey asked, smirking. But she stood up, too, and walked over to where Olivia stood. "I say...hmm..yes!"

"Don't you ever shut up?" Olivia purred, pulling her closer and kissing her passionately.

Author's note: Thanks again for reading. Let me know if you would all rather see a detailed love scene or not. I look forward to reading your thoughts.