The Best Woman For the Job

"I…I don't know what to say," Irene finally said upon her release from Pete's bear hug.

"I know what to say!" said the woman who was never at a loss for words; "What the bloody hell were you thinking?"

"Hel-e-na," Myka said, stretching her wife's name out over the span of a few seconds so she could slide next to her and put her arm around her. "We want to say congratulations, Pete."

"No, we do not!" her one track minded wife said. "Well, yes, we do, but not until you explain why now. We already have a wedding to prepare for…" Helena ranted and Myka squeezed her again, just before Irene pulled Pete in for another hug, saying congratulations, and shooting Helena a look.

"Oh," Helena said and finally got on board the polite train before it pulled completely out of the station. "Of course, Pete," she said and Pete's face lit up – finally. And when Myka nudged her just the slightest bit, she immediately asked what they could do.

"Thanks, Boss! It would really mean a lot to me if you'd accept and be my Best Wo-Man," Pete said slowly.

"Of course," Helena said and finally catching on, added – "It would be my pleasure. What exactly do I do?"

"You show up tomorrow," Pete said and then shifted his weight from side to side. "I mean, usually there's a bachelor party," he uttered, barely audible. "But that's ….no, there's no time."

"What did he say?" Helena asked, but Pete interrupted her.

"We got the Mayor to agree because, she's his personal liaison with all things Wells, so he said he would," Pete stammered.

It finally dawned on Myka what else Pete said. "You're going to be a father!" she exclaimed and ran to hug him all over again.

"Can you believe it!" he said, and hugged Myka back, but pushed his butt out so he wouldn't crowd her.

"Do you not cover birth control in any of those HR classes?" Helena asked Irene quietly.

"Yes, it's right after the "Mind Your Own Business" seminar," Irene said softly back. "How is Jane feeling?" Irene asked instead of acknowledging the glare she felt.

"She's good. We took the pregnancy test. I think it's a boy," Pete said, making sure everyone would listen.

"Pete, we didn't mean to take you away from Jane, tonight. Please go home. I'll catch a cab," Irene pleaded with him.

"Oh God, she is so stubborn," Helena let out because of how the woman wouldn't let go of something once she got her teeth into it.

"Helena, a minute?" Myka asked and Helena was more than happy to escape into the living room with Myka. Irene asked Pete what she could do and he started his long list of things that needed to be taken care of. When Helena closed the door to the living room, Myka turned around to invade her space.

"So, uhm, sweetie?" Myka said, in a tone she used when she wanted her wife to do something that she was almost certain she would say no to. She moved as close to Helena as her protruding stomach would allow.

"Yes, Darling," Helena said because as soon as Myka used that voice, Helena would do anything.

"Pete has asked you to be his Best Man and the job of the Best Man is to take the groom out the night before….," she started and Helena's eyes grew wide.

"You have got to be…..no! You're not suggesting. Me? You can't be serious," Helena said all in one long breath.

"Not for a long time. Maybe just take him for drinks with some people. He's such a traditionalist that I'm sure he would feel he missed out if you don't," Myka said, and her bottom lip jutted out in a slight pout.

"Aren't you tired?" Helena asked, a part of her already giving in.

"I thought I would stay here and give Jane a shower," Myka said, wondering how quickly they could pull this together.

"At this hour?" Helena said, incredulously.

"Just a few friends and we can call a store ….," Myka said, willing to use Helena's influence on the rare occasion.

"Wait, is it a bridal shower or a baby shower?" Helena wanted to know.

"Wedding. We'll wait for them to announce the news themselves," Myka said, curling a long strand of Helena's hair around her finger. Which was pretty much how she had her wife right now.

"This is utterly ridiculous, not to mention inconvenient," Helena huffed. "Why do people not consider how problematic they make our lives when they're doing these things?"

Myka smiled at how serious Helena really was, but wanted to make sure she was also agreeing to her plan. "So, you'll….take him?" she asked so sweetly that even if Helena wanted to refuse, she simply couldn't now.

"Yes," Helena heard herself saying and only then did her brain attempt to get back online to figure out the details. Myka kissed her lips before the many reasons why this was a ridiculous idea could fall off them.

Pete's fate literally had been sealed with a kiss.

Myka opened the door so they could rejoin their friends, and that is how long it took Helena to come up with a plan. Myka turned back and whispered to her wife – "Ask him if he would like to."

Helena, who so often missed the nuances of not letting the cat out of the bag, really missed this. "As your Best Woman, it is incumbent upon me to provide you with an archaic pre-wedding celebration to commemorate you last night as a free man. Although I believe the detective has had you symbolically handcuffed since the moment you met ….Ouch!" Helena said as two separate elbows jabbed her in her side. She decided never to stand between Myka and Irene again.

"Sorry, Boss?" Pete said, having been lost in the long stream of words.

"Do you have time for a bachelor party?" Helena said, each word pronounced carefully and slowly.

"With you?" he asked and Myka could see immediately that he was thrilled. "You mean, you'd be there? We would go out together? With people?" The groom-to-be was trying to act nonchalant, but he was so excited he couldn't contain it.

"I thought maybe I would throw Jane a tiny shower, here, if she's available," Myka said, hoping she would be awake when Jane got there.

"Oh, guys!" he said, hugging everyone again and choking back tears. "You are the best friends anyone could ever have!"

"Guilty as charged," Helena said and with that, the women went into action.

Pete called Jane who was very happy to hear he was going to have his own bachelor party, and less thrilled to hear about the shower. "They don't have to do that….," Jane said, because she had made it a lifelong goal never to attend a shower of any kind. Pete was insistent and said that it was Myka's idea. Jane promised to be there as soon as she could. Being the well trained detective that she was, the first thing she did was call for backup.

An hour later, or almost Myka's bedtime, the group of friends assembled in the entry way of the Bering-Wells Townhouse. Eileen kissed Claudia when the techie explained she had to go with Pete. "I'll do the shower," Eileen said, because with her family, she was practically an expert.

Steve and Andrew stood by Pete and Officer Bell never left Jane's side. "Showers are so much fun," the young officer said.

"You know I'm armed, right?" Jane said, hoping it sounded like a joke even though she meant it.

"I am having trouble deciding," Sui admitted because according to his program on rituals, both sounded like fun.

"Shower or bachelor party?" Bridget said, using her hands as if she were literally weighing her options. "Paper cuts, bow hats and squealing versus general rowdiness and raising hell," she said as if there really were any contest. "Have fun at the shower, honey," she kissed Sarah as she made her choice.

"Now remember, Helena," Jane said, thrilled that Pete was getting what he wanted from whom he wanted it from, "….don't get him arrested at the strip club."

"I'm going to the bachelor party," Sui suddenly decided.

Helena's head shot up as she looked at Myka. "I ….we…..no! We can go to dinner, have an after dinner drink perhaps, but…." she announced, looking at Myka for affirmation that this was the plan.

"They're painting the walls along the West Side Highway. Maybe we could stop there and watch it dry," Bridget said, ribbing the Brit for her lack of exciting plans.

"I cannot guarantee the safe return of your wife," Helena said candidly to Sarah.

Jane watched the exchange and joked that maybe the young policeman should go to the bachelor party and protect Pete. The look of disappointment on her face was so telling that Jane had to explain she was kidding; just kidding. "This is exactly why I never got a puppy," she whispered to Irene.

Myka asked Leena, who returned early with Gerard, to fill champagne flutes with their most expensive stock; even though Pete would be drinking ginger ale along with her. One sip and Bridget knew it was the rare Krug Clos d'Ambonnay 1998 with a price tag of two-thousand a bottle.

"Top shelf for your boy," Bridget said as she clinked Myka's glass of bubbly soda. "Now, let's do this right," she said as she pressed all kinds of keys on her phone to call the Waldorf Astoria Hotel to their penthouse suite which was booked until she said she was calling for Helena. Then, it suddenly became available. She asked that it be stocked with soda, chips, and any other food they would serve at a Super Bowl party.

"Add video games," Myka said and Bridget got them to do that too.

"There won't be naked women at this, will there?" Claudia asked because it might have been a deal breaker.

"If they're serving this champagne, I can't make any promises," Bridget quipped and kissed her wife who knew hell would freeze over first.

Irene assured Helena that she would keep an eye on Myka after the Brit informed her that she was to dismiss the guests if Myka so much as yawned. "You will have to stay over," Helena informed Irene, giving her no choice in the matter. "I shan't be late," Helena said, even though it already was.

Myka kissed her goodbye and reminded her she was being an awfully good friend to Pete. "No good deed, Myka; no good deed."

The troupe went outside and piled into cars and headed toward the hotel. The women inside sat down in the living room where a pile of gifts with large bows adorned the table. "If anyone attempts to make one of those ridiculous bow hats and put it on my head," Jane said to Officer Bell, "You have permission to shoot them!"

Jane, who never really cared to be in the limelight, did in fact appreciate all the trouble her friends went to for the impromptu wedding shower. For all the bravado, the curmudgeonly detective considered these women to be her best friends. Especially Myka and Helena.

Pete enjoyed the game-centric evening and the room filled with his favorite foods. Although he hadn't touched a drop of alcohol all night, he was more animated than those who had had a few. "This was great!" he said as the night drew to a close. "We should do this more often," he said, his arm wrapped around Helena, before going back to the online game.

"You're a very lucky woman," Bridget said as she sat with the Brit behind the area where the boys …and Claudia …..were still playing Modern Warfare as a team. "Watch out!" they yelled more than once.

"You'd never know it by the circumstances I find myself in this evening," Helena said, sipping what the establishment was brave enough to call tea. They were given strict instructions over the phone from Eileen, but it simply hadn't worked.

"No, it's true," said the investment banker as she looked out at the group assembled there. "You're surrounded by people who adore you. I mean, I'm just happy Jane's not a jealous woman," Bridget said sincerely. "Even that nurse is totally on board with Team Bering-Wells."

Mentioning the nurse made Helena reflect back on the dinner they had earlier that evening. It had gone as smoothly as Helena expected. "You're a good friend to Myka," she stated to an only slightly tipsy Bridget.

The Georgian was about to make a funny retort, but noted how serious Helena was being. "I think the world of Myka. I've never met anyone like her. I mean, the world is made up of a lot of different kinds of people, but Myka," she said, looking off as she gathered her words. "She's one of the kindest human beings on this earth."

"You would do anything for her," Helena declared and Bridget nodded her head.

Bridget had no way of knowing that Helena's questioning was her way of setting the stage for what she needed. She already knew Bridget would do anything for Myka – and now she would be putting that to the test.

The night of pre-wedding celebrations ended with everyone back at the Townhouse. Myka smiled at how happy Pete was to have had his very own version of a bachelor party. "More like a fraternity party for a man who's already wed," Bridget summed it up.

"How was the shower?" Helena asked and Jane replied – "I didn't have to shoot anyone." Both women took that as a sign that it went well.

Pete hugged Helena tightly, thanking her again for giving him the best time that night. "You don't have to wear a tux," he said, just to make sure she knew.

"I can have something over here tomorrow," Sarah assured her before they left.

"Send something for Irene. She's been forbidden to choose her own clothing," Helena shared and Sarah looked at her quizzically. Helena waved her hand up and down in front of the HR Director – offering the designer all the proof she should need.

"We promise our wedding will be a lot simpler," Claudia lied and then saw the look on her fiancée's face. "Okay, maybe not."

The group left, Irene retired to her assigned bedroom, and the couple collapsed into bed. "I don't think Pete could thank you enough," Myka said as she kissed the woman with the heart of gold.

"Well, I think you actually made Jane smile," Helena noted.

"Maybe we'll retire and do good deeds all day," Myka teased. "Like steal from the rich and give to the poor," she laughed.

"You would make a very good thief, Mrs. Bering-Wells, considering how many times you have stolen my heart," Helena said, kissing Myka's lips and feeling the gentle kick of the child who couldn't wait to be born.

The next day brought the usual chaotic routine of getting ready for the wedding. Helena wore a black and white dress, with satin lapels in the style of the Pete's tuxedo.

"Do you like your dress?" Myka asked Irene because she was getting ready at the Townhouse.

"I like peace," the woman said, knowing it was better to wear it than put up with Helena.

"I'll talk to her," Myka said, but Irene said she thought Myka would have an easier time with child bearing than changing Helena's mind.

Then the friends adjoined at Gracie Mansion where the Mayor dutifully performed the ceremony. The ballroom was filled with NYPD police and Wells staff. Myka sat next to Irene as she gazed up at her wife who performed the duties of the Best Woman with her usual aplomb. She stood by Pete, holding him steady when he first saw Jane come down the aisle. Her hair that was usually covered by her signature fedora now was shining with golden highlights and swept up on her head. Instead of the usual khaki colored raincoat that she seemed to wear in every season, she wore a beautiful cream colored knee- length dress.

"God! She's beautiful," Pete said his to his Best Woman.

"Yes, but who is she?" Helena asked, unable to grasp the transformation.

Then Jane joined Pete in front of the Mayor; Helena next to the groom; Officer Bell next to the bride. The Mayor finally pronounced them husband and wife and the room erupted into applause.

The reception was held at the Plaza hotel, compliments of Helena and Myka who made it their gift. When it was time to give her speech, Helena stood up and spoke from her heart.

"This man has been my bodyguard, my companion, my date on more occasions that he cares to remember, and my friend. And I like to think that my own search for my One, brought these two together," Helena teased. "I wish you both a lifetime of happy moments, a love that deepens as the years pass, and friends to always support you. It will be our honor to witness your journey together," Helena said as she raised her glass.

The only one who cried more than Pete was Myka, who gently patted her stomach and whispered – "That's your momma up there giving that speech. I really hope you get her writing skills."