"How are you doing?" Steve asked as he adjusted Mike's tie for the third time.

The older man exhaled loudly, looking down. "I'm terrified," he said calmly with a nervous chuckle and Steve grinned.

"It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

Mike's eyes widened and he tilted his head. "A lifetime ago."

Laughing, Steve slapped him on the arm. "I'll go and check how everything's going. Be back in a bit. Take it easy."

Nodding and trying to smile, Mike sat down on the large armchair and began drumming his fingers on the arm. He sighed loudly and looked around the room.

# # # # #

Dan was standing at the front entrance with Haseejian and Tanner, enjoying the cool March late afternoon air. It was blessedly a sunny day.

"Wow," said Tanner with conspicuous admiration, "I haven't seen security like this since…hmm…I've never seen security like this. Well, except in the movies."

Haseejian looked at him questioningly.

"The Godfather, Part Two? The meeting of the Five Families?" Tanner tried to explain. "Oh, forget it."

Both Dan and Haseejian chuckled; Tanner just looked annoyed.

"Well, somebody called in a bunch of markers, that's for sure," Haseejian commented as he looked out over the large parking lot, and the impressive number of both marked and unmarked police cars.

"It wasn't hard," Dan said softly, "Mike's made a lot of friends over the years."

"You can say that again."

"Hi, fellas," Steve said as he joined them on the wide veranda. "How's it going out here?"

Haseejian chuckled. "We've got everything under control," he gestured towards the parking lot and everyone laughed. "So, how's the boss doing?" Even though Mike's days with the police department were over, he would always be 'the boss' as far as the Armenian sergeant was concerned.

Steve chuckled to himself. "Well, if it's possible to be both extraordinarily calm and vibrate like an electric toothbrush at the same time, that's what he's doing."

As the laugher died down, Dan said quietly, "Well, I never thought we'd see this day but I am so glad we're here."

"Amen," echoed Tanner, nodding.

"Ah, speaking of which," Steve said suddenly and the others looked at him in confusion. He nodded across the parking lot where a black sedan had just come to a stop, the back door opening and a tall, grey-haired man wearing a cassock stepping out. Steve jogged down the steps and headed across the lot.

"Steve knows him?" Tanner asked no one in particular.

"I guess," Haseejian shrugged.

Dan smiled knowingly. "That's Father Driscoll. He and Mike go way back from what I hear." They watched as Steve and the priest walked towards a side entrance and disappeared. "Have either of you seen Jeannie the last little while?"

The two sergeants shook their heads. "I suspect she's busy elsewhere," Haseejian said knowingly. "I mean, there are two sides in this, aren't there?"

"Good point," Dan said with a smile.

# # # # #

"Oh my god, Maggie, you look gorgeous," Jeannie said breathlessly, watching as the older woman studied herself in the cheval mirror.

The tall brunette turned to her, looking insecure. "Do you think Mike'll like it?"

"Are you kidding?" Jeannie chuckled. "We'll be lucky if he takes his eyes off you long enough to acknowledge that the rest of us are here."

Maggie smiled, her expression turning serious again. "He really is okay? I mean, he's told me he's fine but I know men…"

Jeannie smiled encouragingly. "He's doing great, he really is. He's not a hundred percent yet, he still has some pain in his chest once in awhile, but it's getting better all the time."

Although they had exchanged tapes and letters, and even spoken on the phone a couple of times, Maggie hadn't seen Mike since she left him at the hospital. She looked at Jeannie self-consciously. "I'm just so nervous, like a teen-ager going to the prom."

"Ah, this is a little more serious than the prom, I'm afraid," Jeannie giggled, and Maggie laughed.

"Yeah, it certainly is." The older woman shook her head. "I still don't know how you managed to pull this off, but I'll be forever grateful that you did." She came to sit on the bed beside her future stepdaughter.

"Well, I didn't do it alone, that's for sure. There was Steve and Dan, of course, and then it just sort of snowballed. Once I convinced Daddy that it was the right thing to do, and that he would be doing it with my blessing, well, things just sort of fell into place." She smiled to herself, looking down. "You remember that conversation we had while we were doing the dishes that first time, when you said that Mike was well-loved. I've always known that, you know, but to know it intellectually is one thing… to see it manifestly, it's quite something else."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, the first person outside of our little circle I spoke to about all this was Marie Olsen – she's the wife of Mike's old captain and someone I've known… all my life, I guess. She has a great mind for this kind of thing, and she adores my Dad. She also has a lot of connections too and, boy, did she use them. And she had some really amazing ideas.

"There were so many people who wanted to help out, but they were also people I knew I could trust to keep it very low profile. And then, when I got that call from Agent Andela and he said he'd get the FBI to help out as well – well, there was just no stopping us."

Maggie had taken both Jeannie's hands in her own and was staring into her face with tear-brightened eyes. "You really are making a dream come true, you know that, right?"

"Not just yours," Jeannie smiled warmly, "mine as well. The most important thing in my life right now is my wish for my Dad to be happy."

"And I will spend the rest of my life making sure that happens." Maggie enveloped the younger woman in a loving hug.

# # # # #

Steve opened the door and charged into the room with a little more energy than he'd meant to; even he was starting to feel the electricity that seemed to permeate every nook and cranny of the large resort. "Oh, sorry," he mumbled as he shut the door a little too hard, chuckling.

"Everything okay?" Mike asked dryly with a slight smile, still sitting in the chair.

"Ah, yeah, everything's just fine. Father Driscoll is here and Rabbi Schulman showed up about a half hour ago, so all's hunky dory out there. It won't be long."

"Hunky dory?" echoed Mike, his eyebrows rising, and Steve could tell from his tone that his old partner was in a playful mood. "Is that a Catholic or a Jewish expression?"

"I think it's an 'I'm-getting-so-nervous-I-can-hardly-think-straight' expression," Steve answered seriously then grinned.

"What are you so nervous about? I'm the one that's supposed to be nervous."

"Well, aren't you?"

Mike paused for a second, pretending to think. "Yes," he said, nodding then started to laugh as he stood. He took a step closer to the younger man, and his expression turned serious. "Listen, Steve, we might not get a chance to talk much later, what with everything that's gonna be happening and all that."

Steve braced himself for what he knew was coming, and what he didn't want to face.

He nodded slightly, "I know, I know…"

Mike looked deep into his young friend's eyes, his own starting to tear up, and he blinked quickly to try to clear them. "I just want to make sure you know everything you mean to me right now… and have meant… and will mean. I've been blessed with the best partner and the best friend anybody could ever have… and I cherish you." The quiet tears had begun to flow and Mike coughed self-consciously, reaching up to brush them away.

Steve, his own eyes brimming, reached out and pulled the older man into a fierce hug, pulling their heads close together. He could feel Mike's fingers digging into his back and he tightened his grip.

Chuckling slightly, they pulled apart, smiling at each other. Looking down, Mike dug into his pants pocket, his hand coming out with a small dark blue velvet jewelry box. He held it out. Steve looked from the box back up to Mike, who laughed quickly, "Don't worry, it's not a ring."

Laughing as well, sniffing and quickly wiping his eyes, Steve took the box as Mike pulled out his handkerchief and wiped his own eyes, watching in anticipation.

Steve opened the small box slowly then froze, his smile quickly disappearing. He looked up at Mike, eyes wide, stunned. Mike smiled happily, biting his lip.

Steve reached into the box and took out a polished, glistening solid gold coin the size of a silver dollar. He stared at it, at the simple script that spelled out Steve, his sharp exhale a mixture of shock and delight.

"Turn it over," Mike said softly, and Steve looked up at him briefly before shifting the coin in his hand. He gasped, tears forming in his eyes and he started to shake. In an identical font, it said Mike.

"How many times over the years have we heard that we were two sides of the same coin? So…"

Overwhelmed and unable to talk, Steve stared at his best friend, trying to smile through his tears. He settled for pulling Mike once more into his arms, burying his face against the older man's neck, his body trembling, his mind numb, a being of pure emotion.

As he felt Mike's arms tighten around his chest, he raised his head and whispered in his ear, "What am I going to do without you?"

# # # # #

There was a discreet knock on the door. "Yes?" Jeannie called out, and they heard Dan's muffled reply, "Ladies, it's time to go."

Jeannie got up from the bed, turning to the older woman. Raising her eyebrows, she asked, "Ready?"

Maggie took a deep breath, looked at herself once more in the cheval mirror, turned back and nodded. "As I'll ever be," she said with a determined smile.

Jeannie opened the door. Dan's eyebrows shot into his hairline. "Whoa!" he said breathlessly when his eyes fell on the tall brunette.

With a mischievous grin, Maggie turned to Jeannie. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"I would," said Jeannie with a chuckle. As the two women started down the hall, she turned to the immobile young cop. "Close your mouth, Dan," she giggled.

# # # # #

"How do you do that?" Steve asked in exasperation as he once more straightened Mike's tie.

"Do what?" Mike was fidgeting, shifting his weight from foot to foot, glancing around the large room that was filled to overflowing but not managing to make eye contact with anybody, it seemed. Steve knew who he was looking for.

"Stand still," Steve ordered, as if talking to an unruly child. "We still have a few minutes. For god's sake, the priest and the rabbi aren't even here yet."

Mike snickered. "That sounds like the beginning of a really bad joke."

Steve looked at him and laughed. "It better not be." He glanced over Mike's shoulder. "Ah, here they are," and Mike turned around to see Father Driscoll and Rabbi Schulman approaching. The four men exchanged handshakes, Father Driscoll enveloping Mike in a quick hug, beaming from ear to ear, obviously elated to be there.

Talking to the priest, Mike wasn't aware of the increased volume of voices in the room until Steve tapped him on the shoulder. "Mike," he said quietly, a smile in his voice. "Turn around."

And the older man did.