They've been at Angela and Wesley's Christmas party for a few hours when Lucy loses sight of Tim.

She's gotten distracted talking to Nyla, and she'd last seen Tim chatting with Wesley over a beer. When she glances around the room now, she realizes he's nowhere to be found though Wesley is still chatting with a colleague over by the Christmas tree.

Lucy uses her detective eyes to scan the room, curious as to where he's gotten to. She notices Celina with a glass of eggnog, laughing as she talks to Bailey. They both look into the glass as Celina sloshes it around, Bailey putting her nose close to it and taking a sniff, then both of them laughing and exaggerating at how strong it smells.

Then again, it's Angela's specialty. It may not be an exaggeration.

She notices Smitty by the karaoke machine pursuing the options with Webb, sees Angela give Wesley a kiss when he stops her under the mistletoe, sees Nolan talking to one of Bailey's firefighter co-workers, but no Tim. It's odd, because he's been close by all night. His hand has been on her back, her waist, her shoulders, her thigh, and at one point, dangerously sneaking into the slit on her dress as he makes teasing comments about wanting to take her home (he claims he's teasing but she has a feeling if she were to agree, they'd be out the door in record time).

Suddenly, as if he knew that she was looking for him, Tim's voice appears from behind her.

"Hey," he taps her shoulder, and she starts to open her mouth to ask something about where he's been when she realizes he's definitely been with Celina at the makeshift bar, trying out the spiked eggnog. "I'll be your date for that Christmas party if you don't have one yet," he tells her simply.

She purses her lips as she takes in the situation, figures out how to respond.

"Hmm. You mean, the party we're at right now?" Lucy asks, amused, quirking an eyebrow and gesturing around the room, indicating the party atmosphere in Angela and Wesley's house.

"Yeah," Tim replies, steadfast, as if his question still makes complete sense.

"Well, I already have a date," she tells him - mostly just to mess with him and see what he'll say - and she hears Angela snort from somewhere behind her. "He's hot."

He frowns immediately, flopping down onto the couch. "What? Who? I'll kick his ass."

Lucy laughs, sits down next to him and reaches over to sooth him by rubbing his arm. "Babe, it's you. I'm just kidding. You're my date," she assures him with a squeeze to the bicep. "Apparently, a date three sheets to the wind, but…"

The expression on his face could only be considered a pout and Lucy cracks up.

"It's not my fault. Angela spiked the eggnog," he says with conviction.

"Angela always spikes the eggnog," Lucy reminds him, simply. "That's a well-known fact, and you've known her a lot longer than I have."

"Yeah, but she spiked it," he complains. "Like, it's a lethal amount of alcohol in that stuff." Lucy turns to look at Angela over her shoulder with a smirk and Angela holds her hands in the air, proclaiming innocence.

"I warned him! I told him it was spiked," Angela insists.

"Did you tell him it wasn't just spiked but your special recipe eggnog?" Lucy questions and Angela turns straight faced.

No one quite knows what goes into Angela's special eggnog recipe, but they're sure it's at least two types of alcohol. Maybe more.

"I plead the fifth."

"Mmhmm."

"In my defense, he should know better by now. And I'm married to a lawyer. That argument holds up in court," Angela adds as she flits away to pass out more appetizers.

"You knew Angela's eggnog was going to be strong this year, now that she's not pregnant anymore," Lucy reminds him.

Tim nods, is quiet for a moment in reflection while Lucy watches the party around them. Aaron is attempting to get on the dance floor – Celina holding him back, worried about him and insisting he take it slow. Nolan and Bailey are crowded up in the corner, enjoying their first Christmas as newlyweds and sipping drinks and laughing with each other. Grey and Luna are on the couch talking to Nyla and James, all four of them laughing hard at something someone has said.

"I want to marry you," Tim says suddenly and Lucy jerks back to reality, looking over at him. "I want you to be my wife," he says simply.

He's drunk and it's not like the idea of marriage is something off the wall or unexpected for them, but still, it makes her heart flutter a little, her stomach dip in anticipation at the thought. Though they allude to a future together - marriage, kids, grandkids - all the time, hearing the word wife makes her heart surge in a new way.

"Well, all you gotta do is ask," she teases as she hides her smile behind her glass as she sips her drink.

"You'll say yes?" he wants to know, and she smirks at him.

"Guess you have to ask first," she informs him, though she's pretty sure it's a well-known fact to both of them that her answer will be yes. Then she drops a hand to his thigh as he opens his mouth. "Not right now," she instructs him. "Later. When the eggnog has worn off."

"After we get married," he continues, undeterred. "I want to make babies with you."

Lucy snorts. "I bet you do," she says with a grin.

"A lot of them."

She knows he's wasted, but she's having fun with this conversation so she asks anyway, "Exactly how many is a lot?"

He scrunches up his face in thought, as if he's thinking through the most difficult case, trying to put all the evidence together to come up with a conclusion. "More than one," he says seriously, "but less than fourteen."

Lucy bursts out a laugh, unable to hold it in at his random declaration of fourteen being the breaking point. "Well, agreed." She taps his thigh again. "Probably a lot less than fourteen, but still."

"Mmm," he says as he leans back and closes his eyes. "We could practice tonight."

Lucy chuckles, kissing him on the cheek. "I don't think that's in the cards tonight, baby."

Tim grumbles, and he pouts again. "It's all Angela's fault. I had plans for tonight," he whines. "She ruined them with her damn eggnog."

Lucy nods, doesn't disagree with him that Angela is to blame even though she knows he willingly took the eggnog and knows he knew how strong it is. "Let me get you some coffee," she decides. "And something to eat. Maybe it will sober you up a bit."

He nods as she gets up, but he doesn't want to let go of her hand. She manages to wriggle it away, promising she'll be right back. She finds Angela in the kitchen, asks if it's okay if she makes Tim some coffee and Angela nods.

"He okay?" Angela asks, her voice slightly concerned despite her earlier efforts at proclaiming innocence. "Maybe I shouldn't have let him drink two."

"He'll be fine," Lucy waves her off. "He's just wasted. Off in his own world, talking about he wants to marry me and have babies with me."

Angela laughs deeply. "Come on, Lucy, that's on his mind even when he's completely sober."

Lucy rolls her eyes. "Well yeah I mean, I know we talk about the future but…" she shrugs, "in like, an abstract kind of way."

"Trust me," Angela says with a small grin. "His mind – sober or otherwise- is definitely there." Lucy opens her mouth to say something, but Angela speaks again. "I know. He tells me things. So if you're not ready for it yet you should tell him, because he definitely is."

Lucy feels her cheeks flush, she feels her stomach jolt in anticipation again, trying to process the fact this could be real sooner rather than later. Ever since they got together – since the second first date and the talk of grandkids - it's never been a secret they knew they were headed this direction. They knew each other so well before becoming a couple it was almost a forgone conclusion as soon as they started dating. They didn't start dating as two strangers getting to know each other. It felt like when they began their relationship that they were already years in.

And technically, she supposes, they were. All those years of friendship, getting to know each other, supporting each other – they had to count for something.

But it's always been abstract, out there, in the future, one day. Suddenly, she feels it all coming into view, like it could be something that she could actually experience in the very near future.

"No. I'm ready," she tells Angela confidently and Angela smiles and hums her approval.

"He's so happy. You know, I've known him a long time. I saw him when he was happy with Isabel. I saw him through that dark period when he was heartbroken and I wasn't sure he'd ever really bounce back. But now, I swear to you – it's different. He's happier than he's ever been."

Lucy's not sure what to say, just nods, so Angela pats her on the shoulder as she exits the kitchen with more food, leaving Lucy to prepare his coffee and ponder her thoughts.

She can see it all and it feels good to imagine.

She knows that they both know they're headed for marriage, but she suddenly thinks about Angela's words and realizes how – despite how sure they may be about each other and this – it's really a big thing for Tim to go through this again. For her it's new, it's exciting, the prospect of getting engaged and married, having found the person you want to spend your life with. For him – he's been here before. When he married Isabel, of course he never thought they would end up divorced, or go through such heartbreak. He knows how it is to be so sure, ready to take the next step, but he's also faced the reality that it can fall apart despite that.

And yet he's ready to take the chance again, with her. He's ready to risk it all again, jump head first into another marriage with nothing but faith.

When Lucy comes back out to the living room to find Smitty talking to Tim, she can't help but laugh at how he seems to be so drawn in and enraptured in the conversation that she's sure is about something completely obscure, something that sober Tim would never engage in.

"Just drink one every morning," she hears Smitty tell him. "The green ones are the best, in my opinion. Anyway, you won't believe the results. Oh, hey Chen," he says when he sees her there. "I was just telling Bradford about my newest juice cleanse. Telling him he might want to get started on it tomorrow, y'know, to flush out all the alcohol. Actually, if he buys from me-"

Lucy frowns and cuts him off. "Smitty, tell me you're not trying to sucker a man who is clearly not sober in to your MLM scheme."

Smitty groans as he stands, throwing his hands in the air. "Why does everyone keep calling it that?"

As Smitty wanders away, Lucy takes his spot and hands Tim his coffee and a plate of food as he grins at her. "Thanks."

She nods, kisses him on the cheek. "Yes," she tells him softly. "I'd say yes."

His face lights up and she's not sure if he'll remember any of these conversations tomorrow and she knows it's one they need to have when they're both sober, but she still appreciates the complete happiness that overcomes him at the idea. "Yeah?"

"Of course," she tells him assuredly in a soft whisper and a gentle smile.

He nods, sips his coffee happily. "You want to be my date to the Christmas party?"

Lucy groans and laughs, realizing the conversation has gone full circle and he's still just as lost as ever about the fact they're at the Christmas party. He looks at her with a look of confusion at her laughter and she takes pity on him.

"Sure. I'd love to," she says and lets the new grin that spreads over his face warm her heart. "Always."