Disclaimer: I do not own the Power rangers or anything to do with them.

Timeline: Set about two years or so after the defeat of Master Org and Princess Shayla's return to her slumber

Summary: Alyssa has always had feelings for a certain lion master, but ranger duties and college have always gotten in the way of expressing her feelings. Now that things have calmed down, will fate bring these two together at last?

A/N: So sorry for the delay but the muse has returned. I will more than likely end things in this chapter. If not in this one, then in the next, but no worries, I have more stories planned.

Love and Marriage

The few months passed like a dream for Cole. Never in his short life would he ever have dreamed that he would even be more than friends with Alyssa, much falling in love with her. But that was exactly the situation he found himself in. Ever since that day that they had professed their love for each other, Cole and Alyssa were pretty much inseparable. Most nights, Cole would go right over to Alyssa's home after finishing up classes and cook dinner for the three of them. Allison, from that first day had taken an immediate liking to Cole, and the feeling was more than mutual. He was already starting to see the adorable blond hair girl as his own, and often pondered what it would be like to be her father for real. He took simple pleasures in the little things with her, things such as feeding her at mealtimes, hearing her child like laugh as he and Alyssa played with her, and watching her clutch the stuffed lion that he had given her while she slept.

On one such night, he and Alyssa had just put Allie to bed and were sitting in her living room on the couch with her curled up close to him as they finished watching a movie. Cole had something on his mind and wanted to tell her about it.

"Alyssa?"

"Hmmmm?'

"These past few months have been…amazing."

Alyssa said nothing. She agreed with him of course, but she could tell that he had something he was trying to get out and she wanted to give him all the time he needed to do so.

"Well, the thing is, during those months, I have gotten pretty close to both you and Allie. In fact, this is the first time in my life that I have felt like I am part of a family."

"The rangers were a family." Alyssa pointed out.

""Yes, that is true, but it's a different kind of family that I am talking about, and I think you know what I mean."

Alyssa nodded. She did know what he meant, and the thought both thrilled and scared her to death. Cole continued.

"Alyssa, I know that this is the real deal, and I do not want it to ever end." He paused, gathering his courage to finish what he had to say. "With your blessing, I would like to adopt Allison.

Alyssa, with tears in her eyes, just stared at this wonderful, kind, loving man.

"Cole, there is nothing in the world that I would love more. You have been more than a father figure to her since the days you lay eyes on her. It's only right that we make it legal. I would be proud to raise my daughter as Allison Evans."

"How do you think our daughter would feel if she were raised by both Cole and Alyssa Evans?"

Time stopped. He had not exactly planned on proposing to her this way, but there is was, out in the open. Cole reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring box.

"I know it's not much, and I promise I will get you a better one when I can afford it, but…."

Alyssa stopped him right there. "No."

Cole's face fell; he had honestly not expected to get rejected. Alyssa read his expression and laughed.

"No silly, I meant that I don't want a bigger ring from you. YOU are all I need in a marriage, not some silly piece of jewelry. Of course I would love to Mrs. Evans."

Cole, smiling broadly, slipped the ring on her finger and sealed the deal with a long, passionate kiss. Suddenly, Alyssa got up and rushed to get her cell phone. Cole just laughed at his new fiancé.

"What are you doing?"

"Just giving a little payback," said Alyssa with a chuckle as she dialed a number into her cell.

Taylor was not in the best of moods. Sometimes she had to wonder why she even associated with Eric much less agree to be become his wife. The man frustrated her to no end. He was stubborn, pig headed, macho, sweet, sexy. Damn, she was in love with the jerk even if she didn't want to admit it, which lately, was quite often. Their latest fight had taken place that very night. They were relaxing after a long day at their respective jobs and doing a little wedding planning. The trouble came when they were going over the guest list. Eric could not seem to understand why she would get so upset over the fact that he wanted to invite his ex girlfriend to the wedding. The fact that they were still friends was reason enough for him, and while she trusted him completely, she was dead set against it. It had turned into a full blown argument and she was now sitting in her bedroom crying, one of the few times that she ever did so, while Eric had decided to go to the gym to blow off some steam. She knew that he would be back, and eventually everything would be worked out, but that did not stop her from being both upset and more than a little pissed off at her fiancé. She was about to leave the room to get some much needed ice cream when her cell rang. Annoyed, she glanced at the caller ID to see Alyssa's name. Her annoyance quickly melting away, she flipped it open and greeted her friend.

"Hel…"

She could not even get that one simple word out before Alyssa cut her off.

"Married"! Cole! Wedding!"

Had her best friend gone completely crazy? Alyssa had literally screamed those words at her, and nothing else. She decided that the best approach was the calm one, so taking a deep breath, she responded.

"Yes Alyssa, Eric and I are getting married, so of course there will be wedding, and call me crazy, but I kind of assumed Cole would be there. So is there a reason why you are calling me so late shouting just three words or am I going to have to guess"?

By now, Alyssa had calmed down enough to actually put more than three words together to form a sentence.

"Yes, I know all about your upcoming wedding Taylor, but would you like to hear all about mine"?

It took Taylor a few seconds to digest what she had just heard, but when she did, it hit her like a ton of bricks.

"NO"!

"YES"!

"Oh my God Alyssa! Cole actually asked you to marry him"?

"Yes he did, and Taylor, he was SO sweet about it. It was NOT expecting it at all. It just came out of nowhere"!

Alyssa spends the next half hour or so telling her best friend all about her proposal. Eventually though, she wanted to get back to her new fiancé and hung up. Taylor, after saying goodbye, suddenly wanted more than anything to be with her own fiancé. It was as if all of a sudden, their fight was meaningless and she could only see the good points of the man she was about to marry. She heard the front door open and close and knew Eric was home. She got off the bed and went to great him. She wanted to show him just how much she loved him and she had a few ideas in mind on how to do just that.

Ten months later:

It was time. Alyssa felt as though she had waited her entire life for this moment. In just a few minutes, she would be standing in front of an alter pledging to spend the rest of her life loving and cherishing Cole Evans as his wife. She loved Cole, and did want to be his wife, so why the hell was she so nervous? She stood in front of the full length mirror looking over herself one more time and trying to keep her nervousness at bay. From behind her, she heard the sound of the door opening and closing. Taylor came in wearing her yellow and white matron of honor dress and holding the hand of a new to walking Allison who was looking like a little princess in her dressed that matched her aunt Taylor's perfectly. She was going to be a flower girl and was very excited about her very important job.

"Mommy pretty"!

Alyssa laughs and scooped up her daughter. "Thank you sweetheart. You look very pretty too"!

Taylor just looked at the mother and daughter and smiled. Things were finally going right for her best friend. She took Allison back from her mother and gave Alyssa a once over.

"So, are you ready to become Mrs. Cole Evans"?

Alyssa took a deep breath before answering.

"More than ever Taylor. I just wish I could stop being so nervous"!

Taylor laughed. "Don't worry honey. I felt the same way right before I married Eric. It goes away, trust me. All you have to remember is that in a few minutes, you are going to be married to the man of your dreams and that you are finally going to be a family. Nothing else matters".

Knowing that she was right, Alyssa took another deep breath and turned to her friend and gave her a teary hug.

"Thank you so much Taylor".

Before Taylor could respond, the door opened again and Alyssa's father entered.

"Honey? It's time. Are you ready"?

Releasing Taylor, Alyssa took her father's arm and made ready to leave the room. As she made her way to the altar, Taylor made to follow, ignoring the tears in her own eyes.

Epilogue: Five years later

It had been a fair few years since his parents had died, but Cole still came to their graves once a month to talk to them, and this month was no different. As always, he placed the new flowers on their grave and knelt to speak to them.

"Hey Mom, hey Dad. I hope you guys are doing well, wherever you are. There is not a day that goes by that I don't miss you guys, but you know, I am doing pretty well for myself, especially lately. I graduated from vet school last week, I am now a licensed vet and I am working with a local vet team here in town. Eventually I want to start my own practice. I know you guys would be so proud of me. I know that you would worry about me being alone, but I'm not really. Not since Alyssa came back into my life and brought Allison with her. Alyssa is doing so well. She is still teaching kindergarten and loves every second of it. Allison just started the first grade and already I can tell she is going to be a handful. She had a note sent home the other day saying that she pushed another little girl down on the playground. She said her aunt Taylor taught her to do that. I am going to have to speak to both of them about that. Erica just had a birthday. She is three years old now. I really do wish you could see her Mom and Dad. She had dark hair like me and a smile that reminds me so much of her mother. I think she is going to be an animal lover too, as she can't seem to leave the dog and cat alone for more than a few minutes".

"Cole"?
Cole turned around to see Alyssa approaching with Allison right behind her, Erica next to her and three week old twins Richard and Elizabeth in her arms.

"Its okay honey, come on over".

Alyssa came over with the kids and handed the twins to Cole, while her two older daughters, already bored, looked to play quietly nearby. Cole spoke to his parents again.

"Mom, Dad, I want you to meet my two new children. They were born just a few weeks ago and we named them after you. So now you can rest in peace knowing that your legacy will carry on". Here Cole paused, gathering his thoughts.

"I used to worry that I would fail you and you would be disappointed in me, but now, I know that is not true, nor would it ever be. I am happy now. I have a wonderful wife, four beautiful kids, and a career that I love. The only thing missing is you, but I know that you will live on both through me and my kids. I could not ask for more".

Cole got up and brushed the dirt off of his pants.

"Goodbye Mom and Dad. I love you and I will see you again next month".

Cole turned and faced his teary wife. She always did tear up when they visited his parents. He smiled at her, handed her Richard, and went to gather Allison and Erica before heading home. Yes, things were just fine in Cole Evans' life. He had seen Alyssa though a very dark time in her life, and perhaps without even knowing it, she had seen him through a darker time.

Well there you go, finally! I am so sorry that it took me so long, but life got in the way, and the muse has been slow to come back. But, it did eventually and this is the result. Thank you all for hanging in there with me, and I hope that you stay tuned for my next couple of stories. As always, please rate and review!