New York City, New York

Six Months Later

Olivia closed the townhouse door behind her and slung her jacket over the back of a sofa. Alex had been complaining about this habit, and Olivia had been promising to make use of the coat closet, for months. She tried to keep her footsteps as quiet as possible on her way up to their bedrom, but Alex was already beginning to stir.

"What time is it?" the younger woman mumbled against a pillow.

"About three," Olivia said gently, sitting on the edge of the bed as she wriggled out of her pants.

Alex grunted softly. "Your first day back was a forty-four hour shift," she observed. "So much for easing into it."

Olivia snickered, climbing under the covers and snuggling up against Alex, taking a moment to enjoy the thrill that passed down her spine as she pressed her breasts into her lover's bare back. Alex sighed softly, and Olivia wrapped an arm around her belly and pulled her close, nuzzling the soft, flawless skin of Alex's neck. This was one of those moments that crept up on her - moments when the very sensation of finally being with Alex, getting to come home to her every day, threatened to overwhelm her.

"So," Alex turned softly in Olivia's arms, arching an eyebrow as she looked at the dark-haired woman. "Tell me about work. Did it feel good to be back?"

"Caught a homicide and collared a teacher with homemade kiddie porn on his work computer."

"I bet," Alex groaned.

"Yeah. Sure you don't want to come back and help us send this guy away?"

Alex shook her head softly. "Not that I'm enjoying private practice," she admitted, stretching languidly. Olivia closed her eyes as the motion caused Alex's body to press firmly into hers. She chastised herself – here they were, trying to have an important conversation, and she could barely think about anything except devouring Alex.

"I also had to put up with Elliot – he's been doing more than his fair share of desk duty in my absence. On the rare occasion he's been in the field, he's spending time with John and Fin," Olivia giggled.

"Putting up with Elliot must have been the worst part of the day. Maybe you'll have to find another line to cross so you can go back on suspension," Alex murmured.

"Giving any more thought to that conversation you had with Donnelly?" Olivia asked. Two weeks earlier, the judge – and Alex's former boss – had suggested that Alex consider pursuing a soon-to-open seat on the bench. She would be twenty years younger than most first-time judicial candidates, but her remarkable story should more than make up for any concerns about her perceived lack of experience.

"I don't know," Alex sighed. "It would be a huge change for me. For us."

Olivia nodded. "You'd be a wonderful judge, Alex."

Alex laughed softly, signaling that while she was no closer to a final decision, the matter was certainly still under consideration. Her eyes darkening, she let her hands wander and squeezed Olivia's ass.

Olivia grinned wickedly – so she wasn't the only one having trouble keeping her hands to herself. Using her free arm as leverage, she lifted herself over Alex, and gently lowered her body. Alex's hips were slowly moving against her even before their lips met. Olivia savored Alex's sweet kiss, gently licking inside her mouth as Alex's slender fingers caressed her hair, recently cut short again, the way Alex liked it.

Alex hooked her fingers around the waistband of Olivia's panties and tugged, only to be surprised when Olivia pulled back and said, "Wait…"

"What's wrong?" Alex asked quickly, her heart rate still soaring.

Olivia smiled, and Alex thought she saw the barest flicker of nervousness cross her girlfriend's chiseled features. "Just… hold that thought, okay?" Olivia asked, her voice soft and not altogether steady.

"Hold that -" Alex repeated, her eyebrows creasing in increasingly-obvious irritation. "Liv?"

"It'll only take a minute," Olivia brought herself into a sitting position, leaning over to kiss Alex softly before she rose off the bed and wrapped a robe around herself.

"Good God, Liv," Alex shifted, no longer making any attempt to hide her frustration. "It can't wait?"

Olivia tossed her a smile as she left the bedroom. "It really can't," she answered, with no hint whatsoever of an apology in her voice.

When she returned to the room less than two minutes later, Alex had, much to Olivia's dismay, pulled a sweatshirt and pair of pajama bottoms on, and was sitting Indian-style at the foot of the bed, her hands planted firmly on her hips, scowling.

"Honey?" Olivia asked, wilting a little.

Alex was silent, arching an eyebrow in response.

"There's something I've been meaning to ask you," Olivia said, walking forward slowly.

Alex looked quizzical. "Okay," she said, still looking confused.

"You know, you wait and you wait for the right moment to come along, but it really doesn't," Olivia said, stopping a few feet from the bed. "Either someone's had a tough day at work, or there are decisions that have to be made, or we're running late, or I'm getting shot in the guts, or…" At this, they both tried to laugh, and failed. Olivia's brush with death was not yet something about which either of them could even feign being ready to laugh at. "…Or I'm coming home at 3 a.m. after a really hard day in the field," Olivia finished. She sighed, and slipped her hands into the pockets of the bathrobe.

"Never let it be said that our lives are dull," Alex said, wondering what Olivia was on about.

"One of the only promises that I can make you is that it will never be dull, or simple, or predictable," Olivia admitted. "It will probably always be complicated, and difficult, and unexpected. But, if you're up for it…" Looking at Alex with total sincerity, brown eyes searching blue, Olivia was vaguely aware of her own body slipping onto one knee as her left hand produced a small box from the pocket in which it had hid.

"Oh God," Alex whispered, as she suddenly became aware of what was happening. She closed her eyes for a long moment, and opened them to see Olivia still regarding her with a look of utter adoration and affection. "Oh my God, Liv."

Olivia breathed deeply, but never allowed her eyes to waver from Alex's as she propped the box open, revealing the ring she had purchased all those years before. For a brief moment, she followed Alex's gaze down to the ring, but quickly looked back at her. A momentary panic seized Olivia – she knew the ring was simple, probably not up to Alex's taste. But it was too late to turn back now.

"Alex," she said, trying with everything she had to avoid choking on the words. "Will you-"

"Yes!" Alex said firmly, cradling Olivia's face in her hands and drawing her in for a kiss. "Yes, yes, yes…"

"Alex, you didn't let me ask the ques-" Olivia mumbled a protest against Alex's lips, vaguely aware that the bathrobe she wore was being pulled off her shoulders.

"Oh," Alex said, slowing down and pulling away. "Okay. Right."

"I mean, you could at least let me do this the right-"

"Okay," Alex said, exasperation returning. "Hurry."

"Hurry?"

"Yeah. Hurry up – I want to get to the celebration sex."

They looked at each other for a long moment, before both convulsed into great, unexpected laughter – the very kind of joy and happiness that was and always had been, in both their lives, so elusive. "Will you marry me?" Olivia heard herself ask, her face pressed against Alex's hair, her lips inches from her lover's ear. "Will you spend your life with me? Will you do me that honor?"

"Of course I will," Alex said, proud of herself for waiting until Olivia had finished speaking to answer this time. "I'm going to take such good care of you."

And, smiling more broadly than she had in years, Olivia believed her.

~~~~ The End ~~~~