Shout-Outs: Chymom, Colourful Glitter, Lalalupin, Guest, phoenixmagic1, Mlle M's, Mentalgal, AngryLittlePrincess, Frogster, Dempeo4ever81, edwardfiend, tikismile, and Marcia Santos

Author's Note:

Chapter title comes from "Winter Dreams (Brandon's Song) by Kelly Clarkson.

Disclaimer: I own nothing at all.

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Chapter 18 You Love Me

One Year Later

Patrick was drawing patterns on her shoulder, causing her to have trouble concentrating on the mashed potatoes.

"Stop it!" Teresa said, pushing his hand away. "You're distracting me."

"Well, stop being so distracting then!" Patrick replied, stealing a kiss.

"Go check on Charlotte and Annabeth," Teresa told him, pushing him away with her hip.

"Joey's with them," Patrick answered.

"Well, go and check on Joey then! I'll be right there," Teresa said. "I just need to finish up here, I cannot believe that May actually entrusted me with the mashed potatoes this year."

"It's just mashed potatoes—"

With that final sentence, Patrick found himself promptly kicked out of Teresa's kitchen. He meandered into the living room and sat down on the floor next to Joseph.

"Did she kick you out too?" Joseph asked, patting Charlotte on the tummy and smiling at his sister's boyfriend.

"She said that I was distracting her," Patrick answered. "And then I had to go and say that all she was doing was mashed potatoes."

Joseph laughed. "But it isn't just mashed potatoes, not to Reese anyways. These mashed potatoes probably mean she's finally one of the girls, or something like that."

Patrick nodded and ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm actually kind of glad that we're alone. I have to ask you something. . ."

"Yeah?" Joseph asked.

"I've been with your sister for a while now and I was just wondering if you'd mind—"

"No!" He interjected. "I don't mind at all! And I don't think my other brothers would either, we all like you a lot Patrick."

"You don't even know what I was going to ask," Patrick told him.

"Maybe not, but I have a pretty good idea. Especially because of the way you started. You are planning on proposing, right?"

"Yes," Patrick answered.

"Well then, I would love for you to be my brother-in-law!" Joseph grinned and slapped him on the back. "Welcome to the family."

"She hasn't said yes yet!" Patrick reminded him.

"Oh, but she's going to!" Joseph answered. "Just you wait and see. She's crazy about you, she's always been crazy about you."

"I'm glad we had this talk," Patrick said, smiling at him.

"So, when do you think you'll propose?" Joseph asked.

"Well, I was thinking about tonight. We met eighteen years ago tonight, we got together a year ago tonight. It seems like the only logical thing to do, don't you think?"

"And you get points for remembering two other important events in your lives," Joseph pointed out. "Yes, I think tonight would be the most perfect time to propose. Where you are going to do it?"

"Right in front of the spot where we first met," Patrick answered.

"Are you going to do it in front of everybody?" Joseph asked.

"Do you think she'd really like that?" Patrick asked.

"Well, it isn't like it's in front of a bunch of strangers at a Cubs game. It's just her friends, family, and the neighbors. We're the people who care about and want what's best for the both of you. I really don't think she'd mind if everybody that she loved was there. Not really anyways."

Patrick released a breath and nodded. "Okay. Wish me luck, okay Joey?"

Joseph patted him on the back. "Good luck, but I wouldn't worry about it too much. I'm sure that she's going to say yes."

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Teresa was barely out of her coat when Patrick dragged her into the living room.

"Patrick, what are you doing?" She asked, frowning at him.

"Do you know where we're standing?" He replied.

Teresa frowned and shook her head. "No. Why?"

"Eighteen years ago today, I met you for the first time in this exact spot and you quickly became the best friend I've ever had. Tonight, I'd like to make a new anniversary," Patrick answered, getting down on one knee. "Teresa Lisbon, would you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?"

Teresa looked at him wordlessly and then everything came rushing out at once. "Are you sure? We've only been together for a year. I still have to take care of Joey, and sometimes Annabeth—"

"Yes," Patrick interjected. "I'm sure I want to spend the rest of my life with you. True, we've only been together for a year, but I know you better than people who have been together as couple longer than us. I have Charlotte, and I love Joey like he's my own brother. I love Annabeth like she's my own niece. I know there will be complications sometimes. I know we'll be the strangest kind of blended family, but I don't care. I love your family, I love you. . . I want to spend the rest of my life with you. With all of you if I have to, please marry me."

Teresa knelt down in front of him and framed his face with her hands. She looked into his eyes and nodded. "I will," she whispered, kissing him gently.

"I love you," he said.

"I love you too," she answered.

And then, the whole living room was filled with applause. The pair looked up to see all of their friends and family standing in the threshold, smiling at them. The kids charged towards them screaming and showering them with tight hugs.

"Finally," Virgil mouthed at Patrick, clapping the loudest out of anybody.

Patrick laughed and wrestled the kids away and then he helped Teresa up off of the floor. He slipped the ring onto her finger and kissed her soundly on the lips causing everybody surrounding the room to cheer loudly.

And all Teresa could do was laugh, her heart was swelling with so much happiness, she thought she was going to die from it all.

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Seven years later. . .

"When you're eighteen, you can sit at the adult's table," Patrick told his daughter. "But right now you have to sit at the kid's table. Okay—"

"But daddy—!" Six-year-old Ruth Jane started to whine.

"No ifs, ands, or buts!" Patrick said firmly. "Those are the rules. They were the rules when your mother and I were kids, and they're the rules now. The adult table will still be there in twelve years. Now be a good girl, or Santa might now show up tonight."

"Yes daddy," Ruth said meekly, not bothering to hide that she was still unhappy about sitting with the other kids.

"You better not pout," Charlotte told her sternly. "Santa Claus doesn't like that."

"Yeah," Annabeth chimed in, smirking at her cousin. "You better not pout Ruthie or I'm sure the only thing you'll be getting is coal."

Ruth glared at her. "I will NOT! DADDY MAKE ANNABETH STOP! She's being mean!"

"Ruth, use your indoor voice!" Patrick admonished her. "Annie, stop teasing your cousin or you might end up with mashed potatoes in your hair."

Annabeth bit back a grin. "Okay, Uncle Patrick."

Patrick turned to Ruth. "You, you better be nice and cheerful."

"I don't want to be nice and—"

"What's going on here?" Teresa asked, coming in and frowning at her daughter. "Are you being disagreeable again?"

"No," Ruth answered crossly. "I am not being disagreeable, mommy."

"Really?" Teresa asked, glancing at Annabeth and Charlotte. "Because I could have sworn that you were being disagreeable just now."

Ruth shot daggers at her mother. "It's just, I don't understand why I can't sit with the grownups at their table!"

"Charlotte and Annabeth can't sit at the adult's table yet, do you hear them complaining?"

"No," Ruth muttered sullenly.

Teresa knew that she had her daughter there. If there was one thing Ruth wanted more than anything in the world, it was to be exactly like her cousin and stepsister. "So, do you think you could cheer up just a little, tiny bit?" she asked.

Ruth huffed and rolled her eyes. "I guess so."

Teresa smiled. "Good. Now, daddy and I are going to get your dinner. We better see a cheerful Ruthie by the time we get back. Okay?"

"Fine."

"Ruthie," Teresa said seriously. "The only response is, yes ma'am."

"Yes ma'am," Ruth parroted back, still looking entirely cross.

"Come on Ruthie," Charlotte said, poking her gently in the side. "Smile!"

"Yeah!" Annabeth joined in. "Smile Ruthie, nobody should be this grumpy at Christmas."

It took a few minutes, but Ruth finally relented and offered them a smile.

Charlotte grinned. "There's my pretty little sister. "

"You know, sitting at the kid's table isn't so bad Ruth," Annabeth said. "We don't have to listen to all the boring grown up talk. And you hate boring grown up talk more than anybody I know."

Ruth wrinkled her nose, it was true. Grownup's conversations were usually very boring. "I guess you're right," she conceded.

"Our turn to sit at the grownup's table will come eventually," Charlotte promised, patting her hand. "Right now, we should just enjoy being kids. Daddy says that it doesn't last forever."

"Come on, I think that she'll be okay. Annie and Charlie will distract her, and her bad mood will soon be forgotten," Patrick whispered to Teresa, taking her hand in his and leading her away from the kid's table.

Teresa nodded in agreement. She pulled him onto the staircase, out of earshot from the kids and the other guests. "I have something to tell you."

"What?"

She smiled at him, stood on tip-toe to kiss him, and then she put his hand on her flat stomach. "We're going to have another baby, Patrick."

Patrick looked at her, his eyes wide. "Are you sure?"

Teresa nodded. "Positive, I took the test this morning. Are you. . . are you happy?"

"Yes," Patrick answered, leaning in and kissing her softly. Then he wrapped her up in his arms and hugged her tightly. "You don't know just how happy I really am."

"I think I have a guess," she told him, closing her eyes and kissing him again. "You're probably just as happy as I am right now."

"That's impossible," Patrick replied breathlessly. "Don't you know? Can't you see it? You've been making me the happiest person on the whole earth these past twenty-three years. Thank you Reese, thank you for loving me all of this time and never giving up on me."

Teresa smiled at him. "And thank you for loving me all of this time, for coming back even when you didn't have to and for being my friend when I needed one."

"Just returning the favor," Patrick whispered, kissing her again and again, not caring that dinner was on the table or that there was a roomful of people just a couple of feet away.

It had been twenty-three years and he still couldn't get enough of her.

_The End_

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Author's Note II:

And that's all for now. I want to thank everybody for sticking with this story. The continued support for it absolutely blew me away. When I first started to write it, I thought I'd average 5 or 6 reviews. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking a chance on this. Merry Christmas everybody.

Until next time!

Love,

Holly, 12/25/2013_