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Author's Chapter Notes:

Wow. I really can't believe I'm about to check off the 'completed' box on this story. I started writing this back in February in the hopes that it might help me out of a year-long writing slump and clearly it did the trick once I got going. 

Again, I need to thank Steph for being my sounding board and encouraging me to post this even though it's not my typical fare. Thanks to all of you, also, who took the time to read and send me your thoughts - I really appreciate it. 

Here it is, the grand finale. Hope it turns out how you wanted (sorry Lore :P). 

 

The house was positively buzzing as people walked around the house, bringing out plates of food and chatting loudly about the beautiful wedding ceremony they’d all just attended. Nick and Peggy were having the reception in their backyard since it fit plenty of chairs and tables and was a far more intimate venue than any rented hotel ballroom would be.

Peggy caught sight of Nick from across the patio and smiled. He was bouncing baby Evelyn in his arms, not caring about the potential for her to spit up on his suit from all the jostling. He seemed to be completely infatuated with the child and there wasn’t a woman within a mile radius that could deny that the baby made him look a thousand times sexier than he already was.

“You better keep an eye on him, it looks like he’s planning on keeping her for his own.”

Peggy turned to her cousin Amy and smiled, chuckling lightly, “He’s pretty attached.”

Nick had been correct when he assumed that Peggy would opt out of being a part of Amy and Dustin’s wedding but regardless things had taken a turn for the better overall. They had managed to put their differences aside and although they would probably never go on double dates, Peggy was happy to still have her cousin in her life. After giving Amy a quick hug, Peggy made her way over to Nick and held out her arms.

“Can I hold her?”

He held a protective hand over the baby’s back and gave Peggy a skeptical glare, “No, sorry. We’re in love.”

Peggy laughed and reached up to push a wisp of dark brown hair off the baby’s forehead. “She could not look more like Tommy,” she commented and Nick agreed.

“It’s true,” Nick agreed, nuzzling his nose against the baby’s cheek. “Hopefully she grows out of it or she’s going to have a rough life.”

Though she was laughing Peggy tried to keep her face serious, “That’s mean. Let me hold her before you give her a complex.”

Nick passed the baby over into Peggy’s arms just as the chatter around the backyard picked up. “I’m guessing the bride and groom have arrived,” he mused as people started pulling out cameras in anticipation.

Nick and Tommy had become close friends since he’d moved to New York. The other man had come to hang out with him on his solo tour and Nick felt like he’d really finally found someone he connected with that he wasn’t related to and didn’t work with - something he hadn’t had in a long time.

Tommy and Becca decided to get married shortly before their daughter was born and Nick was genuinely honoured when Tommy asked him to be his best man. There was a decent age gap between them but it never even registered in Nick’s mind. It was only a number, after all.

Part of his duties as ‘best dude’ (as Tommy had come to call it), apart from throwing the bachelor party and writing an amazing speech for dinner, was sharing the babysitting duties for little Evelyn during the reception with the maid of honour so Becca’s mother could get a break to enjoy herself and take photos of her daughter.

In his experience, Nick knew that when girls had babies their girlfriends had a tendency to go a little baby crazy. He figured it was part jealousy and part maternal instinct that made them naturally prone to want one of their own as soon as they saw someone else’s baby.

He had surprised himself though with the way he had experienced the same feelings. He never thought he would see the day where he actually yearned for a baby, a child to carry on his name and other such foolishness. He and Peggy had talked about it a few times since their big blow out over his desire to not have children and they’d mutually agreed to remove contraception from their lives and stop trying to not try.

As the thought passed through his mind he thought of Allen and everything he’d gone through over the past couple of years. Nick remembered the last time they’d gotten a call in the middle of the night, not unlike the first, only this time when they arrived at the hospital it was just in time for everyone to say their final goodbyes to Marilyn. In a way Nick felt like Allen was somewhat relieved that his wife wasn’t suffering any longer. Her condition had only gotten worse after being hospitalized for pneumonia and no one felt it was any way to live.

Though he would likely never admit to it, Nick was sure that part of Allen was content when Marilyn quietly passed away in her sleep, finally free from the pain that had tormented her for so many years of her life. Even though his kids would no longer have their mother and he would no longer have his wife he knew they didn’t have to go through another day watching her die. It may have been a tad selfish but Nick thought that if anyone deserved a bit of selfishness it was Peggy’s brother-in-law.

Shaking his head free of sad thoughts, Nick focused on the newlyweds that were making their way through the crowd in the backyard. The deejay had started the music and everyone started heading to their seats to enjoy what was sure to be a delightful meal and dance.

~*~

It was early in the morning by the time the wedding had wrapped up and everyone had left, leaving Peggy and Nick alone with the cleaners milling away to get at least the dishes cleaned up before morning.

“That was fun,” Peggy commented as she stuck some of the leftover food from the catering service in the fridge. The meal had been delicious so Nick was happy to steal whatever they could to eat the next day.

“Yeah,” he agreed with a smile. “They were really happy.”

“I’m exhausted,” she admitted with a tired laugh, moving across the room to where he was standing. She wrapped her arms around his body and put her head on his shoulder contently.

“Why don’t you go get ready for bed?” he suggested, pushing the hair that had fallen out of her updo back behind her ear before kissing her cheek. “I kind of want a snack.”

“You didn’t eat enough before?” she joked as she pulled away, knowing that Nick had been a frequent visitor to the bar and the buffet for most of the evening.

He shrugged innocently, “I’m craving something sweet.”

“Bring me something,” Peggy instructed, kissing him quickly before she made her way up to their bedroom.

Nick waited until he was sure she was upstairs to put his plans into motion. He grabbed a few things from his office then made his way up the stairs, feeling more nervous than he’d ever felt in his life. Peggy was just slipping into bed in her nightgown when he got into the room, obviously having taken her time to wash up before hand so he was glad he hadn’t rushed.

“I thought you were getting food?” she asked, seeing that he only had two small packages in his hand.

“I forgot I had these,” he told her, holding up two Ring Pops.

Peggy chuckled, giving him a confused look. It seemed like a completely random thing for him to happen to have two of the candies but she shrugged and reached out for one of them. Nick delicately handed her the package then hopped onto the other side of the bed in his suit, pulling his sucker out of the packet.

“This is opened!” Peggy complained, looking at the wrapper in her hand. “Did you lick it already?”

Nick smiled sheepishly, “I had to know which flavour I wanted.”

She shook her head at him, pretending to be angry while pulling the Ring Pop out of the wrapper. She secured the plastic ring to her index finger and was about to put it in her mouth when she stopped cold. The surface of the sucker was a bit like glue when it was wet and stuck to the very tip, surrounded by sticky red candy was the most beautiful, non-edible, diamond ring she had ever laid eyes on.

It had a platinum band and three princess cut diamonds, looking both grand and delicate at the same time and was exactly what she would have chosen for herself. She continued to stare at it until Nick took the candy from her hand and took the ring off, cleaning it off quickly in his mouth and on the bedspread before reaching for her left hand. Still completely stunned, she watched as he slid the ring onto her ring finger then looked up into her eyes.

“Peg...I love you,” he began and she felt her eyes filling with tears. “I want to be with you forever and I know that being able to show the world that we love each other is important to you. For that reason it’s important to me. So I wanted to ask you... will you be engaged to me forever?”

Though any other woman would have been disappointed that he was only asking for an engagement and not a marriage, Peggy saw it as a step that Nick would have never been able to make before. She felt honoured to be the person that he wanted to be engaged to forever, even if it meant that they might never have the backyard reception like the one they’d just held. It was enough for her to know that they were a step closer to that reality should he ever change his mind.

“Of course I will,” Peggy grinned and their lips collided for a passionate kiss. Slowly she pulled away, brushing his hair back as she looked at his face. “A Ring Pop? That was brilliant.”

“I thought so,” he replied, giving himself a verbal pat on the back. He put the candy back on her finger and grabbed his own, holding them up. “For the second time this evening, I’d like to propose a toast. To Allen and Marilyn.”

“Why them?” Peggy asked, fondly thinking of her sister for a moment.

“They’re the reason we’re here,” Nick told her. “We almost split up a couple times but they kept us together. Everything they told me has really stuck with me and even though I never really got to know Marilyn as much as I would have liked to, I’m really grateful to have met her.”

Peggy smiled and kissed him again, “She liked you a lot. Maybe we can keep Marilyn in mind for a girl name.”

“Yeah,” Nick agreed, sticking the Ring Pop in his mouth. He was happily working his way through his candy when he realized what Peggy had just said to him. “Wait, what? Keep it in mind? Like, when?”

“I dunno,” Peggy shrugged before a sly smile crossed her face. “Seven months or so?”

This time he was the one in shock, staring with his mouth wide open. He took a few deep breaths then pulled Peggy into a tight hug, silently hoping for a Marilyn.