Disclaimer: The characters and their world belong to Janet Evanovich. I'm just playing with them for fun, and all mistakes are my own.

Epilogue: And they lived….

My 35th birthday was completely unlike any other birthday I'd ever had, and it wasn't just because I woke up in bed with Ranger. According to weather dot com, the sun was due to rise at 7:06 AM on Monday, October 12, and it promised to be a cool, crisp fall day. I'd just take them at their word because I was too busy enjoying some primo wake up sex to stick my head out of a window and check.

I woke just as Ranger's lips closed around my nipple and moaned as his hand slid from my breast down the length of my body. Maybe it was because I wasn't playing possum, but this time, those magic fingers made it all the way to the Promised Land. I was wet and ready after the first thrust and teetering on the brink of an orgasm after just a few more. And then, just as I was about to go over the edge, he stopped.

"No, no, no! Come back here," I whined as I grabbed frantically at his wrist.

Ranger huffed out a laugh. "Not going to leave you hanging, Babe," he told me as he nudged my knees further apart and entered me with one, smooth stroke.

"Oh, yeah," I breathed as he began to move. Carlos never left me hanging, and he never, ever disappointed. My eyes slid closed as his strokes picked up speed, only to fly open at his next softly voiced command.

"Míra, Babe. Mírame." Look at me.

Before Ranger, a traditional upbringing combined with a large dose of Catholic guilt meant that I was a lights out, eyes closed kind of girl. Don't get me wrong, I liked sex as much as anyone, but Carlos had a way of destroying any remaining boundaries or reservations I'd ever had.

Like now. One entreaty from Carlos and I wasn't worried about any jiggling bits or goofy sex faces. Our gazes locked and the intensity of the emotions that I saw in those dark, liquid eyes rocked me to my core. Naked need. Lust. Tenderness. Love. I shuddered once, twice and then came with a long moan, wondering how I'd ever believed he didn't have feelings. Blank face. Smlank face.

"Happy Birthday to me," I finally slurred out some time later. I was lying in a sweaty, messy heap next to Ranger, and I made a note to myself to do something about that – just as soon as I could feel my legs again.

He chuckled and hauled me in closer, until my head rested on his chest. "Agreed, but that wasn't your present."

"Oh?" My exhaustion fled as I lifted my head. "What did you get me?" I asked as I sat up and looked excitedly around the room. "Where's my cake? Do I smell donuts?" I'd enjoyed the heck out of the Boston Crème he'd left me last year.

He rolled out of bed and headed toward his dressing room. "No donuts for your birthday." He returned a moment later with a medium-sized box wrapped in shiny blue paper. "That stuff'll kill you," he reminded me as he rejoined me in bed.

I sat up against the headboard and leaned against him as I took the box from him. "Hmm… too light to be a taser," I teased as I shook it. Not that I'm complaining – the stun gun he'd given me the year before was still going strong. "And it's too small to be that tactical vest I've always wanted."

Carlos chuckled and dropped a kiss on my temple. "No, but thanks for the Christmas ideas, Babe."

I rolled my eyes. He probably wasn't joking. Since I've never been all that patient, I had the paper ripped off in seconds, and when I lifted the lid I found another, smaller box and a thick-ish folder. "Uh, Carlos?"

He reached in and handed me the folder. "This first."

I flipped it open to the first page, but didn't get any further than the US Army emblem at the top of the page. "Should I really be reading this?" I started to hand it back to him, but the expression on Ranger's face made me pause. He looked hopeful and…. Anxious? Since I couldn't for the life of me imagine what would make Batman nervous, I skimmed over the top page, which had two stamps on the bottom half. The large, red 'Top Secret' I'd expected, but the other stamp had my mouth going bone dry. I swallowed hard. "Contract fulfilled?"

His lips quirked up slightly as he took the folder back and flipped through several pages. "Yeah, Babe. I figured it was time to retire from field ops."

"But you love going into the wind," I protested. The idea that Carlos wouldn't be disappearing to God knows where for weeks and months at a time anymore sent a warm, gooey feeling spreading through me, but I hoped like hell that he wasn't doing this for me. I didn't ever want him to resent me for tying him down.

"I meant it when I said I'd always wait for you," I reminded him.

"I know, but what if I don't want to leave you?" He asked softly. "I'm doing this for us," he continued, proving that either his ESP was working just fine or I'd been thinking out loud again. "One of the main reasons I always said my lifestyle didn't lend itself to relationships was the uncertainty. Any mission could've been my last." And not in the good, 'contract fulfilled' way, either, I knew. He pressed a kiss onto the top of my curls. "I'm ready for someday, Babe."

"Me too," I whispered as I discreetly blinked back tears. As happy as this bit of news made me, I still couldn't let this go, quite yet. "Not that I wouldn't love having you underfoot all of the time…" We both snorted at that. Ranger knew my business better than me, sometimes, but he would never be one to hover like a small, yappy dog. "Won't you miss it? Won't you get bored?"

He flipped through the folder some more and pointed to a page that read 'Contract for Special Consultant'. "I'll still be involved, but just with mission planning and training." A smile played along his lips. "I told the General that I get all the danger I can handle keeping up with you."

"Smartass." I whapped him with a pillow. "I've hardly blown up anything at all lately. Seriously. A couple of torched cars and everyone freaks out."

"Steph." He silenced me with a kiss. "I can't wait to make a life with you."

Wow. Holy ruined panties. Maybe a year ago, the thought of a life with Carlos would've scared me spitless, but now… I wasn't ready for kids and a dog or anything, but I wanted us to be for keeps.

"This is the best birthday present, ever," I told him as I started to straddle him. All I really wanted to do was celebrate, but Carlos had other ideas. He handed me the smaller box, and since shaking it didn't give me any clues, I unwrapped it to find… another box nestled in a bed of tissue. I shot an annoyed look at him, but opened that box to find a tiny, red leather jewelry box. My hands were shaking so badly that Carlos took pity on me and rescued the Cartier box before I dropped it. He flipped open the lid to reveal the most beautiful ring I'd ever seen. The center stone was a large oval sapphire, set in platinum and surrounded by smaller diamonds.

"Babe, I'd planned this differently. I thought I'd ask you on our next trip to Miami, with candlelight, roses, and a view of the water, but I couldn't wait." He shifted to his knees so that he was face-to-face with me. "Stephanie, the day you walked into that diner and turned my world upside down was the luckiest day of my life."

He paused then. "If you don't ever want children, that will be OK with me, and I won't try to lock you in a safe house or chain you to the stove." We both chucked at that. Thanks to Hal and Ella, I could grill a steak or throw together a stir-fry without burning down the building, but I'd never be a domestic goddess. He smiled tenderly at me and held out the ring. "I just want to spend the rest of my life at your side. I love you, Babe. Will you marry me?"

I had to swallow a couple of times before I could get the words out. How could I say no to a proposal like that? "I love you, too," I whispered as I swiped under each eye. "Yes, I'll marry you."

R&S~R&S~R&S

Needless to say, we spent the next little while celebrating, but it was still only just after 8 AM when we finally came up for air. There's something to be said for being in a relationship with an ex-Army Ranger. Carlos really does get more done before 6 AM than most people do all day. As long as he wasn't dragging me out of bed for a ten mile run, I didn't mind the early mornings anymore (or the multiple orgasms). We were showered and more or less dressed for the day when we finally sat down to breakfast. By the way, Carlos is a big faker because there were two beautiful, perfect Boston crèmes waiting for me in the kitchen.

"So, what do you want to do for the rest of the day, Babe?" He asked as he poured coffee for the both of us.

"Huh?" I managed to grab the bagels just as they came out of the toaster, but forgive me for being a little distracted. My ring was extra sparkly in the morning light. I checked the time when he repeated his question. "I don't know about you, but I'm due on shift in a few minutes."

"Babe." I was getting better at interpreting Ranger-speak, so I was pretty sure he meant to say 'I've already called Tank and we're off-line until 0800 tomorrow morning'.

"Well, I guess there are perks to sleeping with the Boss," I teased. As we sat down to eat, I thought about what to do with the day that stretched before us. "We could always go back to bed," I mused. "And then we could call our families with the news, or have them both over for dinner?" Of course, that particular thought almost had me choking on my donut. "Maybe we should hold off on telling my mom for a while." As in never.

"Babe?" Once he knew I was OK, he just sat back with one eyebrow raised, waiting for an explanation.

"I know she's been pretty good, lately," I began. Since that disastrous dinner where she'd tried to set me up with Booger Sandowsky, she'd been almost welcoming to Carlos. At least she only asked if we were getting married every other week, now. "But the second we tell her we're engaged, she'll immediately go into wedding planning mode and try to turn our wedding into a circus." At least that's what had happened to my first wedding, with Val and Mary Lou in ugly pink dresses straight out of 'Gone with the Wind' and three hundred people packed into the VFW hall while my cousin Lazlo's polka band played in the corner. Add in a couple hundred of Carlos' relatives and it would be chaos. "I'm allergic to tulle," I finished. Well, I was at least allergic to the idea of me in a huge, poufy wedding dress.

Carlos rubbed my shoulder soothingly. "We'll have exactly the wedding you want, Stephanie." His expression hardened slightly. "I've got your mother handled."

Ricardo Carlos Mañoso was practically the Helen Plum whisperer, but… "I know you do, but trust me, there'll still be a whole lot of drama." I sighed and finished off my first donut. "To tell the truth, running off somewhere to get married sounds pretty good to me right now."

A thoughtful look came over Carlos's face and before I could even get a good start on my second Boston crème, he was tapping away on his iPad. "United still has seats on the flight out of Newark at 1100 hours. We could be in Las Vegas by early afternoon."

I choked for real this time. "Today?" I squeaked out when I finally got my breath. "As in we fly out to Sin City and get married right now?" It was crazy and completely irresponsible, but the more I thought about it, the more excited I became. "We could find an Elvis impersonator, and he could sing 'Love me Tender' instead of the Wedding March." I got up and hugged him tightly. "That's the best idea ever!" I exclaimed. "Do you think we could get a wedding cake at such short notice?"

Carlos chuckled and tugged me down onto his lap. "I'll take that as a yes, then." He grabbed his phone from the table and pressed a speed dial button. "Yo. Best place to get married in Vegas?" He asked when the call connected. There was a long pause, and then I heard the sound of laughter coming from the handset. "Just answer the question, idioto," he growled. "Tonight. Yeah, nice would be good," he said after another pause. And then… "I'm marrying Steph, so what do you think?"

He hung up without another word and dropped a kiss onto my temple. "Santos has it under control. He knows an assistant manager at the Bellagio."

I knew that was one of the nicer casinos, but still, this was Lester Santos we were talking about. "Les knows how to plan a wedding?"

He chuckled again and stood up from the table with me still in his arms. "Santos knows about Vegas weddings. He's been married there two, maybe three, times to the same woman."

I knew there was a story there, but we had a flight to catch in just over two hours. I'd spent the whole weekend at Haywood, but luckily I'd left a few things in Carlos' closet, including a pale blue silk dress I'd bought for a distraction at one of the classier hotels in Newark. Binkie and Zero had ended up catching the skip as he left work that day so it didn't have any creepy FTA cooties. I had shoes to match so I figured the wedding dress was handled.

It was really that easy. Ranger's little misunderstanding with the Las Vegas PD had been cleared up a long time ago, so all we had to do was purchase the plane tickets and pack a couple of overnight bags. He even had a matching set of platinum wedding bands in his safe that he'd bought with my engagement ring.

We made it to the airport with time to spare, and since I was travelling with Batman this time, we magically ended up in the shortest line and made it through security without a hitch. Let me just say that the free champagne they hand out in First Class is really yummy, but Carlos cut me off after just one glass. It was probably for the best because we spent the rest of the flight working out all those little pesky details couples usually decide before the wedding. I'd keep my job at RangeMan, and Rex and I were going to move into the apartment on seven – at least until we could find a house with enough room for a couple of home offices and a room for Julie or my nieces when they visited. I hated leaving Hal in the lurch, but I'd already texted him that I wasn't coming in for a couple of days and that I had big news for him. He and Lisa had been talking marriage, so I figured they'd either want to knock down the wall separating the duplexes or look for a bigger place, anyway.

The rest of the issues were pretty easy to settle. We were in complete agreement about sex and children (as often as possible, and not anytime soon, respectively). I refused my own black Amex card out of hand, but reluctantly agreed to let Carlos replace my rapidly aging car. The Escape had been my trusty steed for over a year, and it deserved a dignified retirement. We both agreed that once a month was more than often enough for dinner with our families.

We landed in Las Vegas around 2 PM and the casino had sent a limo to pick us up and take us to the marriage license bureau. It wasn't until I was getting ready in our suite that I began to have a few itty, bitty second thoughts. Not about marrying Carlos, though. I was one hundred percent sure that I wanted our someday.

"Problem, Babe? I smell something burning," Carlos said as he came up behind me. He drew me to him and peppered kisses along the length of my throat. "Dios, you're beautiful."

"Save that for the honeymoon," I admonished as I stared at our reflections in the mirror. The truth was, he was beautiful, dressed in one of his custom-tailored Italian suits. But I'd cleaned up pretty well, too, and I looked happy. I met his gaze in the mirror. "I was just wondering how much trouble I'm going to get into for eloping like this, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Let's get married."

He smiled then, a full thousand-watts. "We're doing this, and it's gonna be good, Babe."

And it was good. Imagine my surprise when we found Les, Hal and Hector waiting for us at the ceremony site, though.

"You didn't think I'd let you get married without me?" Hal asked me as he picked me up and swung me around.

"Yeah, we figured you needed witnesses and I happen to be very photogenic," Les said as he took his turn hugging me.

They were both wedding ready in suits, so I figured, what the heck. "You can be my maid of honor," I teased Hal.

Hal blushed. "As long as I don't have to wear a dress, I'd be glad to stand up with you, Steph."

We all laughed at that, and I finally turned to Hector. "You can be our flower girl," I told him as I kissed him on the cheek. Les and Hal choked and promptly found something really interesting to look at on the other side of the courtyard, but I just rolled my eyes at Hector's glare. Sure, he'd scared the bejeezus out of me when we'd first met, but Hec was really just a big softie.

"I'm here to do the Skype," he told me firmly in his heavily accented English. He held up his iPad and I could see that he had a conference call all ready to go.

"Yeah, we're all set to beam the festivities to Casa de Plum, the Bonds office, and Ric's folks in Newark," Les told us as he rejoined me and Hector. "I just texted Julie, and she's standing by, too."

I felt my eyes fill with tears as I looked first at Carlos, and then Lester. I should've known that he'd figure out how to give me everything I'd ever wanted in a wedding. We were in a beautiful courtyard with a lake and fountain in the background, Elvis was waiting for us and my family would still get to watch me get married. Just without half of the Burg waiting for me to trip on the train of my ugly, poufy wedding dress.

Les clapped Carlos on the shoulder as we all went to join the officiant and the photographer. "Tank wanted me to tell you that he has everything under control and that he doesn't want to see either of you for two weeks." Les snickered. "He also said that he expects you to put in for honeymoon leave the full four weeks in advance, next time."

Carlos slapped him lightly on the back of his head. "Pendejo, there won't be a next time," he growled.

I had to heartily agree. Carlos was it for me.

And that's the story of how I married the love of my life. Lester really was an excellent wedding planner, because everything was perfect. We were married on my birthday at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. The fountain played 'Love me Tender' as Elvis pronounced us man and wife and everyone we cared about was either there or watching us on Skype. There was even cake.

The End.

AN: Well, this is the end of this journey. Thanks to everyone who has followed along.

The Bellagio really does host weddings in its courtyard or on the Terazzo overlooking the fountain and manmade lake. The package includes a fountain song (yes, the fountain 'sings'), but I don't know if you can get an Elvis impersonator to officiate. I figured Les could pull it off, as well as make sure that 'Love me Tender' was playing.

PS. How did Les know what Steph would like in a wedding? I imagined that Ranger would send a follow up text to Les that read something like: 'Steph wants cake, an Elvis impersonator and Love me Tender. Under no circumstances is Helen Plum to harass Babe, but get Hector to set up video conference link for ceremony'. Les and Tank handled the rest.