After blowing out the last candle Malinowski joined her lover on the sofa. The fire was burning low, the heat of the embers the only thing that kept the long spent remnants from dying out completely.

"Do you want a drink?"

McCoy shook his head as he pulled the blanket back, allowing her to snuggle under it with him.

"Don't need it,"he said while he put his arm around her shoulders"I'm intoxicated enough after a day of loving you."

"It has been quite a day," she agreed with a chuckle. "Too bad tomorrow's Monday. I would have liked to have had a do over, just to see if we could manage a day with zero interruptions."

"Speaking of do over's," McCoy countered suddenly serious as he met her amused gaze. "What do you say we talk about making things …exclusive...my girl?"

"Exclusive," Malinowski repeated, assuming McCoy was falling back into what seemed have become their game of choice. "Are you saying you want to be my…well...my only John, Mr. McCoy?"

"Humm, I think you can call me Jack, after the day we've shared. Not to mention last night," he said suggestively before reaching a hand towards the end table beside him. "My sister sent this from Chicago while you were in Moscow. When I mentioned that the Canadians would have your ring indefinitely, Colleen thought you should have it."

Malinowski's eyes widened as McCoy placed the small black velvet box in her hand.

"Oh Jack. It's your grandmother's ring," she breathed as she stared down at the sparkling diamond that was at the center of the shiny silver ring.

"The ring we picked out is almost an exact replica of this one. I know it's not your ring, but..."

"It's perfect," she declared as she watched him slip the ring out of the box and onto her finger. "You're sure your sister is really all right with this? I know it has sentimental value for her as well as..."

McCoy shook his head and kissed her hand.

"Colleen couldn't think of a better way to welcome you to the family. As much as I wish had thought of it, she sent the ring without any prompting from me. Her only request is that we take a drive up to Chicago so you can meet the rest of the family, after you officially become a McCoy."

"An official McCoy," she mused, her eyes still fixed on the sparkling ring. "Have you given any thought as to how you'd like to go about making that happen?"

"After what happened the last time I tried to be romantic, I think I'd be willing to try something less spontaneous and more expedient. If it wasn't a Sunday afternoon, I'd spirit you off to City Hall to get the license right now and then take you back to Centre Street and have Walter Bradley do the honors before the week was out," he said frankly. "I know the last time we talked about this you said you'd already had your big wedding the first time around. As for me, whether we get married in Saint Patty's Cathedral or the county clerk's office, I'll consider it a win if I can just make you my wife."

Malinowski nodded in agreement before turning to kiss his lips once more. As full as her heart felt at that moment; as much as she wanted the whole world to witness her becoming his wife at long last, she didn't want to wait a second longer than she had to. It was already the middle of May. Planning a big wedding would take at least another six months.

"Just tell me where and when counselor and I'll be there," she said as she began to frown.

"You don't look happy about it. Don't tell me you're having second thoughts? Or are you just having second thoughts about keeping it simple? Brooke, if you want a big wedding..."

Malinowski shook her head impatiently as she pointed at the family pictures that sat across them on the fireplace mantel.

"I don't want to wait another minute to marry you, Jack. But if we do it at city hall, you get to tell the girls. Lindsay and Becky were the main reasons we ruled out city hall the last time," she reminded him.

McCoy let out a sigh as he leaned against the back of the sofa.

"This is one dilemma too many to deal with," he joked as he rose."Maybe I do need a drink."

Malinowski followed him across the room, shaking her head when he reached for a second glass after opening a bottle of Dewar's.

"I'll be more than impressed if you can find a solution to this dilemma at the bottom of a scotch bottle," she teased.

"In that case, prepare yourself to be impressed," he countered smugly, as he took as sip of the liquor. "After the go around you two had yesterday…not to mention the conclusions she jumped to with me this morning… Becky will rest easier just knowing we finally made things legal. As for Lindsay, maybe you were too enthralled by your date to notice, but Lindsay was one of Dani's attendants yesterday."

Malinowski gave him a wide grin as she took the glass from his hand.

"What woman wouldn't be enthralled with a guy like Mike LaSalle," she said with a chuckle as she blocked McCoy's attempt to grab her. "No! Let's stay focused on the problem at hand. Your point was…besides the fact Mike LaSalle got under your skin?"

"LaSalle gets on my nerves, not under my skin," he began as he reclaimed the glass and leaned against the bar,"My point was Lindsay helped Dani choose the flowers, the dresses, all those things young women seem to enjoy so much. If we can find away to have the girls at the ceremony, I'll bet she and Becky both would be satisfied helping us plan a reception, even if it's after the fact by a few weeks."

Malinowski walked thoughtfully across the room, pondering his words, before she began to slowly nod in agreement.

"I admit it. I'm impressed," she said carefully. "City Hall and a judge's chambers. The problem is which city and which judge? You can't be running out to Islip anytime soon with the Manning/Steele trial going to verdict and this triple murder case in my neck of the woods is going to get a lot of media play. No way can I slip into Manhattan during we week day right now."

"I remember the drill. You're ADA maybe running the case now, but your DA is going want you to oversee, if not present the case itself at trial," McCoy said impatiently. "If worse comes to worst we could always talk to Walter about having the ceremony over the weekend. Maybe even have him do the honors here with a few witnesses. It's the license that's going to be tough right now."

Malinowski nodded in agreement; her back to him as she looked out at the city lights that glistened as their light reflected off the still wet city streets below.

"I hate to say it Jack, but it's beginning to look like the deck is hopelessly stacked against us."

"Don't even think like that," McCoy said firmly, unwilling to admit the same thought had been in the back of his mind."How many times have we both done the impossible in a courtroom? There has to be a way for us to resolve a simple timing problem."

"Court house opens at eight, closes at four in Suffolk and New York counties," she countered glumly. "There's no way either of us can get around that. With out a license the rest of it..."

"No one said it had to be a New York license," he said, more to himself than her, as he came up behind her and slipped his arms around her waist. "No one said we had to do this in New York state."

"Now you've really lost me," she said, looking towards him as she tried to read his determined expression."Why would we add more time by leaving…"

Suddenly she stopped talking and Malinowski's mouth opened slightly wider. Her eyes widen as well, as she realized what her lover had in mind.

"Canada? You still have the license we got in Canada?"

McCoy nodded as he ran his tongue thoughtfully over his lips.

"It expires on the 21st."

Malinowski's eyes widened as the meaning his statement registered.

"The 21st? The 21st of this month? So in other words, we're getting married this weekend?"