HI! LAST CHAPTER, SO I HOPE YOU'VE ENJOYED THIS ONE. DON'T FRET THOUGH! I HAVE MORE STORIES COMING (BOTH ONE-SHOTS AND MULTI-CHAPTERS), SO PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE STAY TUNED! IF THERE IS SOMEONE YOU'D LIKE ME TO WRITE ABOUT, FEEL FREE TO MESSAGE ME!

** ROSE POV **

I saw him walk in from across the room. He hadn't been at the wedding. I would have noticed. I knew he'd gotten his invitation because Nixon had mentioned it when he called to say that he would be coming with a plus one. Apparently, instead of the bubbly skirt that I'd been expecting to see on his arm, Dick Winters was his plus one. I heard him telling Bull as I approached that they'd been late because of the trains.

My best girlfriend, Vera, mentioned something about cutting the wedding cake, but I barely heard what she said. She and I stepped up between Bull and Lewis Nixon, but still, I was unable to look away from him. I had no idea what I was going to say.

"Ah, my beautiful bride. Come here, baby. Look who made it." I noticed the grin on Nixon's face as Bull continued, "Vera, I'd like you to meet Major Richard Winters. Sir, this is Vera Randleman, my new wife."

Dick's eyes were wide and confused as he shook her hand, looking between those standing in our small group for an explanation. I saw that Bull wore the same mischievous grin as Nixon as he introduced them. Nixon leaned into my ear.

"I already told Bull. I almost had to drag him here. He never even opened the invitation. Since he saw your handwriting on the envelope, he's been thinking it was you. I figured it was good for him, so I didn't bother to correct him."

Satisfied at the shock value of the moment, Nixon disappeared and Bull winked at me, leading Vera back toward the cake and leaving the two of us alone in the corner. We were silent at first, at last chuckling at the awkwardness. I met his eyes and he smiled down at me softly, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

"Hi, Rose," he said at last.

"Hi."

For a moment, he appeared indecisive about something, and then he pulled me into a tight hug. I sighed and breathed him in, wrapping my arms around his waist and relaxing into his arms for the first time in two years. Surprisingly, it felt completely natural. In an instant, all the awkwardness fell away.

"I thought Lew was forcing me to come here for some kind of closure. When I saw your handwriting on that invitation, I just figured…"

"Vera is my best girlfriend. Bull is my best guy friend. I was the maid of honor, so I helped with the wedding. She knew I had all of the Easy addresses. Bull and I have not been a couple since just after we got home from the war. We love each other dearly, but in the end, we are better as friends. Neither of us wanted a relationship where we always had to wonder if I was comparing him to someone else," I explained. "Nix has known forever. I can't believe he didn't tell you, especially after I told him about Denver."

"And miss out on a chance to torture me? Are you kidding?" I laughed, but he was serious. This had all been a part of Nix's scheme to show him what he'd been missing. He'd have probably been angry if he wasn't so happy. He pressed a kiss into my hair. "So, I'm almost afraid to ask, but I have to. Is there… someone?"

"Yeah, I'm afraid there is someone," I answered quietly, backing up and looking up at him. He sighed, seeming to steel himself for the real blow. "The same handsome, duty-driven, red-haired officer that I've been trying to get over for the last three years."

My eyes were damp. His heart was pounding against my hand, and I could tell that he was wondering if he had heard me correctly. I stared up at him, waiting for him to put the pieces together. His breathing grew shallow, like he was fighting back a wave of emotion that he'd been holding in since that fateful night in Zell Am See.

"What are you saying?"

"Really, Dick?" I asked incredulously. "It's you. It's only ever really been you. I've driven myself crazy trying to figure out what this is, so we need to put it to rest. I need to know what you want from me, once and for all. But, before you say anything, there is something I need…"

He didn't let me finish before he pulled me into him again, crashing his lips to mine. My hands were behind his neck. His arms were around my waist, lifting me fully off the ground as he explored my mouth, brushing his tongue across mine. At last, he put me back on my feet and dropped to a knee in front of me.

"What do I want from you? I don't ever want you to doubt my love for you again. Now that I know what it's like to wake up next to you, I don't ever want to wake up without you. I'm begging you to forgive me for what I put you through while I tried to figure that out. Marry me, Rose. Spend the rest of your life letting me make up for the last three years. That's what I want."

I blinked back tears.

"Dick, please. I really need to tell you something before you do that."

He looked worried, frozen in a proposal that he thought was going terribly wrong. Nixon stepped forward, holding the tiny hand of a red-haired toddler who was walking toward Dick on unsteady legs. He stumbled and, on instinct, Dick reached to catch him. For a moment, they studied each other, one out of curiosity and the other out of complete surprise. Nix, wearing his trademark grin, finally offered him an explanation.

"Dick, you remember all those phone calls that you were too busy to take while deep in your 'avoiding the obvious' stage of depression? Well, I'd like you to meet Bull's godson and honorary ring-bearer, Denver Richard Winters."

Dick's eyes snapped up to Nix, and then to me. The tears I'd been fighting back broke free and rolled down my cheeks. Bull and I had tried to let him know, but Nixon said that, at the time, he had been buried in regret and denial over what had happened. He wouldn't talk to or about me or Bull. It had taken all of Nix's effort to get him here today. Now, I had no idea what he was going to say.

"You have a…? We have a…?" He took a deep breath, closing his eyes and regaining his composure. When he opened them again, he looked up at me with determination and said firmly, "We should be a family. I don't want to live without you, or my son, anymore. Marry me, Rose. Today. Right now."

Unable to speak, I nodded and he stood, taking our son in one arm and me in the other, pressing "I love yous" into my lips. The room around us, which I suddenly noticed had been silent as everyone watched the drama unfold, now erupted into cheers.

Shouts of, "Finally!" and "It's about damn time!" came from all around us. Nixon walked up to hug me and shake Dick's hand, playfully ducking as though he were going to get punched.

Above it all, I heard my best friend's booming voice as he laughed, "Now we can cut the cake!"

When the raucous crowd had finally turned its attention back to the party, he made his way over to where my new fiancé and I were standing. Offering a handshake, when Dick accepted, he pulled him in close and whispered with an authority that only Bull Randleman could muster.

"Now, sir, please do not break her heart again. Because now, there is nothing to stop me from knocking you out."

"Don't worry, Bull. This time, I'm not letting her go."

** DICK POV **

The next day, as we officially opened the Easy Company reunion, I stood before the men I had once commanded and took a vow to love and cherish Rosalie Winters all the days of my life. The room erupted in applause again as we sealed it with a kiss, but there was no cheer so sweet to my ears and the squealing and clapping from a tiny red-haired boy in the front row. And later that day, as we enjoyed the reunion and our friends, there was no feeling so fulfilling as my new wife's hand in mine, and our son sleeping soundly against my shoulder.

This was the peace that I had promised myself on D-Day.