Sabrina never goes back to the mortuary, at least not as a resident. Nick casually mentions that she should get the rest of her things over a hurried breakfast one more before he has to be at the station and she has to be at an editorial meeting and by the weekend, her dresser is in his bedroom, her clothes in his closet.

They go through a learning curve, figuring out how to live together instead of just sleeping over. Sabrina is tidier than Nick, and his tendency to leave his clean clothes stacked in chairs and his dirty clothes in a pile on the floor drives her crazy. He struggles with her preference for almond milk and reality TV over his like of cow's milk and baseball games. They have a petty argument over throw pillows that sends her to the mortuary – with Dublin – where she intends to sleep for the night, but he's there within the hour and another hour later, they're home, making love on the very pillows they argued about.

Nonna passes away the day after Valentine's Day. The call comes in the early morning hours, before the sun is up. Nick answers with a groggy "'Lo?" as Sabrina groans and snuggles her naked body closer to his. He's alert within moments and so is she, holding him while he cries, then, later, she is by his side, holding his hand at Nonna's funeral. When she sees him faltering, she squeezes his hand three times. He squeezes back four, and sits up a little straighter.

The days after Nonna's death are hard. Nick is responsible for her estate, and while most of her arrangements were made years earlier, there are still death certificates to send, accounts to access and close, belongings to sort through. He's short tempered and not himself and she tries to be patient, allow him to grieve, but as the days tick by, she finds it harder and harder.

They're in New York at his Nonna's apartment, the place Nick grew up and now technically owns with her passing, to continue the work of sorting through her belongings, when he tells Sabrina he's going out to pick up something for dinner. But hours pass and he doesn't come back, doesn't answer his phone. She's frantic with worry and walks around a few blocks near the apartment complex, but New York is big and she's not sure where to even begin. When he finally does show up, it's one in the morning, he reeks of bourbon, and he's stumbling more than walking.

That night, she puts him to bed and listens to his nonsensical mutterings. But in the morning, she lights into him, not caring that he's barely awake and incredibly hungover. She understands that he's hurting, but she won't put up with the kind of behavior he exhibited last night. She's tired of being on the receiving end of his bad moods, and did he know how worried she was last night? Not to mention the fact that he left her at the apartment in a strange city all alone for hours and hours.

She leaves, informing him that she's going out for the day, because enough is enough and she needs a break from him. Don't bother to call. He, of course, calls several times, but she ignores him – and makes sure she's not sharing her location with him – and when she finally comes home in the late afternoon, he's beside himself. He apologizes profusely and confesses that he realized en route to the store that he's alone now – his family is gone.

What little annoyance she had held on to after a day she purposefully spent apart from him to cool off dissipates. She's there, reminding him that she is his family, that he isn't alone. They spend the rest of the night wrapped in one another, no sex, just comfort. He keeps apologizing and she keeps reminding him she's forgiven him. They order in pizza and while its good, it's nothing like his.

A week later, it's his birthday. He told her once that his Nonna used to make him lasagna to celebrate, so she enlists Ambrose to keep him busy and Hilda to help her bake both a lasagna and the chocolate ganache cake he also mentioned. She spends most of the afternoon snapping at Hilda who keeps trying to interfere, but she is insistent on doing it herself, even if her cooking skills are currently limited to the basics, which is still more than Nick is capable of, save for his pizzas.

He's genuinely surprised when he gets home to find all the Spellmans, Cee, Prudence, the twins, Theo, Roz, and Billy in his kitchen, Sabrina beaming, Dublin sitting at her side. He's never made a big deal about his birthday, hasn't properly celebrated in years, and his last one was spent with him doing his worst in the weeks after Amalia's death, but like their belated Thanksgiving, he's floored by the genuine desire of the people he now considers family to be there with him to celebrate.

He doesn't lie when he tells Sabrina it's the best lasagna and cake he's ever had. It's not that it tastes better than Nonna's – it absolutely does not – but it's that she made it for him because she believes in celebrating birthdays and holidays as big and over the top as possible. When they are finally alone, he makes love to her, slow and drawn out, repeatedly bringing them both to the edge then pulling back so when they finally do come, it's intense and overwhelming and hard to recover from. Afterward, her in his arms, her naked body wrapped around him, he thanks her and reminds her this is forever.

The NYPD tries to woo him back. He politely declines. Greendale is his home now, but he puts in a recommendation for Officer Craig who puts in his notice with Ambrose a couple of weeks later. Sabrina asks him if he has regrets, and he assures her the only regret he has is that he hadn't moved to Greendale and met her sooner.

No one is surprised when Nick turns up at the mortuary in late spring, asking Zelda, Hilda, and Ambrose for Sabrina's hand in marriage. They readily agree and are popping a bottle of champagne to celebrate before he's made it to his Jeep. It's the hardest thing the aunts have ever done, waiting for Nick to propose. Ambrose enjoys watching them squirm.

It's a random Friday night a couple of weeks later. It's raining out, has been raining for days, and they've both been busy all week. Harvey's trial is soon and Nick is preparing for what Prudence says could be an all day testimony from him. Sabrina is reporting on the trial, stories from around town peppered into the mix when she can get to them. They've made Friday nights their pizza night though, and he's slowly teaching her how to make the dough and sauce. She's nearly mastered the sauce, and while the dough wouldn't exist without his help, she's getting better at shaping it after its proofed.

She's standing at the kitchen island, hands on her hips, flour dusting the apron Hilda gave her when she realized Sabrina was serious about learning how to cook better, debating out loud with herself over which toppings she wants this week. He's been trying to plan a big, grand proposal, but it hits him that this is the moment – here, in their kitchen, where it all began. He kisses her cheek and excuses himself.

When he comes back a few minutes later, she's settled on pepperoni, arugula, and pine nuts – she thinks – and looks to him for his thoughts on the matter. Instead, she finds him nervous, his hands in his pockets. He gives a short speech about how much he loves her and how much he wants to share his life with her. He gets down on one knee, presents her with a ring, and she's so surprised and happy that she launches herself at him to kiss him and it's a full minute before he remembers to put the ring on her finger.

It's his mother's ring, she learns later, once again in bed, naked in his arms. The house still smells like the pizza they burned, but neither of them care. He's playing with the ring on her finger, noting how it sparkles and how perfect it looks, even how perfectly it fits her. She's going to be his wife and it's baffling to him that a year ago words like "wife" and "marriage" would have sent him running, but Sabrina isn't just any girl. She's – his fiancé.

What does surprise everyone is Sabrina's declaration that she will be taking Nick's last name. He's the most surprised of all. He was ready to suggest a hyphenated name – Spellman-Scratch, Scratch-Spellman, he didn't really care, she could pick – but she insists. She tells him over their Friday night pizza that it's important to her because he's the last of his bloodline and she wants to make sure his surname lives on, something she knows, whether he's said it or not, is important to him. Besides, she adds, 'Sabrina Scratch' does have a certain ring to it. He takes her right there on the couch.

Harvey's trial is relatively quick. Between Nick's evidence and Sabrina's recording, there is no doubt in anyone's mind that he's guilty. Prudence does, in fact, seek the death penalty, but Sabrina is the one who makes the plea in court – with Nick's support – that he serve life in prison with no chance of parole. She feels he should have to live with what he's done, be haunted by the ghosts of those he killed. The jury agrees and while Sabrina doesn't know what prison he's in, Nick does. He wll always know – just in case.

Their wedding is small and intimate and perfectly them, much to Zelda's chagrin as she had plans for the biggest, grandest wedding Greendale has ever seen. A spectacle isn't important to them. Neither is a long engagement. They just want to be married and to celebrate the day with their closest family and friends. Sabrina meets Nick's distant aunts and their families during the wedding festivities and decides she likes one, one not so much. The aunts tell Nick they think it's a bit fast, given he's barely known Sabrina a year when they become husband and wife, but he dismisses them. He knows Sabrina and she knows him and together, they hsve already gone through enough trials to prove they can make it through anything.

They settle into married life after a honeymoon to, Nick surprises Sabrina, Italy. She becomes the paper's editor and the FBI comes calling, asking Nick to join them. He negotiates, offering up his talents as an outside contractor of sorts, so long as he gets to stay in Greendale and be the Greendale PD's detective, as quiet as the town is these days. They agree and Sabrina knows it's the right thing – Nick needs to use his mind, and consulting on cases lets him do that, even if it occasional takes him away from her for a few days, even a few weeks.

As for her, she's approached about a book deal and ends up writing one, sharing her story of growing up in Greendale and loving a killer. It's a best seller and opens up other writing opportunities for her. She continues her work as editor, but takes on the jobs she wants. Both she and Nick are respected in their professions, could live anywhere in the world, but Greendale is home and they are steadfast in their belief that it is the right place for them.

They move from Nick's small house to a bigger farmhouse on the outskirts of town, a place Sabrina renovates and Nick hires someone to mow the yard because he grew up in New York, has never touched a lawnmower before, and after one go of it, decides its worth paying someone else to do. He rationalizes it by saying he can spend more time with his family if he's not doing yard work and Sabrina pretends to buy it.

Their first child, a boy, Nicholas Anthony Scratch III, comes along just shy of their second wedding anniversary. Being a mom is the only thing that's ever been more natural for her than writing and Nick settles into the role of dad like it was a suit tailored for him, despite the nights he spent awake and worrying, having never had a father to show him what one should be like. She's certain there isn't a sight sexier or sweeter than Nick Scratch with his baby son, an exact replica of him, in his arms, and she's willing to have ten more if she can just keep that image for as long as possible.

Salem wants nothing to do with the child, but Dublin has appointed herself his keeper of sorts. She's in whatever the room the baby is in, sleeps in the baby's nursery at night, has even trotted to their bedroom to let them know he needed them before his cries ever made it across the monitor – which is state of the art, because if nothing else, Nick will make sure his home and thereby his family have the best security in place, right down to the baby monitor.

Their friends' lives change, too. Roz moves away, all the way to San Francisco, as soon as Harvey's trial is over. She just couldn't be in Greendale anymore, needed a fresh start. She comes back for their wedding, but she's settled in San Francisco now, happy and starting to date again. Theo and Billy are living together, discussing marriage, but Theo is making waves on his own as an advocate in the LGQBT community. Sabrina is so proud of him she feels like bursting sometimes.

Prudence is granted permanent custody of the twins. Ambrose moves in with her and they raise her brother and sister in an odd sort of parental way. They get married themselves, giving Zelda her spectacle of a wedding, have a boy of their own not long after Nicholas comes along. Sabrina hopes the boys grow up close, best friends like her and Ambrose.

Cee moves into the mortuary because as Hilda puts it, it's just too quiet without Sabrina and Ambrose, but everyone knows Cee's residency at the mortuary is as good as marriage. Zelda keeps herself busy, elected to mayor for another term, starts to show interest in the town's treasurer, and is always willing to babysit when asked.

Their baby girl comes along just after Nicholas' second birthday. They name her Diana Alice, but call her Alice because when they see her for the first time, they know without a doubt that she's an Alice. If Nicholas is the spitting image of Nick, Alice is her mother, right down to her petite size and button nose. She still has her father's dark hair, though – those genes can't be overridden. Nicholas is bold and brazen, but loves an evening snuggle in his mother lap. Alice is good-natured and kind, but with a temper hidden below her innocent eyes and the sweet smile that cons her Daddy into whatever she wants. He says its because her smile is just like her mother's. Sabrina says its because he's a pushover when it comes to his daughter.

It's not always perfect. They have arguments and parenting is hard, but they love each other and that's enough to get them through the though times. Nick still can't keep his hands off of her and she still doesn't want him to. That's how their third baby, another daughter, Magdalena Lux, comes along.

"We did okay, Scratch," she says one evening, sitting on the swing on their front porch, tea and coffee in their respective hands, watching their little ones chase lightning bugs. Nicholas is fast and everywhere, their new golden retriever puppy, Max, bounding after him. Alice is in her own world, twirling until she's dizzy and then trying to run after her brother, falling down in the grass and laughing hysterically. Mags is barely walking, but she's determined to try and keep up with her older siblings. Dublin, old dog that she is, lays dutifully at the top of the porch steps and watches over her family, no longer up for romping in the yard with her young charges. Sabrina dreads the day she knows is coming when Dublin has to leave them. She knows Nick dreads it more. It was part of the reason they brought Max into the fold, a way to ease the hurt, if even marginally.

"You've given me all I could ever want, Spellman." He still calls her that. He can't help it. It's part of who she is. His arm is already around her, so he pulls her in closer, kisses her temple. "We did pretty damn good, Mrs. Scratch.

She takes his hand and squeezes it three times.

I love you.

He squeezes back four.

I love you, too.