Box of Beauty

It had only been a few days since that fateful moment. The moment Lucas Ripley said he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, only to have his life cut short that afternoon, all too soon for the woman who loved him. It was also too soon to be in this room, making plans like this. She wished she had more time, but once again life had to get in the way.

Vic sat in Captain Sullivan's office in a daze, barely noticing the captain's discussion of funeral arrangements with her and Lucas's sister. Why was she even being allowed to make these decisions? She wasn't family. Jennifer's words played through her head again. Sure, Lucas declared his love for her and said yes to her proposal, but on paper they were nothing. Why didn't she just say yes immediately when Lucas asked at their place? If she had said yes, they could've gone to the courthouse that afternoon and they officially could've become husband and wife. That strong, smart, brave, amazingly beautiful man would have been her husband. He deserved better than a courthouse wedding. He deserved the world, and if she couldn't give it to him in the form of a perfect wedding, she would be damn sure to give it to him during his last moments on this earth.

"I want all of it." Vic says wholeheartedly, finally coming out of her daze enough to hear Sullivan trying to get her attention.

Just as she finished her statement, she got up to leave the room, not wanting to make any more decisions or deal with this situation.

"Hughes." Sullivan stopped her.

She wanted to keep walking out the door, but she was still a firefighter and she couldn't ignore orders. Lucas wouldn't want her going against her chain of command. She turned back around to face her captain.

"I know this is a lot, but before you leave, there is still one more thing for you." Sullivan turns around and pulls a white cardboard box off the shelf. He placed it on his desk in front of Vic and Jennifer.

Vic recognized the box immediately. It was the type of box headquarters used to store their extra paperwork. It was also the same type of box that people put their belongings in when it was time to clean out their office. It had only been a few days! Three days was all it took for headquarters to decide that their chief's memory was no longer worth preserving. And why wasn't anyone notified that they were doing that?! She and Jennifer (well just Jennifer; Vic wasn't ready to deal with her superiors now that her and Lucas's relationship was public), should have been the ones to bring his belongings home.

The girls looked on, cautiously curious, as Sullivan removed the top of the box. Inside was the life of Lucas Ripley, at least from a professional standpoint. There was the usual: pens, pencils, his desk nameplate that stated 'Chief Lucas Ripley,' and a pack of 5 Gum: Elixir (no wonder Lucas's mouth always tasted fruity when Vic kissed him). There was miscellaneous paperwork, mostly extra copies of his yearly physical exam records or performance reviews.

There was also a trophy from almost a decade ago, when Chief Ripley coached the Seattle Fire Department to victory in a charity baseball tournament against all the other fire departments in Washington. A note came with the trophy. It was a kid's drawing of a firetruck with the words THANK YOU surrounding it in big block letters. On the back were the names of about a dozen kids and a few doctors and nurses from the Seattle branch of Shriner's Children's Hospital Burn Unit. Lucas Ripley loved being a fireman, but he loved helping his community more.

On the very bottom of the box were his most prized possessions. Jennifer reached in and pulled out his badge. She teared up when she saw how perfect it looked. The gold 'SFD' emblem shined brightly, as if to give Jennifer a sign that everything was going to be ok. That badge became a light in all the darkness.

With a solemn face, she handed the badge back to Sullivan. "He would want to be wearing this."

Sullivan nodded, graciously accepting the badge. He placed it in his desk drawer for safe keeping until he needed to bring it to the funeral home.

Vic saw the next two things in the box and couldn't believe her eyes. The first was a nicely framed photograph. She had the same photo sitting on her nightstand; it was the only photo the couple had taken together. In the photo, they were completely geared up for their day of smoke-jumping, both smiling from ear to ear. She missed his smile. She couldn't believe he kept that in his office. Sure, nobody came into his office without notice that often, but even she knew that Ripley's coworkers would not react lightly to seeing it.

The next item she picked up caused a hitch in her throat. It was a red velvet box. At first, she didn't want to open it, trying to deny what was held inside. Maybe it was just his Fire Academy class ring. Maybe it was his SFD Chief lapel pin. Too bad she knew it was neither of those things, as she had seen both sitting on Lucas's dresser in his apartment.

She finally opened the box, and what she saw took her breath away. It was the most beautiful ring she had ever seen. Vic could almost see her reflection in the polished, delicate, silver band. Just as the badge had done for Jennifer, the perfectly sized oval shaped diamond sparkled brightly in the small ray of sunlight coming through the window. In that moment, she felt his presence. For a small moment, she felt as though everything would be ok. But just like the photo, if they were supposed to be keeping their relationship a secret, why keep the ring in his office?

"He was waiting for the right moment to give that to you." Sullivan explained, shaking Vic from her thoughts. "He kept it at work because he didn't want you finding it."

Vic smiled a little, tears starting to drip down her face. Apparently for Lucas, keeping this secret from her was way more important than them being a secret to the whole department.

"Did you know?" Vic asked Sullivan.

Sullivan gave a small smile. "Who do you think helped him pick it out? He had me come with him the day after that car accident fire; the night I sent you home sick."

She remembered that night well. It was her and Lucas's first real fight, and it was the same night that they first said 'I love you.' That was weeks before his diner proposal. Was he really thinking about marriage that early into their relationship?

Jennifer also smiled a little, placing a hand on Vic's shoulder as they both stared at the ring. "My brother told me even sooner than that. He had talked to me about buying a ring even before I met you. He called me not too long after the skyscraper fire to tell me all about this young firefighter who had yelled at him, not once, but twice. Rather than complaining to me like usual about how some firefighters just don't respect him, his exact words were 'I am going to marry this girl.' I called him crazy and told him not to jump into things like he had done with his past two marriages. I am so glad that he didn't listen…and I was thrilled to be proven wrong."

Jennifer moved closer to Vic, wrapping her arms around her from the side, pulling Vic's head to lay against her shoulder. The two women sat like this for a moment as Vic absorbed her words. Not only was Jennifer apologizing for everything that happened between them, but Vic also learned that to Ripley, paper didn't matter. For Lucas, Vic was his from the day they engaged each other in that skyscraper fire. From that point on, Vic was officially family.

Vic removed the ring from the box and placed it on her finger. It fit like a glove. That small ray of sunlight continued to beam onto it as she let a few tears fall from her face. Now she understood why Travis never removed his ring, even years later. She quietly prayed to herself, looking at her glistening ring, and gave a promise to the man that she loved that she would never take off the ring, and that she would never stop loving him.