A/N Ok. This is definitely the end. Really. It's so sickeningly sweet (my teeth are rotting as I speak... er, type) that you're not going to ask for anymore. This (last part - honest) is for everyone who asked so nicely for more; obviously I can't please everyone...

Epilogue

The music may have been loud but at least it was slow enough for her to talk Gene into dancing. Well, dancing of sorts; his body pressed against hers, his hands had long since strayed to her arse and were evidently staying there. With her own hands around his neck they gently swayed to the music, just a little more obscenely than all the other couples around them. It would probably be as close to dancing as Gene ever got yet she didn't mind - it was a very public display which, for Gene, was nothing short of a miracle. He couldn't really turn her down - after all, today was a very special day: a wedding day - but when he'd tried to, the promise to make it worth his while later on had soon won him around.

"Happy, Bols?" Gene asked, loud enough for her to hear above the music but quiet enough for their conversation to remain intimate, even if their actions, well, mostly his actions, were causing people to stare. At least this way everyone else knew that she belonged to him.

Alex raised her head off his shoulder to catch his eyes and found the glimmer of a smile on his lips. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Shaz and Chris, dancing slowly amongst the other couples. In the distance, over Gene's shoulder, she could see their son being entertained by Ray - or was that the other way around? The large venue had been suitably adorned and those not currently dancing were seated at the many tables around the floor, some faces familiar to her, others not. "Yes," she replied finally, meeting his eyes once more.

"Don't wish we'd ever gone though all of this bloody rigmarole?" he asked, holding her eyes. Quite frankly he'd been glad they hadn't - today had been a long, and at times boring, day but he'd noticed Alex gazing almost longingly at the bride and groom and he wasn't sure if there was a tinge of regret in there or not. And she'd blubbed of course - why did women cry at weddings? - which hadn't helped in his assessment.

"No," she answered truthfully, the thumb and forefinger of her right hand reaching for the ring on her left behind his neck, her thoughts drifting to the day he had slipped it onto her finger. Considering that she had sworn never to marry again it still surprised her that, taking advantage of that Leap Year loophole, she'd been the one to propose - even if, technically, he had asked first. It had surprised her even more that he had said 'yes' then whisked her off to the Registrars at the first available day. They may not have married in a church, invited half of Essex to witness the event, and then held the reception in a hall big enough to house the other half of Essex - as today's bride and groom had - but, in all honesty, it'd been one of the most memorable days of her life. Just as today would be memorable for Shaz and Chris; it'd took Chris long enough to ask in the first place and then even longer for Shaz (because Chris just went along with whatever she decided) to plan the big day.

Gene nodded his head, convinced by her reply and let a smile briefly cross his lips as the song came to an end. "I believe the deal was one dance," he reminded her as the DJ began to introduce the next track. He didn't want to be caught out on the dance floor with anything remotely 'poppy' playing - whatever reward she had promised him - but he still hesitated in moving, enjoying the closeness he was sharing with his wife far too much. She leant up and kissed him briefly on the lips, using his slight surprise at her action to slip from his grasp. She always managed to surprise him in some way but he supposed it was because he'd actually opened up and let her in, leaving himself open to attack but finding that it never came. Not with her. He let her take his hand and gently lead him back to their table without any resistance and that small smile still playing on his lips.

"You two finished?" Ray asked, trying to hide his distaste; seeing the Guv and Drake groping each other was as unpleasant as seeing such actions from his own parents and, with that thought in mind, he'd tried his best to shield the boy from it - he didn't want the lad to have nightmares. "That tasty blond's been giving me the eye," Ray followed on, brightening up at the thought - and sight - of the woman across the hall. Throwing the blond a smile, and not waiting for a reply from his colleagues, he stood up to make good his escape but a small voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Are you going to eat her, Uncle Ray?"

Ray looked down to find the youngster staring innocently and expectantly - and maybe a little worriedly - back at him and he realised what he'd said. "Er..." he began and turned to his DCI for help but only found those same blue eyes, if a little colder, glaring back; there was no denying that the boy was the Guv's son, not that he'd ever dare suggest such a thing. Not even in jest. He glanced to Alex, his last hope, but she was smothering a grin as she took a seat. He was on his own. Which, under normal circumstances such as a car full of armed blaggers or an axe-wielding serial killer, he'd have been fine with but this was a bigger challenge. This was worse. "I just meant... She's..." The three year old only frowned up at him as he struggled for an explanation that didn't actually involve explaining what he'd meant.

"Uncle Ray just means he likes her," Alex chipped in, no longer able to watch Ray's discomfort - no matter how much fun it was. "He's not going to eat her," she smiled reassuringly across at her son but she did momentarily wonder who Ray was referring to because, as far as she knew, Shaz had warned her family and friends all about Ray Carling and Chris' side were already well acquainted. She hoped Ray's brief baby-sitting duties hadn't persuaded any woman otherwise; some men wore paternal very well - Gene certainly did but she might be ever so slightly biased in that respect. But he had surprised her - and she suspected he had surprised himself too - in the way he had taken to fatherhood. He'd been her rock during the birth, which her warped psyche had decided to make as arduous as possible, even as she'd called him every name under the sun. And whilst all the pain had been worth it to have her baby boy in her arms, it'd been the overwhelming love and pride that had shone in Gene's eyes as he'd held their baby for the first time that had sealed the deal for her.

Ray cleared his throat, ruffled the boy's, almost white, blond hair and excused himself, ignoring Gene's hard gaze as he passed by his superior. It wasn't his fault, not really; usually Shaz would be the first to volunteer to look after the nipper - dragging that div Chris with her - but she had been otherwise engaged. Or was that now otherwise married? He shook his head at that thought as he walked away; you wouldn't find him settling down and getting married though, worryingly, it did seem to be catching.

Gene shared a knowing grin with Alex once Ray had gone; they both blamed the other for their son's fierce intelligence and unrelenting inquisitiveness and had long since learnt to be very careful of what they said when he was within earshot. In the seat next to her their son smiled angelically up at him and Gene's own smile softened. With his feet barely reaching the end of the chair, white shirt that had been pressed that very morning but was now rather crumpled and only half tucked into his trousers, and pink tie (the bride's choice, all the men involved in the wedding had to wear them; the groom hadn't put his foot down on the matter which had resulted in months of - almost - good-natured verbal abuse towards Chris) askew he looked more like a little imp than a cherub but Gene didn't think he'd ever get used to the swell of feelings he experienced when he was with his boy. He didn't think he wanted to either. There was nothing else like it.

Rather than take the seat Ray had just vacated he scooped his boy up instead, swinging him around as he did so, causing a ripple of laughter to explode from the child's mouth which, in turn, reaped an approving smile from his wife. A smile - a look - that burned through him. Would it be rude to leave this early just so he could shag his wife? Probably. Sitting down he set his son down on his lap, securing him with one arm whilst the other reached out to his side, his hand finding and coming to rest on Alex's thigh, his eyes upon hers. Maybe another half hour and they could sneak off. The boy had run himself ragged earlier that afternoon and if Gene drove home slowly enough - as his son just bubbled with excitement when he screeched around corners in the Quattro, much to Alex's displeasure - he would fall asleep (a method that had been discovered when he was a baby) and Gene could have Alex all to himself.