AN: Here is the final chapter. Thanks to everyone who has given feedback. And thanks to Bullok who convinced me to write this.

Both Rita and Dexter sat in Dexter's boat staring at the stars. Rita thought of how far she had come since meeting Dexter. She knew she should have been horrified at the things she had done but she wasn't; not even a little. Rita felt at peace.

After she had killed the child molester named Paul, she hadn't been sure what to do next. She knew that Dexter disposed of the body by cutting it up. Killing was part of the ritual but so was cutting. It was all part of the ritual; a ritual that had kept him safe for years.

Dexter had silently handed her a bone saw and for a brief second she had faltered. This was the part of the ritual that made her a little uneasy. However it needed to be done; and in the end doing it proved far easier then she thought it would. Dexter had helped her with this part. They had disposed of the body in six trash bags. She briefly wondered if the makers of these trash bags had intended them to be used this way.

After they had finished cleaning up the old shack they had driven silently to Dexter's boat. He had told her that he had dumped the bodies into the ocean. Finding out that he was the Bay Harbor Butcher had been a little freaky at first but although he hated the moniker it seemed to fit him.

After they dumped the trash bags they had continued in the boat a few miles further out and had anchored the boat. Rita brought out some sandwiches she had packed as part of their "date night." No point in actually lying to Debra, they could actually have the date they had told her about. A few hours alone on Dexter's boat.

"You are two of the most boring people I know." Debra had laughed when Rita had told her they had planned to spend the night on Dexter's boat.

They didn't actually plan to spend the whole night there, just a few hours. Then they would head back to their little house in suburbia and continue to live their normal lives just like always.

Nothing really had changed.

Dexter smiled at her as he ate his sandwich. It was strange in a way, how after all this she finally understood him. She finally truly knew the man she had married.

"So how long do we have?" Rita smiled seductively at her husband.

"We have time." Dexter smiled back and made his way to her.

As they kissed she knew he was right. They had several things that still needed to be worked out in their new relationship. Dexter had needs that were constant in their insistence. Rita's own needs were like a whisper in her ear; she could ignore them for awhile.

But they had all the time in the world to figure it out.

Rita smiled into Dexter as he began removing her shirt. Whatever they decided in the end on how to work their new relationship would be fine with her. The truth was the only undeniable need she had was Dexter.

To know Dexter.

To see Dexter.

And now she did.

She knew Dexter better then anyone else ever did. Better then even his own father who had called him a monster and had killed himself when he had realized what he had created. He was strong in a lot of ways; but he was also weak.

He would never approve of what Dexter had become.

Even if what Dexter had become was human after-all.

She still wasn't sure what she felt about Harry. Sometimes she wished she had met the man before he died. She wasn't exactly sure if she would hug him or punch him in the nose. She understood why Dexter loved him so much though, now more then ever. She had agreed to name their son Harrison because of Dexter. It was the last tribute he could give to the man he thought saved him; but it wasn't really Harry that had saved him.

Dexter had saved himself. He saved himself by playing with the code making it his. By adding and deleting things on it that didn't work and by occasionally making mistakes. Sometime horrible tragic mistakes. Rita was determined to never be one of those mistakes.

She wanted so very much to make Dexter proud of her. To be everything he needed in a wife and partner. To be the person that Dexter confided in.

As the two of them made love on Dexter's boat Rita wondered what Harry would say about the new change of events; but really she already knew.

Harry would never approve.

Because he might have trained Dexter but he never approved of him. He never understood the need. The red. The red that consumed him.

Rita did.

As Dexter sunk into her she opened her eyes and looked up at what was a full moon. The wonderful full moon that was shining a light through the darkness on to them as they made love.

Harry would never approve.

The End