BOOK SIX
"Do you, Kimberly Marina Burgess, take Adam Patrick Ruzek to be your husband?"
"I do," Kim said, looking lovingly into her husband's eyes.
They were standing on a beach in the Bahamas, with only the minister and a few select friends a family on their section of the beach. It had been hired out for their use. Even though it was January, the weather was warm in that part of the world, and they had been blessed with a beautiful day for their wedding.
The minister turned to Adam. "Do you, Adam Patrick Ruzek, take Kimberly Marina Burgess to be your wife?"
"I do," Adam said with a big smile on his face. It made Kim giggle.
Watching on from just behind and beside Adam, his position for the service as best man, Jay couldn't have been more delighted to see his two close friends so happy.
"You may kiss the bride," the minister took pleasure in saying.
Adam leaned in and kissed Kim softly on the lips, and the small crowd broke into applause. After four months of engagement, they were now married.
"I pronounce you husband and wife," the minister said, smiling.
Jay looked across the 'aisle', such as it was on the beach, at Erin. She looked truly gorgeous in the pale green dress she was wearing as maid of honour. Her hair was now well below shoulder length, and had returned to its natural brown. He really liked her current look a lot.
Beside her stood twelve year old Clementine, holding a little bouquet of flowers. She looked adorable in a dress the same colour as Erin's. For once, her natural wavy hair wasn't in pig tails, and there was certainly no sign of a baseball cap. She seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the short Bahamas trip, and the wedding ceremony itself. Just seeing his favourite two girls, his whole world, so happy made him feel warm inside.
"Is this where I throw my bouquet?" Kim called to the women on her side of the aisle.
"Throw it whenever you like, just don't throw it to me," Erin said. It was a joke, drawing laughter from pretty much everyone, but Jay took it a bit to heart. He had the idea of proposing in the back of his mind. Now he wondered if it was the right thing to do. The last thing he wanted was to pop the question and get no for an answer. He knew that would mess his head up if it happened.
Kim had turned around so that her back was to the crowd. She threw her bouquet over her shoulder. Jay watched it sail high out of Erin's reach, before someone plucked it from the air. It was Raquel Gonzalez. Next to her was her partner, Zelina Vega. Everyone started cheering.
"What do you think of that, Z?" Jay called.
"I hear wedding bells already," Ruzek cried in between the laugher and cheering.
Jay couldn't tell who looked more embarrassed, Raquel or Zelina. He had never seen Raquel embarrassed before, which made the moment even funnier.
"That wasn't fair. She had a height advantage," Deonna Purrazzo complained with good humour.
"Ohh wait until I tell Sylvie how keen you are to get married," Kim said, drawing more laughter.
Unfortunately, although Sylvie Brett had been invited, she hadn't been able to make it to the wedding due to her supervisors being inflexible and refusing to grant her leave. It was a real shame, but it was the only thing that hadn't worked out in regard to the wedding planning.
With that, it was time to move on to the formal wedding photographs. The photographer took charge of proceedings. First up, he asked the women to all come forward so that he could take pictures of them in various combinations. Clementine was included in the group.
While Adam made his rounds, talking to some of the other guests, Jay found himself standing with Kim's dad, who had little Alex with him in a stroller.
"Who's the one who caught the bouquet?" Jay was asked.
"That's Raquel Gonzalez. She works with us in Intelligence."
"Fearsome looking fucker isn't she?"
Jay laughed. "She sure can be. But Raquel's a really nice person when you get to know her. She's fun to be around. And she's great at her job. Only a few weeks ago, she brought down a motorcycle club and a cocaine running crew in one fell swoop, thanks to some excellent undercover work."
"Really? I don't know how you guys do that kind of thing."
"It's part of the job." Jay slapped him on the shoulder. "I'll catch up to you later. Going to congratulate Ruze."
Jay walked over to Adam, who was talking to Kevin Atwater. He was received with a hug by the groom.
"She made an honest man of you, brother," Jay said. "You both did great."
"An honest man? Him?" Kevin quipped, and the three of them laughed.
"Hey, I'm not the one shacked up with Bayley Martinez," Adam fired back.
"Ooof. That is a big ooof," Jay said, rubbing salt into the wound with a grin on his face.
Kevin took the bait. "I'm not shacked up with her. I have to go to her house sometimes to do my job."
"Uh huh," Jay said, making it sound like an accusation.
"I'm not going to start scuffling with you at a wedding," Kevin said, and they laughed again.
"Seriously though, what a great day," Jay said. "I'm so glad the whole team was able to come."
"Yeah, it's been perfect. I don't deserve life as good as this, but I'll take it," Adam said.
"You deserve it all, man," Kevin said seriously, recognising that it wasn't a moment for banter.
"Let's make sure we get a picture of the three of us. Brothers," Adam said.
It was a special moment for Jay. He didn't tell people how he felt about them enough, even after the mall shooting had made doing so seem even more important. "Brothers for life," he said.
Then he noticed Clementine coming over, apparently having gotten bored with the photo taking.
"Hey, Clem. How did you like the wedding?"
"It was okay. Kim looks so pretty."
"Yeah, she does," Adam said pleasantly. By now, all of Jay and Erin's friends had taken to Clementine, and not only because of the horrendous circumstances that had led to them adopting her.
The adoption was now officially complete, even without the need for Erin to call in the questionable favour that she had negotiated with Sam Miller.
"Are you enjoying the Bahamas?" Kevin asked the child.
"Yeah. I had never been to the beach before," Clementine said. "My mom and dad couldn't afford to travel much. Erin said we can swim in the sea tomorrow."
Jay smiled. The Halstead clan were staying on the following day, before heading home the day after that. A day chilling on the beach sounded good to him, taking in the sun and having a few drinks while Erin and Clem enjoyed the water. "That'll be great," he said.
"Glad you're enjoying yourself, trouble," Adam said, ruffling Clementine's hair with his hand in an affectionate gesture that would still annoy her. Trouble was his nickname for her.
"Hey!" Clementine objected, immediately trying to fix her hair.
"I'm going to have to 'mingle'. I think that's what you call it," Adam said.
Kevin headed off too, leaving Jay and Clementine standing together.
"Adam always does that to me," she complained.
"Yeah, but he does it because he likes you," Jay said.
Clementine considered that, seemed to accept it, then changed the subject. "Jay?"
"Yeah?"
"When are you going to marry Erin?"
Damn, kids have a way of asking direct questions, Jay thought. "I don't know, Clem. That's the honest answer."
"But you want to marry her, right?"
"Yes, I do want to marry her. But that's got to be our secret, okay? Not a word to Erin about it. I can trust you, can't I?"
"Of course. I won't say anything," she said with the utmost seriousness.
"That's good."
"Okay, I need the men to come forward, please," the photographer called out. Thereby, the women were free for now. As they all started changing places, Jay approached Kim, with Clementine by his side. It was his first chance to speak to her that day. He offered a hug and she walked into his arms.
"Congrats, Kim. So happy for you. I love you, girl."
Kim held him tightly for a moment. "I love you too, Jay. So glad you're here, and you managed to get Adam to show up on time."
He laughed. "He was ready at like 6am. He wore a groove in the hotel room floor pacing around it."
Now it was her turn to laugh. "He gets like that when he's anxious."
"I'd better go. Talk to you in a bit," he said just as Erin joined them. There was time for him to peck her on the lips before walking over to join the rest of the men, ready to take direction from the photographer.
"I'll have the groom and the best man first, please."
Jay stepped forward and stood beside Adam. As they smiled for the photographs, Jay noticed Erin and Clementine in the corner of his eye. Erin was standing behind Clem, with her hands on her shoulders. He felt remarkably happy in that moment. And he knew that he was ready to ask the big question of Erin. Now it was a matter of planning when and where.
A/N: Welcome to the final book of this story.
I'm anticipating some people feeling disappointed that we didn't see the end of Gonzalez's undercover mission. But don't worry, there will be more on that in a future chapter.
Adam and Kim tied the knot, and now Jay had decided to pop the question to Erin. When and how do you think he should do it?