Luck was on Jay's side, he had been happy to discover. Just before the end of the shift, Deputy Superintendent Miller had walked into the bullpen at the 21st, wanting to see Erin.
When he had been ready to leave, Jay had knocked on her office door and poked him head in, only to be told that they would be a while and he could head home if he wanted.
"I'll drop you home when we're done," Miller had offered Erin.
With that agreed, Jay had quickly left and gone straight home. He knew he might not get much time to talk to Clementine, so he wanted to make the most of it while the going was good.
Walking into the apartment, he was greeted with the smell of Indian food being prepared for dinner. There was no mistaking the smell of curry, and it nearly made Jay's mouth water. He didn't get to eat it often, in fact he couldn't remember the last time, but he liked it a lot. It would be the first time Kayla had made one for them.
With no sign of Clementine in the living room, he figured she had to be in the kitchen helping out, so he went straight there. Sure enough, Kayla had Clementine chopping an onion, under close supervision. Clem had her usual Cubs cap on, but she was wearing a nice pair of black pants and a cream fleece – some of the purchases that Erin had made to help her feel happier about her image. It seemed to have worked, as there had been no further complaints.
"Hey. That smells nice," he said with a smile on his face.
"Jay! I'm making curry! I've made all of it!" Clementine cried, before thinking for a second and correcting herself. "Most of it anyway."
"That's great, Clem. Can't wait to try it. More importantly, are you enjoying it?"
"It's okay. Kayla knows so much stuff."
Yes, she does. And she's a fantastic nanny, Jay thought. Kayla's services cost a lot, but she had proven herself to be worth the money. He exchanged a smile with her, then figured he had better interrupt the cooking lesson in order to ensure he got the conversation with Clem done before Erin got home.
"Can you let Kayla take over, Clem? I need to talk to you."
She looked him, immediately wary. "Am I in trouble?"
"Is there a reason you should be in trouble?"
"No."
He smiled. "Then you're not in trouble. Come on, let's go to the living room."
"Maybe wash your hands first, Clem," Kayla suggested.
"Yes, wash your hands," Jay said, wondering why he hadn't thought of it.
Clementine quickly washed her hands at the sink, then went over to Jay. "Thanks, Kayla. Sorry to jump in while you were doing this," he said.
"It's fine," she smiled. "We're pretty much done now anyway apart from the cooking."
Jay led Clementine through to the living room and they sat together on the couch.
"So, Clem, remember when I asked if you could keep a secret?"
"Yeah," she said, her interest peaked immediately. The look on her face made Jay feel happy.
"I'm going to tell you a secret now. Actually, I need you to help me with it. But you must not tell Erin, or let her figure out that anything unusual is going on. Can you do that?"
"Yes. What's the secret?" she asked impatiently.
"Clem, what I'm saying is very important. You can't let Erin figure anything out, okay?"
"Okay, I won't," she said more seriously.
Jay felt excited to tell her what he had planned, so much so that it was hard not to grin like an idiot. "Do you know what it means to propose to someone?"
"Yes. It's when you ask them to marry you." Then what the question actually meant dawned on her and her eyes widened. "You're going to ask Erin to marry you?"
"Yes, I am. And I want you to help me."
"Awesome! I'm so happy!" Clementine cried, clapping her hands together, seemingly because she didn't know what else to do with the rush of delight. "She's going to say yes for sure."
"I sure hope so, Clem. But we both need to do our parts right to make it a special moment. Here's what I want you to do. After dinner, ask Erin if we can go to the park. She'll probably say no because it's late, but ask her again and plead with her. Then I'll jump in and say it won't hurt to go for half an hour if you promise to shower and go straight to bed when we get back. I'm thinking she'll agree to that."
"I think so too," Clementine said seriously.
"Good. Now, I've got something else for you to do, and it's even more important than asking her to go to the park. You know that really nice spot by the river?"
She nodded. "Yes. Erin always likes it there."
"Yes she does. That's where I'm going to ask the question. I'm going to say, 'I asked Clem to help me with something.' She will look at you, and you'll have the ring box in your hand."
"I don't have a ring box," she objected.
"No, I've got it here." Jay reached into his coat pocket and took it out. "Let's go put it in your coat. We'll have to make sure Erin doesn't try to help you put your coat on in case she feels this in the pocket and wants to know what it is."
Clementine went with him to where her coat was hanging, near the front door, and they stashed the ring case in her left pocket.
"We should tell Kayla," Clementine said when the deed was done.
Jay looked at her. "You think so?"
"You never know what might go wrong if we don't."
They were wise words, he had to admit. Clementine was clever, which was one of the things he loved most about her. "You're probably right. Let's go tell her quickly before Erin gets home."
They went back to the kitchen, and Jay had to smile. With the prep done and the curry not needing to be actively monitored while it cooked, Kayla had decided to wash up the utensils that had been used for the prep. To do so, she was wearing a pair of long green rubber gloves that finished halfway up her forearms. He was half tempted to tell her to watch out for Erin stealing them to use for other purposes. But of course he didn't.
"Everything okay?" Kayla asked.
"Yeah. But there's something you need to know before Erin gets home. And you need to keep it quiet."
Kayla stopped what she was doing and turned around. "Okay. What is it?"
Jay told her pretty much the whole plan, and took pleasure in seeing her react with almost as much delight as Clementine had done. She was becoming more than a nanny; she was becoming part of the family in a way.
"Erin's going to have a kitten when Clem pulls out the ring."
"I hope not. That's not the reaction I'm looking for," Jay said, and all three of them laughed. Then they heard the sound of the front door closing.
"That's her," Jay said quietly. "Clem, remember what I said. Act normal."
"I'm home!" Erin called out from near the front door as Clem went over to the cooker and Kayla resumed washing the kitchen utensils.
"We're in the kitchen!" Jay called back.
She soon appeared in the doorway, looking happy to be home, and to see them all. "How's everyone doing? That curry smells fantastic."
"Clem made it," Kayla announced.
"Is that true, sweet pea?" Erin asked, going over to her daughter and giving her a kiss on the cheek.
"Yeah. Well, Kayla helped me do it all. But I hope you like it."
"I'm sure we will."
And they did. By the time they all finished eating the meal, Jay could tell that by looking around the table. Clementine had revealed that it was her first time trying curry, but she had finished it all at quite a pace.
"Wonderful job, Clem. Thank you for our meal," he said to her.
"Yes, thank you, Clem," Erin added.
"You did a great job," Kayla said with a smile.
"You're welcome," Clementine replied, seeming a little embarrassed. "Hey, do you think we could go the park for a bit? It's been a while and I'd love to go."
Jay hadn't expected her to ask while they were at the table, but they were now locked in to putting his plan into action.
"It's a bit late, Clem. And it's cold outside," Erin said, pretty much exactly as expected.
"Aw, please. I've been thinking about it all day," Clementine said convincingly.
"Maybe it wouldn't hurt to go down there for half an hour, Er," Jay said. "Clem, how about you promise to get your shower and head to bed as soon as we get back?"
"Okay, deal," Clementine said.
Erin relented, again as expected. "Alright, a deal is a deal. A walk around the park, then back home and straight in the shower."
"Okay then, let's go," Jay said, getting up. "Are you okay to clean everything up, Kayla?"
"Sure," the nanny said openly.
"I'll help you carry it through to the kitchen," Erin said, also getting up.
Perfect, Jay thought. "Let's go get your coat on then, Clem."
They went to where the coat were hung up, and Jay handed Clementine her coat, taking her gloves out of the pocket that didn't have the ring case in it.
"It worked," she whispered excitedly.
"Sshhh," he said gently.
"Sorry," she whispered.
"Right, are we ready to go?" Erin asked, coming out of the kitchen.
"Yep. Ready when you are," Jay said with a smile.
-----
About forty five minutes later, Jay could feel his heart pounding in his chest. They were coming up to Erin's favourite spot in the park, next to the river, where there was usually a nice view of the surrounding city area. On this particular night, there was mist starting to descend, but in a way that only made the scene even more picturesque.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" he said, stopping to take it in.
"It is. I always like it here," Erin said, standing there with her hand in his.
"I know you do, Er. That's why we wanted to come here. Clem's got something. It's for you."
Erin looked at Clementine, who pulled out the ring case at just the right moment. She held it up with a hopeful, excited look on her face.
"Jay, what is this?" Erin squealed in surprise.
"Open it," he said.
She took the box from Clementine and opened it, revealing the gleaming silver ring with its diamonds. "Oh, it's beautiful," she gasped.
"I'm glad you like it. I'm hoping you'll take it and wear it. Because I'm hoping you'll marry me."
That wasn't at all how Jay had planned to ask the question, but he had panicked a bit in the moment and that was what had come out. Every second seemed to be lasting an hour now, as he feared rejection.
With the ring box in her hand, Erin looked at him for a moment, then that wide, gorgeous smile appeared on her face. "Yes, Jay. Yes I will marry you."
"Yay!" Clementine cried.
"Really?" Jay asked, his eyes widening.
"Don't act surprised! Yes, I'll marry you. This is the part where you're supposed to put the ring on my finger."
"Right, of course," Jay said as she handed him the box. She then took her left glove off, and he got ready to put the ring on her finger. "I hope it's going to fit. I got Purrazzo to help me, so I think it might be okay."
Erin giggled. "I'll be having words with her."
The ring slipped onto her finger, fitting almost perfectly. It was maybe a little loose, but it was nothing that couldn't be fixed with an adjustment at the store.
"We're going to get married," Erin said, sounding about as surprised as Jay felt.
"Yeah, we are," Jay smiled, feeling on top of the world.
"I get to be a bridesmaid, right?" Clementine asked.
Erin crouched down, as so did Jay, pulling them into a family hug.
"Of course you do, Clem," Erin said. "You're going to be my most important bridesmaid. I love you both so much."
"And we love you too," Jay said. It was without doubt the happiest and proudest moment of his life. He was already a father. Now he was going to be a husband too.
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A/N: Please consider this chapter a christmas gift from me to all of my lovely readers. I hope those who celebrate all have a fantastic time with your loved ones. And thank you all for the amazing support on this story. 100 chapters and still going strong!
After my note at the end of the previous chapter about this being the final full book in this story, I had people reaching out to ask me to do another one as there is still a lot they want to see in this world. I took a couple of days to think about it, and I came to the conclusion that if the interest is there for more, there's no reason for me not to write another story. So, we're going to be seeing more of all of the characters in this world.
Once again, merry Christmas to all who celebrate it.