He waited until she was out of sight before moving back over to the table to replace the rose in the vase and slip a small wrapped package from his jacket and set it near her plate, peering around the corner at the stairs to make sure she wasn't watching. He then turned back around, whistling nonchalantly as he went back to tending dinner, which was just about done. Within a few minutes, dinner - which consisted of a small roasted chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, green beans with toasted almonds, and buttermilk biscuits - was on the table and ready to be served, the smell of dinner wafting through the kitchen to tempt the palate.

It didn't take her long to change her clothes. Gina didn't get much opportunity to dress up, and even though he'd suggested she change into something comfortable, she'd decided even before reaching the bedroom that she was going to dress up for him. After all, he'd put in so much effort; the least she could do was match the occasion. When she came down, she was wearing a dress Natalya had bought for her birthday, one she had not worn before in varying shades of gold; her hair was loose, brushed until it fell in soft waves about her face. It wasn't exactly dressed up as certain other people might call it, but it was practically cocktail party dress up for Gina. Stepping back into the kitchen, she didn't even glance at the table, offering a shy smile to Adam, hoping he liked what he saw. "Do you need me to do anything?"

He was just putting the potatoes on the table when she returned, and he turned to her with another admiring smile at the pretty picture she made, chuckling a little when he saw her. "I thought I said comfortable." Of course, it would have been weird if she'd come down in her jammies while he was in a suit. "You look beautiful, Gina," he told her softly, his stomach suddenly all tied up in nervous knots.

"Who goes comfortable on date night?" she countered warmly, moving to slide her arms around his waist and kiss him properly. "Thank you for this. It means a lot, you know?" Nuzzling to him affectionately, she smiled at the compliment he gave her. "You look pretty hot to trot yourself, handsome."

"Anything for you," he replied, wrapping her in his embrace and returning that kiss, chuckling at her compliment. "Hot to trot, huh' Should I go for a run then?" he teased, taking her literally. He pressed another kiss to her forehead this time, holding her close for a moment and just breathing her in. "I missed you, G," he told her quietly.

Tucked close in his arms, she fitted almost perfectly, content to hold and be held, to remind herself of the little things about him that she'd been without for a couple of weeks. "I missed you, too," she promised him, her own voice as quiet as his. "We both did. Apparently I suck at kicking a ball." She chuckled softly, tilting her head back to kiss him once more. "Just as well I know other things to do to balls, huh?"

He chuckled at her question, glad he'd been missed as much as he'd missed them. "So long as you don't do them with Joey," he remarked. "We should eat before it gets cold," he reminded her, leaving her with one last kiss before pulling away so that he could pull out the chair for her. He needed her to sit in the right seat, the chair with the box on the plate in front of it.

"That borders on the revolting," she commented on his teasing remark, letting him untangle from her and guide her toward a seat at the table. The delicious scents wafting from the various dishes were enough to make her mouth water as she sat down, thanking him softly for his gentlemanly manners even as her gaze fell on the little box right in front of her. She eyed it with a wary half-smile, looking up at him as she lifted it from her plate. "Is this what I think it is?"

"Who put that there?" he asked, feigning surprise, though he was obviously the guilty party. "I'm not sure. Why don't you open it?" he continued, a slightly nervous smile on his face. The box was small and as such, it was pretty obvious what its contents must be. He had considered waiting until Christmas, but after everything that had happened in Iowa, he was anxious to make it official.

She couldn't help laughing a little at his feigned surprise, taking her time in opening the box in her hands. "Dude, come Christmas, you are definitely putting on the Santa costume to get the presents out," she informed him cheerfully as the lid snapped open. The smile abruptly fell from her face as she stared down at the contents of the box, the candlelight reflected onto her face from the diamonds within. "Oh, my gosh ....Adam, this is beautiful."

As well it should be, given the amount of money it had cost him, but it was worth every penny to see the look on her face. He had spared no expense, wanting to give her the best money could buy, not because of status or because he wanted her to have bragging rights, but because she deserved it and because he wanted her to know she was worth it. There was no price tag he could put on his feelings for her, no way to measure his love, but maybe this was a start. "Do you like it?" he asked, somewhat nervously.

"Baby, I don't know what to say," she admitted, more than a little incredulous that she was actually holding something that was possibly worth more than everything else she owned rolled into one. The ring was beautiful; a unique twist on the classic solitaire that she couldn't help but fall in love with as she looked at it. "It's perfect. I just ....I can't quite believe I'm holding it. It must have cost you so much!"

The money wasn't important; what was important was that she liked it - and that she said yes. He reached for her hand as he went down on one knee beside her. They'd already been talking marriage for weeks, but asking her would make it official. "Gina, would you make me the happiest man in the world and do me the honor of becoming my wife?" he asked, holding his breath while he awaited her answer, his dark eyes searching hers.

They had been talking about it for weeks, which was probably why he didn't get the straight yes he was hoping for. He already knew what her answer was - she'd asked him to marry her before he'd left for Iowa. Gina held his gaze for a long moment, a teasing light in her eyes as she finally spoke. "Well, you see, that all depends," she told him, dragging out her reply as long as she could. "I think I'm gonna need someone to help me carry my hand around once this rock goes on it. I guess you'll do." Grinning, she leaned down to kiss him, reinforcing her unspoken yes with a kiss designed to make his toes curl.

"See, this is why I think we should talk to him about it," she chuckled, taking a mouthful of her chicken. If the sound that erupted from her throat was anything to go by, Adam was a culinary genius. That, or she was deliberately making that noise to get his motor running while he couldn't do anything but watch. "I'm never cooking again. It's all on you."

Adam smiled at the sound of pleasure, which presumably indicated her enjoyment of his cooking, followed by a small chuckle at her statement. "I don't mind cooking," he said, taking up a bit of mashed potatoes on his fork. "Maybe we should work out some kind of routine. First one home makes dinner or something."

"That'd leave you with a lot of the cooking duty," she pointed out with a smile of her own, taking a moment to really enjoy the mouthful she then inserted via the fork before going on. "I got that internship with the Department of Citywide Administrative Services. Once I pass the Bar, that's a year of unpaid work before I can even think about applying for one with a salary. There's just too many hopeful lawyers out there and not enough jobs."

"Is that a good thing?" he asked of the internship, wondering if this was something she really wanted or was just doing because she felt she needed to earn a paycheck. "I make enough money to support us, Gina. You don't have to worry about that," he reminded her gently, not for the first time.

Her smile softened, amused though she was. "It is a good thing," she promised him. "I mean, it's not exactly the inter-department I wanna work in, but it's adjacent. If I put in a good year or more in the social services side, I'll be in a better place to ..." She paused. This wasn't something she'd actually shared with anyone yet, but who better to know her ultimate goal than Adam' "I wanna work in children's law. I wanna help these kids who are stuck in horrible situations. Working for the system, I'd be able to do that. I'd be able to put the abusive care homes out of business." She let out a breath, shaking her head at her own fervent intention. "Sorry, that's really not a suitable topic for a romantic dinner, is it?"

He offered a reassuring smile - warm, patient, and understanding. "Of course it is, Gina. I want you to feel free to talk about anything you want to talk about. I want to know what?s going on in your life and what you think about things. That's what couples do. They share things. They talk about their day. And it's not that easy finding time to talk when you've got an active son running around."

"I know." She sighed again, her smile deepening in amusement at her own hesitance. "Look, I know I've never really talked about why I'm so intent on passing the Bar and getting into it. It's got nothing to do with the money." Gina bit her lip for a moment. She never usually talked about the past, but some things had to be said in order for the present to be understood a little better. "After I had Joey, I got into a bad place. A really bad place, and ....my baby was taken away from me. He was put in one of those social care homes while I got back on track. It ....it wasn't a good home. He was only there a couple of months, he doesn't remember it at all. But I remember the burns on his arms and legs; the woman who ran the home said they were accidental, but there were too many. They deliberately scalded my little boy, for whatever reason, and I couldn't do anything about it. So ....that's why. I couldn't care less about the money, Adam, really."

Adam frowned, saddened and a little bit shocked by her revelation. He'd known from Rhys that things hadn't been easy for Gina after Joey had been born, but he assumed even Rhys hadn't known just how bad. Of course, they'd had their own problems at the time dealing with demons and other nasty creatures, but it saddened Adam that he hadn't been there for her and her son. "Jesus, Gina. I'm sorry. You should have told me. I would have made sure the place got shut down."

Gina shrugged once again. "It was shut down, a coupla years ago," she assured him. "I guess they didn't think that the teenagers would tell anyone, but they were wrong. They were shut down, and the woman who ran the place got a four year prison sentence." Her gaze softened as she looked over at him. "Baby, I didn't tell anyone at the time because I didn't think anyone would believe me. Hell, I didn't believe me half the time. And Rhys and you ....you were busy with your own stuff, important stuff. We got through it, I got my boy back, and I will never let anyone take him away from me again. And I'm gonna make sure that the places where kids are supposed to safe are."

"Gina..." Adam started, setting his fork down and leaning forward, meeting and holding her gaze, a serious look on his face. "No one and nothing is as important to me as you and Joey. I felt that way then, and I still feel that way now." Yes, Rhys was important to Adam - as important as a brother - but Rhys would have understood if Gina needed Adam's help, or his own for that matter. He didn't want to scold or lecture her about the past. The past was the past, and nothing could be done to change it now, but going forward, he needed her to know that he was always going to be there for her, no matter what.

Holding his gaze, it was impossible for her to hide the glitter of unshed tears in the candlelight, his promise that their family was more important than anything to him touching her deeply. She couldn't remember anyone making a promise like that, ever before. "I know," she nodded, her voice shaking a little as she tried to hold those tears at bay. "You and Joey - our family - means more to me than I can possibly say. I just ....I needed you understand that this isn't about money. It's kinda personal, and I've never told anyone. Not even Rhys."

"It's probably better that way. Rhys would probably want to kill someone." He smiled a little when he said it, both of them knowing Rhys well enough to know it was true. Though it enraged Adam that anyone would do something so cruel to an innocent child, it was over, done with, and in the past. Joey was none the worse for it, and justice had been served. It was the children who were old enough to remember the trauma that were the real tragedy of it. He reached across the table for Gina's hand, sensing the emotions that were close to the surface. "You're an amazing woman, Gina. I'm proud of you, and I kind of envy your passion."

He smiled a bit sheepishly, slightly embarrassed by his little faux pas. "Uh, no....I'm not supposed to say anything," he started, which, if Gina put two and two together, practically gave the secret away without him even having to share it. "If I tell you, you have to promise not to say anything to anyone!"

The frown faded from her expression as swiftly as it had arrived as Adam dropped the big clue. Leaning forward, Gina's grin grew, unabashed excitement sparkling in her eyes as she met his gaze boldly. "Nat's pregnant?" she asked him, delighted by the prospect, knowing how much Rhys was longing for a little family of his own.

Adam couldn't help but grin back as she guessed the news, just as he knew she would. "Yeah! But you didn't hear it from me," he added, pressing a finger to his lips to indicate it was a secret. "She's only just. The Lady told them. She hasn't even been to the doctor yet."

She laughed at his insistence that it was all a big secret, knowing as well as he did that their friends would probably love to be able to tell someone themselves without having that someone guess ahead of time. "I can do surprised," she chuckled warmly. "Let them surprise me. God, I'll bet Rhys is over the moon happy about it."

"I've never seen him so happy," he admitted. It was true. In all the years he'd known Rhys Bristol - and it had been many years - he'd never seen him quite as happy as he'd been since he'd met Nat. "She's good for him. They're good for each other."

"It suits him," she agreed with her fiance through a warm smile. "He deserves this, after all the -" She stopped herself from expressing a few less than favorable opinions about certain of the women in Rhys' past. "Can't say he hasn't earned it, anyway. And Nat's got him in hand. It's kinda nice not having to worry about him so much anymore."

Adam couldn't help but chuckle a little. They were in the same boat there. They had both been worrying over Rhys for far too many years. He would always be a part of their lives, but it was nice to know he had finally found happiness and to worry about their own lives for a change. "Yeah, I love the guy like a brother, but it's kinda nice to let someone else worry about him for a change."

"Wow ....Rhys as a dad." Gina couldn't quite get her head around that. He'd always been brilliant with Joey, but she couldn't really imagine him with a baby of his own. She laughed, shaking her head. "He's never gonna be a grown up, though."

"He's been wanting this a long time, Gina," Adam reminded her with a frown. "I was worried when he first told me about Nat. I thought he might be moving a little too fast, but I guess I was wrong." Adam chuffed another chuckled as she continued. "Yeah, but we wouldn't want him any other way, would we?" he asked with a smile that spoke more of his own affection for the other man that he would say in words.

"Hey, at least you got a heads up," she pointed out cheerfully, her mood difficult to dip even in the face of concerns about their friend. "First I knew of it, he was already shacked up with her in England!" She grinned, looking over the table for a moment before seeming to come to a decision. Her eyes rose to meet his, soft and loving in the candlelight. "Dance with me?"

Adam had fallen silent for a moment, while contemplating their mutual friend. There was more he hadn't told her yet, but this night was supposed to be about them; it could wait a little longer. He smiled again at her question, his eyes matching that loving expression as they met her. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?" he asked, as he offered her a hand and moved to his feet.

"What, I'm not allowed to join in with the romancing?" Gina smiled back to him, her hand slipping easily into his as she found her own feet. "Feminism, baby - I'm your equal now." She winked teasingly, stepping close to kiss him with tender affection. "Although I have to say, I'm liking the idea of being your wife more and more."

"You did sort of ask me first," he admitted with a brief snort. He had to admit there was nothing better for his ego than a woman who openly wanted him, who had even gone so far as to ask him to marry her before he'd taken the hint and gathered his courage to buy a ring and pop the question himself. "You are more than my equal, Gina. You're the most amazing woman I've ever met," he admitted, returning her kiss with equal affection.

"So are you," she murmured, easing her arms about his neck comfortably, letting her fingertips tease in and out of the hair at his nape. "An amazing man, I mean. It'd be a little weird if you were an amazing woman, but I guess the heart wants what the heart wants." She chuckled, surprising herself with how at ease she was alone in his company. "I love you, Adam. I'm always gonna love you."

He laughed again, like her, becoming more and more at ease in her company with each passing day. "I have no desire to be a woman," he told her, sliding his arms around her waist to draw her close, tilting his head to rest his forehead against hers. "I've loved you forever, Gina. Since the first moment we met."

"I think we've wasted enough time not knowing how we feel," she murmured, her voice low and soothing beneath the gentle rise and fall of the music that still played. "Sooner we make it really and truly official, the better." There might be a little wrangling with Joey's birth father about the adoption, but she had no intention of letting that rat get in the way of this. Her family with Adam and Joey was more important than anything, and she was more than prepared to fight for it if she had to.

He smiled as he took hold of her hand, one arm around her waist and moved her slowly about the room in time to the rhythm of the music. He was a surprisingly good dancer, though it was something of a mystery just how he'd picked up that skill. It was so rarely put to good use, and no one had ever thought to ask. It was just another small part in the mystery that was Adam Sparrowhawk. "After Christmas or before?" he asked, pressing her again for a date.

She blinked in surprise as he took charge of her, falling easily into step to dance in a manner she'd never been able to before, quickly understanding the merits of a good partner. Raising her eyes to his once again, she bit her lip. "It doesn't have to be a big deal, does it?" she asked him quietly. "No frills, no bells and whistles. Just us. Because ....I'm kinda inclined toward before Christmas. As soon as possible before Christmas."

"It doesn't have to be a big deal, Gina. I have no family, but Rhys and Nat. I'd like them there, but we can keep it small. I have colleagues, but I don't have many friends. I've never had much time for friends." He shrugged, as if it wasn't that big a deal, though for some, he knew it was. He'd been a loner most of his life and had long ago learned to value family far above friendship. With David gone, there really was no one else, save Rhys.

"Like I'd get married without those two there," she snorted softly, bouncing up on her toes to kiss the tip of his nose playfully. "So I guess we're going down to city hall in the morning, then, and get ourselves a license and a date." She really didn't care about having a so-called "proper" wedding. So long as the people she thought of as family were there, they could all be wearing their pajamas for all Gina cared. What mattered was the reason for the gathering, not the state of the people there.

"They should be home soon. I think they're just..." he paused a moment as if he was unsure quite how to explain what Rhys and Nat were still doing in Avalon. "...tying some things up there." Things by the names of Rachel and Zach. Zachariel" Which reminded him. He had to take care of a few things himself - namely concocting identities for the two of them and gathering some legal papers. Zach wouldn't be too difficult - the fake ones were easier than the real ones. Rachel would be a little more difficult though; as far as the world outside of Mystic was concerned, she had never been born. "You pick a date, and I'll make sure I'm there," he admitted with a smile, pushing the other thoughts that were trying to crowd his mind aside, at least for now.

"You'd better be there," she laughed back at him, not really giving herself much of a chance to consider just what it was Rhys and Natalya must be doing on Avalon. She was aware that the trip to Mystic had been a success, but she wasn't going to ask about it tonight. "I'm told it can get very embarrassing if you try to get married all on your own."

"Well, we can't have that can we?" he asked, with a small smirk as he guided her around the room to the voice of Frank Sinatra. Who would have guessed that either Gina or Adam was fond of music that belonged to a past that wasn't their own" Fill my heart with song and let me sing forever more; You are all I long for, all I worship and adore... A modern couple juxtaposed beautifully against the lyrical backdrop of the forties, they spun easily together in one another's arms, wrapped close against anything and everything that might offer any hint of trying to tear them apart. It might have taken them years to get here, each ignoring or suppressing their feelings through some misjudged sense of duty or care, but here they were. Diamonds sparkled, announcing to the world their intention to marry, each with eyes only for the other as Sinatra's melody swept over them, wishing and promising what their hearts had already made clear. In other words ....I love you.

((I think that leaves most of our loose ends tied up now. :grin: There will be others, no doubt! Enormous spongiflibberous thanks to Adam's player!))