July fourth, several months later

THE WHOLE GANG WAS gathered around the bonfire in the pasture of the La Barron's land. Clint was in his wheelchair, a temporary confinement, as he was making strides every single day thanks to physical therapy. Devon holding a beer by the neck, gesturing with it and laughing out loud, being his larger-than-life self as per usual, but keeping an eagle eye on Claire, who sat next to him, chewing on her fingernails with dark circles under her eyes, slowly shrinking into herself. Cole was standing by the pile of logs, laughing at whatever Ev had just said to him, and Ev looked pleased with himself, which was expected since his wife had just waddled her largely pregnant self out of the house, where she had snuck away to take a mid-evening nap. Courtney soaked it all in.

It was only about thirty minutes prior that her parents had taken off, headed for home, bumping down the drive, her mama sitting in the center of the bench seat of her daddy’s old ranch truck, which they insisted on driving because it was the only vehicle they owned with a bench seat. When she was a kid, she had been grossed out and embarrassed as all hell that her parents were so affectionate with one another, but now she saw it for the beautiful gift that it was, and she was grateful that she had such amazing role models to look up to.

Katy dropped into the chair next to Courtney with a huff and reached over to steal Courtney's glass. "I'll have a sip of that, please and thanks!"

"Woman! What if that had alcohol in it?"

Katy rolled her eyes and chugged the rest of Courtney's iced tea. "Puh-lease. We both know that you would have snatched it back if it was boozy!"

Courtney rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair, turning her face up to the star-filled sky. It was a couple of hours past sunset, and soon they would all watch as one of the ranch hands set off the huge fireworks display that the boys had insisted on.

After years and years of constant upheaval, Courtney's life had reached a calm state, and she knew that she would never take it for granted, in the way that she knew that Katy would never take it for granted, and to a greater extent, her boys would really never take it for granted. Her eyes caught on Claire again, and the concern she felt for the woman she had grown to love was deep in her soul. Claire could lighten up, especially when she was helping Clint with his physical therapy, but more and more lately, regardless of how hard Dev battled it, she withdrew into herself. They all pulled together and made sure she knew that she was surrounded by family and love, but Courtney was terrified that the demons of Claire's past were slowly devouring her alive.

She was distracted for a moment when Cole broke away from the fire and walked over to the bed of their truck to grab something, but Katy called her attention back before she could see what it was.

"So, um, Court? You ever get a little, ya know, freaky?"

Now, Katy had her full attention. "In what way do you mean exactly, Mrs. Married Utterly Straight Pregnant Lady?"

Katy laughed out loud, and it took her several moments to calm herself enough to continue. "Look," she said through the laughter, "I don't know if it is pregnancy hormones and the fact that I was asleep in a weird place or what, but I had the weirdest dream about you and Cole, and now I can't stop—" She burst into laughter again before calming enough to say, "Ok, ok, sorry! I'm sorry,"—snicker—"So, I had a dream that you had one of those big old leather bullwhips." She lost it again when she saw Courtney's eyes get huge and her jaw drop. "Crap, just listen! Ok, so you had one of those big bullwhip thingies, and you were chasing Cole around the house with it hollering, "Get back here and let me ride you!"" That was when she collapsed in a fit of laughter that led to tears and gasping for breath, and when Cole walked over to get Courtney and show her his surprise for her, she took one look at him and burst out laughing as well.

He stared at the two women, perplexed and at a loss for several moments, and then asked dumbly, "What?" Which led to another fit of laughter from them both. It took a solid ten minutes for the two to calm themselves enough that Cole could grab Courtney's hand and lead her over to the blanket that he had stashed in the bed of the truck earlier in the day. Pushing her in front of him on the blanket, he moved to sit, and she followed his lead, settling in between his legs. He kissed the side of her head and whispered in her ear, "Do I even want to know?"

She snorted, so he took that as a no and was pleased that the first boom of light filled the sky, effectively cutting off her next round of mirth. He normally loved to listen to her laugh, but right now, they were on the verge of something huge, even if she didn't know it, and he needed her serious and paying attention.

The bursts of light continued to blast into the air, and the booms reverberated with such strength that he could feel it in his heart.

It had taken them a long time to get here. It was a bent and twisted, sometimes frigid and dark road that they had taken to get to where they were in that moment. He couldn't say that he would take the same path to her over again, but he knew without a doubt that any path he took, be it this lifetime or any other, would lead straight back to her, which was exactly where he belonged.

Without saying a word, he lifted her left hand and leaned forward, brushing his lips against her ring finger. The finger where another ring he had bought had once sat, but this time, he had gone all out. He was no longer a soldier on a limited budget. If nothing else came of their years apart, he had managed to save enough that money would never be a concern again.

The pride he felt when he slipped this ring on her hand, though, was the exact same pride he had felt the first time he had done this. While this ring was bigger, it gave him the exact same satisfaction seeing it on her hand. Regardless of the size, of the color, of anything, he knew that she would feel the exact same way as him, and all that would matter was that the promise and commitment were there.

Later, when they were alone and everything had calmed down, he would tell her how he had this ring made from the original. The symbolism, he knew, would mean everything to her. And when he told her, he was rewarded with her look of awe and the way she reverently brushed her fingers to it.

But when he slipped the ring on her hand on the Fourth of July, under a sky lit with fireworks and surrounded by their closest people, he got a different kind of reward because she turned in his arms and murmured, "Yes," against his lips before sealing the deal with a kiss.