A/N; This chapter is dedicated to my brother and his soon to be wife.


"Can you believe the year is almost over Jade?"

"Good riddance." She sneered. "This year sucked."

"You say that at the end of every year." Tori pointed out.

"That's because every year does, Vega!" Jade snapped. "Granted some sucked more than others but this year has been the absolute worst!"

"Whatever you say baby." Tori said. "Right now I don't have the time for our little tradition where you bad mouth whatever year we're on, I have to get a few things for the Near Year's party, Everyone is coming and we aren't going to be terrible hostesses by not having everything for our guests, so I'm borrowing your car."

"Say what now?"

"Come on Jade, mine's in the shop remember?" Tori said exasperatedly, "And it won't be ready till after New Year's."

"Fine, whatever," Jade said, getting her keys out of her purse. "Just a heads up, if there's one scratch on my car, I'm filling for divorce."

"Love you too baby," Tori teased, grabbing the car keys and giving her spouse a peck on the cheek. "Oh, and don't forget to take down those mistletoes, I don't want to see Tony and Emily kissing under our roof."

"Vega, you do realise that they been dating for seven years and are living together, right?" Jade asked rhetorically "They don't need mistletoes as a reason to make out."

"Sorry! Can't hear you!" Tori said as she got out the door. "Just get rid of them before I come back!"

Rolling her eyes, Jade shook her head "Only my wife". She thought as she got comfortable in her chair, once more reading one of her favorite books but no more than five minutes had passed before the doorbell rang.

"Who the hell still ring the doorbell these days?" Jade asked annoyed, getting to her feet to answer the door. "I swear, if it one of those damn neighbours kids, I'll be sure to scare the hell out of them till next... Emily?"

Indeed, it was her son's girlfriend in her porch, the blonde waved timidly, something that took Jade by surprise as she has come to know the younger woman as anything but timid.

"Uh... Hi Mrs. West." Emily said nervously "Is this a bad time?"

"Why so formal Kid?" Jade asked with a raised eyebrow. "I known you since you were what? twelve? I think at this point I made it very clear that I don't like being called Mrs. West... That was my mother... It's Jade to you."

"Oh, sorry Mrs... I mean Jade," Emily said. "Can I come in?"

"What is this about?" The Thespian curiously asked. "If you and Tony are again into some of your weird competitions, I have to tell you that he's not here."

"I know he's not here." Emily said. "As a matter of fact, Tony doesn't know I came to see you... Actually I been waiting in my car for the past hour to be able to ring the bell."

"Ok... Why?"

"Short answer, I wanted to ask you something." The blonde said. "Long answer, I would rather do it without your wife here since Miss Tori kind of scares me."

Here the former Goth burst out laughing.

"Vega... My wife?... Scary?" Jade asked in disbelief "No offence kid but are you feeling all right?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," Emily said shakily. "Just nervous…"

"Ooh this sounds important." Jade said. "Well, get inside, make yourself comfortable in the living room, I'll get us some coffee and we can talk."

Emily didn't say another word, she simply nodded as she accepted the invitation, so many memories of her teenage years when she and Tony got into so many shenanigans came flooding the moment she set foot on the house, their secret relationship that eventually everyone knew about and the moment they knew they loved each other.

Emily got a little box out of her pocket and opened it, looking at the content within, phase one of her plan was kind of complete, she was in her boyfriend's childhood home, she now has to have a talk to the less frightening of his mothers and hopefully things will lead to phase two.

"Are you going to sit down?"

Jade's voice took Emily by surprise which almost made her drop the little box, she once more put it on her jacket's pocket, praying that the former Goth didn't see it.

"Uh... Yeah..." She said awkwardly, taking the cup of coffee from the older woman. "Sorry... I just have a lot on my mind."

"I can tell." Jade replied before taking a sip from her own coffee. "Now Emily, care to tell me the reason as to why you came to visit? Problems in paradise?"

"No! Far from it!" Emily said quickly. "Things between Tony and I are good! Better than good actually! We're great! It's just that... How do I say this? Um... You know how we have been dating for seven years now?"

"Give or take." Jade nodded. "What about that?"

"I-Well, bear with my ranting, this is very important," Emily requested. "Tony has been the best thing that ever happened to me... Sure we had our ups and downs but I can't imagine how things would be without him in my life! And now that we're both out of college and are starting our dream of opening up our own restaurant, I came up with a decision... A big one, I no longer was him to be just my boyfriend... I want Tony to be my husband... Mrs. West... I love your son and I really want to marry him."

Had Jade been drinking her coffee at that point in time she would have spit it out in surprise, instead she simply parroted in shock "Marry him?"

"Yeah," Emily nodded. "That's sort of why I came over here today. I wanted to ask for your blessing."

Jade was quiet for a few seconds, she then began to chuckle slightly, then it evolved into full laugher, this response unsurprisingly unsettled Emily.

"This brings back memories." Jade said after she finally stopped laughing, leaning back in her seat giving the blonde a smirk. "It seems like yesterday when I asked Mr. Vega for his blessing to marry Tori."

"I'm sorry... What?"

"You heard me." Jade said. "Tori's father was a cop, so you can imagine how intimidating it was to ask that man for his daughter's hand in marriage, you got lucky since I'm not in possession of any guns but that doesn't mean I'm less scary... So Donovan, was it true when you said that you love my son?"

"I may be a lot of things Mrs. West... But I'm no liar," Emily shot back. "Tony means everything to me, and I don't want to spend the rest of my life with anyone but him."

"You are aware that marriage is a big step?" Jade asked. "Not everyone is ready for it."

"I know." Emily agreed. "But I been thinking of this long and hard, I wouldn't be asking if I didn't think we could make it work... Like I said, we had our ups and down but not once have either of us went running out the door when things became too difficult, I reached a decision... I love him and no offence Mrs. West but nothing you say can make me change my mind."

The Thespian nodded, and for a moment, the two women were completely silent.

"I know you do love my son," Jade finally said. "I see how you two act around each other…truth be told, you two remind me of me and Vega sometimes."

"So I been told." Emily nodded. "Your wife keeps telling me I'm as evil as you used to be when you guys were around our age."

"Used to be?" Jade inquired. "Oh Vega is going to pay for that one."

"So um... Not to put any pressure on you Mrs. West but... My question remains... Do I have your blessing?"

"Before I say anything, I have to know something."

"Sure thing."

"Is that a ring on your pocket?"

"You saw the box?" Emily asked taken aback. "Actually, no, I knew that if I wanted to ask Tony to marry me, a ring would be very predictable and in our relationship, predictability is something we try to avoid, so I decided on something a little more... us... You know?"

"Oh?" Jade asked. "Now I'm curious, what did you get to pop the question?"

The blonde got the box out of her jacket's pocket to show the older woman, Jade simply whistles. "Tony's going to love this." She said. "You really know my son, and I have no doubt in my mind that you'll be a great wife to him, so… Donovan, you better make him happy."

"That won't be a problem." Emily said with a smile. "Now I just have to pop the question."

"Don't worry too much about that part," Jade said "When I asked Vega to marry me, I did it in the middle of a busy food court in an airport and she still said yes."

"If I do that, Tony would kill me." Emily said with an eye roll. "He's the most romantic of the two of us, if I could, I would simply ask him in our apartment over Chinese food and be done with it but I know that's not a possibility, so instead I came up with a way to do so its romantic for him and I don't puke while doing so."

"Oh?" Jade asked. "Do tell."

"This is where phase two starts." Emily said. "So Mrs. West...I would appreciate if you didn't tell your wife I was here, the last thing I want is for her to do something that may put my plan in peril... She doesn't exactly like me."

"Vega may say that but trust me she tolerates you at best, that being said she won't know till it's too little too late." Jade smirked. "So, tell me your plan already!"

"Ok, I'm going to need your help to pull this off but I need to borrow the roof and..."


A week later.

"OH MY GOD!" Amy squeals with joy. "You're kidding! You're going to propose!"

"Shhh!" Emily said "Be quiet Amy! This is top secret! I'm only telling you because you're Tony's best friend and I need you to get some things and get them into the house! To be ready for tonight! Miss Jade knows about what I'm doing but if you see Miss Tori, I need you to lie! She can't know what I'm doing!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Amy said excitedly. "It's just Tony's not only my best friend but like the brother I never had so hearing he's going to get married, makes me happy for him!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself Harris." The blonde said. "He hasn't said yes."

"But he will!" Any squealed. "He loves you, oh he better remember to pick me to be his best woman at your wedding, he's going to be my maid oh honour at mine."

"Not the weirdest thing I heard all day but... What?"

"Oh, when we were fourteen, Tony and I made a pack." Any explained. "When we each get married, he's going to be my maid of honour at my wedding and I'm going to be his best woman at his."

"Somehow I'm not surprised." Emily shakes her head. "Anyway, do your part and get all this stuff onto the roof, remember that Miss Tori can't know what's going on!"

"You can count on me!" Amy said grabbing a box, happily entering the West household, what either women expected was for Tony to open the front door.

"Amy!" He said happily. "What brings you here?"

Emily in her hiding place slapped her hand over her eyes in exasperation. "Of course... I'm so screwed."

"What?" Amy asked in mock offence. "Do I need a reason to come and visit my best friend?"

"No of course not." Tony said with a smile. "But how did you know I was going to be at my parents house?"

This is where Amy and Emily began panicking but before the dark skin girl could come up with a lie, Jade came to the rescue.

"I told her you would be here." The thespian lied smoothly. "She decided to save me a trip to the store and get some things I needed for a little project I'm working on... Right, Amy?"

"Uh... Yeah." She nodded. "You know me... Always trying to be helpful!"

"Oh, ok then." Tony accepted the reason without a second thought, he gout out of the way so his friend would get inside, she quickly gave the box to Jade who made her way up to the roof, Amy went for a few more boxes and this went unnoticed by Tony who obliviously thought that whatever Amy was giving his mom were nothing more than materials for her latest project as she claimed.

"Need any help with that?"

"NO!" Both women screamed, which of course took Tony by surprise. "I mean no..." Jade coughs. "We got it son... Just... Stay put."

"Ok?"

After what seemed like hours, Jade and Amy finished getting everything to the roof, all the while Tony suspiciously watched them, "What is up with them?" Both women smiled at Tony after their job was done, this of course didn't go unnoticed. "What? Do I have something on my face?"

"Oh nothing like that." Amy said cheerfully. "I'm just glad to be here with my best friend... At this moment in time."

"Erm... Amy?" Tony asked unsurely. "Not to sound weirded out by any means but what have you been smoking?"

Amy simply snickered "Nooooooothiiiiiiiiiing."

"I'm a little hesitant to believe that." He said dryly. "You two are acting kind of weird and that's saying something considering who I hang out with every single day."

"Normal is overrated." Jade said dismissively. "So, Tony, you never told me, why the sudden visit? I thought you would be with Emily?"

"That's actually why I came here Mom." He said. "I wanted to ask your advice on something."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, uh, Mom, is it normal in a relationship for couples to become distant?"

"Distant? Jade blinked surprised. "What do you mean?"

"Like I dunno, it's just like Emily is keeping something from me, she has become a bit secretive and sometimes I feel like she isn't as open as she once was, it's almost like she's sneaking around places and doing things that could be dangerous... I know how crazy that sounds but I can't help but sometimes worry and wonder if she's really happy with me, tell me Mom, am I being paranoid?"

Unbeknownst to Tony, Emily was tiptoeing into the living room, having sneaked in through an open window and making her way up the stairs as quietly as possible so as to not alert her boyfriend to her presence, Jade and Amy witnessed this, sharing a quick glance before The former Goth took the initiative to put her son's mind at ease.

"Tony... How long have you known Emily?"

"Since I was eleven."

"And how long have you two been dating?"

"Since High School." He answered. "If I'm not mistaken seven years."

"Exactly and in those seven years has she ever said she was unhappy with you?"

"All the time." He replied. "Once she told me she hated me for waking her early, another time she called me a dork oh and she keeps calling me a Princess every time I annoy her, she does it because she says she loves to get under my skin but I really think it's her way of being affectionate, I can deal with all that, it's just the way our relationship works, but lately she hasn't been doing any of that and it bugs me."

"It bugs you?" Amy asked incredulously. "Why?"

"Because it's almost as if things just became... Normal and that's not what I want her to become... I felled for Emily because she's not like other women, she's not some girly airhead or overly emotional woman and what I love most about her is that she doesn't care what people think of her, she grabs gender norms and throws them out the window, she is who she wants to be not what other wants her to become, THAT is the Emily I know and love but lately she hasn't been her usual self and it's driving me crazy trying to figure out at what point the change happen... At one point she started to drift apart."

Jade and Amy knew the reason but they couldn't tell him, no matter how much they wanted to take away his worries, Emily on her part had heard her boyfriend's words and it took every ounce of her being to not go running down the stairs and hold him in her arms and tell him that she never intended to appear as if she was getting bored with him, in her eyes their relationship was amazing and getting better every day.

She however stayed still, everything needed to be perfect for the proposal, she wasn't even halfway ready, there was still so much to do... She wanted this moment to be something they would both remember for the rest of their lives and...

"Oh screw it!" Emily thought. "Plans can change! And I still may be able to salvage what I have planned upstairs."

She looked down at her pocket and the box was still safe within, Emily wasn't about to have this laying around as she feared Tony would find it in their apartment, she also wasn't keen to hide it in her parents house as they couldn't keep a secret to save their lives and it was out of the question to ask Jade and Tori to hide it as the latter would no doubt throw a fit that her "baby boy" was growing up and having his own life.

Emily walked down the stairs, Jade and Any tried to subtly tell her to go upstairs but she was having none of it, the man she loved was in despair and she would be damned to let him stay in such a state of mind simply because of a stupid plan.

With sheer determination she poked his shoulder three times, Tony turned around to see his girlfriend smirking at him. "Hey did you say my name three times? I swear you did and I appeared right here, it was like Beetlejuice."

Tony however was not amused "Is this where you have been hiding from me?"

"Hiding?" She parroted. "You should know by now princess that I don't hide from anything."

"Then what have you been doing?" He asked agitated. "For days now you been avoiding me! You come home late and when I try to reach out to you, you just say that you'll tell me 'later', well I'm tired of later Emily! What is going on with you?! I'm been going sick with worry! If something is wrong with us then I have a right to know! I love you damn it! I want to fight for our relationship but if you don't tell me then I can't meet you half way!"

"I love you too Tony." Emily said emotionally, she then looked at the other two women in the room. "Miss Jade... Amy... Can you give us a few moments alone please?"

She subtly pointed at her jacket, they both got the message and nodded, taking their leave.


They however didn't go far as they shut the living room door, they put their ears close to be able to hear.

Tori then picked up that moment to get home, opening the front door she shouted. "Jade! I'm home!"

"SHHHHHHHH!"

The Latina frowned at the welcoming she got.

"What is going...?"

"Quiet Vega!" Jade shushed. "We're trying to hear!"

"Hear what?"

"Come and find out for yourself." Any teased. "It's going to be wonderful!"

Tori raised an eyebrow but her curiosity got the better of her and put her ear by the wooden door.

"Princess... I promise you that things between us are great!"

"If they're so great then why have you been so distant lately?" Tony asked. "I meant it Emily, I'm tired of your laters, I want an answer now!"

"How about a question instead?"

"Say what now?"

Emily smiled at him before slowly getting down on one knee.

Tony's eyes grew wide as he covered his mouth with his hand. "Emily?"

The blonde pulled out the box from her pocket and opened it up to him, revealing Wonder Woman choker, she gave it to him to see and inside the words "I love you now and forever, Tony West." were engraved.

He looked at Emily, who kept smiling. "Princess... For quite some time now I been thinking of this moment, of how I was going to pop the question and every time I wasn't satisfied on how I was going to do it."

Tony wanted to ask why but he wisely kept quiet.

"I wanted this to be perfect, I didn't want to give you some boring ring because that's just isn't us, so I thought of the first time I ever said I loved you and that Halloween when we were teenagers came to mind." She said fondly. "It was a big moment for me because up to that point, I was afraid of saying it for fear of rejection and it was also a moment when things changed for us... For the better, so I got you this new chocker as a symbol of our relationship and how it will continue to grow... So... Anthony Victor West?... Will you marry me?"

Tony stared down at his girlfriend for a moment, completely overcome by the flood of emotions rushing through him. It took him a few moments to be able gather himself enough to be able to say...

"YES!" He nodded, tears streaming down his face. "Yes, yes, a thousand times Yes! I'll marry you!"

Emily couldn't help but cry tears of joy as well as she put the chocker around his neck and they kissed, Tony wrapped his arms around her neck as Emily swept him off his feet.

THUD!

The newly engaged couple heard the noise.

"What was that?"

"I have no idea Em."

From the other side of the door, Tori had fainted with Jade trying to wake her up.

"Is she going to be ok?" Amy asked.

"Eventually, yeah." Jade replied. "She's just a little shocked at the moment."


New Year's Evening.

11: 59

Tony and Emily were on the roof, true to her word, the blonde was not going to let her hard work go to waste and prepared a romantic dinner for her and her fiancé on the last night of the years.

"Honestly, I was going to pop the question at midnight and then we would start the New Year with a bang!"

"Not a bad plan, I'll admit." Tony said but honestly, I'm glad you popped the question earlier."

"Oh and why is that?"

"Because at midnight I can do this!"

The moment the clock goes off, Tony kissed Emily, she was taken aback momentarily until she responded in kind, after a few minutes they pulled apart and then looked at the stars, Tony rests his head on Emily's shoulder as they began to plan their future together.

They were of course unaware that they were being watched.

Tori sadly looked at them.

"Figures I would find you here Vega." The Thespian said. "Come on, let's get back downstairs to the party, let's leave the lovebirds."

"Let me just see this for a few more minutes Jade." Tori requested solemnly. "She really makes him happy doesn't she?"

"Yeah... She does."

"Hard to believe our son is getting married... It's so crazy." The Latina said. "I know I should be happy for him but..."

"I'm going to stop you right there Vega." Jade said sympathetically. "Tony may be spreading his wings and starting his own life but don't ever think for a moment he'll stop being our boy."

"Thanks baby." Tori smiled. "I needed to hear that."

"Your welcome Vega." The Thespian smiled back. "Now let's give them some privacy, let's go back to the party, tomorrow will be a new day."

"And a brand new life for them." Tori thought as she gave the young couple one last glance. "I wish them a happy one together."


Like I said above, I'm dedicating this chapter to my brother who recently proposed to his girlfriend and she said yes, I wish them the best!

And Happy New Year to my fellow Jori Shippers, may this coming year be better for us all!

Invader Johnny Signing Off.