<pre>A Winter's Evening News

by Kim Novak
Rated G
This is marginally part three of my first two stories, Responsibilities and Journey. Marginally because I think it can stand on it's own all right, but it might make a bit more sense if you have read the other two stories. I don't own Ray, the Vecchio family, or Fraser, but Madison and Fiona are mine.
Comments are always welcome, and thank you kindly for reading! KMN --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ray came home late. It was cold and the snow had started about an hour ago. Close to two inches already covered the streets, making driving and walking difficult. A good warm dinner and bed sounds pretty good right about now, he thought as he crunched his way up the front steps of the house. Fumbling for his house key, Ray was startled when the door opened. Fiona stood there smiling at him.

"Oh, no! I forgot! I'm sorry," Ray exclaimed as he kicked the snow off his shoes and came into the front hall. He was supposed to have taken Fiona out to dinner tonight. She had said she had something to tell him.

"It's all right. I understood. Besides, your family never minds an extra body for dinner and your mother made wonderful food tonight."

"Yeah, I know. Pasta Fazool- she makes it every Tuesday night."

"Well, there's leftovers, so come and eat. We can talk." She led him to the cozy kitchen and sat him down with some garlic bread and salad while she reheated the pasta. He flipped through his mail as he ate. Bills, paycheck, mortgage payment, more bills, junk mail, and a small package. The package was curious- there was no return address and a foreign postmark. Ray could barely make out that the postmark was from Quebec. He looked closer at the address, and realized how familiar the handwriting was- it was from Fraser! He ripped it open and found an unlabeled videocassette. No note, no explanation, nothing but the videocassette.

"Hey, Fiona?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you mind if we transfer dinner to the TV room? I think this video is from Fraser and I want to take a look at it."

"Of course. No problem!" She picked up the rest of his salad and handed him the plate of pasta. Balancing food and drinks, they made their way to the couch in front of the TV. He plugged the tape in the VCR, turned the TV on and pushed play. Ray laughed- it was Benny trying to get a video camera settled on a tripod. He evidently had no idea the camera was recording. Ray could hear someone talking in the background and he assumed it was Madison.

"Is that Fraser?" Fiona asked. She hadn't met him, but Ray had told her a lot about him.

"Yeah. I doubt he's ever used a video camera in his life, so this should be pretty interesting. I would guess the kid in the background is Madison. She's probably grown six inches since August."

"Hasn't he written you?"

"He can't. I'm surprised he could manage this. No one's supposed to know he's in Canada. I mean, no one in Canada is supposed to know he's in Canada. It doesn't really matter if we know or not."

"Why?"

"Well, part of the reason he was more or less assigned here is that some of his fellow RCMP officers weren't too happy about him tracking down the person who killed Fraser's dad, and they wanted to well, at least hurt him, possibly kill him. So to keep him alive and healthy, they assigned him to Chicago, which is pretty much out of these guys' reach."

"Wow. So, why is he in Canada now?"

"Because there is, or maybe it's was now, a kid who was in basically the same situation Fraser was in a few years ago who desperately needed to get out of Canada. They're sending that kid to be a liaison in Britain, I think, but they couldn't send him right away, so Benny and this kid traded places for a while. When they get this kid settled, Benny and Madison will be coming back to Chicago. Oh, he got it set up. Watch. Yeah, that's Madison. Gosh, she HAS grown!" On the screen, a small dark-haired girl was squinting up at the camera from an armchair. Ray chuckled. She had the exact same expression her father did when he was trying to decide exactly what he was looking at.

"Come on, honey, it's just Mark's video camera," Ben said as he came around the camera to tickle his daughter. She laughed and said something Ray couldn't catch. "All right, then, I'll say hello first. Hi Ray, Hi everyone! We thought we'd send our Christmas present early so it would definitely be on time for Christmas. Madison wanted to come home for Christmas, but we can't and we're sorry, and we figured that this would be the next best thing. So I borrowed our next door neighbor's video camera and here we go! Say hi, Madison."

"Hi! Hi Ray, hi Grace and Lucy and Mike, and Mama Vecchio, and Maria and Tony and Frannie and Ryan and everyone!" Her four-year old voice was excited. Apparently, she had warmed up to the video camera so long as her dad was there too.

"As you can see, we're doing all right. We both miss everyone terribly, but we have some pretty good news! We have a departure date! It's tentative, but it looks like we'll be in Chicago before Independence Day. The actual date is July 3rd. When I know more, I'll try to get you the information, Ray. We may actually be coming home earlier, but the latest right now is the 3rd."

"That is good news!" Ray said. Fiona smiled at him as she watched him watch the video. She had only known him for three months, but she already loved him. If someone had asked her before August if she believed that she could love someone so completely in such a short time she would have told them they were crazy. She had always been so cautious in love, but there was just something about Ray that made you give yourself over to him without hesitation. Fiona trusted him and her trust and love was even more affirmed as she watched him bite back tears as he watched Fraser and Madison say goodbye on the videotape.

"You miss them, don't you?" she asked.

"More than I realize half the time. I'm so glad they'll be home in July."

"It's been hard for you, hasn't it?"

"Sometimes. I watch their house for them, and some days I walk in there and I wonder if they're really ever coming back. I know they've only been gone for about 3 months, but it feels longer. Especially since I can't tell him how I'm doing, or see if he's all right." Ray looked at her and saw that she was waiting patiently to tell him something. "I'm sorry. You wanted to tell me something tonight, didn't you? That's why we were going to go for dinner."

"Yeah, I did, but I didn't mind waiting. Well, first of all,...well, this is kind of difficult. I want you to know I love you no matter what, all right?"

"Of course. I love you too. What's up?" Ray asked.

"Don't rush, ok? I have to do this slow."

"All right. Take your time. We've got all night, I'm not in any hurry to get anywhere."

"Ok." She sat silently for a long moment, then began again. "I think the only way to say this is to just say it. I am...well, *we* are, if you like...Oh, heck, Ray, I'm going to have a baby!" She finished in a rush.

Ray's eyes widened, but he sat silently. Then he grinned at her. "Oh, Fiona. My sweet Fiona. Are you happy?"

"Yeah. Are you?"

"Oh yeah. You bet."

"Is your family going to be mad?" she asked cautiously. She knew how important Ray's family was to him, and she didn't want to destroy his family life.

"Oh, heavens no! They're going to be ecstatic! They love you to pieces, and this will make them so happy. Another kid to run around and cause chaos! They're just going to want to know one thing."

"What's that?" she asked as she snuggled into his welcoming arms. His hands caressed her stomach and he paused to kiss the top of her head before answering her.

"All they're going to want to know is what I want to know."

"And what is that?"

"If you'll marry me." He said it so simply, but with such love that her eyes welled up with tears. He gently tipped her head up so he could see her tremulous smile.

"I would love to marry you, Raymond Vecchio."

"And I would love to marry you, Fiona Marie Theresa McKenna."

The next day, Fiona came over for dinner again, and once again the food was wonderful. Ray leaned over to her and whispered "I want to let everyone get eating before I tell them, ok? If their mouths are full we won't have to yell so loud!" She giggled and nodded.

As soon as a pause fell over the table so everyone could take a bite of their hot sandwiches, Ray took a big gulp of water and stood up. "Well, now that everyone's quieted down a bit, I have something important to say." He paused to look around the table. The kids were paying more attention to their plates than to their uncle, but Ray had both his sisters' full attention. Tony and his mother came out of the kitchen. He met his mother's eyes and her eyes lit up with recognition. Somehow she knew what was coming. Ray felt a brief flash of sadness at the memory of doing this many, many years ago with Angie, but his mood quickly recovered and he took a deep breath and continued. "Fiona and I are going to get married!" Fiona slipped her hand in his and squeezed hard as he sat down. The table exploded with astonishment and laughter. Ray's mother came around the table and gathered both of them into a big hug.

"I knew you would say that, Raymondo! I just knew it! Such wonderful news!"

"Well, wait, there's more," Fiona said. Ray had left it up to her to tell about the baby, if she felt she wanted to. It would become obvious in time, and it was unlikely that the marriage would take place before the baby came, but he felt she should let people know when she was comfortable. Everyone stopped to look at her. "We're having a baby, too!" Immediately, the laughter and congratulations resumed. They sat back and watched their family.

"When's the wedding?" Maria asked.

"We haven't talked much about it, yet," Fiona said, "But, I think it probably won't be until summer, huh, Ray?"

"Well, yeah. Probably July, which reminds me! Benny sent a video! He said that they're doing great, and the latest they should be back is July 3rd!"

"So, probably sometime after July 3rd, because I'm assuming you want to wait for Fraser to come back to Chicago, right?"

"Seeing as I'm planning on asking him to be my best man, I think we'll have to wait!" Ray laughed.

Later, they sneaked out to the front porch. They leaned against the porch railing holding cups of hot chocolate and looked out at the snow. "Well, little lady, was it what you expected it to be?"

"No, it was better than I expected it to be. I was scared there for a minute when you looked at your mom before you said it."

"Oh. I'm sorry, I was just..."

"Remembering doing this before?"

"Yeah. But, I think it's going to be different this time. No, I promise it will be different this time. I'm different now, and you're different than Angie was. We were too young and in a career that was enough for a kid to handle alone without trying to do it as a newlywed. Now, I'm established and you're established, and we've been around the block a couple more times." Ray said. She reached up and hugged him hard.

The door opened, and Maria stuck her head out. "Hey you too, get in here before you freeze to death!" Laughing, they walked hand in hand through the front door and into the beginning of their new lives.

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