Rosetti took a deep breath and ran a hand through her thick black hair, resting her hand on the back of her neck.

"The coroner's report shows that the suspect was killed with a nine-millimeter bullet that came from your gun."

Rosetti looked down at the table and rested her forehead in her hands. She let out a long low sigh, then looked up at the chief.

"So now what?"

"You report back to work first thing in the morning," he said, sliding the sheet of paper across the table toward her. "The ballistics report and the internal investigation report both concluded that the shooting was justified. It was a clean shoot, Rosetti."

Rosetti looked up at the chief. Her exhausted eyes smiled at him.

"You did a good job out there, Sergeant. I'm proud to have an officer like you in my department. Now we have the records to prove it. And there's one less drug dealer on the streets because of you."

Chief Watkins drained his coffee cup, then stood to leave. Rosetti stood, as well, and extended her hand to him.

"Thank you, sir, thank you for coming by tonight," Rosetti said.

"You're welcome, Sergeant. I'm glad things turned out the way they did."

Rosetti walked him out as I set the coffee cups in the sink. I met up with Rosetti on the couch in the parlor.

"Well, I bet you're glad that's over," I said.

Rosetti nodded, I'm sure too tired to speak.

"I wonder how much of this came from Teresa."

"What?" Rosetti asked, surprised. "What does my mother have to do with this?"

"Sometimes when someone close to us dies, they give us one last gift before they go to heaven."

"You're kidding, right?"

"No, I'm not. I've seen it before. I have no doubt that Teresa had something to do with this...one last gift to you before she passes on."

Tears welled up in Rosetti's eyes. She lay her head in my lap and I stroked her hair until she fell asleep.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX.

My first day back in the ER was unbelievable. My first patient of the day was a fifteen-year-old with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the abdomen. We got him up to surgery just in time before he bled out. Then I treated a schizophrenic who was off her meds wearing a silver-studded leather bustier and lace gloves singing "Like a Virgin" at the top of her lungs. This was followed by two heart attacks, a stroke in progress, a groin laceration from a boating accident, and two DOAs. And all this was before noon. The entire staff worked through lunch, and before I knew it, it was almost six o'clock, time for the new shift to come in.

It was Rosetti's first day back at work, as well. When I came home that night, I was greeted by the delicious aroma of simmering marinara sauce and fresh baked bread. I looked at the number on the door to make sure I was in the right apartment. I was.

I walked in and found the dining room table set with a white linen tablecloth I didn't know I owned and matching dishes and glasses. Rosetti stood in the kitchen stirring a pot of tomato sauce.

"Hey," Rosetti said. "How was your day?"

"Getting better. What's all this?"

"I thought you'd like to come home to a nice meal for a change." Rosetti tasted the tomato sauce from a wooden spoon. "There's wine in the fridge...you want some?"

"Yes, please." I kicked off my Nike Cross Trainers and sat at the table, watching her work.

Rosetti brought me a chilled glass of Riesling. "What's the occasion?" I took the glass from her and took a sip.

"Can't a girl fix another girl dinner and it not be an occasion?"

"Okay by me." I took another sip. The warmth of the wine seeped into my tired muscles. I immediately felt myself relax.

I watched her as she proficiently moved about the tiny kitchen. She opened the oven door and removed a freshly baked loaf of bread.

"Wow, you even baked bread. What other hidden talents do you possess that I don't know about?"

She laughed. "Baking is the least of my talents. You haven't seen anything yet."

Rosetti took the bread out of the oven and wrapped it in a warm tea towel. Clouds of steam rose above her as she drained the pasta and dumped it into a large pasta bowl, another domestic item that I didn't remember owning, and ladled on the thick tomato sauce.

"My God, that smells good," I said as Rosetti set the bowl in the center of the table.

"Teresa's recipe. Best spaghetti sauce this side of Bella, Italy."

Rosetti refilled my wine glass, then sat opposite of me at the table.

"I gather you were busy today." Rosetti ladled a large portion of spaghetti onto my plate.

"Insanely, we never got a break. The entire staff worked straight through." I twirled some spaghetti onto my fork.

"I saw Sean at the station this morning," Rosetti said as she poured herself more wine.

"Are you working together again?" I asked, my mouth full of pasta.

"No, we were at a staff commander meeting to get our assignments. I'll be on day turn for at least another month. He's going to be back on rotating shifts for the next few weeks."

"Oh, I bet he's not going to like that," I said. twirling another forkful of spaghetti. "Mmm this is so good."

"We talked a little after the meeting. He told me he was glad you and I...hooked up."

"He what?" I asked, surprised Sean would say anything about my relationship with Rosetti, especially to Rosetti.

Rosetti sopped up her remaining spaghetti sauce with a thick slice of Italian bread and took a bite. "He also said if I broke your heart, he'd kill me." A big grin lit up her face.

"I can't believe he said that to you." I was embarrassed by Sean's comment.

"It's okay, I know he was kidding. He really cares about you, Mina. I don't think he ever stopped, whether you were married to him or not. He also said he was glad you were with me now and not 'that other one,'" Rosetti said. "I'm going to assume that's Regan."

"Yep." I wiped my mouth with the cloth napkin Rosetti had laid out. "He doesn't like Regan. Never did. He flipped when he found out she was Ed's hospice nurse. He was so upset he asked me to have her replaced. But then she delivered Tess early and all that changed."

"Almost seems like things happened for a reason, doesn't it?"

"Yes, I guess so."

"What didn't he like about her?"

"He blames Regan for breaking up our marriage."

"Did she?"

I looked across the table at Rosetti and saw she was serious about this.

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Ro, you and I both know that if it wasn't her, it would have been someone else. If you had come along a few months earlier, it might have been you. You know you can only hide your true feelings for so long. Don't you think?"

Rosetti shoveled in another forkful of pasta. "I guess you're right. There is just something about her that I don't trust."

"It's because of what happened while you were away, isn't it?"

Rosetti nodded.

I set my fork down. "I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am about that. But it wasn't totally Regan's fault that what happened, happened. It was my fault, too. I could have stayed away from her, but I didn't. But do you know one thing I learned?"

"What?"

"I learned the truth. I learned that spending the rest of my life with Regan wasn't what I wanted. Although I still care for her and for Tess, our being together just wasn't right. And the gift in all that is that there is no question in my mind or my heart about being here with you. I'm totally sure this is where I want to be for the rest of my life."

Rosetti looked relieved. She stood up to clear the table.

"Here, let me do it. You cooked, I'll clean up." I took her dish from her.

She poured herself some more wine and headed for the couch to read the paper. It was amazing at how right this all felt.

I cleared the dishes and filled the sink with sudsy water when the phone rang. Neither of us made a move to pick it up. I let the machine get it.

"Mina, are you there?" the voice sent icy shivers up my spine. "It's Regan...can you call me when you get in, nothing important I just need to ask you something...thanks...bye."

I peeked around the corner to see Rosetti's reaction. She didn't look amused.

"What?" I asked.

"What do you think she wants now?"

"I don't know. It didn't sound urgent."

Rosetti neatly folded her newspaper and set it in her lap. "Mina, your exes seem to have trouble letting you go. Is this something I need to worry about?"

I walked over to Rosetti and sat on her lap. "No," I said firmly. "I can't help what those people do or say, but I do have control over what I do or say. The only person I have feelings for is right here." I poked Rosetti in the chest with my index finger. "I have big feelings for you, Rosetti...bigger and stronger than I've ever known, and I wouldn't dream of putting that in jeopardy ever again." I kissed her full on the mouth. Garlic and onions never tasted so sensual.

The dishes soaked in the sink while Rosetti and I soaked in the bathtub and finished the bottle of wine. The phone rang again. Neither of us made an attempt to get out of the tub to answer it.

"Do you have another ex out there I don't know about?" Rosetti asked, capturing my mouth with her soft lips.

A few seconds later, the machine picked up. "This message is for Mrs. Caselli. This is Stanley Steamer calling, we'd like to offer you a-" The machine cut him off.

"Oh, thank God," I said. Rosetti and I laughed.

A few days after the funeral, I went with Rosetti to the nursing home to collect Teresa's personal effects. It was hard entering room 216 and not seeing Teresa's cheery face greet us. Teresa's bed had been stripped and a small cardboard box with her personal belongings sat on the bare mattress. The tube of Denture Grip I'd bought her a few weeks earlier stuck out of the top. The sight of it made me sad. Peggy walked by Teresa's room pushing the med cart. She stuck her head in the doorway.

"You doing okay in here?" she asked.

Rosetti nodded and flipped the lid open on the box.

"Hi, Peg, yes, we're doing fine. Just here to pick up Teresa's stuff," I said.

"Oh, I almost forgot. When we were packing up Teresa's things, we came across something. Wait here, I'll go get it." Peggy disappeared from the doorway.

Rosetti went through the contents of the box. Among Teresa's underclothes and nightgowns, Rosetti found Teresa's denture cup, a small silver framed picture of the Rosetti family taken sometime in the seventies, a plastic yellow back scratcher, and several holy cards from Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church.

A few minutes later, Peggy returned with a white envelope. Rosemary's name appeared on the front of the envelope in Teresa's shaky handwriting.

"I found this under Teresa's nightgowns. I kept it at the desk for safe keeping. Peggy handed Rosetti the envelope. Rosetti's hands shook as she held the envelope in her hand. She looked up at me as if asking permission to open it. I nodded, urging her on.

Rosetti opened the envelope and removed the card. On the front of the card were the words: To My Daughter, on Her Birthday. Rosetti sat on the edge of the bed and read. When she was done, she handed me the card with trembling hands.

I looked at it. Next to the birthday greeting, Teresa had written a personal message. It read: Dear Rosemary, Thank you for taking such good care of me. What more could a mother ask of her daughter? Perhaps that she settle down and have some grandchildren, but I know for you that is not your way. I know you have tried to hide your feelings from me, but a mother always knows. I've known for a long time that a family isn't what you wanted. I was sad about it for a while. But you are my daughter and I love you. No matter what. My only wish for you is to have a good and happy life. I am very proud of you, and if your father were here today, God rest his soul, he would be, too. Happy Birthday.

Love, Mom.

PS: Sorry I only got you this card for your birthday. The gift shop downstairs didn't have the nice Hallmark ones like the drugstore downtown.

A shiver of remembrance went through me. The card I had forgotten to pick up for Teresa had been meant for Rosetti.

I closed the card and handed it back to Rosetti. Tears slowly found their way down my cheeks. "She knew."

Rosetti nodded and smiled through her own tears. "Yes, she knew."

EPILOGUE.