"Here's to...?" Jack McPhee raised a glass of sparkling champagne in toast, arching his eyebrows at his three friends sitting around the table of Mannino's, one of Boston's best Greek restaurants. He was dressed nicely, but still emanated the classy fashion sense of the typical gay male in slacks and a deep red cashmere sweater.

"To the end of an ugly divorce?" Joey Potter raised her glass with a questioning eyebrow. She was dressed in a sleeveless black dress, cut straight across her collar; her hair pinned back so it fell past her shoulders. Despite the beautiful dress and make-up applied to perfection, it was hard to hide the evidence of the strain she'd been under the last eight months. Her husband of three years, Samuel, had demanded a divorce in February and every day after that had been a struggle. In the end, she�d gotten away with the house, the cars, and their dog, Booboo. She�d signed the final papers that morning, and she was here with her friends to celebrate that very fact.

"To friendship?" Jen smiled, across the table at Joey. They had grown up and grown apart through college and the general meandering of life. When it came down to it, they got together for the important moments in life. The last had been the birth of Jen�s first child, Marissa Claire. And the next probably wouldn�t be until Christmas, with scattered phone calls and one on one coffee breaks in between. All in all, Jen was pretty pleased with her life, she had a husband and daughter she adored to go home to, a job she loved and friends she cared about and it showed in her face, and the easy smile her friends saw now more than they ever had in high school and college. The only dark cloud was her worry for Joey.

Pacey Witter smiled, "I like that toast better." Pacey had become rather successful despite what his family had said in the past. After several failed careers, Pacey had finally found his spot in the world as a damn fine bartender. He wasn't Tom Cruise from 'Cocktail' by any means, but he could make a drink without even thinking about it, he earned more in tips from beautiful women, and eventually became owner of the bar he started at. It was often joked about between the group of friends that Pacey would have to move out of Massachusetts due to the fact that he had probably slept with every woman in the state. He would shake his head and chuckle, but never denied it.

"To friendship," Jack raised his glass to the center of the table.

"To friendship," they all agreed, clinking their glasses together before drinking.

"How's Marissa?" Joey asked, after draining her glass completely.

Jen's smile grew bright as she leaned forward slightly, "Oh she's wonderful. She has finally mastered rolling over. She's such a happy little baby."

Joey's lips curved softly, "I haven't seen her in weeks. I really should stop by. I saw this cute little dress in Sax's last week, I couldn't resist buying it for her."

"Oh, God, here we go again. Babies and clothes, is there a worse topic for discussion?" Jack teased lightly.

"Yes, football." Joey shot back with a grin.

Pacey shook his head, "I disagree. I can think of far worse things to talk about than babies and football. For example, the Ebola virus."

Jen snorted, "The Ebola virus? Where did that come from?"

"There was an article about it in the newspaper yesterday." He noticed Joey's look, "Yes I read the news paper."

She rolled her eyes with a smile, "And you found news about the Ebola virus fascinating?"

He shrugged, "Sure. I mean, it's a deadly illness that kills quickly."

Jack smirked, "And this is relevant to us...how?"

Pacey smirked also, "Well it's not. But you asked if there was a worse topic than football, and it popped into my head. I could have said something else."

"Yeah, I think we'll pass on that something else," Jen said wryly as the waiter approached.

"Could I interest you in any of our fine desserts?"

"I'm stuffed," Jack sat back rubbing his stomach.

"I'm still trying to get rid of those pregnancy pounds." Jen muttered, looking longingly over the menu. "You two?"

Joey shook her head, "No, thank you."

Pacey sighed, "Yeah...I don't think so."

"I'll be right back with your check then." He smiled automatically at them and moved on to his next table.

"So, what are your plans for the rest of evening?" Joey asked.

"Well, Landon's waiting for me," Jack said with a contented smile, "He said something about a surprise tonight. The man spoils me."

Pacey smiled, "About time you were spoiled. I was getting tired of hearing you bitch about being the only one in the relationship who did anything for the other one."

Jack smirked, "I didn't bitch."

Pacey nodded, "Yes you did. I seem to remember a conversation about your last boyfriend, what was his name?"

Jack smiled, "Keith."
"Yeah. Keith, he never wanted to take you out or anything. I seem to remember a lot of bitching about that."

"I did not," Jack protested looking to Jen and Joey for help.

"You did," the said together.

Pacey smiled, "See."

He rolled his eyes, "At least I have a relationship to bitch about. You, on the other hand..."

He shook his head, "I, on the other hand, don't have a relationship to bitch about. That what you were getting at?"

"Pretty much." Jack replied.

"Don't pick on the man for his chosen lifestyle." Joey said in a slightly defensive tone. "He can't help it if he has the attention span of a two year old.

"My attention span isn't the problem. The problem is finding the right woman."

Jen smirked, "Your problem is you only want them for one thing and after the fifteen minutes is over, you realize you have nothing to talk about with them."

Pacey tilted his head at her and grinned, "Fifteen minutes? Not giving me very much credit are you?"

"You're right," she rested her elbow on the table. "I'm sure if you tried really hard, you could get eighteen."

He raised an eyebrow at her and folded his arms over his chest, "Keep talking, Jen."

She shrugged a shoulder with a small smile, "I've heard things, that's all."

"Aww, you hearing voices again?"

She rolled her eyes. "Check's here."

"And what's the grand total?" Jack asked.

"$84.16, that's $27.00 each, plus the tip."

"Wait a sec, I'm paying my share," Joey protested.

Pacey shook his head, "No you're not. Put your money away or I'll let Jen wrestle you to the ground."

She smirked, "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

He grinned, "Damn straight. Throw in some Jell-O and you have quality entertainment."

"Fine, but I want it known that I'm doing this under duress. There's something not right about celebrating the fact that my husband ended our marriage."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're starting to sound like Jack with the way you're complaining."

She shot him a glare, "Remind me to kick your ass later."

He nodded, "Will do."

Jack shook his head, "I still maintain that I did not complain a lot."

"Jack, sweetheart," Jen patted his forearm. "Give it up."

Jack shook his head, "I'm just saying you're wrong."

"We aren't." Joey smiled at him, rising from her chair. "Jen, I assume you're going to rush home to the family?"

Jen smiled, "Of course. I miss my baby."

Joey smiled faintly, "Right." She looked at Pacey as he was pulling his jacket on. "Just you and me, stud."

Pacey looked at her oddly, "Stud? So, you wanted to kill me before, and now I'm stud?"

"Let's go for a walk," she said. "I need to ask you something." From across the table, Jen shot her a reassuring look.

He nodded, "Okay."

The filed away from the table and Jen gave Joey's hand a squeeze. "Call me tonight, understand?" She murmured.

"I promise."

Pacey looked at Joey as they walked away from Jack and Jen, "Okay, what is it you want to talk about?"

"Um," she dug her hands into the pockets of her coat. "See, the thing is..."

"What is the 'thing'?"

She had a speech planned out, but now that the time was here, she couldn't remember a damned word of it. "The reason... I guess I should have told you sooner..."

He looked at her slightly concerned, "Told me what sooner?"

She winced, "Will you marry me?"

He laughed, "That's funny."

She looked down at the ground, "I'm not laughing."

The smile left his face and his expression turned to one of confusion, "Huh?"

"That came out all wrong," She groaned.

"You just asked me to marry you, and you're saying that it came out all wrong?" he asked, still confused.

She laughed wryly, "Yeah, I did." She shook her head, "I had this all planned out," she murmured to herself and then looked at Pacey. "Samuel had a reason for divorcing me. A good one, actually."

He furrowed his brow, "What reason?"

"I can't have kids." She said tightly, "He wanted them, badly and he blamed me for not being able to give him any."

Pacey released a breath and it was easy to see by his posture that he was angry, "That bastard. You realize, of course, that I never liked him, right?"

"I know," she sighed and put her hand on his arm. "It's okay, Pace. Really. He was raised in very religious house, he didn't believe in artificial insemination or any of that. And in any case, it wouldn't have worked because I have no eggs at all. He refused to even consider adoption." She sighed, "I tried to make it work, but it wasn't even a month later that he served me with papers."

Pacey shook his head, "What an asshole." He was quiet for a few minutes and then spoke up, "So...how does this bring us to you asking me to marry you?"

"I want to adopt a baby. But it costs thirty thousand plus to go through a service, and then it takes up to two years. I don't have that kind of money. I'll probably never have that kind of money working in the gallery." She spotted a bench several feet away and sat down, "But, I found a church that will help me adopt. They only ask that I pay for the doctor bills of the girl who's pregnant and whatever the costs of putting the paper work through. A couple thousand at most. I can afford that. I've even met the girl, she's a sweetheart, but she's only sixteen."

Pacey sat beside her, "Okay. So, you're going to adopt a baby. That's great."

She bit her lip, "Not exactly...the wont let me adopt unless I'm married."

He nodded, "Oh...okay. Which is why you asked me to marry you."

"Right." She gave him an earnest look, "I know this is asking a lot. But I promise, once the baby's entirely mine we'll get a divorce, free and clear. We'll sign a pre-nup. I won�t stop you from seeing other women or anything like that..."

He held up his hands, "Whoa! Breathe Potter! Look, I didn't say I wouldn't do it. And... I don't really need all these conditions or anything."

"Just like that?" Her eyes widened, "You don't even need to think about it?"

"Well, I do...but, you know...if it will help you out, then I'll more than likely say yes anyway."

"Let me tell you the rest." She sat back, "I told the pastor that I was engaged, that I would have to discuss it with you before moving the date of the wedding up. He wants to perform the ceremony. We'd have to live together for a while, before and after the baby comes. This would be at least a yearlong commitment, Pace. And you'd have to pretend that you love me when these people are around..."

He sighed, "Okay. So, I would have to live with you, which will be hard considering you get on my nerves. I would have to act like I'm in love with you, which will be a stretch, because as I've already said, you get on my nerves," he smiled. "You already lied to a priest...so I think that you really need my help, here."

She let out a pent up breath, "I could never repay you for this, Pace."

He smiled, "Don't worry about it. I know this means a lot to you."

"It means the world to me," she said, her voice cracking with emotion. "But you should think about this more."

"Okay, give me until tomorrow. Let me think about it for twenty-four hours. If I don't decide to do it, it would only be for the reason that you let me think about it for too long."

"I don't want you to regret this decision," she said quietly.

He sighed, "I know." He wrapped an arm around her, "But then again, some of the best decisions I ever made were on the spur of the moment."

She settled against him, wrapping an arm tightly around his middle. "Thank you for even considering this."

He nodded, "Hey, I'm honored you even asked me."

She rolled her eyes, with a weak smile "It's probably the only proposal you'll ever get, you man-whore."

He chuckled, "Probably so." He let out a dramatic sigh, "If I decide to do this, who will keep the women of Boston satisfied?"

"You will," she smirked. "I'll just have to listen to it through the walls. I don't expect you to stay celibate while you're doing this, Pace. That's asking too much."

He sighed, "Well, I wouldn't ask you to listen to it either. We'll think of something."

She nodded against his shoulder, "Just think about it, okay? From all the angles."