Present Day:

Justin stopped by his sister Lena's house just after 5 PM on Tuesday. He parked in the alley behind the house and went to the side door to the kitchen. He knocked once and let himself in. Lena and her husband Mike were pouring a couple of glasses of wine. Lena smiled at her brother. "Perfect timing Justin. Beer, wine, or something else?"

Justin pointed to the wine bottle. "Whatever you guys are having will be great, thanks."

Lena finished pouring the wine and gestured to the living room. "We have a few minutes of peace and quiet. MJ is packing his backpack for the 1000th time for this weekend's Boy Scout trip and the girls are in their room reading."

Justin looked over at his brother-in-law who sat down on the couch next to Lena. "Mike, I never saw you as the Scoutmaster type."

Mike raised his glass. "Assistant Scoutmaster, thank you. But I really like it and now that I'm not on the road so much, I have the time for it. Just so you know, I'm never going back to China no matter how much the company promises to pay me. That place is a madhouse!"

Justin nodded in agreement. "So, where are you and the boys off to?"

Mike smiled. "Redfish Lake campground for a couple of nights, you know the spot. We'll do a little fishing, canoeing and teach the boys how to learn woodcraft right out of the scout manual. It's really some great bonding time with dads and sons so I really like it."

Lena then added. "And the dads get to sit around the campfire drinking Jack Daniels out of Sierra Cups telling stories no doubt."

Michael kissed his wife on the cheek. "A distinct possibility."

Lena looked at her husband. "Well, I for one approve of the Boy Scout camping and the not going to China part."

She then looked over at her brother. "So, what is it you wanted to talk about? How are things with your new roomie? And where is she this week?"

Justin nodded and smiled. "Things with my girlfriend, my roommate, your BFF are great, really great. As for the rest, she's in L.A. tonight and is doing the L.A. - Seattle - Anchorage run and back. It's one of her favorite trips. She says the scenery is awesome and it's also the best-paying trip on the West Coast. She promised to bring us some salmon or crab legs when she gets home."

Justin paused a moment and sipped his wine before continuing. "So here's the thing. You guys know that we have been pretty serious for a while. Anyway, Charlotte has led a bit of an unconventional life."

Lena chimed in. "You mean like being raised by her grandparents, getting a physics degree, flying in combat and also being a cover model? Am I missing something?"

Justin laughed. "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, there are certain things that Charlotte does the old-fashioned way."

Lena knew the answer to the question but asked it anyway. "Such as?"

Justin put his glass down and put his hands together in a nervous gesture. "Well, even though she has pretty much already indicated that the answer will be yes, she made it abundantly clear that the boy should ask the girl to marry him, so that's what I'm going to do."

Lena and Mike both stood up and she said. "Congratulations, now give your big sister a hug."

They did and Mike and Justin shook hands and then they all sat down again. "I'm coming up with a plan but most definitely need a ring."

Lena held out her hand with its plain gold wedding band. "Mike and I were so young that we never did the whole engagement ring thing. We just put these on at the courthouse and have never taken them off."

Mike took the opportunity to gently kiss his wife of over a dozen years on the lips. "Worked out okay."

Lena smiled at her husband and absently twirled her ring before looking at her brother. "J, I know that Ms. Janssen would very much like a traditional engagement ring with a big ass diamond. She mentioned something about it being a nice keep away, her working in a male-dominated world after all."

Justin nodded. "I agree. I know that you took care of Great Aunt Helen's estate and also Grandmother Crawford's. Did we inherit anything, you know an old family piece that I might be able to use?"

Lena thought a moment and shook her head. "One of the Moscow cousins got Helen's wedding rings, a really nice old Victorian set. She's going to give it to her son or daughter when the time comes. Our mom's ring is an old family piece, but she plans on using it herself for quite a few more years!"

Justin raised his glass. "Here's to that. I'm sure that she will. Well, you pretty much told me what I already knew, just thought I'd ask. You are the family expert. Anyway, Charlotte has her parent's and grandparent's rings, but those will have to be passed down to our kids."

Lena smiled from ear to ear. "Justin Crawford, you guys have already been talking about kids?"

He nodded. "Yeah, in a hypothetical way. She mentioned that as an only child, she wants her kids to have sibs. So, the number two or three was mentioned."

Lena beamed. "Well then, I think that we had better find you a wedding ring so you two can get on with making me some nieces and nephews. Okay, when does Charlotte get home this week?"

"Sunday."

"Great. While Mike and MJ are camping you and I and the girls will go shopping. I'll make an appointment at Portsche's. It's the best jeweler in Idaho."

Justin sipped his wine. "Sounds great sis, just text me the details. In the meantime, do you think that you can keep this a secret from your BFF? I want this to be a surprise, at least as much as I can arrange."

The following Saturday morning, Justin picked up his sister and two nieces. He felt underdressed in jeans and a flannel shirt as the girls were in pretty sundresses with colorful ribbons in their long blonde hair and their mother was in her Sunday best complete with a hat.

"Good morning ladies. Are we ready for some shopping, maybe today we can max out Uncle Justin's credit card."

Justin then drove them in his four-door truck to the high-end jewelry store on West Idaho Street in downtown Boise. They were greeted at the door by a very well-dressed woman of 40-something. "Mrs. Heston?"

Lena smiled. "Yes, and please call me Lena. This is my brother, Justin, he is the groom-to-be. His two assistants are my daughters Grace and Emma."

The woman shook Justin's hand and then smiled at the two cute and very identical blonde girls. "My name is Elizabeth. Please come this way. Girls, are you going to help your uncle pick out a pretty ring today?"

The two girls linked hands and Grace spoke first. "Our uncle's girlfriend is our godmother Charlotte."

Emma then continued. "She's a pilot and is very pretty. We can't wait for Uncle Justin to marry her so she can be our aunt too."

Grace then looked up at her mother. "Mom, just so you know. We talked to Aunt Charlotte and she said that we could be bridesmaids at her wedding."

Lena smiled, not surprised at all. "She did, did she? Well, one thing at a time. How about we help Uncle Justin pick out a ring so he can propose properly and make it official, shall we."

The woman took them to a quiet area in the back and sat them down at a luxurious counter. She produced a tray with coffee, orange juice and small scones. Justin and Lena had coffee and the girls helped themselves to juice and scones. Lena played the mom and said firmly. "Don't fill up too much girls, Uncle Justin is going to take us to lunch on the Riverwalk when we're done shopping."

With the preliminaries taken care of, the woman unlocked a case and brought out a black velvet tray with a dozen or so classic platinum and diamond engagement rings. None of the prices were listed. Lena had previously explained to her brother that if he had to ask, he couldn't afford it. He had responded that he currently owned a business, four houses and a small apartment building and could probably afford to get his girlfriend a nice ring.

Justin looked at the display of rings and then at his sister. "L, I'm like a dog looking at TV here. Where should I start?"

Lena removed a classic ring with a large solitaire cut diamond. "This one is lovely."

The clerk responded with a large smile. "Yes, it's just over two karats."

Justin tried it on his little finger and then showed it to Lena and then to Grace and Emma. "Well, what do you think ladies?"

Lena answered. "It's lovely Justin, I think Charlotte will love it."

Emma looked into her sister's eyes. They both nodded and Grace said confidently. "Uncle Justin, none of these are right."

Emma then continued. "Last year, Aunt Charlotte showed us the cockpit of one of the planes she flys. There are all kinds of levers, controls, buttons and stuff. That big diamond would get caught on something."

Justin looked at Lena and then at his two nieces and put the ring back in the tray. He laughed and rolled his eyes. "Elizabeth, my two nieces are absolutely right. None of these will work. I still want diamonds, but upon further reflection, it needs to be, you know, low profile. My girlfriend is an airline pilot and I want her to be able to wear the thing at work. Later on, we'll get plain gold or platinum wedding bands, but I think it's traditional for the engaged couple to shop for those together. Can you go find us some other rings to look at?"

The woman nodded confidently. "Of course, just give me a few minutes I know exactly what you need."

Elizabeth locked up the first tray and went to a counter and brought back another tray of rings. "I think this style is more what you're looking for."

Justin took a quick look and immediately saw what he wanted. "That one, that diamond has just a bit of blue and grey like Charlotte's eyes."

He picked up the ring and put it on his finger. "Well girls, will this do?"

His two nieces nodded and said simultaneously. "It's perfect Uncle Justin!"

Justin looked over at his sister. "Well, L?"

She squeezed his hand. "I love it J."

Justin nodded again. "Well, that's settled. Now how do I figure out what size to get? I guess I could just ask her."

Lena shook her head and removed her plain gold wedding band and handed it to the clerk. "Elizabeth, one size larger than this should be pretty close."

The attractive woman placed the ring on a sizer and wrote down a number. Justin shook his head. "Lena, how did you?"

She smiled at her brother. "Charlotte's my BFF. We've been sharing jewelry and clothes since we were nine!"

Justin then whispered something in Lena's ear. She rolled her eyes and returned the whisper. "Okay Justin, but not too expensive. They're only 12."

Justin then smiled at his two nieces. "Girls, as a thank you for saving the day and making sure your uncle Justin got just the right ring, I would like to buy you each a pair of diamond earrings. Something nice you can wear to church and fancy dress stuff."

The girls squealed in delight.

"Okay then, I'm sure Ms. Elizabeth will find something just right for each of you. But part of the deal is we have to keep this whole day secret squirrel, if you know what I mean. Your Aunt Charlotte can't know what we were doing today okay?

The two sisters performed asolemn pinky swear and nodded at their uncle.