quote from ART OF DETECTION by Laurie R King (SPOILERS)

A lovely quote from the end of THE ART OF DETECTION, the last book of Laurie R King's mystery series starring the lovely Inspector Kate Martinelli. This quote contains spoilers for certain aspects of the book so if you haven't read the series (you should, it's good) proceed at your own risk.





Spoilers below!
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If you haven't read these books, go read them! This quote is lovely, and best enjoyed as a grace note at the end of a fantastic mystery series.
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...

 There appeared to be very little business as usual around City Hall that morning. The standard contingent of homeless gazed in astonishment at the activity, which would have made an upturned ant's nest look calm by comparison: Two men, hang in hand, ran up the steps, both wearing tuxedos; a minivan pulled into a red zone out front of the Hall, a uniformed patrol looked on benevolently as the van's driver and two passengers unloaded armloads of flowers. 

"Why the hell is the entire gay commun--" Kate started to ask, but then she saw the bakey van and the decorated cake, and it hit her. 

"Oh my God," she said. "Maj?" 

By way of answer, Maj popped open her door, and a kid in a red jacket pulled himself off the low wall and trotted forward. He opened the driver's door with a gesture of a valet, and Maj turned around to look into Kate's face. 

"Roz thought you and Lee might like to be among the first legally married lesbians in San Francisco." 

Kate could say nothing, just sit with her mouth open. 

"Absolutely legal," Maj replied, reading the sense behind the silence. "Thanks to his advisors, our new mayor has decided that discrimination is unconstitutional. If you want a marriage license, it's here for you."

Lee had twisted around in the front seat to watch Kate. Kate stared at her, and slowly found herself beginning to grin. "I'm not even going to ask you if you will marry me," she told Lee, "because I've already done that and you said yes. So I guess now's the time to make good on your promise."

"We're going to get married?" squealed Nora's voice from the back. "Really married?" 

This, Nora seemed to think, was even better than a birthday part with hot dogs and ponies combined. 

And Kate couldn't argue with that. She seized Lee's hand, stuck her other one back for Nora, and said, "Yes, my sweetheart. We're going to get married." 

Some time later, standing at the door to the County Clerk's office with Lee and Nora, Roz and Maj, Jon and Sione, clutching the hastily photocopied form that read "first applicant / second applicant" where "bride / groom" had once stood, Kate glanced back down the growing line of men and women waiting their turn. Their faces were young and old, dark and light, male and female; they wore bow ties and T-shirts, white silk and blue denim, velvet and bettered leather, tiaras and hand-knit hats; they carried backpacks and flowers, folded newspapers and small jeweler's boxes; they had kids of all sizes or were little more than kids themselves. But all the people in the line, every one of them, wore just the same expression: stunned with joy, incredulous and expectant, and absolutely certain of what they were doing.