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The smell of something good filled the air as Lucy walked through the front door of the house. Kojo got up immediately from his bed and made his way over to her. Setting her bag down, Lucy bent down to scratch his butt and rub him down. A quick kiss and she stood up, turning the corner to the kitchen and put her keys down to find Joy at the stove. She looked over at Lucy with a smile, but clearly saw the exhaustion on her face.
“Long day?”
“Oh you have no idea.” Lucy sat down in the chair at the bar. “I would have cooked.”
She waved Lucy off, “you kids are saving the city, the least I can do is cook. Especially since you’re letting me stay here graciously after I barged in.”
Lucy rested her head in her hands for a moment before she raised it. “You’re family, not a burden to send away.”
“That’s true.” She walked to the fridge and opened it to pull out a brown package of meat from inside. “However, I never asked to come over and showed up suddenly.” Returning to the stove, she unwrapped the packaging and glanced over at Lucy. “Tim staying late?”
“No, he’s speaking with our nosy neighbor. She’s retired and takes joy in sticking her nose in everyone’s business.” The smell hit Lucy, “I think that meat is expired.”
“No, I bought it today.” She looked over at Lucy to watch her. “I know you said you’re pescatarian, mostly vegetarian. I made sure to make some fish alongside the chicken.”
Lucy shook her head, “excuse me for a moment.”
She left the kitchen and headed into the house as Tim close the front door behind himself. “Something smells good.” Tim put his hands in his pockets as he entered the kitchen. “You didn’t have to cook, Mom.”
Joy chuckled, “well, I do have a confession to make. I invited Genny and the kids over, I haven’t seen them since before the divorce.”
“We’ve been meaning to have them over but our work schedules have been all over the place.” Tim turned towards the back of the house, “everything okay with Lucy?”
“I believe so, she probably just wants to get out of those clothes.” Joy put the chicken in the hot pan in front of her. “From what I’ve seen the past week, it’s a routine thing.”
Tim nodded, “yeah, she’s…” he pulled his hand out of his pocket and pointed towards the back of the house. “I’m going to go check on her.”
“Okay. Genny said she’d be here in an hour, but that was thirty minutes ago.”
Getting to the master bedroom, he opened the door and then shut it behind himself. “Luce?” No reply made him head towards the bathroom, pausing at seeing her sitting on the floor digging through a container. “Hey, everything okay?”
“I don’t know.” Lucy sighed as she came up empty. “I thought I had one.”
“Had one of what?”
Looking up at him, she shook her head. “I…”
Tim walked in and stooped down in front of her, “hey, talk to me. What’s wrong?”
“I need to take a pregnancy test.” Lucy stated, “I thought I had one here but I don’t.”
“Another scare or…”
Lucy met his eyes, “I don’t know, but we weren’t safe after my return from Baja. I remember Lopez spouting off all those symptoms when she was pregnant with Emmy and I have a few. I hope it’s a scare because we’re not ready for kids, not yet.”
He looked at his watch, “Genny and the boys will be here in thirty, that’s enough time for me to run down the street to the drug store.”
“Tim…”
Standing, he held out his hands and she stood up with his assist. “Hey, remember last time you worried yourself over nothing. No use in spinning yourself up until we know.”
“I’m making an appointment with Dr. Bash after this, getting an implant because two scares is two too many.”
“Okay. If that’s your choice, I’ll support you a hundred percent.” Tim rubbed her arm, “I’ll head out and be back in ten, twenty max.”
Lucy nodded, “get the one I had last time, it’s easier to understand.”
“Got it.” Tim kissed her forehead. “You relax.”
“Sure, I’ll try to relax when our plans could get shot to hell because I was so impatient…”
Tim put his hands on her arms, “hey, you’re spinning yourself up again.” He met her eyes, “take a shower, I know you were in the hot sun for hours and probably want to get rid of the sweat.”
Lucy sighed, “you’re right.”
“You good?”
“Yeah.” Lucy bent over and put the container under the sink before shutting the cabinet door.
Tim found his mother cooking and paused, “I have to run an errand, but I’ll be back in ten, twenty max.”
“Oh, is everything okay?”
“Yeah, Lucy need some things that can’t wait.” He said and saw his mother grow concerned, “feminine items.”
Joy nodded, “I can go for her.”
“No, that’s just embarrass her more and I already know what she needs and likes.” Tim stated and grabbed the keys off the counter. “Be back soon.”
“Okay. Well dinner is almost done so we’re just waiting on Genny and the kids.”
Lucy found herself leaving the bedroom after her shower to find Joy setting the table. “Can I help?”
“No, you’ve had a hard day.” Joy waved her off, “just relax.”
Sitting on the couch, Lucy looked over at her with her arms on the back of the couch. “When was the last time you saw the boys?”
“Not since before Genny’s divorce.” She set the cutlery out expertly, “have you met them?”
“I coached Tyler’s baseball team when Tim and I started dating.”
“You like sports?”
She shrugged, “I’m not one to yell at the TV during games but I do like to watch the games. I prefer baseball and soccer to football.”
Joy chuckled, “the more I find out about you, the more I’m surprised.”
“Yah.” Lucy looked down at her hands. “That’s me, a surprise.”
“Oh Lucy,” she rounded the couch and sat down, “that’s not,” she sighed, “that came out wrong. No, it’s a good surprise. I can see how much Tim loves you in how he looks and acts with you. I just meant that the more I learn, the more I see you complement each other.”
The sound of the front door made both look up and they found Genny coming in. “Hey, we’re here.” She looked behind her and then moved sideways so Tyler and Austin entered after her.
The boys paused and grinned at seeing the two women, however it wasn’t Joy they were grinning at. Austin all but ran over to them, “Aunt Lucy!”
“Aunt Lucy!” Tyler followed his brother and both hugged Lucy.
“Hey you two.” She put an arm around both of them and looked at them as they pulled back. “Have you been behaving for your mom?”
Tyler shrugged, “we try.”
“We really try.” Austin echoed.
“We missed you.” Tyler stated, “we only saw you after the fire. Where’d you go?”
Lucy looked between them, “Uncle Tim and I had a bit of a rough patch to get through so I wasn’t around. You could have called me though.”
“Mom said not to bother you.” Austin confessed, “we wanted to, especially when you missed Tyler’s birthday.”
“Yeah, sometimes being an adult is hard and I’m sorry it affected you.” She focused on Tyler, “I’m sorry I missed your birthday. Can you forgive me?”
He nodded, “can we go do something, to make up for it?”
“Absolutely.” Lucy rubbed his back, “just me and you.”
Austin hugged her again, “don’t go away again.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” She told the boy, “kind of hard when I live here now.”
Tyler grinned, “so we’ll see you more?”
“That’s a given.” She looked between them, “it also means my number one rule is back in effect. What is it?”
“Behave for Mom or you’ll take us on a tour of your station.” Austin stated, remembering it well. “Don’t worry, Uncle Tim pretty much told us that all the time. He followed your rule too.”
Lucy laughed softly, “and Uncle Tim runs it now, so that means it really stands.”
“Oh boy.” Austin looked at Tyler, “we’re doomed.”
Tyler put a hand on his brother’s shoulder, “we’re only doomed when a shop shows up.”
Looking at the boys, Lucy squeezed them around the waist. “You’re ignoring your grandmother. What’s Uncle Tim’s rule about guests?”
“Manners first.” Both boys said together.
“Then what do you need to do?”
Both boys turned to Joy, Austin hugging her. “Hi Grandma.”
“Hi Grandma.” Tyler hugged her also.
Lucy stood up and headed over to Genny, “hey you.” They shared a hug.
“They’ve really missed you.” Genny told her and looked around, “where’s my brother?”
“He had to run an errand and got stuck behind some traffic so he’ll be here shortly.” Lucy watched the boys talk with Joy, trying to outdo each other. “Boys, one at a time.”
Austin motioned to Tyler, “you first.”
Genny sighed, “thank god, it’ll be a village once again instead of me parenting solo. Tim’s great but he’s kind of a pushover.”
“I know.” Lucy said as she tapped Genny’s arm, “he’s the same way with his godchildren,” she paused and smiled, “our godchildren. I mean, they’re ours, right?”
“Oh definitely.” Genny agreed.
“I don’t know how often I’ve had to step in.”
“I’m sure he’ll be fine once you guys have one of your own.” She leaned in, “which will be?”
Lucy sighed and glanced over at Joy and the boys before turning to the redhead. Her voice lowered as she whispered, “he went out to get a test because I have a few symptoms and need to know. We had one scare last time we dated and now it’s either another or I’m pregnant.”
“Are you guys trying?”
“No.” Lucy said, “we’re not anywhere near kids yet. I mean, we just got back together and I moved in. It was after the undercover case, I got impatient after not seeing him for weeks. We’ve always been cautious, doubling up when possible since I can’t take pills. Undercover cases where we’re separated just create impatience when we’re back together. Last time was him and this time it was me.”
Genny motioned towards the boys, “I wasn’t trying with either of them, and Austin, he was conceived with birth control on board. Of course, knowing his personality, makes total sense.”
“You said that not me.”
“What are you going to do if you are pregnant?”
Lucy sighed, “have a baby. I mean, Tim would support any choice I wanted given it’s really soon to have a baby.” She motioned to herself, “I just can’t imagine any choice than to have the baby. I mean, it’s ours, half me and half him. It’s not like we haven’t imagined having kids.”
Genny winced, “so what outcome am I rooting for?”
“I don’t know at this point.” Lucy said and wringed her hands together. “We want kids but it’s too soon.”
“Then we’ll go with that.” She sat putting a hand on Lucy’s arm.
Joy looked at the two women, “what are you two gossiping about?”
“Tim.” They said at the same time and shared a look, laughing afterwards.
As if on cue, the front door opened and Tim came in the house. “I’m back.”
“We’re all here.” Genny stated.
“I’m so sorry, some idiot ran a red light and it created a scene.” Tim came from the entryway.
Lucy turned to him, “did you…” she stopped when he held up the bag in his hand. “Thank you.”
As she left the room, Tim looked at the boys who were talking to their grandmother. “You guys behaving or should we visit the station?”
“Aunt Lucy already interrogated us.” Tyler stated before going back to talking to his grandmother.
“They saw her and it was like no one else existed.” Genny told her brother.
Tim nodded, “I know the feeling.”
“Of course you do.” Genny rolled her eyes before turning to him, “hey, where is your head right now?”
That confused him and he turned to her, “what?”
She nodded her head towards the hallway, “Lucy told me its scare number two. Where’s your head?”
“Keeping calm because if I freak out when she’s already doing so, nothing gets solved.” Tim stated. “We’ll see what the test says and go from there.”
Genny nudged him, “go, I’ll distract Mom and the boys.”
“Thanks.”
Finding Lucy washing her hands and the test on the counter, he stood in the doorway. She turned to him and walked over, “I feel like a firefight is less stressful.”
Deciding to redirect her mind, he caught her hands and held them. “The boys must have had questions. What did you tell them?”
“That we had a rough patch that we had to work through…”
“Understatement of the century.”
She nodded, “yeah, but I made them aware that I’m not going anywhere. That I live here now and it’s permanent. Genny said you’re still a pushover with them, like you are with Jack and Emmy.”
“Hmm, call it wanting to give them the childhood I never got.”
“Tim.” Her held tilt and expression told him everything she had to say regarding that statement. “Babe, you can’t keep letting them get away with murder.”
Tim waved one hand despite still holding hers, “there is no way those boys could commit murder and get away with it. Austin would tell everyone in the world.”
Lucy laughed, “that’s true, but you know what I mean.”
“I know.” Tim let go of her hands and wrapped his arms around her, resting his lips against her temple. “Good think I have the best in the business.”
“The best, huh?” She asked pulling back a fraction. “Finally admitting I’m the best at something, did it hurt?”
Tim rolled his eyes, “give an inch, take a mile. That is so on brand for you, needing constant praise.”
“I remember the days when you giving me any sort of praise had me wondering if you had a concussion.” She tilted her head back, “do you remember my third month where I solved an entire case in the span of three hours and I had everyone saying I had a good eye? At the end of shift you said ‘good job’ and I asked if you needed to go to the hospital. I was actually concerned for you.”
“Okay, I admit I could have been nicer…”
“Nicer?” Lucy laughed, “nicer is bare minimum, you made my life a living hell some days.” Poking his chest, she continued. “Even after I saved your life on my second day, when you were making it your mission to wash me out.”
Tim nodded and his eyes and voice softened, “yeah, but look at us now.”
“I imagine if someone from this timeline jumped to that one, the you from back then would shoot them hearing about us.”
“Probably.”
Lucy grinned, “most definitely.” Running her hand over his heart, she leaned in. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” He kissed her forehead.
After a silent moment, Lucy pulled away and turned to the sink. “Moment of truth.” She walked over and picked up the test to read it.
“Luce?” He watched her just stare at the test. “Lucy?” He walked over to her and gently placed a hand on hers, tilting the test to read it.
PREGNANT 3+
Lucy turned to him, “I…”
“Hey.” Tim pulled her into his arms, “we’ll figure it out.”
“I’m sorry.” She said against his throat, “it’s my fault.”
Tim rubbed her back, “Lucy, we’ll figure this out. It’s not the end of the world.”
Pulling back, she continued to panic. “It’s too soon. The plans…I messed everything up.”
“Lucy.” He caught her arms, “hey, look at me.” She finally did, “if it’s too soon…”
She shook her head, “no, don’t…” Test still in hand, she leaned against the counter. “I’m not…not that.” Swallowing, brown eyes finally rose to his own. “I guess…” Lucy started and then paused, looking down at the test in hand. “I guess we’re having a baby. I’m not happy about it. May not be for a while, but it’s done.”
Tim watched her and finally spoke, “can I touch you?”
She nodded and looked up at him, “yeah.”
“Come here.” Tim pulled her into a hug and she held onto him. “We’ll figure it out.”
“I’m sorry.” She repeated. “Don’t hate me.”
Tim pulled back and used a finger to lift her chin so he could look straight in her eyes. “That’ll never happen, never in a million years. I can’t hate the person I love most and let’s be honest, this is my fault.”
“How is this your fault?”
“I should have called a timeout but I didn’t, even when this very scenario ran through the back of my mind for at least half a second.”
Nodding, she looked down at the test again. “So it’s a fifty-fifty split on responsibility?”
“Sure.”
Lucy pushed his arm, “I hate when you agree with me.”
“Only because you like arguing so much.” Tim leaned in and kissed her forehead. “Give it a few weeks and you’ll be drowning me in nursery ideas and paint samples.”
“Maybe.” Lucy looked at him, “can we keep this between us for now? I just need to absorb this, at least for a few days.”
Tim rubbed her arm, “technically it doesn’t have to be announced until twenty weeks when I pull you.”
“I forgot about that.”
“However, I know Genny is going to want to know.”
Lucy waved her hand, “no you can’t tell her, not yet. Her and Nolan are friends and if anyone will give it away, it’ll be him.”
“My sister and Nolan are friends?” Seeing Lucy’s expression, he sighed. “Of course they are.”
A knock on the bedroom door was followed up Joy speaking. “Tim? Lucy? Is everything okay?”
“Yeah Mom, we’ll be right out.” Tim called out.
Lucy opened the bathroom vanity drawer that she claimed and put the test inside. “Let’s get out there before the boys eat everything.”
“They will.” He agreed.
“The raw chicken made me sick.” Lucy told him, “it smelt horrible.”
Tim rubbed her back, “just eat what you can. I’ll get up a little earlier tomorrow to put together protein smoothies, since I know you can probably tolerate that.”
“Your mom is still staying with us…”
“I’ll send her to stay with Genny, tell her we need a few nights to breathe.”
Joining the remainder of the Bradford family at the table, Lucy found Genny looking at her expectantly. She only shrugged and Genny nodded before reaching out to smack away Austin’s hand from reaching out onto his plate with his hand. “Fork, you’re not a toddler.”
“Sorry.” He said and reached for his fork.
The sass earned him a rebuke from his uncle, “Austin, watch your tone.”
“Yes sir.” He stabbed his fork into the chicken on his plate.
“Aunt Lucy?” She looked over at Tyler, “any chance you could coach my team again this year?”
She picked up her fork as she asked a question. “I thought you guys were into e-sports and not baseball.”
“Only because Uncle Tim sucks as a coach and it was a free for all by the parents again.” He saw Tim looking at him, “what? It’s true.”
“We’ll see, season is still a bit off.” She agreed and ate the green beans that was on her fork.
Genny turned to her mother, “how much longer are you in town for?”
“Maybe another week but I was hoping to come stay with you for a few days.”
Tim looked up, “that’s a great idea. She can spend time with the boys afterschool, it would allow you to catch up on your grading.”
“Now.” Joy looked at Tim and Lucy, “I have two questions. When are you getting married and when am I getting another grandchild?”
Lucy started coughing and reached for her water. Tim looked at her and she put up four fingers so he redirected to his mother. “Whenever we decide, we’ll let you know.”
“I’d love a granddaughter. After two rowdy boys, a darling girl would be perfect.”
“I agree but right now isn’t the time to discuss that.” He insisted. “Lucy and I have always discussed kids but that decision isn’t going to be made today.”
Genny chuckled, “Mom, they’ll be married long before we know they’re engaged.”
“Be sure to help your brother pick out a ring before he gets to the idea of proposing.”
Tim looked between them but before he could speak, Lucy did. “There’s a ring in the safe already. I won’t touch the box, but I know it’s there.”
“How do you know that?”
Lucy turned her head to look at him, “because you left the receipt in your Metro uniform and I did laundry. That’s how I know it exists and besides, you’re practically an open book.”
Tim put up a hand, “hold on, you were just complaining about me communicating with you earlier today regarding a text thread.”
“No, you admitted to poor communication when I came to you about something. In fact, I told you it wasn’t a joke.”
“Didn’t we establish I actually was paying attention.” He said motioning to himself.
Austin put his head in his hand, “they’re at it again.”
“This is going to be a long dinner.” Tyler agreed.
Joy leaned towards Genny, “should we…”
“They’re fine.” Genny stated, “just watch and you’ll get a show. It’s actually entertaining.”
Lucy turned almost completely to him, “…coming from the man who thought communicating was throwing me at a guy twice my size on my first day.”
“Oh thank you for the reminder of something that happened five years ago.” He said, “I’m sure you’d like to criticize my tour guide skills while you’re at it.”
“Now that you mention it, you did lean a little heavy on the weaponry for the kids.” She said putting up a finger, “I swear the teacher looked halfway to concern about the mass array of weapons you said we have at any given time.”
Tim seemed to think it over, “what? The kid asked, I answered.”
“If you had let me give it…”
“You were needed in a shop dealing with Smitty’s latest lost shop.”
She pushed his arm, “you need to red page the man. He’s lost how many shops at this point?”
“I don’t know, I don’t keep track.”
“Oh, I didn’t know that. Thank you for letting me know that you didn’t know.” She held up two hands, “ten, ten shops in three years. There’s no wonder why Motors hates us.”
Tim put up a finger, “no they hate us due to Nolan, they have him on a dart board.”
“They have Smitty on a target.”
He paused, “really?”
She rolled her eyes, “you’d know if you had to speak to them repeatedly. The fact I know their names by now is indicative of how often I’m dealing with them.”
“I’ll be sure to go speak to them between the fifteen meetings I have a day.”
“Thank you so much, that’d take a lot off me.” It was sarcastically.
“Be watch commander and then come talk to me about a lot of duties.”
Lucy motioned to herself, “who covered for Grey when you two were sick, or you were in Metro? Because he couldn’t trust Smitty to do it. I’ve done the watch commander gig enough to know I prefer a shop. You can keep your paperwork.”
“Then don’t complain about late nights.”
“Okay.” Lucy spoke happily before eating a bite of food. “I won’t.”
Joy looked between them, “are you two, okay?”
“They love to argue.” Genny told her mother, “that and place bets, or so I’m told. Apparently, it’s a cornerstone of their relationship.”
Lucy pointed to Tim, “started with calling him out all the time when he was my training officer. Apparently, no one has dared to stand up to him before except for fellow friends and offers. I didn’t take his crap from day one, which let me tell you was a doozy.”
“She doesn’t need to hear it.”
She smirked, “only because you’d have the riot act read to you.” He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, thought so.”
“I may just join Mom.” Tim told Genny.
“Oh no, you made your bed so you lie in it.” Genny laughed.