Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Another case file coming your way, Luce!”

“Bradford, do you have the paperwork from the special ops?”

“Any chance I can run something by you?”

“There’s a call for you on line 3!”

To say that today was a busy day for the Los Angeles Police Department would be the understatement of the century.

Between Detective cases and Metro operations, Lucy and Tim Bradford haven’t had a second to breathe since they clocked in this morning. They, along with the rest of their coworkers, were running around like chickens without heads.

“Detective Bradford!” A voice calls out from across the station. “I just caught someone on a drug charge, and they say they have valuable information. Are you free for a quick interrogation?”

“I-” Lucy hesitates as Officer Jan stares down at her. “We have a backlog of cases and I just…”

“It’ll just be a second! If you need a minute, the suspect has nowhere to go,” the officer insists, and Lucy concedes.

“Alright, fine. I’ll be up there soon.” Officer Jan nods appreciatively and turns back around, leaving Lucy alone with hundreds of papers scattered around her tiny cubicle.

Just as she returns back to a level of focus, she feels a tap on her right shoulder. 

“Ah!” she jumps as she turns around, her pen flying across the room.

“Sorry! Didn’t mean to scare you,” Tim chuckles as he bends down to retrieve her stationary. “Busy day?”

“Busy doesn’t even begin to describe it,” she sighs as she scoops up a couple of case files and organizes them into a pile. “What’s up?”

“Well…” Tim begins.

“Oh no.”

“The girls' school called. The AC broke down, and I guess they can’t legally have kids in the building until it’s fixed,” he explains.

“Oh god. I can call Jenna and see if she can start early.” Lucy pulls out her phone and begins to dial her nanny.

“I already tried,” Tim takes a sharp breath. “Jenna has a family member in the hospital, she asked for the day off. And I tried Tamara as well, but she’s busy at work and I didn’t want to bother her.”

“Lord help me,” Lucy runs her fingers through her hair. “What are we going to do?”

“Can you swing a day off?” Tim asks, but Lucy’s glare at him is a simple answer.

“Oh baby,” Tim smiles. He grabs onto her chair and spins her around before placing his hands on her shoulders, giving her a quick massage to ease the tension.

“I can slip away for a few minutes, I’ll go pick up the girls. We’ll keep trying to find someone, but until then, we can watch them here at the station,” he suggests, and while it's not the most ideal plan, Lucy has no option but to agree with it.

_________

“Yay, no school!” Ivie, the youngest Bradford, celebrates as she skips into the station. The Bradfords do their best to keep their kids away from the station, but when the inevitable occurs, they try to make the best of it.

“This is not a playground, Ives, okay?” Tim sternly tells the tiny troublemaker. Ivie was a generally quiet kid, but when it came to the station, she loved to run around and hide until every officer was on the lookout for her.

“Don’t worry Daddy, I’ll watch her!” Andie, the eldest Bradford reassures. Like a true older sister, Andie had a knack for parenting her little sister. And sometimes, that made Lucy and Tim’s job easier, so they let her boss Ivie around.

“Glad to hear it,” Tim nods. 

Holding his daughters hands, he leads them through the bullpen towards Lucy’s desk. Andie spots her mother right away, but Ivie lays her hands on an equally busy Angela Lopez. 

“Auntie Angela!” the little one exclaims excitedly, jumping up into the detective’s lap.

“Ivie Angelina Bradford! What are you doing here, cutie?” Angela smiles, hoisting the 5 year-old up onto her comfortably. 

“The AC at the girls' school broke down,” Tim explains. “And we couldn’t get a sitter, so they’re stuck with us for the day.”

“What a shame!” Angela smiles as she gently tickles Ivie, who is erupting with laughter. Now that her children are older and on the whole “we don’t need you, mom!” stage, Angela soaks up every moment she can of the Bradford babies. 

“Alright Ives, let Auntie Angela do her work,” Tim huffs as he slides his hands under his daughters arms and lifts her up onto his hip. 

He brings her over to the rest of his family; Andie is comfortable in Lucy’s lab, quietly observing as her mother sifts through files.

“Care for one more?” Tim asks lightheartedly, pointing to his joyful little girl.

“Nah, I’m good with this one,” she winks as she runs her hands through Andie’s dark, curly pigtails. 

Tim bounces Ivie up and down, keeping her content as Lucy returns back to her work. But the calm-before-the-storm soon comes to an end when his Luteinet storms through the bullpen. 

“Bradford! Metro got called out, time to bounce!”

“Alright,” Tim sighs as he carefully sets his daughter down. “She’s all yours.”

“I’ll get her a chair,” Andie offers proudly.

“Thanks, baby,” Lucy tells her older daughter, who confidently marches to Nyla Harper's empty desk and drags over a small chair next to it.

Ivie settles into the plastic chair as Andie hops back onto her mother’s lap. The girls sit quietly, twiddling their thumbs and looking around for all of 5 minutes before they’re met with an interruption. 

“Shit!” Lucy mutters under her breath as Officer Jan approaches her desk. 

“Detective Bradford, I’m so sorry to bother you, but I’m not sure how much longer we can legally keep the suspect here. If you’re busy I’m happy to ask someone else; it’s just that- it’s your case, and I thought you’d want to keep it within,” he explains calmly. 

“I- I’m so sorry Officer Jan. I will follow you up there right now,” she tells him. He thanks her and heads back up to interrogation. 

“Girls, I-” she pauses, biting her lip. “Can you both be big girls for a few minutes while Mommy goes upstairs?”

“Nonsense,” Angela steps in. “I’ll watch them while you take the statement. I could use the short break anyway, go ahead.”

The older detective brushes her friend off as she rolls her seat up to her partner's desk.

“So girls… What’s been up with you?” Angela asks them, crossing her arms. 

“Our school’s broken,” Andie sighs sadly. A complete copy of Lucy, the 7-year-old loved going to school. In fact, she used to cry when her daily routine would shift due to long breaks or days off. It did not get more Type A than Andie West Bradford, that was for sure. 

“Auntie Angela,” Ivie begins to whine, “I’m boredddd!”

Angela scratches her head, trying to find a way to entertain two jittery little girls. “How about I tell you a story?”

“Yes!” Both girls exclaim in unison.

“But you have to promise not to tell Mom and Dad I told you this, okay?”

“Deal!”

__________________________________

11 years ago

“Drinks tonight?” Angela suggests as everyone stands in the bullpen, already in their plain clothes.

“Yes please,” Celina Juarez agrees immediately. “You take down four suspects, and they still make you stay OT for some paperwork!”

“Welcome to the LAPD,” Lucy chuckles, shooting the rookie a sympathetic look. 

“Drinks sounds like a fantastic idea,” Nolan adds.

“Chen, Bradford?” Nyla glares at the two. 

Lucy glances over at Tim; they quickly exchange glances before returning back to the conversation.

“I’ll come,” Lucy smiles.

“Me too,” Tim confirms with a terse nod, and the officers follow each other out and to the food trucks. 

“Soooo, Bradford…” Angela begins as she stirs her drink with the straw. “What did you do last night?”

Tim furrows his brow. “Nothing.”

“Nothing? That’s the best you could come up with?” she giggles, wiping her forehead.

“What are you talking about?” he scoffs, rolling his eyes.

“I’m saying that I’m pretty sure you were wearing those same jeans yesterday,” she points out.

“Wha- are you the jean police? It was laundry day, geez!” Tim quickly defends, absolutely gagged. 

“Mhm,” Angela hums, a wide grin painted across her mischievous grin. “I am a Detective, you know.”

“What are you implying?”

“What do you think I’m implying?”

Angela squints her eyes as she stares at Tim, though his walls fail to crumble. 

“Oh my god,” she rolls her eyes. “I saw the way you and Lucy looked at each other earlier!”

“I didn’t- we didn’t- there was no-” he sputters, though ineffectively. 

He looks over at Lucy, who is giggling through a conversation with Aaron a few feet away. Her brown locks cascade down her back, swishing back and forth as her body shakes with laughter. 

“You’re doing it right now!” Angela exclaims, pointing her finger at Tim in an accusatory manner.

“I’m not-” he begins, but she’s grown tired of his baseless claims.

“How long?”

“Excuse me?” He crosses his arms and leans back.

“How long have you and Lucy been going out?” she asks confidently, glaring at her best friend. 

“Just drop it, Ang,” he tries for the last time, but Angela Lopez is nothing if she’s not relentless. 

“Nope, you know I won’t.”

Tim takes a deep breath before leaning forward, making sure she can hear a whisper. “3 weeks.”

“I knew it!” she scoffs excitedly. Tim raises his eyebrows at her.

“Okay, sorry, got a little too excited,” she admits, taking a step back. “But I totally saw this coming.”

“I guess we aren’t as slick as we thought,” Tim shakes his head.

“I mean, I don’t blame you. It’s hard to hide love!”

“Okay, okay, we aren’t getting married tomorrow,” Tim assures his friend. “We’re taking it slow, seeing how things go before we blow up our work lives.”

“And how are things going?”

“They’re…” Tim takes a deep breath, “they’re going really well.”

It’s been years since Angela has seen Tim Bradford like this: less grumpy, loose, happy.

“I’m really happy for you,” she tells him sincerely, her expression softer than before.

“Thanks,” Tim flashes back a quick smile. “So… what gave us away?”

“Well, for starters, I’ve seen Lucy walk into the station wearing your clothes more times than I can count,” she laughs. 

“Damn,” Tim shakes his head. 

“Oh, and uh… you have a little something right…” the detective swipes her fingers right below her lip, “there.”

Tim brushes his skin and looks to find remnants of Lucy’s pink lipgloss now underneath his nail.

Shit. 

__________________________________

“Wait… I’m confused,” Andie scratches her temples as Angela finishes her story. “You didn’t know Mommy and Daddy loved each other?”

“Well,” Angela begins, “it’s complicated. They kept it a secret for a while, and didn’t tell everyone for a few weeks.”

“So they lied?” Ivie chimes in, shocked that her parents would do something so deceitful!

“They didn’t lie,” Angela assures the worried little girl. “Sometimes, it’s good to keep a secret.”

“So it’s good to lie?” Ivie asks.

“No, no!” Angela sputters, regretful that she decided to go with this story. “You’ll understand when you're an adult.”

“My brain hurts,” Andie sighs, swinging her legs back and forth underneath the plastic rolling chair.

Before Angela can dig herself deeper into a hole, Lucy rushes back to her desk.

“Thank you so much for watching them,” she huffs, out of breath.

“Anytime,” Angela waves her partner off.

“Mommy!” Ivie exclaims excitedly, jumping out of her seat. “Auntie Angela told us all about how you and Daddy used to lie!”

“Hey! We had a deal, squirt!” Angela bites, a hand on her hip as she glares down at little Ivie.

“Huh?” Lucy furrows her brow, turning her attention to the older detective. “What did you do?”

“You know, I actually have a lot of work to do,” Angela mutters, pointing to the files along her desk. “I’m just gonna… get back to that.”

Lucy playfully rolls her eyes as Angela returns to her mess of a desk, leaving Lucy alone with her gleeful children once again.

“Just ignore everything Auntie Angela tells you, okay?” she tells them, Angela snickering from a few feet away. 

“I heard that!”

Chapter Text

“What’s going on over here?” Celina Juarez calls out as she approaches Lucy’s cubicle. Celina, who is now a Training Officer, was constantly on her feet, away from the station. But she is in between rookies, so she’s been helping out wherever she can.

“The girls’ school closed for the day, so they’re stuck here,” Lucy explains for the millionth time in the last hour.

“Aw, I love when the Bradford girls pay a visit to the station!” Celina exclaims cheerily.

“We’re bored!” Ivie complains to Celina.

“Ives, I know this isn’t as fun as recess with your friends, but we don’t really have a choice today, I’m sorry,” Lucy tells her as she runs her hands through the little girl’s pigtails.

“Okay,” Ivie sighs sadly, kicking her feet in the tiny chair.

“You know, I’ve had a pretty boring day,” Celina pauses, “I can watch the girls for a little while.”

“Really?” Lucy’s face lights up. “That would be a huge help! I have so much to do, and they both have ants in their pants.”

“Yeah! I’m happy to!” 

Andie and Ivie jump out of their seats without hesitation and follow Officer Juarez across the bullpen.

“Celina, you train rookies, right?” Andie asks as she skips alongside the officer.

“Yes! During your first year as a police officer, you have to complete the Field Training Officer program, where a more-experienced officer trains you out on the street,” Celina explains carefully. “I am that more experienced officer.”

“That must be an exhausting job!”

“It is,” Celina chuckles, “but it is extremely rewarding to train the next generation of officers! They are all so bright and unique, I feel like I learn just as much from them as they do from me!”

“Did you always want this job?” Andie inquires. Celina isn’t the least bit surprised by all of these questions from the young girl. Andie has always been curious and thoughtful; she gave a lot of the LAPD a run for their money. The Lutienents constantly joked that she should take over interrogations.

“Actually, I wanted to be a detective, just like your mom! Everyone said I had the killer instincts for it. But… one day I filled in for a sick T.O. and realized that my gift could be used to teach other people!”

The girls, especially Ivie, barely understood a word of what Celina was saying, but they were just happy to be stimulated by something other than Lucy’s frequent shushing.  

Celina takes the girls to the breakroom, pulling out a pair of protein bars and sodas.  

“So, what’s it like working with Mommy and Daddy!?” Andie asks through a mouthful of chocolate.

“Well, your dad was very… scary at first, he had a very strict approach to teaching. But through the few times I rode with him, he taught me a lot about confidence. Lucy was very sweet from the beginning. She was my role model, and even my friend. In fact,” Celina leans in, “your mom and I were roommates for a while!”

“Wait… you lived with Mommy?” Ivie perks up.

“Yes! For a little less than a year!”

“I bet you have some funny stories about Mommy and Daddy,” the little girl squeals excitedly. 

“You know, I actually do,” Celina smiles.

__________________________________

“Hey, Cel,” Lucy calls out as she swings open the fridge, scanning the shelves for enticing leftovers.

“What’s up?” the younger officer yells back from the couch.

“What are your plans for tonight?” Lucy asks. “Ah!” she exclaims as her eyes land on some frozen pancakes shoved to the back of the first shelf.

“I didn’t really have any,” Celina shrugs. The lack of sick days for rookies were truly taking a number on the young woman.

“I have two tickets to a pop-up Van Gough exhibit. They have a beautiful holograph of Starry Night, and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me.”

“Uh… Sure!” Celina agrees, albeit hesitantly.

“Perfect! You want some pancakes?” Lucy winks from across the apartment.

“You know it!” 

* * * *

After a long 8 hour shift (or rather short; this was the earliest she’s been let off in weeks), Celina is eager to rush out of the station and enjoy some beautiful art with her roommate.

And just her luck, Lucy is waiting for her just as she exits the locker room.

“Hey, are you ready to get out of here?” Celina asks excitedly, a gorgeous floor length dress hugging her curves.

“Actually…” Lucy grits her teeth, “I think I sprained something during a foot pursuit today.”

“Oh no! I have pain killers,” Celina remarks as she shuffles through her backpack.

“I already took some, but thank you,” Lucy shakes her head. “I think I’m going to have to sit this one out. I’m so sorry!”

“I totally understand,” Celina nods. “Why don’t we just kick it back on the couch with a tub of ice cream and some trashy rom-coms?”

“No, no, I think you should still go! Why don’t you go with…” Lucy scans the bullpen quickly, “Aaron!”

Aaron whips around at the sound of his name. “Huh?”

“Are you free to accompany Juarez at an art exhibit tonight?” Lucy raises her brow.

“You know, that’s- that’s not really my scene,” Aaron scratches his head.

“A steak dinner is included,” Lucy tells him.

“I am in,” Aaron agrees immediately. “Let’s go, Celina.”

The rookie waves her roommate goodbye and wishes her to get well soon, leaving Lucy alone at the station.

Well, not completely alone.

“Juarez and Thoren take off?” Tim asks from a few paces behind.

“Just left,” Lucy sighs. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah, I’ll pull out a few minutes after you.”

“Okay, see you at home.”

* * * *

“Long day?” Lucy asks as she pulls two beers out of her fridge.

“Extremely,” Tim sighs. He scoots a few inches over, making room for his girlfriend.

“Well, that’s all over now. Tonight, it’s just me, you, the T.V., and some quality sexy time.”  Lucy slowly leans over and plants a kiss on Tim’s lips, taking her sweet time to draw him in. 

“Suddenly, I forgot all about my shift,” Tim huffs, his cheeks flushed pink.

“The exhibit closes at 11, so it’s safe to say that we’ve got some time to ourselves,” Lucy smirks.

“You know I- I’ve been thinking,” Tim begins, “I don’t see why we have to be so sneaky about this. I mean, I feel like I’m in high school again.”

“Really?” Lucy is more than shocked by Tim’s sudden want to go public. When they started seeing each other again, they did everything they could to keep it under wraps. Re-navigating the rekindling of their relationship was difficult enough; they didn’t need Smitty’s gossip blog weighing in on their relationship status.

“I’m not saying we need to send an email blast to the entire station,” Tim assures with a smile, “but we can at least tell Juarez, right?”

“Celina is extremely supportive,” Lucy agrees. “And it would be nice to have you over without making elaborate plans to get Celina out of her own home.”

“If you aren’t ready…” Tim trails off. After things began to settle down after the breakup, Tim left the ball in Lucy’s court. He waited until she was ready to move forward and begin their relationship once again.

“No, no, I am,” Lucy assures him. “I think it’s time.”

“Yeah,” Tim beams, his hand running down Lucy’s dark curls.

“But for tonight… We live in our own worlds for the last time. Just me, and you.”

“Me, and you,” Tim repeats as Lucy nuzzles into his chest as she fumbles with the T.V. remote.

* * * *

“Gabriel definitely deserved to go this week,” Lucy shakes her head as she switches off the T.V.

“Are you kidding? His pasta dish looked so good!” Tim counters. “And besides, Alex should have been eliminated solely based on the fact that he deviated from the rules!”

“Come on, Tim, do you really have to be such a stickler for rules? It’s not always about that,” Lucy shakes her head, though a smile peeks through her lips.

“It is when it’s a competition!”

“Alright, well, agree to disagree,” Lucy giggles.

Tim checks his watch as Lucy begins to tidy up the space, folding blankets and such.

“It’s 10:30. Should I head about before Juarez comes back?” 

“Well, you could… stay a little longer. I’m sure Celina will be a little late. I heard that it’s a beautiful exhibit.”

“Oh yeah? Well, maybe we can go on our next night off,” Tim proposes.

“That sounds like a great idea.”

“Well, since we have a little time, should we… watch something else?” Lucy asks.

“Let me guess, you want to plague me with another trashy rom-com?” Tim raises his eyebrows.

“Hey! They’re not trashy!” Lucy immediately defends. “They are supposed to make you feel good, like… like magic still exists, you know?”

“Okay, well, if you insist,” Tim rolls his eyes playfully.

* * * *

“Lucy was right, that steak was to die for,” Aaron remarks as he and Celina make their way through Celina’s apartment hallway.

“Seriously, it’s been a while since I’ve had a quality dinner,” the rookie agrees.

“Thanks for letting me use your restroom, by the way. My bladder would not make it to my complex.”

“Yeah, yeah, no problem,” Celina waves him off. “You’ll have to be quiet, though, Lucy wasn’t feeling well so she’s probably gone to bed by now.”

“Of course, I’ll be quiet as a mouse!”

“Mhm,” Celina hums as she slides her key into the door, turning it slowly to minimize the noise.

Her and Aaron tiptoe past the door, careful not to disrupt the equilibrium of the girls apartment.

“Oh, I guess Lucy forgot to turn the T.V. off,” Celina whispers as she sets her bag down on the kitchen island.

“I’ll turn it off,” Aaron quickly volunteers.

Celina thanks him with a nod as she swerves around the kitchen to fill herself a glass of water.

“Uhhh,” Aaron says, his voice no longer in a whisper. “Why is Tim asleep on your couch?”

“What?” Celina must have heard him wrong. Sergeant Bradford, asleep on her couch? The same Bradford that Lucy would constantly complain about, and was trying hard to get over?

Well, not hard enough, Celina chuckles to herself as she joins Aaron in the living room.

She finds both Lucy and Tim fast asleep with the T.V. playing behind them; Tim is resting on the arm of the sofa, while Lucy has cuddled into his side, her head resting on his chest.

“Well, this is a new one,” Celina mutters.

“You know, this actually makes a lot of sense,” Aaron remarks. “Tim hasn’t called me lazy in… 2 weeks.”

“Lucy has been going on a number of strange outings lately,” Celina recalls. “Just last week, she told me she was going to dinner with her college friends. When she came back, her hair was all frizzy and undone, and her lipstick was kind of smudged.”

“How did we not notice?” Aaron shakes his head.

“In my own apartment, too,” Celina sighs. “This might be my greatest failure yet.”

* * * *

Lucy’s eyes flutter open slowly as the first rays of sunshine peak through the colorful blinds covering her windows.

It takes her a moment to realize that it’s morning. 

“Shit,” she mumbles as she sits up.

“Shit shit shit,” she repeats as she gently pats Tim awake. “We fell asleep!”

“What?” Tim mumbles as he rubs his eyes.

“We fell asleep! It’s morning!” she tells him again, more urgently this time.

“That it is,” Celina calls out from the kitchen, scaring both Tim and Lucy.

Oh. 

“Celina!” Lucy yelps. “I- um… we just- this isn’t…”

“Hey, it’s none of my business,” she holds out a hand. “Though, I have to say, I did not expect to find Sergeant Bradford sleeping on my sofa.”

“Cel, I’m so sorry,” Lucy says sincerely as she makes her way to the kitchen.“I’m sorry I lied to you, and I’m sorry you had to see that.”

“Hey, no need to apologize. You are an adult, and this is your home. I am not your keeper.”

Wow, Lucy thought to herself. Celina was being awfully cool about this.

“Juarez, I-” Tim begins, but he’s truly speechless. He has never been in a situation even remotely similar to this one.

“Hey, just because I’m a rookie doesn’t mean I can't separate my work from my personal life. Trust me, I walked in on much worse than my roommate sleeping on the couch with a guy.”

“I appreciate that,” Tim nods.

“Celina, I promise I’ll tell you everything tonight,” Lucy affirms.

“Looking forward to it,” Celina flashes her a quick smile.

“Well, I should be heading into the station. I’ll see you tonight.”

“See you tonight!”

Celina swings open the door, but turns back just as she’s about to exit.

“I should tell you that Thorsen came up with me last night, and saw you guys.” Celina winks and leaves before Lucy and Tim can have a reaction.

“It’s so over for us,” Lucy groans. 

“So over.”

__________________________________

“You wanna know something funny, Celina?” Andie asks chipperly.

“Sure!”

“Mommy and Daddy still fall asleep on the couch with the T.V. on sometimes,” the little girl explains through giggles.

“I believe it,” Celina chuckles. “Lucy and Tim really haven’t changed, huh?”

“What’s that, Juarez?” Tim rushes in.

“Oh! Hi Tim!” Celina waves as Tim makes his way to the girls.

“Hope they weren’t too much trouble,” he tells her.

“Not at all, they were perfect.”

“Good to hear, because we’ve still got a few hours to go,” Tim says through a smile as he scoops up Ivie. “I’ll take them off your hands now, Grey’s calling you in his office.”

“Alright, see you,” Celina waves goodbye, leaving Tim alone in the breakroom.

“How much sugar have you had today?” Tim shakes his head as he peers down at the empty soda cans and chocolate bar wrappers.

“Not enough,” Andie shakes her head.

“Excuse me?”

“I hate to say it, Daddy, but your work is a drag,” Andie admits. “The only good part is that everyone has silly stories about you and Mommy.”

“Exactly what did Celina say to you?” he asks, though he’s positive that he doesn’t want to hear the answer.

“Nothing…” Andie giggles.

“You are all in so much trouble!”

Chapter Text

“So girls, how about we take a visit to the K-9 unit?” Tim suggests, and both of his daughters immediately squeal.

Ever since they were born, they have both been extremely attached to Kojo, and every single other dog they have ever seen in their lives. They’ve both been begging their parents for ages to get Kojo a friend, though they’ve been unsuccessful thus far.

Tim, who is in between calls, is doing everything he can to keep his daughters occupied while Lucy attempts to lessen the scary-large stack of papers on her desk. But, two elementary school girls were difficult to entertain, so it was time to pull out the big guns.

“Thanks for letting us in,” Tim shakes hands with the K-9 Lieutenant before guiding Ivie and Andie near the cages.

While they haven’t been to the station a large number of times, Andie and Ivie were well known around this specific unit. The girls, especially Ivie, have formed bonds with almost all of the dogs on duty.

“Hi Maxie!” the youngest Bradford exclaims as an older dog trails alongside her, sniffing her feet as she hops around.

“He seems to really like you, Ives,” Tim smiles as he watches Ivie bend down to the German Shepard height, allowing her to get practically mauled by him.

“Alright,” Tim chuckles as he reaches down and scoops Ivie up before Maxie pummels her to the ground.

“Awww, he was giving me love!” she counters, albeit through giggles.

“He’s double your size,” Tim tells her gently, but she’s having none of it.

“Come on, Daddy.”

“Is now a good time to ask for another dog?” Andie chimes in with a wide grin spread across her face.

“No ma’am.”

”Okay,” Andie sighs disappointedly. 

“You know, I have something cool to show you both,” Tim announces, pulling Andie out of her despair.

He leads them all around the unit, taking every possible twist and turn until they reach an isolated box in the corner of the garage.

“Now girls, you have to be really calm and quiet, okay?” their father instructs, and both girls nod in agreement. 

Tim bends to his knees and sets Ivie on the ground, allowing her and her sister to peer inside through the glass walls in front of them.

“Oh my gosh,” Andie whispers as she inches closer.

“She’s cute, isn’t she?” Tim rubs his hand up and down the eldests’ back.

“The cutest,” Ivie confirms with wide eyes.

 Staring back at them was the LAPD’s newest edition: a 6 week old female German Shepherd, waiting to be trained.

“We just got her in,” Lieutenant Rowley, the head of the K-9 unit, comes up behind the Bradfords.

“She’s. So. Precious.” Andie gleams.

“Yeah? Do you girls want to hold her?” Rowley offers, and both Ivie and Andie nod their heads excitedly.

“She’s still a puppy, so she isn’t trained yet,” the lieutenant explains as she fiddles with the metal gate. Just as Rowley opens the door a crack, the puppy comes running out, her mouth open and legs jumping.

“Hi cutie,” Andie says calmly as the puppy hops into her lap.

“She must be a handful, huh?” Tim asks as the girls roll and jump around with the puppy. 

“Oh yeah,” Rowley chuckles. “Everyone thinks K-9 is the most fun unit, but it has its troubles and tribulations.”

“As does every department,” Tim agrees. “Thanks for letting the girls play around here.”

“No problem at all. We rarely get to see children here for a good reason.”

“Damn straight.”

Tim observes as Andie tries to test the same commands they use at home with Kojo, though the puppy doesn’t seem to follow any of her words or finger movements. Ivie goes on to lightly push her sister aside and try for herself, but she too gets nowhere.

“You know, girls, our little police-puppy-to-be doesn’t have a name yet,” Rowley announces. “How would you like to name her?”

“Really?” Andie and Ivie ask in unison, their eyes wide.

“Sure! I’m running out of names myself.”

Just as the girls turn to each other for a brainstorming session, Tim’s radio begins to crackle. “Sergeant Bradford, Metro’s been called out.”

Crap.

“Alright girls, time to go,” he tells them as he quickly grabs onto their arms.

“Think over the name, and come back here before you girls head home, okay? Rowley tells them as she waves goodbye.

Tim rushes around the station, trying to find someone that is available, and he trusts, to watch the girls while he’s out on the street. Bothering Lucy doesn’t even cross his mind; she’ll struggle to pawn the girls off, just as he’s doing right now.

 “Uhhhh…” Tim pauses as she peers around the bullpen. He then spots Nyla, who is storming past with a pile of files stacked in her arms. She’s reading an open file; so intently, Tim might add, that she fails to observe her surroundings and runs into a table.

“You good, Harper?” Tim asks, dragging the girls alongside him.

“Yeah I'm-” she remarks, but sas he looks up at him, and the girls , she knows what Tim is about to ask of her. “Nope, not doing it.”

“Come on,” Tim begs. “They won’t give you any struggles.”

“I don’t get paid to babysit,” the detective tells him sternly.

“Think of it more as… working with some entertainment!” At this, Nyla raises her eyebrows in disbelief. 

Just as Tim is about to pull out his next round of pleading, he called over the radio once again.

“Gotta, go, thanks Nyla!” he grins. He bends down quickly, and tells his daughters to ‘be good for Auntie Nyla.’

Nyla opens her mouth, but Tim runs out before she can say anything. And as a mother to two darling girls, she doesn’t have the heart to leave Andie and Ivie without a trustworthy person watching them.

“We’ll just sit quietly,” Andie assures Harper. Without another word, she grabs two chairs and pulls them into Nyla’s cubicle. Her and Ivie hop into them and pull out an iPad.

“You know,” Nyla says as she puts her hands on the power button of the device, “I could use a break. What have you girls been up to today?”

“We just played with the puppies in the K-9 unit!” Ivie tells the detective excitedly.

“Oh yeah? Well, I’ve got a funny story about your parents and dogs,” Nyla chuckles.

__________________________________

10 years earlier

“Bradford, my office,” Grey calls out across the bullpen one morning. “Both of you.”

“Uhhh…” Lucy mutters. “Are we in trouble?”

“I don’t know,” Tim sighs as he and his wife make their way towards Lieutenant Grey’s office.

“Good morning, sir,” Lucy begins. She isn’t sure if she’s done something wrong, but she’ll do anything that she can to offset potential anger.

“Morning,” he gruffs. Before he continues, he pulls out two copies of a case file and hands them over to the couple.

“The night shift had a break in a drug case last night, and I’m assigning you to the case.”

“Okay,” Tim nods as she flips through the pages.

“This um- this says that dogs were caught hauling around fentanyl?” Lucy asks in disbelief, her brows furrowed as she tries to make sense of the words in front of her.

“Yeah, I- honestly don’t know what to say,” Grey shakes his head.

“So, where do we fall into all of this?” Tim inquiries. 

“Our gang of drug dealers are especially fond of their canines. The detectives on the case think that the only way to catch them under all of the charges we need is to UC this,” the Lieutenant explains. 

“And you want Lucy to go undercover?”

“No, I want you both to go undercover. I hear you’re especially good with training dogs, Sergeant Bradford,” Grey points out.

“Excuse me?” Tim hasn’t gone UC since… well, since he and Lucy went undercover as Jake and Sava. “I feel like there are better people for the job.”

“Maybe, but I want you guys to do it. Are you in?” 

Tim and Lucy agree, as if they were really given a choice. It seemed like a simple op: stay at a decoy house on the west side of the city for a couple of weeks, take care of a few pups and introduce themselves to the neighbors. Of course, it took some work to transform themselves into junkies, but they were armed and well-equipped. 

“The only reason I’m here is because we’re getting paid a time and a half,” Tim huffs as he takes a look around the small, rundown townhome they were posted up in.

“Hey, this’ll be fun!” Lucy counters, using her usual optimism to brighten up the mellow environment surrounding them. She takes a few steps closer to Tim and runs her hand down his sleeved arm. “Plus, it’ll be just us here… no station, no roommates…”

“That is a compelling argument,” Tim smirks, his hand raising up into Lucy’s hair.

Tim leans in, but just before their lips touch, a vicious series of barks rings from the other room.

“I guess we can’t escape jealous dogs, huh?” Tim chuckles.

“Nope.”

Lucy and Tim were paired up with two extremely intelligent canines: Daisy, a 3-year old golden retriever with a gentle touch, and Maple, a 7 year old shepard from the precinct.

Daisy and Maple were generally calm and collected canines, but together, they really knew how to make a scene.

“This might actually be the dumbest job I've ever taken on as a police officer.” Tim rolls his eyes as he follows his wife to the next room.

“It’s… odd, but it’ll be a huge bust for us!” Lucy tells him.

“The things we do for the LAPD,” the officer shakes his head.

“To serve and to protect,” she giggles as she bends down to the pups’ eye levels.

“Hi, girl,” she says gently as she scratches Daisy’s fur. While she’s able to calm Daisy down, Maple quickly gets jealous and begins to nip at Tim’s feet.

“Hey!” he yelps, his left foot shooting up into his air. He rolls his eyes and joins Lucy on the ground. “Yeah, you’re a feisty boy, huh?”

“This is really making me appreciate Kojo’s calm nature,” Lucy sighs.

“Damn straight. That’s because I trained him,” Tim reminds her. “It’s gonna be a long week.”

* * * *

Before they know it, Lucy and Tim become friendly with the neighbors and infiltrate themselves into the drug trade. Thanks to Lucy’s UC background, she’s able to use her experience and make herself a needed asset to the higher-ups.

Tim doesn’t like it, but Lucy agrees to join them in order to speed along the process of this assignment. She loved going UC, but it starts to lose its shine after a while. Her and Tim can only do so much in a dingy 1 bedroom apartment, surrounded by two intelligent canines who just won’t leave them alone. 

“I know that you want to get out of here, but I think you’re jumping into this too quickly,” Tim tells her as she’s getting ready.

“I know what I’m doing,” she remarks. She furrows her brow as she attempts to twist a hair tie through her ponytail one more time.

“I know you do, but if things don’t go well tonight…” Once they got married, and Lucy got promoted to detective, her UC days began to dwindle. She would still take on short-term ops from time to time, but she struggled to stay at home. Tim, of course, had no objections. And he has no doubt in Lucy’s abilities, but as her husband, it was his job to worry about.

“Honey, I know you’re worried, but i’ve got this!” she assures him. 

“Just make sure that your product-”

“Tim!” she exclaims, albeit with a smile on her face. “I know that I will face disciplinary action if my product hits the streets, comes in contact with civilians, or if I make an arrest and exert force without probable cause. I promise, I can do this.”

“You can do this,” Tim repeats.

“Thank you,” Lucy smiles. “By tonight, we will be back in our own bed, with our own dog in our own clothes.”

“I cannot wait,” Tim shakes his head.

Their time together had been… well, boring to say the least. Their only job was to walk the dogs and socialize with neighbors. Compared to hours fighting on the streets, everything had felt lackluster. To make matters worse, the house they were placed in was practically falling apart. The shower water would only run hot for seconds at a time, and the electricity went out three times in the past week.

“Alright, babe, time to go kick some drug dealer ass,” Lucy winks as the grabs her keys. “Come on Daisy and Maple, time to go!”

Tim still has barely wrapped his mind around the idea of this gang: they used their dogs to transport street level drugs. It wasn’t eminently dangerous, but if the LAPD didn’t shut things down now, while they had an in, the cocaine and ketamine would turn to fentanyl, and the excited kids reaching down to pet a neighbor's dog would die right there. 

But to tell the truth, Tim was a sucker for seeing Lucy in her element. Ever since they got married, Lucy had decreased the amount of undercover missions. Trying to build a family on a months-long mission was difficult to say the least, and Lucy was happy to step away.

But now that she was placed undercover with Tim, she didn’t have to spend her time worrying about him, or missing him. 

“Stay safe, babe. Call me if you need me,” Tim calls out as Lucy shuffles out the door.

“I will!” The detective exclaims back before shutting the door.

*  *  * * 

“Hey Daisy, Maple, are you guys ready for this?” Lucy exhales, the dogs happily trotting next to her. They both bark happily.

 “You know, this is one of the most fun undercover operations I’ve ever been on,” the young detective tells them. Even though they can’t speak back, part of Lucy believes that they completely understand what she’s saying. “I’ll admit, I was a little hesitant about this mission; it was weird, to say the least. But getting to do this… with Tim, well, it’s a dream come true. The last time we went undercover it was scary and confusing and…”

Lucy looks down at Daisy and Maple, whose heads are both turned in the opposite direction, not paying attention to a thing Lucy is saying.

“Oh-Kay,” she huffs, an embarrassed smile painted on her face. 

Less than 10 minutes later, Lucy, along with Daisy and Maple, reach the house of Kayan Hero, the head of the operation.

She takes a deep breath before knocking on the door, praying that Daisy and Maple are as trained as Nyla and Angela had promised they were. 

“Nova, come in,” Kayan says coldly as he swings the door open. Lucy and her canines follow as he quickly shuts the door.

”So… how is this going to work?” she asks, swaying from side to side. Her tone is filled with indifference, as if this was an everyday occurrence for her.

“We keep things simple around here. The master bedroom has been turned into a fully functioning kitchen, off the books, of course. I’ll give you 5 hours to prove that you aren’t a complete waste of time.”

Damn.

Lucy has dealt with her fair share of these type of people, but the harshness was always a tough pill to swallow at first.

“Alright,” Lucy nods. Without another word, Kayan takes her to the kitchen and takes the dogs while she cooks.

She’s a little rusty, but being undercover was like riding a bike for her. After a few minutes, she remembered her way around the chemicals and cooked like it was her day job.

It may have sounded wrong to an average citizen but she really was having fun. So much so, that once she was finished, sadness filled her stomach. She has no idea when the next chance to go to undercover will surface, and it’s all about to be over in the next few minutes.

“It’s a perfect mix,” Kayan confirms after testing her product.

“I told you,” Lucy shakes her head. 

“Well, Nova,” the leader clicks his tongue. “You take your dogs, get this distributed, and you’ve got yourself a job!”

“I’m on it.”

*  *  * * 

“Daisy, Maple, you’ve been so good!” Lucy exclaims cheerily as she struts down the sidewalk. Tim is waiting for her a few blocks down, ready to intercept the deal Lucy was about to conduct.

It was bittersweet: seeing that Tim and her were posed as husband and wife, there was no way this catch could go down without covers being blown. Thus, after almost 5 years, this was a goodbye to the Nova identity. 

Nova was fresh, spunky, always down for a challenge. She was one of Lucy’s most favorite identities, and she was sad to say goodbye. Nova had run her course, and this was Lucy’s ideal way to end it.

“You know, I’ve had a really fun week with you guys. I’ll miss ya cuties!”

Maple barks at Lucy with a hop.

“You’re gonna miss me to-” Lucy begins, but her voice is cut off by the tug of the leash.

“Daisy!” she yelps as she’s dragged along the pavement, the golden retriever using all of her strength to run.

It takes a few seconds for Lucy to realize that the canine is running towards another small dog who is jumping up and down while barking.

And by Lucy’s luck, Maple joins in and catches up to Daisy; Lucy was now being hauled across the street by two very large and strong dogs.

While running, she manages to pull out her phone and hit her emergency contact.

“Lucy? What’s wrong?” Tim asks immediately.

“Daisy just went crazy, and Maple is following her. I’m trying to keep up, but they’ve got drugs attached to their collar! There are kids around.”

“I’m coming,” Tim huffs, and he’s on his feet immediately.

Tim runs the two blocks in about 30 seconds to find Lucy sitting on the ground, wiping the back of her hand across her forehead.

“Baby, are you okay?” he asks worriedly, reaching out a hand to help her up.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she grunts, shaking her head. 

“Where are the dogs?”

Lucy begrudgingly points to her left, where Daisy and Maple are rolling in the grass with the other small dog.

“I- wha- um-” Tim stumbles. “I thought they were well-trained!”

“I thought so too!”

“Is that cocaine sprawled out on the ground?” Tim squints.

“Nope. Baby power,” Lucy winks. She reaches into her pocket and pulls out 3 perfectly sealed bags. “I give you permission to call me smart now!”

“Smart is an understatement,” Tim chuckles. “So… if the deal didn’t go through, does that mean we aren’t done here?”

“Oh hell no,” Lucy says firmly. “We’re getting the dogs, finishing this deal, and then getting the hell out of here. And then we’re going to the hospital, because I”m pretty sure I bruised something.”

“Lucy!”

“Don’t freak out, please. Just get the dogs.”

“Yes ma’am,” Tim salutes her with a smile.

*  *  * * 

“What a way to say goodbye to Nova,” Nyla chuckles.

“She was fun while she lasted,” Lucy shrugs her shoulders. “Even if a couple of dogs landed her in the hospital.”

“Kojo is an angel compared to those two,” Tim grunts. He turns to Nyla, “way to supply us with well trained dogs.”

“Hey, I was told they were experienced. They’re animals, this happens!”

“Alright, alright,” Lucy jumps in. “Everything turned out fine. We got the guys, and my bruised bones will heal. No need to fight.”

“I guess I can forgive you,” Tim tells Nyla jokingly.

“You better!”

__________________________________

“Mommy has talked to us about her undercover work a little, but she’s never told us that story!” Andie tells Nyla.

“Well, it’s probably because she’s embarrassed about getting bested by a couple of dogs,” the detective chuckles.

“Explains why they haven’t gotten another dog,” Ivie sighs.

Andie is about to agree, but a lightbulb goes off in her mind. “Ives, do you think Nova is a good name for the puppy?”

Ivie taps her tiny finger against her temple a couple times, as if she is thinking. “Hmmmm… I like it!”

“Yay!!”

Ivie and Andie chuckle in excitement over the new name, so loud that they don’t hear their father walk up behind them.

“Have you guys been good for Aunt Nyla?” he asks with raised brows.

“They’ve been perfect,” Nyla assures her friend. “But… I have to get back to work, so they’re all yours.”

“Of course, thanks again Harper.”

“No problem!”

Nyla promptly returns to her desk and dives back into her work as Tim grabs his daughter’s hands.

“So girls, have you given any thought to naming Lieutenant Rowley’s new puppy?” he asks as they make their way back to the K-9 unit.

“Actually, we picked a name!” Andie says excitedly. She gives her younger sister a subtle nod.

“Nova!” Ivie announces with a hop!

Tim’s movements stop immediately. “Where did you get that name?”

“Well… Aunt Nyla was telling us about the time that you and Mommy went undercover and-”

“Just- stop talking.” Tim takes a deep breath. “And never tell this to your mother, or Aunt Nyla will never be invited over for dinner again.”

Chapter Text

It’s only 2 p.m., and there are still 6 hours left in both Lucy and Tim’s shifts. They haven’t been able to find a babysitter, and Ivie and Andie are getting more restless by the minute.

“Daddy, I wanna go home,” Ivie whines, kicking her feet furiously. 

“I know, baby,” Tim bends down and places his hands underneath the little girl's arms, scooping her up and attaching her to his hip. “I know that today has been a long day for everyone, but I promise that we’ll get you out of here soon, okay?”

“Okay,” Ivie sighs sadly. She collapses her head onto her father’s shoulder as he rubs his hand up and down her back.

“Can I go sit with Mommy?” Andie says quietly.

“You know what, I think that’s a great idea!” Lucy had a way with the girls; she knew exactly how to calm them down during tantrums, and put them to bed after nightmares.

He can tell that Ivie and Andie need a change of scenery, so he happily leads through the bullpen to Lucy’s desk.

“Hi, my babies,” she smiles immediately as her daughters run up to her. “What have you all been up to?”

“Well, Celina and Auntie Nyla watched us while Daddy went to work,” the older girl explains. 

“And we named a new puppy!” Ivie squeals.

“That’s so great,” Lucy exclaims. She then turns to her husband, “they’ve been good?”

“Yeah, no complaints. Yet.”

“Thank god, because there is no way I can get off early tonight,” she sighs, motioning to the fresh cases in front of her.

“Yeah, me too. North Hollywood just asked for assistance from Metro.”

“Really? Must be serious if they didn’t just as for patrol,” Lucy furrows her brow.

“Yeah, some special ops things, I haven’t gotten a chance to look at the details yet.”

“Go ahead, I’ll watch the girls,” the detective insists.

“Are you sure,” Tim crosses his arms. 

“Yes, yes, all I’ve been doing is paperwork. I’ve got them, go!” Lucy assures him. “Be safe out there, love you!”

“I will, love you too!” 

Lucy watches Tim jog across the station until he’s out of sight; she takes a sharp breath before turning to her daughters. 

“So girls, how are you enjoying your day off?” she asks them cheerily. 

“I kind of miss school,” Andie admits, though it’s to no one's surprise. Andie loves school, just as Lucy did when she was younger. 

“I don’t,” Ivie giggles. “I wish I could come here everyday!”

“Honey, you would get bored being here every day. Trust me, you should enjoy kindergarten while you have the chance,” Lucy pats her youngest daughter's shoulder.

“But school doesn't have puppies!”

“Ivie, we literally have a dog at home,” Andie rolls her eyes at her younger sister.

“We should get another puppy!” Ivie blurts out excitedly. “I think that Kojo gets sad when we all go to school and work. He could use a friend.”

“You’re right, Kojo can get lonely because we aren’t home all day. But, because we aren’t home, there is no one to watch another dog. Puppies are a lot of work: they need training and constant attention. Maybe when you girls are older, we can talk about adding another Bradford puppy to the mix,” the detective explains kindly.

“Okay,” Ivie sighs sadly; she’s heard this speech about a hundred times, but it never got easier.

“Tell you what, how about we take a little snack break?” Lucy suggests, and both girls jump out of their seats without hesitation. 

Lucy grabs onto the girls hands and carefully leads them towards the breakroom.

“Lucy?” a voice calls out from behind. The mother turns around to find Tamara Collins waving from a few paces away.

“Tamara! What are you doing here?”

“I’m here on a case,” the young social worker explains. Once Tamara graduated college, she had chosen a career in social work, with hopes to give kids like her a better life than she had. This brought her to the station quite a bit often, meaning her and Lucy still had a close relationship. And even though Tamara wasn’t a frequent babysitter for the Bradfords, she joined them for dinner quite often, and the girls adored her.

“And what brings you to the station,” Tamara asks the girls playfully.

“Air conditioning broke, and our babysitter couldn’t start early,” Lucy explains. “In fact, she just called in sick for the day, so that’s great?”

“Oh yeah, that must have been why Tim called me, sorry I missed it.”

“No, no, don't worry. We’ve been taking turns pawning them off to everyone here at the station,” Lucy chuckles dryly. “Anyway… how is everything with you?

“It’s definitely busy, but good!” Tamara tells her friend. “You know, I’ll be sitting around here for a little bit, waiting for some records and interviews before I can get going. I’m happy to entertain the girls while I wait!”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, of course!” Tamara assures Lucy. “Come on Andie and Ivie, let’s have some fun, like old times!”

The girls cheer as Lucy lets go of their hands, immediately running over to their old babysitter.

“Bye girls, be good!” she reminds them, shaking her head as she skips alongside Tamara.

*  *  *

“Tamara, when are you going to come over for dinner?” Andie asks as she attempts to tear open a bag of potato chips. She furrows her brows as she tugs, and tugs, and tugs but she can’t seem to pull the bags apart.

“Here, let me,” Tamara insights, gently taking the snack from Ivie. Within a matter of seconds she opens the bag and hands it back to Andie.

“Thank you!”

“Of course,” Tamara smiles. “And… I’ll talk to your parents, but I would love to come over anytime.”

“What about Jake? Will you bring him, too?”

Jake was Tamara’s fiance, they had been dating since before Andie was born and had been engaged for almost 2 years. She brought him over to the Bradfords every once and a while, and the girls got a huge kick from an attractive, young guy at the dinner table.

“You know, um, it might just be me this time,” the young woman laughs.

“Why?” Ivie pouts. She loved Jake, and not just because he brought her a new toy every time he came over. Jake was patient and happily went along with all of Ivie’s antics, including her princess Tea Parties.

“To be honest, Jake is a little scared of your dad,” Tamara explains.

“Afraid of Daddy?” Ivie asks in disbelief. “Why?”

“Well…”

__________________________________

“Luce, you’ve changed the place settings around twenty times,” Tim chuckles. “They looked just fine the first nineteen times.” 

“Everything has to look perfect,” Lucy told her husband sternly. “Tamara has never brought a boy over.”

“Oh, come one, it’s nothing to stress over,” he says gently. He reaches over and swiftly places his hand on top of hers just as she’s about to readjust a fork on the dining table.

“If he’s truly a good guy, the angle of the cutlery isn’t going to matter to him,” Tim reminds her.

“Yeah, you’re right,” she sighs. “I just want today to go well.”

“I know,” Tim wraps his arm around her back, holding her shoulder tightly. 

“I don’t know how you’re not freaking out.”

“Oh, I ran a background check on the guy,” Tim admits casually. 

“What?”

“Did you really think I was going to let a stranger in my house, let alone around Tamara?”

“You can’t run background checks on everyone you interact with!” Lucy exclaims critically. She was slightly appalled, but not very surprised, to be honest. He would never admit it, but Tim was fairly protective of Tamara.

“If it makes you feel better, he came up clean,” Tim claims with a shrug.

“Actually…” Lucy bites her lip, “it actually does. I was kinda nervous… she didn’t always run with the best crowd.”

“He’s an intern at a local accounting firm, no criminal background, seems like nothing to worry about.”

“Good,” Lucy lets out a deep sigh of relief. 

Ding!

“I’ll get it!” Lucy yelps, hopping as she runs towards the door. She looks though the peephole to confirm, and slowly swings the door open.

“Tamara!” she exclaims, pulling her friend into a quick hug.

“Hey, Lucy!” Tamara smiles, turning to the boy standing next to her. “This is Jake.”

“Detective Chen, so nice to finally meet you,” the young boy says, clearly nervous.

“Please, call me Lucy,” she assures him kindly. “Come on in.”

Lucy slowly leads the pair through her and Tim’s home into the dining room while Tim is finishing off the dinner.

“Babe, Tamara and Jake are here,” she calls out, and Tim quickly bustles in with a pan of Baked Ziti in his hands.

“Hey, Tim,” Tamara says cheerily as he sets the pan onto the table.

“Hey,” he flashes her a quick smile. 

“Hi, sir, it’s nice to meet you,” Jake introduces himself shakily. His hand jitters, as if he was about to hold it out, but ultimately decided not to. 

Tim merely nods with pursed lips. 

“Thank you both so much for having me,” Jake blurts out in an attempt to diffuse the tension.

“Tamara speaks very highly of you, we couldn’t wait to meet you,” Lucy smiles. “Right, Tim?”

“Mhm,” he grumbles as Lucy nudges his shoulder.

“What?” he mumbles through a whisper as she shoots him a disapproving glance. 

Lucy turns to the young couple, “we’re going to grab the drinks from the kitchen, please make yourselves comfortable.”

She grabs her husband by the hand and drags him to the kitchen with an unhappy look on her face.

“Tim…” she sighs, shaking her head. “I thought we agreed to leave #GrumpyCop in the past.”

“You will never let me live that down, will you?” he complains.

“Not if you keep acting like it!”

“Come on, I have to make sure this guy is really worth Tamara’s time,” he argues.

“I thought you said he seemed like a good kid?”

“A background check will only tell you surface level stuff. How do we know that he’s actually right for her?”

“Well, that’s not your decision to make, is it?” Lucy reminds him.

“No,” he concedes, “but-”

“But what?” Lucy interrupts harshly. “Tamara is a grown woman. She’s about to graduate college, and she has a great job lined up. She’s given us no reason not to trust her judgement.”

“You’re right,” Tim agrees, albeit bitterly. 

“I always am,” the detective chuckles. “Now, we’re going to go back out there and put a smile on our faces. We’re going to be nice to Jake, and we’re not going to scare him away. Got it?’

“Yes ma’am,” Tim salutes playfully, and Lucy rolls her eyes.

“Come on, tough guy,” she jokes, handing him a couple of glasses of water before they rejoin the young couple. 

“So Jake,” Lucy begins, “Tamara tells me that you intern for the accounting firm a couple of streets over.”

“Yeah! I worked there last summer, and they extended my position after I graduated. I’m expecting a full-time salaried position in the next couple of months,” he explains proudly.

“Wow, that’s amazing! Sounds like you have your priorities straight,” she praises before taking a bite of the pasta. 

“I love my job,” Jake tells her. “I’ve always had a thing for numbers, and while a lot of people find finance boring, I find the ups and downs of the business really exhilarating.”

“I totally get it!” Lucy exclaims excitedly. “So many people think that our job is to just hand out speeding tickets, but it’s so much more than that.”

“Tamara has told me so many stories about the two of you. Seems like you guys make killer cops.”

“Are you saying that cops are killers?” Tim asks, leaning forward.

“No- no sir,” Jake stumbles. “I meant ‘killer’ as in… ‘amazing!’”

“Tim!” Lucy yelps quickly, kicking her foot gently under the table.

“It’s just the young kids slang,” Tamaea chuckles dryly. Lucy watches as she slips her arm under the table and grabs onto her boyfriends, squeezing some support into him. She had warned him about Tim, but not enough.

“So Jake, what do you hope to achieve in your career?”Lucy asks, trying to reinstate the light-hearted energy she had crafted once before.

“My goal is to become a CPA,” he tells her.

“Oh, that’s a great job.”

“Yeah, Jake works super hard. He stays past his shifts to help out, and the managers love to have him around,” Tamara boasts with a grin.

“So you’re a workaholic?” Tim chimes in once again.

“No, just doing my part to stand out,” Jake explains. No matter what he says, he feels as if Tim will always find something wrong with his answer.

“Mhm,” Tim gruffs.

“You know…” Jake suddenly blurts out, “this has been great, thank you so much for having me. But I don't feel well, so I think that I’m just… going to head home.”

Before anyone can argue, Jake neatly places the utensils back in their respective positions and slides his chair out.

“Wait-” Tamara quickly runs after him, but not before shooting Tim a death glare.

“Timothy Bradford,” Lucy yells, her hands balled up into fists. “What is the matter with you?”

“That kid is clearly not right for Tamara,” the Sergeant scoffs.

“And why is that?”

“People like him will always put their job over their relationship. He’s clearly so focused on himself and he’ll never give Tamara the attention she needs and deserves!” he explains.

“How could you even say that?” Lucy’s face turns red. “You spoke to him for all of 2 minutes before you drove him out the door!”

“Look,” Tim takes a deep breath. “If he couldn’t handle a couple of snide remarks from me, then-”

Lucy cuts him off immediately. “Absolutely not. You are not going to ruin this with some stupid Tim test.”

“Luce-”

“No. You are going to go back out there and apologize profusely,” Lucy instructs angrily. “Now!” she adds.

Tim, albeit begrudgingly, rolls his eyes and stomps out of the kitchen.

“Jake, Tamara,” he calls out just as the pair is about to walk out the front door.

“What?” Tamara huffs.

“I- I came to apologize. I shouldn’t have been so harsh, I’m sorry,” he says softly. 

“And…” 

“And, I would really appreciate it if you both would stay and finish dinner. Start over.”

Tamara looks over at Jake, who gently nods at her.

“We’d love to stay,” Jake says, and Tim leads them back to the dinner table.

“Tim gets a little protective at times,” Tamara explains with a chuckle.

“I’m not protective,” he argues with a high pitched tone.

“Alright, if that helps you sleep at night…”

The rest of the night goes rather smoothly, no yelling or crude comments come out of anybody’s mouths, and both couples are able to enjoy their meals.

But even though everyone parted with a smile on their faces, Jake was conveniently “sick” the next time he was invited to the Bradford house. 

__________________________________

“So the lesson learned,” Tamara tells the girls as she wraps up her story, “wait as long as humanly possible to bring your future boyfriends home.”

“This explains why Archer won’t come over for a playdate,” Andie huffs.

“And why I’m not allowed to go to Austin’s house!” Ivie adds on.

“No, that’s because his dad is in jail,” Andie explains, shaking her head.

“Jail?” Ivie gawks.

“Alright, alright, that’s enough of that,” Tamara giggles. She feels her phone buzz, and pulls it out of her back pocket.

“My case file is ready! Let’s get you back to your mom.” She grabs both girls' hands and takes them back to Lucy’s desk. “Your delivery is here!”

“Aw, thanks so much for taking them off my hands,” Lucy says appreciatively.

“No problem,” the young woman smiles. “Oh, uh- and I’ve been meaning to tell you, Jake wants to have you all over to the apartment before we leave for Mexico.”

“Oh, to be young and adventurous again,” Lucy chuckles. “Text me a date and time, we’ll be there.”

“Are you sure you want Daddy there?” Andie chimes in.

“Of course, why wouldn’t she?” Lucy asks with furrowed brows.

“Well, Tamara told us about how-” the little girl begins, but Tamara interrupts her before she can finish.

“Gotta go, see ya, Lucy!” she calls out before running off.

“I don’t even want to know what she said to you,” Lucy sighs.