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Chapter Text

Tim Bradford was a single dad to a one and a half year old, Mia. His fiancee and Mia’s mom walked out on them when Mia was only two months old and she never looked back.

He was a Sergeant at Mid Wilshire and his work family because some of the only real family he had. His sister, and her two sons Tyler and Troy had just recently moved back to LA. He enjoyed getting to reunite with his sister after so many years and meet his nephews.

•••

Today was a Saturday and on Saturdays the Bradford five had a tradition of going out to breakfast. They would always try to find a new place to try every week. Today they were headed to Bluebird’s Cafe. It wasn’t a new place in town by any means, but somehow they had just never been there.

Walking in, they were immediately greeted by a young man.

“Good morning, how many?”

“Five, we’ll need a highchair too please,” Tim looks down at Mia who is just content in his arms.

“Right this way,” the young man walks them a few feet to their table before turning to Tim, “I’ll be right back with her highchair.”

Genny and Troy slide into the booth on the opposite side of Tim, where he lets Tyler sit first so he can be on the end next to Mia. It only takes a few minutes after the highchair was brought for their server to come over.

“Good morning, welcome to Bluebird’s Cafe. I’m Lucy and I’ll be your server this morning. Can I get any drinks started while you look at the menu?”

Tim is looking down at Mia helping her drink some water while Lucy is talking, but suddenly looks up at and is immediately struck by her beauty.

“I’ll have chocolate milk!” The five year old, Troy shouts.

“Chocolate milk too, please.” Tyler says more calmly.

“I’ll just do a water. Tim, what do you want?” He hears Genny call his name, snapping him out of the trance he was in.

“Oh uhm I’ll have coffee, please,” he says still looking at Lucy.

“I’ll get those right over,” she smiles before walking away.

“You were a little distracted there, brother,” Genny teases.

“Was not,” he shakes his head.

“Mhm sure,” she smirks before thankfully, changing the subject. “Boys, do you know what you want to eat?”

“I want pancakes with whipped cream and sprinkles,” Troy looks up from his placemat that he’s been coloring.

“That much sugar in the morning?” Tim looks at his sister.

“He hasn’t been eating much of anything lately, claims he doesn’t like everything I try to give him. So, I’ve given up. Whatever gets him to eat,” she sighs.

“Ty, what about you? What are you going to eat?”

“Can I do French toast with bacon?”

“That sounds good, in fact I might do the same,” Genny gives a smile to her oldest. “Tim, you get time to look at the menu?” He’s been trying to keep Mia distracted.

“Yeah, I’m gonna do a ham and cheese omelette. I can share it with her.”

“I know you’ll probably roll your eyes, but you really are such a good dad. You’re making the best of your situation and Mia is so lucky to have you.”

“Thank you, Gen. You know better than anyone it isn’t always easy but it sure is worth it.” Tim looks down at Mia and kisses her forehead.

Lucy came walking back to their table with all of their drinks. After taking a few minutes to order, she let them know it shouldn’t be long and walked away with a smile. Tim couldn’t help but watch her walk away.

“You’re staring,” Genny says with a smirk.

“Am not,” he turns his focus back to his family.

“What does staring mean?” Troy looks up at his mom with a confused look.

“Just means that uncle Tim couldn’t take his eyes off of something,” Tim rolls his eyes. “Or rather, someone,” she says more quietly before laughing to herself.

About 20 minutes later, Lucy came walking over with their meals in hand. She was only able to carry two of their meals so she quickly ran back to get the others.

Once she made it back out and everyone had their food, she looked at them with a smile, “Okay, do you need anything else?”

“I think we’re—“ Genny starts to say before Tim interrupts her.

“Would I be able to get a glass of water? For.. for uhm the baby?”

“Of course, I’ll be right back,” she walks away with a smile and slight blush in her cheeks.

Their food was delicious, even Troy enjoyed every last bite on his plate. Mia seemed to love the omelette, eating more food than Tim had ever seen her eat before.

After their plates were cleared, Lucy came back over to the table.

“Can I get you guys anything else?” She gives them all a smile but seems to pay extra attention to Tim.

“No, thank you. That was amazing,” Genny compliments.

“This little one right here loved it,” Tim knows he’s probably blushing now too. 

“Love to hear it. You’re a cute one,” she says looking down at Mia with a smile which earned her a giggle from the little girl. She can’t help but catch a glimpse of Tim, too.

“Alright uhm I’ll go get your check and I’ll be right back,” Lucy giggles as she takes some of their empty plates with her.

Tim ignores Genny who is sitting there with another smirk on his face.

“You almost ready to go, baby girl?” He tickles Mia, getting her to giggle again.

“Mom, can we hang out with uncle Tim all day?” Troy asks, begging his mom.

“Not today, buddy. Remember you have Carson’s birthday party later.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right!” He says excited.

“Plus, Mia and I have a long day of cleaning the house. Don’t we baby?” He looks down at his daughter who is distracted by one of Troy’s crayons that had ended up in front of her.

“Here’s your check, you can pay up at the register up front. Thank you for stopping in and I hope to see you again soon,” she smiles at the group, but spends a little bit more time looking at Tim.

“Thank you, we’ll be back,” Genny says snapping them both out of whatever was going on.

“Oh we’ll definitely be back,” Tim says just loud enough that Lucy can hear.

Lucy walks away blushing, again. The four soon stand up before Tim picks Mia up and they all walk to the front of the restaurant.

Tim insists on paying, Genny promising to get next week’s tab even though Tim would never let her. As he’s waiting for the receipt to sign, he sees Lucy out of the corner of his eye. She gives him a big smile before disappearing into the kitchen.

Tim finishes, puts his card back into his wallet and grabs Mia from Genny before they all walk out the door. They say their goodbyes, Tim buckles Mia in before hopping into the drivers seat and driving away.

He knows without a doubt, they’ll be back. The food was great, but the beautiful woman was even better.

Chapter Text

After Tim got home that day, he put Mia down for a nap and immediately started cleaning the house. He couldn’t stop thinking about Lucy and the next time he’d get to see her.

Since Mia’s mom left, he hasn’t really had any interest in going on any dates. His friends tried to set him up a few times but he always ended up bailing using Mia as an excuse.

He was scared. He was scared to let someone in their little bubble. Being a single dad definitely had its rough patches but it being a dad was always a dream of his.

They’re right when they say it takes a village. He brings Mia to daycare two days a week while he’s working and the other three days she goes over to his Watch Commander’s house and Luna watches her. The two of them quickly became Mia’s grandparents after she was born. Neither of his parents are in his life, and it’s definitely for the better.

Genny also helps out when she can along with his best friend, Angela. She has two kids and Mia always has a blast when she goes over there.

Tim was almost done cleaning the house when he stumbled onto a family picture taken just weeks after Mia was born.

•••

Flashback

Mia was crying. Tim and Isabel had gotten into yet another argument. Tim found out she had turned back to drugs only a few days after Mia was born. She had been hiding it from him for two months. Somehow, she was able to keep herself sober throughout the pregnancy, or that’s at least what she told Tim.

“So, what? You’re just going to choose drugs over taking care of your baby?” Tim yells.

“I’m sorry, Tim.”

“If you were actually sorry like you keep claiming, you would’ve tried to get clean. I really thought bringing a child into this world would be what gave you the motivation but I guess I was wrong.”

“I don’t know what you want me to say!”

“I want you to make a decision. Your family or the drugs.”

She doesn’t have to say anything, Tim knows. He absolutely hates that this is how it is, but he’s tried to get her help more times than he can count.

“I have to go check on our daughter,” he shouts as he walks away from her.

Mia was supposed to be taking a nap but obviously heard what was going on. Tim immediately picked her up and started rocking her.

“It’s okay baby. Daddy’s got you.” He kisses her forehead as she starts to calm down.

He stands there for a few more minutes just holding her while he silently cries. Eventually, he hears the door slam and knows she left.

As much as he wants to help Isabel, she isn’t the main priority in his life anymore. Regardless of what happens, he knows he needs to be the best dad for Mia. And he knows he can be.

•••

Before he can continue to go down memory lane, he hears a cry coming from Mia’s room. He quickly wipes his tears away before tucking the photo back away and walking to go get his baby girl.

Walking into the bedroom, he walks over to turn her sound machine off before walking over to her crib.

“Hi baby, did you sleep good?” He reaches down to pick her out of the crib. He tickles her and she giggles.

“I still need to do a bit more housework, but you can be my little helper,” he carries her out to the living room.

Tim had set Mia down on the carpet in the living room giving her some toys to play with. He had to finish cleaning the kitchen which he had total view of her as he was doing so.

She’s been working on standing the last few weeks and even can push herself up using the couch.

He’s doing the dishes when he looks up and notices she’s standing a few steps away from the couch, a bit wobbly but still standing.

“Baby, did you take your first steps without me?” He walks over to her, stopping a few feet short.

“Can you walk to daddy?”

She thinks about it for a few seconds before taking a small step. She loses her balance and falls onto the ground. Of course, he’s is there to pick her up.

“I’m so proud of you baby!” He kisses her, her only response is a giggle.

He loves that he’s the one that gets to be there for all of her big milestones.

•••

Later that night, after he finally gets Mia fed, bathed and in bed, he sits down on the couch with a beer to watch some basketball.

All day he’s been thinking about Lucy. Would it be weird if him and Mia showed up at the cafe again tomorrow? He really wants to see her again soon.

Deciding to do something he’s never done before, he takes out his phone and goes to Facebook. He knows there’s probably a million Lucy’s but maybe he’ll get lucky and find her.

Somehow, luck must’ve been on his side because he only had to scroll a little bit before he found her.

Deciding to shoot his shot, he hit the little ‘message’ tab her profile.

“Hey Lucy, this Tim from the cafe…”

He didn’t like that, so he erased it and started over.

“Hey Lucy. We met at the cafe earlier today, just wanted to thank you again for your amazing service 🙂”

He hits send before he can overthink it and puts his phone away. He finishes watching the game that’s on and heads to bed when it’s over.

As he’s lying in bed, he wonders why in the heck he’d send her a message like that. Thanking her for her service? Has it really been that long since he’s dated that he’s forgotten how to flirt?

He groans before turning over and finally letting sleep take over.

Chapter Text

Lucy couldn’t seem to wipe the smile off of her face after that family, more specifically that man came into the cafe she works in today.

She tried to not think about him too much though because he was with another woman and three kids. She will admit though, the woman was gorgeous and the kids were cute.

She hasn’t gone on a date in years and honestly has kind of forgotten how to flirt. The last date she had gone on, she ended up getting kidnapped and buried alive. She really thought she was going to be single forever.

“Earth to Lucy, what has you so distracted?” Her coworker and best friend, Tamara asks.

“Oh it’s nothing, just tired,” she lies.

“You are a lying liar who lies! This isn’t over!” She shakes his head as she walks away.

Tamara was someone who came into her life when she needed it most. Even though the girl was quite a few years younger, she had easily become Lucy’s best friend. She’s been there through the few bad breakups and then of course when she ended getting drugged and kidnapped.

•••

After a very long shift, Lucy finally made her way home. Living on a servers salary, she was only able to afford a studio apartment but it was good enough for her.

She settled in on her couch for a long night of reality tv.

She was dozing off on the couch when there was a knock at her door. She wasn’t expecting anyone. She stood up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes before making her way over to the door.

She opened it to see her best friend grinning on the other side.

“Hey T, what are you doing here?”

“Well, I wanted to hear all about this man who had you so smiley before at work.” She walks inside and closes the door behind her.

“There was no guy,” Lucy doesn’t know why she’s lying to her.

“Bull! You don’t ever smile like that.”

“So, what? You’re telling me I can’t be happy?”

“That’s not what I said. I just said I’ve never seen you that happy.”

Lucy just rolls her eyes before plopping herself back on the couch. Tamara follows.

“So, spill.”

Knowing Tamara wasn’t going to let up, she couldn’t resist the smile that formed on her face.

“Okay, this cute guy came in to the restaurant this morning. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. But—“

“But what?” Tamara cuts her off.

“He was there with another woman and three kids,” Lucy sighs.

“Oh… well maybe it wasn’t what it looked like. Maybe they were just friends or something.”

“Yeah… maybe.”

“You wanna watch some trashy tv and forget about boys?” Tamara suggests, trying to lighten the mood.

“Sounds perfect to me.”

Lucy doesn’t even bother to check her phone all night, in fact she has it in her bedroom charging. It isn’t until Tamara leaves late and Lucy is getting into bed she finally picks it up.

She goes on tik tok for a bit, scrolling through and watching the newest dance trends and a few occasional recipes she thinks she may try.

Finally, she opens up Facebook and sees she has a message request. Her curiosity got the best of her and she went to open it.

She couldn’t wipe the smile off of her face when she realized who it was from. But then, she couldn’t stop laughing reading his message. Was this man trying to flirt with her?

She obviously didn’t want to just leave him on read, but wasn’t exactly sure what to say.

Deciding to just risk it, she typed the first thing that came to her mind.

“Hi Tim, the pleasure was all mine. Hope to see you soon 💕”

She knew she could potentially be playing with fire including the heart, but she sent it anyways.

Turning her phone off and placing it on her bedside table, she flipped the light off and quickly let sleep take over.

•••

The next morning, Lucy had an early morning at the cafe. She couldn’t stop thinking about Tim and wanting to see him again.

“What has you so smiley this morning?” Jackson nudges her.

“Nothing. Can’t a girl just be happy?”

“Well of course, but you normally aren’t,” Jackson shoots back.

“Don’t listen to her. She met a guy yesterday,” Tamara walks by them with a smirk on her face.

Lucy just shakes her head and gets back to work. It’s fairly busy in the cafe so far this morning and it has Lucy running all over the place. 

Her newest table, she walks up with a smile, like she always does. She’s just about to say hello and welcome them when she looks up and suddenly forgets how to speak.

“Hi Lucy.” Tim smiles at her.

“Oh… hi.” She says with a blush.

“Mia liked it so much yesterday she practically begged me to come back,” he jokes getting a little laugh out of Lucy.

“Well, I’m glad Mia enjoyed it. Where’s your wife and other two kids?” She decides to take a risk.

“Oh haha, that is was my sister and her two sons.” 

“Oh,” Lucy laughs trying to disguise the relief she just suddenly felt.

“Yeah, it’s just the two of us. Isn’t that right baby?” He tickles Mia, getting her to giggle.

Lucy’s pretty sure her heart is beating out of her chest right now. How can she have such strong feelings for a guy she just met yesterday?

“So… what would you guys like to drink?” She suddenly remembers she has a job to do.

“I’ll do coffee, and if I could please get some water for her.”

“Of course, I’ll be right back.” Lucy smiles at him once more before turning away to get their drinks.

Standing at the front of the restaurant are Jackson and Tamara snickering to themselves. Lucy just walks by with an eye roll. But maybe they were right. Maybe there was something there.

Chapter Text

Tim lingered after his meal longer than he probably should have, but it didn’t seem to bother Lucy. She kept walking by giving him a smile as she was helping her other tables.

She eventually stopped to bring him his check when Tim decided to take a chance.

“Hey Lucy, this might be far out but do you want to get dinner sometime?” He looks up at her with a hopeful smile.

“Oh, is this Mia’s idea too?” She jokes.

“Totally,” Tim chuckles. “But actually… I was thinking just the two of us.”

“Oh… like a date?”

“Like a date.” He confirms.

“A date with you sounds nice,” she blushes.

“Great. Uhm here.. put your number into my phone.” He takes his phone out of his pocket, unlocks it and hands it to her.

“Oh so you don’t want to flirt with me over Facebook messages anymore?” She jokes.

“Oh… yeah that wasn’t my best move but I was desperate.”

“I thought it was cute,” now he’s blushing too.

“Lucy, can you help this table over here?” An older woman stops a few feet short of her snapping them both out of their own little bubble they had seemed to create.

“Yeah, I’ll be right there. I gotta go but let me know about our date,” she walks away with a smile. One that’s become almost permanent whenever she’s around him.

Tim couldn’t seem to wipe the smile off of his face either. He hasn’t been on a date in so long and now he’s going on one with a woman he just met?

“You ready to go home Mia?” He looks down at his daughter. She just gives him a smile.

•••

That night, after Tim got Mia tucked into bed, he sat down on the couch and pulled out his phone. He hadn’t had a chance to text Lucy yet, but he was about to take care of that.

Tim: Hey Lucy, wondering if Friday at 7 works? I’ve got the perfect place in mind.

It only took a few minutes for her to answer, immediately bringing a smile to his face.

Lucy: Friday @ 7 works for me! Oh, you do now? 😉

Tim: I’m known to have a few tricks up my sleeve every now and then

Lucy: So… where?

Tim laughs before he can respond, of course she’s trying to figure it out.

Tim: That’s for me to know and you to find out 😏

Lucy: Ugh okay. I guess I’ll just be surprised then. But can you at least give me an idea so I know what to wear?

Tim: Semi formal to formal. But I’m sure you’d look amazing in anything.

Lucy: Smooth…

Tim: Only speak facts. I gotta get to bed, before I know it, a little girl will be full of energy and ready for the day. Good night, Lucy. See you Friday.

Lucy: Really looking forward to it! Good night, Tim.

Both Tim and Lucy go to sleep with a smile on their face. Friday couldn’t come soon enough.

•••

“Wait, so let me get this straight. You’re asking me to watch Mia so you can go on a date?” Genny asks him from the other side of the kitchen.

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m asking.” Tim opens up the fridge to take out the hotdogs he’s going to grill.

“Anyone I know?”

“Nope,” he walks away from her before she can ask anymore questions. Obviously she met Lucy too but she doesn’t need to know that’s who his date is with.

“Can you at least tell me when? Since you know, I’ll need to be available to watch a cute little girl.” She walks outside to meet him while he’s getting the grill started.

“Friday at 7.”

“I’m proud of you Tim. I know everything with Isabel was so hard,” Tim just shakes his head.

“No, we’re not going there. Not tonight.”

He looks over at Mia who is playing with Tyler and Troy. He can’t believe that he’s actually a dad to such a perfect, happy little girl.

“Uncle Tim, can you play catch with me?” Tyler asks him.

“Sure bud, but after dinner.”

Genny is sitting at the table near the grill, she went to pick up Mia while Tim cooks. Troy is sitting next to them playing peek-a-boo with her, getting her to laugh.

“Oh Gen, I forgot to tell you. Mia took her first steps last night.”

“Oh my gosh. Is that true big girl?” She looks down and gives her little head a kiss.

“I missed the first couple but caught her taking one. When I looked over, she was a bit aways from the couch. She can only stand up using the couch to help push her up, so I know she had to have walked.”

“So proud of you, Mia!” Troy says as he goes back to playing with her.

“Alright boys, go wash your hands. Dinners ready.”

Both Tyler and Troy walk into the house ahead of them and walk into the bathroom.

They come back out and the five are sitting around the dinner table talking about their day. Tyler telling Tim how he went to play catch with a friend today, Troy telling him all about the birthday party he attended yesterday.

He knew it was too soon, but Tim couldn’t help but imagine Lucy sitting at this table too right next to him. She’d fit right in.

Chapter Text

The week dragged on for both Tim and Lucy. They had texted almost everyday and they couldn’t wait for their date.

It was finally Thursday and Tim’s work day was anything but quiet. First he was called to assist with a domestic. The woman had kicked her husband out the day prior and he came back ready to fight. He was standing in the front yard screaming at her.

“Sir, we’re going to need you to back up right now. Drop the bat and leave your hands where he can see them.” Tim yells grabbing his gun as him and Aaron get out of the car.

“No! Not until she lets me in my house!”

“Sir, I understand you’re frustrated but I promise you, she’s not going to let you into the house when you’re acting like that.”

“She doesn’t have a choice. It’s my house!”

“No it’s not. You don’t even have a job. I pay all of the bills. I didn’t even put your name on any of the documents.” The woman shouts back, standing close to the door of the house.

“Is that true sir?” Tim asks, looking at Aaron.

“Maybe, but I still live here.”

“Okay I have an idea. Ma’am go collect his things and we’ll wait out here with him.”

“I don’t want her touching my stuff!”

“Sir, that’s your only option right now. That or you can walk away without your belongings.”

Tim carefully moves towards the man and he immediately turns around and hits Tim on the head with the baseball bat in his hands. Aaron is quick to tackle and cuff him.

The woman comes out of the house once she knows the man can’t touch her.

“Oh my gosh sir, you’re bleeding.” She walks up to Tim.

“That looks pretty nasty,” Aaron is already calling requesting for backup to take the suspect back to the station and for an RA to check Tim out.

“You got hit pretty hard there, Sarge. You alright?”

“Yeah, I’m good. Thanks,” he says after Aaron hands him something to apply pressure to the cut until the paramedics can get there.

It only took a few minutes for them to show up and Tim was glad because he was tired of holding his arm up.

“Alright Tim, let me see.” Bailey says as she walks over to him.

“Oooh that’s a nasty cut. It’s pretty deep,” Tim just sighs knowing what’s coming.

“I don’t feel comfortable just putting butterfly stitches on it so I’m afraid you need to go to the hospital.”

Tim doesn’t even reply, he just gets in the back of the ambulance. He knew there was no sense in arguing. Bailey would just get Grey involved and it would be a bigger mess than it needed to be.

“How’s Mia doing Tim?” Bailey asks trying to keep him distracted.

“She’s good. Took her first steps the other day,” he couldn’t help but smile.

“Aww! She’s getting so big!”

“I know. Before I know it, she’ll be driving a car.” Tim laughs.

“Oh shoot— I need to ask Genny to grab her from daycare.” Tim remembers. He’s not looking forward to that call, knowing Genny will ask a million and one questions. He decides to text rather than call.

Tim: Hey, I ran into a bit of a situation at work and I’m going to the hospital to get stitched up. I’ll answer your questions later but would you pick Mia up from daycare?

Genny: Oh my gosh, I hope you’re okay. But of course I will. What time do I need to get her by?

Tim: 5:30 at the latest. I’ll call and let them know it’ll be you but you’re on her paperwork so should be no issue. Thanks.

Genny: Of course. I’ll bring her and the boys back to your house. We’ll hang out there until you get home.

Tim: You’re the best. Thanks.

“Alright Tim, we’re here.” Bailey says to him as she opens the door for him to hop out.

After Tim steps out of the ambulance, he’s immediately guided down a hallway.

“Apologies Sergeant. We don’t currently have any rooms available. There was a pretty big pileup and we just got flooded with patients.”

“How bad?” He groans as he sits down in the chair close by the nurses station.

“So after I believe we have 8 patients. 2 critical.”

Tim just shakes his head and looks up at the nurse.

“I know I’m not top priority but just wondering if you know how long I’ll be in here for? My sister is watching my daughter and I want to keep her updated.”

“Hopefully it won’t be too long, Sergeant. We always try to get you guys in and out as quick as possible.” She smiles at him.

“Thank you,” Tim sighs, expecting to be here for a while.

•••

Tim had been here now two hours and still no sign of the doctor. He’s played a few games, watched some baseball highlights and now he was bored.

He debated texting Lucy, just to see how she was doing. But he didn’t want to bother her.

She must be a mind reader, because a few seconds after Tim set his phone down in his lap, he got a notification. He couldn’t help but immediately smile when he opened it and saw who it was.

Lucy: Can’t wait for our date tomorrow. I bought a new dress and everything 🤭

He was imagining what Lucy looks like in a dress and how beautiful she is. He already thinks she’s drop dead beautiful and he’s only seen her in a T-shirt and jeans. Not that he’s complaining one bit, though.

Tim: Ohhh really? So what, you’re going to leave it to my imagination what you look like in said dress?

Lucy: You aren’t getting lucky… yet.

Tim: I’ll keep that in mind 😉

Lucy: Good night Tim, see you tomorrow 🥰

Tim: Good night Lucy. Really looking forward to it!

•••

3 hours later, Tim was finally walking out of the hospital. He had to get 4 stitches in his head and also has a concussion, which is no surprise.

Thankfully by the time he got home, Mia was already fast asleep. Genny woke the boys up who had fallen asleep on the couch and they left for home.

Before Tim closed his eyes, he checked his phone for the last time and saw Lucy had sent him a picture. 

Lucy: I guess I’ll give you one sneak peek 😉

All he could see in the picture was a green dress with what appeared to be short sleeves. He couldn’t wait to see her in it.

Tomorrow night couldn’t come soon enough…

Chapter Text

Thankfully Friday went by pretty quickly for both Tim and Lucy. Tim rushed out of the station so he could go pick up Mia and get home and change before dropping her off at Genny’s.

Since he knew Lucy was wearing green, he decided on just a simple black button up shirt and black pants. While he was getting ready, Mia was eating a little sandwich.

Tim was getting his shirt on when he heard the doorbell ring. Confused as he wasn’t expecting anyone, he checked the doorbell footage and saw it was Genny and his two nephews. 

Walking over to the door, he opened it and Troy came running in, almost knocking into him.

“Hey sorry, we were on our way home and Troy said he just couldn’t wait. He drank a whole big slushy after school.”

“No problem, I was just leaving in a few to drop Mia off to you. I’m almost ready.”

“You look good! I guess you’re really trying to impress this girl, huh?”

“You saying I don’t always look good?”

“That’s not what I said and you know it,” she hits his shoulder. “But I guess since I’m here, why don’t I just take Mia? It’ll save you some time.”

“Yeah, that would be great. Thanks.”

Troy came running back out of the bathroom up to Tim.

“Uncle Tim, mom said you have a date tonight. Is she pretty?”

“She’s very pretty,” he tries to hide his smile as he can’t help but think about her.

“When can we meet her?” Tyler shoots out from the couch.

“I’m not sure bud. This is only our first date.” Tyler just nods before turning back to the game on his phone.

“I’d definitely like to meet the woman who has my brother so smitten.”

“Well, assuming all goes well who knows,” Tim shrugs as he walks back over to Mia.

“Daddy’s gotta go baby. But you’re going to have a fun night with your aunt and cousins. Be good, okay?” He ruffles her hair before giving her a kiss.

Tim rushes out the door and hops in his truck. The restaurant is only about 30 minutes away but he made sure to give himself plenty of time with LA traffic. He’s just pulling onto the highway when his phone starts ringing. He takes a quick glance and sees it’s Lucy.

“Hey, you on your way?” He asks when he answers.

“Yeah, I’m almost there.” He immediately knows she’s lying.

“No, no you’re not,” he says with a laugh.

“You’re right. Um I actually ran into a bit of a problem,” his heart sinks.

“What happened? Are you okay?”

“Physically I’m okay but my car isn’t. I can’t get it to start.”

“Oh… ok. Well, I could pick you up?”

“Normally I wouldn’t give guys my address but considering you’re a police officer, I think you’re safe.”

Tim chuckles, he can hear Lucy too. “You want to send me your address quick? Shouldn’t take long to get there.”

“Yeah, I’ll send it to you right now. Thank you, Tim.”

“Of course. I’ve spent too long waiting for this date, I’m not letting a dead car stop me from taking you out.”

“Aww. Okay, I’ll let you go. Drive safe, I’ll see you soon.”

“Yes you will. Bye.” He hangs up the call and grabs her address putting it into the maps. Fortunately he’s going in the right direction and is only about seven minutes away.

When he pulls up to her apartment building, she’s already standing outside. He can’t help but smile, and she sees him too because she’s smiling herself.

He puts his truck in park before getting out and walking to meet her near the passenger side.

“You look really beautiful,” he says with a smile.

“Thank you, you don’t look too bad yourself,” she returned with a blush.

“You ready to go?” She nods and he opens the door for her.

Once they’re both in the truck and driving, the nerves finally hit them both. Tim is staring ahead as he drives and Lucy is looking down fidgeting with her hands.

“Thanks for coming to pick me up.” She finally says.

“Of course. Anything to finally get to go out with you,”

Once they finally got to the restaurant and Tim put the truck in park, Lucy put her hand on the door about to open it when he stopped her.

“Let me,” he says before jumping out and running to her side.

“Such a gentleman.” She smiles as he grabs her hand to help her down.

Even if it only lasted for a few seconds, Tim couldn’t help but notice how perfectly Lucy’s hand fit in his.

They walk into the restaurant and up to the hostess stand before being greeting by a nice looking older woman,

“Good evening. How can I help you two tonight?”

“We have a reservation under Bradford,” the woman looks down at her paper before looking up with a smile.

“Right this way.” She grabs two menus and they follow her into the dining area.

Tim pulled out Lucy’s chair and waited for her to sit before pushing her in and taking a few steps to take his own seat.

“This is nice. By far the nicest date I’ve ever been on,” Lucy looks around the restaurant.

“Well, get used to it.” Tim smiles at her as she turns to look at him, blushing at his words.

“Good evening, can I get you two started on something to drink?”

“Do you want some wine?” He looks at Lucy.

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

“We’ll both have a glass of red wine, please.” Tim says to the gentleman, getting a nod and a smile before he walks away.

“I don’t know how I’m going to decide what to order, everything looks so good,” Lucy looks up from her menu to see Tim just staring at her with a smile.

“Yeah, me either,” Tim blushes when Lucy notices him. “But maybe, whatever you don’t decide on, I can cook for you sometime.”

“Already assuming you earned a second date?” She jokes as they both laugh.

“I hope so.” Before he can say anything else, the waiter brings their wine over.

“Are you two ready to order or do you need a little bit more time?”

“We’re ready,” they both agree.

“I’ll have the chicken Parmesan, please.” Lucy says closing her menu.

“I will do the beef lasagna, please.”

“Alright, one chicken Parmesan and one beef lasagna. Anything else?”

“No, thank you.” Lucy says.

“Perfect, I’ll get those going for you. Shouldn’t be too long,” he smiles as he collects their menus and walks away.

While they wait for the food they learn a lot about each other. Both Lucy and Tim have never been this open on a first date but they can already tell this is different.

“Typically I don’t tell women on the first date or really the next few after that I have a daughter, but obviously you already know that.”

“Can I ask why you don’t talk about it?”

“It changes the way people see me, unfortunately. There’s no shame in being a single parent. But I guess some people don’t see it that way,” he shrugs.

“I’m sorry. I however think it’s amazing you’re raising that sweet little girl on your own. She’s lucky to have you.”

He goes to thank her for that but the waiter comes back with their food.

“Here you go. Can I get you two anything else?”

“Lucy, you want more wine?” Tim looks at her.

“Sure, thank you.” The man nods before disappearing again.

Their food was delicious, they both ended up sharing with each other and giggling like middle schoolers.

As they’re walking out of the restaurant, Tim stops. Lucy turns and looks at him.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just don’t want this date to end,” he pouts getting a laugh from Lucy.

“Well who says it has to end? Theres a nice park over there, why don’t we take a walk?” She holds out her hand for him. Of course he takes it.

“I don’t think I told you, but green is my favorite color,” he smirks.

“Oh yeah?” She returns the smirk.

They walk slowly through the park just enjoying each other’s company. They laugh and joke like they’ve known each other for years.

When they’re almost back to his truck, Lucy shivers.

“You cold?” She quickly shakes her head.

“Don’t lie to me, are you cold?” He asks again.

“A little bit,” she finally admits.

Before she can even say anything else, he’s taking off his sweatshirt and handing it to her.

“Here, put this on.”

“No, Tim now you’re going to be cold.”

“I’ll be fine. Put it on and get warm,” he insists. She just smiles and puts it on. Immediately she’s surrounded by the smell of him, and it gives her butterflies in her stomach.

Once they reach his truck finally, he opens the door and helps her inside. Then he quickly gets in and makes the way to her apartment.

When he turns his truck off as he pulled into her lot, he looks over and sees she fell asleep. He smiles to himself before gently placing a hand on her arm, fortunately that is enough to wake her.

“Hey, we’re back at your apartment. Let’s get you up there so you can go to sleep.”

“You don’t have to walk me up.”

“Of course I do, let’s go.”

He’s surprised, although he shouldn’t be, when Lucy grabs his hand as they walk inside. Turns out sleepy Lucy is kind of clingy. It’s cute.

“This is me,” she says as they get up to her apartment.

“Thanks for letting me take you out. Definitely the best date I’ve ever been on,” he closes the distance a bit between them.

“I have to agree with that. I can’t wait to see how we top it with our second date,” she grins looking up at him.

“I think I’m up for the challenge.”

They must have got their wires crossed because Lucy started leaning in to kiss him, something she never ever does on a first date. Meanwhile, Tim held open his arms and hugged her.

“Uh I better go. I have to get Mia from my sisters,” Tim says quickly before he turns around.

“Yeah I need to get to bed. Early shift,” she quickly opens her door and steps inside.

Chapter Text

After Lucy shut the door behind her, her heart was racing. She leaned her back on the door to steady herself while trying to catch her breath.

She thought the date had gone so well, she thought what they already had was so special. It’s better than anything she’s never experienced before. But maybe he doesn’t feel the same way. Maybe he thought it was all moving too fast.

•••

Tim hated this. The date had gone so well and he was just expecting to give Lucy a hug goodnight. He certainly wasn’t expecting a kiss although he wouldn’t have said no either, had he realized.

In the almost week he’s known Lucy, she’s all he can think about. Since Isabel left, he hasn’t even thought about dating once but then Lucy came around and completely changed his mind and his heart.

He just hopes he didn’t lose his chance with her.

•••

The next day, Lucy had another early morning shift. The only difference was, she wasn’t in the good mood she had been in all week and her friends definitely noticed.

“What’s wrong with you this morning?” Jackson asks as they walk in together, immediately noticing the scowl on her face.

“Nothing, just didn’t sleep well,” she wasn’t completely lying. She definitely didn’t sleep well, her mind was racing all night thinking about Tim.

“Mhmm sure,” he shakes his head.

“Can you please just drop it?” She snaps back at him. Thankfully, Jackson got the hint and left it alone.

As they were getting ready for the cafe to open, it was very clear Lucy was upset. Slamming things, rushing things she’d normally be practically perfect about.

“You okay there Lucy?” Tamara asks.

“She doesn’t want to talk about it,” Jackson tells her from a few feet away.

“I’m fine! I wish you two would quit asking me!” She stomps away.

Jackson and Tamara share a look before shrugging and continuing on with their morning.

Of course, because it was a Saturday the cafe was rather busy. Lucy was running around helping quite a few tables.

Normally the rush would be no issue for her but she’s already forgotten to put a tables order in, making them have to wait even longer to get their food. They weren’t too happy but fortunately they didn’t scream at her.

Her newest table had just arrived and she quickly ran back to the kitchen to get their drinks and as she had them in her hand and was heading back to their table, she tripped sending orange juice and water everywhere. Mostly all on herself.

She was soaked and she was honestly on the verge of tears.

“Lucy honey, let me take them their drinks and then I’ll go get you a clean uniform,” the owner, Cindy came up behind her.

“Thank you,” is all Lucy manages to get out. She grabs a few napkins to try to dry off some before walking back farther into the kitchen.

“Now Lucy, I try to not pry into people’s personal business, but I can’t help but notice you’ve seemed ‘off’ since you got here this morning. Are you okay?” Cindy was a sweet older woman who owned the cafe with her husband Jeff. Lucy’s parents had given up on her when she refused to go to college. Cindy and Jeff had become the parents she never had.

“Bad date last night. Well, not a bad date but a bad end to the date.” She sighs.

“Oh, I’m sorry honey.” She reaches over to put a hand on her shoulder, offering her a comforting smile.

“Okay, let’s get you into a dry shirt and hope the rest of your shift goes better. Jackson and Tamara both took one of your tables so you just have to worry about anyone new coming in.”

“Thank you, Cindy.”

“Of course, sweetheart.”

Fortunately the rest of Lucy’s day went a lot smoother. The talk with Cindy really helped and she was able to stay focused the rest of the day.

“Hey Luce, I hope you know I didn’t mean any harm earlier when I asked if you were okay,” Jackson looks over at her as they’re wiping down tables at the end of shift.

“Me either. You’re always here for us, we just wanted to be there for you,” Tamara says from a little farther away.

“Thank you both. My date last night didn’t end quite how I thought it would. I guess we were giving each other mixed signals,” she looks back down at the task she was doing.

“Have you talked to him?” Jackson stops and walks over to her.

“No. I doubt he would want to hear from me.”

“You don’t know that. He could be feeling the same way you are.” Jackson shrugs before getting back to work.

“Yeah… maybe,” she says quietly.

•••

Finally, after a long day Lucy was walking in her front door. She threw her bag down on the ground, not even bothering to set it on the counter like she normally does and walked over to the couch before throwing herself down on it.

She takes out her phone from her pocket and contemplates texting him. There’s so much she wants to say to him.

Deciding against it, she threw her phone on the coffee table and decided to watch some reality tv. It always helped her decompress, she could just sit back and focus on someone else’s drama, besides her own for the time being.

Chapter Text

Today was a rare Saturday that Tim had to work. A few officers on PTO left Grey begging Tim to work. He hated that it was on their family day, but Genny promised to take all of the kids to breakfast anyways.

He was riding with Aaron today. On a normal day, it wouldn’t be so bad, it was nice having the company in the shop. However, today he wishes he was alone.

He so badly wishes things ended better with Lucy last night. Their date was definitely the best date he had ever been on and it definitely left him wanting more dates with her. But now he wasn’t sure if that was going to happen.

Driving the shop, Tim was clenching his jaw and focusing on the road ahead. He caught Aaron taking a few glances at him throughout the morning, but he knew better than to ask.

“7-Adam-100, requesting assistance to a robbery in progress,” Tim glanced at Aaron before he picked up the radio, Tim starting to speed up.

“7-Adam-100 show us responding,” Aaron says into the radio before flipping on the lights and sirens.

Once they got to the scene, they were greeted by some of the members of Metro.

“What are we looking at?” Tim asks one of the guys, Mad Dog.

“Two suspects inside, the one made contact with the teller. We think someone inside knew what was happening and tried to stop it. It’s now a hostage situation.”

“How many are inside?” Aaron asks.

“From what we can tell, the two suspects, four bankers and two citizens.”

“Assuming we’ve tried to make contact?”

“Correct, said they won’t let anyone go unless we make them a deal.”

Tim just huffs out a breath while shaking his head. This was going to be a long day…

•••

After about two hours, they finally got all of the hostages outside. The two men were still inside and Tim was getting inpatient.

“Let me try to talk to them,” Tim says to Grey and Pine.

“No. No way, you’re not going in there Bradford.”

“C’mon, nothing else is working and if we want to even have a shot at getting out of here on time. At least let me try.”

“Is this smart Bradford? You remember you have a daughter to raise.”

“Nothing will happen. I’ll be fine,” Tim is obviously worried but knows he has a job to do.

After making communication with the men, Tim hands over his gun to Grey before making his way inside. Slipping in the door carefully, he’s immediately greeted by two men.

“You got a gun on you?” One man gruffs.

“I do not. Just me.” Tim puts his hands up and spins around so the men can fully see him.

“What do you want from us?” The other man asks.

“I just want to talk. I don’t want anybody, including the two of you to get hurt.”

“Talk about what?” He shoots back, raising his voice.

“You two look young. I’m sure you have your whole lives ahead of you. You don’t want to waste it all away by hurting someone now do you?”

“We’re already going to jail anyways, so what’s the difference.”

“Well, going for robbing a bank and injuring a cop are two very different things.”

“C’mon man, just give us a deal!”

“You know I don’t have that power. But if all three of us walk out of here unharmed, I will personally talk to the D.A. myself.”

“He’s lying,” the one guy standing further back says.

“Shut up.”

“Alright guys. What do you say? Think we can walk out of here?”

Before Tim can even react, the man who was standing further back comes charging at him. He lands on the ground with the man on top of him.

Somehow he’s able to flip the man, even though he easily weights over a hundred pounds more than he does. He doesn’t have his cuffs on him so he hopes he’s strong enough to hold the man in place.

“You idiot!” The other man says looking down.

“Man, what’s your name?” Tim looks up at the man standing a few feet away from him.

“Michael.”

“Alright, Michael. Your friend here decided to be stupid, but I’m going to give you a chance. I will radio my guys, tell them to withdraw their weapons and let you walk out. Now you will be cuffed, but nothing more. What do you say?”

Michael just nods his head. Tim can tell he’s scared, but he’s thankful the man agrees.

“One suspect coming out, don’t shoot.” Tim says into the radio.

“Understood.” He hears back before turning to Michael.

“Alright, you’re going to walk out that door with your hands above your head. An officer will meet you at the door.” Michael nods and walks towards the door. He takes one more look at Tim before walking out.

After Michael is out, a swarm of officers come rushing in. They pull the other man away from Tim and he goes to stand up but is immediately met with pain.

“You alright Bradford?” Grey walks over.

“Just sore,” he grimaces.

“You’re getting checked out. No argument.” He walks away before Tim can even say anything.

Somehow, Tim’s day has gone from bad to worse. As he sits himself down on the ambulance to get checked out, he pulls out his phone secretly hoping to see a message from Lucy. He frowns when he realizes there in fact is no message.

“What’s wrong?” Bailey, the paramedic who is sort of a friend noticed the change in his facial expression.

“Oh nothing,” Tim lies.

“That’s a load of bull. C’mon what is it?”

Tim takes a breath before looking up at Bailey who is checking his blood pressure.

“I had a date with this girl last night. It went great until I walked her back up to her apartment.”

“What happened?”

“She leaned in to kiss me and I didn’t realize. So I went in for a hug. It was extremely awkward after that, I left and we haven’t talked since.”

“You need to reach out Tim. She probably is thinking you didn’t want that and now she’s afraid she went too far.”

“I know. I just don’t want to say the wrong thing,” Tim says honestly.

“Listen. I know it’s hard, I do. But she sounds special to you. Let her know how you feel. I’m sure she’s dying to hear from you.”

“You’re right. Thank you, Bailey.” Tim gives her a weak smile.

“You’re almost all set. You have some ribs that are starting to bruise but I don’t think they’re broken. You know the drill, if you start having problems breathing go to the ER. It doesn’t seem like you have a concussion but same thing, if you get a headache, start throwing up, all that, ER.”

Tim just nods his head.

“That sweet girl of yours needs her dad around for a long time. And hopefully maybe someday, a motherly figure.” She playfully shoves him, getting him to smile truly for the first time all day.

“That would be nice. That would be nice.” Tim says quietly, mostly to himself.

He knows what he has to do. He just hopes Lucy will be okay seeing him tomorrow.

Chapter Text

Tim was woken up about 5am Sunday morning by cries coming from his daughters room. By the time he wrapped up at the scene, got checked out and did his paperwork, Genny had put Mia to bed.

Climbing out of bed, he was immediately reminded of yesterday’s events. His ribs were in fact injured, and it hurt to just simply move. But his daughter needs him, so he’s going to ignore his pain the best he can.

“Good morning baby girl,” he says as he walks into Mia’s bedroom. He’s greeted with a smile and a giggle from her. She’s already sitting up in her crib.

“Let’s get you changed and some clothes on and what do you say we go get some pancakes for breakfast?” He gives her forehead a kiss as he carries her to her changing table.

“Ya!” She claps, making Tim smile.

“You make daddy so happy, you know that baby girl?”

“Dada!”

Tim has done a lot of rewarding things in his life, gotten awards and metals, but nothing compares to teaching and watching his little girl grow.

“Alright Mia, you ready for some pancakes?” He picks her up after he gets her in her outfit for the day.

“Ya!” She echoes from before. 

•••

After getting her buckled, Tim starts the drive to the cafe. He’s worried Lucy will be mad or won’t be happy to see him, but he needs to try to talk to her.

He’s pulled out of his thoughts by Mia giggling. He had given her a stuffed animal to hold onto for the ride and she was clearly having fun with it.

After exactly seven minutes, not that he was timing it or anything, they pull into the cafe. His heart starts beating faster than it has in a long time and he’s about to just pull back out of the lot and go home, but Mia’s cheer from the backseat brings a smile to his face and he decides to just go for it.

“Alright Mia, let’s go inside and get you some breakfast. That sound good?” He unbuckles her and picks her up.

Walking inside, there was a bit of a line but Tim didn’t mind waiting. Mia was content in his arms and she was looking around at all the different people, smiling when someone gave her attention.

That’s when he sees her. Across the restaurant she is busy serving tables but they catch either others eyes. Tim smiles at her and she gives him a weak smile before turning her attention back to her work.

He sighs, but hopes he’ll actually have a chance to talk to her.

“Just the two of you?” The hostess asks Tim, snapping him out of his thoughts.

“Yes ma’am. I’ll need a highchair for her too, please.”

“Of course. Right this way. I’ll get you seated and then I’ll go grab the highchair,” the older woman smiles before walking her way to the table.

“I’ll be right back, and your server will be over in a few minutes to get a drink order.”

“Thank you.” Tim nods at the woman before sitting down, still holding Mia.

Once Mia is in her highchair, he takes some time to look at the menu. She was holding onto some crayons and was happy, so Tim could focus on himself.

“What can I get you two to drink?” Tim looks up and Lucy is standing there next to them.

“Hi Mia!” She looks at the girl, who immediately starts giggling that someone is giving her attention.

“I’ll do a coffee and just water for her, please.” Tim says shyly.

“Of course, coming right up.” She stands there for a few moments before finally walking back towards the kitchen.

Tim hates how awkward it is. He hates how they had such a fun and pretty perfect date and then it all went wrong at the end.

•••

Lucy basically couldn’t get back to the kitchen fast enough once she finally walked away.

“Honey, are you okay?” Cindy asks as she’s pouring Tim’s coffee.

“Remember the guy I was telling you about?” Cindy nods before Lucy continues, “well that’s him and his daughter over there.” She signals to their table.

“Do you want me to take it for you?” Cindy asks.

Lucy sighs, “no, but thank you. I need to figure out how to talk to him. I hate this. We had such a fun night and I don’t want that to be it.”

“I understand completely. Let me know if you need anything,” she smiles before she walks away leaving Lucy standing there to finish.

Walking back to the table, Lucy tries to put a smile on her face.

“Okay, here’s a coffee for you and a water for this cute girl.”

“Thank you, Lucy.” Tim says with a smile.

“Are you ready to order?”

“We are… Lucy, I know right now might not be the ideal time, but I want to talk about what happened. I want to be able to explain myself.”

Lucy lets out a breath, one that she’d been holding onto since the moment Tim walked out of her apartment.

“I’m so glad you said that. I’ve been wanting to talk to you, too I just didn’t know what to say. But you’re right, now isn’t the time unfortunately,” she says with a sad tone.

“How about tonight?” Tim asks, “No pressure, doesn’t have to be a date. Just two people talking, what do you say?”

“I think that’s sounds wonderful,” she smiles. “Okay, what can I get you two cuties to eat?”

At first, Tim didn’t catch what she said but once he realized, he couldn’t stop himself from blushing.

“Did you just call me cute?”

“Maybe?” Now she’s blushing, too.

“Says you,” Tim shoots back with a smile.

“As much as I’m loving this, unfortunately I have to get back to work. We can continue this later,” she flirts.

Tim just shakes his head before looking down at his menu once again.

“Okay, I’ll do the Denver omelette with a side of sourdough toast,” he closes his menu and waits for her to finish writing.

“Alright, and what for miss Mia?”

“A blueberry pancake, please.”

“I’ll get that right in for you two,” she winks as she takes his menu and walks away.

The food doesn’t take long to come, which is a good thing considering Mia is starting to get fussy. Overall she’s a happy kid but when she gets hungry, it could get dangerous.

“Here we are,” Lucy says as she places their plates down in front of them.

“Oh you just saved the day. Someone over here is getting hangry,” Tim says as he starts ripping apart her pancake so she can start to eat.

“This cutie getting hangry? I don’t believe it.”

“Oh, just you wait and see.” Tim looks up at her with a wink.

Lucy shakes her head with a smile before she walks away. She has other tables to attend to, as much as she wishes she could just talk to Tim… and Mia all morning.

After a delicious meal, Lucy brought the check over with a promise to let Tim know when she was home from work so they could figure out the details for tonight.

Tim made his way up to the register with Mia in his arms. The same nice older woman from earlier was there.

“How was breakfast?” She asks with a smile.

“Amazing. Definitely will be coming back,” he looks down at Mia before switching her to his other side so he could get his wallet out.

“Good. Love to hear that.” The woman smiles, “I’m Cindy, my husband and I own it here.”

“Oh, you two have done a wonderful job. My sister and I discovered it a week ago. I’ve already been back twice since.”

“I don’t think the foods the only reason why,” she says quietly as she smirks.

Tim doesn’t know what that means but just smiles anyways.

“Alright, here’s your check.” Tim takes out some cash and puts it onto the counter.

“Enough for the tab and the tip,” he nods at Cindy as she takes it into her hands.

“Thank you sir, I’ll make sure Lucy gets this. Have a nice day, see you again soon.”

“Thank you, you as well.” Tim says as he starts to walk towards the door.

“Sir, one more thing,” Cindy says making him stop and look back at her.

“Take care of her please,” she says with a faint smile. Tim just nods before she turns her attention to helping the next customer in line.

Tim can’t seem to wipe the smile off of his face as he gets Mia into her car seat, and still when he gets in and starts driving. He can’t wait for tonight.

Chapter Text

When Tim got home from breakfast, first he put Mia down for a nap. The pancake had definitely put her in a better mood but now she was fussy because she was tired.

Getting her settled, he grabbed a bottle of water before sitting down on the couch to watch some baseball.

He couldn’t wait for tonight. He couldn’t wait to see Lucy again, to hopefully get another chance with her. He almost forgot he needed someone to watch Mia. Picking up his phone, he sent a quick text to his sister.

Tim: Hey, any chance you could watch Mia again tonight?

It only took a few seconds for him to see that she was replying.

Genny: Sorry brother, no can do. The boys and I are meeting up with some friends to go bowling.

Groaning, Tim thinks about who else might be free. Surely, his best friend who has two young kids wouldn’t mind one more?

Tim: Hey, I need a favor. Any chance you could watch Mia for a few hours tonight?

Her response took a little longer, but Tim still held his phone waiting.

Angela: Sorry, we have dinner with Wes’ family tonight. What’s got you going out on a Sunday night?

Tim: Nothing you need to worry about. Have a nice dinner.

Angela: Mhmm. We’ll be talking about this tomorrow.

Tim rolled his eyes before throwing his head back and let out a breath. He really didn’t want to cancel but he didn’t have anyone else who could watch her.

Looking at the time, he knew Lucy still didn’t get off for a couple more hours so he put his phone down and turned his attention back to the game.

He must have dozed off because the next thing he knows, he hears cries coming from Mia’s room. Quickly wiping the sleep from his eyes, he gets up and walks into her room.

“Well good afternoon my princess,” he walks over to pick her up.

“Did you sleep good?” She just responds with a giggle.

“Let’s get you changed and then give you some lunch. What do you say?”

“…unch!” She claps.

“That’s right baby. You’re so smart.”

After getting her changed, Tim carries her out into her highchair before walking over to the fridge. He pulls out some grilled chicken he made a few days ago and begins to heat it up.

Mia is in her highchair banging her table and babbling, which only makes Tim chuckle.

“Alright, you ready to eat? Here you got some chicken, blueberries and your favorite, goldfish.” She shrieks with excitement.

After she’s content and eating, Tim sits down to eat his own lunch. It’s just then that he sees he has a message from Lucy. He can’t help but smile at seeing her name on the screen.

Lucy: Just got off! What time are we thinking tonight?

Tim bites his lip before deciding to take a risk. He doesn’t want to cancel on her but he also doesn’t know if she’d be comfortable with Mia tagging along.

Tim: Hey so actually I need to ask you something. Both my sitters for Mia have plans tonight. I don’t want to cancel but I also don’t want to make you uncomfortable.

She must have been sitting wait for his response, because her reply was instant.

Lucy: Me uncomfortable with that cutie? No way! Bring her, it’ll be fun!

Tim: You’re the best. Does 5 @ the pizza restaurant by your place work?

Lucy: You know there’s a pizza place by my house? You stalking me? 😉

Tim: I’m just very observant. See you at 5!

Lucy: Can’t wait! 💕

Tim’s almost positive he’s blushing, but he’s not even mad about it.

•••

After getting Mia and himself changed, they were finally heading out the door to go meet Lucy. They were running a few minutes behind but Tim knew he could still be there on time.

When the pulled in the lot, he immediately saw Lucy standing outside of her car on her phone. He couldn’t help but smile.

He parked and was getting out when she walked up to him.

“Hey there,” she greets him with a smile.

“Hey yourself. Just need to get the monkey out and we’ll be ready to go in.”

“You ready to go eat some pizza? I think this will be your first time trying it,” he reaches down and unbuckles her before picking her up.

She squeals with excitement when she sees Lucy and does so again when Lucy tickles her stomach.

“Hi sweet girl!” Mia smiles before tucking her head back into her dad’s chest, suddenly getting shy.

“I guess I’m not the only one who gets nervous around you.”

“Why do you get nervous around me?” She whips her head to look at him as they walk in.

“Why wouldn’t I? You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever met,” he says it like it’s the most obvious thing. Lucy can’t help but blush.

“You’re ridiculous,” she jokes.

“Not ridiculous if it’s true.” He shrugs as he opens the door to the restaurant letting her walk in first.

“How many?” A young man who is standing at the hostess stand first looks at Lucy and then at Tim.

“Uh, two adults and a highchair.” Lucy gets out before Tim can.

“Alright, right this way.”

They follow him to their table and he quickly brings over a highchair for Mia. Tim sets her down and immediately starts banging on the table.

“We might be only minutes from disaster.” Tim looks up at Lucy once they’re seated, sitting across from each other.

“Wait, why?” Lucy asks confused.

“Remember the hangry girl from earlier? She might be making another appearance.” Tim says seriously but Lucy can’t help but laugh.

“Here. I have a granola bar in my purse. She can have it,” Lucy reaches behind her to get it out.

“No, you don’t have to—“ Lucy stops him before he can continue.

“I know I don’t, but I want to. Here, sweet girl.” She breaks the bar into smaller pieces before handing one over to Mia, who happily eats it.

“You’re so good with her, Lucy.” Now it’s Tim’s turn to blush.

“Sorry for the wait, what can I get you three to drink?” A young woman stands behind Mia with a bright smile on her face.

“I’ll do a Diet Coke, please.” Lucy says first, “I’ll do the same and if I could please get just a cup of water for her.”

The woman nods, “I’ll be right back! If you’re ready then I can take your order as well.” She disappears.

“I suppose we should figure out what we want,” Lucy opens up the menu.

“Have you been here before?”

“No, I haven’t. But I’ve heard good things. My best friend Jackson loves it.”

“You want to just get a pizza? I’m pretty easy, except no mushrooms.” Tim looks up and sees her rolling her eyes.

“But mushrooms are my favorite,” she playfully whines.

After not being able to resist laughing, “fine, we can do have mushroom then.”

“Perfect,” she smiles and closes her menu.

“Okay, here’s your diets and water. I’m guessing you’re ready to order?”

“Yes, we’ll just do a large supreme, with mushrooms on half please.”

“Sounds good, we’ll get that started for you.” She grabs their menus before walking off.

“So. I guess we should talk,” Tim says after he takes a drink.

“I guess we should,” she nods in agreement.

“I had a great time on our date. In fact, it was the best first date I had ever gone on and I didn’t want it to end,” He realizes he wasn’t even looking at her so he looks up and gives her a faint smile.

“Me either,” she interjects.

“I clearly wasn’t expecting to kiss you when I walked you up and I didn’t want to cross your boundaries. But I hope you know it wasn’t about me not wanting to kiss you, because trust me…”

Both of them break out into a knowing smile and Lucy can’t help but tease him.

“Trust me what?”

“You know exactly what I’m going to say.”

“Maybe, but I’d like you to tell me anyways.” She smirks.

He leans slightly over the table and lowers his voice.

“Trust me, all I’ve thought about doing since I met you was pining you up against a wall and explore every inch of your mouth with my tongue.”

“Very detailed imagination there,” she tries to hide her blush but has no success.

“One large pizza and three plates. Can I get you anything else right away?” Their server asks as she’s placing the plates down in front of them as Tim sits back up straight.

“No, we should be good. Thank you.” Lucy smiles at the woman before looking back at Tim.

“Maybe when there’s not little ears present, I’d like to hear what else you’ve imagined doing.” She playfully smirks before taking a drink.

“Eat your food,” Tim shakes his head before placing a piece of pizza on her plate.

The rest of dinner is spent getting to know each other even more. Mia happily sat there while the two chat and even giggled a few times at things they said.

“I hate to do this but it’s getting late. I should get her home and in bed.” He sighs, not wanting the night to end.

“Yeah, I have an early shift tomorrow.”

After Tim pays the bill, much to Lucy’s displeasure, they walk outside together. He stops at her car and she opens her door before turning back to him.

“I’m not sure how the week will look but would you like to go on another date Friday night?” Tim asks.

“I would love to. But I hate having to wait so long,” she pouts.

“Are you pouting?”

“No,” they both know she’s lying.

“How about this? We’ll figure out when, but someday this week let Mia and I cook you dinner at my place?”

“Oh, you’re a chef too?”

“I can cook,” he says confidently.

“I look forward to it,” she pauses for a minute. “Goodnight sweet girl, be good for your dad.” She tickles her side, getting another little giggle out of her.

“Thank you for dinner tonight. I had fun.” She looks up at his eyes first and then his lips.

He’s not screwing it up this time.

Carefully leaning in, he presses his lips against hers. The kiss was short but ever so sweet.

“Looking forward to more of that.” Tim says looking into her eyes as they pull away from each other.

“Me too. Lots more.” She reaches her hand up to the back of his head, pulling him down to kiss him once more.

They could’ve made that moment last forever but they were interrupted by Mia who decided it was time to go.

“Text me when you get home so I know you got there okay?” Tim’s hand is on the top of her door waiting for her to get in.

She gives him a nod and a smile, “goodnight you two.”

“Goodnight, Lucy.” He says before shutting her door and watching her drive away.

“You like Lucy, huh?” Tim looks down at Mia in his arms as they get to his truck.

She just responds with a happy squeal, “..ucy!”

“Me too baby. Me too.”

Chapter Text

Tonight was a big night. Dinner was pretty much done and now he was just waiting for Lucy to show up. He had decided to make his homemade Alfredo sauce and even grilled some chicken to go along with it.

After getting himself dressed, he took Mia to her room to change her into an almost-matching to him outfit. Angela had bought it for them, he hated the idea of matching at first but soon found he enjoyed it. He knew his girl wouldn’t be little for long.

“You ready to be daddies wing woman tonight?” He tickles her after picking her up from the changing table. She squeals which is the exact answer he was expecting.

They were walking back into the kitchen when the doorbell rang. Suddenly, a wave of nerves came over him but he took a deep breath and walked over to open it.

The smile on Lucy’s face when he opened the door was enough for him to forget all about being nervous. She was even more gorgeous with that bright smile.

“Hey, come on it,” he steps out of the way for her.

“There’s my favorite girl!” She says looking at Mia who just giggles at her.

“What, am I chopped liver over here?” He jokes. She gives him a side eye before laughing.

“I was getting there. How’s my favorite guy?”

“Oh, I’m your favorite guy?” He blushes, “I think you forgot handsome.”

“Let’s not go too crazy,” she smirks. “But seriously, thanks for inviting me over for dinner. I’m excited for a nice home cooked meal.”

“I love cooking, I’m glad I got to do it for you.” He shrugs as they start to walk side by side into the kitchen.

“I’m just going to get her all set and then I’ll plate up ours. You can go ahead and sit at the table, if you’d like.” He says as he puts Mia into her highchair and moves over to the stove to get her some food.

“Can I help with anything?” She moves around the island closer to him.

“If you want to get us some drinks, that would be great. I’ll just have water but feel free to anything in the fridge.” She nods before taking a few steps and opening the doors where she found two bottles of water. 

“I hope you like chicken Alfredo. I’m sorry, I guess I should have checked with you first—“ He starts to ramble and Lucy thinks it’s the most adorable thing.

She puts her hand on his forearm, almost immediately relaxing him, “Tim, stop. I love chicken Alfredo. I can’t wait.”

“The sauce is my mom’s recipe. I actually haven’t made it in a few years but it was always a favorite of mine growing up.”

“Wait,” she drops her hand to her side. “You make your sauce?”

He laughs, “yeah, once you’ve had homemade it’s pretty hard to go back to store-bought.”

“I’ve never been a big fan of cooking. Nothing fancy, but I get by.”

“Well, prepare to be amazed.” He hands her a plate, signaling her to go sit. He plates his own before joining her.

He watches her take her first bite, her eyes getting big as she takes in all the flavors. She hasn’t said anything, but he internally pats himself on the back.

“So?” He waits for her review.

“This is quite possibly the best thing I’ve ever tasted. You’re going to have to teach me how to make this,” she covers her mouth as she takes another bite.

“Woah, slow down there Luce. Second date and you’re already trying to rob me of my recipes?”

Not being able to help the laughter that escaped her, “I guess you’ll just have to teach me yourself then.” She flirts.

“I think that can be arranged,” he grins.

•••

After their dinner was finished and cleaned up, Tim told Lucy to go sit on the couch while he quickly puts Mia to bed. Not wanting to keep her long, he skips her bath tonight and fortunately falls asleep relatively quickly.

Turning her head back when she heard him, they both smiled. He joined her on the couch, sitting close but a respectable amount of space in between them.

After some good conversation, they ended up finding a movie to watch. The distance between them getting smaller, eventually Lucy ended up cuddled into his arms falling asleep.

As the credits were rolling, he leaned over slightly to kiss the top of her head and whispered to her,

“Luce, the movies over. I hate to wake you but I want you a little more awake before I send you home.”

She mumbles against his chest, “Can I stay? Being in your arms feels so good, so safe.”

It melts his heart that she already feels that safe with him. Of course, he knows he won’t be able to resist her.

“You can stay, but let’s get you in bed. C’mon, I’m sure I have something you can change into.” He loosens his grip on her and she immediately groans, and he laughs.

After a few minutes, he finally gets her up. She wraps herself around him as they walk to his bedroom. Once there, Tim lets go of her and opens up his dresser and pulls out some clothes.

“Here, bathrooms right there. There’s an extra toothbrush under the sink.”

“Thanks,” she accepts the items with a sleepy smile and disappears behind the closed door.

He moves to get himself changed and then goes to sit on the side of his bed to wait for her.

When she comes out, he can see her eyes are red, almost like she had been crying. Concern growing, he debates whether to mention it or leave it alone. Deciding to take a chance,

“Hey, are you okay?” He asks looking up at her.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine.” She says quickly. Too quickly, he thinks.

Not wanting to push any further, he lays down and waits for her to do the same. He can see she’s suddenly a little hesitant and he can’t help but worry he did something.

She climbs into bed and turns to face away from him.

“Lucy, if you’re not comfortable I can go take the couch?” He offers.

“No, it’s okay.” She says quietly.

Eventually, she drifts off to sleep but he can’t seem to get his mind to turn off. Didn’t she want this?

Chapter Text

Lucy woke up the next morning and immediately remembered where she was. Deep down, she knew Tim was already different than her ex, Jacob but all those feelings came to the surface once she was in his room.

She thought he was still sleeping and tried to sneak out of the bed when she realized he wasn’t even there anymore.

She knows eventually she needs to tell Tim why she was acting how she was last night, but she’s afraid it’ll push him away. She’s afraid he won’t want to deal with her mess.

Throwing the covers off, she sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes before deciding she wanted to freshen up a bit.

She couldn’t help but jump when she walked out of the bathroom to see Tim sitting on the edge of his bed.

“Thanks for letting me crash here last night. Sorry that I made it weird.” She rocks back and forth on her feet, not making eye contact with him.

“I don’t want to prod, but is everything okay? Did I do something or cross any boundaries?”

She lifts her gaze and can see genuine concern in his eyes. Huffing out a breath, she takes the few steps and sits down next to him.

“My last relationship was a bad one. My ex, Jacob shamed me, mocked me, hit me and so much more. I guess I just got wrapped up in the moment last night and the fact that I finally felt safe with someone. Then, when I was in your bathroom getting ready for bed, I started to panic. I know it’s early, and we’ve only been on a few dates, but this is the best relationship I’ve been in. Ever.”

“I’m so sorry you went through that, Lucy. Nobody deserves that. You have such an incredible soul and I hate that someone would use that to their advantage.” 

He sees a few tears escape her eyes, so he takes the pads of his thumbs and wipes them away. He drops his hand, but only to grab hers and give them a squeeze.

“Lucy, I want this with you. I want a relationship with you. But if you want or need to take this slow, I completely understand, I’d never want to push you to do something you aren’t ready for.”

Returning the squeeze of his hands, giving him a bright smile, “I want this too. In fact, I want nothing more than to be your girlfriend.”

“My girlfriend? I don’t seem to remember asking you,” he playfully jabs.

“Only a matter of time.” She shoots back with a giggle.

“Let me take you out on Friday night and maybe then we can make it official.” He winks.

“Deal,” she blushes. “Wait, don’t you have to work today?”

“Going in for a half day. I figured something was up with you and wanted to be here for you. I didn’t even know if you’d want me or tell me—“ he starts rambling again.

“You ramble a lot,” she jokes. “But seriously, thank you. It means more than you know. I’m so glad to have you… and Mia in my life.”

“Right back at you.” He puts his arm around her, pulling her into him. She instantly relaxes.

•••

Tim made it to work and was on patrol with Aaron when his personal phone began to ring. Having it placed in the cup holder, he saw it was Lucy.

Concern growing over him, as she knew he was at work and couldn’t talk, he immediately picked it up thankful that Aaron happened to be driving.

“Hey Lucy what’s—“ is all he can get out before he hears her in the background.

“I need you,” he hears through a man’s voice. Whoever it is appears to be yelling.

“Lucy?” He says louder into the phone, almost yelling.

“He showed up to my place. He’s drunk and pissed.” She didn’t need to say who, Tim already knew it was her ex.

Panic setting in, he yelled to Aaron to go as he flipped on the lights and sirens. Aaron who could hear some of the conversation called it in as it was standard procedure.

“Luce, I know where your building is but can you tell me what apartment?”

“1–“ she spits out and he hears Jacob yelling again. “1-5-“ she finally says through sniffles.

“Okay honey, I’m coming. We’re coming. Do you want to stay on the phone with me?”

“No, he’s com—“ and the line goes dead. Throwing his phone down, he punches the dashboard.

“Turn left up here.” Tim yells, startling the younger man who just nods.

“It’s up here. Assuming she’s on the ground level. I wonder how the hell he even got in. Probably forced his way past her.”

Aaron could barely stop the car before Tim was hopping out and running in. Fortunately for him, a resident was coming through and held the door for them.

The two men walk the halls when Tim stops, “Here. Let’s see if the door is unlocked first.” He says quietly as they both grab their weapons.

Aaron turns the door handle and it opens with ease. They can hear yelling before the door is even open.

Upon entry, they see Jacob up against a door yelling at the top of his lungs with a beer bottle in his hands.

“Sir, drop the bottle and put your hands where we can see them!” Tim yells as they step a little closer.

“Are you kidding me? She called the cops? We’re just talking!” He throws the bottle in the direction of Aaron, but he ducks away just in time.

“Last warning, put your hands up!” Tim repeats, louder.

Jacob easily surrenders and drops his knees to the ground. Aaron moves to cuff him just as their backup is arriving.

Once he’s out of the apartment, Tim walks over to what appears to be the bathroom door and quietly knocks.

“Lucy, it’s just me, Tim. He’s gone, can I come in?”

He hears sobs and sniffles on the other end before hearing something move and the door unlocking. She slowly opens it.

It absolutely broke his heart when he saw her face after she came out. She looked so terrified.

“You’re safe. He’s gone.” She just nods her head before the tears start falling again.

“Do you want a hug?” He asks, she immediately nods and he takes her into his arms holding her close.

“Sorry to interrupt but they want to know if she needs to be checked out.” Aaron looks at Tim before quickly glancing over at Lucy.

“What do you say Luce? Wanna get checked out and get out of here?” He speaks into her hair, squeezing her even tighter.

“Okay, yeah… I don’t want to stay here.”

“You don’t have to. You can stay with me… if you want. Otherwise we can figure something out but you’re not stay here.”

He just gets a nod before she starts to pull away from him. She follows him outside to where the RA is waiting and helps her get in.

Somehow, all she has are some bruises, the emotional injuries will take longer to heal but Tim isn’t going to make her deal with it alone.

•••

After they took her into the station to give her statement, Grey offered Tim the rest of the day off to take care of Lucy. He gladly accepted and brought her to his place.

“We can get you settled in here for now, I’ll take the couch tonight.” She just shakes her head with a frown.

“I’m not kicking you out of your bed,” she insists. “You’ve already done so much to help me today, I couldn’t dare ask for more.”

“Luce, I want you to listen to me,” he steps forward to grab her hands in his.

“I want to help you. I’m glad you feel comfortable enough with me to have called me today. Whatever he engraved in your head isn’t true. You aren’t a burden, you need help right now and I’m more than happy to give it to you. You aren’t kicking me out of my bed when I offer it to you.”

Tears in her eyes, she finally smiles for the first time. “Thank you, Tim. For everything.”

“Anything for you. I mean that.”

They make eye contact and she grabs the back of his neck pulling him down slightly. Closing the distance, their kiss is soft and sweet. Smiling after pulling apart, he leans in and gives her another.

“That was our first and second kiss,” he says against her lips with another smile.

“And now we’re about to have our third.” She smirks before kissing him again.

Their moment was interrupted by Tim’s phone ringing. Groaning, he took it out of his pocket to see it was Angela. Assuming she had heard what happened today, she was probably calling to check in. He ignored the call and looked back at Lucy, who now had a panicked look on her face.

“I… I don’t have any of my stuff. But I can’t go back there.”

“Deep breath, we’ll figure it out,” he says calmly while she takes a breath. “I can go get some stuff for you if you want?” He offers.

“No… no that might be a little weird. I’ll call a friend of mine to see if she can stop by later.”

“If you say so. Just let me know and I’ll gladly do it.”

“I know, thank you Tim.” She pauses for a minute before biting her lip, “I might take a nap if that’s okay?”

“Of course. I can find some clothes for you if you want to change.” She looks at her attire before giving him a quick nod.

Lucy lying there in his bed, for the first time in a long time feeling genuinely safe. She’s pretty sure she fell asleep with a smile on her face.

Chapter Text

When Lucy woke up, it took her a minute to gather her thoughts and remember everything that had transpired that day and where she was.

Here she was, lying in Tim’s bed after he had essentially just saved her. She could hear some noise outside of the bedroom so she decided to get up and investigate.

Walking out of the bedroom, she hears Tim’s voice and Mia’s giggle. Peaking around the corner, she sees them both on the ground playing, him tickling her.

He must have heard her because he looked up, “Oh sorry, I hope we didn’t wake you.” He sits himself up.

“Oh no, not at all. Just coming to see what I’m missing out on.”

“Just playing with this sweet girl before her nap,” he looks down at Mia with a smile. “You doing okay?” He lifts his head back up to make eye contact with her.

“Yeah, I think so. Thanks for letting me nap and stay here.”

“Of course, babe.” Her heart immediately swells at the pet name.

“Do you mind if my friend Tamara drops by here later with some of my clothes? I should be fine to go back there in a day or two.”

“Yeah, of course.” He swallows, “but know you can stay as long as you need to. Or if you need space but aren’t ready to go back there yet, I can get you a hotel or something.”

“I appreciate that.” She says softly with a smile while walking over to the couch to sit down.

“Little miss over here is getting to be quite the talker!” He says proudly.

“Oh yeah?”

“Mia, can you say Lucy?” The little girl thinks for a minute,

“-ucy!” She giggles and clips.

Chuckling, “I think that’s as close as we’re going to get but good job princess!” Lucy reaches over to tickle her.

“Can you say daddy?” Lucy asks her once she sits up straight.

“…dadda!”

“Good, baby! Alright, you ready for your nap?”

“Mhm.” She says as she rubs her eyes.

•••

After Mia was fast asleep, he walks back out to the living room to sit down next to Lucy.

“So how are you really feeling?” He asks as he puts his right arm on the back of the couch.

“A little shaken up still but I’ll be okay.”

“You know, it’s okay to not be okay. You don’t have to pretend to be strong.”

“I… thank you. I guess I’m not used to people caring this much. I mean, obviously I have a few good friends but you’re different.”

“Thanks… I think?” He furrows his brow.

Not being able to hold back a laugh, “No, I mean that in a good way. I haven’t known you for that long but you’ve already shown me more love than I’ve had in a long, long time.”

“Honey, this is the bare minimum. You deserve the world, and I hope I’m lucky enough to give it to you.”

“I could kiss you right now,” she admits with a blush.

“Then do it.” He says quietly as he grins. That’s all the permission she needs to close the distance between them and presses her lips into his.

The kiss quickly deepens and before they realize, they’re making out on the couch. Eventually, the need for air becomes present,

“That was amazing.” She says breathing heavily but not hiding the smile that appears on her face.

“That was. Definitely looking forward to more of that.”

“Mm me too,” she smiles into another kiss. Both get startled when there was a knock at the door.

“That must be Tamara.” Lucy goes to stand up, with Tim right behind her.

“Hey girl!” Lucy opens the door to a woman who looks a few years younger than her.

“Hey yourself!” Tamara steps forward to embrace her in a hug. “How are you doing?”

“Decent. This guy helps,” she says shyly looking back at Tim.

“Tamara, you must be Tim?” She reaches her hand out, in which he shakes it.

“Nice to meet you Tamara. Come on in, if you’d like.”

“Lucy… hasn’t told me a lot about you. But she’s told me enough that you’ve been there for her the last few days, so thank you for that.”

“She deserves people to show up for her. I’m glad she has a friend like you.”

“Okay guys, as much as I’m loving this, I’m getting hungry.” Lucy says serious as ever before she busts out laughing, the other two joining.

“Tamara you want to stay? I have some stuff to make sandwiches.”

“Oh you definitely don’t know much about me… if there’s food, I’m there.” She follows Lucy into the kitchen, Tim already ahead getting everything ready.

•••

Long after Tamara left and Mia was asleep for the night, Tim and Lucy were cuddled up on the couch watching a movie.

“Hey Luce?” Tim whispers looking down at her who was snuggled into his side.

“Yeah?” She answers sleepy.

He pauses the movie before sitting them both up a little bit. “It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this way about anyone. I want you to know how special you are to me.”

Starting to panic, thinking she knows the direction this conversation is going, she sits up even more, worry written all over her face. “Tim, please tell me you’re not—“ before she can continue, he grabs her hand and gives it a squeeze.

“What I’m about to say isn’t bad. I’ve been thinking a lot about you, about us today. I love you, Lucy.”

He could see the shock on her face, placing both his hands on her cheeks pulling her down so he could kiss her forehead. “I’m not expecting you to say it back yet. I know you’ve had a rough day. I just want you to know I’m all in. We can totally go at your pace.”

Looking up at him, unshed tears in her eyes, she gave him the softest smile followed by a kiss. “Tim… I love you too. Honestly I knew I loved you since our second date. Seeing you with Mia did something to me, and still does.”

“Oh yeah? Well, that’s when I knew too. Not that I’ve gone on a lot of dates but I’ve never introduced anyone to Mia. With you, it just seemed natural.”

“Thanks for allowing me to be apart of her life,” her smile gets cut off by a yawn.

“Let’s get you to bed.” He nudges her off of him so he can stand up. Once he is, he reaches out a hand to help her up.

“Can I ask for a favor?” She asks shyly, something he thinks is absolutely adorable.

“Anything.” He tilts his head waiting and ready to give her the world.

“Can we cuddle in bed? I feel the safest I’ve ever felt in your arms.”

“Of course, Luce.” He gives her a quick peck on the lips. “Come on, let’s go.” He grabs her hand and they walk to bed together.

Chapter Text

Tim and Lucy had officially been dating for a few months now. She had long gone back to her apartment, but would often spend at least two nights a week at his house.

Tim hasn’t spent a night away from Mia but that was about to change. Him and Lucy both ended up with the same weekend off and decided to make a little trip out of it.

When asked, Genny didn’t even have to think about it. She was excited about spending the weekend with her one niece, finally having another girl in the house.

•••

Friday after Tim got off of work, he ran home to pack the last minute things he needed himself before double checking he had everything Genny would need for Mia. After he dropped her off, he was going to pick Lucy up and they’d be on their way.

San Diego was somewhere he had been a couple of times but Lucy had never been. Much to his dismay, they were staying at a hotel right on the water. It didn’t make much convincing and puppy-dog eyes from Lucy to get him to agree.

Pulling up to her apartment, he smiled as she was already waiting outside with her bags. Quickly parking, he got out and met her at the back.

“Hi babe!” She walks towards him with a smile.

“Hi love,” he leans in to give her a quick peck. Before he can move to put her bags in the bed of his truck, she grabs his arm and pulls him in for another kiss.

“As much as I love kissing you, we should probably get on the road.”

Rolling her eyes, “you’re no fun.” She jokes but knows he’s right. It’s already after 5pm and traffic getting out of LA is going to be rough.

“I’m so excited for this weekend.” She turns in her seat to face him with a smile.

“Me too, Luce.” He reaches over to grab her hand. She expects him to let go after a few moments, but he doesn’t.

•••

The drive that would typically take just under two hours took over three. Traffic was horrible, like they expected but they got to spend time in the car together so neither really minded that much.

“Alright, check into the hotel and then go and find some dinner?” He looks to her as he parks looking for confirmation on his plans. She responds with a soft nod.

They were staying at the Inn at Sunset Cliffs and Tim made sure they had a room facing the ocean. The sun had already set for the evening but they were hoping to catch at least one while they were here.

Insisting he take both bags, he handed Lucy the key as they made their way up to their room.

She walked in first, holding the door so he could walk through with the bags. After he was inside, she let the door slam, captivated by the view, even though it was almost dark.

“Oh my gosh this is so beautiful!” She says walking over to the small balcony.

“She sure is.” She feels his presence behind her as he wraps his arms around her midsection, placing a kiss just below her ear.

“Mmm.. as much as I love you just holding me, I’m getting hungry.” Practically on cue, her stomach growls and she lowers her head in slight embarrassment.

“Well, let’s get you fed then. Plenty more time this weekend for me to hold you… and do other things,” he winks as he steps away from her.

They ended up walking to a small little Mexican restaurant that was near where they were staying. Walking hand in hand, they decided after dinner they were going to walk the beach.

At the restaurant, they got seated in a booth, both opting to sit next to each other rather than across.

“What are you getting babe?” She looks up from her menu at him.

“The nachos sound good, what about you?”

“Hmm, I’m not sure. I was thinking tacos, but the nachos do sound good.”

“Get the tacos, you can share some of my nachos.” He says sweetly as he leans over to kiss her cheek.

Along with dinner, Tim got a beer and Lucy a margarita. They both agreed it was the best Mexican food they had ever had and would definitely be back someday.

Walking along the beach, holding hands, Lucy couldn’t stop looking over at Tim. He caught on and stopped walking.

“You okay Luce?” Concern growing on his face.

“Yeah… I’m perfect. Just thinking about how truly lucky I am to have you.”

Pulling her into his arms and holding her close, “I’m so lucky to have you, too. Mia’s lucky to have you.” She gives him a sweet kiss on the lips before a smile breaks out on both of their faces.

He takes a deep breath and tightens his hold around her, “I was going to wait to ask you until tomorrow but I feel like now’s the perfect time. Do you want to move in with us?”

“Like permanently?” Is the first thing she can think to say, a little taken back.

“Yeah… unless you’re not ready.” He tries to backtrack thinking he messed up.

Sensing the panic, she puts her hands on his chest. “No babe, it’s not that I’m not ready. I just wasn’t expecting it. But I would love to live with you.”

“Yeah?” He answers with a growing smile.

“Yes, I would love to wake up next to you every day and be more apart of Mia’s life.”

“Good, so it’s settled.” He pulls her in for a kiss, forgetting they’re in public and soon they’re making out on the beach.

•••

Saturday was spent spending time at Mission Beach. There were plenty of shops so Lucy could get her souvenir fix in, Tim even let her pick out a little shirt for Mia. They spent the rest of the afternoon people watching and having some ice cream.

They ended the day with some seafood at a restaurant right on the beach and a nice sunset stroll.

“I’m so glad we did this. We’ll definitely have to come back.” She says as she snuggles into Tim as they continue to walk the boardwalk after dinner.

“Me too baby,” he leans down and kisses her temple. “Definitely need to take Mia and our future kids here.”

“You’ve thought about kids?” She grins.

“With you? Of course I have. Mia is amazing and I want her to have at least one sibling.”

“Mmm that would be nice,” she agrees as she leans back into his chest.

Chapter Text

Lucy was set to officially move in with Tim and Mia in three days. They had slowly been packing her apartment, seeing what they needed to keep and what could be donated or thrown out.

Tim had to work today and Lucy happened to be off so she said she could watch Mia instead of sending her to daycare.

“You ready for some breakfast baby girl?” She asks as she walks out of her bedroom with her.

“Yah!” She claps.

“Okay, let’s get you in your highchair and I’ll get you some food.”

She goes to grab the yogurt and blueberries out of the fridge as well as a piece of leftover sausage to reheat.

“What do you say we go to the park today?” She looks over, knowing Mia knows the word and gets excited every time.

Squealing as she puts her breakfast down in front of her, Lucy smiles and goes to sit in the chair right near her pulling out her phone. Smiling as she sees a text from Tim,

Tim: Hope my two favorite girls are having a good day. Can’t wait to see you both later ❤️

She can’t believe this is her life now. Four months ago, she never would’ve imagined she’d not only find a guy, but a guy that she’d fall in love with as quickly as she has.

•••

After Mia and breakfast is cleaned up, she gets the stroller out and puts Mia in it. They live close enough to the park that they can walk.

“You ready to go?!” Mia just responds with claps.

It was almost a mile walk, but Lucy didn’t mind at all. She liked to go for long-ish walks anyways and pushing the stroller gave her a bit more of a workout.

After getting to the park, she set Mia in the swing and pushed her for a little bit. Her phone started ringing in her pocket, groaning she took it out.

Seeing it was an unknown number, she hung up the call but they kept calling. After the third time, she decided to answer it.

“Hello?” She says into the phone.

“Hi, yes. May I please speak to,” the woman on the other end of the phone pauses for a moment. “May I please speak to Lucy Chen?”

“This is she. May I ask who’s calling?” Her heart starts to race thinking something happened with Tim and maybe he was in the hospital.

“My name is Roberta and I’m calling from California Child Protective Services,” is all she can get out before Lucy interrupts.

“Ma’am, I’m not sure if there was a mixup or something but I don’t have any children.”

“I’m calling about your brother, Kai. I’m assuming you are aware of the current situation ongoing with your parents?”

“…No, I’m not. I haven’t spoken to either in years.”

“Oh, well in that case you may want to stop by St. Stephens hospital. I can meet you there to discuss things.”

Still confused, Lucy mutters into the phone, “okay… yeah… I’ll be there soon.”

Hanging up, she immediately dials Tim’s number. She hates that she has to call him, he’ll probably panic thinking something happened to Mia, but she doesn’t know what to do.

“Hey Luce, everything okay?” She can tell he’s trying to remain calm.

“Hey babe. Mia’s fine, but I think I need to go deal with some family stuff going on. Is there any way—“ he cuts her off before she can even finish.

“Angela is off today, I’ll call her and see if you’d be able to drop Mia off there.”

“Thanks, Tim,” she said with a quiet voice.

“Let me know if you need me. For anything, I’m here for you.” She smiles at his words, remembering for once she isn’t alone.

“I know. I have to go get us home. I’ll keep you updated.”

“Okay. I love you baby.”

“I love you too.”

•••

Once Lucy got Mia situated with Angela, she made her way to the hospital. She was surprised to see a woman with a name tag waiting at the reception desk. As she approached, the woman turned to her.

“Lucy Chen?” The woman holds out her hand, “I’m Roberta, Kai’s caseworker.”

“Nice to meet you.” Lucy says with a nod.

“Let’s head this way and I’ll give you a rundown on what’s going on. If you have any questions, I’m sure the doctor would be more than willing to answer.”

Taking a deep breath as they make their way down the hallway, Roberta begins, “Your mother, father and brother were in an accident late last night.”

Stopping dead in her tracks, Lucy turns to the woman, “are they—“ she can’t even finish her thought before her eyes filled with tears.

“Yes, I’m so sorry.” The woman offers her a sympathetic smile.

“Do you know why I wasn’t contacted?”

“From what I’ve gathered you weren’t on any of their documents. We only found you because Kai mentioned your name and knew where you worked.”

“Is he okay?”

Taking another breath, “He will be, yes. He has some broken ribs and a broken wrist. I’m more worried about how he’ll do mentally.”

“Understandable.” She knows he already has years of mental abuse behind him and now this on top of it.

“I can take you to see him now, if you’d like. He’s been asking about you.”

“Would it be okay if I call my boyfriend first? This is kind of a lot of information to take in all at once.”

“Of course, sweetheart. I’m sorry to have to just dump it all on you.”

“Thank you, Roberta. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She turns to walk towards the cafeteria where it’s hopefully a little quieter.

Finding a chair and sitting down, she takes a few moments to just breathe. She hasn’t gotten the chance, or really wanted to tell Tim anything about her family. Everytime it gets brought up, she quickly changes the subject.

Finally taking out her phone and dialing his number, she waits for him to answer. Finally on the third ring, he picks up.

“Hey baby. How’s everything?”

“Complicated,” she sighs. “Is there any way you could meet me here? I need and want to tell you something and I think I’m going to need some support.”

“Yeah, of course I can. Just wrapping things up here at work. I’ll call Angela and see if she can keep Mia a little longer, if not I’ll call Genny.”

“Okay, call me when you get here. And Tim? Thank you.”

She knows he probably has a lot of questions, but her heart melts at how supportive he is regardless. “Of course, love. I’ll see you soon.”

They hang up the phone and she decides to make her way back to Kai’s room. She hasn’t seen him in a few years, she’s honestly surprised he even mentioned her. Her parents had probably brainwashed him into thinking the same things they did about her.

“Okay, I’m ready to see him.” She walks up to Roberta who is looking down at her phone.

“Great,” she smiles. “Let’s go on in. I’ll go in with you at first and then I’ll leave you two once you’re both settled a bit.” 

Lucy silently thanks the woman before they walk in the room. Kai’s attention immediately going to the door and he smiles when he sees Lucy.

“Hi buddy.” Lucy walks a little bit closer to him, noticing how big he is now.

“You came.” He says with tears in his eyes.

“Of course I came.” Seeing that he’s about to start crying, she makes her way over to the bed and leans down to give him a hug.

“Miss Roberta told me mom and dad are gone, is it true?” He asks tearfully pulling away from her hug.

Sighing, she turns to pull the chair forward so she can sit down. “It is, buddy. I’m so sorry.”

“What’s going to happen to me?” He suddenly asks. Lucy looks over to Roberta for an answer, because quite frankly she doesn’t know herself.

“Unfortunately you’re likely going to be placed into a foster home. But I’ll make sure you get into the best one.”

“Oh.” Is all Kai says before hanging his head low, starting to cry again. Lucy rubs his arm trying her best to comfort him.

“Can I talk to you for a minute in the hall?” Lucy asks the older woman.

She nods and walks out of the room. Lucy goes to stand up and he stops her.

“Wait, are you leaving?”

“No buddy, I just need to talk about grown up things with Miss Roberta. I promise I’ll be right back.” He just gives her a nod before turning his attention back to the tv.

Outside of the room, Lucy closes the door. “Is there anything I can do to keep him out of foster care?”

“Do you have any other family members who could take him?”

“No, my parents don’t have any siblings.”

“What about you?”

“What about me?” Lucy asks confused.

“You could be an option to take him. I suppose you don’t happen to be a licensed foster parent?”

“No, I’m not.” She sighs.

“What about your significant other?”

“I don’t think so, but he’s LAPD.”

“That could work. Often times, officers who aren’t licensed can get licensed rather quickly.”

“Umm, yeah… I’ll have to talk it over with him.”

“Talk what over with me?” She turns to hear Tim’s voice behind her.

“Hey, how’d you find me?” She questions as she’s being wrapped in a hug.

“I’m here so often, they saw me and let me go. I just kept walking until I found you.”

“I’ll let you two talk. I’ll be right in there,” she signals towards Kai’s room before walking back in.

“What was that about? Is everything okay?”

“You might want to sit down for this. It’s a long story.”

Chapter Text

After they both find a chair and sit down, Lucy takes a nervous breath. “You know how I’ve never really told you anything about my family? Like anything at all?”

She glances at Tim who just nods, unsure on where this conversation is going.

“Well that’s because I had to cut both of my parents out of my life. Two-ish years ago was the last I had seen and heard from them, what was supposed to be a nice family dinner turned into them telling me over and over what a disappointment I am to them.”

Before she can say anything else, Tim grabs one of her hands in his own, giving it a squeeze. “I’m so sorry Luce.”

“Thanks. So today when I was at the park with Mia, I got a strange call. When I picked up the phone, it was a woman, the woman I was just standing with. Last night there was an accident…”

Tim’s face drops, knowing exactly what Lucy is about to say. He’s seen situations like this in cases before. He’s been the one having to reach out to those family members.

“Neither made it. But that’s not why I asked you to come here.” She looks down at the ground, scared to tell him. Scared he’s going to walk away.

“Love, whatever it is, you can tell me. I’m not going anywhere.” He says softly reaching over to kiss the side of her head.

“I have a little brother, he’s 11. He was in the accident as well but survived. The woman called me because while I wasn’t on any of the papers for him, he told them about me and they found me.”

“He’s the one in the hospital room I’m assuming?” Tim asks, Lucy just nodding her head. “What do you need from me, Luce?”

“His social worker, Roberta told me it’s possible and will be faster for you to become a foster parent because of your background. I will start everything I need to be able to apply myself but it will take time—“

“Hey, stop,” he says calmly. “Of course I, we can and will do whatever we can to keep him with you. With us.”

“Are you sure? Because I’m sure he’s going to have a lot of trauma. If this is too much for you, I’m sure I can figure something out.”

“Luce, I’m not letting you take this all on your own. Sure, it might not be easy, but we’re going to do it together.”

She finally lets out a breath she had been holding all afternoon, she smiles. “Thank you, Tim. For everything.”

“Anything for you,” he says, and for the first time in her life she fully believes him, that he would do anything for her.

“So, what’s his name?”

“Kai. Do you want to go in and meet him? He’s probably starting to get worried I left, even though I told him I wouldn’t.”

“Lead the way,” he says as he stands up holding out a hand for her.

Opening the door and walking back into his room, they hear him laughing.

“Lucy! Miss Roberta was just showing me funny videos of her dog.”

“Oh yeah?” She smiles before looking at Tim who just gives her a nod. “Hey Kai, I have someone I want you to meet. This is Tim, he’s my boyfriend.”

“Hey bud,” Tim smiles in his direction.

“Hi Mr. Tim, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Roberta, maybe the two of you could talk in the hallway while I stay here with Kai?” Lucy suggests, both the other adults quickly catching onto what she’s getting at.

As Tim and Roberta step out of the room and sit in the same chairs Tim and Lucy had just a bit ago, Tim is the first to speak.

“So Lucy kind of gave me a rundown, but what do I need to do to be able to take Kai in? For us to take him in?”

“Obviously we first try to place children with relatives first, which in this case is what we’re doing. Or sort of, anyways.”

“She said it would be easier for me to get approved because I’m LAPD, is that correct?”

“Yes, since you already have the background check taken care of. All I would need to do is have you fill out paperwork and then to do a home study just to make sure your living area is safe for him.”

“Understandable. So Lucy was actually getting ready to move in with me…” he trails off as he can see she has something to say about that.

“That might get a little tricky. I’ll also start the paperwork for her, but it might take a little bit more time. She wouldn’t be able to be in the home overnights until she’s officially licensed.”

“Got it. Obviously I would like to get the process started but I do believe Lucy and I have a lot to talk about.”

“Totally understandable. From what I’ve gathered from the doctors, Kai will be kept here for observation and therapy for at least a couple more days. But I will get started on the paperwork either this afternoon or first thing tomorrow.”

“Here, take my card. Call or text with anything you need.” He puts his money clip back into his pocket and goes to stand up.

“Tim? What are you doing here?” He hears from down the hallway. He turns to see Luna walking towards him.

“Oh, hey. Long story short, my girlfriend Lucy has a family situation and it’s looking like I’m going to become a foster parent to take her brother in.”

“Oh, that’s amazing. Is it this fella in here?” She asks pointing to the room.

“Yes, Lucy’s in there with him now.”

Nodding her head, “I was actually just about to go in and check on him. Why don’t you come with me and you can introduce me to Lucy.”

Wade and Luna had become vital people in both his life but Mia’s as well. Blood doesn’t mean anything, they were the girls grandparents and they treated her and Tim just like their own.

“Mr. Tim! Lucy told me you like baseball, the Dodgers game just started.”

“Oh awesome, bud. Miss Luna is here to check on you first and then we can watch.”

“Hi Kai, I’m Luna. Can I get you anything? We have some fun toys or coloring stuff.”

“Oh I like to draw.” He says quiet and shy.

“Perfect, I’ll go grab you a sketch pad and some colored pencils, that work?”

“Yes m’am. Thank you.”

“You’re so welcome,” she smiles before turning to Lucy and glancing at Tim.

“Lucy, this is Luna Grey, my Lieutenant’s wife. She also works here at the hospital.” The two women step forward and reach out their hands.

“It’s nice to meet you, Luna. I’ve heard a lot about you and your husband.”

“So nice to meet you, too Lucy. Thank you for making this guy smile again.”

“And on that note, I’m going to go watch the Dodgers with Kai,” he steps around them to sit next to the boy.

“So Tim tells me this is your brother?”

“Yes, very unfortunate circumstance but I’m fortunate and grateful Tim has already stepped up so much for him.”

“Tim’s a great guy. Seeing him become a father and his endless love for Mia has been so beautiful. And then you came into his life and he’s never seemed happier.”

“Aww, thank you. I’m so lucky I found him when I did.”

They were interrupted by the boys cheering, “Hernandez just hit a grand slam!” Kai yells to Lucy.

The two women share a laugh. “I’m going to get the drawing stuff for him and I’ll be right back.” Luna says, squeezing Lucy’s arm as she steps around her.

Once she leaves, Lucy walks over to Tim and sits in the chair next to him. “If you need to leave and get Mia, I totally get it.”

“Genny said she can keep her overnight, she stopped by the house to get her stuff. I’ll stay here until visitor hours are over. I’m assuming you’re planning on staying with him tonight?”

“Yeah,” she looks over at the young boy who is totally focused on the game. “I don’t want to leave him alone.”

“Hey,” he says to get her attention while grabbing and squeezing her hand, “I totally get it. Do you want me to bring you some clothes and stuff?”

“If you could please? I’m not sure how long I’ll be here for. Doctor says it’ll at least be another day, probably two that he’s here.”

“Of course. I’ll get it figured out that I can come and relieve you, too. I know once I fully explain to everyone they’d be more than willing to help with Mia. Plus, Luna already knows and she’s offered to watch Mia overnight before, I just haven’t taken her up on it.”

“What about work for you? What about work for me?” He can tell she’s starting to panic, while also keeping her voice down.

“Baby, don’t worry about that right now. You’ve said your owners are amazing people, I know if you explain the situation they’d give you some time off. I’ll talk to Grey tomorrow. We’re going to figure it out.”

Knowing what she needs without any words, he opens his arms pulling her in for a hug. “I know it’s not always going to be easy, but we’ll get through this.” He whispers as he places a kiss on the top of her head.

Chapter Text

After explaining everything over phone call to Grey and what Luna told him, he was more than willing to give Tim the day off. He was thankful Mia was at daycare today so he could focus on getting prepared for the home visit and Kai coming home.

His house was a three bedroom, the third he was currently using for an office but would quickly need to be transformed into a bedroom for an 11 year old boy.

His first stop of the day after emptying the room was to buy paint. He found out from Lucy that his favorite color was red, so red was what he was going with.

After getting the paint, he needed to stop by IKEA to pick out a bed set, side table and dresser. Fortunately, they will be able to go and get a lot of Kai’s things from Lucy’s parents house, so he didn’t really need any clothes.

He starts the trek trying to find what he needs when he’s approached by a saleswoman,

“Hello there. Is there anything I can help you find today?”

Normally he would say no and just find it himself, but he wants to get everything done as soon as he can so he can go relieve Lucy at the hospital.

“I’m looking for a bedroom set for an 11 year old boy.”

“Sure thing. Let’s take a walk this way,” she turns and starts moving, he immediately catches up to her. “Do you have anything in mind?”

“Not particularly, but preferably nothing too ‘kid’. A basic but nice set is exactly what I’m looking for.”

“I have the perfect set in mind, then. Any color preference?”

“His walls are going to be red, so I guess anything really would work.”

Continuing to walk past some other sets, the woman stops at a dark brown wood set. Everything he needed was there.

“Perfect, I’ll take that one.” He nods towards the woman.

“I’m assuming you need a mattress as well?”

“Yes, I do.” The woman nods with a smile before starting to walk again.

After testing some different mattresses, he finds what he thinks will be the perfect one. He got everything paid for and loaded into his truck before he was on his way back home to get to work.

•••

Once he got home, he got everything into the garage before walking into the house to start painting. It was only about noon, so he was making good progress.

He knew Kai was a big baseball fan from the day before so he couldn’t wait to dig through some of his own stuff to put in the boys room.

A few hours later, the room was painted, furniture assembled, bedding all put together and a few baseball memorabilia hung throughout the room and it was ready for Kai to come home.

•••

Luna was off from the hospital today and insisted on picking Mia up and keeping her however long. Tim missed her but he needed to get the hospital so Lucy could come home and get some rest.

Knowing how bad hospital food is, he picked them up burgers on the way. He knew Lucy’s order but asked her what Kai wanted. Turns out, just like Lucy, he loved mushrooms.

Three burgers, two fries and three drinks in his hand, he made his way back into the hospital. Winding down the quiet hallways, he couldn’t help but think how drastically life was about to change. In a matter of months, he was going from a family of two to a family of four.

But this is the life he wanted. He always wanted a wife, someone to shower with love and come home to at the end of a long day and kids running around laughing.

When he walks up to the room, he hears laughing. Turning the corner, Lucy has her phone out and they must be watching a funny video.

“Hey you two, what’s so funny?” He walks over to the small bedside table and places the food down.

“Oh I was just showing him some clips from america’s funniest videos. We used to watch it all the time when he was younger.”

Laughing, Kai looks to Tim, “This guy he was jumping on the trampoline and it broke and he fell right through.”

“I bet that was funny. You hungry buddy?”

“Very. Lucy said you were bringing burgers? Those are my favorite!”

“I may have told him that,” she winks at him.

As they’re eating, Kai asks Tim about being a police officer and how cool he thinks it is. Even though he was young, his parents always told him he could never have a ‘dangerous’ job like that when he got older.

“So Kai, Tim got your room all ready for you to come home at his house.”

“Wait,” he says looking between the two adults, “don’t you live there too, Lucy?”

“Not yet bud, but pretty soon. I’ll be over to see you every single day though.”

“Oh, okay.” He says sadly as he takes a bite of his burger.

Trying to lighten the mood, Lucy looks over at Tim who just gives her a nod. “It won’t just be us living there.”

That gets his attention and he is visibly confused looking between the two. “What do you mean?”

“I have a daughter. She’s almost two years old.”

“Really?” He perks up, getting a big smile on his face. “What’s her name?”

“Mia, she’s a sweet girl.”

“Aww, I can’t wait to play with her.”

•••

“I’m just going to walk Lucy out but I’ll just be right outside the door,” Tim confirms to Kai before steeping out of the room.

“Thanks for staying with him tonight.” He pulls her into his arms, wrapping his around her shoulders.

“Of course, baby. You go home and get some rest okay?”

“I hate that we can sleep together for the next little while. I already miss falling asleep in your arms.”

“I know. But it’s only temporary.” He kisses her temple while swaying them back and forth.

“Are you okay if I go back to the house tonight?” She asks quietly, almost worried he’s going to say no.

“Of course you can, love. You’re practically moved in anyways.”

“I’ll be back tomorrow morning. I can bring you two breakfast if you want. I’m sure you want to spend some time with Mia, too.”

“The doctor thinks that maybe he’ll get to come home tomorrow. We’ll figure it out.” He reassures.

“You’re right. We will. Good night babe.” She leans in for a kiss.

“Good night, Luce.” He watches her walk down the hallway and disappear around the corner before he walks back into the room to find Kai fast asleep.

Chapter Text

A few days later, they had all tried to settle into their new home life being a family of four. Lucy and Tim both had about a week longer off and she would spend every second there that she could.

“Kai, it’s time to wake up buddy.” Tim walks into his room and gently rubs his shoulder.

“I don’t wanna,” he groans and flips over away from Tim.

“I know, but you have therapy this morning. Come on, let’s go dude. I’m making pancakes for breakfast. Lucy and Mia are in the living room.”

Overall, Kai was doing pretty well. His wrist was casted and his ribs were starting to heal. He’s had a few emotional outbursts the last few days, but after everything he’s gone through it’s to be expected.

After he was dressed and walked into the living room, he turned to Lucy. “I don’t want to go to therapy today!” He yelled.

“I know you don’t want to, but you have to.”

“No!” He shouts back and hits the pillow on the couch.

Tim is in the kitchen but can obviously see and hear everything going on. He’s trying to let Lucy take the lead. Honestly, after everything his dad did to him, he’s a little scared to discipline a boy. He knows he’s not like his father, but what if those same habits come out of him, too.

“I’m not going!” He hears the young boy yell again. Putting down the spatula and taking the pan off the heat, he steps into the living room.

“What’s going on here?”

Sighing and looking defeated, Lucy looks at him and then over to Kai who is sitting arms crossed on the couch. “He doesn’t want to go to therapy. I told him he has to and he started yelling.”

“Kai,” he says sternly. “I know therapy is hard, but going isn’t an option.”

“I don’t care! I don’t want to talk about it!” He says just above a whisper with tears in his eyes.

Exchanging a look, they both move to the couch to sit down with him.

“What don’t you want to talk about, buddy?” Lucy asks rubbing his arm.

“Mom and dad.” Even though he tries, he can’t stop the tears from falling now. Lucy instantly pulls him into a hug.

“I know it’s hard buddy, I do. But we all just want to help you work through those big feelings you have. It’s okay to feel sad, to feel angry and whatever else you feel.”

“Why did this have to happen?”

“There’s a lot of things that happen that don’t make sense, unfortunately. Tim and I won’t ever replace mom and dad and we’ll never try to, but we do promise we’ll give you the love and support you need.”

Wiping the last few tears from his eyes, he puts his arms around Lucy, burying his face in her. “I’m glad it’s you I get to be with.” He says, voice muffled against her shirt.

Not being able to talk due to her own tears, she looks to Tim who just nods. “We’re glad you’re here too, bud. Now what do you say, let’s go to therapy and then you want to go buy some baseball cards?”

Finally perking up, he looks at Tim and smiles. “Yes! Oh yes I can’t wait!” He lets go of Lucy and runs off to go finish getting ready for the day.

“You’re pretty great with him,” Lucy smiles as she scoots over so she’s sitting next to him.

“So are you.” He counters while wrapping his arm around her, pulling her into his chest. She looks up at him with a smile before reaching up to give him a kiss on the lips.

They get a little caught up in the moment and quickly pull away from each other when they hear him coming back.

“More, later.” He whispers against her forehead before planting a kiss there.

Turns out, Kai was a big fan of pancakes. He ate more in the one meal than he had since the whole situation came about.

•••

The therapist had wanted both Tim and Lucy to attend. They sat out and waited while Kai was talking to the woman.

“Let’s grill out tonight. The kids can play in the yard, we can tire them out then before you leave we can cuddle, probably make out some and you know, see where the night takes us.” He looks over at her with a wink, hand squeezing her thigh.

“I like the sound of all of that, especially the last part,” she says with a grin against his lips before they share a kiss.

They both turned when they heard a door opening. The therapist walked out and asked to speak to them while Kai plays in the other room.

“I was just wondering if you two had any concerns for me.” Her eyes wander between them both as they sit down.

“How was he today? He got angry this morning, screaming and crying that he didn’t want to come. Eventually we got him to tell us that he didn’t want to talk about our parents.”

“He was definitely a little more reserved than the past two sessions I had with him in the hospital but your parents did come up. Everyone handles grief differently but from what I can see, he seems to be handling it fairly well all things considered.

I do think it helps that he’s with you who is also grieving in your own way, I’m sure. He can look to you and see that even through your own hurt you’re able to push through. I reminded him that it’s okay to have bad moments, bad days.

I did give him some homework and that’s to whenever he’s feeling sad or angry about their death to think about a positive memory he has. It can be whatever, but it would help him if you two encouraged him to share with you.”

“We can do that.” Tim nods while looking over at Lucy. He can see her wheels are turning and she’s trying to hold it together. Knowing what she’s probably thinking about, he reaches over and grabs her hand holding it and rubbing small soothing circles.

“Great. Okay, I think that’s it for this week. Of course if anything major happens and you feel like he needs to be seen again before next week just give us a call.” They give her a nod before standing up and going to get Kai.

Walking out of the office, he runs the short distance ahead of them to the car while Lucy and Tim slowly walk hand in hand.

“You alright, love?” He looks over at her, noticing how quiet she’s been.

“I guess. Just thinking.” She says sadly. She’s glad her sunglasses are hiding the tears in her eyes. She knows eventually she needs to tell Tim and she wants to, but right now it all just seems like too much.

“You know I’m here for you, right?”

“I know. Thank you.” She sniffles before letting go of his hand to walk to the passenger side of the car to get in.

Chapter Text

Tim dropped Lucy and Mia back off at home while he took Kai to pick out some baseball cards.

It’s been a long almost week since her parents died and they took her brother in. She really hasn’t had time to process her own feelings or emotions. Even though she had cut them off years ago, it still hurt.

That little girl in her still longed for her mom. That little girl in her still longed for her dad. She decided to go sit out on the patio and just hold Mia.

“I promise I’ll always love you. I promise I’ll always tell you how proud I am of you. I’ll always give you kisses and hugs just because. I hope to be the best step mom to you.” She whispers against Mia’s head before placing a kiss in her hair.

“You are the mom that stepped up, Luce.” She looks up when she hears Tim’s voice, wiping the tears on her cheeks with one hand.

“How much of that did you hear?” She asks him quietly.

“All of it.” He walks over and kneels in front of her. “Honey, you know you can talk to me. I know it isn’t just Kai going through the loss. It’s okay for you to have your own emotions.”

That’s all it takes for her to fully lose the battle, tears streaming down her face.

“Come here, baby.” He maneuvers her to stand just long enough to sit down himself and pull her onto his lap. She’s still holding Mia, too.

“Tell me about them, Luce.” His whispers into her as he places a kiss on her forehead.

“I didn’t have the best childhood. I was never good enough for them, never smart enough. I wasn’t an A student and would get reprimanded every-time I brought home a grade that wasn’t an A.

I never got a hug even when I was hurt or scared. Don’t get me started on kisses, I can’t even remember the last time I got a kiss from either one, probably when I was a baby.”

She takes a deep breath, he moves to wipe the tears running down her cheeks. “I’m sorry love. You didn’t and don’t deserve that.”

Before either could say anything else, Mia starts whining. “Here, let me get her down for a nap. Stay right here and I’ll be back. Kai is just in his room going through his baseball cards.”

“Okay,” she says quietly while standing up to allow him and handing over the girl. “Check on him while you’re in there, please? I don’t want him to see me like this.”

“Of course.” He gives her a kiss before walking inside.

Lucy sits back down in the chair and lets her mind wander. She couldn’t help but blame her parents for being the reason she got with her abusive ex. She so badly wanted to get away from them, she let her guard down and was so quick to trust when she should’ve known better.

“Okay, get up for a second.” Tim says as he approaches her, holding out his hand to help her stand. Similar to before, he slid in the chair pulling her down on his lap.

“So,” he kissed her cheek. “What else is on your mind baby?”

“I’m just so mad at them. I think about how differently my life could be if it weren’t for them. I probably wouldn’t have an abusive ex, I probably would be in a career I really enjoy not just stuck and some cafe, and who knows what else.”

Pulling her impossibly closer into him, “You’re allowed to feel every single thing you’re feeling. You didn’t deserve all of that and I know it’s not the same but I will tell you every single day how much I love you and give you kisses and hugs whenever you want. Just because.

And I know you feel like you need to be strong for Kai but let me carry some of that weight. If you need space to grieve you don’t even have to say anything to me, okay? If you’re here and you want to stay, you can go to my… our room or you can come outside. If you need some air, that’s okay too.

I’m here for you. You don’t have to deal with any of this by yourself. If you think therapy will be beneficial to you, too then I will help you find one if that’s what you need.”

“That all means so much to me, Tim. I don’t know, part of it is I feel guilty that we haven’t even been together that long and now you’re not only dealing with me but you took in Kai, too.” Before she can continue, he stops her.

“Luce, neither of you are a burden. What you’re going through is something I couldn’t imagine and I’m going to do the best I can everyday to be there for you two.”

“You already are,” she cries into his chest. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too, sweet girl. More than you know. We’re going to get through this together, okay?”

Lucy just nods her head while whipping the remaining tears from her cheeks.

“Tim! Lucy! Look what card I got!” Kai comes running out of the house over to them.

“What is it buddy?” Tim rubs Lucy’s back while she hides her face in his chest.

“Babe Ruth!” He says excitedly before the smile on his face disappears. “Lucy, are you okay?”

“Yeah I’m okay buddy. Just a little sad.” She looks up, expecting him to just nod, they were surprised when he leans over and throws his arms around her shoulders.

“You always help me when I’m sad. What can I do to help you?”

Her eyes meet Tim, fresh tears in both of their eyes.

“Why don’t I read you a bedtime story tonight that dad read me a long, long time ago?”

“I would like that,” he smiles.

“How does a barbecue sound for dinner tonight, bud? You want to go to the store with me to get stuff for it?” Tim offers, knowing Lucy probably would like some time to herself after all of that.

“Yeah! Let’s go! Can we bring Mia too?”

“Yep. She should be waking up from her nap soon and then we can go. Why don’t you go play in your room for a little bit and I’ll come get you when it’s time?” The young boy just nods before running off back into the house.

“You’re so good with him.” Lucy looks at him, kissing his jaw.

“Well, you two make it easy to love you both,” he say softly while kisses her. “Especially you.” He leans in for another longer kiss.

“As much as I love holding and kissing you, Mia should be waking up soon. We’ll run to the store and you can have some time to yourself. Take a bath if you want. There’s some bath salts underneath the sink I bought for you.”

“Mmm I knew I loved you.” She gives him a quick peck before getting off of his lap and waiting for him to stand up before they walked into the house together.

Chapter Text

A few weeks later and everything was happening pretty quickly. Because of the circumstances, Lucy also quickly got licensed as a foster mom allowing her to finally move in to Tim’s house. They also just received news that Kai’s adoption would be next week. Even though they weren’t married yet, they were both allowed to adopt him.

Between moving Lucy and preparing for the adoption on top of both still obviously working while taking care of two kids, it was a lot. But they had each other and that was everything to them.

The morning of the adoption, Tim woke up first and decided to get breakfast going for everyone. Genny and the boys were coming over before as well.

Tim also had a big question he wanted to ask Lucy today, one he hoped she would say yes and they could officially start their forever as a family of four. They have grown a lot over these last few months and he couldn’t imagine his life without her.

Kai was the first to come out and walked into the kitchen.

Flipping a pancake, he grins as the boy gives him a hug. “Good morning buddy. You excited for today?”

“Yes! I can’t wait to get adopted by you and Lucy!”

Both Lucy and Kai had continued going to therapy and it was helping them both with their trauma and grief tremendously. Lucy was finally able to work through a lot of the feelings she’s had for so many years that she’s pushed down.

Giving him the task to set the table, he couldn’t help but watch Kai, he decided to give him the news before anyone else.

“Hey bud, can you come over here for a second?” The young boy just nods his head as he takes the few steps.

“So, I have a big secret I need your help keeping.” He crouches down so he’s eye level with him.

“What is it?” Kai asks excited.

“I’m going to propose to Lucy today after your adoption. Is that okay with you?”

Before he could even answer, he jumps into his arms. Luckily Tim thinks fast and catches him. “Yes yes! I want you to get married!” He says a little louder than Tim would’ve liked.

“Shhh… I’m glad you’re happy but we need to keep our voices down so Lucy doesn’t hear, she can’t know about it. You think you can do that for me?” He nods his head with a smile. Tim ruffles his hair before sending him back to the table and continuing to make breakfast.

He’s just about to make his way down the hall to get the girls when Lucy comes walking out with Mia in her arms. They’re wearing matching dresses and Tim is pretty sure his heart could explode.

“Wow,” he says with a grin. “Don’t you two look amazing.” He gives Lucy a kiss on the lips and then Mia a kiss on her cheek.

“Alright, I got breakfast on the table. Genny and the boys should be here any minute.” With that, the doorbell rings and Kai runs over to open it.

“Tyler! Troy!” The two boys run in the house and immediately the three start talking over each other, all trying to tell their own stories.

“Boys! Go sit down and eat breakfast. We don’t have very much time before we have to leave.” With that, the three run off with the adults following right behind.

Genny can tell something is off with Tim but just figures he’s anxious about the adoption. It’s a big day for them, even though they’ve been a family for a few months now.

It was only the seven of them going to the adoption but in the meantime, their friends; Wade, Luna, Angela, Tamara and Jackson were all setting up for the barbecue that would follow. It would be their friend’s first time meeting but they both knew they’d all get along perfectly.

•••

“I’d like to introduce you all to Kai Chen Bradford. Congratulations to you all.” It was special to all of them to still keep ‘Chen’ so they made it his new middle name. When deciding the last name, they figured eventually Lucy would change as well and didn’t want him to be singled out or have to go through the process of changing it again.

“I love you guys.” Kai stands up from his chair, still in the court room to hug Lucy and Tim. Mia was sitting a little further back with Genny and the boys.

“We love you too buddy. What do you say we go home and celebrate with everyone?” Lucy hugs him tight, as she has tears in her eyes.

“Let’s do it!” He yells while running off to the boys. Tim stands up first, offering a hand to Lucy helping her stand.

“I love you,” he whispers into the side of her head as they’re walking before placing a sweet kiss there.

“I love you more,” she turns her head slightly to give him a little smile. “Our forever officially starts now.” She leans into him more as they walk together.

He just nods his head with a smile, she has absolutely no idea what’s coming.

•••

Back at home, the barbecue with everyone was underway. Wade had been manning the grill, allowing Tim and socialize with everyone. The only one besides Kai who knew he was proposing today was him.

“So, how are you feeling son?” He asks as Tim walks over with a beer in his hand.

Nodding his head, “feeling pretty good. A little nervous,” he admits shamefully while looking down at the ground.

“Nervous? Have you seen the way she looks at you? The way she talks about you? That girl would never say no to spending the rest of her life with you.”

That seemed to give him the confidence he had been needing. All day he had been trying to think of a perfect time to ask her. Right now, she was sitting down at the table talking to Genny, Angela, Nyla, Tamara and Jackson.

Taking a deep breath, he made his way over there in just a few long strides. She saw him approaching and looked over at him with a smile,

“Hey, you okay?” He steps behind her, placing his hands on her shoulder knowing she’ll reach up and hold them with her own.

“I’m perfect, hey can you stand up for a second for me?” She of course has a confused look on her face, looking over at her friends who just shrug.

Once she’s standing and he’s turned her so that she’s facing him, he takes a breath before starting his little speech. He had gone over this more times than he’d like to admit but just wanted it to be perfect for her.

“Baby, where do I begin. Our relationship has honestly been anything but easy since the beginning but we’ve gotten through it all together. Seeing you with Mia made me realize from very early on how special you are. Then came Kai and you proved to me again what an incredible mom you are and are going to continue to be. You’re the love of my life and nothing would make me happier than to make you my wife. Lucy Chen, will you marry me?”

She struggles at first to find her words with tears running down her cheeks. Giving him a fierce nod is a good enough answer for him before he’s pulling her up onto his arms giving her a kiss.

They almost forget there’s other people and children around, getting a little too carried away with themselves. It wasn’t until they felt a small presence walk up to them that they finally pulled away from each other.

Seeing Kai standing there holding Mia brought tears to Lucy’s eyes, again. This time Tim couldn’t hold back his own, either.

“Why are you guys crying?” Kai asks nervously, worried he did something wrong.

Sniffling, Lucy looks to Tim who just gives her a quick nod. “We’re good bud. We’re just so happy.”

“Oh,” he smiles, “I’m happy too.” Tim takes Mia from him and they all share a hug.

After letting the family of four have their little moment, they were soon wrapped up in hugs by all of their friends and family. The conversation’s all quickly turned into wedding talk after that.

Tim stood back watching all of the people who he loved together, happy as can be. This is family.

Chapter Text

Just wanted to pop on and let anyone who’s still reading that for now, I’m going to leave this story incomplete. I’ve kind of lost my motivation for this fic, unfortunately. 

Who knows, some day I might pick it back up again but for now, it’s finished.

Thank you for all the love on this story 🩷