Chapter Text
The sound of yelling was what greeted Tim Bradford as he entered his house and hearing his wife putting down her foot with their daughter had him going about his usual routine. He emptied his lunchbox and put the items in the dishwasher before heading towards the kids’ bedrooms. He found Lucy in the doorway of Zoe’s room, starring their daughter down as Zoe stood with her arms beside her, fists balled up. The five year old was mad and wanted her way, which wouldn’t be happening.
“What’s going on here?”
“She took my tablet!” Zoe stated loudly.
Lucy nodded, “I did and even if you clean this room as I asked you to do several times, you still aren’t getting it back till Friday. We don’t yell in this house.”
“I hate you!”
Tim moved around his wife and knelt down beside his daughter. “Don’t say that, you hear me? We don’t say that because tomorrow your mother could go out on patrol and she could get hurt. You may never see her again and the last thing you say to her could be that you hate her. I don’t ever want you to say that again. Not even if she hurts your feelings or does something you don’t like.” He caught his daughter’s chin. “Do you understand me, Zoe?”
Zoe nodded. “Yes sir.”
“Now clean this room or a lost tablet will be the least of your worries.” He stood up and walked back towards Lucy, who ran her hand down his arm as he moved past her into the hallway.
Leaving Zoe sitting on the floor instead of cleaning her room, Lucy checked on Theo to find him playing with his toy cars and the plastic slides that came in a set for them. With both kids occupied, she found Tim in the kitchen starting on dinner. “Are you okay?”
“I can handle a lot Luce, but hearing Zoe say she hated you just…” he let go of the knife in his hand and put his hands on the counter. “She has no idea how lucky she is that she has not one but two parents who are still alive on the force. I can count at least five funerals I’ve been to as a cop that a child was sitting beside a grieving spouse. A child who won’t ever see their parent again.”
Lucy walked around the bar and hugged him, finding herself engulfed in the hug also. “I know.” She closed her eyes as she felt him kiss her head. “She doesn’t understand yet. Her world is still so small and mostly focused on herself. Give her time,” she pulled back and cupped his face. “Give her time and she’ll understand. Not today, not tomorrow, but someday.”
Tim shook his head. “I don’t know, maybe I should retire. Nox is retiring next year and maybe I should too.”
“If you want to retire, I’m not going to stop you.” Lucy ran her hand up and down his upper arm. “I just want you to make the decision because it’s what you want. Not because of what Zoe said or what you think you need to do.”
“I’ll think it over. Look at benefits, schedules, a multitude of things before I decide. Most of all, I’m not doing anything without speaking to you.”
Lucy nodded, “good. That’s the most important part of all that, after the kids of course.”
“I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have you.” He kissed her forehead. “I still can’t believe I walked in all those years ago and this annoying rookie just became my life.”
Laughing, Lucy kissed him before pulling out of his arms. She pointed to the counter where the knife he laid down was. “Dinner, I have laundry to do.”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Oh, I forgot to tell you that we got a wedding invitation.” She picked it up from the counter and showed him. “Army buddy? It was addressed to your old house.”
Wiping his hands on the nearby towel, Tim took it from her. “Yeah, Matthew Kitner. He was this annoying kid that all of us felt was too young to be there. Just graduated not even three months before deployment. Saved my life once by pulling me down right before a bullet hit the wall behind me. When I got home, he was still there. I told him if he ever wanted to join LAPD, let me know. Works as a mechanic near Malibu.”
“Means I get to go shopping for a new dress.” She kissed Tim’s shoulder. “Other things too.”
“Really?” He glanced as he smirked. “Any chance you need help with that?”
Laughter escaped the shorter cop, “that would ruin the surprise.”
“I can be surprised twice.” He put the invitation down and turned to her. “Or a few times if I’m honest.” Letting his eyes run down and up her body again, Tim grinned. “Lucy Bradford in lingerie is a look I love.”
Pointing at him, she moved around the bar. “Down boy, behave and I might be enticed to pull out something for your viewing tonight.”
“Gross.” They heard Tamara before they saw her. “Seriously, you’ve been married almost six years, together longer. Sex should be something you write in your calendar now.” Tamara looked at the two as she put her purse on the counter. “I dumped Trevor.”
Lucy looked concerned. “Why? I thought you liked him.”
“Do I need to shoot him?” Tim inquired before going about chopping the onion that was in front of him.
Tamara shrugged. “I know relationships are hard but it just sort of plateaued. He didn’t want to do anything at all other than stay home and sure, saving money in LA is necessary but not stay home and do nothing ever. Don’t even get me started on his comments about some of my foster kids.” She shrugged, “I may need to move back in. Sorry.”
Tim pointed to the hallway with the knife he had in hand. “Your room is still there. We haven’t done anything to it.”
“I’ll have rent for you once…” she trailed off when receiving one of Tim’s stares. “I can at least pitch in with groceries. I’ll even take the twins to school since it’s on my way to work.”
Lucy put her arm around Tamara. “We’ll accept the help but you’re family, family doesn’t pay rent or groceries. Besides, if you tried, I think Tim would have a heart attack.”
“Aunt Tamara!” Screams of excitement filled the air as the twins ran into the room and hugged her.
“Oh if it isn’t my favorite people ever!” Tamara knelt down and hugged the two kids. “I missed you so much.”
“I lost a tooth!” Theo grinned and showed the gap.
Tamara nodded. “You did, I see that. Did the tooth fairy come?”
“I got a whole dollar!” He jumped up and down.
“Wow, when I was a kid I got a quarter.” Tamara told him. “Must be inflation.” Lucy had to stop herself from laughing as the kids started bombarding Tamara with everything in their lives. It allowed her to slip into the kitchen and help Tim with dinner.
The bar was busy but Tim knew it would be when he walked through the door. Lucy’s rookie was doing the night shift so it meant she was doing the night shift. Tamara was home and all but pushed them out of the house with claims they needed to get from beyond the four walls and the twins. The atmosphere was relaxed even though the bar was filled with active and retired military, cops, and firefighters. He saw Matthew Kitner at a table with two of their old unit and two other men he didn’t know. It was likely they were from other tours Kitner had been on.
“Hey, Serge is here!” The groom-to-be stated as Tim approached the table with his hands in his pockets. “It’s been years.”
“Close to twenty.” One of the men held out his hand and Tim caught it, giving the man a half hug. “Last I saw you was at your wedding. Isabel was her name, right?”
Tim nodded. “Yes. Good memory you have there Dell, can’t say the same for the rest of you.” He motioned to the man’s leg. “You ever get that carbon fiber leg you wanted?”
Dell lifted his pants a fraction. “I did. Works like a charm too.”
“Serge, you remember Ryan Wheats.” Kitner spoke while motioning to the man in question, someone they both served with.
“I do. How are you?” Tim shook the man’s hand. “Still working over at the 87?”
A nod was received before the man spoke. “You bet. One adrenaline job after another. Got myself hitched last year.”
Tim chuckled. “This guy know you have a bad smoking habit and don’t know what a vacation is?”
“I think he loves that about me.”
Noticing the two across the table, Tim held out his hand. “Tim Bradford, served with Kit. His first tour and to be honest, I’m surprised he didn’t go AWOL after that one.”
The bigger of the men shook Tim’s hand. “Devon Cox and this is Daniel Taggart. Served his last tour, we were going in while he was coming out.”
“What do you do now?” Taggart asked him as Dell ordered him a beer.
“I’m a K9 sergeant over at Mid-Wilshire Division of LAPD. Work mostly with Metro and various other situations.”
“FBI.” Cox stated after taking a sip of beer. “Taggart works security at Shaw Memorial.”
Being handed a beer, Tim looked to his friend. “Thanks Kit.” His attention went to Cox. “Most of the people in my division go through Shaw for post-shift injuries. I don’t know how often I’ve been over there now.”
The conversation flowed and a game of pool was started, competition between the army officers flowing strongly. Despite being six people, the person playing really didn’t matter to them as they spent most of the night talking. It was only around midnight when Tim was thinking of heading home as he was tired. Dell, Taggart, and Wheats had left so only Tim and Cox remained with Kitner and they migrated to the bar.
The sound of the bell on the door rang but no one paid any attention to it. A familiar voice made Tim turn to see Lucy and Peter Phan, her rookie. She motioned to the bar as if to prompt him to speak to the bartender. She hadn’t spotted Tim yet or she decided not to bother him. A nudge to his arm made him look to Kitner and Cox. “Cop, uniform take cute and makes it hot.” The words were from Cox and Tim took a sip of his beer to prevent saying anything unnecessary.
“Definitely at least a seven.” Kitner replied, “what about you Serge? What do you think?”
Paying attention to the rookie, he listened as the bartender was questioned. “Have you seen this man?”
“Frequent customer.” The bartender took the photo and looked at it. “It’s probably Tom, Tom Walker. Comes in around five every evening to nurse a bottle. Going through a nasty divorce and soon-to-be ex-wife still shares the house.” The man held out the photo and Phan took it back.
“Thank you.” Phan told him and held out his card. “If you think of anything else, please give us a call.”
The two left just as they arrived, empty handed, and Tim knew Lucy saw him but decided to let him hangout with friends. He knew because he felt her hand travel across his back lightly as she passed him. After downing the remainder of the bottle, he pulled his wallet from his back pocket to withdrawal enough money for his drinks plus tip. Cox glanced up at him. “You headed home so soon?”
“I have a babysitter with my kids and I’d like to relieve her. I’m sure I’ll see you guys at the wedding next month.”
Kitner stood up and took Tim’s hand. “Good to have you and thank you for coming.”
“You’re welcome. You ever want to get together with our significant others just let me know. My wife can cook and people swear by her cooking.”
“Sure, I’ll talk to my fiancée, Alice. I’m sure she’d love a night not having to cook.”