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Lucy and Tim hadn’t asked the Chen’s to do much in the way of helping with their little bundle of joy. They still didn’t like their daughter being a cop, they liked her marrying one even less, “The domestic abuse statistics Lucy!”
Wade Grey had been introduced to his friend's child as Papa Wade jokingly but he’d let it stick. His wife and daughter insisted on it, they loved little Opal and volunteered for babysitting whenever they could. None of them liked the pinched faces of the Chen’s at the baby shower, and while Elenor Bradford was smiling, she didn’t look healthy enough to really help out. So he became Papa Wade, Luna talked Lucy through her first month of motherhood where her own just suggested a desk job instead, and his daughter switched off with Tamara on babysitting between the Bradfords and the Evers. It went unspoken that when they all got together, He would hold Opal while Luna shoved Lucy and Tim into chairs to consume some amount of nutrition. She was named for the stone that replaced the moonstone in Lucy’s ring. It shattered the week before Lucy and Tim got together. Moonstone saved her, and the opal Tim replaced it with was so similar, but it would last as long as they would.
So when there was an earthquake while Tim and Lucy Bradford were visiting Rosalind in prison by request of the psychologist creating her complete files, the Bradfords just sent a request in the Mid-Wilshire BBQs group chat asking for confirmation about their 18 month old being safe.
Wade was sitting at a desk more as Supervisor and got through the secure landline in his office to the daycare. While everyone was fine, the building was not and they needed people to pick up their kids ASAP.
Well shit! Wade knew Luna wouldn’t mind but he didn’t want her driving out in this mess. She wasn’t having any of his “nonsense” today though. She said she’d walk or bike if she had to, but she’s picking up that baby girl and bringing her straight to the precinct. Their house was not safe right now, she needed to be out of it anyway. Wade was happy that it was all working pretty smoothly for that check mark off the to do list. Lucy sent Luna a big emoji in thanks.
So when an hour passed without any word, Wade got just as nervous as the Bradfords. Maybe he wanted to be spamming the group chat as much as Lucy, but he had a little stubborn pride left.
Luna walked in with Opal on her hip, and a stormy expression. The stress knot in his back lessened but didn’t disappear.
“I’m putting Opal down in your office for a nap.” Luna said with her forced happy voice for the baby and angry eyes without even stopping.
When she came back down the stairs, still within earshot of his slightly ajar office door she was grumpy as all hell and Wade was a little nervous if it was directed at him.
“The Chen’s came to pick up Opal! And they were not good about it.”
Oh lord, thought Wade, those two.
“Anything arrestable?” Wade looked back at the paper reports he was getting about where he needed to send patrols.
“No, but they were trying to bully the daycare workers into handing over Opal because she needed to be safe even if her parents weren’t going to do it.” Luna started pacing around Wade, “They’re doing their jobs, and they did send someone to make sure their kid is okay, I was on the phone with them the drive over. Sorry about not telling you by the way, but I had them on when I finally got through the busy phone waves so that they could tell the poor abused worker there that I’m the one that would have the extra car seat and I should take her!”
Wade just Hmmphed in solidarity, there wasn’t anything he could do accept be pissed about it.
“They didn’t even have a car seat Wade! What were they going to do?”
“Look, they've been causing Lucy and Tim issues since Lucy became a P2. They don’t go about things in the best way and they get cold when they don’t get their way. They’ll cause a bit of a scene and then they’ll refuse to talk to them for a few months. It’s just how they are.”
Luna let out a sad laugh, “I think Opal called me Nana, she was babbling in my arms and I think they realized it.”
Wade knew that Luna had really bonded with Lucy after her mother wasn’t the happiest that she wasn’t going off patrol and into a desk as soon as she got the plus sign on the pregnancy test.
“That’s great! You’ve got your name beside my papa huh?”
“Yeah, she’s a cutie ain’t she?” Luna patted her husband's arm, “If they come to BarBQue nights again to make that scene I might just smack them and I’ll need you to vouch for me yeah?”
“You know I would.” He kissed her cheek and watched her walk back into his office with the baby girl that filled the same bit of their hearts and arms whenever Tim was manning the grill on their monthly get-togethers.
It was at the next one at the still-standing Bradford residence that Tamara ended up answering the door to a petition for joint custody from the Chen’s.
Lucy ended up crying into Luna’s shoulder, clutching her baby girl to her chest. Angela had to drag Tim to the other end of the yard before he pulled his off-duty piece on the messenger. Wesley was the one who ended up telling his kids on the blow-up mattress in the living room about why they were having an emergency sleepover and brushed away tears that Mama wouldn’t let anything happen to Uncle Tim, or Aunt Lucy, or Cousin Opal.
It was the last straw, the Bradfords didn’t speak to the Chen’s again except through an attorney Tamara found and Wesley vetted intensely. They argued that Tim and Lucy couldn’t take care of their child full time because of their jobs, it fell through in an instant. And Tim had even sheepishly asked if Wade would speak on their behalf. He just said that this time waste had cost them time off that they usually spent with their daughter. Tamara came right after him with a list that they had made with Opal’s schedule that they adhered to filled with love and play and family time. He held his own girls close on the benches in the courtroom after they had both spoken, and the yuppity little pipsqueak arguing for the Chen’s pushed how much time they spent watching Opal.
The nightmare of family court stuck around far too long in everyone’s opinion. It became the bane of BBQ nights when they had to go without Lucy’s amazing dumpling sides for 2 months in a row.
When it was over they threw 2 BBQs that month to catch up, and if it happened to fall on family day? Well, Wade wouldn’t know anything about that no matter what Luna said. And while it took a lot of self-control, he did not lose his job from hitting someone. But it was a god-ordained miracle that the same could be said for Lucy. Tim probably had a lot of hours clocked on the pads against her gloves. But that was okay, Wade didn’t have to fight anyone outside work, that made it a good day.