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Neither of them really knew when Rosa started hanging around the house more often. Jake felt like one day she was busy being too busy with her girlfriend and the force, then suddenly she was trying to teach McClane about gun discipline and helping Jake set up play dates. The shift was sudden enough that Jake appreciated it; raising a baby was hard, and Amy was so busy at work, and Rosa always dropped coffee off at the house on the way to wherever she was in the mornings these days before u-turning and arriving back at the house with semi-practical suggestions.
It took Jake a full six months to realize that she had moved into the house without telling him or Amy.
He brought it up over breakfast, because he figured it had fewer deadly implements than dinner and Rosa probably couldn’t try to stab him in front of McClane. “Uh heh, Rosa – did you need someplace to stay?”
She looked up from her black coffee. “No. I’m staying here.”
“I knew it!” Amy said. She stopped feeding the baby and swiveled toward them both. “I knew she was staying here!”
“Why didn’t you say something, Ames?”
“I’ve been so busy with everything going on at work, and then McClane cut a tooth, and…wait, you’re always here, how did you not notice it?”
“Simple. Crawled in through a back window, sealed it with putty every time I left. No alarms, no barking dogs,” Amy said.
“…That is so cool,” Jake blurted out. “Scary, but cool.”
“Jake! She broke into the house without asking us!” Amy said.
“She’s one of our closest friends and I want to learn how to be Spider-Man,” Jake said.
As the spouses argued, Rosa watched them with dry eyes. “If you want me to go, I’ll move into Boyle’s,” Rosa said flatly.
“No!” Amy and Jake shouted simultaneously. Rosa stared at them, expression deliberately neutral.
“Do you want to let her move in?”
“Well, why not?” Jake asked. “She’s already here!”
“Okay – Rosa, you can move into our spare bedroom,” Amy said.
“Cool. You don’t mind if I bring Arlo?”
“No,” they said together.
“Good. Maybe I’ll teach him how to teach your kid how to walk.”
Jake and Amy shared a confused look, but got back to the business of making sure that McClane was well-fed.
***
Amy cornered Rosa again that night. She had a few more charts to finish off for her upcoming meeting with the city council about how being nicer in general to the public would probably make everyone happier citywide. A simple principle, but someone needed to hear it said aloud.
What Amy needed to hear aloud was Rosa’s approval. It was funny how she needed to know that she was having a good time. Rosa shrugged.
“It’s fine. Your place is nice. Your kid’s cute, and he’s good with Arlo.”
“Okay!” Amy said, the breath whooshing out of her. “Oh, that’s all good to hear. You never said why you decided to spend time with us in the first place.”
“Eh. Wanted someone to hang around with. Keeps me from going back to old habits, no big deal. Still sticking to the single thing. Wanted someplace to hang my laundry. Your guest room was free and you’re both busy half the time so I didn’t think you’d find out.”
“I’m glad I found out,” Amy said. “I’d rather you be happy here than anywhere else alone.”
Rosa lifted her chin. “You want me to listen to you talk about your charts?”
“You think my charts are stupid,” Amy replied.
“Eh,” Rosa said. “I’m bored and I want to help you not suck. Be nice to go out in public wearing my badge without people spitting on me.”
“Oh my God, Rosa!”
She rolled her eyes. “Just tell me about the charts.”
Amy did to. And to her amazement Rosa actually listened.
**
One day they were sitting together on the couch. It had been six months, and Rosa was still there.
All of a sudden Rosa said between bites, “so. You guys want to fuck?”
Amy choked on the tea she’d been sipping, and Jake’s eyes lit up.
“Yes! I mean what! What a horrible idea, Rosa!” His voice was so high-pitched that Amy elbowed him in the side to make sure he wasn’t choking to death on his own spit.
“So is that a no?” Rosa asked.
“We’d’ve rather you took us out first,” Amy said.
“I did ask,” she said. “Gun range, three weeks ago.”
Jake’s mind pulled up a blank. It had been very noisy that day. “You asked me an important threesome question at a gun range?! Rosa!”
“No, after the gun range over beer. You were trying to get a selfie with that big stuffed bear they have,” she said.
Jake gasped. “Mr. Bearington, the Bear that runs on fumes!”
“You acted like you heard me. Why do you think I’ve been listening to you talk about your charts and dumb stuff like that? Besides the fact that I care about you. Basically.”
“That’s…almost sweet coming from you,” said Amy.
“We’re all basically dating anyway and raising our kid and dog together. So are we fucking or what?”
Amy and Jake simultaneously agreed and disagreed to the threesome.
“Why did you say no?” Amy asked.
“Are you kidding me?” Jake wondered. “If I say yes and it goes badly you’ll both kill me.”
“No…maybe,” Amy said. “But I’m sure Rosa is willing to forgive you.”
“Just don’t put your fingers anywhere I don’t tell you. And if you grab my ass without permission, I’ll kill you.”
“Good. Good to know,” Jake said. But the girls were pulling him into the bedroom. How could he resist?
It went well.
Very well.
***
Rosa never really moved out. Their friends never asked questions – oh, they gossiped and speculated about what had happened and why Rosa was living with Jake and Amy, but no one pressed. It felt like topic that was too intimate, a bridge that went way too far.
But they were happy together – all three of them, McClain and Arlo, their charts and their guns.