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While Lucy heads to the locker room to change out, Tim makes his way up to his office to sign off on his team’s paperwork. It’s his least favourite part of his job—the reports, the shuffling of files, the bureaucracy of it all. But at least in Metro it’s just a small part of his day; he spends most of his time in the action, out on the streets with his team. He can’t help but shake his head to himself, reminded once again how right Lucy had been, this really had worked out so much better.
And then as if somehow sensing his thoughts, she steps out of his head and into his office.
“Hi,” she says softly, smiling brightly as she crosses the room to hop up and sit against the edge of his desk. He’s immediately distracted by her—how could he not be? Her glowy smile, the smell of her perfume, the way her hair swishes behind her. She’s intoxicating.
He grins up at her, unable to keep the smile off his face for even a second. And then he just can’t help it, he has to drop his pen and press his palms into the desktop, pushing himself up so he can give her a proper greeting. He kisses her quickly, softly, chastely. “Hi back,” he murmurs, his lips barely leaving hers as he speaks.
Somehow he pulls himself away and drops back into his chair. He doesn’t, however, manage to take his eyes off of her as he blindly scratches his signature on the bottom of the stack of pages piled on his desk.
“So,” he starts after he’s signed the last of the forms, “today was actually pretty fun.” He reclines back in his chair, lacing his fingers together behind his head and trying not to laugh at the bewildered look on Lucy’s face.
“Fun?” comes her incredulous response. “Which part? When we lost the kid the first time? Or the second?”
He laughs, shaking his head fondly as he leans closer to her. “I just meant, it was fun doing that with you . You really are a good influence, you know,” he adds with a soft smile. “A year or two ago? I would probably have pawned that kid off on someone else. Or made you do push-ups after every call.”
She rolls her eyes, but there’s no contempt behind it. “Thank god for my influence!” she laughs. She pauses, chewing on her lip for a second before continuing, her voice softer now. “And by the way, I meant what I said earlier—you really are gonna be a great dad.”
“Lucy,” he says, folding his arms across his chest, his expression suddenly serious. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”
Her head jerks up at his question, and for a split second, her eyes are sparkling, she’s staring at him like she’s sure he’s kidding. But as she looks at him, her expression shifts—her eyes go wide and her mouth pops open in surprise.
“Wh-what?” she stammers. “Oh my god, no! I’m not—no! Obviously not. No, no, no. No.”
She jumps up from her perch on his desk and starts pacing around the small office as she continues to ramble. “I just meant—you want kids, and obviously I want to have kids. And yeah, we’ve talked about this a bit before. I mean, we talked about grandkids, you know? And it’s not like we’re getting any younger or anything.”
She gestures wildly with her hands as she keeps talking. “And okay, sure, you’re a man, and it’s different. You can have babies when you’re ninety, but I have a biological clock ticking away. So if we want to, we can’t wait too long. It’s obviously not, like, a tomorrow thing or anything, but in a year, or maybe two or something. At some point. I’d like to be more settled with my career, I’m still just a P2, but when the timing makes sense I want to. For sure I want to, and obviously with… you know, with you. So yeah, down the road, but not like, too far down the road. When we’re ready. One of these days, or years, or—”
And then he can’t hold back a moment longer, can’t keep the laughter at bay. His eyes dance with amusement, his chest and shoulders rumbling as he bursts out laughing, watching her whip her head to look at him.
“You… ugh you ass!” she practically shrieks, rushing across the room to smack her open palm against his chest. “Are you kidding me right now?” She’s tearing into him, but he can see the way her lips are curling into a smile. “Here I’ve spent half the day thinking about our future family, and you’ve been plotting?”
He chuckles, shaking his head and taking her hand in his. “Oh, like you have room to talk? I almost crashed the shop after that stunt you pulled on your last day as my rookie!”
“And look how well that turned out!” Her smile has blossomed into a full-blown grin, and now she’s practically beaming as he pulls her close.
“Come on,” he says, wrapping his arm around her neck, his hand draping over her shoulder. He tips his head closer to hers, his lips close to, but not quite touching her skin as he grins. “Let’s get you out of here before you lose any more kids.”
He can’t see her face, but he knows she’s rolling her eyes. And then he hears her laughing right along with him, feels her lean into his touch, reaching to cover his hand on her shoulder with her own as they make their way out of his office. Their hands migrate from Lucy’s shoulder down to their sides during the elevator ride down to the parking garage, their fingers tangling together as they walk.
“You’re coming over, right?” she asks when they reach their vehicles, tossing her keys around in her hands as she leans back against the side of her car.
“Hmm, I don’t know,” he replies slowly, drawing out the words and pretending to think for a second. “I seem to remember someone calling me an ass a few minutes ago.” He doesn’t bother trying to keep the grin off of his face—he’s come to realize that it’s impossible when he’s around her.
She leans closer to him, popping up onto her tiptoes, bringing her mouth so close to his ear he can feel the heat of her breath as she speaks. “Well I was thinking… just because we’re not ready for it now, doesn’t mean we can’t… practice a little…”
He turns his head to meet her eyes and feels his heart race at the way she’s looking up at him, the intensity of her gaze lighting a fire inside him. He ducks his head down, kissing her briefly before shifting his attention lower, his mouth dancing along the soft skin of her neck, punctuating each word with a press of his lips. “I like the way you think.”