Chapter Text
She’d always loved his arms.
It was one of the first things she noticed about him. The way his arms filled out the sleeves of his uniform, how the fabric clinged to his muscles when he moved a certain way. Heat pooled low in her belly every time she saw him on a call, especially when he had shed his turnout coat and was just in his LAFD issued t-shirt. At the end of the call she would lean against her car and allow herself a minute to admire him from a distance before she called him over to sign her incident report.
Athena thought it was funny this was the thing her brain started to focus on. She had always appreciated fit men. Emmett had to be fit for his job, but being a cop was more about being fast than having a ton of muscles. He was strict about his workout routine, but it entailed a lot of running. She didn’t like to admit it, but she always had a hard time keeping up with him when they went on a run together. Micheal was a very different story. He liked to go to the gym, but was not consistent with it. Architecture didn’t require him to be very fit or strong so it made sense he wasn’t as rigid with his schedule.
Bobby was something else. To be able to wear his heavy equipment and drag people out of buildings, he had to be strong. He preferred to do his workouts at the firehouse whenever he had a slower shift or he went before his shift began.
The first time Bobby pulled her in a side hug, her brain shortwired. Athena hadn’t seen it coming, too busy fending off Chimney’s questionnaire about who would win in a fistfight between him and a kangaroo. She heard Bobby chuckle just before he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and tugged her into his side. The vibration of his laugh went right through her body.
Those hugs became a staple in their friendship. Every time they saw each other there was always someone initiating a hug in greeting. Over the course of the next few months they evolved from side hugs to actual hugs. She started to look forward to meeting him and being in his arms for a few seconds. It felt like he would squeeze her a little tighter and a little longer every time they met. Or maybe it was just her mind playing games with her.
Of course it wasn’t long before Hen saw her staring at Bobby. The woman was way too perspective for her own good and her new life mission was teasing Athena with her new found crush. Hen got too cocky and too loud at one of their team barbecues after too many glasses of wine. Her wife was trying to stop her, but Hen was nothing but persistent and stumbled to her best friend. She asked Athena when she finally was gonna do something about her and Bobby.
It was just Athena’s luck Bobby was in hearing distance when Hen decided to throw her that question. In hindsight she was happy with that little push, because she would have never taken the first step otherwise. Bobby ended up getting her alone to talk about it. The conclusion of the conversation was them deciding to go on a trial date, just to see how it would be when it was just the two of them.
They decided to go for dinner. Athena had the hardest time to decide what she was gonna wear. It had been a decade and a half since she had a first date. Besides that, her work life would get really difficult if this wasn’t going to work out and they still had to see and talk to each other almost every day at work. No pressure at all. She decided on an asymmetrical dress and her favorite heels. This way she would at least look good if the date was a failure.
Of course the date didn't fail. They had the best time and Athena was glad she got to ogle his arms in that jacket. A fact that didn’t escape Bobby’s attention and he dropped his jacket halfway through dinner. He had to smirk when Athena didn’t even hide her appreciation for her new view.
Bobby decided to drop her off at her house after dinner. He went for a hug, but Athena had different plans. She put her hands on his cheeks and pressed her lips against his. Bobby forgot to react for a second, but recovered quickly and put his hands on her back and pulled her closer. They only stopped when air became a necessity and they were both panting when they parted. Athena took another chance and invited him in with the promise her children were gone for the night. She was gonna show him how much she appreciated his decision to get rid of his jacket mid-dinner.
--
They were hanging on the couch, watching one of their favorite shows. The volume was on low and they changed their positions from sitting to lying down. Athena was trapped between the back of the couch and Bobby’s body. Her hand was trailing up and down over his chest, while his hand was resting on her hip. Every now and then his fingers would slip underneath her shirt to stroke the warm skin there. They were just talking about the beginning stage of their relationship where they just told everyone about them.
Bobby started to chuckle and Athena couldn’t help but join in. “You were doing it on purpose!” She laughed and lifted her hand to hit him softly on the chest, but Bobby was quicker and grabbed it. “Of course I was. You weren’t exactly being very subtle with your staring baby.” He pressed a kiss at the back of her hand and squeezed it softly. “I can’t believe you dropped your water bottle in the middle of your workout. There were other people there.”
One day Athena was bringing some food to the station and stumbled on her man working out. She got the different meals to the kitchen and went back downstairs. It was quite busy in the gym area. Chim and Hen were talking in a corner and waved at her. Athena went over to Bobby who was pressing some weights in the middle of the room. She smiled at him and waited until he put the dumbbells down. “How is it going?” Her tone was soft, but flirty and she pressed a quick kiss to his lips. Because of his workout Bobby’s arms had a pump to ‘em she couldn’t ignore. He noticed her eyes were wandering off to his midsection so he decided to drop his water bottle, causing some water to fall on his upper body before it hit the ground. Athena’s eyes snapped to his and she made a sound in disbelief.
Bobby had to change his shirts and discovered he had never exchanged his emergency shirt, which was way too small now. His teammates had teased him mercilessly about that moment, but Athena’s reaction to the whole situation was making everything worth it.
--
The sun was beating down on her skin and she turned around on her stomach. Her lips curled up in a smirk when she saw Bobby sitting under their umbrella. He had slathered almost the whole bottle of sunscreen on his skin, her Minnesotan man still not used to the Californian sun. She used to make fun of him about it, but now she was glad he took it so seriously. Last year he had a skin cancer scare and since then she always packed two bottles of sunscreen just in case.
It was a pain to get him to the beach. He didn’t see the point of it, because he always ended up beneath the umbrella and he would rather do something useful. She wasn’t sure yet if that entailed actually doing something useful or if it was an excuse to get her to bed.
She was glad she didn’t have to restrain herself anymore when she was around him. Athena always had been a touchy person with the people she loved. So it was only natural she had this urge to put her hands on his upper arms and chest whenever she was close to him. Most of the time she did it to either comfort him or comfort herself, but sometimes she just wanted to feel how strong her man was. Those times mostly ended up with them in bed or another horizontal surface, but neither of them was complaining about it.
After a few seconds Bobby noticed her gaze and looked up from his book. He threw her a boyish grin that made her get up from her lounge chair. She strode over to him and bent over to put her hands on his thighs. Bobby’s eyes dropped to her swimwear; a very modest orange bikini. It was a different one than the one she wears when it’s just the two of them. “You forgot a spot babe.” He swore she dropped her voice on purpose and he looked at her finger going up and down over his bicep. “Well, we should do something about that, shouldn’t we?” He dropped his book next to his chair. Faster than Athena could react he had grabbed her around her thighs and he hoisted her over his shoulder. He heard her let out a surprised shriek as her arms went around one of his when he broke out in a run to the ocean.
Athena’s world went upside down in a fraction of a second and there was nothing she could do, except hold on and hope he knew not to get her hair wet. Her hands gripped one of his arms and she couldn’t be mad anymore. She felt his muscles move beneath her fingers while he had a hard time moving on the loose sand. A little later she felt the salty water up her legs and before she could go under, Bobby hoisted her back up and put her down in waist-deep water. He knew wetting her hair meant war. Her eyes were even bigger than normal and she hitted him on the shoulder. Before she could speak he grabbed her again and pressed his lips against hers. Her hands ended up on his upper arms. Sometimes she forgot how strong he actually was.
--
Her fingers lingered on his skin after she wrapped his upper arm with some new gauze. The previous one was saturated and the red color against the white fabric was giving her the chills. She looked up at him and found his soft brown eyes already staring at her. “This was a close one Bobby.” Her chest felt tight when she thought about the alternative ending that could have happened last night. She felt his good hand at her face, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. It was a sweet gesture and it made the iron fist around her heart feel a little less tight. His hand slipped down to her neck and she felt him pull her towards him. She resisted a little, didn’t want to hurt him, but Bobby was nothing but determined and she lied down on his good side.
It was a hostage situation gone wrong. After hours of negotiation the hostage taker agreed to let two first responders in. Bobby took Chim with him to look over the hostages. Athena didn’t know what went wrong but they all heard a gunshot not long after they entered the store. Her heart sank to her stomach when she heard Chim’s frantic voice coming through the radio. The whole scene became chaotic when the hostage taker got taken down and a few minutes later she saw Bobby being brought outside on a stretcher. His face was white and they had cut off his shirt to wrap his arm. They were rushing him to the ambulance and if it wasn’t for Hen pushing her into said ambulance she would have still been rooted at the same spot she stood before.
The gunshot wound to his arm ended up being through and through and he was discharged the same evening. After the initial shock Athena hadn’t left his side. She gave the doctors and nurses room to work, but she was always just in reach in case Bobby needed her. Hospitals were not his thing and he wanted to leave immediately when he was patched up. She convinced him to stay a little longer and sat down next to him on the bed. The hospital bed was almost too small for his big frame, but he still got her to lie down with him and for some reason it fit.
--
Her favorite moment came many years later when May told them she was pregnant. They were so ecstatic about becoming grandparents. Athena just hadn’t realized how she would feel seeing Bobby holding their first grandchild in his arms. Little Ainsley was a small baby, her arrival in the world premature by three weeks. The infant almost disappeared in her grandfather’s arms when he was holding her. Bobby was handling her with such love and caution it made Athena tear up. She stood next to his chair and her fingers were trailing absentmindedly along his shoulders while her gaze was fixed on their newest family member.
This man was so good with children. She knew it because he has always been there for May and Harry. He was a little too enthusiastic at times and the kids definitely knew it, but everything came from a place of love. The first time she saw him around a baby was when Jee was born. Because covid was still around it had been a few months before they met the youngest addition to their fire family. The moment he picked her up and put her close to his chest with those delicious strong arms, Athena was a goner. She showed her appreciation for them later that night when they were home again.
Bobby had made enough food for May and Darius to feed them for the next few weeks. Along the many dinners Bobby made sure to make May’s favorite desserts. The girl couldn’t be happier when he showed her the cinnamon rolls he baked earlier that morning.
When they left May’s house Bobby had the biggest shit-eating grin on his face. “What?” Athena tried to be innocent even though she knew Bobby would not let it go. Her weakness for his arms being a running joke since they started dating all those years ago. “You can’t help yourself even with a literal baby in my arms.” He bumped her shoulder and chuckled when he saw the faintest blush appearing on her cheeks. “You should have seen her when she was lying against your shoulder. May even said she hasn’t been quiet like that since they came home.” Athena gushed about the tiny baby. It was already clear she had her grandfather wrapped around her finger.
“What can I say? All the Grant women seem to like my cuddles.”