Chapter Text
The station was buzzing with its usual energy as the night shift changed over to day shift, and the sound of heavy boots and laughter carried throughout the bullpen, as officers traded stories on their way in and out. Lucy had arrived solo that morning, Tim heading in early for a Sergeant’s meeting. He’d gotten up even earlier to prepare a decent breakfast since he refused to eat at any of the restaurants most of the other Sergeants chose (with the exception of he and Grey) after the Lieutenant’s food poisoning experience.
Fortunately for Lucy that meant that she started the day waking up to a yogurt bowl topped with sliced strawberries and kiwi, blueberries, Tim’s homemade honey oat granola, and a drizzle of honey. The coffee pot had switched over to warm and her favorite hand painted bee mug was waiting next to it. She smiled to herself as she poured her coffee, grabbing the cinnamon oat milk from the fridge and topping off her morning fuel. Sergeant meeting mornings were always a nice surprise to wake up to.
She sat in the roll call room, waiting for her fellow officers to stroll in, taking a sip from her travel mug, closing her eyes to savor the flavor that took her back to the peaceful early morning for a moment.
“Hey, you’re here early,” Angela’s voice floated into the room, a touch softer than it would’ve been had Lucy’s other half been in the room. She lived to give him shit.
“Yeah,” Lucy said, looking over to Angela as she walked in. “Tim had a Sergeant’s meeting this morning, and once my body is out of REM and knows he’s not there, I can’t sleep anymore. Plus he left breakfast and coffee all prepped, and dropped Kojo off at puppy play, so I didn’t have much to do this morning.”
Angela gave her a look that somehow managed to convey amusement and utter disbelief. “Some days, I can’t believe that this is the same Tim. He used to drink motor oil in the morning and call it breakfast.”
Lucy snorted. “You know…I used to think the same thing. But then I accidentally took a sip of his coffee and realized that he’s actually a bit of a coffee snob. The only reason he can drink it black is because he grinds his beans fresh and gets them from some guy at the farmers market who gets his beans directly from Colombia. The only reason he drinks the motor oil, as you call it, is to keep up appearances. He’s secretly dying inside every times he sips it.”
She gave Lucy a look of positive glee. “I am going to give that primadonna so much shit. I knew he was high maintenance! He moisturizes for gods sake.”
“Let me guess. Bradford?” Nyla’s dry tone sounded from the doorway. “Your man is over forty and looks like he’s in his thirties. I’d say that moisturizing works.”
“Amen to that.” Lucy replied with a giggle.
“So now that we’ve established that Lucy married a pretty boy, can you tell us why you wanted to see us this morning?” Nyla directed her question at Angela.
Lucy’s brow furrowed. “You wanted to see us?”
“Yes. I was thinking…Mother’s Day is coming up. And I had a plan.” She placed her hands on her hips.
“I’m not a mom.” Lucy deadpanned.
Angela waved her hand dismissively. “Tamara and Kojo say otherwise. Also, with all the sex you two have, there will be a baby on the way in no time, so you better get a head start on traditions.”
“Angela!” Lucy hissed looking around as other officers began filing into the room.
“Please, they all know it.” Angela rolled her eyes. “Do you remember the metro office? Anyway, I was actually thinking—well Patrice had the thought—let’s do a mother daughter spa weekend at her house—”
“Her mansion,” Nyla corrected pointedly.
“Her mansion,” Angela smirked. “Yes. Full on pampering. Massages, facials, steam room. Pure luxury.”
“Mother/daughter?” Lucy asked skeptically.
“Yeah. You, Nyla, me. Our moms. And Patrice. No distractions. No phones. Just robes, champagne, good food and massages.”
“Oh I am in. As long as my mother has her own room. I love her but she will drive me insane if I had to share a room.” Nyla said.
Lucy wasn’t as ready to agree. Her relationship with her mother was tense on a good day. And she hadn’t spoken to her in months. Maybre more like a year. At this point her Aunt Amy was more of a mom to her than her own mother. But her Aunt Amy was travelling this month. Perhaps this could be a good olive branch for her mother? After all everyone loves to be pampered.
“Lucy? Are you down?” Angela asked gently, pulling her from her thoughts.
“I…can I think about it?” She gave her an apologetic look, “My mom and I…we don’t exactly have the greatest relationship.”
Angela shook her head. “Say no more. I get it. It’s no rush. Once you know, just let me know. It’ll just require a few additional people that I’m sure we can get. Money talks after all. And honestly…if you don’t want to invite your mom…don’t. You know my mother has all but adopted you and Tim.”
Lucy snorted. “That’s true.”
“No pressure though, okay?” Angela placed a hand on her shoulder as she and Nyla prepared to leave the room, seeing Grey and Tim approaching. “I just thought, after this year, we owe it to ourselves to get a little pampering.”
“I’ll let you know. Thanks for thinking of me.” Lucy smiled and Angela nodded, departing with a squeeze to her shoulder and a smile just as Grey and Tim took their places at the front of the room. Tim caught her eye and she saw his mouth twitch slightly as Grey began roll call.
The night was pleasant. Warm enough that Tim and Lucy decided to stay out in the yard after dinner. They lounged on the hammock—Lucy’s third favorite place in the yard, behind the outdoor fireplace which was their usual spot, and the pool.
Tim had one bare foot outside the hammock, pushing off the ground every so often to keep them rocking. One arm was bent behind his head, the other wrapped tightly around Lucy’s waist. She lay nestled nearly on top of him, curled into his side, tracing patterns on his chest, glancing at the sky once in a while.
“We should get out of the city soon.” She mumbled. “I wanna see stars again.”
He hummed, thinking back to their wedding night in the Grand Canyon, and the year before in Sacaramento. “It is pretty amazing to be under the stars with you.”
Lucy pressed a kiss against his chest. “Angela asked me something…not weird per say…but weird to me I guess.”
“Is that what had you in such a pensive mood tonight?” He murmured against her head, planting a kiss into her hair.
“Noticed that did you?” Tim could feel her smirk against his pecs, but he didn’t say anything. Just squeezed gently for her to continue. “She wants to do a mother daughter spa day for Mother’s Day.”
“But you aren’t a mom yet,” Tim said flatly, and Lucy’s heart fluttered at the word ‘yet’. “Though I guess…Tamara sort of counts, if you wanted to bring her. But Emilia and Leah are a bit young for that. Unless she’s planning like some kid friendly version?”
“You’re cute when you’re confused.” Lucy craned her neck to look up at him. “And completely missing the point. It’s not us with our daughters…it’s us with our mother’s.”
Tim’s eyes widened. “Oh.”
“Yeah.” Lucy sighed. “I haven’t spoken to my mother since…god I think it might have been since….Jackson’s…”
His heart clenched, aching for his wife, whose relationship with her parents was just as complicated as his own. Lucy’s parents constantly claimed that things were for her own good, that they just wanted what was best for her. But then belittled her for every little thing. Their standards were impossible to live up to. He had yet to meet them, quite frankly the only reason he wanted to meet them would be to tell them off.
Somehow, despite them, Lucy had still managed to grow into the amazing, kind and thoughtful woman that he had the joy of loving, and who loved him back. Her capacity to love—to forgive—never ceased to amaze Tim. Her pure heart was the reason he knew that she was considering reaching out to invite her mother to this event. Because despite how badly she treated her, Vanessa Chen was still her mother…and she loved her.
“What are you gonna do?” he asked, pushing off the ground and getting them swinging again.
“I don’t know.” She sighed. “Angela said that her mother has essentially adopted us, so I didn’t even need to invite my mom if I didn’t want to.”
She felt his light snort against her hair. “She’s not wrong. She even has you calling her Mama Lopez now.”
Lucy chuckled. “I know. It would probably be totally fine.”
“But it wouldn’t be the same.” It wasn’t a question. He knew what she was thinking. At the end of the day, everyone else would have their mother’s. Imperfect as their relationships were, they could still do something together.
“No.” Lucy confirmed, shaking her head slightly. “I have a ton of great memories as a kid. And I know they love me in their own way. But…things got bad when I hit high school. Nothing was good enough. I got a 90 on a test and all they said was as far as they were concerned if I didn’t get at least a 98 I shouldn’t have bothered bringing it home.”
Tim felt a pang of guilt in his chest, recalling her rookie year when he was all over her about her grade on the 6-month exam. He hadn’t realized how much he probably triggered her at the time.
“If it wasn’t my grades, it was my friends, or my boyfriend…oh and the really fun one…my weight.” She scoffed.
“What?” Tim furrowed his brow, running his hand up and down her side and hip. “You’ve got an amazing body.”
“Yeah, well…my thighs were always too thick for her liking. She scrutinized anything I put in my mouth. It took ages to get her voice out of my head so I could maintain a healthy relationship with food.” Tim frowned, hugging her closer as Lucy huffed out a laugh, “God I don’t even know why I’m considering inviting her.”
Tim hummed, pressing another kiss on her head. “Because she’s your mother. And like you said, you do have good memories. And you have this incredible ability to see the good in other people. To love them even on their worst day, because you always remember their best day.”
Lucy’s hand slid from his chest, around his torso as she boosts herself up to capture his lips in a lingering kiss. “Thank you for always seeing the good in me,” she said as she pulled back.
“You say that like it’s hard.” He smirked, playfully squeezing her hip. They settled back down, resuming their original position, Tim pushing them off once again. They were silent for a few moments, both lost in their own thoughts, until Tim broke it quietly.
“You know…not that I’m trying to sway you one way or another…but there is someone else you could consider inviting if you didn’t want to go down that road with your mom.”
“I know. But Aunt Amy’s travelling. I wouldn’t call her to come back just for this.”
Tim shook his head above her. “I didn’t mean Aunt Amy. I meant Mrs. Graham.”
“Oh.” The realization smacked her in the face. It was so obvious. Mrs. Graham had been in Tim’s life for years. She and her husband had taken Lucy under their wings as soon as they’d met her. They’d been more like parents to her and Tim than their own parents had ever been—at least in recent years for Lucy. It made perfect sense. Plus, she already at least knew Angela’s mother and they were slowly building a friendship now that they’d gotten over their ridiculous competition of caring for Tim.
“That’s…that’s actually a pretty good idea.” Lucy said softly.
“I’m known to have them from time to time.” He smiled and felt Lucy chuckle against him. She went quiet for a few minutes as they swung.
This might be an opportunity to begin to mend things with her parents. Or at least test the waters. They’d be in the company of others. A safe space for her. A public forum for her mother. She’d usually show at least a modicum of decorum when they were in public. Perhaps this was the chance to prove to her that she was living a full life.
“I think…I think I’m going to invite my mother,” she finally said. “And if she says no…I’ll know where we stand.”
“That sounds like a good plan.”
“I’ll text her in the morning. Things definitely wouldn’t start off well if I sent her a message this late.”
“Well then,” Tim said, releasing a breath. “Now that that’s settled, I have a request.”
“Anything.”
He runs his hands down from her waist to her hip, to her thighs, squeezing firmly when he gets there. “Your thighs—and your ass, can’t forget your ass—are two of my favorite parts on you. They are hot. You are hot. And I’d like nothing more than to spend the rest of the night with your thighs wrapped around my head so I can show you just how much I love them.”
Tim punctuated his verbal worship with a playful smack, making her yelp before dissolving into giggles. She was already in motion as he tipped them both off the hammock. Her spark was back full force. Laughing, she sprinted into the house, Tim hot on her heels. Kojo didn’t move from his spot in the yard, merely lifting his head, watching with mild interest, already used to their antics. He’d bark when the screams died down.
A week later…
Lucy still hadn’t heard from her mother.
Hi Mom – I know it’s been a while since we saw each other, and I’d like to fix that. A friend of mine is having a Mother/Daughter spa weekend and I would love it if we could go together. Let me know by next Wednesday if you can make it.
It was Thursday. And she’d left it on read.
She’d gone to bed Wednesday night in tears, Tim holding her tightly, whispering his love and reassurance into her ear.
But the damage had been done.
She should have known. Should’ve expected to be disappointed. Maybe invited them to dinner instead. But the last time they’d spoken…it hadn’t gone well. Jackson had just died. And in her parents’ eyes, all that had done was proven the point that Lucy shouldn’t have become a cop. It didn’t matter that he died trying to save Angela and her baby. It didn’t matter that he was her best friend. They had berated her during her grief.
Lucy had barely made it to Tim’s car before she burst into tears. He’d held her through it, thinking it was about Jackson. She didn’t have it in her to tell him the truth about what had just happened with her parents.
Up until this point he just knew that they didn’t have a good relationship.
Now he understood how bad things really were.
But Lucy woke up the next morning with newfound determination. Sometime during the night, she reminded herself of the fact she had a family. In fact, she had more family than she ever had before. And she had someone who was always ready to step in and help fill the gaping hole that her mother left, just as they were one of the few people who did the same for Tim.
It was for that reason that she found herself pressing the doorbell, smiling widely when Mr. Graham opened it with a loud exclamation. “Brown eyes! Come in, come in! I didn’t think you’d be home this early.” He stepped back, turning around to head back into the kitchen, Lucy shutting the door and following him with a grin.
“Hi Mr. Graham. I lucked out and got done on time today. Tim was the unlucky one to get called to a scene right before shift ended. He should be home soon though.”
“Good. He owes me a beer after that Rams loss the other day. I keep telling him he needs to give it up and either pick a new NFC West team or come on over to the winners side of things and hop on the Steelers bandwagon.”
Mr. Graham shook his head as he opened the refrigerator, pulling out a grapefruit LaCroix and a pitcher of iced tea. He set them on the counter, then grabbed a paper towel and two tall glasses. Picking up the can, he ran it under the faucet, drying it off before popping the top and pouring the seltzer into one of the glasses. He filled the other with tea.
Lucy giggled, accepting the glass of her favorite seltzer. “I don’t think that’s happening any time soon. He’s LA through and through.”
“Eh. His loss. Literally.” Lucy snorted.
Though Tim liked to say that seeing her in his Rams jersey and nothing else always made him feel like a winner, so it was one way for him to deal with the season.
“Any way, Bev’s outside, just head on out. And take this to her would you?” Mr. Graham passed over the glass of tea. “She’s been out in the garden all afternoon, and I’m positive she hasn’t taken a sip of the water she took with her. Luckily, she can’t resist my favorite iced tea.”
“Thanks, Mr. Graham.” Lucy ducked her head with a smile, taking her drink and heading out the sliding door to the patio.
The Graham’s backyard was simple and understated, not the elaborate entertaining space of her and Tim’s house but perfectly suited to this stage of their lives. Everything was understated and well maintained: a modest patio with a large dining table beneath an umbrella and a charcoal grill off to the side, because Ted refused use gas, preferring the smokey taste of real coals.
Mrs. Graham stood at the vegetable garden, a wide-brimmed hat shielding her caramel brown skin from the sun. A large brown paper bag as nearby as she tugged up weeds with a long hand tool.
The garden had supplied Tim and Lucy with an abundance of vegetables and herbs over the years. Lucy’s own plans for a vegetable garden had quickly turned into a flower patch once she met the Grahams.
Fortunately, it looked like Mrs. Graham was wrapping up for the day. The couple liked to divide and conquer the outdoor work, much to Tim and Lucy’s chagrin. Mr. Graham would take care of the grass and flowers—if Tim hadn’t gotten to them first. And Mrs. Graham would care for the vegetables. And judging by the bulk in the bag, Lucy had been too late to take care of the weeds.
“Hi Mrs. Graham,” Lucy called gently, stepping off the patio into the yard. “I come with a refresher.”
Mrs. Graham straightened slowly, one gloved hand bracing her lower back, the other holding the weeding pole. “Tell me it’s Ted’s tea.”
Lucy held out the glass with a smile. “It is. He said you probably hadn’t touched your water.”
The older woman snorted as she leaned the pole against the bag and peeled off her gloves, taking the glass with a grateful sigh. “That man knows me too well.”
She gestured towards the patio, taking a long sip of her tea and the two women walked the few steps to the table and settled into their chairs.
“Now,” Mrs. Graham placed her hat on the seat next to her, “why don’t you tell me what’s on your mind?”
“How did you--?” Lucy blinked in surprise.
“You’ve get this little wrinkle between your eyebrows when you’ve been worrying about something for a while,” she said gently. “Usually has to do with that husband of yours.”
Lucy shook her head, a lump forming in her throat. She swallowed hard, trying to stifle the sudden flood of emotion that swelled in her chest.
This is what a mother is supposed to be.
Her eyes burned as she blinked. “It’s not him,” she whispered, her voice strained.
One tear slipped free.
Then another.
And another.
“Oh sweetheart,” Mrs. Graham murmured, moving over to sit in the chair next to Lucy. She reached out, gathering her into her arms, like she’d done it for years.
Lucy let her self sink into the hug, her shoulders shaking as the tears continued to fall. Mrs. Graham just rubbed her back. She did say anything, just held her. Firm. Warm. Secure.
Finally, after a few moments Lucy pulled back, sniffling and wiping her sleeve across her eyes. “I’m sorry…I—”
“Lucy, honey please don’t be sorry. I just want to know what could have possibly upset you so much. And what I can do to help. I hate to see you so sad.”
“I um…I’m not sure how much you know about my parents, but…our relationship…it’s not good. There’s a ton of things throughout my childhood, things that I won’t get into right now, but our relationship had been strained all the way back to high school.” She paused, taking a shaky breath, Mrs. Graham rubbed her hand up and down her arm.
“Long story short, they despise the fact that I’m a cop. They think it’s a worthless career. That I’m nothing but…but a paid bully for the city.” The tears had returned. “They couldn’t even celebrate when I made P2. And when Jackson died…they only came to the funeral so they could make a point to me about the choices I made.”
“Oh Lucy.”
“Anyway…um…” She sniffled, “I haven’t spoken to them since. And…with Mother’s Day coming up, Angela—well Wesley’s mom—thought it would be a fun idea to host a mother-daughter spa weekend at Patrice’s house. Nothing huge…something simple.” Lucy shrugged. “I sent my mom a message telling her I wanted to fix the fact that we haven’t spoken. That I’d like her to come. Gave her the invitation and told her to get back to me on Wednesday. And today is…”
“Thursday,” Mrs. Graham said in sympathetic realization.
“Yeah,” Lucy whispered. “She left the message on read. Didn’t even text back to pretend to think about it. Just—radio silence.”
Mrs. Graham didn’t say anything, just took Lucy’s hands in hers.
“I’m not even surprised. I mean…I was the one who went silent first. I guess…I guess this is what I get.”
“Oh Lucy, no.” She lifted their joined hands shaking them slightly, “No. Ted and I may not have any kids, but I know that no matter what, no matter how much time may have passed, there is never a time that I wouldn’t respond to them. You reached out. That matters.”
Lucy smiled gratefully through her tears. She took a breath, meeting Mrs. Grahams fierce gaze. “Well, Tim reminded me of something when I was originally toying with the thought of inviting her. And to be honest, I should’ve gone with my first instinct.”
“She’s your mother. Of course you wanted her to be with you.”
Lucy shook her head. “You’ve been more of a mother to me than my own blood.”
Mrs. Graham sucked in a surprised breath.
“It’s true.” Lucy smiled and this time it did reach her eyes. “You and Mr. Graham make Tim and I feel cared for. And loved. And appreciated. And I’d love it if you joined me at the mother-daughter spa weekend on Saturday.”
It was the older woman’s turn to tear up. Touched by Lucy’s words. She placed her hands on her cheeks. “Oh sweet girl. I would be honored.”
“Thank you.” Lucy said tearfully.
“And in case you ever forget it, let me remind you now: you are a daughter, even when your biological mother fails to act like one. You are loved. And you are seen.”
Lucy’s lip trembled as she nodded. “I’m so glad you live next door,” she whispered.
Mrs. Graham smiled, rubbing her thumbs along Lucy’s cheeks, before dropping her hands and pulling her into another hug. “That makes two of us.”