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Summer
It is the height of summer out and way too hot to do anything not involving a whole bunch of water, and seeing as it was their collective day off, Lucy and Tim have decided to invite Genny and her kids over for a fun day of water gun fights in their backyard.
They have been going at it for at least half an hour now, constantly dodging hits, landing a few, running across the garden as if they were all little kids.
Tim has his eye set on spraying Lucy when she least expects it, but somehow, she has been able to duck down, sprint away or distract him every single time he even gets close to hitting her.
The next time he tries is no different.
Lucy just barely manages to jump away before the spray of water hits her, laughter bubbling from her throat.
“Come on, you’re a better shot than that. Maybe you need to spend some more time at the shooting range. Usually, when you want to land a shot, it goes a little more like this.”
Right as she finishes the last bit of her sentence, Lucy fires a stream of water in Tim’s direction.
Unlike Tim, Lucy manages to actually land a blow, grinning victoriously from ear to ear.
“That’s the Mid Wilshire shooting champ for ya,” she teases, holding her water gun up with a smile.
And despite his loss, Tim can’t help but smile as well. If he would see Lucy light up like that any time she won any fight they had, he would happily lose every single one of them.
“Nice shot, aunt Lucy,” Tyler yells from the other end of the garden.
“Couldn’t let my team mates down, now could I?”
“Tim, seriously, stop going easy on Lucy just because she’s pretty, we have a war to win here,” Genny calls out, shaking her head.
“I am not!” Tim defends immediately, spinning around to look at his sister. Competitiveness is a trait both of them have had since childhood, and even a playful water gun tournament with their family didn’t seem to be an exception.
“You so are.”
Tim didn’t answer. Instead, he just shook his head, leaving him completely unprepared for Lucy’s next attack.
Another spray of water hits him in the back, shortly followed by two more.
“You two done being Bradfords or should we pause the water fight until you two are done arguing about whether or not Tim let me win because I’m pretty?”
He turns around to see his girlfriend and two nephews all with their water guns pointed at both him and Genny.
“Retreat,” he stage whispers over his shoulder at Genny, who nods and immediately runs the other way.
Lucy doesn’t need to do more than encouragingly cock her head in Genny’s direction for the boys to start sprinting after their mother, leaving her with Tim.
“Looks like it’s down to you and me, pal,” Lucy says. Some bad attempt at referencing an old Hollywood cowboy movie.
Tim raises his eyebrows, the amusement clear in his smile. “Pal? Really? You call everybody that has their head be—”
Lucy quickly shuts him up by smacking his arm, a blush spreading all the way from her cheeks to her ears. She knows very well how he was going to finish that sentence, and it serves as a great distraction, really, because before she knows it, Tim barrels forward and scoops her up in his arms, sprinting across the yard with her flung over his shoulder.
“Put me down!” She shrieks, though her laughter is evident.
“No can do. You’re staying up there until our nephews manage to catch my sister.”
With the speed they are running after her, Lucy knows that won’t take very long.
And almost as if on cue, Tyler and Austin manage to trap their mother, spraying her with water from both sides.
“Okay, okay, a truce! A truce!”
“What was that, Luce? I don’t think I heard you right.”
Lucy groans softly, pushing at his shoulders lightly.
“Put me down and we can negotiate a truce,” she suggests, knowing very well that was the last thing she has on her mind right now.
It just seems like the easiest way to get her actual win.
“Fine,” he agrees, carefully lowering her to the ground again.
And almost as if on cue, Austin and Tyler yell to get their attention.
“We got her, aunt Lucy? Mom said she gives up!”
Lucy just gives them a thumbs up, very proud of them for getting a Bradford to give in like that.
And instead of negotiating the truce she had proposed to Tim, Lucy decides to go down a different route.
An evil one maybe, but she is sure Tim will forgive her for it nonetheless.
“I can’t wait to do this with our kids in a few years.” Lucy admits softly, eyes full of love as she looks at Tim.
Tim’s expression is a direct copy of her own.
“That makes two of us.”
The moment seems to last forever. Until Tim feels another spray of water hit his chest. With his mouth agape, he looks down at Lucy, who can’t contain her laughter anymore.
“Victory, baby,” she cheers happily.
“You—”
“Oh, you love me,” she cuts him off before he can even say anything, silencing him effectively with a peck of her lips against his.
“That I do. Very much. I can’t believe you distracted me with a fake truce and used our kids to win.”
Our kids.
Not hypothetical kids.
Our kids.
Lucy shrugs, grinning. “They’d be on their mom’s side in this anyway. And I meant it. We will be doing this with our kids. And I will win.”
He knows very well she would.
And not even because he would let her.
(Though he definitely would if it meant he would hear her laugh and see her smile like that.)
Fall
Halloween rolled around a lot faster than either of them expected. It feels like just yesterday when they were in their backyard chasing their nephews around.
Lucy stands in front of the mirror, admiring both of their costumes. Tim looks ridiculously hot, unfairly hot even. She knows it’s going to be a struggle to keep her hands off him all night long.
“Mr. and Mrs. Smith, a classic,” Tim murmurs as he approaches her, wrapping his arms around her from behind.
Lucy spins around in his arms, looping her arms around his neck. “It’s the only one I could get you to agree to.”
Tim nods with a smirk. He usually wouldn’t dress up for Halloween at all, but when Lucy had looked at him with puppy dog eyes, he was unable to say no.
He never seemed to be able to say no to her.
“I think you look very handsome, Mr. Smith,” Lucy teases lightly, fixing the lapels on his jacket.
Tim grinned in response. “Well, you don’t look too bad yourself, Mrs. Smith.”
“Mrs. Bradford would have a nice ring to it, too,” Lucy says immediately, almost without realizing she said that out loud until she sees Tim’s jaw hit the floor.
Lucy immediately wants to backpaddle, take back what she said, but Tim’s shocked expressions morphs into a smile. A very, very wide smile.
“Mrs. Bradford, huh,” he asks, placing both of his hands on her hips. Lucy ducks her head shyly, but Tim lifts her chin almost immediately.
The look in his eyes can only be described as pure, utter adoration and love. All of his walls completely down and his soul laid bare in front of her. Unraveled in a way only she ever gets to see him. That soft side he reserves for her and her alone.
“It does have a pretty nice ring to it. And I promise, one day, we will get there. And it will be the best day of my life, Luce.”
Lucy smiles so bright she swears she could feel her cheeks physically hurt.
“Better be sooner than later,” she whispers, brushing her nose against his gently. “I have been ready for a good while now.”
Truth be told, she had been ready even before he broke up with her, but now that they were back together, her heart fully healed and his again, Lucy couldn’t wait for the day he would get down on one knee and pop the question.
“Yeah, soon, Luce, I promise.”
“Good, don’t keep a girl waiting too long.”
Tim leans in to kiss her sweetly. “Promise,” he swears.
And all Lucy can think about, is them sharing a moment like that, hopefully sooner rather than later, when he does end up proposing.
She is pulled from her thoughts by Tim being well, Tim.
“You look incredibly in that dress. So damn hot,” Tim marvels, gently running his finger up the bare skin of her thigh. “Stunning, and all mine.”
He usually wasn’t necessarily the possessive type, but when she looked like that, he simply couldn’t help himself.
“You can’t say stuff like that and expect me to still want to leave the house after that. Can’t we ditch the party? I’m sure Angela would understand,” Lucy whines softly, curling her fingers around his tie and pulling him in for a kiss.
She succeeds.
Almost.
“No, Luce. As much as I would love,” he says, pausing to tug lightly at the garter belt that Lucy is wearing as a part of her costume, “love to stay home tonight, we would never hear the end of it if we skipped out on the Halloween party because we couldn’t keep our hands to ourselves.”
Lucy looks at him, trying her hardest to convince him to stay home, but she knows very well that they do have to leave.
“Fine, you’re right Angela would murder us if we turned up late,” she pauses, “but when we get home, I’m having my fun with you.”
With a small tug on his tie, Lucy pulls him closer for one final kiss before they really, really have to leave.
They don’t make it to the car for another fifteen minutes.
Winter
“You know,” Lucy says softly, curling even further into Tim’s side, her cheek pressed tightly against his chest, “this is nice. I can’t believe I got you to decorate our whole house in November.”
Tim lifts his shoulders in a shrug, wrapping his arm around Lucy just a little tighter, trying to savor the moment despite her relentless, though adorable, bullying.
“Well, when your girlfriend asks you to help her decorate with the promise of hot chocolate and cuddles on the couch afterwards, no sane guy would decline. Even if we are a whole month early.”
Lucy gasps softly, lifting her head from his chest to look at him with a small frown.
“Rude. Never too early for Christmas decorations.”
Tim chuckles softly, pressing his lips to hers in a gentle kiss to soothe her worries.
“I’m not complaining. I think it looks nice like this, you know, cozy.”
The Christmas lights make his home feel warmer. And being able to see the different colors of decoration reflecting in Lucy’s eyes made the whole afternoon they had spent preparing his house for the holidays more than worth it.
“Besides,” he continued, “this is your house, too, so if you want to decorate it in June for all I care, I would let you. Hell, keep it decorated all year round.”
Lucy cups his cheek gently, running her thumb over the stubble there, her smile soft as ever.
“I love you,” she whispers earnestly. “I need to tell you something.”
His heart drops. Oh god. What could she possibly have to tell him?
“It’s nothing bad, I promise, stop worrying.” She smooths out the worry lines on his forehead with her thumb.
Lucy takes a deep breath before continuing, her heart hammering in her chest.
“I found the ring in your sock drawer when I was putting away laundry,” she admits, “I didn’t mean to, it was just right there and I didn’t want to ruin the chance for you to ask me when you wanted to, but I couldn’t hide it anymore.”
She rushes out the words, her eyes desperately searching Tim’s. She was expecting to see disappointment that he couldn’t ask her himself and surprise her, but instead, she finds him smiling at her like an idiot.
“Thank god, I was worried a holiday proposal would be too cheesy so I wanted to wait until after all of that, but then Halloween came, Thanksgiving and now Christmas and New Year’s and I wanted it to be perfect, but I’m glad you found it because Angela said I needed to stop smiling and make it obvious that I was planning to propose and—”
Lucy cuts off his nervous ramble with a kiss, effectively silencing both him and his worries.
“Ask me,” she whispers against his lips. “No big proposal, no massive speech, just get the ring and ask me.”
Tim rushes off the couch, running to their room to get the ring. No less than half a minute later, he sits back down on the couch next to her.
“Gotta do it the proper way,” he says, getting down on one knee in front of her. “Lucy Chen, will you—”
Before he even has the chance to finish his sentence, Lucy already dives forward to kiss him, muttering her “yes” against his lips.
Tim pulls away with a chuckle, gently sliding the ring onto her finger. “Didn’t even get to ask you.”
“Didn’t need you to. I was very sure of my answer.”
Tim grins like an absolute idiot and sits back down on the couch next to her, stealing another quick kiss.
“That how you kiss the woman you want to marry?” Lucy teases, smirking.
He kisses her again after that.
The proper way.
Spring
Late.
She is late.
Not for some appointment, no. Her period is late.
It never is.
So, after work, Lucy had rushed to the store to buy some tests. Just to be sure.
There is no way she’s pregnant.
“Hey, babe,” Lucy says softly as she walks inside their home. Their home. Their home that might be getting another new person soon.
“Hey, honey, how was work,” he asks softly, walking up to her to give her a quick kiss. When he notices the frown on her face, he is immediately alarmed. “What’s wrong?”
Lucy takes a deep breath before speaking, “I’m late,” she whispers.
“Baby, you came home five minutes later than you usually do, dinner’s not even ready yet.”
“Tim…”
“Oh.”
Yeah, oh seems very fitting.
“Yeah. I got some tests on the way back from work. I just… I want to be sure, but I didn’t want to do them on my own, so I waited until I got home.”
Tim gently takes her hands into his own and smiles. “Okay, so we’ll go do that and take it from there. This is a good thing, Luce, we might be having a baby,” he whispers, his smile growing bigger by the second.
“Okay,” she nods, clearly relieved that he was taking the news so well.
Both of them walk towards their bathroom. Tim waited until Lucy called him in before entering.
“No matter what that test says, I love you, Luce. This doesn’t change that, okay? I’d be thrilled if those tests turn out to be positive. And if they’re negative, we can keep trying. We’ll have a baby, a family, no matter how long it takes.”
Lucy cups his cheek, tears forming in her eyes. How did he always know exactly what to say to make her heart grow ten sizes bigger.
“Okay,” she agrees, nodding slowly.
Those ten minutes were the longest minutes of their whole life, every second that passed feeling like a whole hour on its own. Once the timer rang, Lucy jumped up.
“I don’t want to look, you look,” she mutters, turning away from the counter where the tests were lined up perfectly.
Tim chuckles softly upon picking up the tests, tears filling in his eyes. “Luce,” he calls softly, nudging her gently.
“What? Oh, no, you’re crying… it’s negative, isn’t it?” But then she noticed his smile, and her heart just about leaped out of her chest. “Positive?” She asks, her voice tight with emotion, yet hopeful.
Tim nods almost immediately, hugging Lucy tighter than he ever has before. “Positive. We’re having a baby.”
Lucy lets out a soft sob, sniffling into his shoulder. “We’re having a baby.”
He hugs her even tighter and spins her around, making her laugh through her tears. “God, I love you so much.”
He kisses her soundly, though it was more them smiling against each other’s lips than kissing. It was absolutely perfect. And they wouldn’t have it any other way.
Their family. Their home. Their new beginning.