Work Text:
When Tim walks into the break room he immediately knows something is off. It’s early afternoon, it’s been a fairly calm shift and yet there is a group of offices huddled together, speaking in hushed tones.
He clears his throat and raises his voice, “What’s going on in here?”
The group jumps apart, their eyes widening when they see Tim standing there. He watches as they glance at each other, shaking their heads before looking back at him. Celina is the first to speak up, “Nothing sir, nothing is wrong. We’re just grabbing a coffee and headed back out on patrol. Have a good day.”
She ducks her head and hurries out of the break room and the other officers follow, all of them without their coffees. Tim decides he doesn’t really want to know what they were discussing and why they’re acting so weird so he pushes it out of his mind and moves to make his cup of coffee.
As he turns to leave someone else enters the room and he can’t help the smile that stretches across his face at the sight of her.
“Good afternoon Sergeant Bradford.”
She shoots him a look, “It’s Sergeant Chen at work and you know it.”
“I know. I just love saying Sergeant Bradford and reminding you that you’re my wife now.”
“Trust me I know. This child of yours growing inside of me will never let me forget it.”
His face lights up at the mention of their baby. A baby. They’re having a baby. They just found out a few weeks ago, no one else knows yet and Tim is having a hard time not shouting it from the rooftops that he’s going to be a father. It feels like all his dreams are coming true and some days he can’t believe that this is his life now. Married to his former rookie with a baby on the way, happier than he’s ever been in his life. He can’t wait to meet their baby, to hold him or her in his arms, to see who they look like, what their personality is like, to watch them grow, to hold them, to love them. He’s going to be the type of father he wished he had growing up and he can't wait.
He's pulled out of his daydream by Lucy grumbling under her breath.
“Stupid pants, can barely button them.”
“Have to pee every fifteen minutes.”
“Duty belt digging into my skin.”
“Big dumb boy impregnated me with his massive baby.”
He chuckles but stops immediately when Lucy shoots him a glare.
“Are you ok babe?”
“Don’t babe me. And don’t look at me like that. That’s how we got into this situation in the first place Tim.”
He holds up his hands in surrender, “Ok. Feeling a little grumpy today?”
She moves further into the room, shutting the door behind her to keep their conversation private, “Grumpy? I don’t know, do I seem grumpy to you Tim? Maybe it’s because I have to pee every fifteen minutes, which is very difficult when my job requires me to be in a car most of the time. Or maybe it’s the heartburn this child of yours is giving me. Seriously, the baby is the size of a lime, how is it already giving me so many problems? Oh and not to mention the fact that I’m always hungry but as soon as I eat anything I throw it back up. Yeah, that's a lot of fun.”
He steps closer and rubs his hands up and down her arms, “I’m sorry baby. I will help in whatever I can, just tell me what you need.”
“I just need you to keep your dick in your pants next time. No more babies for us. One and done baby.”
Then she turns, opens the door and marches out of the room leaving Tim wondering what the hell just happened.
*******
A week later Celina is riding with Lucy and she’s not exactly excited about it. Usually she loves to ride with her former roommate, it’s a great time for them to catch up and they always find a great place to try for lunch. But lately Lucy has been a little grumpier than normal, snapping at people out of the blue and just not her usual cheerful self. Her aura is all over the place and Celina thinks she knows what has caused the change in her friend but she definitely isn’t going to say anything until Lucy does.
She’s just finishing loading the bags into the shop when Lucy walks through the doors, “Let’s go Juarez. You’re wasting time.”
Celina jumps up to shut the trunk then scurries around the car to the drivers side, stopping when she sees Lucy also making her way to the same side.
Lucy shoots her a look, “What are you doing?”
“Um, well usually I drive so I guess I just assumed,” she’s cut off by Lucy.
“That was your mistake, you assumed. Can’t assume things in this line of work. That’s what gets you killed. Other side, I’m driving today.”
Celina mumbles a quick apology then hurries around the front of the car and gets into the passenger seat. Once she’s safely buckled she feels Lucy's eyes on her and she looks over, shooting her a wide smile.
“Ready to go now? Sure you don’t want to fix your makeup or anything before we head out?”
Celina’s smile immediately disappears, “No ma'am. I’m ready.”
“Great,” Lucy puts the car in drive and slowly pulls out of the sally port while Celina shrinks down in her seat. It’s definitely going to be a long day.
*******
A few days later Smitty is lounging on the couch in the old Metro office, snacks spread out on the table, his phone playing some ridiculous television show. The door opens and he sees Tim being shoved into the room by Lucy. She pushes him back towards the desk, oblivious to Smitty's presence in the room. Tim hits the desk and Lucy pushes up on her tippy toes to kiss him. Once her hands start tugging his uniform shirt out of his pants Smitty decides it's time to go. He sacrifices his snacks and moves as quietly as he can towards the door, hoping they are too distracted to notice him. Unfortunately for him he's too busy with his eyes on them that he doesn't realize how close he is to the door and he runs right into it, his nose bouncing off the wood. His hands fly to his face as Tim and Lucy jump apart, his shirt now unbuttoned and both their faces flushed.
“Ow, I think I broke my nose.”
“Smitty what the hell are you doing in here?”
“I didn’t see anything I promise. I was in here having a snack when you guys came in and I tried to sneak out but the door attacked me.”
Lucy groans, “Damnit Smitty why are you always snacking instead of doing your job?”
“You guys weren’t doing your job either.”
He instantly knows that’s the wrong thing to say when Lucy pins him with a cold glare, a far cry from the usual sunshine persona he’s come to know from his sergeant. Then she steps towards him and he shrinks under her gaze.
“Excuse me if my stupid handsome husband impregnated me and now I find myself in a constant state of wanting him so I dragged him to what was supposed to be an empty office so we could have a quickie.”
Tim hurries forward as Smitty’s eyes go wide and suddenly the reason for Lucy’s uncharacteristically grumpy mood lately makes perfect sense.
”You’re pregnant? Oh boy I think that means I win the pool. Everyone is going to be so mad but I knew you guys wouldn’t be able to keep your hands off each other.”
Lucy realizes her slip up and immediately bursts into tears as Smitty stares at her, horrified.
Tim’s voice is low and stern when he speaks, “Smitty, you are not going to breathe a word of this to anyone or I promise you will be on drunk tank and be assigned every overtime shift until you retire. You won’t tell anyone Lucy is pregnant, and you won’t tell anyone what you saw in here, do you understand?”
Smitty looks between Tim’s glare and Lucy’s tear streaked face and slowly nods his head, “Sure boss. I don’t know anything, no one will hear anything from me.”
“Good. Now get back to work.”
Smitty snatches up all his snacks from the table and hurries out of the room without another word.
Tim turns to Lucy, “Hey baby it's ok. He’s not going to tell anyone. No one will know until you’re ready for them to know.”
She shakes her head as tears continue to stream down her face, “I don’t care about Smitty knowing. I’m just pissed he ruined the mood and I’m still so horny.”
Tim chuckles before pulling her in for a kiss, “It’s ok. I’ll take care of you.”
Just as his mouth lowers to her neck her radio blares out requesting her supervision at a crime scene and she bursts into tears again. Tim pulls her radio from her belt letting dispatch know she is in route then sets it back in its place and giving her one final kiss.
As she walks out the door she looks back at him with watery eyes, “I’m going to kill Smitty next time I see him.”
Then she’s gone and Tim hangs his head and silently wonders how the station is going to make it through seven more months of pregnant Lucy.
*******
A couple days after the Smitty incident Lucy marches over to Angela and Nyla’s desk, stopping in front of them and crossing her arms.
Angela looks up from her paperwork, “Need something Chen?”
“Yeah. I need to you to tell me why I’m getting calls from the daughter of that murder case last week? Have you not updated her?
Nyla jumps in, “Slow down Chen. We have talked to her multiple times but she feels better talking to you since you were first on the scene and you helped calm her down.”
“Well can you at least update me on the case? Or is that too much to ask?”
Angela shoots her a look, her eyebrow raised at the sudden outburst, “Are you ok Lucy? You’ve seemed a little short with people lately.”
Lucy huffs, “I’m fine. I'm just irritated when people can’t do their jobs properly.”
“Well I assure you we are doing our jobs just fine. We’re following every lead, tracking down surveillance footage and questioning witnesses. This bastard won't get away with this.”
At that statement Lucy bursts into tears and Angela looks over at Nyla with a shocked expression on her face.
Nyla steps forward and places a gentle hand on her arm, “Lucy? Are you sure you’re ok? You know you can talk to us if you need to.”
“What I need is for you guys to do your jobs and catch this guy. And to keep me informed so I can keep the daughter up to date.”
With that she spins around and marches out of the bullpen, leaving Nyla and Angela standing there with shocked but knowing expressions on their faces.
*******
A few days later Tim is walking through the bullpen when Grey comes out of his office and shouts for him, “Bradford! I need to talk to you.”
Tim walks over and meets him at the entrance to his office, “Yes sir, what’s up?”
“What’s going on with Sergeant Chen?”
TIm raises an eyebrow, “What do you mean?”
“I mean that I just got a call from a citizen complaining about her. She pulled him over for speeding and then called him an idiot before yelling at him. And I’ve had multiple officers who have said she’s been a little grumpier than usual, snapping at them for the smallest things. That’s not like her. So I’m asking what’s going on? Is she ok? Are you two fighting?”
“No. No sir, we are not fighting.”
“Ok then what’s going on?”
Tim stutters, unable to think up an excuse quickly that will not give away their secret. Luckily for him at that moment the sliding doors open and Lucy walks through them, Celina following behind with her head down and muttering under her breath. Grey spots her and beckons her over, “Chen! Over here now.”
She walks over, a scowl on her face and Tim has to turn away to keep from laughing. He knows Lucy’s mood swings are out of control and he’s not sure which version of her Grey is about to get.
“Yes sir?”
“I had a citizen call in a complaint. Said you pulled it over, called him an idiot, yelled at him then gave him a ticket. Is that true?”
“Yes that’s true.”
Grey shakes his head, “Care to elaborate?”
“Well he was going 80 miles per hour in a 45 zone. And when I asked him where he was going in such a hurry he said, “gotta get to my lady because she needs my dick real bad,” so I called him an idiot and explained how he could have hurt someone or himself and then his lady would have had to wait even longer for his dick.”
Tim stifles a laugh, bringing his hand up to cover his smile and faking a cough to cover. Lucy’s and Grey’s eyes shoot over to him clearly not amused.
Grey clears his throat, “Ok. Chen you’ve been a little shorter with people than you usually are. Other officers have complained and now I’m getting complaints from civilians.. so what’s going on with you?”
Lucy huffs out a breath, “What’s going on? Well apparently this baby growing inside of me takes after its dad with its grumpiness and it’s channeling all that into me until he or she can make their grand appearance.”
The bullpen goes silent at Lucy’s revelation and Tim hangs his head to hide the grin forming on his face. He knew it was only a matter of time before she spilled the beans, and he knows she's going to be upset that the perfect plan she had to tell everyone has now gone out the window.
Grey breaks the silence first, “You’re pregnant?”
Lucy throws up her arms, “Yes I’m pregnant. Mr Super Sperm over here blew right through my birth control and knocked me up without even trying and now I’m grumpy all the time. Well either grumpy or horny.. there’s really no in between.”
The bullpen explodes into laughter and Tim rushes into action, “Ok. I think that’s enough information out of you for now. Let’s go change out. Shows over everyone.”
Angela’s voice cuts across the room, “I knew it! I knew the reason she was so grumpy had to be because she was growing a mini Bradford in there.”
He hears Celina, “Her aura has been off for weeks now, I knew something strange was going on.”
Then Smitty's voice cuts across the noise, “I caught them last week making out in the old Metro office and she spilled the beans. I kept the secret for a whole week and I won the pool so everybody pay up.”
Tim groans and he hears a low growl coming from Lucy. He wraps an arm around her waist just as she starts to lunge at Smitty.
“Smitty, drunk tank for the next month. Now if you’ll excuse us we’re going home.”
Tim leads Lucy down the hallway and stops outside the locker room door. He turns to face her and he notices tears swimming in her eyes.
“What’s wrong baby?”
“I just blurted it out in front of everyone. And I had the perfect announcement idea and now I won’t even get to do it.”
“Hey, hey, hey it’s ok. You can just save it for the next one.”
Her head snaps up and suddenly her eyes are clear and the look on her face makes Tim want to shrink and hide.
“The next one? If you think I'm letting your dick anywhere near me once this baby comes out you are crazy Bradford.”
With that she turns on her heels and marches into the women's locker room, leaving Tim standing stunned in the hallway. He just shakes his head and starts towards the men's locker room, sending up a silent prayer that he (and the station) will survive the rest of Lucy’s pregnancy.