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“Why do you have to be so stubborn about everything?” Lucy asked, placing her hands on her hip and glaring at her husband.
“Everything?” Tim repeated, incredulously. “So now I’m stubborn about everything because I don’t need anything for my birthday except spending the day with you?” He watched her with an amused scowl.
He meant it. He didn’t need anything for his birthday except for Lucy. And he had her. But Lucy being Lucy wanted to make it special and make sure he felt celebrated and loved. Something he tells her she does every single day.
“Tim, it’s your birthday,” she tries to reason.
“It’s not even a monumental one. I’m turning 46. That’s hardly a milestone,” he shot back.
She took her hands off her hips and stepped forward, gazing up at him with a determined expression. “Excuse me. But it doesn’t matter what number it is. The day my husband came into this world is monumental.”
Her words soften his edges a little bit. They both know he’s about to give in. “Okay, fine.” He relents.
Lucy squeals with excitement and stands on her toes to kiss him.
“Just nothing over-the-top,” he murmurs against her lips. “Please.”
She nods. Lucy could do that. Something lowkey was better than nothing at all. She finds her phone to text Angela. She tells the other woman to go ahead and make the reservation at Tim’s favorite restaurant. Angela texts back immediately and tells her it’s already done and the small party room was theirs on Friday.
However, dinner wasn’t the only thing Lucy was planning. That was more Angela’s deal anyway. She had her own plan. It was something she saw on ClipTok and she couldn’t wait. It was all planned out. Unfortunately they both did have to work Friday but Lucy would get off earlier than Tim so she would be able to come home and get everything ready.
When Friday rolls around, Lucy is uncharacteristically awake before Tim. When her eyelids flutter open, she can feel his warm solid presence behind her. His chest is against her back and his arm is wrapped protectively across her waist. She gently rolls over so that she can just simply marvel at her husband. She watches him sleep (in a completely non-creepy way) and thanks whoever is listening for bringing him into her life. She loves him so much and is so proud of the man he is. She starts to get teary-eyed so she decides to roll out of bed and go start coffee and breakfast. Both tasks that are normally performed by Tim. Mainly because he’s usually up before her. But he deserves to be pampered and have a few minutes of extra sleep.
She starts the coffee pot so it can brew while she prepares breakfast. She pulls the cinnamon rolls out of the fridge and aligns them in the pan. She sticks them in the oven and begins on the eggs. She dumps a little into Kojo’s bowl before she seasons them and by then the oven goes off. Lucy drizzles the icing over them and pours both her and Tim a cup of coffee. His black and hers with an unhealthy amount of cream and sugar, as Tim likes to tease her.
Placing a little bit of everything on the tray, she carefully makes her way into the room to see Tim still peacefully snoozing. She places the tray down on the small dresser and walks to sit on his side of the bed. He shifts a little, but it’s not until Lucy runs her hand through his unkempt hair and down his cheek that he begins to stir. He blinks his eyes a couple times and then he smiles up at her.
“Good morning,” Lucy says softly, leaning forward to kiss him. “Happy birthday.”
“Mmm,” Tim hums, still not fully awake.
“I made breakfast. And coffee,” she gets up to retrieve the tray while Tim sits up in bed.
“You didn’t have to do this Luce.”
She gives him a pointed look as she puts the tray on the bed because that is a very on brand statement for Tim Bradford. Especially on his birthday. Despite all the hard work he’s put in over the last couple years, from time to time he does still struggle with accepting that he does deserve good things.
“Sorry,” he says meekly and then smiles. “Thank you, baby.”
“You’re welcome.” She climbs back in the bed next to him and he gives her another kiss. And then another. And another. “Tim,” she giggles when he’s ready to discard the tray. “There will be plenty of time for that later,” she assures him.
“But it’s my birthday,” he pouts.
Lucy wants to give him shit for now wanting to use his birthday to his advantage but she decides against it. “You’re going to need this fuel,” she says, pulling off a piece of cinnamon roll and feeding it to him. “For what I have planned for you in the shower.” She wiggles her eyebrows and Tim concedes. He takes the bite of food from her but sucks her finger into her mouth, earning a sound of indignation from his wife.
They finish their breakfast in bed and Lucy makes good on her promise as they shower before work. But Tim wouldn’t be Tim if he didn’t give it right back to her. Making her question who’s birthday it actually was. She offers to drive them to work, but Tim declines, holding her hand the entire way to work. A few officers wish him a happy birthday as they walk into the bull pen. Once upon a time he would have glared at those people until they ran away in fear. But now he accepts the acknowledgement and kindly says thank you.
Angela of course could also be counted on to make a spectacle. She likes to tease him that she’s making up for all the years she couldn’t openly celebrate her best friend before Lucy came into his life and turned him into a big softie.
“Do you think you can keep it down,” Tim grumbles.
“Not a chance, Bradford. I’ve got ten years of neglected birthdays to make up for.”
Tim shakes his head and Lucy snickers beside him.
“Have a good shift babe,” Lucy whispers and leaning up to sneak a quick kiss to his cheek. Something TO Tim would have been absolutely appalled by. Now it’s one of his favorite parts of his day.
“Thanks,” he smiles lovingly at her.
“Happy birthday again and I’ll see you at home later.” She winks at him and wanders off. Tim smiles after her and sits down at his desk to begin the mountain of paperwork that awaits him.
Thankfully for Lucy the whole shift is quiet. Something she does not recognize or admit until after she clocks out. She walks into Tim’s office quickly to make sure he’s still going to be a little while. She’s catching a ride with Celina and Miles so she can get her surprise ready.
“Hey babe,” she sings, sitting down in one of the chairs.
He smiles at the sound of her voice and puts his pen down. “Hi. How was your shift?”
“It was surprisingly chill,” she nods, peeking at his desk to see what he’s working on.
“I’m glad. I still have probably an hour, hour and a half worth of paperwork. You want to take the truck? I’m sure I can catch a ride with someone?”
“Celina and Miles are going to drop me off, but thanks,” she stands up and he mirrors her coming around to the front of his desk.
“I’ll see you at home?”
“Mmm,” she hums. She gives a quick look around and nobody is in the immediate area so she leans in for a quick peck. “Love you.”
“Love you baby. I’ll be home as soon as I can.”
Lucy smiles at him as she walks out of the glass room. Her friends are waiting for her in the parking garage and they head toward Tim and Lucy’s house.
When Lucy walked through the door, she gave Kojo some love and let him outside. She pulled the giant gold helium 4 and 6 balloons she’d managed to hide from him. She shoved them in the back of the closet in the spare room. He never goes in that room, let alone the closet. She places them on the floor in their bedroom so he’ll be able to see them when he walks in. Afterwards, she grabs his presents from the trunk of her car and puts them in a neat pile on the bed. Lucy was so happy she got to splurge on him. She bought him a new bottle of his favorite cologne. A bottle of the expensive rum he likes as well as a new Ram’s jersey. Kojo had gotten ahold of his old one. Plus she bought a little something for herself that was more a present for Tim than her.
Finally, she pulls the last part of his gift from her sock drawer and puts it on top of the pile of presents. She goes out to the kitchen and pulls out all the ingredients to make him his favorite cake.
When everything is done and ready to go, Lucy checks her phone and has a text from Tim letting her know he’ll be home soon. She goes back to the room and puts on his last gift and then the dress she’d planned on wearing to dinner tonight.
She heard the door open and then close and Kojo’s nails scraping on the hardwood floor. She stood in the bedroom, a ball of nervous energy.
“Luce,” she hears him call out but she doesn’t answer. His footsteps are getting closer and when he opens the door, he stops when he sees her standing there with a big smile on her face.
Tim finishes his paperwork quicker than he thought he would and he’s thankful. He packs his stuff and changes out and then sends Lucy a text letting her know he was headed home. She doesn’t respond but he figures she’s in the shower or something.
When he walks through the door, he’s hit with the aroma of his favorite cake. He smiles, knowing that part of Lucy wanting to come home earlier than him was so that she could have this ready for him. But he finds it weird that she’s not standing in the kitchen or anywhere where he can greet her. Kojo comes running and Tim gives him a few pets. He calls her name, but there’s no answer.
He wanders farther into the house and down the hall. The door to the bedroom is slightly ajar so he gently pushes it open and sees her standing there wearing the biggest smile. God she’s beautiful.
“What’s all this?” he asks cheekily, stepping toward her and planting his hands on her hips.
“Happy birthday,” is all she offers in return and pulls him down for a kiss.
“Breakfast and our shower this morning was all I needed.”
Lucy narrows her eyes and shakes her head in exasperation. Tim looks around the room and spots the pile on the bed. He looks back at his wife. She nods and Tim moves to the stack of presents waiting for him. He takes the folded piece of paper off the top and before he can open Lucy stops him.
“Wait,” she says. “Read that last.”
He nods and goes for the first present. When he’s opened all three he smiles at the thoughtfulness of each one. Lucy is sitting on the bed next to him and he leans over to kiss her.
“Thank you baby,” he whispers against her lips and she hums in response. “Can I read this now,” Tim holds the folded paper.
Lucy nods and watches nervously as he opens it. He reads the first few lines and then when he moves down the page, his eyes get wet. He looks up at Lucy who is wearing a nervous smile. She reaches out to wipe a stray tear.
“Luce,” his voice is raspy.
He looks down at the page again and she looks with him.
To Tim,
My best friend, my husband, my safe place, the love of my life. There will never be enough words to tell you how much I love you and how much you mean to me but today and everyday I am so grateful for you. I could write a million and one but on your 46th trip around the sun, here are 46 reasons why I love you.
1. You make me feel safe. Not just in a physical sense but emotionally too.
2. You don’t just listen, you hear me.
3. You always know what I need. Sometimes before I do.
4. Your laugh. It’s rare, but when it happens, it’s everything.
5. The way I laugh harder, when you’re laughing.
6. I know you would drop everything if I called for help.
7. You don’t let me minimize my accomplishments.
8. You still celebrate me even when I fail
9. The way you tell me I’m beautiful even when I look like I’ve gone through hell.
10. The way you make me feel beautiful when I’m struggling to see it.
11. You never make fun of my optimism… and I know you secretly love it.
12. You leave notes on my coffee when you have to leave before me.
13. You always reach for my hand first.
14. You don’t mind when I talk too much. You just listen.
15. The way you rub slow circles on my back when you can tell that I’m stressed.
16. You call me out when I’m being stubborn, but you’re never cruel.
17. Your forehead kisses. 🖤
18. You let me win some arguments.
19. You’re the calm to my chaos.
20. When you say “I’ve got you” I know you mean it.
21. Your arms feel like home. Actually everything about you feels like home.
22. The way you blush when I compliment you.
23. You never let me doubt if I’m enough.
24. You believe in me, even when I don’t believe in myself.
25. You’ve seen me at my lowest and you stayed.
26. You let me fall apart without feeling weak. You don’t try to fix me, you just hold the pieces.
27. You always notice the little things.
28. You never let me walk on the outside of the sidewalk.
29. The way you keep me grounded.
30. The way your eyes get soft every time you look at me.
31. You don’t just love me. You respect me.
32. I never have to wonder where I stand with you.
33. You’re my calm after every storm.
34. The way your eyes give you away when you pretend not to smile.
35. You challenge me to make me shine brighter, never to tear me down.
36. You make my coffee the way I like it every single time, even if you tell me it’s disgusting.
37. You let me tease you endlessly.
38. You never let me go through anything alone.
39. The way you always stand just a little bit closer than necessary.
40. You take care of everyone else but you let me take care of you.
41. When you say “you’re mine” it doesn’t come from a place of control, but belonging.
42. When you look at me, I know I’m seen. Fully.
43. You can make me laugh so hard I forget that I was mad at you 2 minutes ago.
44. The way you still get quiet sometimes but you let me sit in silence with you.
45. You silence the noise in my head just by being you.
And finally 46. You are my home. And for the first time in my life, I finally understand what that means.And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I could spend every hour of every day filling this list. You are the best husband, the best man I know and I hope you know not just today, but everyday that I love you unconditionally.
“Lucy,” he breathed again, shaking his head. “This is– thank you. I love you so much.
“I love you too Tim.” She leans forward and kisses him.
He places the paper on the bedside table and grabs her face with his hands. He pulls back for just a moment before diving back in. And this time the kiss is messy but beautiful. It conveys everything he wants her to know without saying it out loud. And he knows she feels it when she grabs the hand that is resting on her cheek. She lets him lay her back and when he’s hovering over her, her eyes sparkle with love and happiness.
She reaches up to kiss him again and just when he thinks this might go somewhere, she pulls away and gives him a sly smile. “Your final present is for after dinner,” she maneuvers under him so that she can take her panties off and then slips them into his pocket.
“If you’re lucky.”