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Sunday dinners started right after Tim and Lucy tied the knot.
At first it was a way to see Tamara at least once a week and feed her something other than pizza. As the years went by, though, it became a way for their family to get together. Angela with Wesley and the kids, Nyla with her family, even Grey with Luna will join occasionally. Genny and the boys too. Lucy will never admit it but seeing Genny rile up Tim is her favourite comedy show. And by God, getting under his skin is so much fun. She just has a soft spot for her sister in law and her ability to annoy Lucy’s husband.
So once a week they’ll get together and she'll work with Tim to cook a lovely dinner. Sometimes it’s steaks, others Chinese or if they feel like showing off they’ll make home made pizza. No, it’s not junk food if you cook it at home. That task has obviously fallen on Tim mostly at this point because of Lucy’s growing pains. She knows he doesn’t mind, though. This, having their people so close to them gives them both life.
Genny has been a great help with the girls and the house lately. Her third pregnancy hasn’t been necessarily bad. It hasn’t been easy on her body either. Lucy has been straining more than usual. So she has accepted the fact that she can’t run around like she did with their two previous babies. She’s currently on desk duty and while she loves the streets she has no desire to be confined in a car all day. Especially when a baby is practicing karate on her bladder. Caradine has been kind enough to let her work on easy cases. Plus, her overtime has piled up so she gives this whole thing another two weeks before she officially goes on leave. Tim is doing his best to help but Lucy needs to listen to her body and rest more.
John also hangs out around the house most days. Picking up odd jobs here and there to help. All in all, Lucy cannot really complain. They have a family that loves them, good jobs and a happy life. She just needs to brave the next three months until her due date. She sighs, dropping a hand to the bump. Their youngest seems to be restless today. Pushing and stretching inside of her. Lucy has gotten the message, the kid wants out. She’d be happy to oblige as soon as she’s fully cooked. Tim places a plate with food in front of her and drops a kiss to her forehead. In a rare display of affection Lucy cups his cheek and pulls his lips to hers. He gives her whatever she wants willingly.
“You’ve been together for over a decade,” Genny teases from the other side of the table. “How are you still so hot for each other?”
“Believe it or not it’s become worse!” Tamara adds, sitting between the girls to help them eat. “You’d think three kids and a full time job would shimmer this down. But no!” Lucy throws her a dirty glare and the younger woman shuts up. One thing about pregnant Lucy is that no one wants to cross her. Not at work and not at home. Even other stations have learned to not challenge their luck. Normally she’s a very happy person but growing a human being takes a lot.
“Maybe if you had someone to kiss you like this you wouldn’t be such a-“ Tim says, trying to come up with something other than ‘bitch’. Their kids are in the room after all.
“Grinch?” John offers, smiling and Genny kicks him under the table. This is the start of an entertaining night, Lucy thinks until their five year old decides to join in the fun.
“Uncle John kisses Aunt Genny like you kiss mommy, daddy!” Amelia shares the gossip freely and the entire table freezes. Everyone clearly for their own reasons. Lucy because she’s had her suspicions, as much as she loves them no one of the two knows how to hide properly. John and Genny because they got caught with their hand in the cookie jar. And as for her idiot husband because he can’t see further than his own nose most days.
“Ah-“ Tamara looks around trying to assess the situation and then herds the girls up. “Come on, let’s go play!” She sounds way too cheery for someone ready to leave what will probably be a battlefield.
“But I’m hungry!” Amelia whines unaware of what she started.
“We can have a picnic in your room,” Tamara urges, picking up Rosie and taking their plates at the same time. Lucy is thankful for the intervention. Because whatever the fuck is happening right now needs her full attention. There’s a few seconds of silence and uneasiness until her sister in law stands up.
“I can explain!” Genny rushes, years of experience dealing with Tim probably telling her how to handle this.
“We can explain,” John stands up leisurely, putting emphasis on the ‘we’. Lucy doesn’t miss Genny’s heart eyes aimed at him. Huh… She’d never given this pairing a thought but this seems to work for them.
“Is there anything to explain?” Lucy says and there’s no animosity behind her words. Her hand drops to her stomach where her daughter is making her displeasure known. The baby has been kicking for the past fifteen minutes non stop. Is it because Lucy is starving or because her blood pressure is high? They’ll never know. “You’re both adults and I assume this is not fooling around.” It’s not a question. Neither John nor Genny are the type of people to do casual relationships. If anything, John and a casual relationship have never been in the same room together.
“It’s not.” Genny confirms reaching for John’s hand. Tim for his part has been processing the news. Quietly. Too quietly if anyone is to ask Lucy. Chancing a quick look at him she sighs. Great, his brain has gone offline. Maybe, just maybe he’ll have a meltdown in private and Lucy will be able to distract him with sex. “John wanted someone to talk to after his divorce and I was happy to help.” Genny explains. Lucy has gathered as much. To be honest, even though they all liked Bailey to an extent, they were surprised it lasted that long. Both she and John wanted different things in life from the start. No amount of compromise would bridge the gap.
“Sounds very logical.” She nods and rubs just below her breast where their daughter lands another kick. All this stress is not good for her or the baby.
“I’m sorry,” Tim finally snaps out of his trance. “All of this sounds logical to you?!” He throws his hands in the air, voice a bit higher than Lucy is used to. He hasn’t used this tone with her since she was a rookie.
“They’re adults, Timothy.” She holds his gaze, pointedly running a hand over her very present belly. This has always been her sign for him to know he’s pushing it. Tim has never missed it before and he’s not about to start now. Lucy watches his face go through several emotions at once. She’s pregnant, uncomfortable and won’t tolerate nonsense. He redirects his annoyance back to his sister. Smart man.
“Out of all the men in LA,” Tim holds up an accusing finger. “You had to sleep with my best friend?!” The words are out of his mouth before he can stop them. A pregnant silence falls among them and to be honest, Lucy is quite sure of what it will birth if it ever reaches a certain someone’s ears.
“I’m your best friend?” John’s voice hitches with emotion and Lucy is sure he’d cry a bit if he wasn’t in his late fifties.
“No!” Tim shoots back quickly. “Angela is my best friend. Everyone knows that!” Yep, still a bit scared of Angela Lopez even years later. As he should be!
“Is she, though?” Genny catches up to the situation quickly. “Because you just said John is your best friend and I’m sure Angela would like to know she’s been demoted.” There’s a challenge in her tone. No one can rage bait Timothy Bradford better than his own sister.
“You wouldn’t dare…” Tim fixes her with a stern look.
“Try me…” Genny holds his gaze and refuses to back down.
“I think bloodshed is unnecessary.” Lucy cuts in, ending the argument before it starts. “This is what’s going to happen because I cannot go into early labour and I absolutely refuse to be a single mother.” Because no matter how much she loves Lucy, Angela will absolutely murder Tim if she hears he called John his best friend. “Genny and John will continue dating, we will not interfere in any way. However, if it goes south we won’t get involved or take sides. You will be forced to be in the same spaces even if you don’t like each other so think before you do anything else. Genny is not going to share any of the things discussed tonight with Angela, nor will she blackmail Tim in the future. This was your one time get out of jail card. We will all sit down and finish this lovely meal Timothy slaved over because I’m hungry, cranky and I will cry if I don’t eat within the next ten minutes.” She turns to face her husband and Tim rushes to her side again. “Sit down.” She orders everyone. “Eat before the food gets completely cold.”
And because everyone knows what’s best for them they do exactly that.
The rest of the dinner goes by uneventfully.
Lucy has to have a sit down with Amelia about sharing secrets. But that can wait until tomorrow. The last thing she wants is a repeat of tonight. Tim and Genny send her off to rest after they're done eating. She’d fight them but Lucy is too tired for it. So she gets into her pyjamas and grabs the new romance book Angela recommended. Not that she needs anything to get her hot and bothered. The baby currently doing yoga inside her is proof enough she and Tim fuck. Regularly.
Tim joins her an hour later. Gets ready for bed quickly and Lucy holds up the blankets so he can slip under them. Like any other night he comes face level with her belly and presses his lips against the tight skin. He places a kiss against her and gets a kick in answer.
“Did you talk to your sister?” She asks, running her fingers through his hair and Tim groans. The vibrations lead to their daughter kicking more. “You’re annoying her.” Lucy chastises as she pulls his hair gently.
“How am I annoying a fetus?” He asks, falling on his back beside her.
“The vibrations from your voice do when you groan against my stomach,” Lucy rubs the spot the baby kicked a moment before.
“That doesn’t make any sense,” He shoots back and Lucy resists the urge to kick him. She’s just irritated because she’s uncomfortable. She breaths in, holds it, then breaths out.
“Timothy,” She flips a page on her book. “Do you really want to start an argument with me?”
“No, dear,” He shakes his head laughing and Lucy smiles.
“Did you talk to your sister?” She asks again and he makes a small noise that would be classified as a whine for anyone else. But not for her husband. Timothy Bradford does not whine.
“Yes.”
“Actual talk or Bradford talk where you both pretend there’s nothing to discuss?” She hates calling him out but it needs to happen.
“As much as it pains me, actually talk.” He rolls his eyes and turns to face her. “This has been going on for a couple of months. They just wanted to make sure they’re solid before sharing anything. Unfortunately for everyone our daughter has taken after her godmother so she cannot keep a secret to save her life.” Lucy laughs at that, closing her book and placing it on her nightstand.
“You know I love you, right?” She cups his cheek and pulls his lips to hers. “And seeing you being in touch with your feelings is so hot!” Tim groans against her mouth. It’s a bit tricky with her growing stomach between them but they make it work. Lucy lets him kiss her, slowly, sweetly. Like they have all the time in the world.
“I love you too.” He tells her as they keep making out like teenagers.
Three kids, a dog, a full time job and all.