Work Text:
"Angela!" Lucy walks up to the detective’s desk with a bounce in her step and is rewarded with a smile.
"What's up?"
"I'm having a party next weekend. For my birthday - my thirtieth," Lucy announces, "I hope you can make it. Wesley too, of course."
"Thirty, huh?" Angela grins, "Ah, I remember those good old days."
Lucy rolls her eyes good-naturedly. Angela is barely in her mid-thirties.
"Sounds like fun. Send me the details? We'll be there."
"Great!" Lucy pulls out her phone to text Angela the time, date, and location of the venue she'd chosen. She hadn’t been sure the party would actually take place, given the close proximity of the date to her and Tim’s UC op, but luckily the op had wrapped up quickly enough to make it work.
"Wait, you said next weekend?" Angela asks, considering something.
"Yeah…" Lucy answers, frowning slightly. She hopes the Lopez-Evers can still make it. Her first birthday on the force she wouldn't have dared to invite the TOs. And last year…no one had been in a celebrating mood. But this year things were different. The former TOs may still be her superiors, but they were also her friends. "Is that ok?"
"No, yeah, it's just - did you know you and Bradford had birthdays so close together? Because I was planning on taking him out this weekend for his birthday."
Lucy had known her birthday was the week after Tim's. She may or may not have asked Rachel to find out for her, back when she was dating Tim. She never made a big deal about it - never went as far as to get him a gift or anything (even though she was an excellent gift giver). Last year she'd texted him happy birthday and he'd said thanks, and that was all.
Before Lucy has a chance to answer, Angela continues, "Tell me, were you planning on inviting Tim to your party? Because maybe I'll just tell him I’ll buy him drinks at yours instead - that is, if you don’t mind. That way I don't have to go out twice in two weeks, it’s getting to be too much at my age, you know."
"Yeah, of course Tim's invited. And I don't mind if you use it as an excuse to celebrate his birthday," Lucy assures Angela.
“Perfect, thanks, I'll let him know about our change of plans. Looking forward!" With that, Angela gets back to the case file she’d been studying, and Lucy makes her way over to the desk of paperwork waiting for her.
She smiles to herself, unable to contain her amusement at the turn of events. She’d invited Tim, of course, but she hadn’t been sure if he would come. Now with Angela’s involvement, he was almost certainly coming, and she couldn’t wait to see it when he realized where she was hosting her party.
"Hey, Bradford!" Lopez catches up with him as he's heading out to his car.
"Yeah?" Tim turns to address his friend.
"Just letting you know there's been a change of plans about this weekend. I'm pushing it off, and we'll celebrate at Lucy's thing instead, ok?"
“What, why?” Tim asks, not sure why his first instinct is to argue. He's not the one that wanted to go out for his birthday in the first place, it was Angela who had insisted. She and Bishop had started the tradition after Isabel left, and she was determined to uphold it. Tim did appreciate the gesture, which is why he continued to agree to go out with her every year, but he’d have been just as happy to stay home.
Of course, this now means that he has to go to whatever Lucy has planned, which is probably going to require ten times more energy than he would have needed for dinner with Lopez.
“Babysitters are expensive, Mama's tired, and Lucy's thing sounds more fun than what I'd had planned. Reason enough for you?” Angela asks in a way that makes it clear she’s not expecting an answer.
Eh, who was he kidding, he was going to go to Lucy’s party anyway. For some reason, he has a hard time saying no to her.
But Angela doesn’t have to know that.
“Fine,” Tim makes a show of grudgingly agreeing, shaking his head at her, “but you owe me one.”
It’s a freakin’ karaoke bar.
Because of course it is.
Tim takes a deep breath before going in, gathering all of the patience he can muster.
When he walks through the doors, he’s pleasantly surprised. The place is actually kind of classy, and it seems like Lucy has rented the place out, because he recognizes almost everyone there. He hears a catchy beat that he just can’t quite place coming over the speakers, but as he gets closer to where the stage must be, he can hear Lucy and someone else - must be Thorsen - singing familiar lyrics.
My crib, it's all a-poppin'
The party's never stoppin'
Who da boyz that make da noise?
Flex 'n Flow, yo, Flex n' Flow
He should have known. Tim shakes his head and huffs out a mixture between a sigh and a chuckle.
When he finally gets a view of the stage, he has to steal a moment to take in the scene in front of him. He knew Lucy could sing - and dance - but he’s never really seen her like this before. So comfortable and vibrant and free - so very much so in her element. And she can really sing.
Even while rapping, it’s clear Lucy is extremely vocally talented. She and Thorsen are bopping in time to the beat, reminiscent of how they had torn up the dance floor at Harper’s wedding. She has the biggest smile on as she performs, and it’s captivating. Tim is unable to take his eyes off her for the remainder of the song.
The music comes to an end, and Tim is pulled out of his stupor. While Lucy and Aaron take exaggerated bows to applause, Angela notices him and waves him over to where she and Wesley are sitting.
“Happy birthday!” she greets him, a knowing grin on her face.
“You really owe me for this one, Lopez,” he grumbles as he takes a seat.
“Oh, lighten up a little,” she smacks him on the shoulder. “No one’s asking you to sing. Relax, enjoy everyone making fools of themselves. Your drinks are on me.” She slides him one of said drinks.
Lucy notices him as she walks off the stage, and she gives him a bright smile before walking over to join some of the other guests.
The next thirty minutes or so aren’t as bad as he’d thought they would be. He chats with Angela and Wesley, is amused by some very bad - and some surprisingly good - performances, maybe spends a bit more time than is appropriate watching Lucy as she mingles, and cheers on the singers. Ok, so sue him, he’s actually kind of enjoying himself.
“So, what’s up with you and Lucy?” Angela asks him suddenly, in the middle of Tamara performing a song he’s never heard before. She says it so nonchalantly that Tim doesn't even register the question at first.
Once he does, he tenses, his first instinct to deny, “What are you talking about? Nothing.”
Because ‘nothing’ is easier than admitting that he suggested he and Lucy practice kissing before going undercover. That he couldn’t stop thinking about the way she had kissed him back, and the visceral reaction he had had in response. ‘Nothing’ is simpler than confessing that ever since their UC op, he couldn’t stop thinking about his relationship with Lucy, and wondering if it could be something more. If maybe it always had been, and he’d just refused to notice until now.
“You keep staring at her,” Lopez says plainly, taking a sip of her drink. Beside her, Wesley nods.
“I’m not staring at her,” he insists. Even to him, it sounds unconvincing, considering he was just staring at her, wondering what one of the guys from the precinct had said to make her throw back her head and laugh in pure delight. He makes a conscious effort not to look back in her direction.
Angela opens her mouth to retort, but Tim cuts her off, as he’s saved by the screen announcing the next set of performers.
“Hey, looks like you’re up next,” he points, and Angela grabs Wesley’s hand excitedly. Something tells him Lopez won’t give up so easily on her line of questioning, but at least he’s bought himself some time.
As Angela and Wesley make their way to the stage for a less-than-stellar rendition of “Don't Go Breaking My Heart”, Tim makes his way over to the bar to get another drink.
He doesn't notice he’s been followed until he hears her address him from behind.
“Hey Tim, thanks for coming.”
He turns to find Lucy leaning up against the bar beside him, looking amused. “I know this isn’t exactly your scene.”
“Well, I can’t say I knew exactly what I was walking into…” Tim informs her and from her grin, he can tell she is quite pleased with the fact that she was able to ‘trick’ him into coming to a place so far out of his comfort zone.
“But I'm actually having a good time,” he tells her, with a gesture of his hand, and then adds, “happy birthday.”
“I’m glad,” she says, eyes twinkling, “and happy birthday to you, too!”
“Thanks,” he nods.
Lucy doesn’t say anything after that, and Tim feels an awkward silence developing between them. Lucy purses her lips together, the way she does when she’s considering something important, and Tim can’t help but look down at them fleetingly. He forces himself to look Lucy in the eye again, racking his brain for anything else to say. When he meets her slightly narrowed gaze, it’s clear she noticed his wandering gaze, but she doesn’t comment on it. In fact, he could swear he saw her take a peek of her own at his lips. Maybe awkward isn’t the right word - charged would better describe this moment.
It’s been like this ever since they got back from their undercover op. Things between them have felt…slightly off. Going from their practice kiss straight into the op where they’d had to act like a couple for a significant period of time, and then being expected to just go back to normal had not been easy, to say the least. He couldn’t just flip back the switch to a time when he didn’t know what she tasted like, or the way her hands felt on his skin, or how she sounded when she was describing very un-platonic things they’d done to each other. So now for the past few weeks, he’s found himself second-guessing things he says or does when he’s around her, when, before, he’d never have thought twice.
Finally, he thinks of something to break the silence. “So, thirty, huh? I remember turning thirty.”
It’s not the best, as conversation starters go, but luckily, Lucy follows his lead, “Got any advice? About my thirties.”
Tim considers her question. In some ways, it feels like a lot longer than ten years had passed since he was in Lucy’s position. He tries to think what he wishes someone would have told him back when he was turning thirty. He takes a sip of his drink, puts it down, and then faces her again.
“Some of the best years of my life happened in my thirties…and some of my worst, too. But I think what they say is true - in general, things do get better with age.” (There’s a joke in there about his own appearance that he decides not to make - there’s that second-guessing thing.) “You spent your twenties figuring out what direction you want to take in life, in your thirties, you can just keep on continuing down the path you’ve been leading. There are going to be ups and downs, but the more life experience you have, the better you’re equipped to roll with life’s punches. I’ve found there’s less of trying to please other people - you know yourself and your own mind, you’re more confident in your own capabilities. Overall, you’re just more…settled, more comfortable in your own skin, more you,” Tim sums up his advice, hoping he was able to express what he was trying to get across.
“I like the sound of that,” Lucy nods in agreement, flashing him another smile.
Gosh, she’s beautiful. He forces himself to ask her something else before he lingers on that thought for too long.
“So…is this where I ask you if you have any advice for my forties?” He quips.
“Weeell,” Lucy looks pointedly at the karaoke stage, and Tim follows her gaze to where Nolan and Bailey are performing a duet of “Wannabe”. Tim has to admit that Bailey’s singing voice is actually pretty good, which shouldn’t be surprising, come to think of it - although she’s nowhere near as good as Lucy.
Lucy gestures at the happy couple. “If Nolan’s anything to go off of, you could completely change your career this decade, get a second chance at love…”
Tim freezes as she says the word “love.” Could she mean…?
Lucy must read something on his face as she turns back to face him, because she quickly backtracks, “Uh, not to say you haven’t already found love, I was just–”
Right, she’s referring to Ashley. Or finding love with some other woman. There’s no way she’s suggesting what first popped into his mind.
“It’s fine, Lucy,” he cuts her off, not ready to unpack this with her right now, “I know what you meant. And I think I’d be more likely to follow in Smitty’s footsteps before I follow Nolan’s. ”
Lucy rolls her eyes, and then, suddenly, she seems to remember something, reaching into the back pocket of her snug jeans to pull something out.
“I almost forgot, I came over to give you this.” She hands him a small white envelope, “Happy birthday, Tim.”
“Oh,” Tim exclaims, genuinely surprised that she’d brought a gift for him at her own party, “thank you. Should I open this…or is it going to explode in my face?”
“No explosions this time, promise,” Lucy chuckles.
Inside the envelope sit two Dodgers ticket vouchers. Tim smiles; she really does know him well.
“Thanks, Lucy, these are great. I might even go this weekend.”
“You’re welcome! I’m sure you and Ashley will have a great time.”
“Oh, uh, Ashley doesn’t really like the Dodgers,” he tells Lucy, the excuse sounding lame even to his own ears. But telling her the real reason he won’t be inviting Ashley seems a lot more complicated right now.
“Oh,” Lucy looks confused, but where pre-UC op Lucy would have pushed the issue, she just adds, “well, I’m sure you’ll have fun with whoever you go.”
Since they’re already on the topic, Tim decides to ask what he’s been wondering for the better half of the night. “So, where’s Chris?”
“Chris?” Lucy echoes his question, almost like she’s not sure why he would be asking. “Oh, he, um, couldn’t make it.” Something about the way she’s not meeting his eyes tells Tim there’s more she’s not saying, too, but he doesn’t ask her to elaborate, either.
The tickets are still in his hand, reminding him of the small gift he had brought for Lucy. “Will you wait here a second? I have something for you, too.”
Lucy’s eyes widen in surprise and she nods, excitedly. Tim quickly goes to grab the bag by his seat and then returns to Lucy at the bar, hanging it to her. Lucy takes out the gift, grinning widely as she realizes what it is.
“You got me a picture of your dog?” She looks up at him, eyes shining with amusement.
He had, indeed, framed a recent picture of Kojo. The boy looks quite handsome, if you ask him. He’s also holding a nearly-destroyed chew toy in his mouth, a gift from Lucy that she had just randomly delivered to his house the other week, because, she’d later told him, she hadn’t been able to resist the targeted ad on her social media.
“He used to be your dog,” he reminds her, for once not second-guessing something when it comes to Lucy - he knew she would appreciate the gift. “You ask me for pictures all the time, now you’ve got one of your own.”
“You’re right, I love it,” she professes, hugging the photo to her chest, “thank you, Tim.”
“You’re welcome,” he nods, “happy birthday.”
“Hey, Tim,” she tilts her head at him, a mischievous glint in her eye, “would you do something for me? Since it's my birthday? Our birthday?”
It’s not hard to guess what she’s going to ask. “You want me to sing a song with you,” he sighs.
“Just one! Please?” She folds her hands together in request, looking up at him with begging eyes. “I’ll do most of the singing. You can choose the song. Say yes?”
Tim takes a deep breath. It almost feels like by saying yes, he would be agreeing to more than just a song. He thought all he wanted was for things to go back to normal, back to how things were when she was just his former-rookie/aide/friend.
But maybe, there is no going back.
Maybe, the only way from here on out - however scary it may be - is forward.
“Yes.”
Ten years later, their birthday celebrations are looking quite different.
Early on in their relationship, Lucy had dubbed the week their birthdays fell out on as ‘Birthday Week’, and proceeded to celebrate both of their birthdays, as well as the days in between. They generally started off small, with something intimate for just the two of them on Tim’s birthday, as she knew he preferred, building up to a larger gathering or outing on Lucy’s, and some small gifts and celebrations sprinkled out in the day between them. Tim grumbled about it at first, but Lucy knew he secretly loved Birthday Week.
As the years went on, and they had their two daughters, the girls became part of the celebrations as well, which took on more of a family-friendly spin. It was pretty much an unspoken rule that Tim and Lucy tried to outdo one another with the gifts they got each other each year, and Juliet and Samantha were happy to be roped into whatever elaborate plans one of their parents had for the other.
This year, for example, Lucy had surprised Tim on the morning of his 50th birthday with some brand new kitchen equipment, including a top-of-the-line coffee maker, blender, food processor, knife set, and waffle iron. The girls had helped by wrapping everything and coloring big signs to affix to the walls and counters in the kitchen. That afternoon, they’d spend the day outdoors, with a short hike followed by a picnic.
But today, Lucy’s 40th birthday, is a little different. Tim, Jules, and Sammy had brought her breakfast in bed this morning, accompanied by cards decked out in (a little too much) glitter, but Lucy had been feeling too nauseous to eat much, which was a real shame considering Tim had put his new waffle iron to the test.
And now, they’re spending the morning at the doctor’s office.
“Good morning,” the doctor greets them cheerfully, “how are you feeling today?”
“Nervous,” Lucy answers truthfully, exchanging a look with Tim. He reaches for her hand, giving it a comforting squeeze.
They’ve been in this office a lot over the past year or so. Some of the visits were happy occasions, but most - were not.
A little before Sam had turned three, they had decided to try for one last baby. But where their first two pregnancies had happened almost immediately, it took a lot longer to get pregnant this time around. Unfortunately, though Lucy finally did get pregnant, she miscarried early on. After a few more months of trying on their own, they decided to pay a visit to the fertility clinic where Lucy had frozen her eggs almost a decade before. Given Lucy’s “advanced maternal age”, the fertility doctor had suggested they use the frozen eggs instead of continuing to try and conceive naturally. Their first embryo transfer had failed, which had been another big blow, but together she and Tim had decided to try again - and their second attempt had proven successful.
Lucy is currently just about 10 weeks along, but given everything they’d gone through, she’s still having a hard time believing this pregnancy is going to stick.
“Well, your lab work looks good - great, even - so that’s good news. Now, let’s see if this scan can help to put your mind at ease,” the doctor smiles kindly as she gets the ultrasound set up.
As soon as the image appears on the screen, Lucy lets out the breath she’d been holding. It’s not much - a tiny blob - but it looks just like she remembers from her pregnancies with the girls.
The doctor presses a button, and then, the distinct thump thump thump sound of a heart beating fills the room. Lucy’s eyes water as she listens to the strong, comforting sound and the doctor reassures her everything looks normal.
She turns to her husband, finding Tim with a similar expression on his own face. She knows the last few years had been just as hard on him - not only because he also really wanted a third baby, but because it had been hard for him to see her so sad every time they suffered a setback or loss. He gives her a loving smile, tightening his grip on her hand, and they silently turn their attention back to the monitor.
Suddenly, the screen flickers, causing Lucy to lose sight of the blob, and the sound of the heartbeat becomes distorted. But just as quickly, the image comes back into focus, the heartbeat clear again.
“Ah,” says the doctor, in a way that’s impossible to infer from her tone if it’s a good ‘ah’ or a bad ‘ah’. Naturally, Lucy is instantly worried.
“What is it?” Tim asks hesitantly, and Lucy is grateful, because she doesn't think she’s capable of getting any words out right now.
“Take a look,” the doctor tells them calmly, and the image moves again. Now there are two almost identical blobs on the screen.
Oh. The realization slowly dawns on Lucy that no, she is not suddenly seeing double, and her own heart begins to beat rapidly, almost in sync with the - not one, but two - heartbeats being played.
“Congratulations, you two! It’s twins,” their doctor informs them with a grin, as she types out BABY A and BABY B over each sac on the screen, and then prints out a photo for them.
Lucy just continues to stare at the screen, in shock. She had known, of course, that there was a chance of twins with IVF, especially as they had implanted two embryos this time around, due to her age and their failed transfer with just one embryo. But she honestly hadn’t expected this to happen. She’d been so focused on getting pregnant with just one baby, that she hadn’t even let herself consider the very real possibility of two.
It’s amazing, wonderful, happy news, but it’s also a little overwhelming. Taking care of two babies, plus the older girls, won’t be easy. Still, she doesn't doubt that they’ll be able to handle it.
Lucy finally manages to come out of her stupor enough to turn and take in Tim’s reaction. He looks completely dumbfounded.
“You ready for two new boots to train at once, Daddy?” she asks him, with a somewhat crazed laugh.
Tim shakes his head in disbelief. But then he meets her eyes, and smiles, “With you, I’m up for anything.”
Lucy grins back and leans over to give Tim a gentle kiss, which he reciprocates.
The doctor continues to make some more measurements, before declaring that everything looks right on track and printing a few more photos. She gives them some more information on what to expect with a twin pregnancy and allows them to ask any questions they have.
Just as they’re wrapping up, the doctor asks, “Would you like to know the genders?”
“How is that possible?” Lucy wonders.
“Well,” the doctor begins to explain, “we can actually find out the gender this early with a blood test, and we included that in your last panel. With twins it’s a little trickier - if there are no Y chromosomes detected, you know there are two girls. But if there are Y chromosomes detected, you know that it’s at least one boy, but not what the gender of the second baby is. However, we also know the sex of the embryos we transfered. It’s possible only one implanted and split, but based on what I saw on the ultrasound, it’s probably more likely that both implanted. So I can tell you both the results of your blood test, and the genders of the embryos we implanted, if you’d like?”
Lucy and Tim exchange a silent look, and then nod. Having twins is already a huge surprise, they’d like to know as much information as possible. Even though it doesn’t really matter to them either way.
“Ok, so I can tell you that we transferred…one female and one male embryo. And the blood test did detect Y chromosomes. So I would say that’s a very high likelihood of boy-girl twins, although there is a slight chance these are identical boys. We’ll be able to confirm that at around 16 weeks.”
Lucy smiles at the news. She honestly would have been happy either way, but there is something exciting about having (at least) one boy after two girls. She thinks there’s something special about being able to give Tim a son. At the same time, she knows that Tim has complicated feelings about having a boy, given his relationship with his own father. She’ll talk to him about it more at home, but for now, she gives his hand a supportive squeeze, and is reassured by his own smile and nod that he’s okay with the news.
The doctor gives them some privacy so Lucy can redress.
“Can you believe it?” Lucy asks Tim, still processing everything.
“This is going to be a hard birthday present to one-up,” Tim observes.
“Mm-hmm,” Lucy agrees, musing in thought, “you know, if someone had told me ten years ago that on my 40th birthday I’d be married to you with two daughters and finding out I was pregnant with twins, I--”
Tim raises his brows, “Are you sure you want to finish that sentence? I’m pretty sure you’d have been ecstatic, given you were already head over heels in love with me.”
Lucy rolls her eyes at him, but he’s not wrong. “All right, fine, that’s probably true. But don’t act like you weren’t desperately in love with me back then, either.”
“I didn’t say I wasn’t,” Tim smirks back, and boy, do they really need to get out of this office and back home as soon as possible so that she can properly wipe that grin off his face.
“Let me ask you this, then,” Lucy changes tactics, fondly remembering their conversation exactly ten years ago on this date. A day that had ended up being a pivotal turning point in their relationship. “Got any advice for what to expect during my forties?”
“You know,” Tim tells her softly, twining their fingers together, and glancing down at the ultrasound photos before looking back at her fervently, “I think it’s going to be your best decade yet.”
And it is.