As requested by ChamblerBr.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Prologue
– – –
Tara smiled at the happy couple engaged in their first dance as man and man, and she drank from her glass. She hasn't always been a fan of wine, but given her roommate from the academy who only drank wine until Tara broke her habit and showed her the other types of booze, she'd gotten the taste for it. Besides it was this or the bubbly, and the bubbly was a sad reminder that she was nowhere near drinking bubbly at her own wedding and would be going home alone tonight. Well, not entirely alone.
She had a hot piece coming home with her. Sadly, that hot piece was just her partner and friend of ten years. And also unfortunately very heterosexual, though if Tara loaded her up enough, she might swing the other way for a night. She wasn't the person to try, but she would without a doubt get her drunk and record the mess booze had made of her to use as blackmail for clothes borrowing or shift exchanging. She was a drunk singer type, and it was the funniest fucking thing. She still had a tape of it buried from their college years, and it was Halloween, so she was loaded and dressed up. As a not slutty, but after she was wasted a semi-slutty nurse.
Tonight was a special night. Tonight their best friend—and co-worker—said goodbye to the shark tank of dating and married the person they all could hope to marry. They were cute together, sometimes in the annoying way that made her teeth shudder, but mostly in the way you hated them because they had a closeness and connection you hadn't found with another person, or a TV show. Or even a good pair of a socks. Her dating life was so sad lately.
"Where's the hard stuff?" She set her glass on the table.
"I think Rosita drank it all." Her aforementioned partner and one of her best friends smirked at her, those typically messy brown curls flat ironed and lying pinned up to the side, cupped against her gentle cheekbones that were high from the smile on her painted lips, and she adjusted the gold cross resting on her neck, her two shades from alabaster skin pale against the straps of her red gown. All the work of the lovely groom who had been dying to her her out of her work clothes and into something a "dash more girly". She complied, because a pissed off groom was just as bad as a pissed off bride. Luckily his requests were too bad.
"Fuck me."
"Give me another one of these, I just might."
Tara laughed and reached over to wrap her arms around her. "I love you. Have I told you that?"
She smiled. "I love you too."
"How drunk are you two?" Maggie asked the pair who were goofy and all wrapped up in each other like two little kids on a playground.
"A little bit." Tara released her partner. "Right, Carol?"
"You might be a little drunk, but I am thoroughly besotted." She raised her champagne flute. "Let us pray no one gets killed, or I'm screwed."
"I'll drink to that." Glenn raised his own flute. "And to the groom and groom. I'll drink to them too."
Aaron and Eric gazed at each other like there was no one else in the room, that precious song of theirs embracing their small group of guests, and it was beautiful. The ceremony had been beautiful, and the reception was simply...heartwarming. It was like coming home to your family, and Tara was grateful to be apart of this day. Having known Aaron since he was a rookie cop, busting through the back streets of Philly, scrambling for his shield like the rest of them, she felt even more proud and elated for him. Eric was a good match, and she couldn't find the words as Aaron's best woman to describe a love like theirs. Corny as fuck, but true. It made her think maybe soul mates and all that jazz was real. One glance at them and anyone would think that.
"Ten bucks Rosita goes home with Eric's cousin," Carol whispered to her partner.
"Ten bucks she's already nailed him," Tara challenged. "In the bathroom."
"Guys," Glenn nagged, "come on. We agreed: no bets tonight. Let's keep it civil. It's a wedding, for Pete's sake."
"But it's what we do," Carol retorted. "Rosita already bet ten bucks she was going home with someone."
"That's just cheating." Maggie leaned against her husband, hand resting on her round stomach. "These pools of yours are rigged, you know."
"He knows." Tara grinned. "He doesn't care."
Glenn sheepishly looked at his wife. "It's all in good fun."
"Says the man who can barely afford a cab ride home," Maggie teased.
He chuckled. "I'll bet five then. Her and the drummer."
"God, no wonder we can't afford rent," Maggie said, only sightly judging her husband. "How did you make detective? She hasn't even looked at him all night."
"Hey, I am a good cop."
"Yeah, yeah. I want in on this one. I say...hmm. I'm with Carol. The cousin."
"My wife, ladies."
She chuckled and kissed his cheek. "I'm carrying your child, Mr. Rhee, just be thankful I haven't ripped your head off tonight for makin' me a wear dress."
"Well, if I can't wears sweats to this thing, neither could you."
"So we have two for the cousin, one for the drummer, and one for already done him." Tara wrote it down on a napkin. "Ten from me, ten from the lovely lady in question, ten from Carol, five from Glenn, and five from the balloon."
"Hey!" Maggie glared. "That's Mrs. Balloon."
"Oh, how dare I not include that." She set a hand over her heard and bowed her head. "Do forgive me."
"I'd make you wait, but I have to pee again, so you're forgiven."
"All right. Where's Ty?"
"Please, like Boss would ever get in on one of ours pools." Glenn watched Maggie leave for the bathroom. "Especially one like this."
"Well, get your partner over here." Tara polished off her wine. "We need all of us in."
"It's his first dance!"
"Oh, he told me fifteen for the usher," Carol suddenly recalled. "Which makes me want to reconsider. He never loses our pools, and if it wasn't leak week and I didn't drink enough to make consent nearly questionable, I'd jump him."
"No sex for you." Tara slid her glass of champagne over to Glenn, who moved it into the chair beside him. "And no more drinking."
She huffed a sigh but didn't fight. "I want some of that cake. Or all of that cake." She sat back. "I could eat it all of it myself. I'm confident on that."
"You and Maggie both." Glenn chuckled. "She's had such a sweet tooth these last couple of weeks."
"Speak of the Mrs. Balloon." Tara smirked.
Yet the joke died at the wide-eye look in Maggie's eyes, her hand on her plump belly, and they knew what had happened in the bathroom. Still she gave her stuttered reported, Aaron noticed how they looked at her, and soon everyone was guiding Maggie to the car. Eric stayed behind to settle everything here, wishing Maggie luck and congratulations. Aaron kissed him goodbye and took the wheel while everyone else piled in the back of...the limo Eric and Aaron had them ride in.
"Just breathe," Glenn told her. "Like we learned in class."
She tightened her grip on Glenn's hand. "I know."
Aaron started the limo with Ty in the passenger seat, Lights by Journey began to play, and Carol giggled at the sound of it, completely lost to the booze. "Hold on, folks!"
Tara began to pump her partner with water from the mini-fridge, Glenn and Rosita helped Maggie through the contractions, Ty instructed Aaron through Philly for the quickest route to the hospital, and Journey filled the space between pained groans and muffled struggling. Carol didn't want to drink water, but Tara wasn't going to let her be drunk when a member of their family was about to give birth to the first baby. She'd thank her for it later, and if she didn't then at least she'd be sober. Ish.
At the hospital, Glenn and Maggie were rushed off to somewhere Tara didn't know as she caught Carol and kept her from wandering the halls of the hospital. Tyreese and Aaron parked the limo, Aaron called Eric outside to see how soon he could be here, and Rosita called the Greenes and the Rhees to let them know their little babies were about to be parents.
"I'm going to regret tonight," Carol moaned, stomach full of liquid, sinking down into a chair in the waiting room. "God."
Tara smiled. "I'll make you hangover eggs."
"Please, don't."
Tyreese removed his jacket and hung it over her shoulders, giving one a squeeze, and she smiled weakly at him. "Eric will be here soon with their overnight bag."
"Good, because Hershel and Annette can't fly in until tomorrow, and Glenn's mom will be here in an hour. She and Glenn's sisters were doing...something. My phone sucks, and I need a new one, so how's that pool coming, guys?" Rosita flashed a sweet smile. "Don't be cheap, okay? I really need a new phone, and our salary sucks."
"Watch it," Ty gently reprimanded his detective.
"It's true." She removed her heels and coiled up beside Carol. "We're Philly's finest, but we get paid like Philly's—"
"Lay off," Tara interjected. "Our friends are married, and a baby's on the way. You can rant all you want tomorrow."
"I'll hold you to it." She winked at her colleague.
"Promise, gorgeous." Tara plopped down beside Carol, rubbing her back. "If you need to hurl, let me know."
"I have an iron gut," she mumbled. "I'll just suffer a headache from hell."
"I'll get food later," Rosita promised. "Your favorite: greasy burgers and fries with a chocolate milkshake."
Carol moaned at the thought of food. "Why did you have to give me so much water? I feel like I'm pregnant, and it's not settling well."
Rosita laughed. "Want us to rub your belly?"
"Stop talking to me."
"Not a chance." She propped her chin on her knuckles, leaning over into Carol's personal space, and at how Carol suffered, the humor lost its touch, and she felt bad. She'd been there before. "I'll get you some aspirin, okay?"
Tyreese observed his detectives. He had been in that office through about three rotations of homicide cops, but this group was the only group he'd seen that was truly a family. He felt like a father to this group of twenty-somethings, and he adored them. They had the perfect balance, and he was stunned at how well they meshed. With how they teased and prodded each other, you'd think they hated each other, but no. He didn't think for a second any member of this team could hate another member. They were family. A damn good quality to have when chasing the assholes that lurked the streets.
There was Rosita Espinosa with her gut instinct, Tara who was all heart, Carol who—when not drunk off her ass—was the brains, Glenn with his ability to connect dots no one else saw, and Aaron with his almost unnatural skill to draw out confessions from even the most tight-lipped SOBs out there. That helped partner them off, save for Espinosa who flew solo. They couldn't afford a sixth murder cop, but they made due. Rosita could ride with the others when she was sick of flying alone. She and Glenn had a good mix, as did her and Tara. Now her and Aaron was downright cruel, they were the masters of Good Cop/Bad Cop.
Ah, but so on the flip side, Carol and Tara were just as lethel with how they knew just when to feed an ego and when to go for the throat. Tara was all heart, but that didn't mean for a second was a softie. Carol seemed to play off that, and whatever witness they had in the box fell right into their trap. That's why he made them partners. That, and Aaron and Glenn were already partnered before the fresh blood came.
"Did you kill her?" Aaron pointed to Carol.
"No. I'm trying to will myself better." Carol lifted her head, opening her eyes. "Not working."
"Who needs verbs?" Tara waggled her eyebrows.
"If we were at home, I'd make you a drink." Aaron loosened his tie. "It'd wipe your system clean. You might die a little, but you'd feel great. In one to two hours."
"Dude." Tara frowned. "No. I've had that shit, and I spent half of my morning puking. I thought I was pregnant for about two seconds, but unless God has a sense of humor..."
He chuckled. "True. So, how was the bet coming?"
"I think we ought to drop it with baby Rhee on the way, and the sick one here."
"Since when do we drop bets?"
"Since you began a boring married person."
He reached over and yanked her tie, she laughed when it came off in his hand, and he scoffed. "A clip-on? You wore a clip-on to my wedding?" He threw it at her, and she continued to snicker. "Asshole."
Carol giggled despite feeling like shit, Tyreese couldn't help himself, and he couldn't clear his throat to hide it, and Aaron shook his head at them.
"This isn't funny. Where's the class?"
"We have a bet going on who Rosita will sleep with," Carol stated, "and you wanna know where the class is?"
His brows rose in agreement as his head bobbed. "I should have gone to vice."
"Don't ever say that again." Rosita smacked him right in the back of the head. "You're a murder cop, Aaron. It's in your blood."
"No, alcoholism and being blind to things you aren't fond of are in my blood," he retorted.
The laughter died then. Aaron's parents had disowned him for being...not what they wanted him to be, and when he told them about the wedding and who the "bride" was, hoping all the years would have softened them, they said he'd burn in hell and "people like him" were ruining marriage for "the rest of us". Rosita egged their house, and Tara, who had been violently ill at the time, threw up in their rose garden and on their welcome mat and on their "lawn of the year" sign. Aaron couldn't help but laugh when he found out, though he chewed them out later for wasting their time. He'd made peace with it, and he had Eric. He had them, so as Tara and Rosita has said: Fuck 'em.
"Does this mean we can't get cake?" Carol whispered, swallowing the pills offered to her without water. "I can't have any now, but later..."
"Eric is bringing some with him, just for you." He smiled at his adorably wasted colleague. "Thank you guys for coming, by the way. I didn't say it earlier, but it meant the world to me and to Eric."
"Like you could keep us away." Rosita snapped her clutch closed. "I'd have barged into that church just to watch you two get married."
"I'd be her back up," Tara declared, matter-of-fact. "Me and my clip-on."
"Someone had to drink the bar dry," Carol weakly added.
"And someone had to keep an eye on you hoodlums," Ty inserted.
"Aww, you know you love us." Rosita threw an arm around his shoulder.
"I wouldn't take a bullet for any of you," he mused. "Maybe a knife, but only if it's a flesh wound."
"Gee, thanks, Boss." Tara shrugged out of her blazer and folded it in her lap. "Remind me to never be in a hostage situation with you."
"You should never be in a hostage," Aaron corrected. "You're a lesbian. You wouldn't survive."
"True." She snapped her finger. "Damn, why did I choose this career? I could have been a nurse like my sister."
"There was no parking," Carol muttered.
Tara chuckled and grasped her hand. "She's so cute. Can we keep her like this forever?"
"You want this with you when you're trying to track down a killer?" Rosita motioned to her, still with her arm around Boss. "She's a lump. A fashionable lump, nevertheless a lump."
"Her liver wouldn't survive it either," Aaron threw out. "Besides she's only this drunk 'cause of you know who."
Tara sighed. "I know. I live with her, and I was there when assface came by."
"Well, at least when this is over, she can't say it was a shitty day," Rosita reasoned. "We attended a wedding that was touching, got free drinks, and now our little Rhee is gonna born on top of that. And no one died."
Just then Ty's phone rang, Tara and Aaron both groaned, and Rosita sucked air in through her teeth. Well, almost no one died.
– – –
Thankfully, it was just Tyreese's sister, Sasha. She was in the middle of her shift and was wondering if could check on her son before he went home. She and her beau were having trouble, and she wanted to make sure he didn't stop by to see Tamir.
"Bye, Boss. Kiss little T for me, okay?" Tara adjusted herself in the chair, her leg asleep.
"Kiss little Rhee for me."
"I knew you loved us!" she called after him teasing.
"Prove it."
Aaron had gone to meet Eric outside, Rosita wanted some coffee, and Carol was either passed out or trying to will herself back to feeling better. Tara knew tonight had been hard on her. She'd gone from being in a three year relationship to being single all because assface decided just now he didn't want to be tied down anymore. They'd been taking about buying a townhouse and marriage and the whole enchilada. Tara knew this relationship wasn't an easy thing for Carol, and for him to say this now, knowing the struggle she'd endured to get that far, he was the epitome of assfacery. If she ever saw him alone on the street, she'd cuss the fuck out of him and knee him. Assface didn't need to procreate anyway.
The happy couple joined them, Eric, ever the photographer, snapped a picture of them, and Tara posed with the semi-dead Carol and Aaron was seen hiding his face behind Tara's clip-on. It was a ten out of ten.
"Where's Rosita?" Eric settled in the chair by his new husband.
"Starbucks, probably. She wanted coffee, and she won't settle for hospital coffee." Aaron removed his tie and folded it. "She has more standards for coffee than for the guys she dates."
"And she's proud of it." Eric snapped a picture of his husband. "There's nothing anyone can do to make Rosita feel ashamed of how she lives her life, and I admire that about her. I'd kill to have her confidence."
"Why? You've already got me."
Tara gagged at the sugary-sweet line. "Please, you guys promise—no lovey-dovey stuff in the office!"
"We're not at the office." He intertwined his fingers through Eric's. "And one day you'll understand."
"Take me out and shoot me," she begged Carol, "if I am ever that corny."
"Pow." Carol shot her with a finger gun. "It's a promise, and freakin' ditto."
"One day, you'll find the right person, and you'll be hating yourselves for this," Eric told them with conviction and not trace of sarcasm. "I look forward to that day. You both deserve someone like Aaron is to me."
"Sure." Carol pushed herself up and out of the uncomfortable waiting room chairs. "I'll be back."
Eric's mouth formed a downward line. "Was it something I said?"
"No, it was Shane," Tara answered. "Mr. Sudden Commitment Issues broke up with her. We were trying to keep it hush, because of your wedding."
"Oh." He tsked. "God, that's awful. They've been together for a long time."
"It's why she insisted on getting hammered."
"I should apologize."
"No!" Tara and Aaron exclaimed.
"Why not? What I just told her after what happened to her today—"
"If you apologize, she'll know you know about Shane, and then she'll know we told you. We promised we wouldn't mention it, and you know how Carol is about giving her your word," Tara explained. "She understands that you didn't know and didn't mean to hurt her, just let her be, okay?"
He nodded. "Okay."
About twenty minutes later, Rosita showed up with coffee from Starbucks, Carol shuffled her way back, and they waited for the rest of family to show. And, of course, for the baby Rhee to make the big appearance.
– – –
"How are you feeling?" Rosita had followed Carol into the bathroom. She'd been sick of hovering in the waiting room. It felt like twenty hours of her life had been wasted in there. Plus she was worried about Carol. She didn't date long term for the exact reason Carol was hurting. "I can pick up another coffee for you. I don't mind."
"I don't need anymore coffee." She gazed unblinkingly at the water pouring from the faucet "Thank you, though."
"I get rough break ups." She walked over to her. "They suck. Suck doesn't cover it, but you weren't the only one knockin' 'em back." She smiled at her friend. "He's an asshole, and he didn't know his luck. You're better off without him, and I know you don't want to hear that right now, but it's the truth."
Carol shut off the water. "I just...give up."
"On men? Or relationships?"
"For now both, but mostly relationships."
"You'll find a great guy one day. Or girl. Who knows what the future holds."
Carol laughed. "I don't there's enough money in the world for some poor girl to want to be with me."
"Hey, don't sell yourself short. I'd do you."
"Says the girl who does everybody."
Rosita was glad to see her quipping again. "Hey now, not everybody, okay? I do have standards." She wrapped her arms around Carol and hugged her tightly. "I'm sorry."
Carol didn't want to cry, but having Rosita be here and apologize for something that was out of her hands melted her resolve. She hugged her back and trembled, the tears she'd locked away escaping, and Rosita tightened her grip. Carol wondered if she was trying to squeeze the pain out of her, and it wasn't working, but the thought really did count here. She was glad she came after. It was a fresh wound, and there was no use pretending it wasn't.
"Once baby Rhee is here, I'll take you out." Rosita released her. "Dinner, just us. I know a place that makes great margaritas."
"That'd be great."
"Although we might have to invite Tara."
"Designated driver?"
"Yes. See how we connect? We should be partners."
"Take it up with the boss."
"Single out of work and single in work. Imagine being me for the past...oh, three years."
Carol laughed.
"Guys!" Tara bolted into the bathroom. "She's here!"
––
Wrapped up in the blanket Maggie had bought months ago just for this day was little baby Rhee, all six pounds, eight ounces of her. She was so tiny and so precious, with a sprinkling of Glenn's black hair atop her head, the mouth that resembled her mother's mouth opening in a big yawn, and those dark green eyes cracking open to see why the heck they were staring at her.
"Awww." Tara gripped her heart. "I just want to eat her up."
Maggie smiled. "After the last few hours of tryin' to get her out, not a chance in hell."
"I wouldn't and couldn't, but she's so cute."
"She's got that Rhee nose," Rosita pointed out. "It's all tiny and cute on her, though."
"Oh, I see it now," Carol joked. "Maybe it'll stay that way, you know, unlike Glenn's."
Glenn scoffed. "Thanks, guys, so glad I let you in the door."
They laughed, Glenn rolled his eyes while trying to repress his smile, and Maggie let them take turns holding her. She was an angel, and every single person in that room silently made a vow to never let anything happen to her. This kid just got the majority of the murder cops in Philly as bodyguards, and you didn't want to mess with Eric. He was a slender man, but he could blind the fuck out of you with the flash of his camera.
"What's her name?" Aaron inquired, rocking the sweet baby girl in his arms.
"Lauren," Glenn replied. "Lauren Mae."
"Mae Rhee?" Tara snorted. "Really?"
"Ma made me," Maggie groaned. "It was her grandmother's name, and since Shawn's was a boy and Daddy gave Beth the middle name Ruth, I had to use it."
"Pulled the tradition card, eh?" Carol held her arms out for her turn of holding Lauren.
"Yeah."
"Well, as long as you don't call her Lauren Mae Rhee all at once, I think it'll be fine."
"We're considering a second middle name." Glenn watched his daughter be passed to Tara a moment later. "Adeline, but I dunno."
"Adeline being?" Tara tucked a bit of loose blanket back in.
"It's my mom's middle name," Maggie confessed. "My birth mom, not Annette."
"Oh."
"What do you guys think?" She searched their faces one by one.
"It's good." Tara sat on the foot of the bed with Lauren in her arms. "And I can her L'MAR."
"Don't you dare." Maggie playfully glared.
"Fine, fine, but add the second middle name." She peered down at the newest member of their family, smiling broadly at the little gem, and she got all of her looks and light snuggles in before their parents arrived, and nobody saw anymore of the baby. She knew Beth would be on her like white on rice, so she took this moment to get it out of her system.
"Let's take a picture." Rosita reached for Eric's camera. "We have a lot to celebrate and remember, so move in. I'm gonna borrow a nurse."
They all found a place around the bed to stand, Tara handed the bundle over to her mom, and Rosita returned with a nurse. He was happy to take the picture, and Rosita squeezed in. It was the first picture of the new team, and it was a keeper.