"Just a few more weeks of this nonsense. Come on Peck, you got this. Almost done." Gail huffed to herself as she rounded the corner to their house. Holly had signed up for her fourth half marathon in half as many years and to surprise her, Gail had signed up without telling her so Gail was working at least one or two night shifts a week so she could do her longer runs during the day when Holly wasn't home to witness it happening.
Gail Peck hated running. Everyone knew that, but she also loved Holly and loved being able to surprise the brunette after all this time. It had been nearly four years since they started dating and just coming up to a year and a half since they were married. But Holly made it all worth it.
"Woo, 14 miles. Here's hoping that never happens again." She said as she made her way inside. Her stupid training plan had her run more than 13 miles before the race, maybe that was a good idea. No, running for no reason is never a good idea Gail thought as she shook her head to clear her mind of that blashpemy. By the time Holly was home, Gail was sitting in front of the tv relaxing before shift.
"Gail? How was your day?"
She could hear her wife's footsteps making their way into the kitchen as Holly got a glass of water as was her routine so she could hydrate before her workout. "Wha? You cooked?" The way Holly said it caused Gail to smile slightly and sweetly respond,
"Nope. That was my other wife. You weren't supposed to see that." As she went to give Holly a hug and a kiss goodbye, she was given a nice surprise when there were two arms suddenly wrapped around her waist. Gail knew this whole walk-through kitchen thing would get to her.
As she felt the brunette nuzzle into her neck she heard her whisper "Oh yeah? Well, you must not like her very much since you spend all your time with me." Gail just leaned back into her wrapping Holly's arms under her own and smirked. "Is that what you think?" With that she twirled them around so they were facing each other and could see the playful twinkling in each other's eyes knowing where this was going. But Gail was already going to be late for work so all she did was plant a lingering kiss along her wife's lips that held a promise for more later that night. On her way out she called over her shoulder, "Hope you don't mind that I ate some of it seeing as how it was for me." Holly's laughter followed her out the door on what she felt was going to be a good day.
"Ugh, Oliver. But it's running, to just run."
"I know partner. And you know what? You have only yourself to blame." There was that word again. Partner.
"I never get tired of hearing that. Can you believe that they let us be partners?" That was why Oliver had used that word, he loved how excited it made her and merely smiled at her as he ate another chip from the bag they were sharing.
"I really couldn't tell you." But he knew why. He had fought for it, ever since they first worked together he just knew that theirs was a dynamic that couldn't be recreated. "But you're avoiding the point now. Just think of the look on Holly's face when you guys are at the expo and you pick up your own packet. Not only that but. " He paused to swallow and point at Gail to emphasize his point, "but you get an okay time." Gail just smiled and they shared a moment with their chips. They were vegetable chips since it was Oliver's turn to bring them and Celery turned him healthy. Not that Holly wasn't trying the same, but they both had sweet tooths so it worked out in Gail's favor.
"I wish I could be there to see the look on her face when she realizes you've been running just to run." Just then their radio came to life and they were called to a crime scene. "Or maybe I'll just tell her when we see her."
"You wouldn't." Gail growled at him as they made their way over. "You were the only one I trusted with this information."
Several days later as Gail had finished up her last tapering run before the race and she was silently cursing herself for choosing this as a way to surprise Holly, her phone rang. "Hey. What are you up to right now?" She stopped in her tracks and looked around frantically trying to answer normally.
"Holly? Hey. I'm on my way back from grocery shopping," ugh, now she would have to go to the store but there was no other way to explain away the traffic in the background, "Did you want something?"
"Are you sure? My boss just said he saw you running. Like for fun. I told him he must have been mistaken but he's got a point. How many other pale, platinum blondes with bright pink running shoes can there be?" Holly's voice sounded a little suspicious.
"Um, a lot? You know how much I hate running." Deflect, deflect! After all of this time, she was so close.
"Gail...it's fine. You know, you can always go running with me." Holly sounded like she didn't believe a word Gail had said. It was too suspicious, she had met Holly's boss too many times for him to mistake someone else for her.
"I know. But you just run too fast. I was just trying it out. And nope, not gonna happen again." That should do it. Not a complete lie.
"Aw, but it's so relaxing. Maybe start out with a 5k? You've been to enough, why not actually participate in one? Hey, I gotta go. But since you're now going shopping, could you pick up some mangoes, strawberries, coconut water, and double fudge brownie ice cream? Thanks honey, bye!" Before Gail could say 'goodbye' Holly had hung up on her. She couldn't believe what just happened. Did Holly just make it sound like she had willingly volunteerd to do the shopping? Her phone pinged and Holly had messaged her the grocery list she just spouted off. Well, at least they could both still surprise each other.
"All right partner. Two more days. You ready?" Oliver was giddy with excitement. "When do you tell Holly?"
"Ugh, and then this self-inflicted torture can end. We're going to the expo around 11 and then grabbing some lunch before carbo loading over dinner. That just sounds gross." Gail could feel the nerves start to build. What if this didn't go over so well? She wouldn't be able to watch Holly cross the finish line.
"Yeah? I don't know. Eat a lot of pasta? Sounds great. It's been a while since I've just binged on carbs." Just then he made a weird gesture, in response Gail scrunched up her face and was about to tell him about her last run when she heard a familiar voice and felt arms wrap her shoulders in a hug and a kiss was pressed onto her cheek.
"Hey baby. I was visiting the detectives and thought I'd drop by." Gail almost froze up realizing how close they had come to spilling the beans. Just one more day and she would no longer have to make up excuses for all those workout clothes that were in the laundry.
"Was the courier sick?" She smirked as she spun her chair around to face Holly. In response she got one of her wife's signature grins and a sultry whisper in her ear, "Why don't we both leave early today and work out some of my nervous energy before tomorrow?"
"Mmm, I would. But you smell so much like dead people right now that it's overwhelming me. And…paperwork."
Holly just grinned wider as the blonde popped the 'k' and tapped her desk, "Officer Shaw, would you be so kind as to make sure Officer Peck here gets home on time tonight?"
"Uh, yeah Holly. No problem." As he saw Holly turning to go and Gail sighing with relief he couldn't help himself and called out, "Actually, I can take care of the paperwork. It's no big deal, enjoy your night Officer Peck." With a departing wink from Oliver, Gail slowly got up and went to change in the locker rooms signaling Holly to wait in the car for her.
"Good luck at the race this weekend. Oh, and before little miss sunshine over there forgets…Celery made you a potion for speed or something. Anyway, it's in the break room fridge," Oliver said as he pointed in the general direction of the room and stood to give Holly a good luck hug.
"Thanks, Ollie. I'll need it…well, the luck at least. Going for a personal best this time. Tell Celery 'thank you' for me."
"Wow, Hols. This is probably the biggest expo yet." Holly watched as Gail's eyes narrowed looking at the booths and not seeing anything that was blatantly for free yet, her favorite part.
"I'm going to go easy on the food samples this time, I think they've been messing with me the last couple of times." Holly couldn't figure out Gail's mood the closer they actually got to the expo. And why was Gail pouting? The food samples were her favorite part. "Hey, what's wrong? It's not like you can't eat your heart out on the tiny samples. Do multiple drive-bys."
"Hmmm…what? Oh yeah, they better be good this time. Let's go and get your number and t-shirt," and grumbled "and mine" as she took her wife's hand in hers and they walked over the 'P' section.
These volunteers looked way to cheerful to be handing out those numbers so people could run. For fun. They looked more cheery than the last time. "Last name and ID?"
"Peck."
"We have two here. Gail?" Holly's jaw dropped as she looked at the woman standing next to her handing her ID over to the volunteer.
"That's me. She's Holly. Holly. Give the nice lady your ID," Gail practically had to hand the ID over herself.
"T-shirt pick-up is over there, you'll get your bag there with the safety pins as well." The volunteer smiled at them and pointed them over to where a giant sign read "T-SHIRT PICK-UP".
After they got out of line and were making their way over, Holly suddenly grabbed Gail's arm and pulled them out of the way of foot traffic. "You signed up for this? When did you do you that? Did you even train? You know this is running? It's all coming together now, my boss seeing you run, your sudden interest in stretching. All those new workout clothes." Holly was shocked, and rambling. Nothing a good kiss on the lips couldn't stop though.
"Yes. About a month after you, I've been training since I signed up. All those night shifts? I volunteered for them so I could run while you were at work." There was a pause as a look passed between them. "Surprise? I won't be at the finish line waiting for you since you know, I'll probably be way behind you as you go get your PR but I figured I'd give it a try since it clearly means so much to you."
Gail was rewarded with a kiss, and her wife's signature grin. "This is an amazing surprise. Maybe next time we can train together." This time it was Gail's jaw that dropped.