N/A: Hey there! This idea of what the story behind Gail's 'dad' mug could be just kept bombarding my brain. I actually started this at least a month ago, maybe more, but then I stopped. Today I've been in dire need of some fluffy shit, so I decided to give it a go.

Fair warnings:

#1 I am not an English native speaker and unfortunately I do not live in an English-speaking country, so there could be several mistakes and just weird stuff due to this. Please, feel free to let me know if you find any (you most likely will), so I can edit and even learn something. Yay!

#2 This is my absolute first fic – not just in English, but in general. So, yeah, you know, I'm sorry, it's kinda lame.

#3 As I said, I started writing this (and in general thinking up Golly shit to write about) quite some time ago; at the time we still didn't know about the storyline regarding Sophie's adoption, so it doesn't happen here, I guess? Yeah.

Anyway, please feel free to review and comment if you want to! I really appreciate criticism, it helps me to improve – or at least it should.

So, well, I really hope this season finale goes well for our girls!

Happy reading (or something...).

Sav.

"Wow. God. That was...", Gail trailed off, in a daze, blinking rapidly while slowly rolling on her back.

"... intense", Holly finished for her, catching her breath.

"... Yeah. Exactly", the blonde commented, trying to steady her voice.

"Totally", the other added, hoarsely. She cleared her throat.

They were both still panting. Heavily. As it turned out, "we're-finally-reunited-after-that-bloody-conference-kept-us-apart-for-a-whole-neverending-week sex" was really good. Like, really, really, ridiculously, unbelievably, overwhelmingly good. And intense.

What a hell of a week they had both had.

Holly had been rushing from lecture to presentation to lecture to presentation, which had left her hardly any time to, well, to breathe. She hated being without Gail – even if it was for a short amount of time. Life with her was so... so full and weird and unpredictable and never, ever boring, that when she was without her, everything seemed so hopelessly dull and meaningless that she almost couldn't stand other people's presence – everyone was too normal and uninteresting compared to her favourite blonde ball of snark.

On the other hand, Gail had been silently moping around the whole week, glaring even more than usual and grumpily hoping for the days to get busier so that she could immerse herself into work and not think about just how much she missed her Holly. But then, of course, since she needed work to be busier, obviously it would be slow as hell. So whenever she was at the station and had nothing to do, she would end up having coffee at her desk and threatening, well, basically almost anyone who thought it was a good idea to go talk to her (or even to look at her), to rip their throats out.

Gail turned to face Holly, a smile on her lips. The doctor smiled in return. "Hey, babe", the brunette whispered quietly. Gail leaned in and placed a sweet kiss on her lips. She hummed, closing her eyes. She had missed her so much. She inhaled deeply, fully enjoying the scent she loved, the scent she had come to associate to safety and love and happiness and, well, everything – her everything. That's what Holly was. She slowly opened her piercing blue eyes again and looked directly at Holly's, trying to convey all her feelings in one intense gaze. "I've missed you", she confessed, bringing her left hand up to lightly caress Holly's jaw and neck while snuggling up to her.

The brunette smiled again, in such a gentle and loving way that caused Gail's heart to melt. "I've missed you too, Gail", she said, her chocolate brown eyes soft and honest. Gail absolutely loved the way she said her name – like it was the one single word she would need to say to survive, like she could go on her whole life being able to say only that and she would be fine, as long as she could utter the name that meant everything to her.

They stayed there, lying in their bed, cuddling, the silence broken every now and then by a content sigh.

Suddenly, something occurred to Holly. "Hey, do you remember that picture of you Traci sent me, uh... when was it, was it Wednesday?", she asked, glancing at the blonde.

Gail had to think about it for a couple of seconds, then she remembered. She pulled a face at the memory. "The one with 'poor, lonely, sad, grumpy Gail', as she put it, drinking coffee and glaring at anyone who dared to approach me? Yeah, I do. The traitorous bastard still has to pay for it and I don't forgive easily", she grumbled.

Holly chuckled. God, Gail was so adorable. "I know you don't but don't be too hard on her. It was such a cute photograph!", she smiled.

But Gail did not like that. Nuh uh, not one bit – and yes, this is an utter lie, but it's not like she was going to admit it or something. She still had a reputation to uphold, after all... kind of. She glared at the brunette. "Do not associate yours truly and the adjective 'cute' ever again, Stewart".

Although trying to be intimidating, this only earned her another chuckle from the doctor. "I'm not even going to try and argue with that, sometimes it's just impossible to reason with you, Detective Peck", she playfully said, then watching the blonde roll her eyes at her. She thought about it for a moment and then added "You know, I've always found this usage of 'yours truly' very weird. It's not like it actually means that, I mean, you're not even writing a letter. You're talking. Makes no sense to me. It's illogical".

Gail gave her one of those looks of hers, those which literally (ok, maybe not so literally, but whatever) screamed 'Seriously? Are you even real?', in a mixture of incredulity and awe and affection and maybe just a hint of exasperation. "Yeah, yeah, whatever, Miss Logical, you're just so weird. You keep getting nerdier and nerdier and you talk way too much", she smirked and didn't give her the chance to answer before leaning in and kissing her once again, softly and slowly. Holly hummed and they both smiled in the kiss before pulling away. It just felt so good to be back together.

Holly took a moment before opening her eyes and looking at the other woman. "Well then, I'm lucky I've got you showing me when to stop talking", she smirked and stuck her tongue out at her. "Anyway, I actually wanted to ask you something about that picture. The mug you're holding? The one with the 'dad' writing and... boats on it? Is it yours?", she asked. She'd noticed it and almost immediately wondered about it, realising she had never seen Gail drinking coffee from it at the station.

The detective curiously and confusedly looked at her, wondering the reason behind the question and what would be next. "Yep, it is. Why? Do you want one too?", she joked.

"Don't worry, me and my zombie mug are perfectly fine", she answered, giving her girlfriend a quick peck on the cheek, making her smile. The 'zombie mug' was a present from Gail: she had come in the lab one day, grinning widely, holding a small package. Holly, both surprised and confused, had opened it (actually she would have preferred to wait until the end of her shift, but Gail had insisted in such an adorable and excited way that she basically had had to surrender) and then she'd immediately started to grin like a fool – she had definitely loved that mug from the very first moment. Since then, it had become sort of a "tradition" for them, when they saw some weird and peculiar mug they knew the other would love, to get it and give it to the other. "No, well, I wanted to ask why you've got it? I mean, does it have a specific meaning? You know, it's usually... well, dads, who have dad mugs", she explained, using way more words than necessary, as usual.

"It is, well, it was my dad's", Gail informed her, smiling widely before pecking her lips. She stayed silent for a couple of minutes, gathering her thoughts. She inhaled, smiled, intertwined their hands and then spoke, glancing briefly at Holly before turning her gaze to their hands. "When I was a kid, like really really young, my dad used to take me sailing with him, when we were up at the cottage, you know. And I loved it, I was even willing to wake up, like, super early. One day I heard him complaining with my mother about the mug he had at the station, he said the handle was broken or something, I can't remember. And since I was kinda artsy as a kid I decided to surprise him and bought this white mug and painted on it to decorate it. I decided to write 'dad' on it in blue, which was our favourite colour, and to draw some boats, because it was, like, our thing, it was something just the two of us shared and enjoyed, you know? Of course I used some specific kind of paint that wouldn't fade and shit, I researched, and I worked really hard to make it. It was even kind of fun to do, actually. So anyway, when I finished it I gave it to my father and he gave me such a warm smile... I'll probably never forget it. He said he was proud of me and my hard work. I was basically ecstatic. Then, my first day as a police officer, it was him who took me to the station in the morning. Before getting in the car, though, he pulled out of his bag that exact same mug and he gave it to me with that exact same smile... Said he was proud of me and my hard work. Then he told me that I deserved it and that I was going to be a great officer", she said, smiling, emotion evident in her expression, especially in those marvellous, breathtaking big blue eyes of hers. "You've probably never seen it before because I don't use it all of the time, you know, I'm afraid I could break I. So I generally use it just when I really, really feel like it for no actual reason, or on bad days, when I need more... comfort", she explained bashfully, smiling shyly. Holly smiled warmly right back at her, feeling loving and amazed. What a woman she loved.

After a minute, Gail once again moved her gaze from their fingers to Holly's deep brown eyes. She smirked, gave her a quick kiss and then moved to straddle her, the doctor's breath slightly hitching at the sudden feeling of the skin of the blonde's inner thighs against her bare hips.

"Who knows, maybe one day I'll give it to one of our children, smiling just like my father and telling them how proud of them and their hard work I am. Although I plan on telling them that way more often than my parents did", Gail said, deliberately vaguely, and winked, still with a smirk plastered on her beautiful face, before leaning in once again to start to slowly kiss along Holly's neck, occasionally nibbling gently at the soft skin and teasingly licking at it with the tip of her tongue.

Holly's pupils widened – first in arousal, then in surprise (and then in arousal again, but shush, that's not the point). How could Gail drop a bomb like that and act like it was nothing?! They had never talked about having children before – not that Holly was totally sure that could be considered as talking about it.

But then, her expression softened and she smiled a sweet, loving smile. What a woman she loved. An amazing, adorable, fantastic woman, who never, ever ceased to surprise and astonish her. That's what Gail was, and so, so much more.