I've got a manic week at work coming up so I'm posting this now otherwise I'm not going to get a chance until the weekend.
This scene just popped into my head and I had to write it... hope you enjoy it!
Disclaimer: I own a now slighly less infected throat and I still don't own Cold Case.
Lilly Rush was sat at her desk trying to identify a Jane Doe who had washed up on the banks of the Schuylkill this morning. The girl's remains were approximately 40 years old and she was estimated to have been 4 years old when she'd died. She'd also appeared to have been abused as her arm had been broken as if someone had twisted it.
That last part really got to Lilly. She could never imagine hurting Bean, from the moment she'd seen Bean on the monitor at her first scan she had wanted to do everything she could to protect her child, hell, she was even happy to be on desk duty if it meant keeping Bean safe. Working child abuse cases had always been hard in the past, but now she was pregnant and she had her own connection with a child, it was proving to be extremely difficult. She sighed and turned the page on the medical reports she was going through hoping to shed some light on who their victim might be, whilst rubbing her bump lovingly.
She had finally "popped" last week and she would never forget the look on Nick Vera's face as she'd proudly walked into Homicide with a small, but definitive, baby bump evident underneath her maternity clothes. He'd stood up, pointed at her stomach, dropped his donut and kept exclaiming "you're pregnant ... you ... you're...you're pregnant!".
Will had looked up at her then with a surprised look on his face and asked how far along she was. When she'd replied, she was sure she saw a flicker of recognition as if he'd worked out the night Bean had been conceived, but had done nothing more then give her a bear hug and congratulated her. He'd also asked if the father was around and she'd had to stop herself laughing at that, around he definitely was! She nodded and he'd smiled a genuinely happy smile for her.
Rumours had circulated quickly then that Ice Queen Rush was pregnant, although Scotty and she had still managed to keep the father a secret, they'd figured one rumour at a time was enough. IAB were still tied up with the human trafficking thing in East, much to her relief, so no formal investigation into her and Scotty's relationship had begun yet either.
Lilly concentrated on her files for another 45 minutes until she was disturbed by Scotty and Nick returning from their job of distributing flyers at City Hall.
"Hey guys, you want coffee?" Nick asked as he entered Homicide.
"Usual please" Will replied.
"Fruit smoothie for me" Lilly replied. She'd had the biggest craving for them recently.
"Sure, cappuccino with cinnamon for me. But it's my turn to pay" Scotty said as he tossed his wallet towards Nick.
Nick fumbled with Scotty's wallet and it fell to the floor. Bending down to pick up the discarded receipts that had fallen out, Nick noticed what appeared to be a black and white photo. Squinting he recognised it as a pregnancy scan picture, not dissimilar to the one Lilly had shown him last week when news of her pregnancy had broke.
Was Scotty about to be a daddy? Had he knocked some woman up and not told them about it? Nick thought with a hint of glee. Taking a closer look, he took in the name on the scan.
No, it couldn't be, could it? He read the name again and realised his eyes were not mistaken.
"You...and...You!" he exclaimed, standing up and pointing to both Scotty and Lilly with the scan picture in his hand.
Scotty's blood ran cold and he remembered the picture of the last scan he always kept in his wallet. How could he have been so stupid to just give Nick his wallet like that? Glancing quickly across to Lilly, he saw that she had frozen in her seat, her arm resting protectively across her bump.
Nick voice bellowed through the air again. "You ...and...and You!"
Now the whole department was looking at them and Lilly wished the ground would just open up and swallow her. So much for her and Scotty's secret. She sent Scotty's the iciest look she had ever sent anyone.
"Look man, it's not what you think..." Scotty began stepping towards Nick.
"You...and...You!" Nick exclaimed again in disbelief.
"Nick! My office. Now." Stillman voice bellowed across the office. He had been watching the whole exchange from his office and knew if he didn't step in now, a scuffle would most likely ensue. He was actually surprised that Scotty and Lilly had been able to keep their secret for so long.
"Everyone else, back to work!" John barked at the other detectives that had gathered in the vacinity following Nick's revelation.
Lilly could feel everyone's eyes on her and she could practically feel their judgement and ridicule. She felt mortified and was absolutely livid at her partner. How could he have been so stupid? Now everyone knew that she's slept with her partner and all the respect she'd earned as a detective over the years had vanished in a single second due to Scotty's reckless oversight.
"You ok Lil?" Stillman asked softly once Nick was safely heading towards his office.
Focusing her eyes on Stillman she shook her head. Maybe it was the case they were working on, maybe it was that her and Scotty's secret had just been revealed, but the one thing she knew was that she couldn't be there right now. "I...I think I'm going to take some lost hours" she stated quietly, tears burning behind her eyes, as she started gathering up her things and heading towards the door.
"Take as long as you need, Lil" was Stillman's only response.
XXX
Scotty Valens knocked on the door of Lilly's house apprehensively. It was the evening of their dinner with his parents and he wasn't sure what response he was going to get from Lilly after the day's events. He wasn't even sure if she would still go with him.
Following Nick's announcement to the office that he was the father of Lilly's baby, Will had taken him aside for some more "fatherly advice" and he hadn't had a chance to catch up with Lilly before she'd left the office. He'd tried calling and texting her for the rest of the afternoon but had received no response. He'd thought about cancelling dinner with his parents, but in all honesty, he couldn't face the lecture he knew he would get if he cancelled and just wanted to get the meeting over and done with.
Lilly's door swung open and he was stunned at the sight that greeted him.
"You're wearing a dress!"
Smooth Valens, real smooth he thought to himself. He recognised the dress immediately as the one he had made her try on the day they went shopping after the scan.
"Come on Lil, I've never seen you in a dress before. Just try it on. I'm carrying all these bags for you, the least you can do is let me see what you look like in a dress" Scotty teased.
Huffing, Lilly had reluctantly taken the dress into the changing room to try it on with the other clothes she'd picked up. The dress was knee length, had ¾ length sleeves and was a deep lavender warp around dress that tied at the side to accommodate a growing bump. When she'd come out and twirled for him, Scotty had been unable to stop the appreciative stare he had given her legs.
"Looks good on you, Lil" he'd commented sincerely. He'd been disappointed when she had put it back on the rail.
He was brought out of his reverie now by the sound of Lilly's angry voice.
"Let's just get this over with shall we?" she said exiting her house and slamming the door behind her.
She was wearing the full Ice Queen face, but he didn't care because right now, he just couldn't get over how beautiful she looked in that dress. The dress hugged her small bump making her look even more amazing now than the first time she had tried it on. The deep lavender colour brought out the blue of her eyes and complimented her skintone perfectly. Her shining blonde hair was down too and her skin was glowing with health as only a pregnant woman's can. Kitten heeled shoes adorned her feet and a small diamond necklace and stud earring set completed the outfit.
"Now Valens" Lilly demanded as she reached his car.
He hadn't even realised that he'd been staring at her for that long. "Uh, sure. Sorry Lil. It's just, you look amazing in that dress"
Lilly just continued to fix him her Ice Queen look as they got into his car and headed towards his parents. Unfortunately his mum had not been receptive to meeting in a restaurant so his parents were hosting dinner for him and Lilly.
When he had first mentioned dinner with his parents, Lilly had become obsessed with making a good impression and a dress had seemed an appropriate outfit to wear. She'd remembered their day out shopping and the dress he had begged her to try on – she also remembered the once over he had given her and the disappointment in his eyes when she had insisted on putting it back on the rail – so she had thought she would surprise him by buying the dress to wear to dinner with his parents.
Now though, now she was so mad and hurt by his recklessness that she was surprised she was even in the car with him. If it wasn't for the fact that she thought cancelling with his parents now would make meeting them in the future even worse, she wouldn't even be here. She'd decided this afternoon that she would be the perfect lady in front of his parents, as she really didn't want them to think ill or her or their grandchild, but Valens was going to get the full Ice Queen treatment.
Scotty's nervousness grew as he drove towards his parents and he couldn't take the tension any more.
"Look Lil, I'm really sorry about earlier. I tried to come after you, but Will wanted to congratulate me" she didn't need to know about the little pep talk he had given Scotty. "I know it wasn't how you wanted everyone to find out, but it's not liked I planned it to happen. It was an innocent mistake! Didn't you get my messages?"
Still the Ice Queen look remained.
"Come on Lil, at least everyone knows now, and honestly, after you left, no one said anything more about it. A couple of the guys even congratulated me, us."
Lilly remained silent beside him and Scotty's anger started to rise.
"For god's sake Lil! It was going to come out sooner or later! Or are you that ashamed that I'm the father?"
"Are you kidding me!" Lilly yelled, her anger reaching boiling point. "You just don't get it, Scotty! Of course they'll congratulate you! To them, you're the one who slept with the only girl in the joint, the one who thawed the Ice Queen. Do you really think that I haven't been propositioned by some of them in the past? Do you not see that I've just become the office slut that slept with her partner?"
"Oh, and it's been so easy for me this last week having to hear how you must have gotten artificial insemination to get pregnant because you're such a stuck up bitch, huh Lil?" Scotty yelled back, no longer able to control his temper. "The guys in the locker room, yeah, they've been talking, and I ain't said a word Lil, not one word, because I knew how important keeping this secret was to you! Do you know how hard it was for me not to punch some of those guys in the mouth?"
"See! That just proves my point! All anyone is going to remember me for is this! It doesn't matter that I was the first female homicide detective in Philly, that I've solved hundreds of cases. Now I'm always going to be the first woman to make Homicide, only to have a one night stand with her partner and get herself knocked up. All the respect I had, it's gone Scotty. All because you couldn't just get the money out your wallet and give it to Nick!" Lilly continued yelling angrily. How could he not see the damage that had been done?
Scotty was shocked. He had no idea that Lilly felt that way about herself or the situation "Lil, they don't think that, well maybe some of them do, but they still respect you Lil. You're a great detective and no one can take that away from you" he reassured in a serious tone. "But Lil, I'm not ashamed of what happened and I'm not going to apologise for carrying a picture of Bean around in my wallet. I want to share some of the joy of being an expectant parent as well, is that too much to ask? It is my kid too and I'm proud of that".
When Lilly didn't reply he glanced over at her and saw she had her hands on her bump and was looking down at it with tears in her eyes and a strange look on her face. Panic filled Scotty and he was thankful that he had just arrived at his parent's house.
"What is it Lil? What's wrong?" Panic and terror evident in his voice.
Lilly shook her head. "Nothing Scotty" she choked "I think Bean's just kicked!".
She grabbed his hand and placed it on her stomach where he immediately felt a hard round lump hit his fingers.
"There! Did you feel it?" Lilly exclaimed with a huge smile gracing her mouth and an amazed look on her face.
"Yeah Lil, I did" Scotty whispered. He couldn't believe it! He had just felt his child kick for the first time and the feeling was indescribable. "Is this the first time?"
Lilly nodded in the affirmative. "I've been getting some fluttering but I wasn't sure if it was gas or the baby. This is definitely the first time Bean has kicked". Lilly was just so happy that all the anger she had been feeling towards Scotty had faded. The kick from Bean reminding her that no matter how mad she was with Scotty, he was always going to be in her life now because of Bean.
"I'm not ashamed you're the father Scotty" she answered his earlier question honestly, at the same time Bean kicked again, "and it looks like Bean isn't either" she stated with a chuckle. "I know it had to come out sooner or later, but I was hoping that it would just be Nick and Will, you know?"
"I really am sorry Lil" Scotty said with sincerity.
"I know Scotty".
Scotty smiled at Lilly and gestured towards his parent's house "Shall we?"
Lilly looked up at the house and took in a deep breath. It was now or never.
