AN: SORRY FOR THE DELAY ON THIS CHAPTER, I've had major writers block/ story mash up going on for a few weeks as I've been editing awake but dreaming and trying to write this chapter.
"Surprise!" came a chorus of shouts as Gail and Holly entered the Penny 10 minutes before they were scheduled to meet their friends. "Dammit McNally!" Gail reached over and slapped her arm glaring at Andy; their announcement had been stolen from them. "I'm sorry; it just slipped out in the locker room." Andy grinned, pulling Holly into a hug while Oliver quickly pulled Gail towards the center of their group to be congratulated. "Congratulations, officially." Andy turned towards Holly, who watched with an amused smile as Gail became bombarded with hugs, and adorable glare plastered on her face. "I'm disappointed that we found out through McNally." Tracie gave Holly a disappointed stare before smiling and hugging her. "I'm sure you will find a way to make up for it."
"I'm sure we will." Holly watched as Andy and Tracie studied the platinum band sitting on her finger. "This is beautiful." Tracie smiled before looking towards Gail, as she was ushered back to Holly by Steve. "Did you pick this out yourself?" Tracie asked once Gail stood in earshot, Gail's eyes never left Holly's face. "Alexis helped me, I had final say." Gail nodded proudly that Tracie approved her choice. "Rachel and Lisa just came in." Holly nodded towards the front door before leaving the main celebration. "I'll catch you in a bit; I'm going to go greet the angry mob." Gail followed Holly noticing a few of the Lab techs and old co-workers migrating towards Holly.
"What exactly are we celebrating?!" Lisa eyed the cops that filled the bar before pointing to the large banner hung along the back wall. Congratulations peck and Stewart! Took up a majority of the wall both of their facebook profile pictures had been printed out as Wanted signs. "Detective." Lisa groaned and flinched as Rachel punched her in the arm. "Boob job." Gail rolled her eyes as she pull Holly protectivly into her side, her hand gripping her hip firmly. "Our engagement." Holly beamed leaning into Gail, knowing that Gail would not let her move while her friends were in arms reach, a precaution that prevented Gail from reaching out and smacking one of them. "You're what?!" Lisa asked wide-eyed.
"We are celebrating the fact that Holly agreed to marry me. As in we will be having a wedding, your invitations are pending approval though." Gail grinned, overjoyed that she had managed to leave the brunette speechless. "She has a kid!" Lisa retorted, gaping at Holly, who now physically restrained Gail. "We have a family, keen observation Lisa. Our marriage will only solidify the foundation we have spent nearly 3 years building together." Holly shook her head at her friends stepping behind Gail to pull her back against her. "If you don't support us, please leave." Holly sounded defeated, a tone that caused gails stomach to tighten, she hated it when Holly's voice lost its joyous the time that Holly had been back from San Francisco their friendship grew stronger, Lisa and Rachel had made and effort to befriend Gail and their dinners and outings were substantially less tense in return.
"Babe, I'm going to walk away before I'm arrested." Gail kissed Holly's cheek and tried to walk back towards their group, only to be stopped by a pair of arms wrapping around her shoulders. "She is Happy with you Gail; I'm ecstatic that you finally worked up the courage to make her an honest woman." Lisa ruffled Gail's hair with a wicked grin quickly backing away as Gail's expression turned icy. "Lisa, you may find that funny, however that speech does not fall on the list of amusing Lisa stories, and messing with Gail's hair is a surefire way to sign your death certificate." Holly muttered noticing Gail's ridged posture. "I need a drink." Gail huffed before stalking towards the bar, unable to trust her ability to say socially acceptable things to Holly's friends.
"You know that I support you and Holly 100% right?" Lisa caught Gail alone at a table a while later, the blonde appeared to be completely over the entire social gathering. "I don't know what you support Lisa." Gail muttered into her glass, she was over the moon about her engagement to Holly but the amount of hugs and physical contact from people that weren't Holly had quickly became to wear on her. Gail desperately needed a quiet moment to herself away from the hoard of people all too eager to touch her. "I'm sorry, my attempt to be funny earlier, I realize that it came out completely wrong, Rachel made that abundantly clear. I love Sophie and you and Holly have always been end game." Lisa sat next to Gail and glanced around the bar, at their collective groups of friends milling around and socializing.
"When Holly moved to San Francisco and you both decided to be friends, because 2 years is a long time to wait. I understood why you came to that conclusion, 2 years can change everything." Lisa finished her beer trying to find the right words to express herself. "Holly called me that first night in her apartment, on day three of her two year adventure. Also day three of your suggested two weeks apart, two weeks to cope with the new situation." Lisa played with the bottle in front of her for a moment before glancing up at Gail. "I believed I had seen Holly in love before, I had seen her in relationships that had the potential to lead to marriage and living happily ever after. Suddenly this cop came into the picture; 4 months out of a 5 year relationship Holly all of a sudden started telling us of this striking blonde whose whit could give you whiplash and eyes that told her secrets." Rachel joined them at the table before noticing Holly's concerned gaze from across the bar.
Gail noticed Holly's worry, but she smiled and just nodded, letting Holly know that she didn't need to be rescued. "Gail this and Peck that, you were the only topic worth her time." Rachel laughed to herself before placing a beer in front of Lisa. "Holly had the worst school girl straight girl crush I had ever seen, you came up in every conversation and we didn't know how to protect her heart. We don't hear many success stories from that scenario." Rachel watched Gail making sure she had the blonde's full attention, Gail just nodded at her in return.
"That first night in her apartment, I had never seen Holly ever completely give up on anything. She hated that she had screwed up her chances with you by moving across the continent and to another country. She hated that you had found this amazing little girl, and that Sophie had captured your heart, she couldn't come to terms with the fact that she completely understood why you needed to stay in Toronto." Lisa took a generous pull from her beer and finally met Gail's gaze. Gail felt the pang of guilt; letting Holly leave for San Francisco on presumably, an amicable break up had been the hardest thing either of them had done.
"She cried for 3 hours on the phone that night telling us that she had ruined the best relationship in her life for a job. She had turned into her own worst nightmare; work became more important than her own heart. Rachel and I started searching for flights to San Francisco to at least be there in person to help her; it was difficult to be far away from her knowing how much she hurt. When we video called her to pick the best time to fly out to see her, you were there and Holly's smile couldn't have been bigger. In a matter of hours she had gone from a crying mess to the happiest version of Holly anyone has ever been privileged enough to see." Lisa laughed causing Gail to smile as she remembered her impromptu trip to San Francisco less than a week after Holly had left.
"I knew in that first second of seeing her smile that way that you were the end of Holly Stewart as we knew her. There would be no other fish in the sea or you will find someone new, Holly had found Gail Peck, her Soulmate, the one. I remember Holly telling us how you showed up at her door at 2 o'clock in the morning with a backpack, and a police cat stuffed toy, that story is only comparable to witnessing Shakespeare write one of his sonnets. Gail believe me when I say this, I support you and Holly with every fiber of my being, I know that you would do anything for her and she would do anything for you and your daughter. I am elated to welcome you to our dysfunctional family." Lisa reached out and squeezed Gail's shoulder, nodding towards Rachel as they both stood and left Gail alone with her memory.
Gail had never felt this nervous in her entire life nor had she done anything as spontaneous as booking a red eye across the country to show up unannounced at someone's door. She knew that she should wait until the sun had at least risen, that she should reserve a hotel room and not just bang on the door, that she should not have used her badge to gain access to Holly's floor. In good moral conscience, she knew that she had broken nearly every rule they had come up with together, 2 weeks to adjust, no talking, no texting, they would see each other again when Holly came back to Toronto for her mother's birthday in 5 months. Armed with nothing more than a backpack full of clothes that Dov had packed and the teddy bear she had found at the airport Gail prepared herself for the possible rejection. She knew she needed to at least try because in only 5 days Gail's entire world had fallen apart and she needed to fix it.
Come on peck, Gail muttered to herself before ringing the doorbell hearing it sound rather loudly in the hallway. She watched as light seeped into the hall from under Holly's door, the shadow of feet, stopping just to the side. "Yeah?" Holly muttered through the door, Gail could hear the sleep in her voice and it almost made her break down in tears, only 3 inches of steel separated them now. "Can I come in?" Gail answered barley able to complete her question before the door had been ripped open. "Gail!?" Holly asked wide-eyed and suddenly alert, her eyes searched every part of Gail.
"I'm stupid; I'm the dumbest person on the planet for thinking that two years is too long, I would wait a lifetime for you Holly." Gail unsuccessfully tried to stop the tears from building in her eyes. "I want a chance to prove to you that this can work, I need you in my life and I will do whatever it takes to have you forever." Gail watched the shocked expression on Holly's face, feeling the knot in her stomach tighten. It had all been a mistake, Holly did not feel the same, she should have just stayed in Toronto, every negative thought flooded Gail's mind watching Holly just stare back at her. "I should have called, I shouldn't have just shown up and expected this to be oomph." Gail had been cut off by the sudden pressure of Holly's lips on hers, her arms wrapping impossibly tight around her waist. The kiss lasted only moments before Holly pulled away and watched Gail's lips.
"You're here, this isn't a dream?" Holly muttered, reaching up to touch Gail's face, gently tracing her fingers along her cheek, her eyes trained on the swollen red lips of the woman in her arms. "It's the best dream I've had if it is one." Gail muttered, leaning forward to kiss Holly again, needing the contact to anchor her, to reassure her that she had not completely lost her mind, or that this had not been the worst Idea Gail had ever conceived.
"You can't leave every time this gets hard." Holly breathed once they finally broke apart, the pair now situated against the counter in Holly's kitchen, their hallway make-out session had been interrupted by an angry neighbor causing them both to venture into Holly's apartment. Her arms still firmly wrapped around Gail's shoulders, afraid to let go. "You can't run again Gail, my heart won't survive that." Holly sighed, running her finger along the collar of Gail's shirt, still trying to grasp the fact that Gail stood in her apartment, that her mind had not created an elaborate dream to cope with her heartache. "I'm never running again, I…" Gail trailed off and took a deep breath meeting Holly's stare, the warm brown eyes looking back at her seemed to search her soul. "I love you Holly." Gail rasped out before staring at the floor, afraid of her own emotions, she had never verbalized those words to anyone. "I never want to feel the way I've felt the last 5 days, you took my heart on that plane with you." Gail sighed, doing her best to hold back the tears; she had spent too much time crying already.
Holly had the ability to turn Gail into a babbling puddle of emotions just by looking at her, an aspect that had been missing in all of her relationships before Holly. "I love you too Gail." Holly mumbled against Gail's lips, slowly pulling her forward until their lips met in a slow and familiar dance, one that had been perfected, there was no battle for control they both knew what the other needed. "Come to bed?" Holly muttered once they pulled apart, both breathless and completely at ease. "Always." Gail kicked out of her boots and left her backpack on the kitchen counter, overjoyed that Holly had asked her to stay.
"How long are you here for?" Holly inquired once they had navigated the maze of boxes towards her bedroom. "Oliver gave me 9 days off to be here, if you will have me." Gail watched Holly, expecting her to tell her 9 days overstepped some boundary and that she should head home sooner. "What about Sophie?" Holly suddenly felt nervous; almost 2 weeks without visiting Sophie could hurt the adoption process. Holly refused to be the reason that Gail backed out of the adoption, she had spent time with Sophie, and she had seen the light in the little girl's eyes. "They told me to take a 2 week cooling off period yesterday, that the board needed to review my application and contact my references before I could see Sophie again. I will still have Nightly calls to her; I just can't visit until I'm back in Toronto." Gail chewed nervously on her lip, unsure of how to act in Holly's home. Everything felt different now; the room lacked the warmth of Holly's old house, the only familiarity stood Holly's king sized platform bed.
"Pick a side." Holly watched Gail's gaze shift over the unmade bed, knowing that while their passion had only intensified in the kitchen that they would not be consummating this step in their relationship tonight. Holly watched as Gail stripped out of her jeans and folded them neatly before setting them on a nearby box. Gail's pale legs seemed to glow in the dim light of her bedroom, god she had missed those legs. "I can unpack while you're at work." Gail noted before slipping under the covers, her eyes traveling over the piles of boxes lining the room. "I don't start work for another week; my paperwork got mixed up when I landed, my clearance won't be approved until next Monday." Holly dug through a box labeled Misc., finally producing a night lamp with a victorious smile. Gail watched as Holly found an outlet and set the lamp on her dresser before turning out the lights. "Unpacking made me feel guilty, that removing the boxes would somehow cement the fact that we were over." Holly breathed before turning to meet Gail's stare, both of them shared the same guilty expression.
"I bought this right before I left." Holly watched as the lamp slowly started to warm up, casting the constellations around the room, she knew that Gail hated being in the dark especially in placed she did not know. "Wow." Gail watched the stars dance along the walls, waiting for Holly to join her in bed. "I love you Holly." Gail breathed once Holly had settled next to her, rolling over and resting her head on Holly's shoulder. "I love you too Gail." Holly pulled Gail closer to her, feeling ok for the first time since stepping off the plane at SFO. Holly's world felt bright again, as if Gail's appearance had brought back the sun.
"How exactly did McNally find out before me!?" Tracie asked while helping Gail set the table, The Sr. Pecks and Peck grandchildren would be back from their trip to the cabin soon. "Andy was babysitting Sophie, and when we went to pick her up planning on telling her over ice cream Sophie saw the ring and started asking questions. It's not like I told Andy first Tracie." Gail glanced up at Steve and Holly in the kitchen making dinner, glad that her soon to be wife had found such an easy rhythm not only with Sophie and herself, but with her family as well. "How did Sophie react to the news?" Tracie walked over to the counter and picked up her wine glass knowing that Gail's concentration fixated on Holly. "She's excited." Gail smiled when she saw the ring on Holly's finger, delighted that she no longer felt inclined to take it off while in mixed company.
"I'm sure mom is planning her Toronto take over, now that her family reaches past the policing side and into the ME's office." Steve laughed, pulling a tray out of the oven; the aroma quickly filled the house causing Gail's stomach to rumble. "Dynasty Steve, mother is building a dynasty." Gail laughed when she saw the headlight shine through the front window signaling the arrival of the Sr. Pecks. "Speaking of which, here they come." Gail walked to the door, watching her dad and mom get out of their car, both smiling at each other. "Can you ask Steve to come help; they passed out in the back seat." Bill called when he noticed Gail standing in the doorway. "Dad needs help bringing them inside, the kids are asleep." Gail called back into the house watching as her dad pulled Sophie into his arms.
"What will we do when they're too big to pick up?" Tracie watched as Steve pulled Leo out of the back seat. "Cry like babies." Gail pouted thinking about their kids growing up, how Sophie had been in her life for almost 3 years, she had officially been her mother for 2 years now, time certainly did fly by. "This is for you and Hol." Sophie muttered, holding out a bag to Gail as bill brought her inside, her eyes were barely open. "Thank you love." Gail followed Bill upstairs eager to tuck her little girl in, to kiss her Goodnight, only a few days apart made Gail anxious to have her close again. "They both passed out 30 minutes before town; they should sleep through the night, we spent the day hiking." Bill leaned down and kissed Sophie's forehead as she pouted and turned away from him. "Sleepy." Sophie complained squeezing her eyes shut. "Night love, see you in the morning." Gail laughed, pulling the covers up to her shoulders and turning on her night light.
"She is a carbon copy of you." Bill laughed following his daughter downstairs. "It's scares me sometimes, Sophie has mastered all of Gail's facial expressions." Holly smiled up at the pair, laughing when Gail glared back at her. "She knows how to use it to her advantage too!" Tracie shook her head as she brought dinner to the table. "Just like her mother, sophie knows that her signature pout will get her just about anything." Elaine grinned as she helped Tracie carry the food out.
"I put Leo in the guest room; he's out like a light." Steve shut the guest room door before walking back towards the kitchen. Two years ago, both pecked children would have laughed and ran away at the mention of marriage and children. Gail still wondered how both of them managed to grow up so quickly. An 11 year old and a 13 year old between the two, Elaine had taken so quickly to Leo nearly giving him a sugar overdose when he asked to take the peck name now that Dex was completely out of the picture.
"How were they?" Gail made her way back into the kitchen, placing the bag that Sophie had handed her by the fridge. "They were great, they asked to spend the summer up there like you guys used to with Pop and Gran." Elaine smiled before pulling Holly into a hug, Gail could do without hugging for a while, their happy hour at the penny had put most of her colleagues on a new hit list for initiating unnecessary physical contact. "Are you planning on spending the summer at the cabin the way Gran and Pop did?" Steve asked with and amused smirk as Bill cornered Gail gently squeezing her shoulder. "I think so; it's the only way to continue the tradition." Bill nodded before bulling the scowling Gail into a hug. "Congratulations kiddo." Bill stepped back and kissed Gail's forehead "You did great."
"Welcome to the family Holly." Elaine lifted Holly's hand to examine the ring, a pleased smile appearing on her lips before looking towards Gail. "You thought this through didn't you Gail, smooth ring so it won't rip her gloves in the field." Elaine stepped aside allowing Bill to both great and congratulate Holly. "This definitely wasn't a last minute decision." Gail blushed, angling herself to avoid her mother's arms that were outstretched as she backed Gail into the counter. "Come here." Elaine laughed, pulling Gail into a tight hug; the millionth one Gail assumed she had received that day. "I'm proud of you Gail, you have a beautiful family." Elaine kissed Gail's cheek before walking towards the bar to pour herself a glass of wine.
Gail stood in shock; her mother had never told her she was proud of anything she had done. "You ok babe?" Holly laced her fingers with Gail's noticing her dazed expression, aiming to keep her contact with Gail to a minimum; she knew that Gail did not want to be touched right now. "Yeah, I'll tell you later." Gail let out a small laughed and walked towards the table where Tracie had started to plate their dinner. When Tracie and Steve officially married and Sophie's adoption had finalized, the Peck dinners started alternating between the three peck households. There was no longer an overwhelming dread about the dinners, they spent their time catching up and talked mostly about the kids.
"Ready for bed?" Holly fell onto the couch nearly on top of Gail, she had put the last load of laundry in the machine and the kitchen had been cleaned. "Almost." Gail held the gift bag out to Holly, running the towel over her hair again, content to have showered and rid herself of people's germs. "It's addressed to H&G, I'm guessing my mom wrote the card." Gail moved to let Holly rest between her legs. "Seems fancy." Holly leaned back into Gail, smiling as Gail's arms instantly wrapped around her waist pulling her closer. "You should open it." Gail kissed along Holly's neck, taking advantage of their current position wanting to just be close to Holly for a while, not feeling the need to push farther. "Yeah." Holly nearly purred turning to grant Gail access to the length of her neck, Gail knew that kissing along her neck distracted her. "Let's open it nerd." Gail muttered against her shoulder before hugging Holly tighter, resting her chin on Holly's shoulder.
"Tease." Holly sighed before pulling a silver frame out of the bag. "Oh my god." Holly gasped, looking at the drawing behind the glass. Written across the top of the picture in bold red marker I love my mom's stood out against the white background. "Gail." Holly teared up seeing that Sophie had Drawn Gail, Holly, an angel and herself, Sophie stood between Gail and Holly smiling big. "Wow." Gail traced over the lettering, Mom, Mama, and Mommy had been written under Gail, Holly, and the angel. Sophie loved to draw and paint everyone at the station had at least two Sophie originals, many of her drawings were framed in Elaine's office.
Gail dropped her hand and watched Holly's chest rise in uneven patterns. "You ok there nerd?" Gail breathed against her ear, running her nose against her cheek. "Yeah." Holly sniffled setting the frame down before wiping her eyes. "Are you ok with this?" Holly asked, attempting to control her breathing. "Are you ok with it lunchbox?" Gail countered, moving the frame from Holly's lap to the coffee table before moving to lie next to Holly, needing to see her face. "If I say yes?" Holly asked, rolling to bury her face in the front of Gail's sweater. "Hey." Gail smiled, trying to coax Holly back so she could see her again. "Hols." Gail smiled, stroking her hair, loving how shy Holly had suddenly become.
"Your daughter doesn't play fair Gail; she knows what strings to pull to get me to cry." Holly laughed, glancing up at Gail trying to control her tears. "Minor detail." Gail breathed kissing Holly softly running her thumb along Holly's cheek. "She wants to be your daughter too." Gail smiled when Holly's eyes lit up and the smile on her lips grew. "Our daughter?" Holly asked, biting her lip before laughing . "I really like the way that sounds Gail." Holly finally locked eyes with Gail, her blue eyes seeming to shine with love. "Me too nerd." Gail smiled, pulling Holly into her arms again.
AN: next chapter starts a new case and someone getting hurt…