Hurt and anger flash through Holly's eyes, "pretending?" she says in disgust as she tries to desperately get off Gail as fast as she can without hurting either of them. She stands over the bed looking down at Gail, she turns around and walks the two steps to her bed and sits on it facing Gail, happy for the space. "What's gotten into you?"
"Nothing," Gail says in a sing-songy voice.
"It's clearly not nothing," Holly is visibly upset. "What do you mean stop pretending?"
"Double negative," mumbles Gail.
"What did you say Gladys?"
"It's Gail," mumbles Gail.
"I can't understand you with your hands over your face."
Gail sighs and sits up, "it's just. It's just something Steve said. He mentioned that…he mentioned that falling for your partner is such a cliché, and he's right, that's why I broke up with my last boyfriend."
Holly's slightly confused, "…because you fell for your last undercover partner?"
"What?! No! He fell for his, adding insult to injury she was one of my closest friends, I even shared my snacks with her one time after she had a rotten break up."
"Oh. And what? I'm pretty sure that I remember you saying you were looking for a reason to break up with him anyways. I don't see what the big deal is if you find you click with the person you were sent under cover with, especially if you are both available," Holly is clearly waiting for the other shoe to drop, if there is another shoe to drop.
"Nothing else really, it's just, right now we are spending a lot of time together, but what happens when we go back to Toronto? Do we part amicably, do we ignore anything happened, what do we do?"
"What do you want to do?" Holly starting to see what Gail's worried about, the future.
"I'm not sure," says Gail in a small voice.
"Well, when you figure it out, why don't you let me know." Gail nods her head. Holly places a hand over her belly, "because I know what I'll be doing, and if you want to be in our lives that would be great, but if you don't, I'd rather know now." Gail nods her head again. "You have the night to think about it." Gail's eyes go wide. Holly tilts her head at her. Gail nods her head in response, meaning I get it. "Good night." Holly turns off her bedside light and lies on her side facing away from Gail.
"Good night," Gail whispers into the dark.
Gail can't sleep, she's tossing and turning in her little bed, she can't get comfortable. She can't stop replaying what she said to Holly, she knows she screwed up and needs to make it better. She hurt Holly's feelings and put a damper on their relationship, chalking it up to a nothing relationship, when Gail knows that this is becoming the most important relationship she has and has ever had. Gail sighs and grumbles to herself, "I can't believe you did that, just because you've been hurt in the past doesn't mean it will happen again, you really like her, you should have just answered her question last night, you already know your answer, you didn't need the night to think about it," Gail sighs again, "you're an idiot."
The other bed responds, "yeah, sometimes you are."
Gail startles in her bed, "sorry, I didn't know you were awake, or I didn't mean to wake you."
"Kind of difficult to sleep with you making so much noise over there," Holly lifts the cover of her tiny bed and pats the spot beside her.
Gail doesn't have to think twice, she quickly throws off her blankets and joins Holly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you, I'm so sorry," Gail repeats herself.
"I know," says Holly. She closes her eyes, "go to sleep, we're both tired, we can discuss more tomorrow."
Gail looks at the bedside clock and reads 3am; Gail yawns, and snuggles closer to Holly, "good night nerd."
Gail wakes first. She shifts and almost falls out of bed; she quickly catches herself and realigns herself on the tiny bed. Gail lies next to Holly, wondering whether or not she should move back to her bed.
Suddenly Holly's awake, she looks somewhat disoriented, she looks over at Gail and frowns, she rapidly gets out of the bed by climbing over Gail before she races to the bathroom. Several minutes later Holly reemerges from the bathroom, she doesn't know what to do. Does she go back into her bed or take over Gail's? Where do she and Gail stand? Her decision was made easier for her when Gail sees the look of uncertainty on Holly's face, knowing she caused that look, Gail moves to the other side of the bed so Holly can get in easier. Holly smiles faintly at Gail as she climbs into bed. "Everything okay?" asks Gail.
"For the most part," Gail can smell the mouthwash on Holly's breath.
"Are you still experiencing morning sickness?"
Holly nods her head.
Gail slams her hand into her forehead, "your life is already complicated enough, and I'm making it worse by being wishy-washy all the time."
Holly pauses for a second, letting Gail really understand what she just said. "Not necessarily worse, but definitely more complicated."
"Ugh," says an exasperated Gail, "I am so sorry. It's like I'm toying with you and you are the last person I should be toying with, last person I want to be toying with."
"Don't let your brother get in your head…"
"I know, I know, it's just I'm so scared to lose you. I don't know why but I have always figured that if I were to break things off first it would be easier."
"Only easier on you."
"I know, I like that you call me out on this stuff," admits Gail.
"You said it yourself, you're an idiot."
Gail furrows her brow, "I'm glad that that is what you took away from that monologue last night." Holly lightly chuckles. "How are you so forgiving and understanding?"
"The two 'p's, patience and practice." Gail rolls her eyes. "Well, I'm quite fond of you too, but you already know that," Gail nods her head, "that has probably been the worst part for me, knowing that I like you and you like me and yet you are still willing to toss it all away. Sometimes you can be extremely infuriating."
Gail loudly sucks in some air, "I deserve that, you're right. I need to do better, I need to be better. I need to stop thinking about myself first, and start thinking about you and…" not sure if she should say it, "and the baby as well." Holly nods her head, liking what she's hearing from Gail. They lay in silence for a little while just staring at the other, mapping each other's face with their eyes.
Holly breaks the silence. "This is it though, no more second chances. You are stuck with me until you actually break up with me." Holly tries to joke.
"That's just it," says Gail, "I don't think I will ever want to break up with you."
Those are the words Holly's been looking for her whole life, I don't think I ever want to break up with you, the implication those words have, the meaning of those words hit Holly hard, Holly is speechless. She looks into Gail's eyes, and sees the earnesty in them. Holly leans part way to Gail, Gail doesn't have to think twice about this, as she leans closer to Holly to close the gap and let their lips touch. Gail can feel the warmth on Holly's lips, she can feel the promise and hope in the kiss, and she knows she's right; she never wants to lose Holly.
As they finally part, Holly asks, "what do we do now?"
Gail looks at the clock from where she's still laying in the bed curled around Holly, "it's 11am, we missed breakfast at the hotel, we don't really have a schedule, so we can either get up now and go for a late breakfast or we can go back to sleep, wake up later and go for an even later breakfast."
"I could use more sleep," yawns Holly.
"Me too," agrees Gail. Gail has a smile on her face as she throws her arm over Holly's waist, happy to be in contact with her. On past undercover missions, Gail would have been thrilled with the two single beds, she would have relished the opportunity to be given her own space, but here she is ecstatic to be sharing a small bed with Holly.
Holly and Gail go for a walk looking for a late breakfast; they find a place that boasts all you can eat waffles. Gail gets a grin on her face as she grabs Holly's hand to steer her towards the eatery.
Sitting in a booth, with a cup of coffee in front of both of them waiting for their food, Gail asks, "considering those beds are bolted to the floor and can't be pushed together, should we ask the front desk if they have any rooms available with bigger beds?"
"I kind of like the 1950s sitcom feel, as you put it yesterday."
"Okay Lucy," Gail rolls her eyes.
"If it helps, you're a much prettier Ricky," says Holly as Gail rolls her eyes again. Well this didn't help, thinks Gail, do we get a bigger bed or not…
The server comes back with their food, Gail's eyes light up when her waffles get placed in front of her. She glances over at Holly's plate, a boiled egg, toast, and fresh fruit. "I can't believe you ordered that, didn't you read the sign? All you can eat waffles…how can you pass on that?" questions Gail.
"Some of us like a well balanced diet, not just carbs and sweets, or in this case a combo of the two for you."
"Whatever you say, just don't think you can eat my waffles," warns Gail as she tries to guard her waffles by placing her arms protectively around her plate.
"You get unlimited waffles, I'm sure if I had just a little of your waffles," Holly tries to reason, "you could order another one if you wanted more."
Gail looks at her strangely, "maybe just one bite…" They both dig in to their plates. When Gail thinks Holly's not looking, Gail cuts off a piece of her waffle and slips it onto Holly's plate. "Yum," Gail licks her lips, "this is a really good waffle," she praises. She shoves another chunk into her mouth as she says, "Leslie Knope's respect for waffles on 'Parks and Rec' was the only reason I watched that show."
"You watched 'Parks and Rec'?"
Gail shrugs her shoulders, "it's a good show."
"No, I know it is, not judging, its super funny, highlight of my Thursday nights, when I was able to watch it. But Leslie really? I would have thought April's distaste… for, well… everything would be more up your alley, or Ron who is always talking about eating…but I mean sure... Leslie and her waffles was a constant occurring thread in that show."
"Not that I don't like those other characters, it's just I really connected with Leslie's character on how great waffles truly are," says Gail through another mouthful of waffle. She flags down the waiter to bring her another plate of waffles.
"Okay," says Holly, shaking her head wondering how many waffles Gail will actually eat.
After another two servings of waffles, Holly helping herself to bites as Gail slowed down, the two decide to wander around Winnipeg during the day time, entering the city at night gives the city a different perspective, and they want to get a feel for the city, just in case. They see signs advertising multiple functions happening in Winnipeg that week. "I don't know why they put up signs for a psychic expo…" ponders Gail.
"Yeah, shouldn't the people who attend those sorts of things know it's coming?"
"We should go," jokes Gail.
"Do you think they'll be expecting us?" Holly jokes back.
"We can decide as we walk by the warehouse, see if there's any activity during the day, but I think we should test your psychic abilities and see if you can predict my answer."
That night Holly and Gail park somewhat close to the warehouse to watch it. They've already been there for a couple of hours and so far nothing. But that may mean nothing. Gail looks at the clock already 2am. They've mostly been sitting in silence snacking and observing the nothingness at this warehouse. Gail figures one more hour and they'll leave for the night. "I have to go to the washroom," declares Holly.
"Whoever thought having a pregnant lady join you on a stakeout would be a good idea is an idiot," Gail mumbles.
"I said sorry," Holly says somewhat grumpily.
"Oh no, it's not your fault," Gail tries to back pedal; totally regretting she voiced her opinion aloud.
"No it kind of is, I have to go pee again." Gail holds up an empty bottle. "That wasn't funny the first time, and it's not funny now."
Gail sighs, "I know, sorry. I shouldn't have brought you; I should have left you in the comfort of our hotel room with a bathroom nearby. Sorry. There's a convenient store over there."
Holly is completely uncomfortable, she's agitated, she doesn't know what to do, she tries to hold back her emotions, she tries to tamp them down, but she can't, she breaks down in their SUV, fed up with all of this. "I don't want to be here. I want to be home," she says loudly.
"We're only here for the week, but we can leave early and go back to Moonbeam as soon as I figure out what's going on with this warehouse."
"I don't mean going 'home' to Moonbeam," Holly snarls. "I mean home home. I'm having a baby for fucks sake, I shouldn't be here in a place I do not intend to stay and raise my child, or here on a stakeout where literally anything could happen…" Holly is starting to spiral, she can't get a grip as she continues, "what if something happened to me or my baby, I would never forgive myself or you or Claude stinkin' Steele, why would he send us out here?"
"Heather look at me," Gail grabs her hands to stop Holly, but it doesn't work.
"I want to go home; I'm probably not as big of a threat as they think I am…" Holly tries to rationalize. "I could just call him up and tell him I'm ready to go home, that they're all over reacting and that I will be safe in Toronto." Holly keeps talking, thinking she will find some sort of loop hole that can bring her home to her town house.
"Holly, babe, you need to calm down, not just for you or me but for the baby…"
"No Gladys, you don't get it, I want to go home, I want to…" Holly waves her hands in the air, "I want to feather my nest…"
"Holly, you need to look at me," Gail grabs Holly's face, "just look at me." Holly finally takes her eyes off of her hands in her lap and makes eye contact with Gail. "Breathe with me. Nice and slowly. There you go." All that can be heard is the steady breathing of the two women. A minute or two passes, "how you feeling?" Gail takes her hands off of Holly's face.
Silence. "Not great. I feel foolish." Holly faces the window to compose herself, trying to wipe the tear stains that are left on her cheeks.
"You shouldn't. Let's go back to the hotel; I don't think anything is happening here tonight."
"You sure?"
"It doesn't matter, we shouldn't be here in the first place, Claude should have sent someone else than us." Holly nods her head. Gail adjusts herself in the driver's seat and starts the car. "What do you want to do tomorrow?" trying to change the subject, not willing to talk about the potential of them going back to Toronto, knowing that they still may be in Moonbeam for three more months, according to Steve's latest timeline.
Holly hiccups, still trying to steady herself, "I believe I was promised polar bears…"
"I wouldn't necessarily say promised…but, yeah let's go see the polar bears. We'll do whatever you want to do tomorrow."
Holly nods her head, "Remember how I said I had to go to the bathroom earlier…I still have to go, so if you could maybe drive a little faster."
Gail comes up with a plan so last night never happens again, they walk by the warehouse in the afternoon to check on it during the day time, Gail watches the warehouse at night by herself, she should have done so in the first place, she scolds herself. The two do touristy things during the day, first up polar bears. "We're hand in hand at the zoo, yet I can only look at you," rhymes Gail.
"Oh gosh, that was bad." Holly puts her hand over her mouth, "I think my afternoon morning sickness is back."
"What?" asks an alarmed Gail, looking around for a bathroom.
"I was joking; I was trying to say I threw up a little in my mouth from what you said…"
"Oh, ha ha, very funny nerd. Please don't joke though. Not about that." Gail continues to guide them forward. Holly looks over at Gail with a small grin on her face. "Hey look!" Gail happy for the distraction, "polar bears!"
"Did you know, a polar bear's fur is see through?"
"I did not know that," responds Gail.
"It only looks white because of the light. Did you know that all polar bears might be gone by 2050?"
"Okay nerd, enough fun facts; let's go see them up close."
The two fall into a pattern for the rest of the week. They spend the day together; Gail takes a nap after dinner, which usually consists of take out and them watching tv on the couch. Afterwards, Gail leaves to watch the warehouse while Holly stays in the hotel room. Gail comes back to the hotel at 5 in the morning, sleeps for a couple of hours before she wakes up to find Holly grabbed them breakfast stuff at the hotel lobby, and is waiting patiently to do something.
Holly happens to come from the bathroom as Gail gets back from the warehouse. "You going to stay up for a bit or you coming to bed?"
"I'm tired; I just need to put on my pjs."
"You mean your boxers with little police badges? Where did you even get those?" questions Holly.
"From…a friend…as a gift…"
"Yeah, that was not very convincing, you stole them from an ex," accuses Holly.
Gail half smiles and tries to explain, "he was so happy when he came home with them, he had to go somewhere shortly after he showed them to me, and well I helped him…misplace them."
Holly laughs lightly, "ok, go put on your stolen police badge boxers and come to bed."
The two are trying to plan their last day in Winnipeg out, after deciding to go check out the sculpture gardens, Gail nervously suggests, "this week has been crazy, let me do something nice for you, I want to do something nice for you, let's go to dinner somewhere nice."
"You said nice three times in that sentence," Holly points out.
Gail sighs, fearing she failed at her attempt to be nice, to be…better.
Holly slightly confused, "you do realize neither of us has fancy clothes here, or in Moonbeam for that matter."
"So? I'm sure we can find somewhere nice" Gail cringes as she says nice again, "that doesn't have a strict dress code. I can't believe what I'm saying; the best part about going on a date is the dressing up part, I sort of like the anticipation of the date."
Holly laughs, "you're insane, you know that right? We don't need to look nice to have a nice time."
"Just think about it, and tell me before tonight so I can suss out some places. We will have a better chance of finding somewhere nice," Gail clearly stuck on that word, "to eat here in the city instead of in the little town of Moonbeam."
"That's just it though; we don't have to go somewhere nice."
"But I want to take you somewhere nice," insists Gail.
"I am pretty much fine wherever you take me, unless it's back to the surveillance van."
They go to a place the lady at the front desk recommended. Gail holds open the door for Holly and pulls out her chair for her. They sit at the table and Gail starts to tap out a rhythm on the surface, she's nervous and doesn't know why. "Did you know there is still a cassette factory in the States?"
"I did not."
"And business is booming for them," Gail tries to play off her nervous energy.
Holly's too smart for that, "what's wrong?"
"Nothing. I just think it's really impressive that cassettes still have a place in today's society."
Holly ignores the last part of Gail's response and says, "I know better now, that it's not nothing. Why are you nervous?"
"I truly don't know."
Holly reaches her hand across the table to hold Gail's hand; she can feel they're a little clammy. "Hey." Gail raises her head to look at Holly. "We don't have to do this, we could leave now and grab a pizza and go back to our room and I would still have fun. I told you it doesn't matter where we go or what we do. I meant it."
"No, its okay. I want to be here with you."
"I know you do," assures Holly. "But…"
"No," smiles Gail, "I'm good…, so what toy do you wish never existed?"
Holly shakes her head, slightly taken aback by Gail's abrupt change in topic, but continues to hold Gail's hand as she comes up with a response, "well, when I was doing my rotation at the hospital, too many kids came in with injuries from water filled yoyos, so water filled yoyos would be my answer."
Gail drops her head, "maybe I am little nervous, what kind of a question was that?" she wonders aloud.
"Hey," Holly moves her hand to Gail's face to lift her head, "remember, no pressure." Holly gets a wry smile on her face, "I could tell you more polar bear facts."
"Tempting, and a truly thoughtful request, but I think I'm going to pass," Gail smiles.
"Okay, but the offer's still on the table," Holly releases Gail's hands and sits back in her chair.
The waiter comes over to take their drink order Holly asks for juice and Gail says, "me too."
Holly, "you can have a beer, just cause I can't drink, doesn't mean you can't."
"You sure, cause I don't mind," Holly nods her head, "I'll have whatever's on draft."
The waiter leaves and the two look over their menus. Holly quickly makes a decision, closes her menu and puts it on the table. Gail is lost, looking at all the choices, and for whatever reason she can't decide what to pick. It's food, Gail should easily make a choice, but Gail can't, she's totally nervous, and doesn't want to screw this up. "Are you going back to the warehouse tonight?"
Gail closes her menu, pretty much certain she will pick whatever, "uh, no, I don't think there's anything going on in there. I've staked out the place for the past week now and I haven't seen anyone go in or out, I don't know where he got the tip from, but I think Claude was given bad intel."
"Huh…" Holly pauses, taking in all the information, "that's weird." Not really sure what to say or where the investigation goes after this, never really having to see this side of the police process.
"Yup," Gail pops the 'p.' Back in her wheel house, Gail starts to feel more comfortable as she shares with Holly a time when her and Dov where sent on special assignment to watch a warehouse a couple of years ago. The conversation starts to flow more easily. She re-picks up her menu and makes a quick decision, putting it down without missing a beat. Holly smiles to herself.
The rest of the dinner went a lot better than the way it began, the two happy for a bit of normalcy in their lives. Holly and Gail decide to do some shopping in Winnipeg before they leave town. "I could use some school supplies and it's almost fall, we could use some warmer clothing."
"Twist my arm," says Gail, when Holly asks her to go shopping.
They spend some time going from store to store, picking and choosing various items. They get to an office supply store and Holly's pushing her shopping cart when she stops. "I think I just figured it out," declares Gail.
"Figured what out," asks Holly who is holding a lunchbox that she intends to purchase as she puts it in the cart.
"Your new nickname, lunchbox."
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