Chapter 25: The Fosters

Author's Note: Sophie deserves a family. Oh and I love watching The Fosters. Steph and Lena are adorable. This was delayed because I got the flu.

Being swamped and doing the grunt work at 25 was a lot easier than at 36. It was worse at 36 when you had a serious relationship with a woman who was working hard do advocate for a child's fostering, and wanted you involved. Talking to the therapist about it had been weird, and while Holly was feeling better about that, she really wanted to talk to Lisa and Rachel. The problem was that they didn't know about Sophie, and Holly wasn't sure it was her place to tell them. Not to mention they hadn't been as close since the move that wasn't.

So when she came home to find Gail on the desk, grilling burgers and drinking beer with Lisa and Rachel, it was strange. "Gail, how insane are you?" Holly accepted the beer and eyed the group.

"Pretty nuts, but you said you were missing girl time. So..." Gail gestured.

"But you said you're working tonight."

"Yes," nodded Gail, hoisting her drink which was actually just a soda. "Exactly right. I have to leave in an hour and Rachel will grill the meat."

"If that's another straight joke, Blondie," drawled Rachel, mock warningly.

The bantering between Gail and Rachel seemed practically natural and weird. They were talking about Gail and Nick's wedding, or lack there of, in Las Vegas. Gail was arguing that she had nothing to do with any of the planning, nor was it running away. Her parents had actually been there. Rachel was fascinated by the idea of the wedding in Las Vegas and Gail was surprisingly tolerant (for Gail) about the retelling. It was nothing Holly didn't know.

"I'm a bad friend," announced Lisa abruptly, catching Holly by surprise.

"No arguments here." Gail lifted her drink in mock salute which Lisa met, chagrined.

Holly picked up her own beer, feeling rather perplexed. "Why are you a bad friend?"

When Lisa hesitated it was Rachel and Gail who said, as one, "BitchTits is happy you didn't leave Canada."

Beer did not shoot out Holly's nose, but it was a near thing. "I'm sorry I didn't talk to you guys..."

"I'm more mad you were going to ask blondie to run away with you."

Rachel nodded, agreeing with Lisa. "Seriously, that was stupid impulse Holly who slept with her roommate."

Lisa added, "Or who fell madly in love with her straight TA."

"Okay!" Holly waved her hands. "God, yes. I know it was stupid and crazy, but." She looked at Gail, sheepishly, and saw the blonde smiling. "I'm really in love with her."

"I can't believe you were going to give her up," grumbled Lisa and Holly startled. She certainly hadn't mentioned that Gail had let her go while still helping pack.

"I can't leave Toronto right now." Gail sipped her beer. "And at the time, I was trying to adopt."

That shut both Lisa and Rachel up. "Adopt?" Lisa almost stuttered.

"Gail, Holly doesn't want kids." Rachel looked between them, confounded.

And Gail just nodded. "I am aware of this."

"We talked," Holly noted and kicked the railing. "I offered the long distance thing."

"Yeah, that was just going to make one of us hate the other, baby." Gail leaned around and kissed Holly gently.

Lisa made a face, "Stop being cute. And stop being right. I liked it better when I though you were uneducated and blue collar."

"I liked you better when you were a lopsided boob job, so we're even."

For a moment Holly worried the two would argue but she saw a glimmer of delight in Gail's eyes, matched by Lisa's. Oh dear god. "When did you two decide to be friends?"

"We're not!" The two women shouted at once.

"I think she's an elitist ass," snarled Gail.

Lisa nodded, "And she's a stuck up ice princess. Go back to the adoption. Holly was moving to the US and you were going to adopt a kid."

"It's a Peck thing," sighed Gail. "When you have something complicated, make it more complicated." Gail perched on the railing and tugged Holly into her arms, though she continued to talk to Lisa. "Her name is Sophie and they turned me down for a couple reasons."

"Single lesbian?" Rachel looked over from the grill. "Or cop things?"

"Cop things. My record had ups and downs."

There was a pause and Lisa noted, "I was suspended for conduct once." When Gail looked interested she added, "I slept with a teacher at the hospital."

"I thought you slept with a teacher's wife." Gail sounded amused.

"That too." Lisa looked embarrassed and Gail laughed. "I don't like how I'm the only one with a horrible nickname."

Holly snorted and pointed at Lisa, Rachel, and herself in turn. "BitchTits, ManEater, ImpulseSex."

Eyes sparking, Gail whispered 'ImpulseSex?' into Holly's ear as Rachel asked if Gail had a nickname. "Ah, Ice Queen or Frigid Bitch is what it usually get."

"Yeah," acknowledged Rachel, "but what do your friends call you?"

"Peck. It's a name and an epitaph," smiled Gail. "Or an insult. It's really a wonderful multifaceted, love/hate name."

Rachel grinned and the friendly banter continued until Gail pulled herself away to go to the station. She lingered with Holly in the house for a moment, kissing her and promising to come back after work. Back on the deck, Rachel handed her a burger. "Did you know she went to college?"

"Lisa? It's still in doubt that she graduated, but I do recall her in our classes."

Rolling her eyes, Rachel gestured towards the house, "Gail!"

"I didn't the first time you met her," smiled Holly. "Criminal Justice." Holly also knew Gail had taken some business management classes to 'prep her for a white shirt,' per her parents, but had not officially minored in it because it was 'stupid.'

"Why is she a beat cop?"

"Patrol officer," corrected Holly. Not that 'beat cop' was necessarily insulting, it just usually was meant that way. "You should ask her, Rachel. It's complicated."

Lisa sighed, "She did. Exactly how many Pecks are there in police, Holls? I get the feeling she was downplaying exactly how blue her blood is, and I mean that in every way possible."

Holly hesitated. "Her mother's in charge of internal affairs, her father's the head Inspector of her Division, her godfather's the chief of police, and there's basically at least one Peck or a blood relative in every division, every department. So ... Yeah."

Both her friends looked flabbergasted. "Shit," muttered Lisa. "I asked her about how crazy that was and your cop hottie told us about the kid." Of all things possible, Lisa looked sympathetic. "Holly, she's going to want to be a parent one day."

Getting another beer, Holly sat on her bench. "Yeah, I know. And she's amazing with them. They love her." Even mature, sorting her shit out, Gail was a child at heart.

"You don't want kids," Lisa pointed out. "You've never wanted kids the whole time I've known you. That was why you broke up with the accountant whatever her name was."

Holly sipped her beer. "Melissa and can I call parlay?"

It was an old joke, calling parlay. The friends had used it since the first pirate movie as a way to agree to let each other say what they were thinking without judgement. Had Holly been thinking, she'd have called it when she announced her move. At the time she'd been sure Rachel and Lisa would be supportive. Now she wasn't. Parlay also had come to mean a time when you could say things that weren't well thought out, but spoken from the heart.

"Of course," promised Rachel. A moment later Lisa muttered her agreement.

Holly closed her eyes. "I'm in love with Gail. And I spend a lot of time with her and... She's good with kids. So I'm around them more. I was never around kids before. We don't really hang with them." This won quiet murmurs of agreement. "I see Gail with kids and I think she's amazing and I like the kids and ... Maybe I do want them and I just never had the right person to want them with. I maybe kind of want them with her." She opened one eye and screwed her face up at her friends. "I'm crazy huh?"

"You're our crazy." Lisa, of all people, sat next to her on the bench and hugged her. This was why Lisa was her friend. When her parents had argued about the last second switch to forensics, Lisa stood by her and helped her figure out how to survive without her parents' money. Even if she didn't always agree, Lisa would help. "No having babies right away. You should try living with her first."

"They'd have adorable babies, though," mused Rachel, who had been vocal about her biological clock ticking lately. "What's Gail's real hair color? And does she have a brother?"

"Kinda what you saw tonight. She stopped dying it when we broke up." Holly leaned into Lisa and sighed. "Her brother's a ginger and not single. Also ew? I'm not having a baby."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "You would have amazingly cute little babies, I'm just saying." Squeezing in on the other side, Rachel wrapped her arms around Lisa and Holly and hugged them both. "I'm glad you stayed in Canada, Impulse Girl."

"I'm kind of glad I didn't move too, but ... God I wish I knew why."

She spent the rest of the evening talking about regular things with her friends, like movies and their dates. Rachel had a new boy who was possibly serious and wanted them, including Gail, to meet him. When Lisa joked Gail could run a background check, Rachel looked worried and Holly had to promise that Gail wouldn't.

When she woke up in the morning, Gail was in bed with her, hair still damp from a shower, sound asleep. Holly knew better than to surprise Gail, so she just turned around and curled up into her, getting that extra precious hour in her company rather than sleeping or running. Early on, Gail would invariably wake up when Holly did that, the sound and movement startling her out of sleep. That didn't mean she'd get up. On the contrary, Gail often burrowed back under the covers and looked grouchy.

Recently though, Gail had started sleeping through Holly getting up and dressed. Holly had not yet asked her about it, fearing the answer a little. Downstairs, the coffee machine was set up for her and Gail had left a note.

Dinner with Sophie at 7. She wants you to come if you're not working. I have the day off so send me on errands after noon. Love you.

Holly smiled and flipped it over to leave her answer (yes), a list of two errands (dry cleaning and groceries), and a confirmation of adoration.

This part of life was currently her favorite. The little things with Gail, spending time with her and having normal life moments. Even more than that were the moments where they did little things for each other. Gail gassed up Holly's car without being asked, Holly took Gail's dress uniform to the cleaners when she noticed it had a small stain after a funeral for a retired officer, and they both just shared random chores.

At seven, Gail drove them over to Sophie's foster home and Holly found herself the surprise focus of a couple other girls. They demanded to know if she was really a doctor, and when they found out she was a 'dead people doctor,' their fascination grew. Sophie was delighted to brag and tell them that she knew all about Holly's job, and explained in slightly more gory detail than Holly would have, but she did nod and confirm that, indeed, Sophie was right.

At dinner, though, Sophie had a more important topic to discuss. The fostering with the Bests was a go, and she'd be moving in with them in a week, but as soon as Gail stepped away to the bathroom, Sophie had her moment, "You like Gail a lot. Why doesn't she live with you and not the stinky boys."

Holly blinked. "We haven't talked about it," she said slowly. "Sophie, do you know what it means, me and Gail dating?"

The girl nodded. "You're girlfriends. You kiss and hold hands and probably have c-e-x." She looked pleased when Holly startled and blushed.

It was not a conversation she really was comfortable having, with or without Gail present. "It's s-e-x and ... Okay, you do know. Um..." Now what?

"So why doesn't she live with you? Do you have stinky boy roommates?"

"No," Holly said slowly. "I have a house. Townhouse. It's, um." She frowned and wondered where this was going. "You can come over, if you want."

Sophie took another piece of bread. "Okay. Next week?"

"If I don't have to, um, work. Sure." What the hell was she doing? How did a child railroad her like that?

Thankfully, Gail returned and paused to kiss Holly's cheek before sitting down, "Sophie, don't interrogate Holly. And if you fill up on bread, you will be very grumpy about desert."

The magic word distracted Sophie for a second, but not enough for Holly's sanity. "Holly said I could come over next week."

"Oh did she?" Gail looked interested. "You know next week is the last week, kiddo."

Sophie grinned ear to ear. "I know. And if you move in with Holly, then I can sleep over when you babysit me."

Gail blinked and looks at Holly. "Well. That's for us to figure out, Sophie." The little girl fixed Gail with a look that clearly asked if Gail thought she was being serious. "Hey, I told you..." She paused and looked at Holly.

"Told her what?" Holly smiled, hoping Sophie saw it as amused and Gail saw it as a girlfriend threat.

"That we hadn't talking about it at all, and ... Um. Hey, look! Dinner."

Holly and Sophie eyed each other but let it go. The rest of dinner passed uneventfully. Holly and Gail got big hugs before Sophie would let them go home.

"You want to stay over tonight?" Holly asked the question lightly as Gail turned onto the road.

"Want, yes, but I have to meet with Oliver early tomorrow." She made a face. "Stupid training officer training."

"How early?"

"I'd have to get up and out the door by six. And I need a clean uniform."

Holly sighed. "You should leave a uniform at my place." She'd made the suggestion before but been blown off with a joke about how Holly found the uniform too sexy.

After a moment of silence, Gail nodded, "Yeah."

Blinking, Holly looked at her girlfriend. "Yes?"

"Yes. You're right. I was going to get another spare anyway." Gail's thumbs bounced on the steering wheel. Apparently she wasn't going to bring up the idea of moving in either. Of course, it wasn't like Holly had a hell of a lot of experience with that herself. That was why she bought her home on her own. It was just easier.

That said, Gail was the only girlfriend who'd ever stayed over regularly. Actually or at all, now that Holly thought about it. Gail was the only other person to have slept in that bed. She wasn't sure how to approach the topic. So she went another way.

"Sophie says we probably have c-e-x," Holly said casually.

"What?" Gail spelled the word back and laughed. "Did you correct her spelling?"

"I may have."

"That's my nerd." Gail didn't seem bothered by it in the least. She pulled up to the front of the house and parked, looking at Holly fondly. "Next week is her last week in the group home."

Holly pondered that. "Should we throw a party?"

"No... Maybe. I'll ask her I guess." Gail sighed and leaned on the steering wheel, resting her arms and head on it. "I was just thinking ..."

"Dangerous pastime," teased Holly, reaching over to fluff Gail's hair. "I like it shorter."

Smirking, Gail closed her eyes to the touch. "I know you do." She sighed, happily. "I was thinking about us. And how incredibly lucky I am. Like how everything had to absolutely wrong to get us here, and I wouldn't trade it for anything."

"Really? Even the part with you walking out of the Penny and me leaving mean voicemails?"

"Really," confirmed Gail. "Because without that, I wouldn't have changed enough. I still would have been childish, bratty, immature." She opened her eyes and smiled at Holly. "You deserve that. Grown up Gail."

Those blue eyes did her in and Holly smiled. "She is remarkably attractive." She rested two fingers under Gail's chin. "You're not coming in, are you." It wasn't a question. She knew.

"No." There was a sigh. "Want to, shouldn't. Grown up Gail has to be a grown up." She picked her head up and leaned across the gearshift to kiss Holly lightly. "If I walk you to the door, I will not make it home tonight," she whispered.

Holly sighed and nodded, giving Gail one last kiss before sliding out of the car. "Gail," she chewed her lip before closing the door. "You're the only person I've ever had spend the night here." The surprise on Gail's face was obvious. "You're the only person I want to spend the night. Even when we broke up. I can't see anyone here but you. I just want to be with you, and here and... I love you."

When there was no reply, Holly bit her lip, wondering if she'd said too much. The slow smile on Gail's face made he feel relieved. "I made Andy sleep on the couch the other week. Because you're the only person I want in bed with me."

They looked at each other through the car for a moment and finally Holly closed the door. She made a careful sign with her hands and, after a heartbeat, Gail laughed. The window rolled down, "You just asked me to summon you, you nerd." She made the proper sign back.

"You knew what I meant," huffed Holly. "Call me." And she went inside her home, grinning.

The party was quietish and rowdy at the same time. Gail and Steve had Sophie and Leo on their shoulders, playing some game they made up on the fly in the pool, while Holly was trapped by Noelle and Traci and baby Olivia. The wrestling match between Leo and Sophie was complicated by the fact that Gail was smaller than her brother, though not much shorter, and was struggling to keep up.

"Frank, for god's sake, take over," shouted Oliver. All three of his daughters were over as well, the youngest being the same age as Leo and Sophie, making for a trifecta of second graders.

"You should take Winny in there, Dad," suggested Izzy with a smirk. Gail might just have to treat her to lunch for saving her from drowning.

After a moment, Frank pulled off his shirt. "All right you Pale Pecktective, try taking on someone your own size."

Sophie cheered and happily clambered onto Frank's broader shoulders, while Oliver and Winny joined the fray. Gail made her escape to the deep end, far from the fighters. "What on earth are they playing?" Celery's hand extended to haul Gail out of the pool, as did Izzy's.

"I think it's called 'Drown Gail,'" muttered Gail, planting her feet on the pool wall and hauling both of her helpers in with her.

The whoops of laughter came from everywhere and Gail hopped out of the pool, smirking. Holly shook her head, "I'd offer you a towel, but you might get me wet."

"Holly! Not in front of the kids," joked Gail, making an L with one hand and brushing it under her chin. It took a moment, but Holly apparently remembered that sign and threw a towel at Gail.

Izzy clambered out of the pool, leaving Celery to enjoy it for a moment. "You're mean, Aunt Gail."

"You're a delinquent and have no room to talk," she smiled at the teenager, but picked up a towel. "And you need to get in the shade before you turn pink." Gail too was aiming for the shade and fell onto Holly's lounge chair. "Hey cutie," she grinned at Olivia and was rewarded with a beaming smile.

Snorting, Izzy sat down beside them. "So if it's not boning then what is it?"

Watching Holly nearly spit-take her beer was worth the price of admission. But Gail went with a demure answer, "Dating." But she signed the letters s-e-x.

Traci smirked. "Sophie was correcting Leo's spelling earlier. Apparently he thought you spelled it with a C."

"So did Sophie," noted Gail. "Holly corrected her spelling." Holly, still blushing, muttered that this was far too frank a discussion to be having. Sitting up, Gail kissed her cheek, "Izzy is 17. She's old enough to hear about stuff she's probably doing, or thinking about doing. And I'm pretty sure Olivia doesn't understand any of this yet."

"What Olivia understands is nap time," smiled Noelle. "I'm going to get her settled and grill."

As Noelle left, they all looked at the squealing eight year-olds in the pool and their father figures. Then Gail checked Oliver's middle daughter, thirteen and sullen, with her headphones on. "She hates everyone," Izzy said of her sister with a sigh.

"I remember you at that age," teased Gail. "Oh wait, that was last week." Izzy rolled her eyes. "How's she holding up?"

"She wants to stay with mom and Daryl." While Izzy was, generally, skeptical of Celery after that whole fertility thing (Gail understood it to be less fertility to have a baby and more something boring about aligning your uterus with the moon bullshit), she outright despised her mother's boyfriend. "He wants to move in."

This caused Gail to glance at Traci. Steve had made noises about the idea to Gail, mostly suggesting she move in with Holly so he could ask Traci about it. "Big step," muttered Gail.

Traci exhaled and echoed Gail's thoughts, "Leo likes Steve, but I don't know what he'd think about living with him." She tugged at the towel's edge. "After Jerry, I'm scared to even think about it."

Almost absently, Holly's hand landed on her knee. Gail covered it with her own, worming her fingers between Holly's. She was not ignorant of the hints Holly had been dropping, broadly, about being more than sleepover buddies. "What about Celery?" Gail kept her voice low, watching Celery swim and cheer on the kids.

"She's weird," sighed Izzy, "But she really loves Dad." The teenager looked at the woman as well. "Dad's getting an actual house. He asked if I wanted to move in."

"Do you?" Gail pitched her voice casually. She already knew about it from Oliver, who'd talked to her over a lunch.

Izzy shrugged and then nodded. "I like her better than Daryl, I guess." Clearly a ringing endorsement. "What would you do?"

"Well, I don't even like my parents, but I lived at home until I was 27, so you really can't ask me." Gail glanced at Traci and Holly for support.

"I lived at home until I was a cop," noted Traci. "But I was raising Leo and my mom helped."

"I moved out during college." Holly sipped her beer. "Me and a bunch of friends got a crappy apartment, kind of like yours." She squeezed Gail's knee.

"Hey," smarted Gail. "My apartment is perfectly clean and uncrappy." The apartment was, currently, spotless. One of the ways she'd devised to help keep Chris sober was to make him clean with her, run with her, go to the gym with her, and cook with her. The last one terrified Dov until he found, with shock, that Gail could cook just fine. She'd even caught Dov telling Nick that he knew nothing about Gail, and waved the fresh baked bread in his face.

Holly grinned and leaned in to kiss Gail again, "I meant with the stinky boy roommates and one bathroom." There was another kiss, followed by a gagging sound from Izzy. "She lives in a closet," explained Holly, innocently.

There was stifled laughter from Traci and Izzy. Gail watched Holly's expression shift as she caught on to what she had just said. "Nerd." Gail let go and grabbed the sunblock. "Just for that, you can do my back."

"You do live in the tiniest room known to man, Gail," teased Traci.

"It was a den thing." She had lived in Chris's room until his return from Timmons, with Denise and Christian in tow. Then, in a burst of kindness, she'd taken her dresser into the smaller non-room with the sliding, pocket door and picked up a small Ikea bed. The smaller room suited her. Less crap to cling to, more light at night even with the dark red walls, and more privacy. It barely fit her bed and dresser, but that made it feel safer.

By contrast, Holly's house was open and airy. Light. Staying there felt like living in the sky, with the tall ceilings and warm colors. She even had a corner of a closet and two dresser drawers. She sighed as Holly started to work the ultra strength sunblock into her back and shoulders.

Izzy grumbled. "I want my own room." Gail was aware that she shared with her sisters at the moment. "Dad would give me my own room."

"See? Sounds like a good choice!" Traci grinned. "Gail, does Steve sunburn like you?"

"No, that ass has all the melanin." She received a slap on her shoulder from Holly for cursing. "Oh come on, Izzy knows that word!"

"Grinding?" Izzy's comment came out of left field and the adults stopped talking for a moment. "I get why boning is inaccurate. But what is the right vulgarity?" The teenager had twinkling eyes.

Gail smirked, "You can do that with guys too, kid." Point scored, Izzy looked blank and then blushed, Traci laughed and Holly groaned. That done, Gail mentally made a note to snag Izzy next time she was around for some actual educational talk. It was clear that Oliver was not going to be asked the awkward sex questions, and Izzy didn't feel comfortable asking Celery or her mother.

The boys eventually clambered out of the pool, waterlogged and pink, with the children arguing about who was champion of the world. No one complained when the talk moved to food, and Gail found herself being Frank's grilling assistant.

"Listen, Gail... I want to say thank you," he said softly. "For this. Sophie."

Oh. Gail smiled and looked at the girl, complaining as Noelle put sunblock on her. "You're welcome." She did still wish she had been able to adopt, and this felt like such a fallback plan, but it worked in a different way. Suddenly Sophie had a good man as a father figure, something she'd never had before, and wouldn't have had with Gail.

"I'm proud of you, Gail. You grew up."

"It was bound to happen eventually," she laughed, disparagingly.

"Have you thought about the other thing?"

Gail nodded. "A lot. But Oliver needs a T.O. who won't get IA involved every time."

Nodding back, Frank flipped a burger. "Three months. Maybe six."

They had both been involved in policing for so long it was easy to skip around in conversations. "Give me time to prep," she joked. "Take a class or three."

"Ace another T.O. run and and you won't need any." However he did start talking about useful courses she could take at the police college. Some were technically closed off to non-white shirts, but they both knew if a Peck applied, a Peck would get in.

At least it might make her mother happy.

So how much do you think Gail actually cares about what her mother thinks?

Also if she does a TO round, who would she get…