A New Bet

Jake and Amy loved Saturdays. They could wake up late, not stress about work, and, best of all, be with their kids the entire day. This particular Saturday, they were playing with their daughter while Mac and Harry played with each other. Amy helped the one-year old with the alphabet blocks.

'L-I-Z – Liz. That's you, sweetie. It's short for Elizabeth,' Amy taught her daughter.

'Hey, it's not like her first word's gonna be her own name,' Jake remarked.

'What do you think it's gonna be?' Amy asked her husband.

'Isn't it obvious?' Jake asked as he arranged three other blocks. 'D-A-D – dad. That's me Liz,' Jake said as he pointed at himself. Liz pointed at her father and laughed. 'I'm telling you, this kid's gonna be calling me when she says her first word,' Jake said to Amy.

'Oh, please,' Amy said as she looked at her daughter. 'She can't stand if I'm not around. Her first word's gonna be mama or something along those lines. Isn't that right, baby?' Amy asked as shepeppered her daughter's face with kisses. Liz giggled at how her mom indirectly tickled her in the process.

'You know, we can make this interesting.' Jake said.

'How so?'

'Mac's first word was dada and Harry's was mama. Liz is the tiebreaker.'

'You're right, that is interesting.'

'So, you wanna make a bet?'

'Jake, that's too childish. We can't bet on our children. What kind of parents would we be?'

'Oh, but we can guess which one will grow up to be the smartest?'

Amy sighed. 'That was you, Jake,' she pointed out.

'Okay, yes, but please, Ames? Please? We haven't had a proper competition in such a long time. Plus, the last time we had a bet, I fell in love with you. Maybe I'll fall in love with you even more.'

'Jake…' Amy groaned.

'Look, and whosever name she says is the winner and they'll get a plaque which reads: "Ultimate Parent/Genius".'

Amy's eyes lit up but she thought it would be wrong to make a bet on their baby. But then Jake made a puppy face, which she could never resist. 'Fine,' she said, caving in, 'but there are going to be ground rules.'

'Okay.'

'Rule one: We don't give all our attention on Liz. We have two other kids, and we can't ignore them.'

'Agreed. Rule two: We don't push Liz over the edge. She's just one; so, if she wants to watch T.V., she'll watch T.V., if she wants to sleep, she'll sleep. No making her upset.'

'Absolutely. Rule three: No matter who wins, the other one can't get upset over it. Liz is one and she doesn't really know what's going on. We just need to be happy for the winner and be happy that our daughter said her first word.'

'Definitely. So, it's settled – the competition begins.'

Two Hours Later:

'Liz, look DADDY got you applesauce,' Jake said as he brought her a bowl of applesauce.

'Oh, look here Liz, look what the blocks spell – M-O-M – MOM. That's me, sweetie,' Amy said as she showed her the blocks.

'Really? You think education is better than food?'

'Hey, she's attached to me. We have similar likes.'

Just as she finished her sentence, Liz dipped the three blocks in the bowl of applesauce and threw them at her parents.

'Well, we're done for today.' Jake said as he wiped the applesauce off his face.

Five Days Later:

'Your mom is really cool. Your mom is a lieutenant. Your mom really loves you,' Rosa said to the baby in her arms.

'Auntie Ro-Ro, what's this?' Mac asked as he lifted a pair of handcuffs.

'Woah! Where'd you get that?' Rosa asked as she snatched it from her godson's hands.

'Under the sink.'

'That's not for kids, okay?'

'Okay, and Harry spilled the milk on your bed,' Mac said before he ran off.

Amy sighed. 'Your brothers are a handful, aren't they?' Rosa asked Liz, who was now watching Sesame Street on an iPad.

'Hey, we're here,' Jake said as he and Amy entered Rosa's apartment.

'Hey, how're your parents?' Rosa asked Jake.

'Oh, they're alright. Pretty much the same. How were the kids?'

'They were alright,' Rosa said, not mentioning what Mac had discovered. She knew Amy would kill her.

'Mac, Harry, time to go home,' Jake called out to his kids. They ran into his arms. 'Say goodbye to Auntie Ro-Ro,' he told the boys.

'Bye, Auntie Ro-Ro!' they said.

'Bye, you guys,' Rosa said back as she handed Liz over to Amy.

'Ames, ready to go?' Jake asked.

'Oh, yeah, you go ahead. I just need to talk to Rosa about a case,' Amy said.

'Really? In front of Liz?'

'You're right. Could you please take her?'

'Sure,' he said as he took their daughter and left.

'So, did you say my name to her?'

'Just to be sure, when you say "my name", you mean mom or something like that, right? Not Amy?'

'Yeah, the name she'll call me. You did right?'

'Oh, a bunch of times.'

'How do I know you're not lying?'

'Just ask her brothers. They'll go insane if they hear the word again.'

'Okay, thanks, Rosa.'

'Hey, you know I didn't do this for free. No, pay up!'

'Right,' said Amy as she took out a fifty-dollar bill.

One Week Later:

'You know, your dad is a living god. He, I mean, your dad has made the most arrests in the last six months than anyone else has at the Nine-Nine in that time period,' Charles taught his goddaughter. Just then he heard a loud crash. 'Niko? What was that?' Charles called out.

'Sorry, Papa. But Mac, Harry, and I were playing basketball and we knocked over the vase in the kitchen,' Nikolaj explained.

'You know you're supposed to be playing basketball outdoors.'

'Sorry, Uncle Charlie,' Mac said guiltily.

'Oh, it's alright. Just play outside, okay?' The three boys ran outside. 'You kids are cute, but you're brothers are a bit rough, huh? But I love you all because you are your dad's kids,' Charles told Liz.

After some time, Jake entered the house. 'Hey, Boyle,' he greeted.

'Oh, hey. Jake! Where's Amy?' he asked.

'Oh, she met Genevieve outside and they're catching up.'

'Oh, okay,' Charles said as he handed Liz over to her father. 'You'll be glad I used the phrase "your dad" two thousand seven hundred and twenty six times when talking to her,' he informed his best friend.

'Wow, thanks. That's a specific number.'

'Yeah, well I had to keep track of how many times I couldn't say your name.'

Jake shook his head. 'Well,' he said, 'since you lived up to your part of the deal, here you go.' He gave him a paper bag.

'Wow! You got me the turkey testicles!'

'Yeah, just take it before I throw up in it!'

Four Days Later:

'Commissioner, thank you for looking after the kids,' Amy said while holding her daughter.

'Oh, it was my pleasure,' Holt replied.

'Jake, why don't you to the car? I need to talk to the commissioner,' Amy asked.

'Oh, I also need to talk to the commissioner,' Jake said as a matter of fact.

They both eyed each other suspiciously. 'Wait a minute,' Amy said slowly, 'you didn't ask him to say your name constantly to win the bet, did you?'

'No! Did you?'

'No!'

'Good!'

'Good!'

Holt stood there, observing the conversation. 'Wait, I am confused. You both clearly asked me to say your names to your daughter,' Holt mentioned.

Both Jake and Amy groaned. 'Well, you did, right?' Jake asked.

'Yes, I did. I constantly said, "Jake Peralta is a smart detective and Amy Santiago is a great lieutenant."'

Jake and Amy stood there dumbfounded. 'You what?' Jake asked.

'I said your names, just like you asked me to.'

Jake and Amy sighed. They should have been clearer on what 'names' meant in this case.

Two Days Later:

Amy sat her daughter on her lap while Jake fed her applesauce. 'Jake?' she called.

'Yeah?' has asked.

'I think we should cancel the bet.'

'What? Why?'

'This thing's been going on for over two weeks now. She's not showing any signs of speaking anytime soon.'

Jake sighed. 'Yeah, you're right. We'll be equally impressed whatever her first word is,' he agreed.

'Yeah, she could be her daddy's girl.'

'Nah, she's already attached to her mommy,' Jake said as they shared a smile.

'Plus, if I'm really being honest, I think we were slowly breaking the first rule.'

'What? Ames, no, we didn't break any of the rules.'

'I know, I'm just saying we aren't around them as much as we used to be. I mean, they're close to each other and they haven't complained, but we can't ignore her brothers, not even a little bit.'

'Yeah.'

As they continued feeding their daughter, she looked up at her parents. 'Budders,' she said softly. Jake and Amy froze. 'Budders,' she said again and the parents shared a look of amazement. It wasn't the most fluent pronunciation, but Jake and Amy understood what she was trying to say.

'Oh, Liz, you said your first word! You love your brothers, don't you?' Amy asked as she kissed her daughter's nose. Liz giggled at that. 'Jake, call the boys!' Amy exclaimed.

'Budders!' Liz exclaimed as she saw her brothers and pointed at them. What made it even more special was that the boys smiled and hugged their sister after understanding her. Jake and Amy made sure to capture the moment on their phones so that they could show it to everyone. It was, without doubt, the cutest thing either of them had ever witnessed.

As Liz grew up, she always looked up to her mom, and she loved spending time with her dad, but she would always consider her brothers as her best friends.