Slight spoilers for 8x17 "Unwrapped" but mostly setup. I promise you Christine is a bridge not an ending! :)
Chapter 11
Gus was facing off with the social worker, her voice low enough so the child wouldn't hear but full of enough venom that the harried young woman took a few steps back. "I don't care what your procedure is, all I know is that little girl has been through enough trauma today, you are not taking her to juvenile hall!"
"Let me make a call," she said, pulling out her phone.
"You do that, Heather," Gus hissed, before putting a smile on her face and going to check on Michelle, grateful she had spent a tiny amount of time with the girl the day before. "Hey, sugar, how about we go and get a snack?"
Luckily the social work supervisor didn't care enough to argue, so after a quick phone call to her former Lieutenant, Gus took Michelle upstairs to the children's interview room in special vics. "Thanks, Jimmy," she said, after settling Michelle in with drawing supplies.
"Were they really going to take her to juvvy?" Doyle asked, though little surprised him these days.
Gus nodded, leaning against a desk with a sigh. "Yeah, mom and aunt arrested, uncle dead and no emergency foster placements in the city, if they are over 5, that's the procedure. Kindergartners being sent off like little prisoners, breaks my heart."
"That's messed up," he replied, giving her a long look. "When you and Flack get around to making one of those," he gestured to Michelle, "don't forget I got a spot for you up here."
Gus rolled her eyes, "I'll keep that in mind Jimmy."
Gus knew she had made the right call as she watched Michelle and her mother's reunification a bit later, even if it did mean more paperwork.
Which she was just wrapping up when she spied the clock, "crap, I gotta go, Lindsay is probably running around like a chicken with her head cut off," she yelped, having promised her friend to help set up for Lucy's birthday party. She swept out in a flurry, Flack chuckling after her, Parker remarking, "see ya later, Hurricane Broussard!"
"Did you have a uniform bring you, Broussard?" Danny asked, meeting her outside the Messer's apartment building.
"Well I wasn't going to bring this on the subway," she remarked opening the back door and gesturing to the wooden dollhouse.
Danny made a face, "point taken, now did you buy us an actual house to put it in?"
Gus rolled her eyes, "it's fine, I cleared it with Linds, she's already figured out a spot."
Danny pulled the dollhouse out of the patrol car and moved toward the building. "Of course she has, never stops, that one."
"Which is why I am here to help out so she can maybe sit down for a hot minute," Gus remarked, waving the patrol car off.
"Good luck with that one," he snarked.
Danny was speaking the truth; despite Gus' best efforts, Lindsay flitted around like a hummingbird throughout the party. Which was a success judging by the smiles on everyone's faces, including the usually dour elder Mrs. Messer. Lucy loved the attention, the now three year old comfortable enough with all the lab team that there was no shyness. She carefully considered the introduction of Christine, but the woman's giant bag of gifts swayed her.
Gus tried to stuff down her brief jealousy, something made easier since Lucy entranced with her dollhouse and also stuck to Gus' side right up until it was well past the little girl's bath and bedtime.
Which is when she finally convinced Lindsay to take a seat as she and Don tackled cleanup and Danny took Lucy to get ready for bed.
"You don't have to, you guys," Lindsay protested but accepted the glass of wine from Don gratefully.
"We're family, Linds, so yeah we do!" Gus replied, taking in the expression on her friend's face. "Are you going to get to see them this summer?" she asked, gently, knowing that snow and work had cancelled their holiday trip to Montana.
Lindsay nodded, "'yeah, one way or another. I am trying to get them to come here so we can go visit Stella."
"She's really twisting your arm, huh?" Gus said with a smile.
"Lil' bit," Lindsay said with a laugh, "weekly if not more. She practically offered me a job the last time I talked. I think you two are the only ones that have gotten down there."
Gus nodded, "I didn't mean to scare y'all off of New Orleans! Adam is talking about going for Jazz Fest again, I told Mac he really should go but then…" she gestured to the spot Christine had been sitting most of the party.
Lindsay studied her friend carefully, knowing how protective she was of both Mac and the memory of her aunt. "Christine does seem sweet, and it is nice that she knew Mac before."
Gus let out a little sigh, moving to sit next to her friend, hearing splashing from both the kitchen and the bathroom knowing the both men were occupied. "She is sweet, and I do like that she knew Claire and Uncle Mac does seem happy…" she trailed off, unsure if she should say what she was thinking out loud. Finally she shook her head, "never mind I am being ridiculous, it's dumb and impossible."
"Nope, out with it, what are you thinking, Gus?" Lindsay pressed.
"I guess I kind of keep hoping that Mac will finally let himself admit that he is in love with Stella, but they are 1300 miles apart, and she's dating that ADA and he's with Christine, who you are right, is so stinkin' sweet…" she trailed off again but this time it was because Lindsay had started choking on her wine.
Lindsay spluttered, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "Oh my god, I thought I was the only one who thought that, Danny looked at me like I was crazy when I said it to him!"
"Mac followed her to Greece, that kinda sealed it for me," Gus said, raising her eyebrows.
"For the last time, I'm sorry I didn't follow you that first time, sunshine," Don remarked, leaning against the doorframe, drying his hands on a dishtowel, the smirk on his face letting the pair know he was joking and it was all in the past.
Both women looked at him expectantly, wondering how much he overheard and what his thoughts were. He let them wait for a long beat, enjoying watching them squirm. Finally a dimpled grin spread across his face, "Mac's been in love with Stella for longer than yous two have even been around. I half expected him to say he was moving to New Orleans when he left the lab."
"Well ,what are we going to go about Christine?" Gus implored.
Lindsay nodded, "yeah, I mean she is the sweetest and Mac is smiling!"
"Nothin', you two are not playing cupid, there's been enough love drama on the team to last a lifetime!" Don said, his tone more an order, turning on his heel to head back into the kitchen.
"Thanks for letting me bounce to watch Michelle today," Gus said, snuggled up with Don, both of them exhausted from the case and Lucy's party.
He ran his fingers through her hair, feeling tired down to his bones, wondering how on earth Danny ran after both suspects and a three-year-old every damn day. "No big, I figured once you went all mama bear on her in the motel room. Sucks Mac had to take down that kid, even if he was a drug dealing scumbag."
"You forgot kidnapper," she said, snuggling even more into him. "Little bit has already had a rough enough life; growing up in the projects with a single-mom, and then all the trauma of the past couple of days and that stupid social worker basically wanted to ensure that the school to prison pipeline kept on flowing."
Even though she couldn't see, Don smiled down at her. One of the things he loved the most about his wife was her heart. She was intensely passionate about righting wrongs and protecting others, loyal almost to a fault. He would bet that today wouldn't be the last day Gus spent with Michelle. He shook his head at the contrasts of the day; too much time spent in the drug-infested PJs to Lucy Messer's birthday party to his discussion over Mac's love life.
"What a day, huh?" he sighed.
"At least it is never boring," she said with a laugh.
"I could maybe handle a couple of weeks of boring," Don said, before turning out the light.
Don was still dead asleep as Gus made coffee the next morning. She had just settled in with her first mug when she heard a tentative knock on the door. Assuming it was Mrs. Potter needing to borrow something, she didn't bother to pull a robe on over Don's button-up, the first thing she found on the floor on her way to the kitchen.
She swung open the door saying, "you know the bodega deliv-" she cut off as she realized it was not her elderly neighbor, but the social worker from the previous day standing in front of her. "What? Did I forget some paperwork?" she barked out.
Heather took in the woman's appearance, worried she had interrupted something. Not that she would blame her, Heather's cursory research had quickly revealed Augusta Broussard was married to the incredibly sexy Detective Flack. She briefly wondered if he had a younger brother or sister…Heather flushed, clearing her throat, "uh, no, I just, why didn't you mention you were a psychologist yesterday?" she stumbled out, the ire on the other woman's face making her forget why she had come.
"Because a cop can't look after a kid for a couple of hours? Pretty sure you don't need a doctorate to babysit," Gus snorted.
Heather shook her head, not wanting to offend Gus, what she had read about her had been admirable. "No, nothing like that, it's just I wouldn't have had to get clearance, could have saved you some paperwork, in fact. You automatically qualify for emergency temporary foster placement, just a signature or two. If you wanted to do longer, there are some classes you and your husband would have to take, but they are online. I brought you a couple of things," she paused her torrent of words to dig through her bag, handing Gus a glossy brochure and a handbook.
"Um, thanks?" Gus said, taking the items, feeling very underdressed and slightly confused.
"You're welcome, just call the number on the brochure or you can call me. I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing," Heather said, bouncing off with that early 20's energy that Gus suddenly missed.
"Mrs. Potter out of milk again or was she trying to get me to open a jar?" Don asked rubbing his eyes sleepily as he headed toward the coffee pot. Gus just shook her head, dropping the papers on top of the pile that had reappeared on their dining table. "Back to stealing my clothes again, I see," he teased as she followed him into the kitchen.
"First thing I put my hands on, we should probably straighten up today," she sighed.
"Later," he growled, pinning her against the cabinet, making quick work of taking his shirt back.
A steamy shower later and Gus remarked, "that was quite the impressive performance before coffee, blue eyes."
"Wanted to get to it last night, but was too tired after being Lucy's real live hobby horse for the fiftieth time. Remind me to not make fun of Messer the next time he says he is exhausted," Don said, shaking his head, while checking the contents of their kitchen before making a grocery list.
Gus laughed from where she was straightening up the living area, "I'll try but I don't want to ruin your fun."
"There's plenty more to make fun of him about," Don retorted. "Hey babe, what did Mrs. Potter steal earlier so I can put it on the list?"
Gus looked down at the papers in her hand, "er, that wasn't Mrs. Potter earlier."
Don turned from the fridge looking at her curiously, he thought he had finally had convinced the elderly residents of the building to stop propping the door open with their various medical equipment.
"It was that social worker from yesterday," Gus said, leaning against the doorframe.
Don snorted, "the one who you almost made piss her pants while I was linking up Duvall? Daddino told me I missed a good show."
"I behaved, Don, considering," she said with a half-shrug. "Anyway, she felt the need to come by and let me know I should have opened with 'Doctor' instead of 'Detective' to save myself the paperwork. Apparently I automatically qualify for emergency foster placement for up to 72 hours."
Don observed her as she looked down at the papers in her hand, chewing on her lip, not making eye contact with him. He cocked his head, catching the title on the brochure: 'Raise hopes and foster dreams: become a foster parent'. "Sunshine?"
He waited until she looked up at him, discord in her eyes. "This something you want to do, want us to do?" he asked, unsure how to feel about it. Sure, he found himself fantasizing more and more about them having kids one day. But that was one day and it was always their kids, like wondering if they would have his dimples or her green eyes, their kids.
"I dunno," she admitted, forcing herself to keep looking at him even as she wanted to hide. Before Don she hadn't even thought about having kids, and while she had found herself dreaming about having his kids, she wasn't planning on it soon. Despite the fear of biological clocks that Irene and others kept trying to put into her. Logically she knew there were plenty of kids that needed good homes and that they would provide a home full of love, faced with the actual alternative, she felt a bit like she was at a crossroads.
Finally she came out with, "I think just the emergency placement bit, so kids in pull-ups don't get sent to juvenile hall. Daddino gives me a lot of passes, but I don't want to push my luck with him until we really need to for our own, biological, kid."
A lot of words passed between them without being spoken, Don finally giving a firm nod. "Okay then, guess I should stop using the daybed in the office for our laundry then, huh?" he said, pulling her into a hug.