I'm Sorry For What I Said When We Were Trying to Park the Camper
Author's Note: If you have not read Perp-Loving Cop Hater, go back and read that first. This is in the same AU universe, but years later. And yes, I am thinking of filling in the years with some fun Ressler family stories (like Milly's baby shower) but this came to me and I'm running with it.
Let me know what you think!
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"Ruth!" Liz said excitedly as she smacked his arm.
"Uh, no," Ressler said with a dismissive shake of his head.
"Your grandmother's name is Ruth," Liz said as she looked at him expectantly. "Ruth Bater Ginsburg is also a Ruth..."
"And that doesn't mean I want my daughter named that," Ressler said. "It was a poor choice then and especially now."
"Especially now?" Liz questioned.
"There are a whole host of names we can choose and not be bound by any familial traditions and…besides…why are you so traditional all of a sudden?"
"What do you mean?" Liz asked.
"You didn't want to get married," Ressler said, his eyes sliding toward her. "But you want to name our child after a grandmother who I met once?"
"Only once?" Liz asked him.
"Once," Ressler said. "My father brought her over from Germany to stay for a few months and she left after a few weeks because she hated it so much."
"Oh," Liz sighed.
"Agnes is named after my grandmother, so I thought…"
"How about Hailey?" He asked.
"Hailey Ressler?" Liz asked, unsure of the name through the intonation of her voice.
"You know Liz," he said annoyed. "You have hated every name I have suggested."
It had been a long week, they had not agreed on their approach to their latest case and, in the end, her instincts had been right, and he had been off. She knew that rankled him, but she didn't realize how much until now. They had argued more this week than their entire relationship and maybe it was stress or hormones or something else, but Liz felt like this had been a bad week for them. Maybe it wasn't the right time to discuss baby names?
"I have agreed to Owen," Liz said. "I quite like Owen."
Ressler sighed and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Why are you arguing?" Agnes asked them as she walked past them and into the kitchen to get a glass of water.
"We're having a discussion," Liz emphasized.
"It's a discussion, sweetheart," Ressler offered to present a united front, because lately the ten-year-old had been trying to play them off each other to get what she wanted.
Agnes looked at them like she didn't quite believe them but was more interested in her video game to get into any 'discussion' with her parents.
"And besides," Liz said as she turned her body and faced him with her belly pressing into his side. "If you get the boy name then I get the girl one."
"That's a little sexist isn't it?" Ressler asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Are you carrying our baby? Going to push it out of an orifice? Going to breast feed it?" Liz asked, playing her final card. "Do you go to appointments where nurses call you a geriatric mother?"
"You are 41, that's not…"
"It is," Liz said. "After 35 a woman is considered geriatric…."
He sighed and closed his eyes.
"Then I think, I get the final say," she said as she looked at him.
He huffed and nodded.
"So, Ruth?" He asked, slightly disappointed that if they had a girl, his daughter would be Ruth Ressler.
"No," she said. "But not Hailey either, there was a girl in Agnes' ballet class named that and she was mean…"
"I remember that kid…so what? One bad Hailey…" Ressler asked her, turned to look at her more fully.
"Your fist choice. I may have…prematurely…shot it down," Liz hedged. "You were annoying me."
He smiled at her.
"Really?" He asked. "The one I liked best?"
"Really," she smiled at him.
"You like it?" He asked, his joy obvious.
"It's grown on me," she said with a smirk.
"Enough to name our girl Caitlyn?" He asked smiling ear to ear.
"I'd be very happy to name her that, if it's a girl," Liz leaned in and kissed his lips.
He kissed back and she settled into his frame.
"And, for the record my adversity toward marriage has nothing to do with you," Liz said quietly. "I married Tom far too many times to try and stay together or prove that I loved him."
He furrowed his brow.
"What we have is real," Liz said as she turned to look into his eyes. "I don't need a judge or papers or a ring or a dress to know that. I don't need to marry you, even once to know that."
His kissed the tip of her nose.
"But if you need that…" she said softly as she wrapped an arm around his middle. "I'll go to a judge with you tomorrow and do it. Just us. Just for you."
"Really?" He asked as he looked are her for trepidation. They had discussed marriage at length several times over the years they had been together, and she had always been adamant about not marrying and ruining what they had.
"I realize that it's not just about me," she smiled at him. "That if this is really important to you then it's important to me."
He nodded.
"So?" She asked. "Are we skipping work tomorrow afternoon?"
He gave her a soft smile.
"Yeah, yeah we are," he leaned in and kissed her as he placed a hand on her very swollen belly. "Thanks, Liz."
"Agnes can come," Liz said. "She is my only guest concession."
He nodded.
"What am I coming to?" Agnes asked as she walked back into the room with an empty bowl.
"We're getting married tomorrow and you are our guest," Liz said with a smile.
Agnes smiled at them and then walked her empty bowl to the kitchen.
"No congratulations? No I'm happy for you?" Ressler called after her teasing.
Agnes returned to the room a moment later and looked at her two parents cuddled together on the sofa. She really didn't see what the big deal was, she knew they were going to be together, always. Didn't they?
"Do I get new clothes for it?" Agnes asked thinking of her most recent shopping trip with her mother.
"No, you have plenty of clothes to choose from," Ressler said as he looked at the little opportunist.
"Do I get to miss school?" She asked.
Liz sat up a little more and had an idea.
"How about the whole day?" Liz asked her. "We'll go to that nail salon and get our nails done and maybe our hair? Then we can pick dad up and go get married."
"I get to miss a whole day of school?" Agnes asked, suddenly excited by the plan.
"And I have to work?" Ressler asked, his brow furrowed.
"Again," Liz said as she pointed to her large belly. "Carrying our child, pushing it out of my vagina…"
"Okay, I'm going now," Agnes said as she clapped her hands over her ears.
"Our bodies are beautiful!" Liz yelled as her daughter left the room. "Babies are made with love!"
They could hear Agnes humming loudly as she walked farther and father away from them.
Ressler chuckled.
"I think you can tone down the beautiful bodies and sex talk, she's only 10," Ressler said.
"She needs for it to be an open conversation so she can ask any questions and feel comfortable," Liz said as she snuggled back into his frame. "I would have killed for a mother like me."
"And Caitlyn or Owen will be lucky to have you too," Ressler said. "You're really good with marrying me?"
"I've always been good with anything having to do with you," Liz smirked.
"Liz, I don't want you to feel pressured to…"
"It's been…4 years since you asked?" Liz asked. "I feel no pressure."
He looked at her carefully, assessing for any signs of regret that she agreed to this.
"I can see that the world doesn't revolve around me," Liz said as she looked at him carefully as well. "From time to time."
"It doesn't?" He asked sarcastically.
She reached for his waist and tickled him, and he squirmed under her attentions.
"I want to get married," he said honestly. "But I don't need to get married if you are compromising…"
"I'm not," Liz said definitively. "Just because I don't need something to know we're for always doesn't mean you don't, and I respect that. Are you okay with it just being us? I don't think I could bear a big…"
"It's perfect," he said kissing the side of her face.
She nodded. "And about the case…"
"You were right," he sighed. "She was hiding something, and we needed to pursue it. You read her better than I did. My ego got a little hurt, I'll admit that."
She nodded, happy he came to understand what she saw as well.
Liz looked down the hallway toward Agnes' room.
"How do you think she's doing with the baby?" Liz asked.
"I think she's heading into teen-land quicker than we expected and will want little or nothing to do with us," Ressler said and then kept talking when he saw her about to speak. "And I think that means we need to double down with her and maybe do some things with just her before and after this one arrives, so she doesn't feel like we've ditched her."
Liz smiled softly and nodded. "That was exactly what I was thinking."
"See?" Ressler said. "I may not have pushed anything out of an orifice, and I may have only been doing this for half of her life, but I learn…"
Liz chuckled at his joke.
"We've got another 8 weeks before this one arrives," Liz said. "How about a trip?"
"I thought at 32 weeks you weren't allowed to fly…" Ressler said concerned.
"Driving trip?" Liz asked him.
"I'm not sure she's going to like a driving trip, but I don't think you can fly," Ressler said.
"Moira has been asking for a visit…" Liz said with a smile.
"You want to drive to Idaho?" Ressler asked her, surprised.
"Not directly, my feet would look like Fred Flinstone's from all that sitting…"
"It's 2000 miles," Ressler said.
"Your mom said we could borrow the RV," Liz said with a smirk.
"Oh, now I see what's going on…"
"She and I have been talking…" Liz said with a sing-song voice.
"And what have you two planned for us?" Ressler chuckled.
"We can stay in Detroit for a couple of nights, then head out…I'd like to show you and Agnes where I grew up in Nebraska…"
He looked at her with a soft smile.
"And then we can stay with Moira for a few days. Agnes hasn't seen her girls in over a year and…"
"And?"
"And your parents can come with us," Liz said. "Maurice will drive the truck and we can take your SUV…"
"Wait, a caravan trip to Idaho with Agnes, you pregnant, my parents and an RV?" Ressler asked.
She smiled at him in a pleading way.
"And this is your idea of a vacation?" Ressler asked her, confused.
"I feel the need for family and ties and…"
He sighed. "Is this that nesting thing I read about?"
She shrugged.
"Shouldn't you be nesting here?" He asked.
"I'm not a traditional nester," Liz snickered.
"I can see that," he said. "You really want this?"
"I do," Liz smiled at him.
He sighed.
"And you were only going to take a week after the baby was born…don't you have 6 weeks of unused vacation?" Liz asked.
"I was going to shorten my weeks for a while to help with…"
"You can still do that," Liz said. "Let's take two now. Reddington seems to be more interested in the French Riviera than cases lately, and I'm sure Aram, Park and Hernandez can continue on the next case without us."
Ressler nodded. He needed to start letting go of some things at work because, although he had stepped back a little in the last couple of years, he needed to step back more with the new baby. He was, technically, in charge of the task force since Cooper's retirement, but didn't behave as such, preferring a team approach rather than top down. They used Cooper's old office as a research space to keep unsolved case files that had connections to Blacklisters.
At first, the higher ups were not happy with the situation, wanting to move him to another division because of his relationship with Liz, but Reddington had stepped in and said that Ressler, as well as Liz, was a condition of him helping the FBI find the most wanted. They relented. Then, they were not pleased with his different approach, but really, there was nothing they could do to change the situation, so he just continued forward as he pleased. Ressler was not a stupid man, he realized when he took control that they had worked together too long as a team to change the dynamic and make it work. And, honestly, he liked not feeling like everything was all on him. He attended the necessary meetings, met with the government officials, lobbied for the interests of the task force, and sat in annoying budget meetings as his job dictated, but, when he walked into the War Room, he was a team member like everyone else. And, for four years it had worked, and worked well.
"When are we taking this vacation?" Ressler asked.
"Next week," Liz said. "I will file our paperwork today."
"Agnes will miss school…" Ressler said.
"And she'll like the vacation even more because of that," Liz smiled.
He nodded, that was true. Their daughter, who did well at school, was not a fan of school.
"As long as nothing pressing…" Ressler said.
"It's Wednesday," Liz said. "Let's not look for anything pressing in the next two days and go on a nice vacation…"
He nodded.
"I take it you have cleared all of this with my mother and Moira?" Ressler asked.
"Of course," Liz said as she started to haul herself to standing.
"Thanks for letting me in on the plan," Ressler said sarcastically as he stood and helped her get up.
"You were a key piece to the puzzle," Liz said as she reached for her phone. "Okay, married tomorrow, and trip on Saturday."
"Looks like you've got it all figured out," Ressler said with a chuckle.
"Everything, leave everything to me, babe," she said.
He leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. "I always do."
"You can just show up for a wedding with a judge at city hall, and Thursday afternoons are usually their least popular…"
"You've looked into it?" Ressler asked, surprised.
"Maurice is planning the route and your mom is getting the RV ready. We just need to get to Detroit on Saturday." Liz said as she started to text and ignore his last question.
"And tell them we got married," Ressler said, trying to round back to the topic.
"Will your mom be pissed?" Liz asked, still ignoring his question.
"No," he said as he wrapped his arms around her large belly from behind. "She'll just be happy."
Liz turned and looked up at him, her head on his shoulder.
"You know we've now become part of one Doyle tradition," Liz said.
He chuckled. "Knocked up when getting married."
"But we managed to avoid the twins…" Liz snickered.
"Next time…" he joked.
She smacked his arm. "Bite your tongue! If I'm a geriatric mom at 41 I don't want to think of the next term they'd use for me…menopausal mom?"
He laughed and released her as she pulled away to go make plans. "Beautiful mom would be the term I'd use."
"Yeah, but you're biased," she smiled at him before she walked down the hallway to their bedroom.
Ressler stood and shook his head. Tomorrow he was getting married. And next week he was going on a trip that was going to be…interesting.
"Hey Agnes!" Ressler called to her as he walked down the hallway toward her bedroom. "You need to get packing, we're going on a trip…"
Agnes appeared at her doorway and looked at him confused.
"What?" Ressler asked, confused by her expression.
"Do most parents take their kids on their honeymoon?" Agnes asked.
"Honeymoon?" Ressler asked and then realization hit him.
"Yeah, it's the trip you take after you get married…" Agnes said as she crossed her arms over her chest, a habit, he and Liz had noticed she had picked up from him.
"Well, I guess if that's what it is," Ressler chuckled. "Then we're taking you and my parents…"
Agnes started to walk towards him and stopped to make sure her mom was still on the phone in their bedroom before she continued.
"You know, she bought a new fancy maternity dress last week, right?" Agnes asked him.
He furrowed his brow.
"We were out at the mall, and she tried it on and when I said, 'what do you need a fancy dress for?' she said 'you never know when a special occasion will happen'" Agnes smirked at him. "And look at that, you're now getting married, and she's got a dress."
Ressler started to put the pieces together, her agreeing to get married, the dress, knowing the best times to go to city hall, planning the trip with his family…she had this all worked out.
"Wait, last week?" He asked Agnes. "You know, she knows when the best time to go to City Hall is as well."
"You've been played, dad," Agnes chuckled before she left to go back to her room. "She wants to get married."
He shook his head, he had been played. After years of insisting she didn't need a wedding, she actually did, but was trying to save face.
"Liz!" He called to her as he walked into their bedroom.
To be continued…