A/N: I am republishing this story. There have been edits made. The text that has been italicized is a flashback, and the text that has been bolded is from the show. I am merely borrowing characters besides though that are not recognized.
"There we go," Luke says as he gives Faylinn her morning bottle. "I missed you last night. I would have rather been at home with you than deal with the case I had. It was bad enough that Uncle Sammy came into work hungover, which never makes for a good day. Then I had to deal with the rookie who didn't understand that things don't always go our way. Though I know your Aunty Gail had a better shift than I did."
There comes a banging on the door. Luke looks down at Faylinn before saying, "Who that could be?" He walks over to the door and notices that it's after 7:30 in the morning. "It better not be Uncle Sammy," he says as the person knocks again. He opens the door and becomes surprised by the rush of a blonde racing past him.
"I slept with Chris," Gail says before stopping. "You're not my cousin.
"What gave that away?" he says as he closes the door. "She's in the shower. Should be out in about ten minutes."
"Uh," Gail says in the apartment's foyer. "Why are you so snarky this morning?"
"I got off a 12-hour shift and haven't been to bed yet," he says before walking towards the kitchen. "Wait, who's Chris? As in Diaz?"
"Uh," Gail says as she walks over to the coffeemaker and makes herself a cup. "This is the one bad thing about us working out of the same division."
"You said you would date no one from your division," he says as he grins. "What happened to that?"
"It happened," she says as she takes a sip. "Why are you so interested? Rumours are going around that you lack compassion."
"Nice try, we are not changing the subjects," he says as he notices Faylinn is finishing her bottle. He places a burp cloth on his shoulder before burping her. "You said no cops."
"A girl can change her mind. Look at your wife," she says as she sips her coffee. "She swore she was never getting involved with a cop, and now she's married to a detective."
"If you say so," he says as he hands the baby over to Gail. "McNally needed a reality check. Sometimes our jobs are not always sunshine and rainbows."
"She has a lion's heart," Gail says before turning her attention to Faylinn. "I hope you'll have the right balance of reality and fantasy to go along with your mommy and daddy's stubbornness."
Luke shakes his head as he walks toward the back of the apartment. He smiles as he hears Gail ramble on to Faylinn, knowing that soon the two of them will be on the floor playing on the black and white contrast play mat. He smiles as he spots Kathleen looking through her closet. "Gail's here."
"Figured, I woke up to a bunch of text messages," she says as she turns her head to face him. "Should I ask what this is all about?"
"She hooked up with Diaz," he says as he walks to her and wraps his arms around her waist. "She is freaking herself out now."
"Hmm," she says as she leans into his hold. "Fay, give you any problems?"
"Nope, she took her bottle," he says as he places a kiss on her temple. "I know she was happy to see me."
"She missed you last night," she says as she turns in his arms to face him. "She kept looking around like she knew you were missing."
"Well, I missed her," he says as he leans down and kisses her.
Kathleen smiles as she kisses him back and wraps her arms around his neck. She lets out a light moan as she feels his hands grip her hips tighter.
"Kat," Gail calls.
Kathleen frowns before pulling her lips away from his. "Coming," she calls back as she looks at him. "We will continue this later."
"I'm holding you to that," he says before giving her one last kiss and walking into the ensuite bathroom.
Kathleen shakes her head as she gets dressed before walking out of the bedroom. She walks into the front part of the apartment and smiles as she watches Gail and Faylinn playing on the play mat.
"About time," Gail says as she spots Kathleen entering the room. "Did he tell you?"
"When doesn't he?" she says as she walks into the kitchen area and pours herself a cup of coffee. "You know he is a bigger gossip than most."
"Uh," Gail says before turning to look at Faylinn. "Don't be like your daddy."
Kathleen shakes her head as she pulls out the items to make breakfast. "You know our parents are way worse," she says as she looks over at them. "So is your brother."
"Don't remind me," she says as she picks Faylinn and walks over to the couch and sits down. "How long till he hears?"
"What are you so afraid of?" Kathleen asks as she makes breakfast. "Are you ashamed or upset by what you did?"
"No, we are so different," she says as she places Faylinn on her lap and shakes one toy at her. "He's different from all the other guys I've dated. He's sweet and nice, a bit of a do-gooder. I haven't seen that he has issues."
"Waiting for the other shoe to fall before even the first one comes down."
"He sees through my ice queen act."
"Ah, so he's already broken down the walls and you're not sure if you want him to see the true you."
"He tries to see the good in everything. What happens if I can live up to that?"
"Gail, everyone makes mistakes. It's a part of life, but the thing you should ask yourself is, are you going to regret not giving him a chance? I get it, someone had burned before you by who we thought was the perfect guy for you. There could be a possibility that this is the universal way of making up for it. It sounds like you like him, to me at least."
"I do, but I don't know. I know I am overthinking it."
"Why not let things happen and see what comes from it? You might surprise yourself with how well this works out for you."
"Yeah, I don't think so."
"You don't know till you try. Go with the flow. Don't complicate things unless they need to be."
Gail turns her entire body and looks at her. "What have you done with my cousin?"
