The Return of Uncle Flippo

He had dozed off on the couch at some point while she was gone. Exactly when, he wasn't sure. He was still on the rounds of medication that Nick had prescribed and Liz had been determined that he finish out both the pain pills and antibiotics so that he could heal fully from his injuries. Jacob had tried to argue, really he had, but arguing with her was a pointless endeavour on a good day. Pregnant and worried? He hadn't stood a chance.

So he had taken the medication and she had slipped out sometime after it had knocked him out for the count, leaving a note tacked to the fridge telling him that she'd gone out to pick a few things up and that she had her cell if he needed her.

Jacob knew he'd been driving her crazy. It had seemed practical to have him move in while his arm and leg healed, and it had just sort of happened. He still had a few things on the boat, but not a lot, and he spent every night at her place anyway, but it did make her a little stir crazy he knew. It was like when they'd first moved in together before they'd been married all over again. Liz never had been cut out for sharing a space easily.

He leaned heavily on the counter, looking through the fridge for something edible, but the lock in the front door turning stole his attention and he looked back, his weight shifted to his left leg and he glared at the crutches across the room that he was supposed to be using. The door opened and Liz backed into the apartment, arms full of bags.

"Why didn't you call? I could have come down and helped," he grumbled as he limped forward, trying to take a couple of the bags at the very least and she glared at him for his efforts.

"Because you were sleeping. Where are your crutches?"

"They hurt my shoulder," he said sensibly.

"Maybe you'll think about that next time you feel the urge to do something stupid and get yourself shot."

"Mm," he answered with a small smile playing on his lips and managed to grab a falling bag from her. It was a very, very small victory, but she let him have it.

Liz shook her head and piled the bags on the counter, a smile of her own quirking the edges of her mouth. "How're you feeling?"

"Fine. I'm good. I told you I'm good. Did you buy out the whole store?"

"I may have gotten a little carried away," Liz admitted and it pulled a grin from him as she started moving the bags so that he could see the labels. They were all from baby stores and toy stores and everything along those lines.

"You went without me."

"Yeah, because that leg of yours was going to hold up to three hours of shopping?"

"You've been gone three hours?"

"You were really out when I left. Look." She pulled a little onesie out. "How cute is this?"

Jacob chuckled and his grin only grew as he reached forward, pulling her into his arms and she leaned in, her back pressed against his chest and her head leaned into his shoulder. "Hi," she greeted with a small laugh.

"Hi. Missed you."

"No you didn't. You were asleep."

He snorted and kissed the side of her head. "I've missed this," he murmured softly and she reached for his hand, their fingers lacing together.

"What do you mean?"

"Normal."

Liz laughed. "You think me letting you rest while I go baby shopping because you were shot pulling a heist with your ex to help us get away from Raymond Reddington is normal?"

Jacob rolled his eyes. "Okay when you put it that way…" he grumbled.

She turned so she could look up at him, their fingers still intertwined. "Uh huh? I'm thinking we may need to work on your definition of normal."

"Well, our normal. Preferably without any more shooting." His gaze wandered over to the bags as Liz pulled the stools closer, one for him and one for her, and took a seat to sort through things. Jacob settled in to watch, his leg aching a little less when he took his weight off of it. When they had been ready to adopt their friend's baby - and didn't that seem like a lifetime ago? - Liz had waited until last minute to make time to go get everything. With work and everything else the time had slipped away, but since she had confessed to him that she wanted to keep this baby, that they were going to be a family together, she had seemed so… happy. It was like she just couldn't contain her smile anymore, and it left Jacob with a feeling he couldn't easily place. It was unfamiliar, but he thought it might be something like peace.

"Look what else I found," Liz said, pulling a small bag out and peeling it open. She shot him a sly look as she pulled a child's toy from it. The fact that she had bought a toy wasn't surprising, but he couldn't help but feel like she was expecting a bigger reaction than the blank stare he was giving it.

Suddenly the memory clicked. "The flashlight hippo?"

"Uncle Flippo," she reminded him. "Look. He even has little sunglasses now with his tux. We can call him Tom Bond."

Jacob choked on a laugh. "Why would we do that?"

Her grin turned a little more mischievous. "You have no idea how I figured you out, do you?"

"You're the smartest woman I know and amazing at your job?" he offered and received a pop to his uninjured arm for his efforts.

"Dork," she chided. "Seriously. You were taken down by a child's toy. You left it in the trash when they raided your safehouse and I got the photo evidence as part of the Jolene investigation."

Jacob stared at her for a long moment, letting the fact that she was teasing him over a subject that they wouldn't have dared touch on just a few months before. She had said she forgave him for it, but this was an entirely new level of it.

"Tom?" Liz prodded, touching his hand that was resting on the counter. "It was a joke."

He blinked, her voice pulling him from his thoughts, and he turned his hand over so that their palms were touching. "I know."

"You had a really funny look on your face."

"I was just thinking about how lucky I am," he murmured, the honest words tumbling from his lips before he could think better of them. He pulled her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. "I love you."

She rolled her eyes. "I try to give you a hard time and somehow you turn sweet." Her eyes drifted closed and she loosed a breath. "That's real."

"For you," he breathed.

"I love you too," she answered and leaned in, her lips against his and her free hand working its way to the back of his neck as the kiss deepened. When they broke they both leaned into each other, Liz standing and Jacob seated, their foreheads pressed together and both a little short of breath. His eyes fluttered open in time to see her smile return, her own eyes still closed. "I'm still renaming Uncle Flippo Tom Bond."

"That's not necessary is it?"

"Yep. And I'm going to put it right up on the baby's dresser."

"You're cruel."

"You were undone by a child's toy. You deserve to be mocked for the rest of eternity."

Jacob chuckled and stood, kissing her forehead. "Glad I was. Now we have something even more real than before."

She grinned at him and Jacob echoed it. Yes, he decided, that was definitely peace he felt, and he was certain that it was something he was ready to get used to.

Notes: I've always thought it was funny and a little sad that Jacob, master spy, was undone by a child's toy. We were chattering about it on Tumblr and this story was born out of that. Hope you guys enjoyed!