04.01 - Surprises

Season Four begins with a wedding. John is finally getting married.


The cough from the bathroom startled Vivian awake. "Hey," she said as she yawned, rolling over to look at her girlfriend. Jamie was toweling her hair dry, coughing a little, in the en suite bathroom.

"Hey, didn't mean to wake you," Jamie said, her voice rough.

Well now Vivian was awake. Also why was Jamie home already? Her shift had her back home the day after tomorrow. That meant if Jamie was home early and coughing, something had happened. Vivian sat up and turned on a light. "You okay?"

Jamie nodded. "Yeah, annoyingly so, said the doctor. Caught a lung full of a chemical fire."

"Uh huh," Vivian stretched across the bed, reached for Jamie's phone, and pulled up her health care app. "You know, I don't mean to be all this way, but who's your emergency contact?"

"Uh... My Dad." Jamie sounded sheepish. "Are you reading my test results?"

"I am. My mom's a doctor, you know."

"Oh and that gives you the right to snoop?"

"Peck," said Vivian by way of explanation. The test results were, thankfully, not horrible. Jamie had inhaled no worse than Vivian had when ETF threw in smoke. "Did you use the nebulizer?"

"No, I wanted a shower." When Vivian glared, Jamie sighed and went back into the bathroom. "You are such a helicopter girlfriend when I'm hurt."

Vivian paused and put the phone back down to charge. "I'm ... Yes. Yes I am." There was no point or purpose in denying it. But she knew why... Vivian took a deep breath. "I worry about you. And if I'm shit at saying what's on my mind, you're crap at telling people you're hurting."

Her girlfriend shook the nebulizer. "Fair." Taking a deep breath of the puffy stuff, Jamie made a face. It probably tasted like shit, if it was the same kind Vivian had used a couple years back. Finally she exhaled loudly. "Ugh, nasty."

Hugging her knees, Vivian waited a bit. "So... what happened?"

"Angry kids broke into school. Accidental lab fire. Blah blah blah. Me and Mike were up front. Stuff burnt through our masks." Jamie hung up her towel. "And I think I just lost all the argument points from when you were shot, huh?"

"More or less," said Vivian, but she felt a little lighter.

With a sigh, Jamie sat on the end of the bed. "Okay, so it burned like the time I laughed hot sauce out my nose. And I was a little freaked, but I wasn't scared... and I don't like talking about being hurt."

That had the feel of a late night confession. Vivian scooted closer and hesitated. "You don't have to ... You don't have to talk about it right now."

Jamie shook her head. "Oh no, no, I sat there a couple years ago." She pointed at Vivian, mirthlessly. "When I was five, Dad got arrested. Traffic violation. Totally stupid, but they came to the apartment. And I had six stitches at the time, and I guess the cop decided Dad did it and they arrested him." Jamie sighed. "We had social services come by a lot after that. And ... I was a tomboy. I always had scrapes and bruises, and after a while, I just didn't tell anyone because some idiot always thought Dad was hurting me. And he never, ever, has. Not once."

Vivian scooted to the end of the bed and took Jamie's hand. "I'm sorry."

The firefighter leaned into her a little. "For what it's worth, my folks kinda freaked out when I said I was dating a cop."

Smiling, Vivian rested her cheek on Jamie's head. "Yeah? What about when you told 'em my name?"

Jamie snorted a laugh. "Oh my god. I thought Mom's head would pop. I got an earful after."

"You never said."

"Well, Dad took my side." Jamie squeezed Vivian's hand. "You've been really good about me getting in your head."

"My therapist gave me shit," admitted Vivian. "I'm trying."

"I should try too."

Ah. Vivian closed her eyes and inhaled. She could smell their shampoo and soap. But under that was the oddly appealing scent of Jamie. There was something earthy, but not dirty, about her. The smell of autumn. The smell of the end of summer, when the green grass was fading, but there was still warmth and comfort. It reminded her of lazy days at the lake.

"So," Vivian said slowly. "My birthday's coming up."

"I have to make it through another Christmas with your family first," joked Jamie.

"I promise no sleepover. We'll take your truck."

Jamie made a content noise and then coughed. "Good." She struggled and then coughed again, louder, until she had to sit up straight. Then Jamie coughed again, and gagged. She bolted to the bathroom and coughed up what sounded like a bucket of phlegm. "Oh that is disgusting."

"I'll take your word on it," said Vivian, stifling a laugh. She fell back onto the bed, landing on her elbows. "I can make you a soothing hot drink?"

There was the sound of gargling and then Jamie spat. "No. No booze until tomorrow."

"Fair." Vivian watched the other woman wipe her face. "Can I do anything?"

Jamie shook her head. "No. I just wanna sleep."

"I can provide, fair maiden, a warm bed."

Her girlfriend paused and then chuckled. "Nerd."

"Oh really? Who filled up her ereader?"

Smiling, Jamie got under the covers and nestled down. "Who built an electrolysis tank?"

Vivian huffed and turned off the light. "Gail loved it. I am the greatest daughter ever."

"You're okay." Jamie yawned. "What do you want for your birthday?"

"A long weekend at the cottage."

There was silence.

Was that too much? They were living together. They'd not said the dreaded three words, but ... no. No, it couldn't be too much. They'd already done the cottage once. This had to be something else.

"You are the cheapest date ever, Peck," muttered Jamie.

"I'm inexpensive, but I'm not cheap," countered Vivian, and Jamie laughed again. "Go to sleep, hose monkey."

"Yeah, yeah, bossy." Jamie wriggled over, kissed Vivian's cheek, and then rolled over to her favorite sleeping position.

With a yawn, so did Vivian, and she was asleep before the familiar snores of her girlfriend rumbled through the night.


There was a feeling of abruptness, that moment when the confusing story in a dream suddenly converted itself into the determined solidity of awareness.

First Holly was running through a field, laughing as the zombie clown chased her. The clown was laughing too, and Holly knew intellectually that she should be scared. Instead, she found it incredibly amusing. But then the sunny field turned purple and black, and the grass became jagged rocks and a cliff. No, this was not a good dream.

Waking herself up from a dream was not always a sure thing. Over the years, though, Holly had learned tricks to kick herself. She repeated her mantra. This was a dream. This was a dream. And then, finally, there was the snap and she was no longer asleep.

Holly opened her eyes and exhaled loudly. Ugh. "That was a shitty dream," she muttered.

Silence.

Odd. Gail usually at least grumbled, even in her sleep.

Stretching, Holly rolled over and frowned. The other side of the bed was blurry, since she wasn't wearing glasses, but it was also empty of a certain blonde.

"Gail?" Holly reached over to touch her wife's half of the bed and found it cold. Rolling further, she reached for the nightstand. Gail's phone was gone, but her tablet was there.

As she pulled on her glasses, Holly reminded herself it was Friday. They had a day off to help prep for John's wedding. Gail had left Pedro Nuñez and Lucinda Trujillo in charge, her rookies, in order to train them. Secretly, though, she had all her own old guard keeping tabs, including Mayhew, but Gail's idea was to see how well they did.

Holly had, instead, dumped most of her work on Rodney. It was a parting gift, she felt, since in six months he'd be the chief medical examiner for the territory, and she would just be for Toronto. Privately (and to Gail) Holly suspected she was the last person who would ever try to tackle both roles at once. It was just too much work.

A day off and, at four in the morning, no Gail in bed. That was not a good sign. Holly got out of bed and pulled on her robe. Whatever had driven her out of bed, Gail had still hung Holly's robe up over the heating vent, like Gail did every winter morning she was up first. That was life with Gail, though. For a woman who had trouble saying the words 'I love you,' Gail showed it every chance she could. Telling Holly to lock a door. Carrying a sleepy child to bed. Driving her mother to her doctor's appointment.

And Holly knew what those moments meant.

She opened the bedroom door and glanced down the hall. The office door was half open and the lights were off. But Vivian's room... the door was open and there was some light. Probably from the outside. Vivian had liked that when they'd toured the house before signing papers. The six year old had been shown the room, told it would be hers, and she immediately decided that extra light was good.

They had, at that point, already discovered her fear of the dark. When had that gone away? It had to be when she was ten or twelve. One day, Holly remembered checking on her daughter and found the room nearly pitch black, lit only by the street.

That was how it was lit that morning. Only now it was a blonde adult sitting in the window seat.

"Hey," said Holly, leaning on the door frame.

"Hey, did I wake you?" Gail turned and straightened up a little.

"Hmm. No, evil clowns. You?"

"Ghosts of Christmas Past." The blonde got up and walked over, hesitating in front of Holly.

Twenty years and it was still endearing, the shyness. Holly smiled and held out one hand. In an instant, Gail was in her arms. As it should be. "Wedding anxiety?"

Gail mumbled a yes against Holly's shoulder. "And I can't let it show tomorrow," she added, introspectively. "John's gotta be calm, and he'll probably have Bethany hanging off his neck all day."

Holly ran her fingers through the back of Gail's hair. It calmed both of them. Pasts always came back to haunt. She didn't have anyone as serious as Gail before, though, realized Holly with a start. Oh she had lovers, and even attempts at cohabitation, but.. Jesus, Vivian had more success than Holly had at that front. Holly just sucked with relationships. "Would you have married Nick?" She asked the question without really thinking.

"Hmm. Yes," said Gail, thoughtfully. "If Mom hadn't stopped us, I would have because that's what you do. You marry the nice boy."

"I thought he was a bad boy."

"Swear to god, the minute we got engaged, he was the nice boy."

Holly made a face. "Am I the nice girl?"

"Yes." This reply was immediate. "The nice girl who picks up broken, mean girls and pets them and tames them."

She couldn't help it, Holly snorted a laugh. "You're not tame. You just know why you're fucked up now."

Gail laughed and let go. "Am I a nice girl, Dr. Stewart?"

Smiling, Holly kissed Gail's nose. "Yes. A nice girl with a dark sense of humor, and the biggest heart I've ever known."

The smile on Gail's face was the heart stopping shy one. The gentle and warm, abashed, smile. "Well hell," muttered Gail. "You know how to make a feel special."

"You know... I was thinking how shitty I was at that with everyone else," admitted Holly. "All the other women —"

Gail interrupted her. "Losers."

"Yes." She laughed. "All the other losers I dated never felt special. They never made me feel special."

"They never imploded your career either."

"Your mother did that and, given how the last twenty odd years have gone, I'm ready to forgive her." Holly smiled and shook her head. "I'd do that to Jamie, you know."

To her surprise, Gail shook her head seriously. "I wouldn't. I was sitting here, thinking about our kid... wondering." Gail turned and gestured.

The room was empty of everything but furniture. Vivian had collected all her books and toys and knicknacks. Except the Star Wars toys. Those and the LEGOs stayed in the closet, ostensibly for future generations, but also because Vivian admitted she worried any potential dates would find it childish.

Holly didn't mind. Her parents had kept her toys in a box for no reason other than they loved her. She could easily do the same. That's what a mother did. A parent. They held on to the kid, they held on to the child, they held on to the memory for them. And in return the kid carried their memory forward.

When Gail didn't continue, Holly asked, "Wondering what?"

Her wife exhaled. "We eloped. Because I'm so fucked up from my family, I can't deal with the idea of being up in front of people, on display. I can't ... I hate weddings because they're so, so fake. I hate a lot of things."

"You don't hate me."

Gail smiled a little. "No. No I don't. But I wonder... All those things are what I was and what I am, and I'm better now, but I'm still all that. And what if I gave that to our kid?"

Ah. Doubt. It always crept back in. Twenty, thirty, forty years, it would always come back to that. "You— we gave her the other stuff too. I mean, look at her. She's living with her girlfriend. Way sooner than we did."

"Hey! I lived when Chris when I was younger!"

"How'd that work out?"

Gail stuck her tongue out. "Fine, until Dov got high on painkillers, confessed his undying love for me and our pale, pale, children, and then told Chris."

Holly smiled. "You and Dov would've had some impressively white children."

And Gail looked amused. "Okay, how come you get all jelly when people hit on me, and yet Dov..."

"He told me he loved you, silly." Holly cupped Gail's face with one hand, rubbing her thumb across her wife's cheek, and grinning at Gail's shocked expression. "Remember when you stopped a radio with your face?"

"Ugh. How could I forget?"

"When you fell asleep on me, on the couch, Dov told me."

Gail scrunched up her face adorably. "When you spent the night?"

"Why I spent the night." Holly kissed Gail softly. "You're someone worth loving. And you give that away to everyone, all the time, and you don't even know how not to." She kissed her again. "And you give that to me and to Viv."

Silent, Gail exhaled and leaned into Holly. "Is that why I always feel so empty?"

Holly nodded. "Mom always said... A fountain keeps nothing for itself."

Gail sighed deeply, from the depths of her heart. But she nodded and didn't argue. The woman was always giving, expecting nothing because for the first part of her life, she received nothing. And she still did it.

Holly sighed as well, resting her forehead against Gail's.

"That's probably why we work so well together," said Gail quietly. "You're the same way. You would give everything for others, just to make the world better."

She would. It was true. "So what are you really wondering about, Gail?" Holly's voice was a whisper.

But Gail shook her head. "Can we go back to bed?"

Holly would rather talk, but she wasn't going to push her wife just then. "Yeah." Rubbing her hands on Gail's upper arms, she smiled. "Lets go back to bed."


Five hours until the biggest moment of John's life, and Gail was highly entertained watching him panic. "This is a huge mistake," he said, covering his face in his hands.

He'd been saying that for a while.

The other groomsmen looked worried and Gail sucked on her straw, downing the somewhat disgusting smoothie Celery had recommended. In her opinion, was alright for John to rant here. Gail, who had eloped, didn't really have a solid point of view for the matter. Her first engagement, to Nick, had been a disaster from start to finish.

How had that happened anyway? Gail had, offhandedly, told various people about it over the years, even Holly, but she'd never really dwelled on the disaster. To this day, Nick still argued it wasn't real since it was in Las Vegas. He was really lucky she didn't nut punch him over that. It was, it had been, real to her. It had been a real ring and a real promise.

And then her mother had chased off Nick, though. Planting the idea in his dim little head that it wasn't real, that it didn't matter. That none of it mattered. He could just go.

Year and years later, Elaine had apologized. It had been some time before Bill died, at one of Gail and Holly's anniversary parties at home. A small one. Holly and Vivian had dozed off on the couch and Elaine had quietly beseeched her daughter for a moment.

The apology started as a confession. Yes, Elaine had done exactly what Gail suspected. She had told Nick it was a foolish idea, suggested the army, and that was all it took. But she'd done it because she knew Gail didn't want to marry the idiot. Which was true. And there was no way Bill would let her out of it. Also true.

Gail was, Elaine thought, better than a marriage to a simple man who needed the uniform. Funny how Elaine spotted that in Nick years ago. But she knew Gail could be so much more. Hate the name Peck all she wanted, Gail had gifts and talents and they would have been wasted on Nick.

And above all... Elaine knew Nick didn't matter.

Not like Holly did.

"She matters to you," said Gail softly, repeating her mother's words.

John froze and stared at her. "What?"

"You think of her all the time. And that's your problem. You always thought that because you never said goodbye to Bethany that you never stopped loving her. But now... now you know that you will always love her. Forever. And now you worry that you won't be able to give Janet everything because of that."

Her friend and partner exhaled deeply. "Jesus. Yeah."

Gail nodded, walked over, and cuffed John in the back of the head. Hard. "Moron. Janet knows. She loves you because of that, you shit head. Not in spite of."

"Ow!"

"The only mistake is you backing out. Now put on your pants and let's go."

John looked down. He was still in his jeans. "No offense, Gail..."

"Yeah, I don't do the boys and you know that." But she rolled her eyes and stepped out, smirking.

It was probably for the best that she'd eloped, now that Gail thought about the whole thing. The patience it took for a show like a wedding was beyond her. Maybe Vivian would be fine with something like that, Holly would have, but. But. Holly knew Gail. And Holly loved Gail, which meant the mental stability of Gail was just as important as anything else.

And Gail hated marriage.

Weddings.

It was a technicality.

Gail sighed and tapped her watch, sending a heart to Holly.

Her wife replied with a full blown text.

If John is half as neurotic as Janet, god help you.

Gail grinned. Yeah. She looked down the hall and was surprised to see her wife, scowling and tapping on her phone. Holly was fully dressed, her hair was back, her makeup was on. So were her contacts, sadly, but it was Janet's wedding, not Gail's. "Hey, Dr. Sexy."

Holly jumped. "Gail! Why aren't you dressed!"

"I will be. Boy stuff is super easy to get into." Gail tossed her smoothie remains and ambled down the hall. "I told him to elope."

Rolling her eyes, Holly tucked her phone away into a fold of her sari. "If you screw up my outfit, I'll sic Janet's mom on you."

Tacit approval for hugs was given. Gail carefully set her hands on Holly's waist and tugged her close. "Wouldn't dare. On pain of pissing off Herr Peck."

Holly rolled her eyes and kissed Gail softly. "She's trying to convince herself he's only doing this so she'll think he loves her more than Bethany."

"Oh Jesus." Gail grimaced and put her head on Holly's shoulder. "I'm going to tell Viv to elope. Is that okay?"

"Oh. No." Holly's voice was soft and wistful. "She'd look so nice in a suit—"

"They'd both wear suits. I mean come on, Jamie in a dress?"

Holly snorted a laugh. "Their uniforms. They could do that. And then we can run off and hide until they get us grandbabies on their honeymoon."

"Pretty sure that's not how it works."

"Hey. Who's the doctor here? Hmm?" Holly laughed again and kissed Gail's forehead before shoving her away lightly. "Go get dressed. I want to see you all sleek and sexy."

Gail sighed dramatically. "There aren't any coat closets. It's December."

"They're using the spare room down the hall for coats. However..." Holly glanced down the hall. "Vivian was setting up a video game system for the kids."

"Kids meaning her," grumbled Gail.

"I saw Mario Kart, so probably you too." Slapping Gail's butt, Holly ushered her off. "Go change."

"We can't make out if there are kids in there," shouted Gail as she went back to the groom's rooms.

"I'll make out with you anywhere, Peck!" Holly laughed and went back to her own suite.

Muttering about promises, Gail knocked on the door. "John, are your pants on?"

One of the other groomsmen opened the door. Cody. He'd been John's partner for five years before Gail, before major crimes. "Seriously? You ain't seen him in his shorts before?"

"Seriously, Cody? Ain't?" Gail snorted and walked in. "Lesbian. Don't wanna see my minion's grey tighty whities."

"It's a thong, same as you," replied John. "Changing room is all yours."

Gail flipped him off. "Done having your freakout?"

"More or less."

Cody spoke up. "I threatened him."

She listened to the men tease each other and harass them about their spouses and partners. For a change, it was nice to hear they all loved their other halves. Gail distinctly remembered a time when it was en vogue to bash on ones spouse. She never understood that concept.

There was a woman, a beautiful, brilliant, kind, caring, wonderful woman who reached out and picked up a broken, screwed up cop and loved her. There was a woman who fixed Gail's hair and heart and soul. There was a woman who touched her soul, made her laugh, made her care again.

Why would anyone insult someone who was all of those things, and more, to them?

Maybe they'd just all married the wrong people.

Well. Today was a day to make sure John married the right person. Everything else could wait.


"Names?"

"Vivian Peck. And plus one." She smirked as she said it. It was impossible not to, if she was her mothers' daughter.

"Nerd," muttered Jamie. "Jamie McGann, the plus one."

The man checking their names nodded. "Groom's colors. Left side when you walk in."

Jamie took Vivian's hand as they walked to the brightly colored room. "How come Holly's on the bride's side?"

"Apparently Janet's bridesmaids can't dance." Vivian shrugged and spotted a couple cops she recognized. Both retired. "And John hasn't got any proper family left, so we have to fill his side out."

"Hey, I'm just here for the food." Jamie grinned. "A professional cook's wedding has gotta be aces."

Vivian laughed. "This is why Gail likes you. You appreciate good food."

"I'd leave you for your mom's cooking," Jamie said, mock-seriously.

Vivian just rolled her eyes. They found empty seats and settled in. "You're a pain in my ass, Jamie."

Her girlfriend grinned and kissed Vivian softly. "I try."

"Oh god," said a too familiar voice behind them. "Bad enough I sat behind your mothers at McIdiot's wedding. Now this?"

"Hi, Frankie," said Vivian, turning to smile at the woman. She and John had, at one point, worked in the same department. Of course she knew him, and not just through Gail.

Jamie looked confused. "Does John have any straight friends?"

Affronted, Frankie pointed at Jamie. "How does she know?"

It took Vivian a moment to figure out what she was being accused of. "Mac, probably." When Frankie looked bewildered, Vivian gestured at her girlfriend. "Firefighter. EMT. Women? They probably share a dorm section."

"Dorm... section- wait, this is your firefighter girlfriend?" Frankie perked up. "I saw you at a fire."

"Most people do," replied Jamie, holding out a hand. "And actually you just ping the hell out of my gaydar. Jamie McGann."

"Frankie Anderson." She shook Jamie's hand and then backhanded Vivian's arm. "You don't tell her everything?"

Vivian rubbed her shoulder. "About you? God, why would I?"

"Hey, at least you're still dating." Frankie shrugged. "I figured you woulda imploded like your moms at least once."

"Charming," said Jamie, dryly. "Are all old ladies like this?"

Again, Frankie was affronted. "Old!?"

With a smirk, Jamie nodded. "Sure, if you're dating Mac. I mean, she's the momma bear of the station, so you've gotta be at least, what, Gail's age?"

"I like her," announced Rachel, taking a seat on Vivian's other side. "Hi, kid."

"Hi, Aunt Rachel." Vivian smiled and allowed her mother's best friend to hug her. "Becky skipped out?"

"Oh please, no. Becky is studying for midterms. She wants to go abroad next semester." Then she flicked a glance at Jamie, inquiringly.

Vivian gestured to Jamie. "Jamie, this is Holly's bestie from college, Rachel. Her kid is Rebecca, Becky. Rach, you know Frankie."

Rachel grinned. "I do. You flying single again, Frankie?"

"My girlfriend is late." The way Frankie said the word, it was clearly still novel.

"Oh wow. Good thing Lisa's not coming."

Jamie elbowed Vivian. "Tl;dr version?"

"Frankie and Aunt Lisa used to date. Rachel and BT and Holly went to school together. Frankie hit on both my moms. Rachel and John were dating when I met them. Uh... Oh, and none of them have dated Mac except Frankie."

"Oddly specific," muttered Rachel.

"Do you have to tell everyone I dated Lisa?" Frankie complained.

"Why is she "BT" and not Lisa?" Jamie looked more perplexed.

"Stands for Bitch Tits." Rachel looked chagrined and amused. "The misadventures of Dr. Bitch Tits, Plastic Surgeon to Canada's rich and famous, are a beauty to behold. Stick around, you'll find out."

The way Rachel said to stick around sounded ominous, but when Vivian dared look at her girlfriend, she startled. Jamie was grinning. The firefighter took her hand, lacing their fingers together. "This crazy ass family gets more fun every time I meet someone."

"You say that now," said Frankie, darkly. "Wait'll you meet Lisa."


The dancing was over. The vows were exchanged. Someone in the crowd shouted a mazel tov. And finally Holly's work was done. Her first and probably only turn as a bridesmaid had ended with nothing more embarrassing than Kashvi's slip and fall near the end. And, Holly had to admit, the dancing was fun. Especially when Gail hooted and cheered. Because Gail.

But now Gail had fetched them drinks and they found a couch to sit on and imbibe. Well. Eat. Gail had loaded a plate with some incredibly amazing food, insisting that Holly stock up on carbs and protein and that weird cheese thing that Gail thought was tofu at first.

"This," said Gail with a happy sigh. "This is good."

"Your one true love is food," joked Holly.

"I mean it! Free booze, good food, hot wife. What else do I need?"

Holly glanced over at the dance floor, where an incredibly awkward Vivian was being led by a happy and tolerant Jamie. "Public embarrassment of children?" She pointed and Gail followed the direction.

"Oh my god." Gail burst out in a giggle. "How the fuck can our child not dance?"

"I heard she was adopted," Holly said in her best deadpan. That just made Gail laugh harder, though. Holly beamed and leaned into Gail, looping the pale arm through her own and hugging it close. "So, this wasn't so bad."

"As far as weddings go, no," agreed Gail. She smiled and squeezed Holly's arm. "Only one more I ever want to go to, though."

That was a comment Gail had made before. There were three weddings she wanted to go to. Oliver's, John's, and Vivian's.

Holly hummed and looked at her daughter again. The song was now a slow one, and Jamie had clearly resorted to the hug method of dancing. Taller Vivian had Jamie's head tucked up under her chin, arms wrapped around her, and they were swaying. Holly couldn't see Jamie's face, or much of Vivian's for that matter, but there was a shy smile on the young officer's face.

Happy.

So that was what content and happy looked like on Vivian. Holly had often wondered if Vivian's self restraint would keep her from being really happy. Even asleep as a child, she'd seemed to be holding things back. There was always a reason for Vivian to be doubtful and withdrawn. Letting herself surrender to ... well to pleasure was a thing Vivian did poorly.

And the firefighter seemed to do well drawing Vivian out and into a place where there were more smiles.

Much like Holly did with Gail. It was never the taming of the shrew, as some half-wit at the Penny said once (Donovan Boyd? Someone McNally had hated). No, there was no taming. There was simply seeing there had to be more behind that little wall, that shield people who were constantly hurt used to protect themselves, and there was nothing more than caring for them. Holly had seen, in that first moment with Gail in the woods one rainy day, a beautiful woman with a dark sense of humor and a no-nonsense attitude.

What had Jamie seen? As Vivian told it, they'd met at the park, running, while Vivian was helping Lara train for the departmental 5K. Jamie had teased them, then again at a club a few weeks later, and finally slipped Vivian digits at a crime scene. But what was it that made her approach the taciturn officer? Vivian was not approachable to most people.

"What's Vivian's nickname at the station? The bad one."

"Ice Princess." Gail put her head against Holly's. "They look happy."

"I think they are." She paused a long time. "God it's annoying, isn't it?"

Gail rumbled a low laugh. "Everyone's so happy. Smiling."

"But they're not fake."

"No, no they're not."

Holly smiled and closed her eyes. "How long do we have to stay?"

"Until the newlyweds ditch," said Gail softly.

"So. The dessert? Damn. That's like two more hours!"

"Oh, Stewart. How long've we been married?" The bright laughter bubbled up again. "Have you seen the dessert? Oh my god, I'll leave you before I skip that gloriously sinful Bita baked delectable."

Yes. Well. Gail would never leave before dessert. Holly grinned and couldn't help it. She laughed too.

"Why are they laughing?" Jamie's amused voice cut in.

Predictably, Vivian explained. "They hate weddings. Too many fake happy people."

To Holly's surprise, this seemed to make sense to Jamie. "Oh, sure. I get that."

Holly looked up and saw the two girls holding hands. "Jamie, how many people have asked you two how serious you are?"

That made Jamie startle. "You're asking me?"

"Vivian," said Gail firmly, "would lie."

Jamie eyed Vivian who just shrugged in her self-contained way. "Six little old ladies and some guy named Cody."

"John's partner, before me," explained Gail. "Figures. Cody's a misogynist."

"He used to be worse." Holly distinctly remembered his worse. "He got really dicky when I turned him down."

Gail started. "What? When was that!?"

"Before I met you, honey," Holly soothed and kissed Gail's cheek. "John thought it was amusing."

"How can you tell?" Jamie huffed. "He's as bad as Viv for the whole keeping things inside."

Vivian looked a little stricken. "I'm sorry."

Jamie rolled her eyes. "Oh my god, you are such a cat, Vivian."

Both Holly and Gail froze. "Monkey child," said Gail slowly. "Did you tell her?"

"No," said Vivian, blushing. "She called me that after I asked her if she ever actually rescued a cat up a tree."

"And have you, Hose Monkey?"

There was an exasperated sigh from the firefighter. "Why do I let her get away with it?" She gestured at Gail.

"We all ask ourselves that, Jamie." Holly squeezed the arm again. "She's insulting, annoying, infuriating... She mocks everything and she loathes everyone. Gail is rude and plays pranks on people all the time, including me." She paused and studied Gail's indignant expression. "And she is the sweetest, more caring person I've ever met. And I love all those things about her."

The look on Gail's face faded into endearing and abashed. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." Holly leaned in, meeting Gail partway and finding those soft lips. "I do."

"Ugh, you're worse than FrankenMac," muttered Vivian. "They've been sucking face all day."

"Nice portmanteau, kid. McNally come up with one for you two?" Gail grinned.

"Not yet, no. I think my threat of telling everyone about her as a hooker worked." Vivian looked far too pleased with herself for that one.

"How would that even work? McPeck would make everyone think of Gail and Andy," mused Holly. "Pecgann sounds horrible. Jamian? Vive? Wait, Jamie, what's your middle name."

"Don't have one," admitted Jamie.

Holly eyed Vivian. "Really?"

"Her first name is Jamie Lynn, two words. No hyphen." When Jamie slapped her arm, Vivian complained. "I can't lie to Holly!"

Gail huffed. "I don't like the implication there, junior."

Vivian flipped her mother off. "Just go make out, Moms. The dessert'll be out soon and we can all bail."

"I want another one of those spicy things," said Jamie, tugging Vivian's hand. "Come on, Peck. Feed me."

The girls headed back over to the buffet and Gail laughed. "They're adorable."

"They really are." Holly kissed Gail again. "Come on, lets go find someplace to make out until dessert shows up."

"You are singing my song, Stewart. I spy an unmonitored bottle of champagne." Gail got up and laced her fingers through Holly's, headed right to the bar.

Some things never changed.


The best things in life didn't change.

Gail smiled easily into the dimly lit room, watching Holly hang up her sari carefully. "You get to keep that, right?"

"I do." Holly, clad only in her bra and panties, glanced at Gail. "Why are you still in clothes?"

"I was enjoying the show."

Holly rolled her eyes. "How drunk are you, idiot?"

"Not at all. All I had was that flute." Gail leaned back on the bed. "Are you implying I only ogle you when drunk? Cause that won't hold up in court."

"You're more likely to do it when drunk. Also I'm wondering how far I can go with you tonight." Holly leered just a little bit and then laughed, spoiling her tone.

"Oh baby, you can go all the way with me," replied Gail, smirking.

Holly laughed more. "How do you always make that sound so dirty, Gail Peck?"

"Practice pissing off my parents." She did, however, get up. "Think the kids are still there?"

"Its nine, honey. Probably." Holly tossed her underthings in the basket. "God my calves are sore."

"Need a massage?"

"No, just a hot shower."

"Arright, cause that other thing ain't gonna help sore muscles," Gail said with her best drawl.

Her wife snorted, most unbecomingly. "Don't do that. You sound like Swarek."

"Oh, ew!" Gail gagged. "You're disgusting!"

"I'm disgusting? You're doing the imitations!" Holly laughed and went to shower.

Gail wriggled out of her clothes and tossed them in the basket. Holly's duds were the super fancy ones, the ones that needed cleaning on gentle cycles and hand washing. For the boys, John had insisted on wash and wear. Men were idiots, he pointed out. That was true, and it meant Gail could take advantage of it and dump her clothes.

But she didn't want to think about John or any of the boys just then.

No, Gail had a beautiful woman who had married her. A woman with dusky, Spanish skin and luxurious brown hair, and eyes... Everyone always said that eyes were the window to the soul. Well. Andy said that. Gail remembered the conversation. Traci said it was boobs. Gail liked lips. At least until she'd started dating Holly.

Dating women, dating Holly taught her that Gail loved so much about the female form. The curves, the breasts, the lips, the ass... and yes, stupid McGirl Guide, the eyes. Brown eyes were beautiful in a surprising way. They were warm and soothing and welcoming. God how she loved those eyes.

It wasn't the soul Gail saw in those brown eyes. No, it was everything. The universe. It lived in Holly's eyes and smile and laugh. Her eyes were the window to the meaning of it all. The first time Gail had really looked into them had been the bathroom following the hair massacre. But before that, Gail remembered looking at Holly in the interrogation room.

That day, Holly had dragged her into a room, glared at her until Gail explained what had happened, and had been babbling when it all clicked. Gail had already been dating Holly all this time. Gail had already fallen for the woman. Holly was already the most important person in her world, and Gail had no idea how that was supposed to feel.

For the first time, someone not only worried about her, but they told her. They showed her. And all the fuck ups after, even then, Holly chose Gail. Gail was her first choice.

"You coming in, goofball?" Holly held the shower door open.

"Yeah. Yeah, I was thinking about how much I love you."

Holly's jovial expression softened. "Gail," she whispered.

Gail smiled and leaned in to kiss Holly. "I love your smile. And your eyes. And your heart." Her wife grinned, the eyes closed. "And your lips and ass. And boobs. Oh my god, your boobs."

The brown eyes squinted at her. "My ass and my boobs," Holly said, deadpan.

"Yeah. So, so wonderful, Holly." Gail gestured in the air, making a curvy shape. "The way they ... mmmm."

Holly's beautiful brown eyes narrowed just a little. "Seriously? You're ruining your romantic moment with talking about my ass?"

"Tits and ass, thank you," corrected Gail. "I never realized how amazing they were, in general, until I was touching yours. Talk about a religious experience."

Her wife grimaced and gently shoved Gail out of the way. "Go shower, you asshole. I'm going to bed."

Maybe when she was Vivian's age, Gail might have worried that Holly was actually annoyed with her. But today, now, with decades of jokes and humor under their belt, Gail knew that when she got out of the shower and back to the bed, Holly would be waiting for her. Maybe in a robe, maybe not, but definitely there, watching the bathroom door, waiting for her wife to come to bed. To come to Holly.

And Gail would. Gail always would.

The best things in life didn't change much. If a person had love, had family, had home, then they could survive anything. And Gail had all those things. And she wanted the heart of those things, her wonderful wife, to know it.

So Gail took the time to shave her legs, trim her toenails, buff her fingernails, and primp and preen just a little. To show Holly that Gail love her. To show Holly that she deserved love, beauty, and everything else.


"That wasn't so bad," murmured Jamie, somewhat draped over Vivian, breathing noticeably hard.

Jamie's skin was a little sticky with sweat, her hair plastered to her forehead. The sheets were an absolute mess, the comforter was half on the ground, and Vivian really felt like her girlfriend had made the biggest understatement of the century.

"Uh, that was awesome." Vivian corrected, reaching up to brush Jamie's hair back. "We should totally do that again." Her muscles ached in that most delicious of ways, after all.

Her girlfriend slapped her arm lightly. "I meant the wedding."

"Oh, okay, yeah that was okay."

"The sex was awesome, though." Jamie grinned and pushed herself up a little. "Really awesome." She leaned her head in and kissed Vivian slowly before lying back down on her. "Really awesome."

"You said that already." Tucking her hands under her head, Vivian smiled up at the ceiling.

It had been really awesome. Their clothes were scattered around a little, and Vivian again remembered with chagrin the teasing she'd given her moms about being all hot to trot after going out. But god, it was so, so true. There was just something about going out on a fancy dress date that made one appreciative of one's partner. And letting Matty fit them for the event? Killer move. They'd both looked amazing.

Of course, Jamie looked amazing in and out of clothes. More amazing out of them. She was a girl made of muscle and tone. Not in the sharp, angular way, but the powerful, rippling way. Vivian absolutely reveled in those strong arms and legs. The hands. The way they all worked together. The way Jamie could hold her on that edge of everything and then...

Vivian grinned. Smugness may not be endearing, and the cockiness could be annoying, but damn, sex was good. Sex with Jamie was great. Still more aggressive than Vivian had known she liked, but oh yes, she liked it very much. It was a strange sort of safe sensation, at odds with the brashness and unapologetically feisty way Jamie was in bed. Brash. She knew what she wanted, she went for it, and damn she was good at it.

Jamie didn't say anything for a while. Instead she just lay there with her head on Vivian's chest. Finally she asked, her voice already belying her sleepiness, "Is this okay?"

"You on me? Yeah. Yeah, this is okay." Vivian freed one arm and carefully draped it over Jamie's waist. "I like this."

It had been a slow progression, but Vivian did like cuddling. Kind of. She liked it after sex quite a bit. There was something about the lingering connection between them that Vivian was loathe to give up quickly. Feeling Jamie's skin on hers was glorious. It was smooth and she had those amazing muscles. God, those muscles.

The muscles moved a little across Vivian then. "Why don't you like weddings?" Jamie's fingers were carefully taking measure of Vivian's collar bone and shoulder.

"Too many people." Vivian closed her eyes and reveled in the sensation of being touched like that. It was still new to her. The in bed touching that was and wasn't sexual.

"That makes sense," agreed Jamie. And then. "Not to send you up a tree, Viv. But. Um. Do you ever think about it?"

Huh. Vivian blinked a few times and squinted down at the dark head on her chest. "About marriage?"

Jamie nodded a little. "Yeah."

"Uh." Vivian frowned. "Not really. I mean... I ... " She paused. Was this a trap? Like being asked if pants made someone's butt look big. Was it a question with only one right answer and Vivian couldn't see it? Vivian felt her heart rate pick up.

Her girlfriend reached up and touched Vivian's chin. "Hey. Come back." She was so soothing, Jamie was. "This is not a leading question like I think we should get married. I was just thinking about it, since all those old ladies asked."

Vivian took a deep breath, willing herself to calm a little. "Kinda surprised me."

Jamie sighed. "Sorry." She squeezed Vivian and then started to move away.

Because Vivian always wanted a little space to talk about things.

But she didn't. Vivian tightened her arm around Jamie's waist for a second, halting her girlfriend's movement. "Do you?"

Hesitating a moment, Jamie finally replied, "No. Not really. Not often."

So they were kind of on the same page. "Kids?" Vivian felt Jamie's scowl. For similar, but totally different reasons, Jamie too feared the ticking time bombs of her genetics. They'd talked around it before, half joking, mostly about the number of children. "I always figured I'd adopt," she said slowly.

And Jamie relaxed. "That. Yeah. That wouldn't suck."

"No, it wouldn't."

They lapsed into a comfortable silence. Their breathing evened out and fell into sync. Things slowly slid near that comfortable, calming haze. The weight of the world around them faded, and it was just two women. In bed. Breathing.

"Hey," said Jamie softly. "I'm falling asleep."

"That's okay," Vivian said sincerely. She stroked Jamie's spine softly and got a happy sigh in response.

As Vivian continued to caress her, Jamie's body relaxed more and lost the tenseness of being awake. It became heavier and nearly liquid, languidly spreading her weight across Vivian.

"When I wake up," mumbled Jamie, her words slurring together. "We can do that again."

"Okay," repeated Vivian. "Go to sleep, Jamie."

Jamie made a noise and in short order was breathing deeply, slowly, and steadily.

Given enough time, nearly no time at all, Jamie would ooze off, roll away and snuggle up with her pillow on the other side of the bed. She always did that. Sometimes when Vivian woke up at night, Jamie was leaning up against her, almost cuddling but not really. But always, at the start, Jamie would give her space.

More than once, she'd tried to explain the whole haze thing, where having people up in her personal space was okay. It was a feeling like the weight of the world settled on just the two of them, and everything was fine. The feeling was rare and still novel, usually found in the glorious half asleep state before alarms went off and life moved at its usual hectic pace.

Instead, though, Vivian usually felt smothered. Trapped. Even blankets felt like they were trapping her sometimes. And as much as Jamie teased her about hating sleeves, the real truth was that once Vivian had matured and built muscle mass, sleeves were too tight much of the time.

As usual, as soon as Jamie fell into the deeper throes of sleep, she slid away from Vivian. And maybe that was why Vivian didn't mind it so much. Unconsciously, Jamie knew Vivian needed the physical space, and that it didn't mean there wasn't emotional nearness or closeness. It's that the two were not, for Vivian at least, synonymous.

Once freed, Vivian carefully pulled the comforter up and shifted around until she had her feet sticking out into the cool air. Cold air. It was nearly Christmas. Their second together. Huh. They should probably do something. The McGanns didn't do much for Christmas, but Vivian felt like she ought to send them something.

Vivian pulled her pillow in, hugging it and looked at her sleeping girlfriend, pondering what would be an alright present for her girlfriend's parents. Instead, she got distracted by how her girlfriend looked, naked, in her— their sheets. Jamie's hair had already grown back, nearly to the chin. Meanwhile, Vivian had succumbed to familial pressure and gotten hers cut shorter again. And thinned out. It was pretty much a necessity for hair as thick as hers.

Long or short, Jamie knew how to wear her hair well. Or perhaps she was just, like Gail, naturally prone to good hair. Holly had looked uncomfortable and unhappy when her hair was chin length. That might have been due to the circumstances of course. No one really liked having their own hair on fire.

Beside her, Jamie sighed and smiled in her sleep. The sheet was pulled up right to her front, the quilt from Lily draped over both of them. It was a good day. A good feeling. A nice conclusion to everything.

Vivian closed her eyes and smiled.


"Hey boss, how was the wedding?"

Holly narrowed her eyes at the woman sitting on her office sofa, surprising her. "Wanda, not that you aren't one of my favorites, but why are you in my office already?"

"That bad?"

"Wanda." Holly put her bag down and hung up her coat.

Her erstwhile medical examiner stared at her own hands. "I got a job offer. In San Francisco."

It took all of Holly's self control not to burst out with a laugh then and there. Of course Wanda couldn't know the sordid story of Holly's experience with those things. No, instead this was just a cherished employee looking to her boss and mentor about the possibility of a different future. It was just damned funny to Holly. Especially because she'd sat in the same position, in the same office in fact, to talk to her boss about the same decision. Only she was heartbroken at the time.

"Okay." She closed her office door and fought the smile off her face. "Dr. Archer has a phenomenal lab."

Wanda looked up, startled. "How did you know?"

"They offered me his predecessor's job. A million years ago. We keep in touch." Instead of sitting at her desk, Holly sat beside Wanda on the couch. "You're not too old for this, if you want it."

The other woman looked glum. "I know. But the lab's already going through so much. A new Medical Director. A new Assistant Chief. You stepping down from the province—" Wanda cut herself off.

"Oh that's not a secret, Wanda. I'll be done with that by summer."

Wanda exhaled, nervously. "It just wasn't public."

"I'm waiting for Rodney to sign the last papers. We start turnover in February. Poor boy. He thinks the summer will be enough time to settle in before school starts." Gail had grinned maliciously when the plan was explained. Of course, Gail did most things maliciously. Or at least seemingly so. "And the lab will survive your departure, Wanda. This is something bigger than ourselves. The surest sign we've done our jobs well is the fact that they endure without us."

Her friend looked uncertain. "Why didn't you take the job?"

"Oh my." Holly leaned back and looked over towards Fifteen. "Well. A bizarre set of circumstances. I actually did take the job, but there was an issue with my Visa. I ended up stuck here." She shrugged. "All told, I don't regret the way it all played out, but I did at the time."

"You mean Gail?"

"All of it. I don't know that I would have found quite the success that I did here, career wise." Holly shrugged. "I am the youngest chief ME of the city and province, ever, so I can't really be upset. Maybe I would have written more stunning papers, been able to present sooner. But ... I ran my race on both legs, Wanda. I'm still running it now. The maybes are just that. Maybes."

The younger doctor sighed loudly. "It's easier from the other end."

"You're rather at a middle," offered Holly.

"What would you do?"

"Hm. That depends. If you stay here, you've reached your self-defined pinnacle. You don't want management, so this is the position you will remain in until you leave, or someone shoots you for flirting." They both grinned. "But. Is that bad? It gives you a lot of freedom to experiment and write and certainly if it's more lab work, or innovation, we can work out a way for you to work with some local lab to create new things. Like the spider silk screws? There's room for both."

Wanda leaned back on the couch. "You'd do that for me?"

"I'd do that for anyone here, Wanda. It's about what you want."

Biting her lip, Wanda asked a different question. "How do you have it all?"

Ah. That. "You don't." Holly shook her head. "Everything has a cost, a price to pay. A trade off. I'm reasonably famous, well respected, and I've done almost everything I wanted to in life. I have one child. I could have had more. But I wanted my career." Also Vivian would have done poorly with siblings, given her fears, but that didn't matter to this conversation. "I made choices. I don't regret any of them at this point, which is basically the definition of happiness, I suppose."

"No regrets huh."

"Maybe the drunk dialing of an ex here and there."

Wanda laughed. "God. That always works out well."

"You're one up on me," offered Holly. "I sat there, y'know. Trying to make the same choice."

That sobered Wanda a little. "Why did you pick the other job?"

"Oh. Remember I was ten years younger than you are, Wanda." Holly sighed. "A lot of reasons. Money. Fear. Getting away from a broken heart."

"You weren't dating Gail?" Wanda looked perplexed. "Sorry, I have this mental image that you two were always..."

"We were inevitable, I think. But no, we had broken up at the time."

"Hence the broken heart."

"Hence the broken heart." Holly nodded. "I think, if Gail and I had been together, my decision would have been vastly different. But maybe not. It's those maybes again, you know." When Wanda just nodded, Holly asked. "How much did they offer you?"

"Not that much more."

So it was the work. Interesting. "Which lab?"

"Archer's, but the head of the R&D for image scanning."

"You'd hate being a head," Holly said sincerely.

Wanda smiled sadly. "I would."

"I think, Dr. Ury, that's your answer. You need to work for a think tank."

"Hah. Can you do that here, Dr. Stewart?"

Holly tapped her lower lip. "No." She didn't have that much power. But... "When did you get all hyped on image scanning?"

"The head bashers. When you were reconstructing the bones, I was thinking we needed something better than exhumation. What if we had better ground penetrating scanners?"

"God knows the army would love that too." Oh. The universe was an amazing place. Holly realized that the possibilities were endless and the threads that connected them all were intricate. "Wanda. Do you know what Col. Mills works on?"

Wanda looked blank. "Mills?"

"He's one of the heads of R&D for the military. And his daughter was a victim of the head basher case." Holly smiled. "I suspect a joint effort of our labs, improving ground penetrating radar, would be right up his alley. And the courts would love it, since exhumation orders are such a nightmare. God and the CDC..." Holly got up and opened her door. "Ruth, great. Come here. I need you to help Wanda write a proposal."

Her secretary looked perplexed but came in, tablet in hand. "For what?"

"A joint effort of our lab, the military, the CDC, and the Mounties. To improve image scanning, retrieval, and processing."

Wanda raised a hand. "Uh. So I'm not taking the job?"

"You tell me, Wanda. Can Archer offer you something better than a chance to change the world?"

As Wanda bit her lip, Holly knew the answer.

Dr. Wanda Ury would be sticking around for a while to come. And she would be infamous before the decade was over, if Holly had anything to say about it.


Vivian pulled on her uniform shirt and frowned. "I feel so weird in blue now."

"I miss having your locker right here." Lara sat down on the bench beside Vivian's new locker. "You, me, Jenny, all in a row. Now we have no one between us and I'm terrified we'll get some weird rookies."

"Oh, no doubt we will eventually." Vivian grinned and buttoned her shirt up. "When do you get out of your uniform?"

"She asks as she gets back into hers."

Vivian flipped Lara off. "It's a different reason. This is my normal uniform. You, however, are supposed to be putting on a suit."

"Soon. Any day now, I get a gold badge and a suit. Plus your mom likes me."

That was true. Gail had found Lara to be 'not stupid' after the bomb at Safary's and tapped her for a minor homicide case. A simple case of a John Doe found dead in a walk in freezer. Within a week, Lara had a confession and video evidence. "You're not bad, but don't get a swelled head."

"Yeah I heard this scary thing about your mom."

"Just one?"

Lara kicked her leg. "Zettle said that Peck— Inspector Peck felt the best reward for a job well done is another job."

Rubbing her shin, Vivian nodded. "True. She got that from Holly's dad, though."

"I haven't had a second job yet."

"You will. It's winter. Homicides should start piling up."

"Well. That's fucking cheerful. Did you guys sit around the dinner table, talking about what crimes were more prevalent when and where?"

Vivian kicked her locker closed and settled her belt. "Only when we went to Elaine's." Early on, Holly had kiboshed shop talk at dinner. Even after all three of them were working, the only times they'd talked work was when celebrating a win.

That meant when Vivian got her props for defusing the bomb, the family dinner had involved more details than were publicly known. Jamie had been rather shocked to find the cavalier way they discussed crime and the drama of the world.

"I can see that." Lara hopped up and pointed at the box. "Was McNally serious about the donuts?"

"Not sure," admitted Vivian, picking up the box. "But I'm not taking chances. She'd just harass me at Mom's birthday."

"Uh, wasn't that last month?"

"I have two moms, moron."

They laughed as they walked into the hall.

"Hey! My bestie!" Rich threw his arms up as if to hug her.

"Do it and lose 'em, Richard," warned Vivian.

"You're no fun." He pouted. "I barely see you anymore. It's lonely without my favorite ice princess around."

Vivian rolled her eyes. "That love only goes one way, Rich."

"She's no fun," Rich said to Lara. "Is the whole living with her boo sitch not working out?" Then he turned to Vivian. "How goes cohabitation?"

"Fine," demurred Vivian. Both Lara and Rich shared a look. "Oh come on." Vivian walked into Parade and put the donuts down on the podium. "I am not blabbing to either of you about my personal life."

Lara snorted and took a seat in back. "You will blab to me, sooner or later. Oh! Later! Penny?"

"Sure." Vivian took a seat by Lara.

"And your girl?"

"Working." Vivian eyed the donut box. She really wanted a donut.

Before the others could get into ragging on her, Andy strode in with Gail beside her. "Excellent! My punctual Peck actually does what she's told. Why don't you?"

"I don't work for you," said Gail, going to the box of donuts. "Seriously? You bought six old fashioned?"

"And six regular," Vivian complained. "Picky picky."

The assorted police officers laughed.

"Alright, settle down, folks. Winter break has finally started," announced Andy. "Not so busy for our wall climbing friends, so we get them gracing our presence off and on while they fill out their court cases."

Vivian only half listened to Andy detail out the rest of the day's notes. It didn't really matter to her. She was just here to do paperwork on a court case, review other cases with other departments, and generally it was a lazy day for her. Definitely when compared to her normal work.

And no one wanted the old fashioned donuts, which meant she had her favorite to herself while pushing paper.

It was nice. A change. A dip back into the old normal. A day without surprises or shocks.

What was surprising was how boring the Penny was. Vivian had worked weird hours for so long, and not been able to drink while on call anyway, that she wasn't used to the way they all were. She was out of step with the norm. That was, actually, pretty normal for her.

"Okay, this is back to rookie Vivian," announced Jenny as she sat at the table. "You are all up in your head."

Vivian snorted and sipped her beer. "I like it up in my head," she pointed out.

"Does Jamie?"

Unbidden, Vivian blushed. "Yes, she does."

Lara cackled and threw her arms around Vivian. "You're so cute. You totally like her."

"Please stop hugging me." It really wasn't comfortable, and it was hard to explain to people why. Normally Lara didn't, but she was just tipsy enough to be cuddly and to forget that Vivian had not-normal human boundaries.

Jenny, far less drunk, pulled Lara off. "Okay, lush. You're just happy you're doing well as a suitless D."

"I'm happy one of us is getting laid on the regular. Besides Rich." There was a collective pause as they all winced at that image. But then Lara leaned in to Vivian. "You are getting laid, right?"

Vivian pushed Lara's head away. "Yes, yes I am. Jenny, can you take her home? She'd fall off my bike."

"Yeah, I got her." Jenny smirked. "Help me roll her to the car?"

Really, Vivian could have carried Lara on her own, but she did help dump the drunk baby detective into the back of Jenny's car. "What happened with her latest boy?" Vivian only had a half awareness of the guy Lara had been seeing over summer and autumn. Then again, her year had been pretty fucked up.

"Uriah? They broke up over politics. He's a hard core hippie."

"Ouch. That can be awkward if you can't work it out."

"Can? This sounds like the voice of experience. Is Jamie a communist?"

Vivian laughed. "No, but Holly's practically a socialist."

The words sorted themselves out in Jenny's head. "Wait, you mean Gail's a right winger?"

Admittedly, the realization that her impish, blonde mother was quite a bit more right than left had surprised Vivian at nineteen. But now, in her mid-twenties, it made sense. Gail came from a privileged background. She grew up well off, with a lot more freedom than most, but also well aware of the dangers of her world. Gail saw death. She heard final calls. She knew the prices paid for freedom.

That did make Gail far more fiscally and politically conservative than Holly. Gail grumbled about protests for lives that mattered, arguing that of course they did. She had the ability, thank god, to look at the situation frankly enough and to understand that people hated her job. And she knew why they hated it.

"She's a cop," said Vivian, repeating the words Holly had used when Vivian expressed her own shock. "Mom's umpteenth generation Peck."

"Man, that's just weird. Okay. Lara, no puking."

"Copy," mumbled Lara, her head lolling a little.

"Good luck. See you guys tomorrow."

"Nah, we're off. Enjoy Goff and Todorkoi tomorrow." Jenny waved and hopped in her car to drive off.

How weird. Vivian wasn't sure she liked working such a disparate shift. When she didn't have the hectic work of ETF's physical aspects to distract her, it felt... well it felt lonely.

"You miss your friends," Jamie told her over the phone.

"They're not my friends."

"Hah, you are not Gail, my little Peck."

Vivian scrunched her face up. "You get that I'm almost four inches taller than my moms, right?"

"What I mean is Gail is defensive and walled off because ... Well I don't know why. But she's defensive. You're protective. Different. You're not Gail." Jamie yawned.

And Vivian felt guilty. "Sorry. You need to sleep."

"18 more hours of shift. Then I'll see you tomorrow night."

She could hear the smile on Jamie's voice and found herself smiling back. "Yeah. What do you want for dinner?"

"Oooooh, you're gonna cook?"

"Not if you're going to be all girly about it."

Jamie laughed. "High protein. Night, Viv."

"Night, Jamie." There was an awkward pause before they hung up and Vivian grimaced.

When was it right to swap ILUs? She could ask around, but that felt like cheating somehow. If she asked Matty, he'd hoot and tell Jamie. Gail would make a sneer face, and point out she had no idea. Holly... Vivian tapped on her leg.

Holly had been amazing, helping Vivian work through a lot of emotions. A lot of feelings. It was Holly whom Vivian turned to when she was terrified about Jamie's injuries the year before. And it was Holly who helped Vivian understand that stomach churning, nauseating fear. How to handle it.

This was too much to ask her moms. It wasn't appropriate to ask her therapist. Was it? The ultimate question was simple. Did she love Jamie?

She liked her. A lot. Vivian loved things about her. She adored the sleepy morning smile. The way Jamie looked at her gave her tingles. That broad grin and the bright eyes and the laugh... yes, Vivian loved all those things. But did they translate into love love? She had no idea.

Vivian's phone lit up, flashing a new text.

Go to bed, moron.

She smiled. Jamie just knew when she was getting all up in her head. And she knew how to get her back out.

You too, hose monkey.

Oh you are NEVER getting laid again, Peck.

Vivian laughed. It wasn't true and they both knew it. But it was something to laugh over.


It had taken six pitches, but Holly finally hit the target. "Hah! Suck it, Peck. I win."

"I believe I get last ups," said Gail, highly amused. She shouldered her bat and took stand at the base.

"Oooooh look at you, all fancy using sports terms." Holly teased her wife and grinned. It was true that Gail was currently winning their little side bet, though. For the first time in years, Gail was actually hitting better than Holly at the batting cages.

She watched the blonde take a careful, studied stance. "Whatever, Lunchbox. Press the button."

Holly saluted and turned the machine back on. She never tired of admiring Gail's form, and over the years Gail's batting form had improved a great deal. Generally, Holly was still the better player, but in pure batting competitions Gail tended to do much better than Holly did. She was the current champion of the home run derby for women in the police force.

That wouldn't last long, probably. Gail had no interest in a repeat win and had been slacking off since summer. But tonight. Tonight she seemed to have a bit of an interest in kicking ass. At least Holly's ass.

Of all things, Gail was quite competitive. And when she was doing a solo sport, which batting was, Gail excelled. All she'd had to learn was the basics of the sport and what success meant. The fact that it had taken Gail that long was mostly due to her being lazy. She just didn't care enough to exert herself about things that didn't really matter and, to her point of view, baseball hardly mattered.

And yet. Gail had cheerfully accepted Holly's suggestion that they see who could hit the home run sign the most times in three rounds. Winner picked dinner. The coin toss gave Holly first ups, which at first she thought was good. First up, she pounded out three home runs, which Holly had hoped would demoralize her wife.

That didn't happen at all.

Gail took her first set and matched Holly, run for run. She even made it look easy, like she'd been practicing it for ages. And in a way, she had. The second round went the same way. Holly hit two home runs and so did Gail. And here, their third, Holly had only managed one. It was probably her nerves.

Casually, Gail swung at the first pitch and sent it flying a foot lower than the target. She reset herself and swung on the second pitch. All those years of yoga paid off in making her so, so fluid.

"Ooooh, too low," teased Holly, looking at Gail's butt.

"Stop ogling me, Stewart," said Gail. "I'm not losing." And she hit the third pitch.

From the sound alone, Holly knew it was a tie. The ball flew and the sign clanged. "That's just a tie. We can keep going."

"I have two more balls," Gail warned. She took her stance again and, when the fourth ball came, hit it. She hit it perfectly. She hit it solidly.

"Damn it," muttered Holly.

Gail grinned and, as if to show off, hit the last pitch well. A third run. A resounding win. "Regretting teaching me to hit?" She leaned on her bat and beamed.

"Just the bet." Holly rolled her eyes. "Fine. You can pick dinner."

The blonde laughed. "I want to go home. I don't feel like eating out tonight."

Holly blinked. "Seriously? You're trading a win for a player to be named later?"

"No, I'm trading my dinner out tonight for dinner, the ballet, and oral sex," said Gail flippantly.

Even now, even after decades, Holly was caught by surprise with Gail's attitude towards things. "Wow. Okay, then I get to pick dinner tonight?"

"Nope! We're having chicken with rice and vegetables. I'll cook."

"Oh, you really want me to go to the ballet, huh?" It was no secret, Holly still didn't love the ballet. Yes, it was dancing, but it was boring dancing.

Gail paused as she put the bat and helmet away. "No. I really want the sex."

Holly laughed and followed her wife out the cages and to home.


"Check the temperature," instructed Gail, and she took another swing of her beer.

Her sous chef bit her lip and carefully stuck the meat thermometer in. "How do I know when it's done checking?"

"Same as a human thermometer. It beeps."

"I don't know about what crazy ass shit you get up to, Gail, but I don't jam a thermometer in my skin."

Gail grinned. "Don't touch the bone with it. If you feel the bone, pull it back a little."

Her assistant nodded and waited. "73."

"C or F?"

"C."

"Perfect. Put the pan on the stove so it can cool a little. We want it to rest."

The woman nodded. "Wait. Why?"

"So you don't burn yourself, for one. But also to retain the juices. Makes it taste better. Put the tinfoil hat back on, loosely, and we'll give it ten minutes. Get the veggies out of the oven." Gail paused. "Hey, Monkey. Set the table."

Vivian popped her head in the kitchen. "Oh, now you want me?" The girl smirked and bounced over, kissing her girlfriend's cheek. "Hanging in there?"

"Pork roast, roasted vegetables, potatoes. It smells okay," replied Jamie, nervously.

"It smells great." Vivian reached for a potato.

"Hey!" Gail smacked her daughter's arm. "Out! Set the table!"

Graced with longer limbs, Vivian successfully stole a potato and impishly grinned. "Soooo good."

"Get out!"

But they were all laughing, even Holly. "Is it safe to come in yet?"

"No," snarled Gail. "Wine."

"For pork?" Holly looked thoughtful. "And you're already having beer. Alright." She smiled and headed over to the wine collection.

"Oh come on. No kiss?" Gail growled. "Jamie got a kiss."

"Jamie is adorable and has to put up with you," said Holly, but as she came back with a bottle of Pinot, she paused to kiss Gail. "Having fun?"

"I was until the great potato thief showed up." Gail smiled and put her beer down to wrap her hands on Holly's waist and tug her in. "Hey."

"Mmm. Hey." Holly's smiled turned soft and tender. Her lips quirked and she leaned in again for another kiss, this time her nose bumping Gail's.

"Oh my god," muttered Jamie. "They really are always like this."

"Pretty much." Vivian sounded nonplussed. "You can serve the veggies and potatoes in their cookware."

"This shit is the bomb. How come you don't have it?"

Vivian laughed. "La Creuset? Because it's about $600 for that roast oven alone."

Gail looked over Holly's shoulder and saw Jamie's horrified face. "Oh, yeah, it's expensive, but it's worth it. The cast iron pans you guys have were Holly's."

Leaning into Gail, resting her head in the crook of Gail's neck, Holly made a contented noise. "Most of Viv's cookware was mine. Gail lived with icky boys."

There was a clatter as Vivian set the table. "They used me moving out as an excuse to buy new things."

"Wait..." Jamie frowned. "If the cookware we have was Holly's, how come Gail's the cook?"

"I can cook," said Holly, petulantly. "Gail's just gotten better."

"I took a cooking class." Gail took the wine bottle from her wife and held it out, keeping her other arm around Holly's waist. "Monkey."

Vivian came over and took the bottle. "Was that because I wanted to make fajitas?"

"It was because we actually made 'em pretty fucking awesome," admitted Gail. Both arms free, she held Holly close and smiled. "Cooking started as one of my coping mechanisms." Holly stiffened a little, and Vivian looked doubtful. "I told your girlfriend I got kidnapped by a serial killer, Viv."

The younger officer sighed. "Mom." She put a lot into the word. Vivian was trying to express that Gail didn't need to do those things for Vivian's sake.

And they had not been that. At least not how she was probably thinking. "We have dangerous jobs, Viv," said Gail gently. "I took risks to try and be what was expected of me. You ... sweetheart, you know I love you. You take risks because you like the calm that comes with your adrenaline rush." Gail glanced at Jamie. "Jamie needed to know that this shit happens here too, but we're not alone."

By the stove, Jamie looked uncertain but didn't say anything. Vivian put the wine on the table and crossed back to gently touch Jamie's arm. "Don't worry. Gail won't try to psychoanalyze you. Holly might, but she's actually been to med school."

The soft humor deflection helped. Even Holly laughed a little. "It's true, Jamie. I'm actually a doctor." She turned around, still leaning against Gail but now facing the kids. "So. Sous chef. How'd your first lesson in cooking grownup food go?"

Jamie grinned. "Well I won't be on Worst Cooks in Canada, I think."

"Not if the potatoes are an indicator," said Vivian, agreeing. "Come on, I'll pop the wine and let's stuff ourselves."

On cue, the timer went off and Jamie jumped. "Right!" Gail laughed and kissed Holly's shoulder. "Time for me to teach the kid to handle the meat." Gently nudging Holly away, Gail picked knife from the block. "You have dated men before, right, Jamie?"

"Oh my god, Mom, stop." Vivian laughed and grabbed a corkscrew. "Jamie, if she gets to be too much, you can ignore her. Everyone does."

"You hush, or I tell her about the time you used the blender with the top off."

Vivian's eyes drifted to the ceiling. "We got the stains out," she muttered, and went to the dining table while Jamie giggled.


"Have you ever thought about getting married?"

Vivian froze with her fork half-raised. What the hell was it with Gail and Elaine that they loved asking those questions while she was eating. "Uh. No. Not really."

Her grandmother huffed a little. "Really? Even Gail had a couple fantasy moments about marriage. I recall she married her best friend in school, actually."

That was a new story. Vivian grinned. "Really? Mom did?"

"Under the jungle gym. She was five."

"Wait, five's pre-school."

"Gail was precocious," said Elaine, simply, and she shrugged a little. "Eat your fish."

Vivian sighed and took a bite. The fish was incredibly good. Ever since Elaine's heart attack and Lily's death, they'd all been taking time to hang out a little more. It was obvious why, and they all knew it, but it was still a nice thing to do. Other than running a background check on Jamie, Elaine was pretty cool.

Then Vivian asked, "Was Steve? Precocious?"

"Oh god, no. He was held back a grade after he threw a rock at… Thad— No, Bradford. Bradford Roman."

Vivian chuckled. "Oh, Steve."

Elaine studied Vivian for a moment. "How are things... with Jamie?"

"That sounded ominous," muttered Vivian. "We are ... good. Really good actually. I mean, sorting out the whole closet shit was a pain in my ass, and the bathroom, but we worked it out."

"You know, you and your mother are the only Pecks to move in before marriage."

Vivian did a double take. "What? I thought Steve and Traci..."

"Steve kept his own apartment. Functionally I suppose it's no different, though." Elaine took a bite of her salad. "But it's alright?"

She regarded her grandmother. Never in Vivian's life had Elaine asked a question without layers and purpose behind it. The Peck Matron wasn't like that. She always asked with intent and thoughtfulness and meaning. "Gordo'd say yes. Or if he doesn't, dump his ass."

Elaine rolled her eyes. "Oh good lord, you and your mother. Can't I be interested in my granddaughter's life?"

"You're an onion, Elaine," teased Vivian. "You've got layers and meanings and thoughts."

"Is that so?" Elaine smiled a little though. "I'm seriously just asking if you and your live-in girlfriend are doing okay, sweetheart. I worry about you."

That startled her. "Me?"

And her reply apparently startled Elaine. "Yes, you. Of course. You're my granddaughter. I only have the one, and you're my family. Of course I worry about you."

"No offense, but that's creepy."

Elaine had never really expressed too much interest into that part of Vivian's life. Other than the veiled threat to set Vivian up on dates, Elaine was exceptionally hands off. Asking about marriage and how things were with Jamie was a little disturbing. Why did it come up? What did Elaine expect.

And no, damn it, Vivian hadn't fantasized about marriage or a wedding. Before being adopted, she couldn't remember thinking of it at all, which didn't mean much. She didn't remember a whole lot of those early days. After... After she had Gail and Holly and they were just married. It was what it was.

The idea of marriage now seemed odd. People like McNally rushed into marriage. When teenaged Vivian had asked Nick why he didn't marry Andy, the man had explained they'd both had bad near-marriage experiences, and were happy just being together. A few years later, when she learned it was a bad nearly marriage to Gail, Vivian felt she better understood Nick's trepidation.

But she had to ask Andy herself about the other. To her surprise, Andy freely told her about the accidental engagement to Luke Callaghan. She told Vivian the whole story, about how she'd found the ring and Luke had never meant to propose, and then he'd cheated on her with Jo Rosati.

Both were now dead.

Vivian remembered Jo. She'd married some boring salary man and had a son. Luke, though, Luke had died protecting Holly. He'd never married, never had kids, and according to Gail, there had been some oddly traumatic event in his past, causing a sealed record. Vivian's theory was that he'd killed some biological parent, but she kept it to herself. No doubt her own family would try to psychoanalyze her for saying it.

When Vivian related the peculiar luncheon event to Gail the next day, her mother looked oddly concerned. Just not about what Vivian thought she'd be worried about. "Steve threw a rock at Roger Brady," said Gail, and she stared at Vivian. "Are you sure she said Bradford Roman?"

Vivian nodded. "Absolutely. She said Thad, and then corrected herself... why?"

Gail looked at the picture of Elaine on her office wall. "Bradly Roman was Steve's best friend in high school. He's a lawyer now, but he and Steve used to hang out all the fucking time. Mom knows that."

It was the implication of the word that was, abruptly, worrying. "Wait. So Elaine goofed up a name. So? Everyone does that!"

"Mom doesn't. She just... Not names. She may forget dates and books and TV shows, Viv, but Mom never forgets names, or things that happened to me and Steve. Ever."

"So.. what? You're saying her memory is slipping?"

Grim, Gail nodded. "She forgot why I hate the Archer Hotel."

Vivian felt lost. "I ... I don't know why you hate the Archer, Mom."

Her mother sighed. "That's where I was undercover as a call girl. I never told you that, but..." She gestured to the wall behind her. "Mom read the case file. She knew. And she forgot."

"Are you sure?" The idea of Elaine Peck forgetting little things like the name of a kid Steve chucked a rock at didn't bother her. But Elaine forgetting one of the most traumatic occurrences to ever happen to her daughter? No. Gail had a point.

"She tried to schedule the anniversary party there," said Gail, tightly.

Oh. "Shit..."

Gail sighed again. "Keep this under your hat, okay? Maybe I'm reading too much into this."

"I dunno. You were right about grandpa." Since Lily's death, Brian had needed a lot of looking after and contacting. There were a lot of phone calls. Holly had gone out, alone, for a week to help him move to his new condo.

"Still." Gail closed her eyes. "Marriage, huh?"

"Oh Jesus, not you too!" Vivian threw her hands up.

Gail laughed. It was her happy laugh, too. "Brat. Come on, you're telling me you've never pictured yourself walking down the aisle?"

Giving her mother the finger, Vivian shook her head. "Nope. Never pictured myself living with a girl either, though, so what do I know?"

"God, I hear ya!" The blonde smiled ear to ear. "You haven't dropped the l word yet either, huh?"

Vivian shook her head. "I'm not ..." She didn't want to talk about it at all, but if either of her mothers would understand, it would be Gail. "Okay, I'm not sure I know I do."

Gail nodded sagely. "Well that's okay, kid. You're twenty-six. You're not supposed to know all that shit." She leaned back and put her feet on the desk. "Speaking of. What do you want for your birthday."

God bless Gail for changing the subject. "World Peace?" Her mother grinned. "The cottage. Just for the long weekend."

With a knowing smirk, Gail nodded again. "You know. I was started up there."

Huh? Vivian stared at her mother blankly for a moment, until Gail leered a little and the meaning dawned. "Oh, gross."

"S'true! Seven months later, I was born and Dad was still undercover. They had to pull him out." Gail looked amused. "Funny, isn't it?"

"I guess... Do you miss going under cover?" Vivian knew her mother avoided it now. In fact, the last time was when she was saving the then-Prince.

"Not really, no. I never liked it to begin with." Gail leaned back. "Did you? You're pretty good at it."

"Eh. Not really. It's crazy stressful for a long time and then you betray people."

"That, kid, is a good description of UC work."

The door opened, interrupting their chat. "Boss, I hate to barge in, but we've got a lead on that attempted bank robbery?"

Gail eyed Vivian first, giving her best eye roll. "Is that a question, Nuñez?"

The man blushed. "No, ma'am. We found a supplier. He ID'd our prime suspect."

"Thank you. Is he downstairs?" At Pedro's nod, Gail swung her feet off the desk. "Duty calls. When are you back on call?"

"Tomorrow. I finished my paperwork early."

"Get ahead on the rest. You'll thank me later."

"Hah, fat chance, Inspector." But Vivian grinned at her mother. "Don't let her beat you up, Nuñez."

As Vivian headed back down to the ETF ready room, she smiled. Her mother knew very well how to lighten a heavy mood, and while there was reason to worry about Elaine and Brian, it could be handled one step at a time.

That's all life was. A mixed grab bag of surprises that kept throwing weird shit at everyone, and then the world took a step forward. That was all they could do. Step forward.


And that's how we start our season. No crime. Just some easier fluff for a bit.

Next chapter? Oh the crime is on!