04.13 - A Real Gentleman

Poor Jamie got cut out of the last episode, a lot, so we had to have an extra chapter. And guess what? Here's Jamie.


It wasn't fair.

Vivian was calm, as if this was normal. Of course Gail was calm, and Holly was the sort of person who was suitably impressed without being daunted by anything. If only one of them had the common decency to fangirl, Jamie would have felt a hell of a lot better.

At least Matty, who had rushed her through a fitting and a tailoring of her first dress uniform was appreciative. He had gushed for hours while making sure Jamie's pants were perfect. The ever quiet Vivian had simply smiled and assisted, hemming seams and fixing insignia.

That was a new talent. Jamie hadn't known Vivian could sew, but Matty explained he'd made her learn when they were together in school for drama classes. Neither one of them had actually acted in high school, though Vivian had a bit in college. Matty had been into costuming since he was sixteen and dragged Vivian along. Still, the Suzy Homemaker skills weren't the kind of traits one thought of when one thought Peck.

Pecks, according to Jamie's father, were privileged and proud and a bit stuck up. He'd meant Bill Peck of course, whom Gail readily called an abusive and manipulative bastard. Holly, who usually defended everyone, always got a grim look on her face if he came up in conversation. And Vivian, well. She was quiet.

Dating a woman who kept her thoughts to herself that much was a trip. After the honeymoon phase, where Jamie was just thrilled to have a girlfriend who didn't want to dump volcanic drama all over her every day, it had gotten weird. Vivian always thought long and hard before coming to a decision. She was the cat stuck in a tree, contemplating how to get down, and never asking for help.

After Lily had died, though, Vivian changed a little. She tried more. She told Jamie she was thinking, first of all, which was a major step. And she clearly wanted to talk. But she couldn't.

Yeah. Jamie got that one. Talking about things made them real. Like Jamie didn't talk about the time her mother hit her father with a stick. Or that she was pulled aside in school for having bruises and people accused her parents of abuse, when it really just was Jamie being a klutzy tomboy.

People made assumptions. And what was said fed into them. Vivian's tactic was just not to feed the fire.

"I hate you," muttered Jamie, tugging her collar.

"You're not used to wearing a tie," replied Vivian. She smiled and reached over, adjusting Jamie's collar. "You look fine, Jamie."

"Says the woman in full dress."

Vivian looked amazing in her normal uniform, hot as fuck in her ETF gear (though not the bombproof stuff), but holy god in heaven and earth, Vivian was mind blowing in her dress blues. It was the one time Vivian was demonstrably more attractive than Gail, who was cheating somewhere.

In uniform, Gail was precise and beautiful. But she was unattainable. A statue like Aphrodite come to life, Gail was stunning and terrifying all in one. By contrast, Vivian was down to earth and casual by nature. Put her in a uniform and she became a poster child for diversity. Put her in the dress uniform and suddenly she was the epitome of policing.

The uniform accentuated her height and athletic build. The belt sat perfectly on her hips, not cutting her off or making her look chunky. Long lines in the jacket gave her grace and strength. Shiny shoes and a cap canted to one side was the icing on the cake.

Jamie kind of wanted to ditch the luncheon and drag Vivian off to a coat closet.

"Hush," said Vivian, and she leaned down to kiss Jamie slowly.

God, she was really good at those kisses, too.

"Don't screw up your lipstick, kid," admonished Gail, tugging her white gloves on.

Beside her, resplendent in a stunning skirt suit combo that made Jamie wonder if she was really in her sixties, Holly laughed. "Honey, have you even met our daughter?" With a quirky grin, Holly leaned into Gail, looping an arm through the uniform jacket. "Hello, Jamie. You look perfect."

Jamie looked down. Navy blue pants. A matching jacket that didn't feel like it fit properly (Matty swore it did). A white shirt. A black tie.

It was the same Class A uniform that Gail and Vivian were wearing, but they looked stunning.

She felt short and stumpy.

How the hell did they look so good?

Vivian's hand slipped into hers. The tall cop didn't say anything, she just squeezed Jamie's hand and smiled.

"Thanks– thank you," said Jamie, feeling her neck flush.

The door opened. "Inspector Peck. Constable Peck."

That seemed to be expected. Gail kissed Holly's cheek and punched Vivian's shoulder. "Come on, kid. We'll be done in about ten, fifteen minutes max."

Vivian rolled her eyes and gave Jamie a quick buss on the cheek before following Gail into the other room.

"It's okay if you're nervous," Holly said, as the silence settled. "Vivian probably is scared to death but she won't ever let Gail see that."

Jamie gnawed at the side of her thumbnail. "Yeah? That's really annoying."

"Isn't it? Gail's egotistical, but Vivian... Well. She doesn't like when people take advantage of her, so she tries very hard to look nonplussed."

Sometimes Jamie wondered if her own parents talked about her that way to others. Vivian had called it dissection in absentia. Probably not. Vivian said she'd not had private conversations with anyone but Jason, and even then, the topic was something neither Vivian nor Jason talked about.

"That can be really annoying," Jamie said at length.

"The stoic thing? I can only imagine." Holly looked at Jamie thoughtfully. "Okay, Matty dressed you. Come here."

Bewildered, Jamie did and was shocked that Holly undid her tie and shook it out. "Uh, you don't —"

"I do. Though if you want a fun story, Vivian had trouble with her tie, before a funeral. Drove Gail nuts."

"Oh was that when the priest died?"

Holly paused as she looped the tie around Jamie's neck. "I knew you two were dating then! Hah. Gail owes me ten bucks." Smiling a smirk of vindication, Holly quickly knotted the tie. "There. Much better. See?"

Turning, Jamie looked at her own reflection. "Oh. Wow, that's... thank you."

"Not much to be done about the jacket. We'll have to get Matty to fix the shoulders... God, it's as hard to dress you as Vivian. Both of you so fit and shoulders... this is a man's jacket isn't it?"

Jamie nodded. "Yeah, the women's ones didn't fit my upper arms."

"Same problem Vivian has," lamented Holly. "Gail's noodle arms come in handy sometimes, I guess." She tugged on Jamie's sleeves, sorting them out, just like Jamie imagined parents actually did.

Not her parents. Angela was not particularly maternal. She was more of a friend than a parent, and not much of a friend at that. Not that Jamie didn't love her mother, but they didn't have quite that much in common. Mostly she and her father had bonded over her mothers eccentricities.

Thankfully, the majority of those had faded away. If Angela was still the woman who threw plates or hit her father, Jamie never would have introduced them to Vivian. Even so, she did keep them somewhat apart for Vivian's mental health and their own relationship's sake. Angela still had had her moments where she felt things that weren't real. Paranoia, they called it.

"You... you don't have to do that, Holly," said Jamie, struggling to find the words to express her gratitude without imposing.

"Oh I know, but you're a good person. And you're nervous for the right reasons today, so if I can Mom you and help, then I will. Just imagine what Gail would say?"

Jamie snorted. "She'd make a joke about how Vivian's really hot in her uniform."

The doctor smiled and blushed. "They are, though, aren't they? I mean... I love Gail in any uniform, but the dress blues are ..." Holly sighed loudly. "Delectable."

She couldn't help it. Jamie laughed. "Oh my god."

"Mock me now, but I have a photo of her in a Mountie uniform. When I'm ancient and grey, it will keep me warm at night."

"Is this your plan to distract me? Embarrass me by talking about your ... private life?"

"Spend another twenty years around Gail, and you'll pick up a pretty blasé attitude about sex," admitted Holly. "It's a self defense mechanism on my part."

"Oh? And what's Gail's excuse?"

"She just likes sex."

Jamie shook her head. "You are a very weird family. You do know that, I hope."

Holly laughed. "I knew that before I married her, for the most part. Maybe if I'd known more about the Pecks, I wouldn't have married, but ... Gail and I were inevitable. I was always going to be here."

What would that feel like? To know, deep in the heart, that the endgame was one person? Did Holly just wake up and decide her life had to involve Gail or it wasn't worth living? Vivian implied it was a series of decisions, each one building on the previous, that led to the pair knowing this was right for them.

Was she walking down a similar path? Jamie didn't feel like Vivian was the be-all and end-all of everything. She certainly adored Vivian, loved her, loved being with her. But the idea of this being forever... it was weird. That was weird, right? Did normal people think about that?

No wonder Vivian got quiet a lot and thought about things. It was impossible to hang around Gail and Holly and not think deeply about life.

"I met Vivian right around your anniversary," said Jamie, feeling that was a safe topic.

"Oh god, I hated that party." Holly rolled her eyes. "I hope you don't like super large parties."

Jamie shook her head. "No. No, they're noisy and stressful. The wedding, John's, that was nice, but I felt like I was on TV."

"Well. We had to go to John's. He's been in our lives longer than Viv, and was Gail's first partner."

"Is that normal? Having one partner all the time?"

Holly shook her head. "No. But Butler, their old boss, he didn't like to screw around when people had a groove. Gail's the same way. She doesn't reassign partners unless there's a good reason."

That made sense. Jamie was about to ask how long Holly had known John when the door opened.

"Dr. Stewart, Firefighter McGann." The guard was dressed in a normal suit. He was also old and grey, probably around Holly's age.

Jamie made a mental note not to mention she thought her girlfriend's parents were old.

"Roger, you're so formal," teased Holly. She brushed her suit jacket. "I wish I had a uniform sometimes."

"If you wear a lab coat, Gail would never make it to the lunch," said the man, Roger, smirking.

Oh good. They knew each other. "Do you know everyone?" Jamie was aware her voice was exasperated, but come on!

Roger quirked an eyebrow. "I worked with Inspector Peck on a case before." He glanced at Holly who nearly imperceptibly shook her head. "It's nice to meet you, Ms. McGann. I know this is peculiar and unexpected, but the tea is quite brief."

"I've never had tea before," blurted Jamie.

Both Holly and Roger smiled. "Most people haven't. Not proper tea, at least." Roger tired to sound assuring. It wasn't helping. "Follow me." He held an arm out for Holly, escorting her as he gestured for Jamie to come with.

It was surreal.

Especially since the first thing Jamie heard was an unfamiliar British voice that she knew, somehow. "I'd really rather go out for beers with you, but in light of everything, Mother made it quite clear they'd prefer no more changes to the agenda."

"As a parent," said the familiar voice of Gail. "I am inclined to agree with that one."

The British woman scoffed. "You work with your family. Does the hovering drive you batty?"

"Regularly," said Vivian, her tone her driest.

Jamie couldn't help it. She grinned. That was her girl, alright.

"Ah, excellent. We can talk in code. Hello, Dr. Stewart. A pleasure to see you again." She looked genuinely pleased to see Holly as well.

She being Princess Charlotte, the second child of Wills and Kate. King William V. The Princess Royal. Second in line to the throne of England. An actual princess. Who was teasing Gail and Vivian like they were old friends.

Holly and the princess exchanged a surprisingly warm embrace, complete with cheek kisses. "It's been a long time," said Holly, smiling right back. "This is Vivian's girlfriend, Jamie McGann, firefighter second class."

And the Princess Royal jovially stuck her hand out. "Firefighter McGann. Why don't they call you officers like they do the police?" The princess glanced at Vivian, as if it were her fault.

"Uh, to be honest, your Highness, most of the time folks call me McGann. Unless you're the captain or a chief, we don't do much about it."

"I plan to go by Wales when I'm in service. Ought to be fun," mused the princess. "They called my father Billy the Fish. I can't imagine my nicknames."

"Charlie the Tuna comes to mind," remarked Gail.

"Oh I like that." Princess Charlotte laughed. "Come then, lets sit before someone officious comes and tells me off for decorum."

The tea was not at all what Jamie had expected. The princess, a little younger than herself, had recently finished university and was planning for a stint in the military. She was, after all, the spare to the heir, and had a lot more freedom at the moment. That said, following her father's footsteps was something Charlotte and Vivian had in common, and actually chatted about.

As the mysterious Roger had said, the tea was over quickly. An hour zipped by, hands were shaken, Holly got another hug, and then they were done. Jamie had met the Princess Royal.

"So?" Gail still had her tie on and was still dressed like a picture book of a police officer.

"Weird," replied Vivian, her tie at half mast and her hat pushed back. She looked like a realistic cop.

"Which makes it normal," teased Holly. She'd undone a couple buttons on her shirt.

Jamie hesitated and then asked, "What does Princess Royal mean?"

Predictably it was Gail who answered. While everyone said Holly was the brain, Gail loved flaunting her more peculiar bits of knowledge. "It's a lifelong title given to the monarch's eldest daughter. But there can only be one at a time, so Elizabeth never had it because her great aunt held it and then Lizzie became queen. When Mary died, Elizabeth gave it to Anne, who held it forever. When Anne died, Wills tossed it on Charlotte."

"Anne was the one who kicked a kidnapper and told him 'Not bloody likely,' right?" Vivian was grinning.

"That's the one," confirmed Gail.

Holly mused, thoughtfully. "Charlotte's a bit like her. Probably a self defense mechanism given how Peckish her family is."

Gail narrowed her eyes. "You're such a shit, Holly."

"You love me."

"God knows why." Gail rolled her eyes at Jamie, as if to make sure she was in on the joke, and then kissed Holly. "Okay, I'm off to work. Drop me off?"

"I have to meet with Seabourn anyway," said Holly. "Swing by home?'

"Nah, I'll scare the bejesus out of everyone." Gail very negligently tucked her hat under her arm. For a second, she looked like she'd stepped out of a movie. "You need a lift, junior?"

Vivian shook her head. "I'm off. Apparently saving the princess gets you a couple days off."

Gail nodded. "As if should. You did good." As Vivian blushed, Gail turned to Jamie. "You?"

"Oh? Uh, I'm on my four off." She glanced at Vivian, confused. "Are we supposed to do anything?"

"Get out of the monkey suits," said Vivian, emphatically. "I'll see you day after tomorrow, Mom?"

Waving a hand, Gail dismissed them. "Maybe. I'm thinking of going up to the cottage this weekend."

"Oh no," said Holly. "I have a trial case on Monday."

"Damn criminals!" Gail shook a fist.

The conversation was fascinating. They bounced between topics rapidly and Gail, who like Vivian could be very standoffish, was standing in Holly's personal space, touching her. It was like Holly was somehow an exception to the rules.

Vivian caught Jamie's hand and tugged it. "Come on."

Hand in hand, they walked over to the cars. As they rounded the corner, Jamie glanced back and saw Holly with her hands on Gail's lapels, holding her close and looking down a little. They were nearly shy, as if they were a pair of teenagers who had just fallen for each other, and were overwhelmed at the intensity of their feelings.

"How long have they been together?"

Her girlfriend made a confused noise and looked back. "Oh. It'll be twenty-five years this Autumn."

Jamie's entire life. Most of Vivian's, who was a long year older. "It's sort of daunting," she muttered.

"Hah, no shit. Unrealistic expectations." Then Vivian frowned. "We're okay, though. Aren't we?"

"Yeah! Yes. Yes we are. It's just... It's weird. And I'm stuck, because half of me wants to think about how sexy you look in that outfit, and the other half is feeling like a failure."

"You can't compare yourself to them," said Vivian, her voice thoughtful. "Not and stay sane. My moms are geniuses, both of them, and smart. Which are not the same."

"And fucking gorgeous. Holly has a painting in the attic, right?"

Vivian laughed. She didn't always laugh from her heart, the copper. Vivian nearly always held things back. Her laugh was normally the laugh of someone who knew how a laugh was supposed to look, not fake and not really honest either. But once in a while, Jamie got a glimpse at the real humor inside the woman.

Those hidden depths really were why they'd moved from a casual dating attraction and into something serious. Of course Jamie had spotted the fit, athletic, attractive woman at the park. She'd never lie and say otherwise. Vivian in a tank top and running shorts was a religious experience. With the sweat rolling down her neck and ... Jamie was lucky she was a woman.

On the other hand, seeing Vivian at the club, and her terrible dancing, had been more hilarious than attractive. It was quite obvious Vivian had been the wingman, and was not good at picking up women. Or not trying. Jamie had never quite been sure. Again, Vivian held things back a lot.

The point was that Vivian was sexy. And she was smart, paying attention to her world. Except the part where girls hit on her. She cared so much about everything else, it was endearing. Interesting. Jamie had slipped her number via Christian, who had come up to tell her Vivian was making an arrest, yes she was gay, and yes she was thick as a brick when girls flirted.

He was a good wingman.

At the bar, their first date, Jamie found Vivian wasn't a deep 'me' talker. She would answer questions, but there was a guarded aspect to her, a shield, where she wouldn't offer deep secrets. Initially, Jamie thought it was because the boys were there too. After another coffee date, she realized Vivian was holding back. And not in the way where she was going to dump her drama out on a person.

The secretive nature was interesting. When Jamie compared it to what she knew, what Vivian said, it was familiar. Vivian wasn't tying to hid a past trauma as much as she was trying to live her life and be a good person. Okay, yes, she was hiding her drama, but that was understandable.

Still. With all the drama and damage that made up Vivian Stewart Peck, that laugh was worth all of it.

Jamie grinned and stood on her tip toes, kissing Vivian on the corner of her mouth. She knew Vivian liked that, though not why. It possibly had to do with her need for personal space. Or it was just something she thought was romantic.

Oh yes, her Peck liked romance. She liked the opera and ballet, she liked plants (not flowers), she liked watching the stars, she liked holding hands. She didn't like the fake trappings of what the media swore romance was, Vivian liked the moments. In the time Jamie had gotten to know Vivian's parents, she saw the same thing in Gail and Holly. They were definitely a trio made for each other.

Sometimes Jamie was jealous of that closeness. Not the irrepressible romance between Gail and Holly, but the open affection between all three. Vivian had no issues telling her mothers she loved them. While she steered away from wildly open displays of affection, Vivian would give them everything she had. The reverse was also obviously true.

Jamie loved her parents, but she loved them more from a distance. Her mother was difficult to take on her best days and her father was much of an enabler. Everyone knew Angela needed to be on mood stabilizers, but she hated taking them and Jason didn't make her. He covered for her.

That was most of why Jamie had moved out at eighteen. The rest, well, that was Ruby's story. She adored her best friend, but the move was to help someone else. It wasn't really for Jamie.

Thank god Vivian understood that. She understood the selflessness. Giving of herself to help others, even total strangers, was perfectly normal to Vivian, and beyond just an accepted part of life, it was expected. To Vivian, it was weird not to care about the world.

Hopefully she never went into politics.

"Home?" Vivian was still smiling, a somewhat nervous smile. She was actually a little abashed, embarrassed about her feelings still.

"Unless that bottomless pit you call a stomach needs refueling."

"You're thinking of my mother," corrected Vivian. "Home. Get out of the monkey suits."

"Go for a run, since you missed yours this morning."

Jamie wasn't serious, though Vivian did go running almost every day. Even when they went to the cabin, she would wake up and go for a run, usually before Jamie woke up. Then, sweaty and smelly, Vivian would wake her up. Sometimes pleasantly. Sometimes not. She did like the playful side of Vivian quite a bit.

"I don't mind some alternative cardio," drawled Vivian, walking around to the passenger side.

"Oh I'm driving?"

"Your truck. Besides, you get pissed when I move the bench back. Little feet can't reach the pedals."

Jamie laughed. "Oh you better go for a run, because you are so not getting laid tonight."


I hope you enjoyed your bonus scene. This is the end of season four. Next up? Season five, where it gets crazy.

Leave me reviews with your guesses as to what happens next.