Perp-Loving Cop-Hater 6
Author's Note: Okay, this one was also fun to write. Let me know what you think!
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"You two got home either early or late, depending on how you look at it," Maurice said to Don, scooping potato salad onto both their plates.
"How'd you know?" Don asked him, surprised.
"I am up at the crack of dawn everyday, no matter how late I stay up," Maurice smiled at him. "I've been like this since the surgery, and nothing seems to help."
"Oh, I'm sorry about that dad," Ressler said, making a conscious effort to call Maurice dad more. "Melatonin?"
"Tried it," Maurice said. "Your mother even got me this tea that is supposed to knock me out, but no matter what time I go to bed I am up at dawn."
Ressler grimaced, that sucked.
"And imagine my surprise when I heard Kevin's truck at dawn…"
Ressler cleared his throat.
"I looked outside to see you and Liz disheveled and walking toward the house," Maurice continued. "I worried you had been in an accident or that something was wrong and was about to go out and see you when you grabbed her and kissed her on the porch steps…and then I figured out why you were coming back that early and looked like you'd both been rolling around on the ground…because you had been."
Ressler ducked his head down and turned a brilliant shade of red.
"You two disappeared about midnight…" Maurice said.
"Yeah, we went for a walk and stayed out for longer," Ressler said with a smirk.
"I remember when you went for a drive your senior year and stayed out longer," Maurice chuckled. "Your mother called me in the middle of the night to search for you."
Ressler cleared his throat.
"Your lucky I found you and Kelly Rositer from AP Math in her car before her father found you both," Maurice chuckled.
Ressler turned and looked at Maurice seriously and the older man was caught off guard for a moment.
"I've never thanked you for all you do for me," Ressler said as he met his eyes.
"Oh son, it's…"
"No," Ressler interrupted him. "You're the dad I didn't know I needed. But the best one I could have asked for."
He watched Maurice's eyes start to water and Ressler put down his plate filled with a ridiculous array of food and pulled the man into a hug.
"I'm lucky to have you too, son," Maurice said as they hugged.
"Let me get in on this," Hugh said loudly as he hugged the two men.
Ressler and Maurice started to laugh, and Ressler pushed Hugh away. "Go get your own dad, loser."
"I like yours better," Hugh chuckled before he slapped Ressler on the back and left to find more food.
They joined Lisa outside on the lawn chairs and sat to eat.
"Where's Liz?" Lisa asked, oblivious to their early hour arrival which Maurice had obviously not shared with her.
"Showering," Ressler said, buttering his bun while trying to carefully balance an overloaded plate on his lap.
"You hungry enough?" Lisa chuckled as she looked at his plate.
Ressler looked down at the food on his plate and shrugged.
"When's your flight?" Lisa asked.
"Ten tonight," Ressler replied.
"Well, you've got the whole day…" Lisa smiled at him. "What are you and Liz going to do?"
Maurice looked up quickly and caught Ressler's eye and the young man started to turn red.
"I was thinking the potato museum," Ressler said.
"Really? That place?" Lisa asked, surprised. "There are other more romantic…"
"I'm joking ma," Ressler laughed.
"Oh, okay," she smiled.
"There's a hot spring only 45 minutes from here that I thought we'd check out," he said with a smile. "After we grabbed an early dinner."
"Oh, that sounds nice," she said with a smile. "Won't that put you into DC in the middle of the night?"
"Yeah, 2am our time," Ressler said. "But Samar and Aram are taking Agnes to daycare Monday morning, so Liz said it was fine to get in so late."
Lisa nodded. "You and she seemed to have had a very nice weekend away."
He swallowed hard and tried to will his face from turning red.
"We did," he nodded.
"Your cousin Aisling has invited her to Milly's baby shower back here in a couple of months," Lisa said. "Maybe you could come…and Agnes…"
"Ma, I don't think Liz is coming to Milly's baby shower," Ressler said with a chuckle.
"Of course, I am," Liz said as she leaned over his plate and took some food from it and ate. "I'll bring Agnes."
"You're coming to Milly's baby shower?" Ressler asked surprised.
"Aisling said it will be the same weekend as Moira's girl's birthday and, hopefully, Craig junior's stag and doe," Liz said as if it was the most normal thing in the world to be attending all of Ressler's family functions in Idaho. "You should come too."
Liz grabbed the fork from his hand and took some chicken off his plate.
Ressler chuckled and handed her his plate of food, she had eaten enough off it already.
"So, you're okay with me attending my family functions?" He teased.
"If you want to," Liz shrugged as she continued to stand and eat. "It's up to you."
Ressler stood and went and got her a chair, so she had someplace to sit and eat.
"Thanks for including me," he chuckled with his mother and Maurice.
"You're welcome," Liz smiled at him. "Your family rocks."
He laughed and kissed the top of her head before he started back for the table to make another plate of food for himself.
"Bring more potato salad!" Liz called after him.
Moira sat down in the empty chair while Ressler was gone.
"Where did you two go? I came back here thinking you'd called it an early night and we were the first ones to arrive with the girls," Moira said with a smile.
"We went for a walk and a drive…." Liz said. "We lost track of time."
"You did, did you?" Moira asked with a waggle of her brows.
Liz shoved another forkful of food in her mouth and didn't reply.
"I'm warning you now," Moira said quietly as she leaned into Liz. "The Doyle's are a potent lot. And twins are an Irish blessing and curse. Get on some strong birth control if you aren't already."
Liz practically spit out the food in her mouth and Moira started to laugh.
"Has everyone had twins at some point?" Lisa asked, trying to deflect from Liz.
"You did but lost the one with Robby, I did, Aunt Patty has Craig and Kevin, Uncle Fred has Maddie and Sarah, Uncle Art has two sets with…"
"Wait, you aren't kidding about the twins?" Liz asked, her face suddenly serious.
"We don't kid about twins in an Irish family," Moira chuckled.
"Jesus Christ," Liz said as Don appeared at her side.
"Who's having twins now?" Ressler asked, coming late to the conversation.
"Milly," Moira said.
"Milly's having twins?" Liz asked.
Lisa and Moira nodded.
"First time's a charm," Moira said with a smirk.
Liz looked up at Ressler with fear in her eyes. "Don't we need to get to town?"
"Yeah," he said, noting her ashen expression. "Maybe we should head in before it gets busy…"
They smiled at everyone and said they'd see them soon before they headed to Kevin's truck. Because, truthfully, they had not had sex once but several times, even after returning to nap, something had happened. With Plan B on the books for today, one time or four times didn't seem to matter. But now, hearing about the potency of his family and their perchance for twins, Liz started to panic.
He wasn't even at the end of his aunt's driveway when Liz started to speak.
"You didn't tell me you are like a guaranteed baby," Liz said turning to look at him.
"I'm not," he said. "Calm…"
"Moira and your mom said…did you know Milly and Kevin only had sex once and she's pregnant with twins?!" Liz snapped.
"Liz, relax, I am sure you aren't…"
"They all have twins…like all of them!" Liz said.
"And we're going into town to make sure you don't," he said calmly. "And I'm going to get some condoms and maybe we should talk about…do you want to go on birth control?"
"I think I need to," Liz nodded. "Moira said strong birth control."
"She exagger…"
"She's a medical professional, Don," Liz snapped.
"Do you not want any more kids?" He asked, thinking they had just stepped into a bigger conversation than he had expected.
"I don't today!" Liz snapped. "Maybe when we're ready, but today? No, I don't want twins today."
Don tried not to laugh at her panic, it was real, but it was also incredibly cute.
"Well then let's make sure that doesn't happen today, agreed?" He asked her as he reached across and took her hand in his.
She nodded and clutched his hand.
They drove into town in silence, just holding hands.
"Did you and Audrey ever have a scare?" Liz asked him as they pulled into a parking lot.
He took a deep breath and put the car in park before he answered.
"She was pregnant when she died," he said quietly as he met her eyes.
"Oh my god," Liz said as she covered her mouth. "You never told me…Ressler…"
"It's fine," he said softly. "I'm at peace with it now. But at the time…it was…hard."
"Were you trying to…?"
"No," he said. "But there were a couple of times when we threw caution to the wind and…it must have happened then."
She squeezed his hand and nodded.
"We wouldn't have been upset, we were talking about getting married and," he chuckled. "I guess in true Doyle tradition she would have been pregnant when we got married."
Liz chuckled sadly with him. "I'm sorry."
He raised her hand to his mouth and kissed it. "I know."
"I feel like an idiot," Liz said as she looked at him carefully. "You want kids, and I am panicking over having a child when I already have one."
He looked at her confused.
"Don, maybe I'm over-reacting…"
"You don't want kids today, Liz," he said as he looked at her carefully. "I don't want kids today. Well, besides Agnes, who you already have."
She gave him a small smile.
"Let's just enjoy what we have now, and have the bigger conversations about kids another day, okay?" He asked.
She nodded and leaned over and kissed him.
"I love you," she said as they pulled apart. "And one day…"
"One day," he smiled at her.
They got out of the truck and went into the pharmacy together, knowing that one day would happen, but that one day was not today.
To be continued…
