Lucy licked her lips as she eyed her ice cream cone. She glanced at Jackson who was leaning back in the plastic chair, eating his sandwich slowly. She sighed as she glanced at the table next to them with longing. She watched as Tim shoved a couple of fries in his mouth before glancing up at her with a small grin. She glanced down at her phone to check the time and sighed in relief when she saw that the shift was close to being done.
She grinned at Jackson who rose an eyebrow questioningly, "What's got you so excited?"
Lucy glanced at Tim who was still eating fries and talking to Lopez before turning back to Jackson, "Me and Tim are taking a week vacation away LA. Next week actually."
Jackson grinned and leaned back in his chair, "Ah, a whole week from the city. Where are you guys going to venture off to?"
Lucy grinned and leaned back, taking a sip of her chocolate shake, "We're flying down into San Antonio, Texas Sunday and coming home early next Saturday. It will give us a day or so to rest up from our flight."
Jackson nodded and toyed with his cup before grinning, "You guys taking Zeus with you?"
Lucy grinned as she sat down her cup, "We were going to bring him with us, but Tim isn't too fond of putting him through that stress unless we have to. We're thinking of boarding him for the week."
Jackson grinned and rose an eyebrow at Lucy questioningly, "So Tim is attached to the dog now?"
Lucy took a quick glance at Tim, who was saying something funny to Angela, and turned back to Jackson with a smug smile, "Of course he is. We didn't have Zeus for a week and he had him snuggled in between the two of us for bed time."
Jackson tipped his chair back as he laughed. It was hard to picture Tim Bradford being cute and soft with puppies. Although he did seem to soften up with anything concerning Lucy, so he could picture it a bit. "You know if you guys don't want to bored him with strangers, me and Gino could keep him for the week."
Lucy glanced at Jackson and grinned, "Would you?"
Jackson grinned and nodded, waving his phone in her face, "I'll even send update pictures once a day or so. That way you won't worry about him."
Lucy grinned and nodded, knowing that even though Tim didn't say anything about it, he was nervous to leave his pet in the hands of strangers. She glanced at Tim and decided for them, knowing that he wouldn't mind, "As long as you walk him once a day, give him snuggles, and love him like he was ours, then yes you can watch him for us. Tim won't openly admit it, but he loves that dog and if anything would happen to Zeus in someone else's care, he would find a way to slap charges on the person responsible for animal cruelty."
Jackson rose an eyebrow, knowing that if he wanted to be, Tim Bradford could be as ruthless as any criminal. He nodded, his voice reassuring as he spoke, "You won't have to worry about anything happening with me. We'll treat him like our own pet."
Lucy was about to comment when her radio crackled to life, alerting them of a public disturbance. She turned to Tim briefly, to see him nod at her, as if to tell her to be careful, before going to the job at hand.
Hours later when she came home, she moved quickly to the shower. She sighed happily as she stood underneath the hot water. She moaned softly as her tense shoulders began to loosen and her tired body began to relax. After her hands began to shrivel from the water she climbed out and dried off. Looking through the dresser she found one of Tim's worn Dodger shirts and yoga pants. She threw her hair up in a ponytail and padded out to the living room where Zeus was waiting patiently.
She knelt down and stroked his soft fur before scratching behind his ears, "You want to go out buddy?"
Zeus jumped up, wagging his tail excitedly as he clumsily made his way to the door. Lucy grinned as she slipped on her shoes and grabbed her phone and the leash from the coat hook. She clipped him on and slowly made her way outside for a short walk. She breathed in the fresh air as she made her way to the park down the street. Finding a bench underneath a large tree she sat down to let Zeus take a break. Out of habit from her job she scanned the park quickly and smiled softly as she zeroed in on a little boy clinging to his mother's hand as he toddled over to the swings.
The little boy laughed as his mom pushed him through the air. His excitement and cries of joy caused Lucy to grin as her mind wondered to someplace in the not so distant future when she would be pushing a little boy or little girl in a swing. She hoped that her baby would have Tim's eyes. She sighed, suddenly feeling lonely. She was brought out of her thoughts as Zeus began to whine and paw at her knee. She glanced down and grinned as she stood up and scratched behind his ears.
Her voice was soft in the wind, "Ready to go back home boy?"
Her response was a happy bark. As she began to move towards the park entrance she glanced back over her shoulder and smiled softly at the mother son duo. Maybe someday that would be her, but for now she grinned back down at Zeus and led him home.
Tim sighed as he shouldered open the apartment door, suddenly feeling drained after the long shift. He glanced around and noticed that Lucy and Zeus were nowhere to be found. He figured that they were on a quick walk before packing bags for their vacation.
As thoughts of vacation flitted across Tim's mind, a small feeling of dread seemed to settle in the pit of stomach. He breathed out, needing to get his mind off going back home. He made his way into the bedroom and grabbed his luggage bag to try and pack some of his things. He went into the bathroom and rummaged through the drawers, trying to grab the smaller stuff first. He was grabbing the toothpaste when he saw a pink box shoved in the back corner. He stopped to listen for Lucy and breathed out slowly when the apartment remained still. With shaky hands he grabbed at the box and flipped it over. His heartrate ticked up when he saw that it was a pregnancy test. He shook it and was a bit disappointed when it wasn't empty, but then thought maybe she hadn't had a chance to take it yet. His heart pumped a bit faster at even the thought of Lucy being pregnant. His mind flashed with visions of a little girl with Lucy's eyes and smile and of a boy with his hair and rowdy streak. He jumped when he heard a loud bark, alerting him that Lucy and Zeus were home. He shoved the test back where it was and slowly shut the drawer before going back to the bed with some toiletries for the week.
He was zipping up his smaller bag when Lucy came through the door, Zeus trailing close behind her. He grinned at her as he took in her small frame donning one of his Dodgers shirts. He grinned as he made his way towards her and gently pushed her against the doorframe. He leaned down to press his lips to hers and sucked in a quick breath as her small hands moved up his biceps, stopping to loop her arms around his neck.
She breathed in his scent of woods and earth, grinning as she ran her fingers through his short hair, "I should take Zeus out more often if I get kisses like that when I come home."
Tim smirked and shrugged, "I missed you today; long day dealing with Gibson."
Lucy sighed, knowing that Tim loved being a cop, even on the longer days. Hearing some of Tim's TO stories from before her time and after he had finished training her, made her glad that she was partnered with Jackson every day. Thinking of Jackson made Lucy think of Zeus and their vacation.
"Mentioning of long days today, I talked with Jackson. He practically begged to take Zeus next week."
Tim glanced down at the large pup who was rolling on the floor next to his bed. He grinned as the large puppy got to his feet and pounced on one of his toys, making it squeak. He grinned as he watched Zeus play, suddenly not wanting to leave the dog, but not trusting that the airline staff would do things properly. He glanced to Lucy and knew that she preferred having him stay behind for the week with friends they trusted.
He nodded and glanced back down to the dog and smiled, "Yea that sounds like the best idea. I don't really want our dog in an airplane, not knowing how he'll handle things."
"I'll text Jackson and let him know he can pick up Zeus tomorrow night so he doesn't have to get up super early to meet us Sunday."
Tim nodded as he went back to packing his bags. An hour later their bags were by the front door and they were stretched out on the couch watching a Dodgers game. Tim glanced down at Lucy as she was flipping through her current book. He watched as her brown eyes moved over the page quickly; wondering if she had always read that quickly. He shook himself from his thoughts as the commercials on the TV switched back to the game. He suddenly found himself trying to stay awake; the last thing he remembers was that the Dodgers were losing.
Tim shifted in his seat Sunday morning; the airplane seat was just as uncomfortable as he remembered all those years ago. He glanced over at Lucy, who was looking excitedly outside at the clouds. He smiled softly and wondered briefly if their kids would one day have her excitement. He watched Lucy for a few more minutes before turning back to his phone. He closed his eyes briefly before being shaken awake by Lucy grinning excitedly at him.
"We're almost in El Paso; the captain said we had to put our seatbelts back on."
Tim groaned and ran a hand through his hair; he noticed it was getting a bit too long. He grinned at Lucy as he snapped on his seatbelt and put his seat in the right position. He bounced his leg as the plane began its descent into a place that Tim had left behind years ago.
They quickly moved to baggage claim and moved through the airport towards the car rental office. Tim sighed in relief as he was handed keys to a newer Ford Mustang. He grinned as he made his way towards the car and put their luggage in the back of the car. He grinned as he opened the door for Lucy, tossing her a wink as he shut the door. As he slid in, he took notice of the dark leather seats, the touch screen on the dash, and the sleek radio. He rolled the windows down to let in the hot Texas air, before revving up the car and pulling out of the large parking lot. Tim slid on his sunglasses that he had perched on top of his head as the hot sun glared down through the windshield. He sighed as he fiddled with the radio, trying to find something that would distract him. He huffed when nothing seemed to get his interest.
His eyes slid to Lucy who was looking excitedly out the window. He grinned, she used to do that when he was her TO. It used to drive him crazy, but now he just found it cute. He cleared his throat before breaking her away from her sightseeing, "There's nothing out there boot. Just dessert, ranches, and small towns."
Lucy rose an eyebrow, her voice taking on a defensive edge, "Your childhood home is out there, somewhere. Besides, you might have grown up in the middle of nowhere, but I haven't ever left LA."
Tim sighed, vowing to change Lucy's travel experience in the coming years. He shook his head and grinned, "Trust me, you aren't missing anything here. I can promise you that."
Lucy sighed, "Don't be such a grouch."
Tim grinned and rose an eyebrow, "I won't be a grouch about coming home, if you promise not to psychoanalyze me the whole week."
He watched Lucy open her mouth trying to protest; he knew she couldn't do it. It wasn't in her nature to just ignore people's behavior and attitudes in the environment around them. Truthfully, it was a big part of why she was such a damn good cop. Other than the fact he had been the one to train her.
Lucy huffed, crossing her arms, "Fine, I'll try, but that doesn't mean I'm just going to ignore your feelings about being home."
Tim grinned, he couldn't expect anything less from his wife, "Fine."
Lucy went back to watching the trees until she noticed they were turning onto an old dirt road. She perked up a bit more when she noticed it was getting more secluded as they went further down the road. She noticed old houses, horses, and cattle were the only thing to see. Suddenly they were turning into a driveway lined with fences. She noticed the large iron sign with a simple B embossed on a horse hanging high in the air as they moved slowly down the drive way. She grinned at the horses and cattle grazing, wondering if they could ride some horses while they were visiting. Her eyes swung forward and she felt her jaw drop at the size of the farm house staring back at her.
The old white house was two stories with a large wrap around porch, overlooking the land it was built on. Lucy shifted in her seat and turned to Tim with a small smile. She took in his rough jaw, bright eyes, and was pleased to see he had a tiny smile on his face. She grinned as they slowed to a stop in the front of the home. She sat in the silent car as she watched Tim collect himself.
At seeing his old home after so long, Tim was suddenly taken back by how much he had missed the old place. He stared out the window and let his eyes drink in the old white exterior he helped paint one hot summer; the burgundy shutters he had to help repair after hitting them one too many times with a baseball; and the old wrap around porch he had his first kiss on. He grinned as the sights and the smells came flooding back. He turned to Lucy with a grin and motioned to get out of the car. He blew out a breath as he grabbed their bags from the back and moved slowly towards the porch.
He had his hand on the old door handle when it swung open quickly to reveal an older women with dark brown hair streaked with a bit of gray. He grinned as he dropped the luggage to the floor and wrapped his arm around the smaller woman, his voice thick with emotion, "Hi mom."