Amy and Jake

"Jake Peralta! What the hell are you doing?" Jake nearly fell off of the chair he was standing on to reach the bottle of orange soda he had hidden in a high cupboard in the kitchen. Amy's hands were on her hips and Jake thought she looked more murderous than normal for his infractions.

"Ames, just craving some orange soda and I remembered I have some up here."

"No, no and no! Jake, we talked about this, a lot in fact. You were in surgery nine days ago, nine days! You cannot go back to your old habits, you have a kidney and half instead of two and you were super unhealthy before."

Jake sighed and slowly and carefully got down off the chair, "C'mon Ames, it's me, I'm gonna have some soda, I'm gonsta."

Amy wrapped her arms around him, "Jake, I don't want to be a ball buster wife, I don't, but I also don't want to be a widow, even more than the ball buster thing. We have both had our close calls and there are things we can do to make sure we stick around longer, I need you to be on board with this."

Jake threw his head back a little and breathed out slowly, "okay, okay, I give. I know. I will be good. And for the record, you aren't a ball breaker, you're doing what you can to keep our family togethers, forevers style, I get it. After your shit, I lost mine and wanted to do whatever I could to keep you safe, still do, so I gets it, I do, and I will try, but you know me, there will be moments of weakness and soda, but I will try."

Amy kissed his cheek softly, "thank you. It's even more real with JJ on the way," she smiled at him.

Jake squinted at her and then a grin formed, "are you saying we can name baby Peralta José Jacob aka JJ?"

Amy shrugged a little and then nodded, "yeah, I told my dad yesterday while you were sleeping, I nearly dropped the phone because he agreed so loudly. He said his dad would be proud to share your name for the sake of our son, he said his mother was much more serious than my grandpa. He thinks the two of you would have gotten along well. He loves the name so much he is already framing us a poem by the famous Cuban poet and revolutionary José Martí, so we can't change now. I was going to leave you hanging a while longer, but I decided to be nice, plus we can tell your mom when she comes."

"Noice, Victor's on board and I won't be able to understand the poetry in my living room, better yet."

Three hours later and thirty minutes late, Jake's mom knocked on the door, as Amy let her in, Karen squealed with delight.

"Look at the adorable baby bump." She kissed Jake, hugged Amy, a lot, "I still can't believe I'm going to be a nana, I used to think it might not happen, Jake being so married to work and then you seemed so professionally oriented, so this is a nice surprise."

Jake and Amy sat down on the couch while Karen place her bags down and sat on the recliner, "Moms, how was great aunt Esther?"

"She's good Jake, eighty five and still exercises more than us. I saw a few of my cousins, Benjamin has such a gorgeous house, he's some sort of investor. Look at you Jake, I think I'm glad I didn't see you in the hospital, I would have lost it, I might lose it now looking at you, my poor little pineapples."

Amy laughed loudly, Jake frowned, "that was nana's name for me, no more of that. Where's Roger? Did he have a nice time with you?"

Karen and Amy exchanged looks, Karen took a large breath and closed her eyes for a few seconds, "look, Jakey, I wanted to tell you, but I didn't want to stress you out, and then you were injured…Roger moved out, while I was on my trip, it's kind of why I went."

Jake stiffened and could feel anger and resentment towards his father building within himself, "what did the man-whore do now, or should I say who?"

Amy hit Jake, harder than normal, Jake saw a single tear in the corner of his mom's eye, "Jakey, he is who is, I should have known better. It was nice while it lasted, but I caught him, by pure coincidence, I visited a friend at the hotel she was staying at and happened to see your father getting some more of his flyer miles with some woman."

Jake nodded angrily, "wow, what a class act, but I guess I can't be mad he didn't visit since you weren't talking to him."

Jake noticed Amy turning red and squirming uncomfortably, "you knew, Ames, you knew?"

Amy held his cheek with one hand, "babe, I didn't want to be the one to tell you, but your mom told me, so I could let your dad know. I talked to him and he said he would come visit, but he never did. I'm sorry."

Jake forced himself to relax a little, "look, Ames, Moms, you did nothing wrong, at all. This is on him and my unresolved daddy problems."

Amy wrapped an arm around him, "Jakey, I talked to him on your second to last day in the hospital, we fought, he was being an ass and said you would just yell at him, I tried to remind him he has never really been there for you, but it was a losing battle. On a happier subject, I brought gifts for the baby, I know, you don't know the sex yet, but I have a feeling, I just do, so here's some boy clothing, if it's a girl, save it, just in case."

Jake laughed, "damn Karen, you're good, we found out, we're having a boy. We are going to name him José Jacob Peralta, after Amy's grandpa and myself."

Karen shrieked, "I love it, little JJ, so adorable Jakey." Karen pulled out two Golden State Warrior Jerseys for a baby, one with Peralta written on the back, the other with Curry.

"Holy shit Moms, best baby gifts ever, this lil boy will be legit."

That evening, Amy noticed Jake had been quiet during dinner and afterward, especially for him. She thought she knew why, but she didn't want to force him to talk about if he wasn't ready, but as he sighed for what felt like the one hundredth time as they watched Turner and Hooch.

"Jake, what's eating you?"

Jake looked at her, he tried to feign a perplexed look which Amy frowned at, "fine, this shit with Roger, Ames, I'm worried, I don't think I'd cheat on you, that's just not me, but what if I get the cold feet about being a father like Roger and bail on the family or just don't care about JJ."

Amy scooted over so she was now leaning against him, "Jake, listen to me, you will be fine. Your dad's fuck ups are not your fault, and neither are they signs of things to come for you, you are completely different, in every way that counts."

Jake shrugged, "I guess, I just worry Amy, I don't want to fuck up JJ like my dad did to me. A lot of the shit I pulled, and my attitude was because I truly thought I was the only one I could depend on, it hurt me personally and professionally."

Amy rested her head on his shoulder, "listen, let's go to bed, we're tired, I have to go back to work tomorrow, and you have to meet with Holt."

Jake nodded slowly, "yeah, I know, I wish I didn't. It's weird, I don't know why I have to go in when I'm medical leave, that's not normal."

Amy softly kissed his ear, "yeah, but the last few times you were on medical leave you broke all the rules, so he might just want to keep an eye on you."

Jake

As they walked into the Nine-Nine the next morning, Jake felt exhausted, he hadn't slept very much that night, his thoughts consumed with his abilities or lack of as a father. Amy had done her best to try and console him and boost his confidence, but he felt like he was sinking further.

Jake peeked out of the elevator, Scully and Hitchcock were arguing over the last donut and Terry was lifting weights in front of the mirror. Jake scurried through quickly, thankful that Charles and Rosa must be out on a case. He tapped on Holt's door and was ushered in by Holt without a word.

Jake sat down, "Peralta, thank you for coming in. I know you need rest, but I wanted to discuss some things with you."

"Sure, Captain." Jake hadn't made real eye contact yet.

"Peralta, are you okay? You seem down, it is only your third day of home rest, well mostly home rest."

"That doesn't bother me, I need to heal and get stronger, I get that."

Holt eyed him suspiciously, "well, I will come back to this. I would like you to consider becoming a Sergeant. The exam is in six weeks, giving you that time to study."

Jake rolled his eyes, "oh, did Amy talk to you about this?"

Holt looked surprised, "no, not at all. I thought this was my own idea, but she is perceptive. The way you have handled yourself since Sergeant Peralta's ordeal has shown me something I didn't expect, that you are ready to lead."

Jake shrugged, "Captain, that's just not me."

"Nonsense Peralta, it is you. You kept Rosa from hurting her career and a fellow officer, you took charge of a difficult situation on the day you were injured and despite the fact you were hurt, you did everything you could to keep yourself and others out of harms way. I have been impressed and have given great thought to this, I truly believe you would excel at this."

Jake shifted nervously in his chair, "Captain, I don't even think I'm ready to be a dad let alone a sergeant too, besides, I don't want to leave the Nine-Nine."

Holt nodded, "I understand, but the temporary commissioner that was put in place will officially leave office in two months, and I have been asked to be commissioner." Jake looked stunned and was about to congratulate him when Holt held up his hand to not comment, "I will make Terry captain, he has a month to pass the test and Sergeant Peralta would be given a chance to take her lieutenant's exam and be his number two and continue to lead the uniformed officers as well some additional duties and responsibilities, but I have yet to talk to her about any of this, so I would ask for your discretion."

"I think that's great for Terry and Amy, but for me, I just don't see it. I do what I have to so I can be a good detective. I care about my squad, but I'm me captain, I'm a Peralta, my dad was a good pilot and captain, but he still screwed up a lot."

Holt leaned back and pointed at Jake, "I understand now, you are fretting about becoming your father. Jake, please listen to me. I know you worry about becoming your father and letting down your wife and child, but you are different from Roger Peralta in the most fundamental and important way."

Holt stopped talking, Jake didn't want to ask, but he finally got curious enough, "Okay, Captain, what's that? How am I supposedly not like him?"

"Jake, you care about who you are, as a person. Your father cared about a good time, being fun, having fun. You have constantly and consistently proven his opposite. You put your career on the line to bring your wife back safely, in the case where you were injured you took charge and assisted the uniformed officers and forced the hand of a suspect who would have gotten away otherwise. That is not who your father is. I have seen you support and assist Amy in her goals, I cannot imagine that your father has ever done that. Finally, Jake, I know that you love Amy more than yourself, I have seen you give to her, before you even began a romantic relationship."

Jake shifted in his chair again, "look, maybe it's true, but I still worry about becoming him sir."

"Jake, have you ever heard me talk about my father?"

"No sir, but personal information isn't really your jam."

"I admired my father, he was brilliant, he was supportive, and him accepting me as a gay man was not easy for him, but he loved me and supported me nonetheless. He never talked about my grandfather, my mother's father was a fixture at our home, but my grandfather Holt had passed away and was never talked about until I graduated the police academy and finally asked him directly. My grandfather was an abusive drunk. He womanized, he put everyone down. I was astounded, as I thought about it, I finally asked my father why he never talked about, and do you know what he told me Jake?"

Jake shook his head no, "he told me because he was terrified he was no different than his father, which was as ridiculous as believing you could be like Roger. He was affected so negatively, like you, that his greatest fear was becoming the very think that had caused him so much pain in his life. You are not that man, you have become a leader and truly great man."

Jake had tears in his eyes, but he couldn't look away from Holt, "thank you sir, I needed this. I need to talk to Amy but thank you for believing in me sir. I've come a long way since you started here."

Amy

She felt overwhelmed by the amount of work she had to catch up on, but she had one thing that had to be done first. Amy had called Rosa and told him to get Charles out of the bullpen, so he wouldn't harm Jake or get nosy, so Rosa had him in the morgue doing some paperwork they needed to do. Amy texted Rosa to meet her alone in the conference room in the basement.

"Amy, what's up?"

"Hey, Rosa, thanks for the Charles wrangling. I appreciate it, a lot. I need some advice?"

Rosa frowned, "yeah, that's not my thing. Why not Holt or Gina?"

Amy shook her head, "no, Rosa, it has to be you, you are the most honest with me and you know way better than you think I do. Jake is freaking out about becoming his dad."

"Yeah, he's stupid, his dad's a tool, he hit on me the first time we met, and Jake made me pretend to be his girlfriend to impress that jerk."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah, but Jake's nothing like him. Is that your problem?"

Amy sighed, "no, Jake's not the only one worrying about not being a good parent."

Rosa rolled her eyes, "Amy, holy shit, don't be like Jake."

"I'm not, I'm just concerned. I've never been very good at homemaking, but I'm not worried about that part, but what if I'm not a good mom. My mom was good at everything and knew how to do girl stuff. I can look like a girl, but other than make up, I'm not great."

"Amy don't be stupid. You will be a great mom, you accept people, no matter what, like you have with me. Other women I know, they aren't the same with me since I came out as bi, but you are, you never changed, even a little. You never game up on Jake when he and I were in jail, Adrien left the country and hid, but you worked tirelessly to get us out, that's dedication and love. Parent shit. You also love nerd stuff which will make that kid smart, and the fact that you have already helped Jake get more mature, well that's impressive. So, don't be a dummy, you'll be awesome. Okay, I've gotta get out of here, too many emotions. "

Amy and Jake

Amy was catching up on paperwork and reading reports in her office when Jake peeked in, "Hey sergeant, I know your busy, but do you have a minute to talk to a sorry detective."

Amy smiled sadly, "you're not a sorry detective, but yes, come in, shut the door, you seem serious."

Jake shut the door and sat down, "Holt wants me to consider becoming a sergeant. You really didn't talk to him about that?"

Amy's eyes went wide, and she shook her head, "no, not at all. That's insane, that man is so perceptive."

"Well, I think I might try, he talked to me about it, and about my fears of becoming my dad."

Amy reached across her desk and took his hand, "that's amazing. The most important part is that you know you'll be amazing. I'm worried about being mom, it's normal."

Jake sputtered, "you, you were worried? Amy, you'll be the best. You are organized, you plan well, you take care of me, you'll be amazeballs, Ames, amazeballs."

Amy laughed, "Jake, you take care of me all the time. I talked to Rosa, I feel better."

"Did she tell you to stop being a dummy?"

"Yes, but she also had some good points. Look, this is new territory for us, we both have insecurities, but we can do this, but we have to do it the same way we've gotten through all our other problems."

"Ah, you mean together, the old team work speech."

"Yes, Jake, teamwork, but it's true. Together, we're pretty awesome."

Jake nodded, "I agree, in fact, we're fucking awesome."

"True, but you have to start watching your language, baby on the way."