Helloooooo! This one is a filler, in every sense of the word. Really. After reading some of your FANTASTIC replies, I realized I really did need to bring Sam back in. So, five days later, we find out something interesting... ;)
I hope you all enjoy!
The Healing Process
For the fifth day in a row, Dov woke to the sound of his dresser drawers opening and closing softly.
"Andy. Will you please stop doing my laundry?" He called from underneath the still standing tent they had constructed out of blankets and now taken to sleeping in.
"Dov, you barely have any clean clothes." She protested. "And how on earth did that wake you up? I was being so quiet!" She scolded herself.
"I'm a man, Andy. An attractive woman prancing around my room, it's like a dog whistle, except for men. It perks up my ears." He laughed. "I was gonna do all of our laundry today. I told you that!" He rolled over, careful not to pull down the blanket wall to his right.
"Well I woke up early, and I got bored." She stumbled across the room and fell onto the bed next to him, her head in her hands.
"And that's why you've been cleaning every morning this week before I wake up?" He arched his back and stretched.
"It's either that, or I'm going to start baking things like Sam does." She mumbled cheerfully.
"Sam bakes?" Dov lifted his head off of his pillow, smiling.
"What? Did I say that? No! He doesn't. He… he plays football." Andy stuttered, searching for a quick explanation. A pointed look from Dov was all it took. "Okay fine! His mom used to bake when she was upset or she wanted to thank someone, and it kinda got passed on to him. But don't tell anyone! I wasn't supposed to say anything!" She clapped her hands over her mouth and then ran them through her hair.
"His secret is safe with me." He yawned. The sunlight shone brightly through his east facing windows, illuminating the white sheets that hung from the ceiling. The two lay on his bed for a few minutes, just smiling. The fluffy white blankets and rays of sun kept them plenty warm, and for a moment they were perfectly content. Until Andy broke the silence again.
"Sam's visiting tomorrow." She smiled from ear to ear.
"I was wondering when you'd bring that up." He smiled and rolled onto his side, propping himself up on his elbow.
"I'm excited okay?" She blushed and flopped onto her back.
"I have no doubt." He brushed her bangs out of her eyes.
"He's picking me up, too. So you can have a break." She chirped. Dov sighed.
"Look, Andy. I don't think that will work. He's taking such huge risks being here, putting all of us in danger. Why don't I drop you off at your house, and he can go there? That way, there's no chance that someone will see you two driving around together."
"Well how are we gonna tell him that?" Andy cocked her head to the side.
"We're gonna make a sign for him." Dov replied happily.
"You mean like a bat signal?" Andy snorted.
"Andy, he drives by here everyday… Did you not notice that?" He laughed, looking at her in disbelief.
"He does not! What?" She gasped.
"He checks on you every chance he gets. I noticed him doing a drive by a few times last week." Dov gestured towards the front yard.
"Oh." Andy relaxed, satisfied with his answer. A few moments passed. "I'm excited." She giggled. Dov smoothly put his arms under her legs and shoulders before rolling them over and carrying her down the hallway.
"Ninja!" Andy screeched gleefully as he made his way to the kitchen and placed her on the counter.
"Can I take a look at your stitches?" He asked. Andy nodded. The cast had been removed a few days earlier, and it was now up to Dov to keep the wound clean until her next check up. He peeled back the gauze.
"Holy shit! This is gnarly." Dov prodded the red area around the gash carefully.
"Gnarly? Really, Dov?" She laughed, trying not to notice the severity of her injuries.
"Sorry." He laughed. "This is just… hold on, I'm gonna get the stuff." Dov took one last look before searching for the cream that the nurse had told him to use. When he returned, he was hoping that it wouldn't hurt like it did yesterday.
"Do you wanna ice it first?" He asked.
"Nah. I'll be fine." Andy waved the suggestion away.
"Alright." Dov sang. He'd fully expected her to shrink away from him and nearly break the handle off of his cupboard door like yesterday. It was painful, he knew that. But for some reason, today was different. Andy barely moved an inch when he carefully started to pat around the tender wound with some wipes. A few minutes later, they were done.
"That was easy." Dov took a step back, admiring his handy work.
"Yeah, it wasn't actually that bad." She shrugged. "Weird, honestly. I guess I'm healing up pretty good."
"Thank God." Dov smiled up at her. "Well, what do you wanna do today?"
"Need any housework done?" She grinned.
"No, miss. Someone seems to have taken care of that already." He said mockingly.
"Well, need any house repairs done? I'm actually pretty good at that kind of thing." She asked.
"I kind of want to paint the spare bedroom." He mused. The two shared a look before leaping into action.
"I'll get my keys and make the sign, you put on clothes." He said as he jogged out of the room. Quickly, he wrote 'See you at home!' on a piece of paper and tacked it to the front window. He grabbed his keys and met Andy at the door.
"What colour?" She asked.
"You pick." He smiled as he led the way to the car.
"What? Really?" She stopped at the top step.
"Yeah, why not? I trust you." Dov shrugged and helped her to the car. Andy sat, staring out the window all the way to the paint store, all the while considering colour schemes and textures. Dov could see her mind spinning.
"I should, trust you, right?" Dov furrowed his brows and smiled nervously. Andy was about to answer when his phone vibrated in his pocket.
New Text Message
Chris Diaz
Dov flipped his phone open and read the message.
Hey, man you gotta get in here. Best really needs to talk to you.
"Shit." He closed his phone and pulled over. "Is Traci off today?" He turned to Andy.
"Actually, yeah. Why? What's going on?" She tilted her head.
"Ah, I just gotta go see Frank. Hold on." He dialled Traci's number. "Hey, Trace. Can you meet me out front of that paint place near my house? I need you to take Andy for a bit while I go see Frank." He felt bad asking such a favour on her day off. "Thanks, I owe you one."
Traci pulled up about ten minutes later, and the two traded cars. Dov filled Traci in as they passed each other, and then they parted ways.
He pulled up to the station and jogged right into Best's office.
"What's up?" He said, grabbing one of the black chair's in front of the desk.
"Well, there's been a break in our case. I thought you'd like to know what we've found." He leaned forward.
"Thank you, sir. I'd love to know." Dov sighed gratefully.
"Well, there's a sale happening on Monday, three days from now. I don't want to get anyone's hopes up, but we may be able to get Sam and the other UC in on it. This is not for sure, and it's a lot riskier, but if we can, Sam wants to get in on it." He clasped his hands in front of him. "This may be over in a little more than a week and a half." Best smiled.
"That's great!" Dov threw his hands up and leaned back in his chair. "That's so great. Andy is going to be ecstatic!" His voice raised an octave.
"Wait, Dov. You can't tell her yet." He warned. "I don't know if this is going to pan out. Give it some time."
"Right. When are we going to know for sure?" He asked.
"Swarek is going to report in as soon as he can, and we'll go from there." A commotion in the bullpen caused both men to turn. When the situation was under control, Dov stood.
"Thank you, sir." He held his hand out for Frank to shake.
"No problem, Epstein." He shook his hand. "How's McNally holding up?"
"Well, her leg's in a splint now and the wound itself is disgusting. But, it is healing nicely." Dov reported with a smile.
"What about her mental state? I know she was having nightmares before, and it can't be easy with Sam gone." His voice tinged with more than a little concern.
"The nightmares still happen nightly, but they aren't as bad." Dov left out the fact that he still wasn't sleeping after seeing Luke on top of Andy. "She really, really misses him. It's like a period movie from the 1940's, and her husband just went off to war. It's tough." He sighed.
"I see. Well there are always people she can see; we can put her through the system. We've got really good people." Frank suggested.
"We'll have to wait and see. I think she really associates therapists and psychologists with her father, and his troubles. He tried a few years back with one, and it left a pretty bad impression. She is talking to me though, for what it's worth." He shrugged.
"That's good, actually. I was thinking she'd keep it all to herself. It sounds like you're doing a good job taking care of her, though. Where is Ms. McNally, anyways?" Frank glanced around the station. Dov checked his watch.
"Probably painting my spare bedroom some bright purple." Dov laughed. Frank gave him a questioning look.
"Painting?" He raised an eyebrow.
"She offered. I left her with Traci and told her she could pick the colour. So we'll just have to wait and see." Dov laughed a little, crossing his fingers.
"I want pictures, Epstein!" Frank laughed as Dov left the room. Dov winked at him and made his way over to Chris, who was working diligently on a report.
"Hey, brother. What's up?" Dov said, leaning on the desk.
"Hey, man! Ah, not much. I'm just filing a report for this B&E that Noelle and I got called to. Pretty minor stuff, I've gotta say. You really aren't missing much." He relaxed in his chair.
"Good. How's Gail?" Dov raised his eyebrows. Chris smiled proudly.
"She's still got a bit of morning sickness, but she actually has a pretty good baby bump!" He said excitedly.
"Baby bump? What is this, Access Hollywood?" Dov laughed. "Congratulations, man. Where is the mommy-to-be?" He quickly scanned the room.
"I think she's in booking right now. Go say hi, I'm sure she'll be happy to see you." He smiled.
"Alright, I'll see you later man." He clapped Chris on the back as he passed him.
He opened the door to booking to see Gail leaning over a man cuffed to the bench.
"You wanna say that again, big man?" She yelled, one hand on the base of her back.
"I-I'm sorry. Never mind, okay?" The man cowered below her.
"Gail!" Dov whispered. She turned, and instantly the bad cop persona vanished. She ran over to him and wrapped her arms around her neck.
"Dov!" She screamed.
"Hey, what the hell?" The man on the bench called out.
"Shutup." Gail turned and shot a death glare at him, before turning back to Dov and smiling from ear to ear. "How are you?" She hugged him again.
"I'm good! I'm good. Still a bit thrown off by this new loving, wonderful Gail, but I'm gladly adjusting." His hand moved down to her stomach. "How are you and junior here?" Gail's eyes lit up.
"We're doing so, so, so good. Chris is almost finished the nursery, he's like a magician." She was beaming.
"So you're how far along?" Dov asked.
"About nine weeks." She giggled. Her eyes widened and she leaned back, looking around. "Come here." She whispered. "I'm taking my break!" She called to the other officer.
She led Dov to the parking lot, a smile growing on her face.
"What?" Dov laughed.
"Okay, you can't tell anyone. At all, ever, ever. Especially not Chris!" She stood on her toes and shifted her weight back and forth.
"Okay, okay! What is it?" Dov asked.
"I had this test done. Because my mom had a miscarriage, and I just wanted to make sure the baby would be healthy." She patted her stomach.
"And?" He tilted his head.
"Not only is the baby healthy, but this test also determined the sex." She jumped a little bit.
"Gail! What is it?" Dov grabbed her shoulders.
"Guess." She smiled.
"A boy?" He widened his eyes.
"NOPE! A GIRL!" She screeched, drawing attention from across the lot. She jumped up and Dov caught her midair, spinning her around.
"Congratulations! Can I be the God father?" Dov and Gail spun merrily.
"Probably! I have to go back in, but we should go get coffee sometime, you can help me plan the reveal for Chris!" She grinned as she led the way back inside.
She walked towards the Booking Room, but instead of going inside she walked right past. She found a table and sat, Dov followed suit.
"We should just talk about this now; I'm too excited to go back in." She grinned. An hour later, Gail was demanded to return to work. Dov had grown to love her, but he was relieved when he finally was allowed to go home. He called Traci, who said they were already at his house.
When he got home, he could smell the fresh paint. He slowly walked down the hallway to find Traci and Andy in the middle of the newly painted room with two glasses of wine.
"Do you like it?" Andy gasped as she tried to get up, but failed.
"I love it!" Dov smiled widely as he turned to look around his new, dark purple room.
"I called this you know, the purple. At least it works in here." He grinned.
"It's a neutral purple." Traci giggled.
"Thanks for today, Trace." Dov sat down next to the girls.
"No problem, buddy." She said, taking another sip of her wine.
"What did Best say?" Andy asked.
"Nothing." Dov zipped his lips.
"I tried to be nice." She said to Traci, before grabbing a paintbrush and dousing him in purple paint.
"I'll never tell!" Dov hollered as he ran to the bathroom and locked the door, laughing as Andy banged on the other side.
"Let me in! Tell meeeeee!" She laughed as Traci joined in.
Dov laughed as he turned on the shower and started to wash the purple off of him.
It was going to be a long day, with two more than tipsy women running around his house.
"Shit! Traci, my tent fell down!" Andy screeched, giggling uncontrollably.
A very long day indeed.
