AN: In honor of #PearlOhanaDays and Fan Art Friday, I decided to write a fluffy one-shot to go along with False Dichotomy. Since I can't get enough of that little headcanon world, I have also decided to make it its own series and I definitely plan on making a sequel at some point. Here's a quick Kacy one-shot that takes place during the epilogue of False Dichotomy. The title is inspired by the song "Future Me" by Echosmith because it reminds me of Kacy's journey to each other and the future they now have together. I hope you enjoy!
Lucy was in a rush to get home. It was a late Friday afternoon and all she wanted was to get home to her family and start the weekend. Paperwork had always been the bane of her existence, but especially when it meant keeping her at work longer than expected. The rest of the team had already headed home. As soon as she was in the car, she called her wife and smiled at the peals of laughter she heard in the background when Kate picked up the phone.
"Hey, I was just about to call and ask what kind of pizza you want. Finished with the paperwork?"
"Yep, it was such a headache."
"I'm sorry, Luce. You know I get it. That case seemed to have a lot of red tape."
"Tons of it, but I'm done and ready to get home. Pineapple pizza for me, please."
"You want your own or are you going to share with Carlos?"
"I'm starving."
"One pineapple and Canadian bacon pizza for my beautiful wife coming up. See you soon."
"Very soon. I miss you and you know I'm missing our babies. I haven't seen their cute faces all day. It's unacceptable." Kate giggled.
"We miss you too. I got home an hour ago and was in desperate need of some cuddles. Julie got the twins the cutest outfits. Plenty of pictures have already been taken but it's nothing like seeing all that adorableness in person. I can't wait for you to see them. I love you. Drive safe."
"I love you too. Be home ASAP." A smile graced Lucy's lips as she ended the call, focused on the road, and thought about her babies. She hadn't seen them all day and couldn't wait to get home to cuddle up with them and Kate. Lucy had always wanted to be a mother, but she worried that with their careers and the dangers of their jobs, it would be difficult in more ways than one. Like Kate, she leaned on Jane more for advice when they first started talking about having children and her boss was able to put her at ease pretty quickly. Not only was Jane able to find the balance between work and family life, but Lucy and Kate had even more help than Jane did when Alex and Julie were younger. After many talks with Jane, and Maya assuring them she already knew what they were worried about and they had plenty of people in their support system to help out, Lucy and Kate decided that having a child together was definitely in their future. After doing a lot of research, something that Kate was downright meticulous about, the couple chose reciprocal in vitro fertilization as their method of choice. Both wanted to be part of the process, so after choosing an anonymous sperm donor, Lucy's eggs were used to make embryos and transferred into Kate's uterus. At first, Kate was worried the process would be difficult since she was older, but her pregnancy went smoothly. Since she was in charge of her team, it was easier for her to work behind the desk for most of the pregnancy. Zeinab was in charge while she was on maternity leave and Kate and Lucy focused on their daughter and son. Charlie Isabella Tara-Whistler and Micah Noah Tara-Whistler were a beautiful handful at three years old. The twins had Lucy's striking eye color. Charlie's mocha hair was wavy and Micah's was curly. Both were immediately loved by the entire family the moment Kate's pregnancy was announced and the twins were always showered with love and adoration by every member of their ohana.
Lucy pulled into the driveway of her house and shook her head in amusement at all of the cars already there. She knew Jesse and Jane would be on their way soon, but Kai and Ernie's cars were already parked in their usual spots. Kai and Kate were quite close before the pregnancy, but Kai took his duties as an uncle quite seriously when the twins were born and doted on them whenever possible. At first, Lucy thought he was doing it mainly because he wanted Kate to know that even though Noah wasn't able to be around, her kids would always have a loving uncle in their lives, but Kai's secret came out pretty quickly. He absolutely adored kids and Charlie and Micah adored him. Carlos's car was in the driveway as well, along with Maya and Zeinab's. As soon as Lucy walked into the house, peals of laughter, sounds of toys, and the television caught her ear. She placed her keys in the bowl by the door and took off her shoes before heading into the living room where Ernie, Carlos, and Kai were cheering on Charlie and Micah as they steered two trucks around a track Lucy knew Ernie and Carlos set up.
"Um, what is happening?" she asked as she watched Charlie and Micah giggling as they drove around. Charlie's truck was blue and Micah's was green, their favorite colors.
"Momma," exclaimed Micah when he saw Lucy. She immediately walked over to scoop him out of the large truck. Ernie and Carlos began to grumble as she picked up Charlie as well.
"Why are my babies in trucks? They are way too young. Where is Kate?" asked Lucy as she looked around for her wife.
"They aren't too young and she said it was okay because I have rigged both trucks to be remotely controlled by me just in case they have trouble steering," assured Carlos.
"They are three," reminded Lucy before kissing the twins' cheeks. They both cuddled closer into her arms as she smiled lovingly at them.
"Going on four," reminded Ernie and Carlos in unison. Kai chuckled at the look Lucy gave them. Before Lucy could reply sarcastically, Maya and Zeinab walked into the living room.
"I told you she wouldn't be pleased. Luce, Kate is in the shower. We're keeping an eye on things and the trucks are very safe. Ernie and Carlos are doing most of the steering anyways. Let them have their fun," suggested Maya. Lucy wanted to protest, but tended to trust her best friend's judgment about such things. Maya and Lucy grew even closer during Kate's pregnancy. The trust funds Lucy's parents were already establishing for the twins under the Tara name and the arguments around them left Lucy feeling stressed. Past memories from her childhood and upbringing brought concerns about her own parenting and the twin's future since her parents made it clear they hoped the Tara name would live on through them and she often spoke with Maya about overcoming such fears. Maya was also very good at figuring out what her very pregnant, very hormonal boss needed during the pregnancy and texting Lucy suggestions.
"Fine, but you two better watch them. Where's Julie? She's pretty good at watching these two," said Lucy.
"I would hope so since she babysits all the time," said Ernie. Lucy smirked.
"I was talking about you and Carlos," said Lucy.
"Hey," Ernie and Carlos exclaimed. Zeinab shook her head in amusement.
"She's in the kitchen. We were helping her make some salads and chop up fruit. The others should be over soon. Jane and Joe are bringing desserts, we have the drinks and games covered, and Jesse and Heather are bringing over the movies since Kai couldn't be trusted last time," informed Zeinab.
"Just because you don't appreciate the classics like Kate and I do, doesn't mean they aren't classics. Oh, and don't get me started on your taste in films. Jean-Claude Van Damme films don't count as classics," said Kai. Maya snickered as her wife's jaw dropped. Lucy kissed her babies again and cooed at how cute they looked in the outfits Julie picked out for them. She put them back down and they immediately ran back over to the trucks.
"See, they love them," assured Carlos. Lucy playfully glared at him.
"I'm watching both of you. You better have a firm grip on that controller," she warned.
"Like I would ever let anything happen to two of the best future hackers this world will ever see," cooed Ernie as he and Carlos helped the twins back into their trucks. Lucy pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Guys, we've been over this. That's not the goal," she exclaimed. Kai chuckled and wrapped an arm around her.
"We got this. We know you're still decompressing after work. That case was ridiculous. Go shower. We'll watch the kids," assured Kai. She noticed he was no longer in his work clothes and looked quite refreshed.
"How did you get here and shower so fast?" He shrugged nonchalantly.
"Kate told me to just shower here since I already had some clothes I left over from last time."
"I'm going to start charging you rent," she teased.
"Kate already said I could stay if I want. Free of charge," he teased back.
"We'll see about that," she called over her shoulder before heading into her bedroom in search of her wife. She grinned from ear to ear when she heard the shower on and quickly locked the bedroom door before going into the bathroom. She was stripping and out of her work clothes in seconds and Kate laughed when her wife entered the shower.
"There you are. I was hoping you'd join me," said Kate with a bright grin as Lucy kissed her neck.
"Well, the twins are busy and I've missed my wife…even though she is currently letting our sweet babies play on trucks."
"They are perfectly safe and you know no one in this house right now would let anything happen to them."
"I know, but they're getting too big. I need them to slow down, not have their uncles speeding things up by getting them stuff like that. Did you know that Jesse is already talking about teaching them how to surf? Absolutely not."
"Babe, he was talking about in a few years…"
"Absolutely not."
"Okay, let's table that conversation and focus. Our beautiful babies are happy and playing with their family, more family is on the way, and we have some time to ourselves. Let's make the most of it," suggested Kate as her hand slid down Lucy's backside. Lucy happily nodded and pulled her wife closer.
"With pleasure," she agreed before tenderly kissing her.
Lucy's eyes fluttered open. It took her a moment to realize where she was. She was in bed with Kate in the honeymoon chalet in Switzerland. Everything about her dream felt so real and she settled into that thought as she snuggled into Kate's warm embrace. Kate's hand rested on her backside and she kissed the top of her wife's head.
"Morning, have a good dream? You were smiling and making this cute little cooing noise," said Kate. Lucy blushed and cleared her throat.
"No I wasn't," she said quickly.
"How would you know? You were asleep," teased Kate. Lucy groaned and hid her face in Kate's hair.
"Okay, now I'm intrigued. What were you dreaming about?" questioned Kate as she stroked her wife's hair. Lucy sighed and rested her chin against Kate's shoulder.
"Promise not to make fun of me?" Kate smiled adoringly at her.
"I promise, Luce."
"Fine, I had this really amazing dream. Like, makes my heart kind of ache in the best ways kind of dream because I kind of want it to come true."
"Sounds like some dream. Was I in it?" Lucy blushed even more and nodded.
"Yes…and so were our babies." The bright smile that graced Kate's lips made Lucy smile as well.
"You dreamed about us having babies? Plural?"
"Twins, a boy and girl, very cute and very loved."
"Well of course they would be."
"I was coming home after work and our friends were there and Julie was babysitting and Ernie and Carlos had them driving these little trucks around the house and steering and..."
"Wait, how old were our babies in your dream?"
"Three."
"Too young."
"Exactly! But, you were okay with it and Kai, Maya, and Zeinab were supervising while you were taking a shower. Everyone else was about to come over to our place to hang out, you know? Like we do at Tennant's."
"So, in this dream, our house is the place to be and everyone comes over to hang out with us and our babies? That sounds kind of perfect."
"It was," said Lucy as she looked out the window wistfully. She was watching the snow fall in the mountains but her mind wandered back to their beautiful daughter and son from her dream. Kate noticed her faraway look and kissed her shoulder as she wrapped an arm securely around her.
"What were their names?" asked Kate as she stroked her hair.
"We named our daughter Charlie Isabella Tara-Whistler and our son Micah Noah Tara-Whistler."
"Poor kids will have a field day spelling their full names. Plus, twins will be a handful…"
"An adorable handful though," assured Lucy.
"I'm sure Jane will have some tips for us and Maya will read every childhood development study she can get her hands on. Kai, Jesse, Ernie, and Carlos will be great uncles and Julie will be a great babysitter. She's always wanted to be a big sister too. I'm sure Alex will be amazing with them when he comes to visit from wherever he is playing baseball and Zeinab will probably have them fully trained in combat by middle school," said Kate as she thought about the possibilities.
"And Jesse will try to get them to be surfers."
"Sounds like an amazing life. And you got all of that from a dream?" asked Kate with a knowing smile. Lucy blushed.
"I mean we've talked about kids before and I think being all loved up and relaxed and enjoying being Mrs. Tara-Whistler probably has something to do with it," admitted Lucy. Kate nuzzled her neck and grinned from ear to ear.
"I can't wait to have babies with you, Luce. When the time comes, I know our babies will be so loved. I know we talked about having one, but since twins aren't a given, it sounds like two may be in the cards for us?"
"My brothers are twins. It could happen," she reminded. Kate tenderly kissed her.
"Then here's hoping for twins…down the line a bit…at least a year, right?" Lucy profusely nodded.
"Most definitely. I'm not done getting all loved up and enjoying my private time with my gorgeous wife just yet. I do think seeing you all cuddled up and in mommy mode will make me melt on the spot though."
"I know it will for me without a doubt. I love you, Lucy, and I can't wait to have babies with you. Until then, how about we practice the loved up part," teased Kate. Lucy happily nodded and rolled on top of her wife with a giggle. She knew in her heart one day in the future that dream would be their reality, but she was more than happy to get lost in newlywed bliss in the present.
AN: There you have it. Just a bit of fluff to pass the time. I'm not sure when I will write a sequel in the series, but I want to thank everyone for their feedback, comments, kudos, and reviews. I am so glad you love these characters and have fallen in love with the original characters as well. Until next time, cheers.