"Hey, you ok? Lucy?"
Pulled from her thoughts, Lucy looked over at Tim. He was sitting at their kitchen table, pulling on a pair of shoes. Lucy was at the sink filing their water pitcher, which was horribly overflowing. The little light indicating it was time to change the filter was lit up on the top. She kept staring at the light, not realizing how distracted she had become. She immediately turned off the faucet.
"Sorry, what did you say?" Lucy asked, trying to focus on Tim.
Tim stood up and walked over to her.
"You ok?" He asked.
"Yeah, I was just…did you know that the water filter needs to be replaced?"
Tim glanced at the light on the pitcher. "There should be another filter in the closet. Are you ok?"
Lucy paused before responding. "I just feel like…didn't we just replace it?"
"Maybe two months ago?" Tim replied, sensing something wrong in her voice. He wasn't sure why she was so caught up on the water filter. "But we use it a lot. Seriously, are you ok? You're worrying me."
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just got…distracted. What did you say before?"
"I was just complaining about having to go to this dinner tonight."
"I know hanging out with just the guys isn't really your thing, but it is Nolan's bachelor party. You'll have fun once you get there," Lucy assured him.
"I know," Tim responded. "I just wish you could come with me."
"Us ladies already had a good time at the spa last weekend with Bailey. Massages and facial treatments for us, beer and loud music for you."
"I think I'd rather go to the spa," Tim murmured as he leaned over and kissed Lucy on the forehead. "I could cancel if you want me to."
"No. Go. You'll have fun tonight. And be careful," Lucy said.
"That's why I'm ubering. Are you sure you're ok?"
"Yeah, I just…I hadn't realized two months had gone by already. Time flies fast."
"It's just a water filter," Tim told her.
"I know. It's nothing. I'm fine."
Tim's phone buzzed. He pulled it out of his pocket and glanced at the screen. "My uber is here."
"Have fun," Lucy told him. "I love you."
"I love you, too,' Tim replied.
With a quick kiss on the lips, Tim grabbed his wallet from the counter in the kitchen and was out the door. Lucy looked at the water pitcher in the sink, staring at the light. Leaving the water pitcher behind and passing by the closet door where the extra filters were kept, Lucy went right into the bathroom. She rummaged through the bathroom cabinet until she found the box in the back that she was looking for. She pulled it out, stared at it, and sent a small wish into the universe.
A few hours and a few beers later, Tim sat on a stool at a high top table with Grey beside him and Aaron across from him. Nolan was playing darts on the other side of the bar with a few of his other buddies from the station. The bar was loud with music playing and people chatting and having a good time. The bachelor party for Nolan was small and Tim had to admit that he wasn't having a bad time. It was actually nice to be out on a Saturday night with just the guys talking about work and sports.
"Need another?" Grey asked as Tim finished his beer.
"I'm good, thanks," Tim said. He felt appropriately buzzed and was glad he had opted for uber rather than driving himself.
"I'll take another," Aaron practically shouted at Grey. Grey gave him a look. "Sir. Sergeant."
Tim smiled. He fixed his eyes on one of the TVs around the bar. There was a basketball game on. His favorite team wasn't playing, but Tim never could resist watching a game.
"I can't believe John and Bailey are finally getting married," Aaron said. He had a slight slur to his voice and Tim made a mental note to make sure he also took an uber home rather than driving himself.
"Yeah, they were engaged for a long time," Tim said, keeping his eye on the game.
"I thought those two would have gotten married way before you and Lucy," Aaron continued. "And isn't it funny how things ended up working out all considering."
Tim turned his head away from the TV to look at Aaron. "What do you mean by that?"
"Well, just that you ended up with Lucy and John ended up with Bailey. It's just funny that Lucy and Nolan didn't end up together considering their past."
"What past?" Tim questioned. He wasn't sure if he wasn't following the conversation because Aaron was slightly drunk or if he was missing something important.
"You know…the past," Aaron stated with a raised eyebrow as if that would convey his meaning to Tim.
"The past like when?"
"I was talking about Nolan and Lucy in the past!" Aaron practically shouted. He was clearly more drunk than Tim realized. "I mean, it was before my time, but one night a while ago when we were out and she had had a few drinks, Lucy told me and I was surprised, that's all. They just don't seem good together, you know. But you and Lucy, you two are…"
"Wait, who doesn't seem good together?" Tim interrupted, truly confused. "What are you talking about?"
"You know what, forget it," Aaron said. He started looking around the bar. "I wonder what's taking Sergeant Grey so long to get the beers."
"Spill, Thorsen," Tim commanded in his best sergeant's voice. His head began spinning although he wasn't sure if it was the beer or the conversation.
"It's just…you know Lucy and Nolan used to be a thing, right? When they were in the police academy together. And for a little while when they were rookies?"
Tim's eyes widened. "What?"
"Oh, come on, Lucy had to have told you, right?"
Tim stood up, took his wallet out of his back pocket, and threw some money on the table. He had to concentrate to not wobble as he completed his actions.
"She already told you, right?" Aaron repeated in a loud voice as Tim walked out.
When Lucy heard the front door of the house open, she jumped in front of the kitchen table where she had placed a square black box with a green satin ribbon wrapped around it. She wasn't quite ready for him to see her surprise.
"Hey, you're home earlier than I expected," she said with a big smile on her face. "I have something I want to…"
Tim stomped over to her.
"Did you sleep with Nolan?"
Lucy blinked a few times, not sure if she heard the question correctly. "What?"
"Did you sleep with Nolan?" Tim repeated with a little more emphasis on each word.
"Are you seriously accusing me of cheating on you? With John?"
"Not recently," Tim clarified. "When you were in the academy together?"
"Where is this coming from? Did Nolan say something to you tonight?"
"Did you sleep with Nolan?" Tim repeated for a third time. Lucy looked into his eyes. Even though he had often kept his feelings in, she always could tell what he was feeling just by looking at his eyes. She saw anger, pain, and even some fear. It was a look she had never seen him give her before.
"We had a relationship when we were in the academy together," Lucy explained. "We ended it shortly after we became rookies."
"He ended it or you did?" Tim spat.
"Are you drunk? Is that why you're overreacting?"
"Overreacting?" Tim exclaimed. "You think I'm overreacting to the news that my wife had a relationship with a man we are both friends with?"
"Had a relationship. The key word in that sentence is had."
"Did he end it or did you?"
"Does it matter?" Lucy countered.
"It matters."
"I ended it," Lucy told him. "Because I was warned that as a female officer, starting my career while in a relationship with a fellow officer wasn't a smart move."
"Oh, so it wasn't because you didn't have feelings for him? You broke it off with him for your career?"
"Why are you so angry about this?" Lucy asked. "Tim, it was a long time ago. Before I even really met you!"
"I'm angry because you never told me," Tim stated. "I had to find out from Thorsen."
Lucy cursed herself for ever telling Aaron the story of her and Nolan. She couldn't even remember why she had brought it up.
"I'm sorry you found out that way, but I didn't think it was a big deal."
"Not a big deal? That you slept with our coworker? Someone we work closely with everyday? Someone whose bachelor party I just went to having no clue that my wife had been in his bed?"
"That's a low blow, Tim," Lucy said, her eyes filling with tears.
"Why didn't you ever tell me?"
"Because you never asked! Because we had that conversation, Tim!"
"What conversation?" He countered, putting his hands on his hips. "What are you talking about?"
"We decided we didn't want each other's lists. We didn't want every name of every person we ever slept with. We made that decision together. And so no, I didn't tell you because it didn't seem important. Yes, Nolan and I were in a relationship. Yes, I cared about him. But I wasn't in love with him. He wasn't the one for me, Tim. And we were both mature enough to recognize that and be able to stay friends after."
"You should have told me," Tim said, his voice finally at a lower volume.
"Fine. Maybe I should have told you and I'm sorry about that. But I won't apologize for the past. And thank you for ruining what should have been a really special night."
"Special, huh? It doesn't feel very special."
Without another word, Tim turned and left the house, slamming the door behind him. Knowing he was still a little too tipsy to drive, Tim began to walk. He felt angry that he had learned something about his wife from someone else. He thought he and Lucy told each other everything. As he walked, Tim felt a raindrop hit his shoulder. Knowing that it rarely ever rained in LA, he kept walking, trying to clear his head. Another raindrop hit him and then another and another. Within minutes the rain was falling harder. Tim became soaked pretty quickly. Running his hands over his wet face, he stopped outside of a small park and stared at the trees. Lucy loved the park because it was within walking distance of their house and it had a good sized playground for kids. Even though it was empty due to the late hour and the rain, Tim stared at the swingset. He had stared at those swings many times on his way by that park, imagining pushing his own child one day on the swings.
Suddenly Tim became much more sober and he wondered what he was doing. Sure, he would have preferred to have found out about Lucy's relationship with Nolan from her, but he knew it was long in the past. Perhaps because the rain was helping him sober up quickly, Tim realized he had majorly overreacted and he felt bad about it. He did not want to throw away everything that he and Lucy had built over one ridiculous argument. Breaking into a jog, Tim headed back home.
As he bursted in through the front door, he called out Lucy's name. She didn't answer. He heard the sound of the shower running. Tim knew that Lucy liked to take a shower or bath to calm herself. She was probably using one of her tantalizing good smelling soaps that she claimed had calming powers. Tim thought about slipping into the shower with her to apologize using his hands and his body rather than his words, but he knew she deserved better than that. They would get to the makeup sex, but first he had to make things right. Walking into the kitchen to grab a towel to dry his hair, Tim saw the black box with the green ribbon on the table. Curious, he picked it up, undid the ribbon, and pulled off the top of the box. He reached inside and pulled out the tiny black pair of boots that Lucy had once put in his locker. Holding them by their laces, Tim stared at them.
"We were supposed to open that together," Lucy said from the doorway.
Startled by her voice, Tim nearly dropped them. He turned to look at Lucy. Her hair was wet and she was in her fluffy pink bathrobe, another sign that she needed something comforting. Tim could see that her eyes were red. She had been crying. It broke his heart that he knew he was the reason for her tears.
"I'm sorry," Tim said. "I saw the box. I…I don't get it. Neither one of us is starting a new job."
"The boots aren't exactly for us," Lucy said quietly.
"Then who…?"
"The baby."
"Baby? Who's having a…" Tim trailed off as her words dawned on him. "Wait…are you…pregnant? Are we having a baby?"
Lucy nodded. "I took a test right after you left for the bachelor party. It was finally positive."
TIm smiled the biggest smile he possibly ever had. He dropped the small shoes back in the box and started to make his way over to her, but Lucy took a step back. Her eyes showed him that she was still hurt and he couldn't blame her.
"Oh, Lucy, I'm so sorry," Tim breathed. Not only had he started an argument with her over something ridiculous, but she had wanted to surprise him with the most amazing news anyone could ever give him and he had taken that from her.
"I was so excited to tell you especially after we've been trying for so long," Lucy told him.
"I know. I'm sorry. I should never have come at you like that. There's no excuse, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten so angry. I shouldn't have confronted you like that. I…"
"I can handle anger, Tim. And although I don't like fighting with you, we always talk it out. We always work it out. But you left. You have never walked away from me like that and that scares me."
"You're right. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have walked away."
Lucy put a hand on her stomach. "The minute I saw that little plus sign on the pregnancy test I was thrilled. I couldn't wait to tell you. I feel like we've been waiting for this for so long. And I am so happy, but I'm also scared. I'm scared that something could go wrong. I'm scared of what his pregnancy will bring and what being pregnant and having a baby might do to my career and I'm scared if we'll make all of the right choices as parents. And the only person I needed to assure me that everything is going to be ok was you. And you left."
Tim looked her in the eyes. "That'll never happen again." This time as he stepped towards her, she didn't move away from him. He took her hands. "I am so sorry. That's not who I am. You know that."
"I know," she whispered.
"I promise you that I will be here for you no matter what. And I know that we'll argue again in the future, but I will never walk away from you. I need you to believe me."
"I do."
"Good. And nothing is going to go wrong."
"You can't know that."
He nodded. "You're right. But I believe this is meant to be. That we're meant to be parents to an amazing little boy or girl. We're meant to have as perfect of a life as any two people can have together."
"I agree with you," Lucy said, but then paused. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about me and Nolan."
"I appreciate your apology, but I don't want to talk about him or any of that anymore. I want to talk about you. You're pregnant."
"I'm pregnant," Lucy confirmed.
"How are you feeling?"
Lucy shrugged. "Normal."
Tim smiled. "May I…"
Lucy realized that Tim was staring at her stomach.
"You can't feel anything yet. Judging by the light on the water filter, I'm maybe eight weeks along?"
Tim laughed. "What does the water filter have to do with it?"
"Because the last time I changed the water filter I had my period. I haven't had it since then. You would think I would have noticed that I missed a period seeing as how we've been trying to get pregnant, but we got so busy and I was trying not to stress about it as much and…"
"I told you if we kept trying, it would happen."
"I need to get a blood test from a doctor to confirm, but I took three different pregnancy tests this evening and they're all positive."
Tim gently placed his hand on her flat stomach over the bulky robe. She covered his hand with hers.
"We're having a baby," Tim stated, letting the news sink in.
"Yeah."
"I'm sorry I took the excitement of delivering the news away from you."
"It's ok."
"It's not. I was an ass. I'm sorry."
"I forgive you."
"I don't deserve you," Tim whispered, leaning his forehead against hers.
"I can think of a way you can make it up to me."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah."
Lucy pulled at the tie of her robe. The robe gaped open revealing that she was naked underneath. For a moment, Tim's eyes stared at her flat stomach. He couldn't quite believe that she was growing their child. Quickly, though, his eyes flitted to other parts of her body and he pulled her close, kissing her.