She was so beautiful. That's what Tim thought as Lucy twirled in a circle in the middle of the dancefloor. She was in her green dress, the one she had worn to the carnival. Looking around, Tim could see the rides, the games, and the concession stands. But that wasn't right. The carnival had been weeks ago, hadn't it?

"Tim," Lucy called seductively. "Dance with me Tim."

Tim focused back on her, but he couldn't find her. There were too many people. Tim began to push his way into the crowd, trying to get to her. He heard her call out his name again. But she seemed further away.

"Lucy?" Tim called out, but his voice got drowned out by the noise of the crowd and the music. All of a sudden Ashley popped up in front of him.

"Care to dance?" She asked.

"No, I'm looking for Lucy."

Tim tried to step around her, but no matter which way he stepped, Ashley was still in front of him.

"Tim!" Lucy's voice rang out again, but this time fainter.

"Lucy!"

"Tim! Tim!"

Tim's eyes sprang open. He was looking at the ceiling of the guest house. It had been a dream. A very strange dream that felt incredibly real.

"Tim!" Lucy yelled. There was a pounding on the door. It had been a dream, but the knocking at his door was very much real. And Lucy was calling his name. Wearing only a pair of boxers, Tim jumped out of bed and swung the door open.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

Lucy looked him up and down. She focused in on his bare chest and couldn't stop staring.

"Ah…I…ah…" she stumbled. Her brain couldn't focus. Never before had she been left speechless by just looking at a man before, but here she was, unable to form a coherent thought because his pecs and his abs and everything about the man was just perfect.

Tim would have smiled and made a snarky comment about her ogling him if he wasn't so concerned about why she was knocking on his door at six AM.

"Is everything ok?" Tim asked. "Is it Alex?"

"He's fine," Lucy managed to say while she was still staring at him. She wasn't sure she had actually seen a man up close in person who was in quite as good of shape as TIm was.

"Lucy," Tim said, snapping his fingers.

Lucy abruptly looked up at his face again. She blinked a few times, shaking her head.

"Sorry. Sorry."

"I appreciate the admiration and at another time I will happily take off my clothing with you, but what is going on? You're scaring me."

"I got a call from one of my contacts at the NYPD," she explained, her brain and her mouth finally connecting once more. "A client I had been working with there before I moved just got arrested for theft. She struggles with mental illness. I had worked with her for months on getting on the right meds and making sure she had a safe place to stay. But, she must be off her meds and she's giving the police a hard time and she said she won't talk to anybody but me. They're going to lock her up if someone doesn't intervene and jail isn't the right place for her."

"Can you do an online call with her?" Tim asked.

"The jail won't allow it," Lucy answered.

"So you want to go to New York?"

Lucy nodded. "But I need someone to look after Alex. I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important and you don't have to say yes. You've already done so much for me and…"

Tim put his hand on her arm. "Of course I'll watch Alex."

"Thank you. He'll be at school most of the day anyway. The bus will pick him up at 8:10 and he gets home at…"

"I know, Lucy. I've been watching you guys do the whole bus and school thing for more than a month."

"Right. Of course. I have to get on the road. As it is, the traffic is going to be terrible. He's still asleep, but you should wake him up at…"

"At 7:00. I got it."

"I already made his lunch and there are bagels in the breadbox for breakfast or sometimes he just likes cereal and…"

"Lucy, I got it."

Lucy took a deep breath. "Ok. I don't know when I'll be back. I'll text you later when I know more. If I'm not back by dinner…"

"I'll order us pizza. I've got things handled here. You just be safe."

"I will. Thank you again."

Lucy turned to head back to the house when she swung back around to face Tim.

"I'm sorry, can I just…"

She reached out her palm and touched his abs. "Wow," she commented. "You really are the perfect specimen of a man."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

He leaned down, quickly brushing his lips against hers.

"Ok, I gotta go."

"Be safe. And don't worry about us guys."

"Thank you."

As Tim watched her go, he retreated back into the guest house. He quickly pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt. Tim made his way through the French doors and into the main house. Lucy was already gone. She had left a cute note for Alex on the counter, which Tim thought was sweet. He began to make some coffee, unable to keep the worry from his mind about Lucy going to New York alone. Of course he knew that she was smart and could take care of herself, but he didn't like the fact that she would be going into a jail full of criminals. Tim wanted to do anything he could do to protect her, which brought his thoughts to his dream. What did it mean that he couldn't get to her on the dance floor? Was it a metaphor for when he would go back to LA and he would be so far away from her that he wouldn't be able to protect her anymore? The thought terrified him.

At exactly twelve o'clock that same day, Tim sat at the kitchen table with a half eaten pastrami sandwich next to him and the coursework binder for the gun safety course in front of him. He was highlighting certain things that he wanted to go over during his next session. As much as she missed the everyday action of being on the streets patrolling Los Angeles, Tim was actually enjoying teaching. His cell phone rang. He fished it out of his pocket, surprised to see that it was Genny considering she should have been in school teaching.

"Hey Gen, what's up?" Tim answered.

"It's Alex."

Pushing back in his chair, Tim sprang to his feet. A million thoughts raced through his mind and none of them were good.

"What is it? Is he hurt? Is he ok?"

"He's…puking," Genny answered.

"Oh."

"He took a few bites of his lunch and lost those bites and his breakfast in a nearby garbage can. I happened to have lunch duty when it happened. The nurse has him in her office now."

"Lucy's not here," Tim explained.

"I know. She texted me this morning before she left for New York. Which is why I'm calling you. I would take him home myself, but my class will be back from recess in seven minutes and…"

"I'll come get him right now," Tim said.

"Thanks. And I would bring a bucket for the car ride."

"Right. Thanks. I'll be there in a few minutes."

Tim hung up and then grabbed the garbage can from next to the sink in the bathroom. He quickly got in his truck and made the short drive to the elementary school. When he found Alex in the nurse's office, Alex looked pale.

"Hey Tim," Alex said groggily.

"Hey buddy." Tim greeted, bending down to take a look at Alex. He didn't look well. "I'm going to take you home, ok?"

"I might puke in your truck."

"That's ok. Come on."

Even though he was getting to the age where he was too old to be carried, Tim hoisted the boy up. Alex immediately put his head on Tim's shoulder. Carrying his backpack in one hand and holding on to the boy with his other, TIm brought him out to the truck. It was then that Tim realized that not only did he not have a booster seat for him, but he would have to sit in the front seat, something the small boy shouldn't do. But Tim had to get him home. He put Alex down in the passenger seat and buckled his seatbelt, pulling it tightly. Tim was determined to drive the slowest he had ever driven in his life.

"Is mommy home?" Alex mumbled. His eyes were closed and his head was against the back of the seat.

"Not yet, bud, but I'm going to take care of you, ok?"

"Ok."

Tim began to pull out incredibly slowly. He kept his eyes trained on the road and both hands on the steering wheel. He glanced over at Alex when he heard a gurgling sound.

"How are you doing buddy?" Tim asked.

"I think…I think I'm gonna…"

Before he could finish his sentence, the little boy threw up on the floor of Tim's truck. The garbage can from the bathroom was a few inches to his left.

"I'm sorry," Alex grumbled.

"It's ok, bud. Let's just get you home."

When they arrived back at Lucy's house, Tim cleaned Alex up and helped him get into his comfiest pajamas. He did an instacart order for some ginger ale, saltine crackers, and some kid's pepto bismol. Once he had Alex settled on the couch with the bathroom garbage can right beside him and Alex's favorite cartoons on the TV, Tim texted Lucy and told her what happened. She immediately called him.

"Oh my God, is he ok?" Lucy asked.

"He's fine," Tim said, making his way into the kitchen so that Alex wouldn't be disturbed. "He's comfortable on the couch right now. Actually, I'm pretty sure he's asleep."

"I'm so sorry you have to deal with my sick kid."

"It's ok. The nurse said something's been going around. She said most kids were good within twenty-four hours, but he can't go back to school until he's puke free for a full day."

"Of course. I just wish I was there with him," Lucy said, a mountain of regret in her voice.

"I know, but he's ok. Apparently I make a pretty good babysitter."

"Thank you again. I've got a meeting with my client and a judge in half an hour, but then I'll be on my way home. Unless you want me to leave now. I can…"

"No, he's ok. We're ok. Do what you need to do and drive safely, ok?"

"Ok. Text me if anything changes."

"I will."

"And Tim?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Be safe."

"Bye," Lucy said.

Hanging up the phone, Tim started to think about how he was going to clean the puke from his truck.

Hours later, Alex was asleep in his bed and hadn't thrown up since he had done so in Tim's truck. He managed to eat a few saltine crackers and keep them down and Tim had given him some flattened ginger ale to calm his stomach. As Tim leaned down over him to kiss him goodnight, he could see more color returning to the young boy's face. He seemed to be on the mend already.

Heading back down to the kitchen, Tim put away the crackers. He looked in the refrigerator and found some leftover lasagna that Lucy had made a few nights earlier. He dishes some onto a plate and heated it up in the microwave. As he stood there waiting for the microwave to finish, he heard the front door open. Lucy came inside.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi," she responded. "How is he?"

"He's fine. I just put him to bed with a bucket, of course. But it's been hours since he's thrown up."

"I'm going to go up and check on him."

"Ok. Do you want me to make you a plate?"

"No, I had some dinner on the road. But thank you." She squeezed his arm. "For everything."

Tim watched as Lucy made her way upstairs. He turned around when the microwave chimed, signaling that his food was done. Tim stayed standing as he ate. A few moments later, Lucy returned and Tim put his plate down.

"He's sound asleep," Lucy said.

"Good."

"I'm really sorry about this, Tim."

"There's nothing to be sorry about. Kids get sick. Aside from the vomit in my truck, it really was an easy day. He slept for most of it."

"He puked in your truck? I am so sorry. I'll…I'll pay to have it cleaned."

"Don't worry about it," Tim assured her. "I already cleaned it all up. Do you know how many people I've had puke in my shop? I'm used to it."

"Still, you have no idea how much I appreciate it. I'm just sorry I wasn't here for him, but it helped that I knew Alex was being well taken care of."

"Don't mention it."

"On my drive home I did think of a way I could say thank you," she said, placing both of her hands on his chest.

"Oh yeah?" Tim asked.

"Yeah."

She kissed him passionately and his hands instinctively went to her waist. As they made out, his hand slipped down to her butt and Lucy jumped up and wrapped her legs around him. Tim spun her around, plopping her down on the kitchen counter, never breaking their kiss. She opened her legs and he stepped in between them. Lucy reached for the hemline of his shirt and pulled it over his head. She took a moment to admire the view as she had done that morning. Tim caught her eye.

"Are you sure? I don't want us to rush into this just because you feel like you owe me."

"I'm sure," Lucy said and she meant it. Her drive back and forth to New York gave her a lot of time to think. She felt like she had been slowly pulling away from Tim since she had the dream about him bleeding out in a hospital because she was afraid of getting too close to him. And she was afraid that sleeping with him would be a tipping point that she couldn't get back from, but she didn't want to be afraid. She wanted to be with him and feel that connection with him, even if it meant she would have to guard her heart a little bit more.

"Good," Tim said before devouring her with his lips. Her hands roamed his naked chest. His muscles felt better than they looked. As he started to unbutton her blouse, they both heard the unmistakable sound of someone getting sick.

Going from sexy woman ready to be taken to bed to mom mode, although still incredibly sexy in Tim's eyes, Lucy straightened herself up, buttoned the few buttons that Tim had managed to undo and ran up the steps. Tim needed an extra minute to calm himself down. He grabbed his shirt off the floor and willed himself to not be so turned on.

When he was decent again, he made his way up the stairs. There was a pile of vomit on the floor leading into the bathroom and Lucy was carrying Alex to her bedroom, whispering to him that everything was going be alright. In Tim's eyes, any hope of making love to her that night was gone. Instead, Tim grabbed a bucket, some all natural bathroom cleaner, and a whole roll of paper towels.