From Down Here Chapter 24

Kojo immediately wakes up at the sound of Tim's truck in the driveway. It's later than Tim usually comes home, but Tamara came to feed Kojo. She didn't cook anything. She filled his bowl from the big bag. But she also stayed for a little while to pet Kojo, which was nice. After she left, Kojo went to sleep, waiting for Tim. He catches Tim's scent and hears Tim's footsteps approaching the door, but he also catches another scent and hears other steps. His tail starts going very fast, and he runs to the door. It's Lucy! Lucy is with Tim.

Kojo barks a welcome and starts licking Lucy's hand. She gets down to stroke him and say hello. "Hey, Kojo! It's great to see you." He yips his happiness and licks her face. "Yeah, I love you too. And I know it's been a long time. Tim and I had some things we had to work out, but I think it's going to be OK."

Tim bends down to scratch Kojo behind the ears. "Lucy and I need to go into the bedroom. You go into your bed, too. We'll see you in the morning."

Kojo doesn't want to leave Lucy alone when she just came back, but he doesn't want to give Tim a mad face by not doing what he says. So he goes to his bed and lies down. As Tim and Lucy pass him to go into the bedroom, he starts to smell the mating scent from both of them. He hasn't smelled it from Tim since Lucy left. Now it's back, and so is Lucy. They'll be mating again. That means that Tim will be happy. And Lucy should be happy too. Kojo listens for sounds coming from the bedroom. At first, Tim and Lucy are just talking, and Kojo can't make out the words. But then he hears the mating sounds he used to hear from them. He curls around himself in his bed. This is how things are supposed to be. And in the morning, Tim will make a Kojo breakfast.

As morning light comes into the house, Kojo smells the mating scent again. He's glad Tim and Lucy will be happy, but he hopes they don't spend too much time mating. He's hungry. He hopes Tim will come out first to make his breakfast, but Lucy comes through the bedroom door. "Tim will be out soon," she says. "He wanted a long shower. He still gets stiff sometimes." Kojo knows what a shower is, and he can just hear the water. He knows Tim won't come out until after it stops. He watches as Lucy fills his water bowl and starts making coffee.

Finally, Tim comes out of the bedroom. He reaches down to pat Kojo's head. "Want some breakfast, Buddy?" Kojo yips and wags his tail. Tim gets the thing he calls a frying pan that he uses to make hot breakfast for Kojo. Kojo can smell the meat as it cooks and waits with his tail going as fast as he can make it. With a happy face, Tim fills Kojo's bowl with the wonderful-smelling meat.

Lucy is using a knife to cut up something she calls fruit. It doesn't smell nearly as good to Kojo as the meat that Tim made him does, but she has a happy face when she sniffs it. Then Tim makes what he calls eggs, and he and Lucy sit down to eat together. "It's getting close to Nolan and Bailey's wedding," she says.

Kojo remembers hearing Nolan talk about his wedding before. He always had a happy face when he did. Lucy's face looks a little different. She doesn't look happy, but she doesn't look sad or mad either. He can tell that the word "wedding" makes her feel something. He just doesn't know what.

Lucy doesn't close the bedroom door when she comes home a few nights later, so Kojo follows her inside to see what she's doing. She's taking a lot of what she and the other humans put on their bodies out of what they call a closet and putting it on the bed. Kojo sits on the carpet to watch as Lucy stares at each thing she pulls out, makes a sad face, and then pulls out another one. But at the sound of Tim's truck in the driveway, Kojo goes to meet him at the door.

Tim gives Kojo a pat on the head and goes looking for Lucy. Kojo follows him and sits down to watch Lucy again. She's still pulling things out of the closet. "What are you doing?" Tim asks.

Lucy gives him a very unhappy face. "Trying to figure out what to wear to Nolan and Bailey's wedding."

"How about that green dress you wore to Lopez's almost wedding?" Tim asks. "You looked beautiful. And isn't green good for a Christmas wedding?"

Lucy looks mad. "Are you kidding? After Angela was kidnapped and Jackson was – Jackson was killed? That dress is bad luck. I had Celina give it to a woman she knows who drives off evil vibes. With everything Nolan and Bailey have been through, I want everything to go perfect. I'm not taking any chances."

"You could get something new," Tim suggests. "We could go shopping."

Lucy's mouth opens wider than Kojo's ever seen it. "You want to go shopping with me?"

"OK. I'm supposed to tell the truth, right? I'm not crazy about going shopping. But we have so little time to spend together, at least it would be something we'd be doing in the same place. And while we're into all the truth-practicing stuff, you know that if something looks like crap, I'll tell you about it."

Lucy laughs. "That's one advantage to couples counseling I never thought about. The Fashion District closes at five, but we're both off Sunday, aren't we?"

"Unless there's an emergency call out," Tim says.

"So let's plan on going Sunday," Lucy says. "Tamara's new apartment is right near there. She might even know the best places to go." Kojo barks at the sound of his friend Tamara's name. Lucy strokes his head. "Yeah, I like her too. And I can ask her about finding a dress. She's probably already scoped the stores out. She's going to the wedding too."

"How big is the wedding going to be now?" Tim asks.

"I don't know," Lucy says. "Since all the cops from Mid-Wilshire are invited, and so is everyone from Bailey's firehouse, it will depend on what happens that day and who gets called to duty, as long as that doesn't include Nolan and Bailey. But Grey will do his best to keep from having Nolan called in, and Bailey's captain is supposed to do the same."

"You're going to have to pick out a dress that has a pocket for your cell phone unless you want to carry your purse all the time we're dancing," Tim says.

"I hadn't thought of that," Lucy says. "It really will help to have you go shopping with me."

Tim's face looks a little happy. "Glad to be of service."

Lucy looks down at the things on the bed. "I need to get all these off here, and then you can really be of service."