From Down Here Chapter 35

Lucy has just come home when Kojo hears Tim's truck. He yips to let Lucy know and eagerly greets Tim at the door. "I found out what's going on with Bailey," Tim and Lucy say at exactly the same time. Kojo's never heard them do that before and is wondering what will come next.

"Did you hear that she's pregnant?" Lucy asks.

"Yeah," Tim says. "You?"

"Uh-huh. I was in a stall when Angela and Nyla came into the ladies' room."

"Let me guess," Tim says. "You put your feet up so they couldn't see you were there."

"Hey, with all the UC I've done it's second nature," Lucy says. "And anyway, how did you find out?"

"Nolan was backup on one of our operations. After it wound down, one of the guys heard him on the phone with Bailey."

Lucy looks mad. "And you're talking to me about eavesdropping! Your guy not only listened, he spread it around. By tomorrow half the LAPD is going to know."

"Lucy," Tim says. "It's not like it's something she could keep secret. Sooner or later, everyone would know. Probably sooner. Firefighters have to be able to lug a person down a ladder while wearing all that equipment. How long can she do that pregnant?"

Lucy looks even madder. "She could still work as a paramedic. Some women do that right up until their due dates."

"Or maybe she doesn't want to have it," Tim says. "Maybe she and Nolan would like to be married for a while before having kids. And he already has a son. Maybe that's enough."

Lucy looks sad with the mad. "If that's her choice, it's her own business, Tim. But Bailey's such a nurturer, I don't see her terminating a pregnancy."

Tim is beginning to look mad too. "What about Nolan? What about what he thinks?"

"It's Bailey's body," Lucy says. "It should be up to her. And whatever John thinks, I'm sure he'd respect her wishes. He's like that."

"You should know." Tim's words sound to Kojo like an angry cat.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lucy asks, sounding different too.

"You two slept together when you were rookies, didn't you?" Tim says.

"Yeah we did, for a while," Lucy says. "But we were of equal rank, so it didn't violate any regs. Bishop still thought it would be bad for my career, so John decided to break it off. But I was going to do that anyway. I didn't want to mess up my chances to advance. But you're damn lucky that John and I were together on that first day when you were shot. If he hadn't come charging in to help me, you could have died. Bishop and Gray still wanted to bounce him for that, but Captain Anderson overruled them. You should be glad she did. And we both know that if he hadn't figured out where I'd be, you could never have found me in that drum. So what's your problem?"

"I just don't like to think about you with another man, that's all, Lucy."

'You practically pushed me at Chris," Lucy says.

Tim is getting louder. "I was just trying to protect you. But you were with Nolan on your own."

Lucy gets louder too. "And you were married to Isabel. I got to watch while you broke probably half the rules in the book trying to protect her. So you think you can move on and I can't?"

"I don't think that, Lucy. It's just the way you talked about Nolan hit me wrong," Tim says.

Lucy looks less mad. "All right. I get it. And once we watch Bailey and John get married, it'll be different, won't it?"

Tim does the mouth-pressing thing to Lucy. "Yeah. It'll be great."

Kojo starts to smell the mating scent. Tim puts his paw around Lucy's, and they go into the bedroom.

Kojo is happy to see Tim come out of the bedroom first in the morning. It means he'll get the good breakfast. Tim starts making coffee, but then he gets the pan and starts cooking.

When Lucy comes out of the bedroom, she is acting a little like Skye, bouncing around the kitchen. Her face looks happy. "Only one day until Bailey and John's wedding. At least she won't have to let her dress out or anything. She's not showing yet."

"Which is a good reason not to talk about her being pregnant," Tim says. "Maybe she'll be lucky and be able to keep a lid on it until she's ready to say something. That way, she and Nolan can just enjoy the wedding, and everyone can have a good time without gossiping."

"You're right," Lucy says. "And I have something else to talk to Harper about today. We're going to be part of the entertainment. Bailey asked us if we'd sing a number together at the reception. We've practiced a few times in the ladies room at Mid-Wilshire. It felt really strange singing with another cop. I used to sing with Jackson all the time. But after he was killed, I didn't want to – not even with John."

Tim looks surprised. "Nolan can sing?"

"Nothing from this century," Lucy says fast. "But we used to fool around with old-time karaoke sometimes before Jackson…. Well, anyway, Nyla and I practiced a little when we had time, but we need to make sure we have it right before tomorrow. So I'll probably stay over at the division while we do."

"In the bathroom?" Tim asks.

"Besides Gray's office, it's the only place Smitty doesn't barge into," Lucy says.

Tim moves his head up and down. "Yeah, he's even barged into my office. But I don't think he'll do it again."

"You never know," Lucy says. "So what are you up to today?"

"Unless we get called out, we're scheduled for the gauntlet."

"Is that the thing with all the pop-up targets where you have to make sure you only shoot the bad guys and get attacked from all sides?" Lucy asks. "You sweated bullets over that one when you first joined Metro."

"Yeah, but I ended up making out fine," Tim says. "The one we're doing today is a few steps up. We not only have possible shooters, but there are bombs, mines, and tripwires. It's a lot like some of the training I went through in the military except with more elements in a small area. And if you set off a bomb or a mine, there's a blast of rubber pellets. They can't do much lasting damage, but they can hurt like hell. And setting something off doesn't stop the exercise. We have to keep going to the end of the gauntlet."

What happens if you get one of those rubber thingies in your eye?" Lucy asks.

"We have goggles," Tim says. "But we can get hit almost anywhere else."

"Even…?" Lucy asks.

Tim puts his paws over the parts of him he uses to mate with Lucy. "Even there."

Kojo's not sure what Tim and Lucy are talking about, but she has a scared face. "Try not to let that happen," Lucy says. "I'm kind of attached to your stuff."

Tim gives a loud laugh that Kojo wasn't expecting. "Not as much as I am. Believe me, I'll be as careful as I can."

Lucy looks a little happier. "Good."