Chapter Text
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It was an ordinary morning
The time was a little bit past roll call, as the station was still buzzing with energy: the sound of radios, squeakyness of boot leather, clattering of gear, and overlapping chatter filled the precinct, though it was dying down a bit as patrol began hitting the streets.
Everything was normal and running smooth.
Tim was back in his office with his laptop open, three distinct case files arranged in precise parrallel lines to his left, a cup of hot black coffee and a fresh pen resting directly beside his keyboard near a notepad.
He was ready to work... hopefully uninterupted on all the administrative work till it finished...
But...
Then... the door clicked open.
Pointedly, with no knock! Just the smooth, deliberate turn of the handle and then there was Angela Lopez slipping into his office.
She carried herself with that specific aura... and grin that always spelled complete disaster for whoever was sitting in the chair across from her. Her expression was a masterclass in smugness, a mix of supreme self-satisfaction... and worse off for Tim, a very obvious, zero-percent-chance this was a work-related topic placed on the tip of her tongue.
A part of the quick glance to see who was coming in, Tim did not pay her too much attention immediately. Instead, he typed out the final sentence of his report, hit save with a sharp click of his mouse, and then slowly raised his eyes as he leaned back in his chair by about half an inch.
"Morning, Lopez," Tim started, keeping his tone clipped, dry, and strictly professional. He was aiming to preemptively shut down whatever chaotic no-work-related topic she was trying to bring into his space. "How are those new grand larceny cases I assigned you at roll call going? The ones that actually require you to be working on them as we speak?"
Angela did not even flinch, like she wasnt acknowledging anything he attempted to tell her. Her expression hardly changed at all, even. Well, except she got a bit more... giddy?
What? Giddy? Achuraly Giddy? Uh-oh!
"I know," she declared, trying to be smooth. She rested one hand on her hip, looking at him like those two words made complete and utter sense to everyone, not just herself.
Tim stared at her. The penhe'd picked up to try and keep his productivity in taked was in his hand hovered an inch above the notepad. "know what?" he asked.
Angela let out a long, heavy breath, practically throwing her head back toward the ceiling tiles before rolling her eyes. She took two steps forward and flopped into the visitor’s chair across from him, settling in like she owned the furniture and had no intention of leaving before getting out what she wants to knnow.
BuT the annoyance on her face shifted into something slightly warmer, though still entirely insufferable.
"Okay," she said, leaning across the desk and lowering her voice just a fraction like she was telling a secret. "Look, I won’t tell anyone until you two are actually ready to share. But I know! And I’m really happy for you, Tim."
Tim’s eyebrows pulled together in deep suspicion. He set the pen down hard enough for it to make a sharp sound on the desk. He was genuinely lost at whatever the hell she was getting at, but the vague, overly sentimental tone in her voice was already setting off massive internal alarm bells that this conversation was trouble.
"Know what?" he repeated. His voice dropped deep into his consitiant, classic, stern and unflinching 'do not play games with me, Lopez' register, which he often used on the job when. needing to be in charge. "Happy why? What is there to tell, Angela? Please, enlighten me."
Angela let out a breath, like she was trying to contain and control herself before she could give him a knowing, soft smile. She reached across the desk, hovering her hand between them.
"That Lucy’s..."
She trailed off, leaving the sentence dangling in the air. She lifted her hand, looping her index finger in a small, encouraging circle toward him, silently inviting him to take the win and say the words out loud himself! Because she knows and just wants him to tell her his best friend the news.
But...
Tim did not budge on the subject, apart from leaning back a bit in his seat, as he instead made the exact same looping circle gesture with his own hand. He signaled right back for her to finish her own ridiculous, nonsensical thought.
Angela sighed at his stubbornness, leaning back too. "...Pregnant."
The word hit the quiet office like a bomb that Angela planted herself and was just waiting to set off.
What?
Tim’s posture broke for a brief second, but instead of the panic or overwhelming joy Angela was clearly waiting to observe, his shoulders just dropped into sheer, unadulterated exasperation. He leaned all the way back into his desk chair, letting out a short, incredulous laugh. The tension drained right out of him, replaced entirely by the realization that Angela had simply dragged herself in here based on a completely fake lead, trying to get under his skin.
This was ridiculous.
"What!? Lucy’s not pregnant, Angela," Tim said, shaking his head at the sheer stupidity sitting across from him. "Why the hell would you assume that?"
Angela did not back down. If anything, his immediate denial only seemed to solidify her theory that she was right. She adjusted her styleishly expensive blazer, leaning back in the chair with the supreme, unshakeable confidence of a woman who has solved a double homicide before her first cup of coffee, like it was nothing, but figuring out that two of her best friends are expecting was everything!
"I’m a fucking good detective, Timothy," she said, looking genuinely offended that he was trying to bluff on her like she wasn't his best friend. "I notice things. I connect the dots. I look at the physical evidence every day, and you think I won't figure it out. Also? Her boobs!"
The utter insanity of his friend hit him frustratingly. Tim sat there, completely stunned, staring at her as if she had suddenly started speaking jibberish, or shit; maybe shes going insane.
God, pinch him now, so he can wake out of this crazy unprofessional shit show of a shift!
"Her..." He hesitated, rubbing his forehead before finally forcing the word out. "...boobs?"
He said it as if he were trying to come to terms with the fact that this was an actual conversation happening with her in general but also at there place of employment, on the clock!
"Yes!" Angela insisted loudly. 'They're huge,' she pointedly tried to insinuate by using both of her hands to make a large, hovering gesture in front of her chest that was wildly unnecessary, completely exaggerated, and inappropriate at work! "Have you seen them lately?"
She paused, catching herself mid-thought as her eyes widened slightly.
"Wait, No, no, no, nooo," Angela added quickly, waving a dismissive hand in the air. "Do not answer that. I do not want any details. Because clearly you have seen her boobs, I know how babies are conceived, I have two kids. Boobs are a great asset to have, and shes got great ones! . Double congrats"
Tim froze. His jaw dropped open slightly, caught somewhere between utter shock and profound 'What the Fuck'.
This is crazy!
This is out of control!
And this has gotten so wildly inappropriate!
Seriously, What the Fuck!
For a full many many seconds, the office was dead silent except for the faint hum of the air conditioner.
When Tim finally found his voice, his tone was no longer amused. It was sharp, authoritative, and deeply annoyed by the wildly personal, non-professional turn this conversation had just taken. It was much more out there than he would have ever imagined for when she walked in here just moments ago.
He was stern and grummpy.
"One," Tim began, staring directly at her eyes. "Stop looking at my wife's boobs. Two, do not think about, or try to talk about, my sex life, ever, but especially while we are on the clock. Oh, and also add your sex life in there too; I do not want to know details! Three, stop assuming women are pregnant just because your brain needs a hobby when you should be working instead; it's wildly inappropriate, and meddling is getting annoying. Four, Lucy Is Not Pregnant! Do not think about spreading around a rumor like that. And five, get out of my office and go do your actual job I assigned to you, Lopez."
Angela stared at him, her eyes narrowing as she searched his face for any micro-expression, any crack in the bluff. When she did not find a single hint of deception, she let out a long, wildly exaggerated sigh. She pushed herself up from the chair with deliberate slowness, making a show of how much energy it took to deal with... Him.
Wow, she really does put up with fartoo much to just too be his 'bff'. He should be more apreative of just how lucy he is to to have her.
She walked toward the door, opening it enough to step out, but before leaving she stopped with her hand resting on the doorframe just long enough to look back over her shoulder.
"Well," she drawled, her voice dripping with teasing, affectionate sarcasm. "When you finally get that stick out of your ass, and when you two are actually ready to tell people... I’ll still be very happy for... Lucy."
She deliberately left his name out of the congratulations, gave him a playful wink instead, before she slipped out into the bustling hallway, letting the door click firmly shut behind her.
Leaving Tim sitting alone and motion less at his desk.
"Unbelievable," he muttered to the empty room.
He let out a sharp breath, reached out, grabbed his pen, and pulled the top case file back into the absolute center of his desk. He stared at the typed names on the page. He typed three letters into his laptop keyboard.
Then his fingers stopped over the keys.
He stared at the glowing computer screen, but his brain was not reading a single word of the burglary report anymore.
Why the hell did Lopez think she could just waltz in here and pry into his personal life like that? Where did she even get off making up a story like that out of thin air?
It was ridiculous!
Yes...It was classic Angela. She is always pushing buttons, always trying to prove she was the smartest person in the room, always meddling where she did not belong. And that mostly involved him. She didn't care if it was a workday, clearly with the way she just strolled away to watch the insanity infect him to...
Because Lucy was not pregnant. Obviously...?
...Was she?
Tim blinked, pulling his hands entirely back from the keyboard and resting them on his thighs.
No...
Absolutely not...
That was just Angela fiddling her way straight into his head, exactly like she always tried to do. She was insufferable like that.
If Lucy were pregnant, he would know. They talked about everything! They were married; they shared a house, a life, a dog, a shared digital calendar that clearly marked her last cycle was... was...
Tim...No!
There was zero chance a major, life-altering thing like that was happening without him being in the loop from day one.
He would notice...
Notice her... her... boobs... Notice if she were tired. Notice if she were acting different, or eating weird things, or skipping her morning coffee...
...Had she been skipping her morning coffee?
No, he poured her a cup this morning!
Tim scowled, rubbing a thick hand down the back of his neck as a cold sweat of pure paranoia tried to settle in.
"Stop it," he told himself sternly, taking a sharp breath. "Do not let Lopez win this. That is literally what she wants, to get under his skin. Oh right, this is probably payback for him giving her extra cases, yeah, that would make sense."
No... no it doesn't, but okay.
Tim took another deep breath, forced his shoulders to relax, rolled them back, and focused his eyes firmly on the screen in front of him.
"Okay," Tim muttered under his breath, clicking the mouse to open the next case field. "Get back to work, Bradford."
He managed to read two whole lines of a witness statement before his hand stopped dead on the mouse again. His eyes slowly drifted to the right, landing on the small, framed photograph resting on the back corner of his desk. It was a picture of Lucy, Kojo and himself on a recent hike.
Their little family...
Family...
having a family with her...
Tim squinted right back at the photo for a long, intense, quiet moment. He was searching her face in a small print for evidence, desperately trying to analyze a picture taken six months ago for absolutely no logical reason at all.
Oh, so he really is going just as crazy as Lopez!
Realizing that's where he was heading, Tim let out a low, frustrated graon, slammed his eyes shut, and dropped his forehead straight down onto his cool desk.
Lopez was officially the absolute worst... BFF.
After a long, deep breath, really clearing his mind, compartmentalizing everything, he sat back up and was ready to get back to work.
And for most of the day, he did work productily and smoothly with no other intruptions, though the idea of wanting a family with lucy didn't fully leave his mind...
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