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Hank’s alarm woke him up, except it went off at 8 AM and not at noon. The old lieutenant groaned in annoyance, throwing an arm over his eyes as his alarm buzzed before groaning again. He sat up in his bed, the blankets pooling in his lap as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes before shutting his alarm off.
The lieutenant swung his legs over the side of his bed, planting his feet on the carpeted floor and leaning on his knees. He groans again.
Hank wasn’t used to waking up early. He always woke up in the afternoons, usually at 11 or 12 because he drank the night before and stayed up pretty late.
Except he didn’t drink heavy alcohol last night, or stayed up past 12, because Connor and Lake made him go to sleep, and Hank was about 80% sure Lake put a sleeping pill in his beer. The other 20% is Connor spiking his drink. Hank stands up, his back cracking slightly when he hears a clatter and muffled voices in the kitchen. The lieutenant walked out of his room and towards the kitchen, which as soon as he stepped into he froze.
The floor was covered in flour, and in the middle of it was Sumo. The big St. Bernard lay right in the flour, which coated his fur.
Lake and Connor were standing on either side of Sumo, also covered in flour. The girl was giggling while Connor was kneeling next to the large dog, smiling as he tried, and failed, to dust the flour off of Sumo.
Lake was holding a bowl, with what Hank assumed was more flour and water, cus there were ingredients for pancakes on the counter.
Hank must have been watching for a while, because Sumo looked at him and barked, which made Lake and Connor look at him.
“Oh, good morning Hank.”
“Hi, Hank!”
Was the two greetings for the old detective. Smiles crossed their faces and God, it’s been years since Hank saw that bright smile on Lakes face. He could feel his heart melt at Lake and Connor’s smile.
It’s been 7 months since the Android Revolution happened and Androids were given the same rights humans have. Since then, Connor has been living with Hank and Lake in the spare bedroom and working with the lieutenant at the DPD as an official detective. And somehow in those 7 months, Hank’s previously bleak life started turning… more colorful, if you would. With Connor now in his life, the Android had begun pushing Hank to be more healthy, made sure he ate actual food, cut back on his drinking, and basically dragged the detective on walks with Lake and Sumo. Connor had also helped out Lake a lot in the past months, she ate dinner with Hank and Connor, she actually talked to Hank about things, and she had started high school after winter ended! Now, Lake smiled more and talked more and was so, so expressive.
It’s been years since Hank’s house was full of life and laughter.
Years since Cole…
Hank shook his head and snapped out of his very loud train of thought to focus on the scene before him, which was a flour covered dog, Android, and girl.
“Uh, what the fuck happened?” Hank found himself saying.
Lake smiled, her cheeks blooming red in bashfulness. Chuckles escaped her mouth as she rubbed the back of her head. Connor smiled shyly, his LED a steady blue as he brushed some flour off of his AC/DC t-shirt.
“Um, happy Father’s Day, Hank!” Lake said, her shoulders raising slightly as she placed the bowl down on the table.
Oh.
Hank had forgotten about Father’s Day.
In the years after Cole’s death, Father’s Day was a… taboo subject.
Lake would try to help him on Father’s Day by leaving out a card or a cupcake, but Hank never touched them, and he knew it hurt her but on those days he would drown himself in alcohol and play Russian roulette.
Now though, Hank didn’t feel the need to drink Black Lamb or get out his magnum. Something warmed in his chest when he realized that Lake and Connor were trying to make pancakes for Father’s Day, but failed because of Sumo, the spoiled dog.
“We’re sorry about the mess. We were trying to bake pancakes but Sumo…” Connor explained and trailed off, looking very bashful for an Android.
Lake laughed, also looking bashful. “Super sorry…”
Hank stared, and stared. He suddenly laughed at the scene. “How the fuck did you get flour everywhere?”
“Sumo got pretty excited, didn’t you boy?” Lake cooed at Sumo, kneeling down to hug the St. Bernard around his neck and buried her face in his fur. Connor scratched the dog behind his ears, giving up on patting the flour off his fur. Hank watched the two coddle his dog, his two children coddle their dog with a smile on his face. Hank walked over to the three and kneeled down, ignoring the full ache in his knees and the flour getting on his sweatpants, and rubbed Sumo’s ears.
“Eh, it’s okay kids. Let’s go out for pancakes.”
“At iHop?”
“Absolutely.”
Hank ruffled Lake and Connor’s hair, smiling along with them as they sat in the mess of flour.
Yeah, this was a good day. A day Hank was looking forward to.