Work Text:
“Do you want me to carry that?” Tim asked, not for the first time, pressing the button for the elevator and then stepping back to stand beside Lucy, who was attempting to balance a truly impressive gift basket to be delivered to Angela and Wesley. She’d had it stored in the back of her car for the past several weeks in anticipation of Angela giving birth. Tim felt it said a lot about how well they knew each other at this point that learning this hadn’t surprised him in the slightest.
She shook her head, promising, “No, I’ve got it.”
”Lucy, you can’t see over it,” he pointed out dryly, causing her to roll her eyes at him. “It is literally bigger than you are.”
”That’s just because of the bunny,” she retorted, nodding to the hilariously oversized stuffed pink rabbit atop the rest of the items, “and if you don’t stop making fun of me, I’m going to take your name off the card and this will just be from me, Tamara, and Kojo.”
Tim held up his hands in a gesture of surrender, grinning all the while. “Sorry.”
”It’s fine,” Lucy sighed, smiling herself as the elevator arrived and they both stepped inside. “It’s nice to be here for a happy reason,” she remarked, her smile transforming into something a little more bittersweet.
“Technically, we’re here in the hospital because Grey ordered us here to get checked out,” Tim couldn't help but point out, prompting another eye-roll from his girlfriend, “but yeah, it’ll be nice to see them.”
“We’re not telling them that part,” Lucy said seriously. “I do not even want to know how many alarms Angela’s blood pressure would set off if we told them what actually happened out there today.”
”She’s a detective, and we look like this,” Tim reminded her dryly. “I think Angela is going to figure out that we didn’t just have an easy day at the office before we got here.”
”Fine, but we’re not telling her about the near-strangling.”
”Roger that.” Their elevator arrived on the correct floor, and Tim placed his hand gently on the small of Lucy’s back as they stepped off and then turned on the direction of Angela’s room.
The door was closed, but Tim had texted both Angela and Wesley ahead of time to make sure they were up for visitors, and so when Tim knocked on the door, they were immediately invited to, “Come in!”
Angela and Wesley were both on the bed when they entered, Angela propped up by a truly impressive number of pillows with her daughter in her arms and Wesley perched on the edge of the bed next to her, both of them gazing down at their sleeping daughter. It wasn’t until the door closed behind Lucy and Tim that the brand-new parents of two finally looked up.
“Hey, you tw-“ Wesley began jovially, but his eyes widened and his voice trailed off as he took them in.
Angela’s smile had slipped away, too, and been replaced by a look of bewilderment. “Do I even want to know what happened to the two of you?" she asked cautiously, her expression one of concern as she glanced back and forth between the both of them. "Or is this one of those situations where it's better for my blood pressure if I just don't ask?"
"Probably the second one," Tim admitted tiredly.
”Definitely the second one,” Lucy confirmed when Angela then glanced her way.
Angela studied them suspiciously for a moment longer before finally nodding slowly. “Alright. Given how you look at the moment, though, I’m going to ask that you sit down before you fall down.” She nodded in the direction of the couch pushed up against the wall. “You can give the basket to Wesley,” she added, prompting her husband to stand up and gently take the basket from Lucy’s arms. “Man, that thing’s bigger than you are!” she exclaimed, prompting Tim to snort and Lucy to glare at him.
”Are you absolutely you sure you guys shouldn’t be in hospital beds?” Wesley spoke up once both Tim and Lucy were settled, still looking worriedly at them both.
“We got checked out,” Lucy assured him, though she figured the way she winced as she said it wasn’t likely to be a point in her favor. “Nothing’s broken, just bruised.”
“Did something good come out of this, at least?” Angela asked hesitantly. “Because I’d hate to hear you got your asses kicked for no good reason.”
”We didn’t get our asses kicked-“ Tim began to protest.
“We caught the people who attacked Aaron and Celina,” Lucy cut in, causing both Angela and Wesley to look in her direction. “We got the person behind all of it. He’s not going to be hurting anyone else we care about.”
"Who was it?" Angela asked immediately, sitting up straighter in the bed. Lucy had Wesley’s full attention, too.
“Luke Moran,” Lucy supplied. “You and Jackson arrested him during our rookie year for…”
”Elder abuse,” Angela finished, her eyes lighting with recognition. “I remember him; he’s the guy who tied his mother to her wheelchair so he could go on a job interview. Dealing with him was one of the few times I saw Jackson nearly lose his cool.” She shook her head in confusion. “I don’t understand, though. Like you said, that happened back when Jackson and I were still on patrol. Why would Moran target Aaron and Celina? I get he’s got a grudge against Mid-Wilshire, but neither of them had even started at the academy when we made that arrest.”
”…That’s the part we’re still unclear on,” Lucy admitted reluctantly, glancing over at Tim to find him nodding in agreement. “Unfortunately, he committed suicide by cop to avoid going back to prison, so he isn’t around to answer that question for us. They’re still in the process of talking to everybody else involved, but because most of them are hired guns…” She trailed off with a shrug and a sympathetic grimace.
“They’re probably not going to break,” Angela concluded, exhaling heavily as she fell back against the truly impressive number of pillows propping her up. “So, we’ll probably never know.”
“We’re still investigating,” Tim said, though his tone made it clear he wasn’t much more confident than Angela. “We’ll figure it out.”
“You hope we’ll figure it out,” Angela corrected knowingly. “You’ve got no way of knowing for sure we will.”
“Angela, these guys shot an LAPD officer and attacked several more. We’re going to figure out why.”
Lucy glanced back and forth between the two best friends, then cleared her throat. “I’m sure we’re going to figure it all out soon, but that’s not why we came here. We wanted to check in on the three of you.”
”You wanted to meet my baby,” Angela countered, her earlier frustration erased by a teasing grin.
“I absolutely wanted to meet your baby,” Lucy confirmed, not even trying to deny it. “After the past few days, I could use some baby cuddles.”
Angela smiled softly. “Well, then, you’re in luck, because my arm has officially fallen asleep and I’m ready to hand her off for a while. Wesley, babe, can you take her for a minute?”
”I can come get her,” Lucy offered.
Angela simply shot her a look. “I love you dearly, Lucy Chen, but with the way you look right now, I don’t really trust you to keep yourself upright.”
”…Fair enough,” Lucy allowed, smiling as Wesley carefully lifted the baby from his wife’s arms and then turned to gently place her in Lucy’s. “Hi, little girl,” she cooed in greeting. “I’m your Aunt Lucy.” She glanced back up to look between the baby’s parents, asking curiously, “Does she have a name yet?”
Wesley was the first to answer. "She does."
When he didn't elaborate, Lucy's gaze shifted to Angela. The other woman laughed softly before offering. "Josephine. Her name is Josephine." Her smile transformed into something more bittersweet when she added, a moment later, "Josephine Erin."
Lucy found herself fighting back tears as she returned her gaze to the baby girl sleeping peacefully in her arms, not a care in the world. “It’s nice to meet you, Josephine. Josie?” she tried out, nodding decisively when she met Angela’s gaze and found the other woman smiling at her approvingly. “Like I was saying, it’s very nice to meet you, Josie, but I think if I hog you too much longer, your Uncle Tim might just pitch a fit.” Lucy pressed a kiss to the baby’s tiny forehead, then carefully transferred the baby into Tim’s arms, smiling fondly when her boyfriend immediately began talking to the newest member of their little found family as if they’d known each other for years.
”Hey, Chen,” Angela spoke up after a moment, waiting for Lucy’s eyes to find hers before continuing. “You ever had a goddaughter?”
Lucy’s eyes widened and a lump formed in her throat at the implication of the words, but all she finally forced out in response to the question was, “No, I haven’t.”
”Well, you do now,” Angela said simply. “If that’s okay with you, I mean.”
Lucy blinked back tears as she glanced over at Tim, who was already beaming back at her, and the baby he held in his arms. She reached out to run her thumb over the baby’s tiny fist, smiling tearfully when Josie immediately grabbed onto her finger and held tight. “Yeah,” Lucy said finally, her throat tight with emotion, “that sounds pretty great to me.”