Vic's Daughter

Chapter Four

The next morning Luke was up first and made his way into the kitchen to start on breakfast for the three of them. He was whisking the pancake mix when he heard Olivia come out of her room. 

    “Good morning, Liv.” He smiles as she walks into the kitchen and climbs onto one of the chairs at the counter. 

    “Mornin’ Daddy.” She yawned. He chuckled at her. 

   

    “You want some chocolate chips in your pancakes?” He asked.

    “Yes please.” She smiles and looks up to see her mom trudging into the kitchen with her hair standing up in every direction. 

   

    “Mornin’ Mama.” She giggled. Vic smiled and kissed her daughter’s head. 

    “Morning, Baby.” She replied as she made her way over to the coffee pot to get it started. Once it was brewing she turned to Luke and kissed him softly. 

    “Good Morning, Eggy,” Luke says as he pours the batter into the pan and sprinkles some chocolate chips in as well. 

    “G’morning, Scruff,” Vic replies. 

    “Just to be sure, you said that appointment was at 11 today, right?” He asked and she nodded. 

    “Yeah, I think we should tell Liv now though, so she can come with us.” He grinned. 

    “I think that’s a great idea,” He turned to Olivia, “Liv, honey, Mama, and I want to talk to you about something.” 

    “What is it?” 

    “How would you feel about being a big sister?” Vic asks now stirring Luke’s coffee and handing it to him so that he can focus on the pancakes.

    “Really?! Am I gonna be a big sister?” She squealed.

    “You sure are and we get to go to the doctor to check up on the baby in Mama’s tummy later today,” Luke replied. 

   

    “Yay!” Liv giggled. Vic smiled and sipped her coffee. 

    “We might even be able to hear the baby’s heartbeat.” 

    “That would be so cool, Mama. Will we get some pictures?” 

    “We will. We’ll even put one in a frame so you can have it next to you while you sleep.” 

    “Really? So I could always be close to the baby?” 

   

    “Yeah, do you like that idea?” Liv nodded vigorously as she started eating the pancakes Luke had put in front of her. He poured some milk into one of her cups and reminded her to be careful not to spill it or eat too fast. 

    “I know, Daddy you say that every morning. I’m always careful.” She sighs dramatically. Vic laughed and Lucas finished making breakfast for Vic and himself. They sat down to eat and listened to Liv chatter about her dreams from the night before. 

    After Luke was finished eating, he took the dishes over to the sink before going to get ready for work. He combed his hair, brushed his teeth, and wore a fresh uniform. He grabbed his phone, wallet, and keys before stopping to give Vic a kiss and Liv a hug before he walked out to the car. 

   

    He drove into Headquarters and made his way to his office. He turned on his computer and printed out his notes for the meeting. He brewed himself a cup of coffee with the coffee pot in his office. He fixed his coffee and went to grab the notes from the printer and then made his way into the conference room across from his office to wait on everyone else to arrive. 

    As all of his Chiefs and Battalion Chiefs filed in he checked his emails on his phone and responded to some of the more pressing ones so he wouldn’t have to do it later. He sent Vic a text and made sure it would be okay if he told Jennifer about the baby. 

   

    ‘Of course, she’s your sister.’ Vic replied, and Luke smiled. He was planning on talking to Jennifer later that afternoon and he would tell her then. 

Once everyone had arrived and taken their seats Luke got their attention and started the meeting. He spoke to each of the Chiefs about their departments, including HR, and he spoke to each of the Battalion Chiefs and received a debrief about each station and any issues that had come up since their debriefing a month ago. 

With nothing overtly pressing he finds that this has been the shortest debriefing he has ever taken part in. He dismissed them and they went about their days. Luke stops at his secretary’s desk. 

“Hannah, I just wanted to let you know that I have to meet Victoria around 11 today, I should be back by 1. If anyone comes looking for me, tell them to come back after one, call me after one, or come back tomorrow. Unless of course, it’s an emergency then you know how to reach me.” 

“Of course, Chief, is everything alright?” Luke smiled at her concern. He was actually fond of her. Hannah was an excellent employee and he considered her a rare friend. He knew she and Vic were fond of each other as well as Hannah had a young daughter who often played with Olivia. 

“Absolutely. Can you keep a secret?” He asks quietly. She nodded. 

“Victoria is pregnant, we only just learned this yesterday, and we were lucky enough to get a doctor’s appointment today.” 

“Congratulations.” She replies but remains calm despite the wide grin on her face. 

“Thank you,” He replied and smiled, “I’ll be in my office until about 10:30.” She nodded and went back to work as he went into his office to get some more work done before he had to leave. 

He answered emails and read through budget reports. He prepared his speech for the upcoming academy graduation and he printed out the paperwork that he and Vic would have to fill out for maternity and paternity leave so they could go ahead and get that to HR and not have to worry about it later. He grabbed his keys and stopped by the copy room to pick up the forms on his way out and he made sure to let Hannah know he was leaving.