Line Of Fire •L.A•

19. My Girl

  Luke introduces Felicity to James, his brother in law, before rounding up their three boys to meet her. Matteo who was among the group, immediately clings to Felicity.

They all gather around the table, James leads in grace and they dig in. Felicity manages to eat with the little boy on her lap, she refuses to let Luke take him and tells him she'd manage just fine.

When dinner ends, The kids go off to find Roxie and the adults start the cleanup. But when they start to hear barking and children yelling, James and Maya leave to handle. Loud yelling in Spanish, tells Felicity Maya was quick to take charge of the situation.

Luke and Felicity work on dishes alone. She washes and he dries.

As they work, once again Luke notices how odd she acts around him. And this time he can't stay quiet about it. "Is everything okay?"

She stiffens at the question." What?"

"You've been off for the past few days. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Yeah I'm okay."

When she doesn't say more about it, they drop the topic. Luke feels himself worrying about her again.

After dishes, they gather at the table and play some poker. Luke feels a little less worried about Felicity as they play. The game brings her out of her shell and soon they're all laughing and talking enthusiastically.

Felicity gloats in everyone's face as she reaches out and pulls her winnings towards herself. Luke finds himself smiling at her. "That's my girl."

Redness creeps into her cheeks and she quickly changes the subject. "Another round?"

"I'm done losing." Maya laughs and stands from the table.

James and Luke make their way to the living room as the girls talk by the table. James turns to him when the sit." So what happened with you and Lisa?"

Luke sighs." It didn't work out."

"I see, sorry about that." James says quietly but he smiles." I'm glad you found someone new."

"What?"

James stares at him." You and Felicity..." he states as if it's obvious.

"Oh no no no. We're not together. We're friends." He quickly fixes the mixup, but James doesn't look convinced.

"Uh sure." He looks amused.

"We are." Luke repeats himself.

"Okay." James says again, and Luke knows there's no hope in trying to change his mind.

The girls join them, this time Felicity isn't wearing her knitted sweater. Luke finds himself watching her as Maya fusses over the dress. Luke can't seem to peel his eyes away.

" You're gorgeous." Maya coos.

"It's the dress." Felicity answers with a polite smile, trying to direct the attention away from herself.

"Nonsense." Maya motions for Felicity to spin and when she stops her eyes catch Luke's.

"Right Luke?" Maya asks suddenly.

"Huh?" He finally manages to look away to where Maya is staring at him with expectant eyes.

"Apóyame aquí!" She says, her eyes twinkling in amusement. "Back me up here." She repeats in English.

For a second all is quiet. Everyone waiting for him to answer. Finally he smiles lightly.  "Definitely not just the dress, Flick."

A small smile grows on her face. And for the first time that evening, Felicity isn't the only one who feels their face heat up.

When it's time for her to leave, he walks her to the door. "Thanks for coming over."

"Thanks for inviting me." She answers. "I hope everything works out with Valerie."

"I hope so too."

"Well Goodnight, Lu."

"Goodnight, Flick. Drive safe." He answers quietly. He leans forward quickly and pecks her on the cheek before she leaves his apartment.

Luke watches her as she walks down the long hallway and opens the door for the stairs. When she's out of view, he closes the door. He makes his way back to Maya and James.

Steven sits between the two on the loveseat, blinking rapidly to keep from falling asleep. Zayden and Liam sit on either side of James' lap leaning their heads on his shoulder, fast asleep.

"I guess it's later than I thought." Luke says taking a seat on the lazy boy. Matteo crawls onto his lap immediately and leans his head back against his uncles chest.

"When's Valerie coming back?" Maya asks eying the little boy.

"In about 2 days if everything goes as planned."

"I hope it does." She says with a sigh. "I don't want her going back to Sam. He isn't a good person."

"I know." Luke finds himself pulling the child in his lap closer. He places a tender kiss on his crown.

Over the next few days, Luke got used to having a full household. Maya stays with Matteo while he was at work and when he gets home he takes over. He dreads the day she leaves, she'd made his life a whole lot easier.

Valerie finally does come back, with a smile as bright as the sun. She pulls everyone into joyful hugs.

Luke meets her enthusiasm with skepticism. She smiles at him when he tells her his worries." Don't worry I'm not getting back with Sam."

"Then why are you so happy?" Maya asks.

She hugs Matteo close as she talks." I got a trabajo!"

They all look at her in surprise." A job?" Maya questions, matching Luke's knitted brow. They're always told they inherited that trait from their father.

She talks fast a she explains her adventures over the last few days." I talked to Sam, he got angry so I left again. On the way back on the bus, I met a nice woman with a boy Matteo's age. I told her I was looking for a job to support my son and she told me she was looking for an in house nanny."

"Where?"

"She lives right here in Quantico. I can move in Saturday and start work Monday!"

She's to preoccupied with dancing around the kitchen with the boys to see the skepticism stay on Luke's face. When she's out of earshot, Maya leans over." You're in the FBI. if you're worried just do a background check."

And so he calls up Garcia and after an hour she was back with information on Valerie's new employer. She was a single mother and wickedly wealthy as Penelope put it. She had no criminal record at all and that bit of information made him breathe a little easier.