Secrets (Never to be Told)

Chapter Twelve

Tim left Lucy's apartment late that night. He was way too intrigued to see all of Hailee's childhood photos when Lucy pulled out two chunky photo albums.

Now, the next morning, it still felt like a dream. But this was real, this was his life.

He took a quick shower before getting ready for work. He was keen to fulfill his promise to Hailee and make her happy by picking her up with the shop.

Packing his bag, he suddenly heard his phone vibrate on the kitchen counter – awaiting a message from Lucy and from an unknown number.

Lucy Chen

I gave Hailee your number, so she can reach out to you when needed and wanted. She is beyond happy to finally have her dad present. See you later.

Lucy.

Unknown

Hey Tim! It's me, Hailee! Mom gave me your number so I can text and call you! I did have to promise not to text while you're at work unless it's an emergency...See you later at pickup! With the shop!!!!

Tim smiled at the last message. There was so much of Lucy in Hailee when it came to her personality and energy. He quickly saved her number in his contacts and then grabbed his coffee to take to work with.

When he entered the briefing room, Lucy was already there chatting with Angela and Harper. She sent him a quick smile before cutting off her conversation and sitting down in her own seat in the front row while Harper and Lopez joined him in the back.

He felt his phone vibrate again and he raised an eyebrow when he saw the ID. "Why are you texting me?" It was mere a whisper, but Angela heard it nonetheless. "Just text me back." Tim's gaze fell back to his phone, reading the message his best friend had sent.

Angela Lopez

And??? Lucy was smiling, so it must be good news?

Tim huffed out a quiet laugh. "Yeah." He answered, not even bothering to text her. "We discussed it. She knows." He felt her lingering stare, but he kept on looking straight at the podium where their Sergeant would stand soon to start roll call.

Tim couldn't wait for his shift to end and apparently, neither could Lucy. She was buzzing with energy in the passenger seat as they were on their way out the station to start their day of work.

"You seem more energized than usual." Tim stated, a smile forming on his lips as he concentrated on the traffic in front of them. "I just don't have to carry that secret around with me anymore. It's...refreshing." She grinned and Tim shook his head with a small smile.

Their shift went on easily, nothing too absurd and Tim let Lucy out at the station a couple hours later to clock out and get changed. As she disappeared into the building, Tim drove back out to the Elementary School Hailee was attending and queued in the pickup line.

He saw her from afar, waiting not far from the pickup area with a group of children. There was a nice breeze, so he had the windows down and as the cars in front of him moved on and drove away, he stopped for Hailee to get in.

He could hear the "ah's" and "oh's" from the other kids, but he couldn't mishear what the other girls were talking to his daughter about. "As if your father is a real cop. Your mom is one, he can't be one too" one girl said, and Tim frowned. Before Hailee could answer, another girl chimed in. "Yeah, I bet you've made that up so that you could finally get some friends" They chuckled in a way that made Tim's blood boil. Before he could think about his next move, his hand was already on the siren-button, gaining him everyone's attention.

"Hailee, are you coming?" He asked calmly after the siren stopped. With tiny steps and a weird expression, she walked over to the back seat and dropped into the leather. "Hey Dad." He had expected excitement on his first official dad-duty, and yet Hailee's voice was strained, as if she had been holding herself back from crying. "Are you alright? Who were these girls?" He asked another question as he started the car again and drove back to the station.

"I'm fine." Lie. Tim wasn't a detective, but he could differ between the truth and a lie. Is she not comfortable enough around him yet? "If they are bothering you, you can talk to me. I won't be mad." He looked at her in the rearview mirror, but she looked at her feet. "I'm fine." Still a lie.

Tim bit his lip – this isn't how he had imagined it would go. He had to ask Lucy about it.

Hailee didn't say anything until Tim parked the car in the garage and turned off the engine. "Tim." Hailee spoke up and now looked at him directly, expression hardened. "Please don't tell mom about them." His heart broke to see his daughter trying to hold herself back from crying.

He got out of the car and opened the door to her seat, helping her out. "Why? I could see they weren't doing anything good to you. How long has this been going on?" He could see a few tears forming in her eyes.

"A while. Since the beginning of the school year, I guess." She grabbed the strap of her backpack tighter as a few tears rolled down her cheek. "Just don't tell mom." Hailee gritted her teeth and started walking to the elevator, Tim following closely behind, grabbing her tiny hand to hold her back. "Hailee." His eyes were focused on his daughter. He wouldn't fail her, not when he had failed to see her grow up already. "Talk to me." "No." "Hailee." There was more demand in his voice, and he immediately regretted it when he saw how she flinched and couldn't stop the tears from falling, trying to distance herself from Tim – unsuccessfully, his grip on her wrist was stronger than her pull.

"Hailee," he pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her for a hug, holding her tiny figure like she was a fragile vase threatening to shatter any second. "Please, talk to me" He didn't care that they were in the middle of the parking lot. He didn't care what his colleagues ending or starting their shift must think about him. All that mattered now was Hailee.

It took a couple seconds for her sniffles to die down, leaving behind slightly red eyes and snot all over his uniform – not that he cared about that.

"They've been saying these horrible things to me." Hailee finally started and Tim made sure to listen to every little detail his daughter was telling him, from how it started out as little comments until selectively picking on Hailee whenever a parent-child event rolled around.

"Oh baby" he pulled her in for another hug, stroking her back softly before pulling away to wipe her tears away. "Why haven't you told anyone? Your mom, teachers?" Hailee looked back at her feet, fiddling with her fingers. "I was scared. Their parents are lawyers, and they would always mention that." She wiped a few more tears before looking up at her father. "Will you do something?" There was a spark in her eyes Tim hadn't made out before. Hope. "Of course. I'll talk to your mom about it and then we will talk to the school and their parents. Bullying is not okay." He grabbed her hand again, squeezing it softly how he had done it to Lucy multiple times now in comfort. "Thank you for telling me, baby." He kissed her forehead. "Now, should we go see mommy?"

Hailee nodded frantically. And then there was this smile, that reminded him so much of Lucy: bright.

He had just been blessed by this little ray of sunshine, a tiny copy of his rookie, and he wouldn't accept anyone prying that little sun away from him – not under his watch.