Secrets (Never to be Told)

Chapter Thirteen

Lucy was walking around the bullpen. Tim and Hailee should've been back by now – did something happen? She was holding onto her phone like it's a lifeline, highly alert to any notification to come in.

It felt like ages when the elevator doors opened with a chime and Tim entered the station with Hailee on his right, making a beeline through the staring officers to Lucy.

Lucy couldn't help but see the reddened eyes and snot stains, locking eyes with Tim whose expression hardened again when he realized that Lucy had noticed them. "We'll talk later, I'm gonna go change. Meet me at your place?" Tim asked, not explaining too much of the situation while taking off his camera and on-duty weapon to return before heading to the changing rooms, leaving Lucy behind with her daughter, puzzled.

Did something happen at school? Did something happen on the way back? What was he not telling her and why was Hailee not saying anything? Lucy was pulled out of her thoughts when Hailee excitedly started a conversation with Angela.

A couple hours later, when Lucy had just finished making dinner and Hailee was in her room doing homework, Tim knocked on the door to her apartment. She wasn't able to forget her daughters tear-stained expression and his hardened gaze. Wiping her sweaty palms on her shirt, she opened the door, greeting him with a quick smile before turning her attention to setting the table.

Did something happen on the way back home? Does he not want to be a part of this family anymore? The thoughts played in her head like on loop.

"Lucy." She startled when Tim was suddenly in front of her – sha hadn't noticed. "I can hear you thinking all the way on the other end of the room." He placed his hands on her shoulders, calming her just a little. "Sorry." She bit her lip. "I'm just nervous. Can't be a good thing you want to tell me, right?" She took a deep breath and forced a smile. Tim grabbed the hands she was fiddling with yet again. "It's not like that." He understood her, she didn't have to actually say it. "I'm not going to leave after just entering the picture. Never." He assured her, watching how she calmed down a little. "What is it then? Did something happen at school?" She glanced at Hailee's closed door for a second before locking eyes with Tim again.

Tim nodded, letting go of Lucy's hands and putting them in his front pockets instead. "I overheard some girls picking on her. Something about me not being able to be her dad because I was a police officer as well as you. They said Hailee would've made it up to get friends." He paused a little, waiting that the initial shock washed off Lucy's expression. "Hailee had hesitated to tell me, but she then admitted that it had been going on since the beginning of the school year, worsening whenever a holiday like mother's or father's day would come around."

Lucy gulped, sitting down on one of the chairs at the table. She'd had her suspicions when Hailee suddenly wanted to know something about her biological father back in June, but she'd pushed it off when everything was fine after that. "How did I not notice that..." Lucy's eyes were now locked on Hailee's door and she felt a tear rolling down her cheek. She was such an awful- "Stop it." Tim broke off her train of thoughts. "You're a great mom, don't let yourself suffer for something you have no control over." He sat down in front of her and wiped away the tear with his thumb, hand cupping her face for just a split second.

"It's not your fault. It's these girl's fault and the lack of parenting of these stupid lawyers." He gritted his teeth, almost spatting out the last words. It was the nature of cops and lawyers – engraved in their history with the few exceptions like Angela and Wesley. They were rivals, disliked each other – but this was too much, even for Tim who couldn't care less about the rivalry between the police and the lawyers.

Lucy nodded, the touch of his palm still lingering like a ghost on her jawline. "I'll call the school tomorrow." Lucy got up, shuffling through the kitchen drawers for the piece of paper the school had sent her once with their information.

A couple hours later – after dinner and putting Hailee to bed – Lucy had convinced Tim to open a bottle of wine with her and they made themselves comfortable on the couch, the sound of some kind of true crime documentary taking away the silence.

The next morning, Lucy was already in the break room when Tim arrived at the station. He watched her as she was talking into her phone, eyebrows risen in disbelief as she paced around the small room.

Tim quickly got changed and joined her in the breakroom – Lucy finishing up the call. "Hey." He greeted her, not quite able to place her expression.

She sat down and took a sip of her coffee, sighing. "The school says they will look into it and that I should come by after school. They are asking the girls' parents to come as well" He nodded, waiting for his own coffee to finish brewing.

"May I join you?" He popped the question, looking at her. "Oh yeah, of course." She felt her face getting redder. She had totally forgotten to add Tim to Hailee's school contacts, so they were only referring to Lucy in most school-related notes. "Sorry, I forgot to add you to Hailee's contact sheet." Tim shrugged it off – this was still fresh after all.

"Come on, let's forget about the meeting for a bit and get to work, Grey is already getting ready for roll call," he paused, taking his cup and waiting for her to get up from the chair, "and in the shop we can figure out our strategy against those lawyer parents." He smiled, reassuring that everything will be fine.

"Yeah, you're right." Lucy nodded, throwing away her empty to-go cup. "This will be the last time those girls picked on someone." Her face got serious and Tim could see how tense she was. "Yes, it will be. These girls – and most importantly their parents – will learn their lesson."

Lucy grinned. "Now they'll get to experience a Lucy lecture." Tim smiled, "and a Tim telling-off."