What We Started

Justin strolls into the house after a long shift, "Hey baby, I’m home. Sorry I’m late. Your dad had us in a department meeting a little longer than expected.” He hears nothing. “Lil, where are you?" he called out, his voice tinged with the urgency of a detective on the trail of a missing person. The silence that followed was broken only by the distant rumble of thunder outside.

Starting to worry, “Babe, where are you?”

Then, a sound that could only be described as the human equivalent of a miniature tornado hitting the bathroom door. His heart sank as he heard the unmistakable sound of someone hurling their dinner back up. A sound he has heard too many times recently. With a quick mental checklist of emergency protocols, he dashed in, ready to tackle the crisis at hand.

When he entered the bathroom, he found Lily hunched over the toilet. He kneeled, grabbed a towel getting it wet, and placed it on the back of her neck. He gathered her hair into a ponytail, holding it steady as he rubbed her back. "You’ve been sick for the past two months," he said gently, his voice filled with concern. "I think it’s time to go see a doctor."

Lily managed a weak smile. "I’m fine just leave me alone. All this stuff blooming out here is just making me sick." Her words were laced with a hint of bitterness, but he could see the pain in her eyes.

A mischievous grin was spreading across his face. "No baby, it’s not what is blooming outside but inside," his grin widening.

She looked at him, her eyes wide with disbelief. "What are you talking about? Why are you smiling? This isn’t funny. Just get out of here."

“Look at the box on the back of the toilet.”

“So, it’s tampons. I didn’t put them under the counter.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle, sliding his hand around the box. "You put these here months ago and they’re still unopened. When was your last period because I don’t think you have had one since we got married.”

Lily's eyes widened in shock. She sat and thought about it, her mind racing. "It was...no I had to have one.” It was a long pause then she said, “It was right before we got married. Oh my God, am I pregnant?" She quickly turned to give him a hug, but had to quickly turn again as she was thrown back into her sickness.

Justin, undeterred by her distress, called the doctor and booked an appointment for the next morning. Being a deputy does have its perks. As he came back skipping, Lily couldn't help but laugh at his antics, "Stop it. Quit looking at me.”

Later that night, snuggled together out on the porch swing watching the sunset, Justin was still smiling with his infectious grin and Lily can’t help but smile back at the man she loves but says, “Will you stop smiling. It’s getting creepy now.”

"I can’t help it. You are just so beautiful.”

They sit quietly watching the sun disappear behind the trees and she glances over to see him still smiling, looking at her.

“Stop it! Why are you looking at me like that?"

“Are you feeling any better after having some toast?” he asked.

“Yeah, I feel a lot better, but do you really think I could be? I have been training and when I do, I usually don’t have one.”

“Yes, yes I do, but we will confirm it tomorrow so in the meantime...do you feel good enough to go upstairs and....?" he asked, his eyes twinkling.

Lily laughed “Oh my god, Justin. What is wrong with you? Stop winking."

But that’s all he can do is smile at the woman he loves more than anything, his heart full of love and laughter asked, “Yes or no baby. Want me to carry your plump belly upstairs?”

“That’s not funny. That’s really not funny.” As Lily found herself wrapped in his arms, giggling as he carried her up the stairs, ready to face whatever the next day might bring.

The next morning, Justin fussed over Lily like a mother hen with its chick. He'd already prepared breakfast, made sure she had comfortable clothes laid out, and was practically hovering as she got ready for their doctor's appointment.

"You don't have to stare at me while I brush my teeth," she said, toothpaste foam escaping her mouth as she spoke.

He leaned against the bathroom doorframe, arms crossed with that same silly grin still plastered on his face. "I'm not staring. I'm observing. There's a difference."

Lily rolled her eyes. "In those FBI training classes; did they teach you how to be this annoying?"

"Advanced courses," he replied with a wink. "Now hurry up or we'll be late."

At the doctor's office, Lily fidgeted with the edge of her shirt while they waited. Justin sat beside her, his knee bouncing nervously.

"You're making me more anxious with all that movement," she whispered.

"Sorry," Justin said, “I'm just excited."

"Excited? We don't even know yet," she whispered back, though she couldn't help the small smile tugging at her lips.

"Ms. Harris?" A nurse called from the doorway.

They both stood, Justin's hand finding the small of her back as they followed the nurse to the examination room. The doctor entered shortly after, reviewing Lily's symptoms with professional efficiency.

"Well," the doctor said after a thorough examination, "I think we can confirm what you've both suspected. Congratulations, you're pregnant."

Lily's eyes filled with tears as she looked at Justin, whose face had transformed into pure joy.

"How far along?" Justin asked, his voice suddenly husky with emotion.

"About twelve-fourteen weeks," the doctor replied, showing them the ultrasound image. "Everything looks perfect." The doctor smiled, adjusting the ultrasound monitor slightly. "There's actually something else I should mention," he said, pointing to the screen. "See that right there? And there?"

Justin leaned forward, his six-foot four frame nearly blocking Lily's view entirely. She nudged him playfully. "Move over, you giant."

"Sorry, babe,” he whispered, shifting slightly but never taking his eyes off the monitor.

"What exactly are we looking at?" Lily asked, squinting at the grainy image.

"Well," the doctor continued, his smile widening, "that's one heartbeat... and that's another. Congratulations, you're having twins!"

The room fell silent for a moment before Lily's gasp broke through. "Twins?" she squeaked, her hand flying to her mouth.

Justin straightened and stood frozen, his expression unreadable. For a terrifying second, Lily wondered if he was having second thoughts about the whole pregnancy thing. Then his face cracked into the widest grin.

"Twins?" Justin's voice cracked as he repeated the word, his eyes growing glassy with emotion. He grabbed Lily's hand, squeezing it gently. "Two babies. Two little Harris’s."

Lily couldn't speak. The enormity of the news had stolen her voice, replacing it with tears that streamed down her cheeks. She nodded, unable to form words.

She whispered, “Justin, twelve-fourteen weeks.”

Justin let out a laugh looking at her and said, “wedding night.” Then he said, “So Doc, has being on birth control hurt anything?”

“No, but…” he paused as Lily got a strange look on her face.

“Honey.” Lily said softly.

“Yeah, baby.”

She hesitated then said, “I’m not on birth control.”

“What? I thought you were, that’s why I never used…ooohh.”

“I never thought about it either. I mean I was still a virgin when we got married. Why would I have been on it or needed it?”

The doctor smiled at their reaction. "Oh, you two are killing me right now.” He said laughing. “Deputy, Lily, would you like to know the sex?”

“Yes, we would. You can tell already?” Justin asked.

Pointing to the screen, the doctor pointed at one of the babies and said, “This one right here is most definitely a little boy as you can see, he is proudly showing it off, and the other one is missing that certain little thing, winking, ‘so you are having a boy and a girl!”

Justin looked at Lily with pure shock, amazement and love in his eyes as he leaned over and gave her a kiss saying, “A boy and a girl.”

I'll give you two a moment," he said, quietly slipping out of the room chuckling just a bit.

He knelt beside the examination table, his face level with hers. "Are you okay? I’m sorry. I never thought about protection. I thought you were on something.” His eyes searched hers, suddenly vulnerable.

Lily laughed through her tears. "Okay? Justin, it's perfect. It's absolutely perfect." She ran her fingers through his hair, marveling at the wonder in his eyes. "Two babies. How did this happen?"

"Well, I think we just went through that," Justin grinned, that mischievous look returning, "when a man and woman love each other very much..." he began, his voice dropping to a playful whisper.

Lily swatted his arm. "You know what I meant! Twins don't run in my family, and I don't think they do in yours either."

Justin shrugged, his eyes still fixed on the ultrasound image. "Must be because I love you twice as much as normal people love each other."

"Or because you're twice as annoying," she retorted, but couldn't help the smile spreading across her face.

As they left the doctor's office, Justin insisted on carrying Lily's purse and supporting her elbow as if she were made of glass.

"I'm pregnant, not disabled," she protested, though secretly she loved the attention.

"I know, but now I have to take care of three people," he said, his voice suddenly serious. "That's a big responsibility."

Lily stopped walking, turning to face him. "Justin, we're going to be, we're going to be fine," she said, reaching up to cup his face. "We've got this."

His eyes softened as he looked down at her. "I know we do. I just want to make sure I'm doing everything right."

"You will," she assured him, standing on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his lips. "You're going to be the best father."

As they walked to the truck, Justin's phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen and his expression shifted slightly.

"What is it?" Lily asked, noticing the change.

"It's your mom," he said, showing her the text message. "She wants us to come over for dinner tonight. Says she has some news."

Lily raised an eyebrow. "News? What kind of news?"

Justin shrugged. "Knowing your mom, it could be anything from a new case she's working on to deciding to adopt another cat."

"Probably another cat," Lily said

Justin carefully helped Lily to their truck, "Wait, I almost forgot," he said, suddenly turning back toward the doctor's office. "I'll be right back."

Lily watched as her husband jogged back inside, his tall frame disappearing through the glass doors. She leaned against the truck, one hand instinctively moving to her slightly plump stomach. Twins. The word echoed in her mind, equal parts terrifying and exhilarating. How would she tell her mother? How would she manage two? The questions swirled in her head until Justin reappeared, clutching something in his hands.

"You just left me standing here. What's that?" she asked as he approached.

Justin's smile was sheepish as he held up two small stuffed animals, golden retriever puppies. "Oh damn, I’m sorry. I saw them in the gift shop and thought... well, I thought our… babies might like them." His voice caught slightly on the word "babies."

Lily felt tears well up again. "You're ridiculous," she said, taking the stuffed animals from him. "And I love you for it," she finished, clutching the stuffed animal to her chest.

Justin helped her into the truck, his hand lingering protectively over her head as she ducked inside. When he slid into the driver's seat, he reached over to place his palm gently against her stomach.

"Two," he whispered in awe. "There are two of you in there."

Lily placed her hand over his, marveling at the warmth of his touch. "We should probably tell Mom tonight at dinner. She'll be so excited."

"Think she'll guess?" Justin asked, starting the engine.

Lily laughed. "Mom? Detective Lisa Cole-Brody? She'll probably take one look at me and know immediately and if she doesn’t, dad for sure will. Mom’s always been freakishly perceptive, or she will get one of her feelings and know immediately."

As they drove through town, Justin kept glancing at her, his expression shifting between wonder and concern.

"You're doing that staring thing again," Lily said, catching him mid-glance.

Justin smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "Can't help it. My wife is carrying my children." His voice dropped to a whisper. “My son and daughter.”

Lily felt her heart swell. "We should probably think about names," she said, changing the subject before she burst into tears again. "Any ideas?"

His face lit up. "I've actually been thinking about it for a while now." At her surprised look, he shrugged. "What? I'm an optimist."

"So? What names have you been secretly plotting?"

"Well," he began, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, "I was thinking Joseph Cole Harris. Good, strong name. Hey, why are you crying?”

“You want to name our son after my dad?”

“Yes, I do. He’s always been like a father to me, and I respect him more than anyone.”

Lily nodded thoughtfully. "And the girl?"

Justin hesitated, then glanced at her with a tenderness that made her breath catch. "I was thinking maybe Elizabeth Samantha.”

“Elizabeth…, she whispered. “Lizzy. I don’t know how dad started calling mom Lizzy or how he got Lizzy out of Lisa but that’s a perfect name, but did you just think of Samantha, or did you know that’s my mother’s middle name?”

“I knew, remember I had files on you when I was...”

“Oh Justin, I love you so much.”

“I know you do, baby.” Grinning ear to ear.

“You really need to stop smiling. You will give it away before we can even tell them. But I think we wait to tell them until next week. I just wanna go home with you right now if that is OK, I’ll call and say I am not feeling well, and we will just meet up next week.

Lisa sat on the front porch swing, bare feet tucked beneath her, watching the sun bleed copper and rose below the tree line. Cicadas sang their evening chorus from the trees, and the jasmine climbing the fence row threw its thick sweetness across the yard, so heavy she could almost taste it on her tongue.

The screen door whined on its hinges behind her.

She didn’t turn. Didn’t need to. The weight of Joe’s boots on the planks, the particular rhythm of his stride, her body catalogued those details the way other women memorized grocery lists. Twenty-four years, and the sound of him still tugged low in her belly.

The swing dipped and groaned as he dropped beside her. His arm stretched across the back, knuckles grazing the bare skin between her collar and her hairline. A lazy touch. Unhurried. The kind of touch that said mine without a single syllable.

She leaned into him, fitting her temple against that hollow below his collarbone, the one that might as well have her name etched into the bone.

He smelled like Irish spring and the faint cedar of his gun safe. Wholly, devastatingly Joe.

“Long day,” he said, his thumb now drawing a slow figure-eight along the curve of her shoulder.

“Mmhmm.” She pressed closer, her palm finding the flat plane of his stomach above his belt. The muscle twitched beneath her hand, and a grin pulled at her mouth. Good. She still had that effect.

“Lily called.” His fingers slid up, tangling in the loose hair at her nape. “She and Justin are backing out for dinner tonight. Guess she’s not feeling good but coming next week for Sunday dinner.”

Lisa tipped her chin, peering up at him. “Oh, okay. She say what she wants me to cook?”

“Your pot roast.” He tugged gently at a strand of her hair, wrapping it around his finger like he’d done a thousand times before. “And that peach cobbler Justin can’t shut up about.”

“That boy would eat peach cobbler for breakfast, lunch, and a midnight snack if I let him.” She shook her head. “Last time he was here, I caught him standing at the counter at two a.m. eating it straight from the dish with a serving spoon.”

Joe’s laugh rolled through his chest, vibrating against her cheek. “Can’t blame him. Your cobbler’s worth marrying into this family for.”

She flattened her palm against his ribs and pushed. “Is that why you married me, Joe Brody? My cooking?”

He caught her wrist, fast, the way he’d always been fast when it mattered and brought her knuckles to his mouth. His lips pressed there, dry and firm, lingering against the ridge of bone. Then he turned her hand over, placed a second kiss to her pulse point. Her stomach flipped like she was twenty-one again and not a grown woman with a badge and a mortgage.

“Lizzy.” The low gravel of her name scraped across her nerve endings. “I married you because the first time you walked into my station house loud and obnoxious with your badge crooked on your hip, wearing that terrible jacket, I forgot my own name. Stood there like a rookie.” His lips curved against her skin. “The cooking’s just a bonus I thank God for nightly.”

Heat crept up her throat. She shifted on the swing, angling her body toward him, her knee pressing against his thigh. “Terrible? You saying you don’t like my leather jacket? You told me I looked professional.”

“I lied.” His grin was slow and wicked. “You looked like trouble. The best kind.”

She tilted her face up. The last evening light caught the silver threading his temples, the deep creases fanning from the corners of his eyes, earned lines, everyone. From laughter. From worry. From squinting across their land at dawn. The sight of him in this light hit her ribs like a fist, tender and brutal at once.

“Charmer,” she murmured, her fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt.

“Truth-teller.” He dipped his head, close enough that she caught the faint mint of his whiskey he always has after a long day. His nose brushed hers, a tease, a dare. “You’re still the most stunning woman I’ve ever laid eyes on.”

She grabbed his collar and closed the distance.

The kiss started soft, a slow press, a reacquaintance, the way their mouths always found each other after a long day. But then his hand curved around the back of her neck, broad palm cradling her skull, and his thumb swept that spot behind her ear that turned her bones liquid. She opened to him, and the kiss deepened, tasting whiskey and two decades of choosing each other over and over.

Her fingers raked up through the short hair at his nape. He made a sound, low, rough, barely audible, and pulled her tighter against his side. The swing rocked with the shift of their weight, chains creaking a lazy protest overhead.

When they finally broke apart, both breathing harder than the evening warranted, he rested his forehead against hers. His thumb still traced maddening circles behind her ear.

“We should do this more,” he said, the words rough at the edges.

“Make out on the porch like teenagers?” She dragged her teeth over her bottom lip, still tasting him. “The neighbors will talk.”

“Let ’em.” His hand slid from her neck to her jaw, tilting her face so she couldn’t look anywhere but at him. “I mean be still together. Just us. Before the world gets loud again.”

The weight of what he wasn’t saying, the cases, the darkness that kept circling their family like a vulture too patient to scare off pressed against her chest. But here, in the dimming light, with his calloused thumb sweeping her cheekbone, the world shrank to the width of this swing.

She threaded her fingers through his, brought their joined hands to rest against his thigh. Squeezed once. Twice.

“I’m right here, Joe.”

His jaw flexed. He turned his head, pressed his lips to her temple, long, deliberate in its tenderness. When he pulled back, the look on his face was raw enough to crack her open.

“Best place you could be,” he said.