nought

There’s a reason that Elaine Peck is one of the youngest superintendents to rise through the ranks in the Toronto police department, she’s observant. She sees things that others miss and right now for the third lunch date in a row she’s noticed lipstick on her daughter’s shirt collar.

Since none of the blind dates that she’d set Gail up on had worked out she concluded that Gail had found someone on her own and unless her new mystery boyfriend liked wearing pale peach lipstick her daughter was involved with a woman. Elaine wasn’t homophobic by any means, she’d chaired the Open Hearts and Minds board that offered guidance and resources to the LBGT community within the department, so it stung that Gail hadn’t told her about this development in her life. It shouldn’t have surprised her that Gail was interested in women, she had seen the signs when her daughter was a child but since Gail hadn’t pursued any women since her juvenile crush on her swim coach when she was twelve, Elaine had assumed that she’d grown out of it. Evidently she hadn’t.

Gail stabbed at her salad on the plate in front of her, the only time she’d smiled during their meal was when she’d read a text that had arrived when the waiter brought their water. The text must be from the mystery woman. Elaine went through the possible suspects in her head, as far as she knew Gail had few people outside of the police department that she interacted with and she doubted that Gail was dating the pizza delivery girl. That left women in law enforcement or law enforcement adjacent. Obviously Traci Nash was off the list since she was dating Steve. There was that McNally girl but rumor had it that she was bouncing between Gail’s ex Nate and Detective Swarek; so she was unlikely. Officer Price was a candidate, however Elaine had witnessed the woman in action before (no one was that happy) and concluded that Gail would probably kill her if she had to spend more than an hour or two with her. Most of the other women in 15 were either married or disqualified in some way Elaine deduced; she’d have to expand her suspect pool. She’d heard of an Officer Luck pestering Gail at crime scenes, perhaps that was a form of schoolyard flirting? Maybe. A better suspect was Detective Anderson, not only was she not shy about her sexual orientation but also known to be quite the player. She was someone that might interest Gail simply because she’d argue with her. If it wasn’t for the fact that in the few times that she’d seen Detective Anderson she hadn’t worn anything but chapstick she’d be the perfect suspect.

That left the women that worked in the crime lab; it was probably safe to rule out Emma the sixty-five year old anthropologist and Deanna the ballistics expert (the woman was on her fourth marrage), that left Dr. Stewart. Elaine laughed to herself at the thought of Gail with Dr. Stewart; Dr. Holly Stewart was in the top of her field, published in over a dozen medical journals, authored two books, guest lecturer at University of Toronto med school and way too nice to be involved with Gail; also the watercooler talk said that Dr. Stewart was deeply involved with a live-in girlfriend. It was a shame really, Elaine couldn’t have picked a better partner for her daughter than Dr. Stewart.

Gail finished her salad and sipped her water before looking at her watch, “Pleasant as always mother but I have to get going, I have somewhere to be in forty minutes.”

Elaine nodded as she wiped her mouth with her napkin. Obviously Gail wasn’t going to tell her anything about her mystery woman or plans. “Fine Gail, same time next week?”

Gail shrugged, “Yeah, I’ll let you know if my schedule changes.” She slipped on her leather jacket and started to walk away but stopped and turned back around. “Would it be alright to bring someone to dinner Friday?”

Inwardly Elaine cheered but outwardly she nodded. “I’ll tell Nancy to fix another plate.”

“Thank you mother I’ll see you Friday.”

Elaine waited until Gail was leaving to add, “You might want to change your shirt, it looks like you have something on the collar.”

~Later that night~

Gail laid her head on Holly’s bare chest and contently sighed; both worn out from their activities. “I think my mother might suspect something.”

Holly stroked Gail’s hair, she really loved the new short haircut. “Well she is a Peck and you are an observant bunch. Besides we’re planning on telling your family Friday, so what if she suspects.”

Gail pushed herself up to sit astride Holly’s waist. “Will you still love me if my crazy family misbehaves at dinner?”

Holly smiled softly, “Yes, I’ll love you. I’ll love you if the worst happens, I’ll love you if the best happens.”

Gail leaned down and kissed her, “I love you too, although it is your fault that Elaine suspects something. You got lipstick on my collar.”

Holly smirked, “I didn’t hear you complaining this morning.”

Pride month Day11

Once upon a time.. I wrote this little ficlette as part of the Rookie Blue Fan Fiction Secret Santa for @kriziamars . I hope you enjoy it now as much as I enjoyed writing it then. Wishing you all get a whole lot of love, and joy, and that someone gives you something you really want this holiday season 🧑🏻‍🎄☃️⭐️🎄

"I'll be home for Christmas...

A birthday gift for @gail-shark

Gail carefully placed her contribution to the 15’s Christmas cookie contest on the break room table. She was quite proud of the tree made of stacked cookies. Sure it had taken her all night in Holly’s kitchen to create and several batches of cookies tossed in the bin but it was done and it was glorious. For sure it would beat the pants off of Chloe’s rice crispy wreath or Traci’s Santa hats. She stood back and sighed with relief that it hadn’t fallen or crumbled on the journey from her car.

The walk to the bullpen was unusually quiet but Gail attributed that to most everyone already heading to the morning muster. She felt her phone vibrate and was momentarily disappointed to see that it wasn’t Holly texting her but instead Elaine wanting to know when she’d be arriving for Pre Peckmas dinner that night. Instead of answering she tapped on Holly’s text thread to relive last nights reason that so many cookies had burned. Really no one should look that good in flannel or a lab coat and the combination of the two should be illegal. Holly had had to work the overnight shift and didn’t have a lot of work to do which while good for crime and the city made the pathologist very bored and a bored Holly meant a lot of nerdy flirting puns and Gail was a complete sucker for it.

Muster and assignments were given and Gail was off with her newest rookie to go keep the peace at the Santa’s village at the park and fingers crossed would be back in time for the cookie judging at lunch. She sent a quick text to Holly telling her to go to bed when she got home and not stay up reading her sciencey journal. Holly responded with the smirking emoji and a text to have a safe shift and that she hoped that she’d see her later.

Gail should have known better than to think that the Santa’s village would be drama free morning; who could have predicted a riot of toddlers over the last candy canes? Or the exhausted mothers of said toddlers performing wrestling maneuvers that UFC fighters would be envious of. Thirty notices to appear before court and four arrested individuals later Gail was finally able to head back to the station. She somehow managed get back with just enough time to check on her cookies before the judging.

“Out of my way Diaz!” Gail called out as she hustled to the break room. Chris dodged out of the way but fumbled the files he was carrying, Gail knew that she should stop help him but victory was within reach and she couldn’t risk it. Other contestants were in the break room doing last minute touches to their cookie creations as Gail made her way to her tree. Thankfully it was still standing and looking dominant but something was off… and that’s when Gail realized that it was missing two cookies. It was barely perceivable but there was supposed to be 48 cookies and Gail could tell that they had been rearranged with only 46.

Gail could barely contain her rage at the apparent sabotage but couldn’t lose her cool; the tree still looked fantastic but the fact that someone had dared touch her tree was a declaration of war. If there was one thing that she learned as a child during her Pecktation lessons was if you couldn’t start the war you’d better be able to finish it. She might be a training officer but she’d put on her detective hat and find the culprit.

The obvious suspect was Oliver, not because he’d try to sabotage her but that he was a sucker for cookies and mint frosting. However, he was on a very strict diet this month and surprisingly he was actually sticking to it; although that might be because Celery had threatened to curse him if he cheated. Gail looked at the other contestants to see who had the guts to try something so underhanded. Traci was competitive but she was also too honorable to cheat so she was out. Chloe also loved to win but she had the worst poker face in all of Canada and would have confessed the minute Gail walked in. Frankie would definitely be down to cheat but since she brought in store bought cookies and didn’t have a chance in hell at winning there wasn’t a point in committing sabotage. That left Dov and his Marzipan cookies that did admittedly look good and shockingly Gerald’s snowflake shaped shortbread. Unfortunately neither would have had the time since they both got radioed in to help her at the Santa’s village riot. Gail was at a loss.

“Hey!” A very familiar and welcome voice pulled her out of her thoughts. Gail turned to find a tired looking Holly walking towards her.

“Hey.” Gail said back as Holly closed the distance.

“Hey.” Holly said as she let herself be embraced by Gail.

“You said that already.”

Holly laughed as she let go of Gail, “I knew it sounded familiar, chalk it up to my lack of sleep.”

“Speaking of which shouldn’t you be at home and in bed?” Gail jokingly scolded.

“Well my bed isn’t as nice without you in it. Besides I had to come in to give Frankie an update on the forensics in her case.”

“Yeah your bed is pretty great but I miss my human pillow.”

Holly pretended to fan herself, “Damn woman you know how to made a lady swoon.”

“You like it.” Gail said as she leaned in for a kiss. Her lips barely touched Holly’s before she tasted the damning evidence. She’d found her culprit. “It was you! You ate my cookies!”

Holly looked confused but then realization hit and she slowly shook her head. “It’s not what you think. I came into the break room to see your tree and the door slammed shut behind me; it was enough to shake your tree and it fell apart. Two cookies broke and well I had to eat the evidence. Thankfully there were enough cookies to evenly space out to look the same as before. I was going tell you but I didn’t have a chance. Can you forgive me?”

Holly genuinely looked sorry and in truth the tree looked fine, no one but her would have ever noticed the difference… but Gail couldn’t let her off that easily not when it wasn’t often that she had an upper hand. “I suppose I can forgive you but you did interfere with an official police event and I should report you… I want the left hand side of your bed and we’re going to need to buy a PlayStation when I move in.”

“Let me get this straight, are you blackmailing me with moving in?”

“And a PlayStation.”

Tonight Elaine would finally get some answers, Gail would be arriving with her mystery guest any moment. Elaine checked the roast in the oven for the third time in twenty minutes. She’d been torturing herself for the past day and a half on trying to figure out who this woman was that made her grouchy daughter smile. She had debated on telling Bill her suspicions about Gail but decided that it was up to Gail to share her news. All she told her husband was that Gail was bringing a guest.

Elaine was genuinely curious about what kind of woman her daughter would fall for. She’d never liked any of the men, boys really, that Gail involved herself with. The Diaz boy hadn’t been that bad, Crispin or Carl, but he wasn’t strong enough for Gail, couldn’t love her the way she deserved. Soldier boy was another story, she hated him. Not only did he leave her daughter at the alter but made her feel less than worthy of love. Now Elaine knew she had a hand in Gail’s self esteem issues but that was only because she knew that Gail could be extraordinary if she’d only try.

She was pulled from her thoughts as Bill knocked on the counter, “A strange SUV just pulled up, I think it’s Gail.” Elaine nodded and rinsed her hands at the sink. Ready or not the mystery was about to be solved.

~Holly’s pov~

Gail parked Holly’s jeep but made no move to take off her seat belt. “There’s still time to turn around and go home, we can watch Buffy on netflix.” Gail offered.

Holly squeezed Gail’s hand, “Listen Gail if you’re not ready to tell your parents about us then we can wait, you can stay here and I’ll pick you up later. I understand if you’re nervous or scared, I’m not going to push you into anything.”

“I’m not scared of telling them, I’m terrified of them scaring you off. My parents are not like yours Holly, I know that they love me in their own weird way but they are not the best with change and trust me you are a huge change in my life.” Gail admitted.

“I don’t scare that easy, now let’s go inside, eat some dinner and face an interrogation from two high ranking police officers. It should be fun.” Holly joked as she kissed Gail.

~

Gail knocked only once before Elaine opened the door. It was in that moment where Holly locked eyes with her girlfriend’s mother was the moment she could admit that she was absolutely terrified. Scared that the Pecks would hate her, that they would react badly to Gail coming out, and most of all petrified that Gail would run up a tree. She wanted to run but she stayed put and grabbed Gail’s hand.

“Gail. Dr. Stewart?” Elaine looked flummoxed for a second but recovered. “Come in, dinner will be done in a few minutes. I hope you like roast beef.” Elaine walked away and left them standing in the doorway.

Gail bumped Holly’s shoulder, “This is weird, I think my mother has been abducted by aliens.”

They walked into the living room to find Gail’s father reading something on his phone. He looked up and smiled at the sight of Gail, “Piglet! You’re here!”

“Piglet?” Holly mouthed and Gail shrugged.

“Dad this is…”

“Holly Stewart! I know, George down at lab can’t sing your praises loud enough. Bill Peck.” He offered his hand.

Holly took it and gave it a firm shake. “Nice to meet you sir.”

“Please call me Bill. Can I get you two something to drink? I have a new bottle of bourbon that I’ve been dying to have the opportunity to open.” Both women nodded, alcohol might help.

Just as Bill gave them their drinks Elaine called them into the dining room. Holly looked over to Gail and tried to read her mind but Gail was unreadable. They sat down and plates were filled, no one said anything and Holly wondered if this was typical of a Peck dinner. It looked like all three Pecks wanted to say something but held their tongue. Just when Holly was convinced that they’d go all night without saying a word Gail dropped her fork and blurted out, “I’m gay, I’m in love with Holly and I live with her. Can you pass the gravy bowl?”

Holly waited for one of the Peck parents to react but instead Bill simply passed the gravy to Gail. Gail looked like she was ready to pass out but sat tall in her chair. It was Elaine that spoke first, “Well I hope that your house is better than that frat house that she had been living in; seriously Gail the building didn’t even have a working elevator.”

Gail cleared her throat, “You did catch the part where I said I was gay right?”

Bill nodded, “I’ve known since you were four. You had the biggest crush on that tv character Punky Brewster. I’ve just been waiting for you to figure it out. Nice to see that you have much better taste in women than you do in men.”

“Its not the biggest surprise of the night dear, honestly I was more shocked that you’re dating Dr. Stewart, I would have bet money that you were seeing Detective Anderson.” Elaine admitted.

“Me and Frankie? That’s just so much eww.” Gail turned to Holly, “You have nothing to worry about there.”

Elaine stood, “If we’re done here Gail can you help me clear the table.” It wasn’t a request but an order. Holly picked up her plate and Elaine took it from her. “Oh no, why don’t you go help Bill with freshing up our drinks.”

Holly followed Bill and knew that this was probably the shovel talk time. Bill took her glass and held it, “My daughter said that she loves you, I’ve never heard her say that about anyone other than our old dog Monty. Do you love her?”

Holly nodded, “Yes sir, with all my heart I love her.”

Bill set down the glass, “My little girl has gone through more than anyone should in a lifetime; she’s been hurt. I need to know that you’ll protect her.”

“I will.”

“Good, I don’t think I need to show you the gun cabinet do I?” Bill said menacingly.

Holly shook her head, “No sir.”

Bill clapped his hands, “Excellent! You’re already my favorite of Gail’s…partners.”

They were joined by Gail and Elaine and the rest of the evening went by with the Pecks reminding Gail about the upcoming detective rotation and Gail telling them that she’d think about it.

Soon they were leaving, Holly shook hands with both Peck parents and thanked them for dinner. Gail kissed Bill’s cheek and accepted a hug from her mother. They walked out to the car, Holly took the keys from Gail and started the car. “That went better than I expected. What did you mother say when you were alone in the kitchen?”

“She told me not to screw this up, that you are a good one.” Gail said as she buckled up. “I agreed with her and promised not to fuck things up. Then she scolded me for swearing. Did my dad try to scare you off? Did he show you his gun collection?”

Holly laughed as she pulled out of the driveway, “He just told me to treat you well and if I didn’t then he’d show me the gun collection. It will take more than that to scare me off.”