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Kate startles a little when she hears a knock on her door. She looks up and sees her boss standing in the doorway, his bag and suit jacket in hand.
“ASAC Curtis, hi.” the blonde greets him. “Is everything okay?”
“Everything is alright, Whistler. I was just going home and saw the light still on in your office.” the man explains. “You did good work today, Whistler.”
“Thank you, Sir.” Kate says, a small smile forming on her lips. When she worked for the DIA, her good work usually resulted in yelling first before they gave her something that was supposed to resemble a compliment for her work and the good result.
“It’s late, it’s the holidays. You should head out and go home to your girlfriend.” ASAC Curtis states.
“What do you mean? It’s only-“ the blonde starts to say, but then she sees the time on her phone. It shows it’s 8.30 PM. “Oh.”
“Yeah.” her boss repeats.
“I completely lost track of time.” Kate says, immediately saving her files and turning off her laptop.
Curtis watches the sight in front of him with a sense of fatherly pride. “Yeah, I figured. But at least it isn’t too late to still get to enjoy part of the evening.”
“That is true. Thank you, Sir.” the blonde states, putting her laptop in her bag and getting up from behind her desk.
“No need to thank me. Have a nice evening.” the man says kindly.
“You too, Sir.” Kate says right before her boss starts walking towards the elevators. The blonde grabs her phone and sends a text to Lucy.
I’m so sorry, my sweet. I lost track of time. I’ll be home soon. Love you. X
The blonde locks her phone, grabs her bag and blazer, turns off her office lights and smiles all the way to her car, thinking about coming home to Lucy. The drive home takes longer than expected, but she still makes it to her apartment building in about a half hour. Already feeling the weight of the stress of the day leave her shoulders, Kate’s smile grows bigger the closer she gets to her home. She grabs her key and opens the door.
“Honey, I’m home.” Kate says as the door closes behind her. She takes her shoes off and puts them in their designated spot in the entryway. Kate’s stomach rumbles when she registers the smell of freshly baked cookies.
The blonde already knew that Lucy can cook. She found that out on the various occasions in the previous months when Lucy had surprised her with a delicious home-cooked meal after work when they had just started dating again, and was very surprised when Lucy had cooked up a delicious entire buffet that morning where the Raven’s arrival had so rudely interrupted their morning activities.
Kate quickly makes her way into the kitchen and is stopped in her tracks in surprise when she sees what Lucy had baked.
Not only had the brunette baked some of her favorite cookies, she seems to have baked them and for the entire Naval base. Every available surface in the kitchen and the entire dining table are covered with racks full of sugar cookies with royal icing, gingerbread cookies, peanut butter blossoms and snickerdoodles.
Kate is still standing in shock when Lucy seemingly appears out of nowhere in the kitchen with a tray of what Kate thinks are cranberry and white chocolate cookies.
“You’re home!” Lucy says excitedly. She puts the tray of cookies down and envelops Kate in a warm hug. “I missed you.”
“I am, yeah. I missed you too.” Kate says, wrapping her arms tightly around Lucy. “I’m sorry I’m late. I sent you a text when I left.”
“That’s alright. I’m just glad you’re home now.” Lucy says, breaking the hug and giving Kate a soft, loving kiss. Kate sighs at the comfort of being back home with her girlfriend, and immediately reciprocates the kiss. Before it gets too out of hand, Lucy breaks the kiss. “As much as I want this to continue, the last batch of cranberry and white chocolate cookies is still in the oven and I’d prefer it if our home didn’t burn down.” the brunette chuckles.
“Oh, yeah. No, we don’t want that.” Kate laughs, a little breathless from the kiss. “Speaking of cookies… what’s uh- what’s all this?” the blonde asks, pointing out the cookies all around her.
“I felt like baking and couldn’t decide on what kind, so I kind of made all the kinds I thought of.” the brunette shrugs nervously. Then the smile leaves her face. “It’s too much, isn’t it?”
Kate notices the insecurity and double meaning behind Lucy’s words and gets a sense of déjà vu. Just like that morning of Lucy’s incredibly delicious breakfast buffet, Lucy isn’t just talking about the quantity of what she made, but her insecurity of her being too much herself has also come back up.
Kate immediately takes Lucy’s hands in hers. “Hey, no. It’s not too much, and you’re not too much.” she says and squeezes Lucy’s hands three times. “It’s perfect, just like you are.” the blonde adds and kisses Lucy’s forehead.
“You really think so?” Lucy asks, looking up at Kate, a little bit of self-doubt still visible in her beautiful big brown eyes.
“Yes, I really think so.” Kate says, looking Lucy straight in the eyes and squeezing her hands three times again. She sees the relief taking over her girlfriend.
“Thank you.” Lucy says sincerely, leaning into her girlfriend, feeling safe. “Sometimes the insecurity still takes over.”
“No need to thank me, my sweet. You could never be too much, and I’ll be here to remind you of that whenever you need. Always. I love you, Lucy Tara.” Kate states.
Instead of thanking her again with words, Lucy simply steps up to give Kate a soft kiss. “I love you too, Kate Whistler.” the brunette says, hugging the blonde. Just then, the timer goes off, indicating that the last cookies are done. “I better take that out.” Lucy says and makes her way back into the kitchen.
Kate grabs one of the sugar cookies with royal icing, smiling when she sees that it’s a snowman sporting a scarf in Dallas Cowboys blue and silver. The blonde loves how Lucy put her own little twist on it. “This is delicious, babe.”
“Thank you, my love.” Lucy smiles as she transfers the hot cookies onto a cooling rack. “I know these are too many cookies for us, but we can always share with the Ohana and your team.”
“That’s a good idea. I just know that ASAC Curtis has been waiting to have your snickerdoodles again.” Kate says.
“Does Lydia still have him on that diet?” Lucy laughs.
“Yup.” Kate laughs. “I swear I’ve never seen a man sadder over his food and drinks. And includes Jesse when he has a chagaccino.”
Lucy doubles over from laughter. “He really can’t believe you got Heather hooked on it. That man’s happy when he gets normal coffee at work.”
“What? It’s good.” Kate says.
“It really isn’t, babe. It tastes like compost.” Lucy says, putting her hand on Kate’s shoulder and squeezing it.
“Okay, it isn’t the best coffee I’ve ever had, but it’s not that bad.” Kate gives in.
“See.” Lucy laughs and drops the subject. She grabs containers and distributes the cookies in there for themselves at their home and their respective teams.
The brunette yawns and stretches her back. The blonde only notices now that she has flour or powdered sugar in her hair and face.
“Why don’t you go get started on a shower? I can see that you’re tired and that your back is bothering you.” Kate says.
“Are you sure?” Lucy asks, love showing clearly in her eyes. Sometimes it still amazes her that her girlfriend notices the littlest things with her.
“Yes, I’m sure.” Kate smiles. “I’ll clean up in here so you can relax afterwards and I’ll join you in a bit.”
“You don’t have to do that, my love. I made a mess in here, I can clean it up.” Lucy says.
“I know. But I want to.” Kate says, a kind, loving smile on her face.
“Only if you’re 100% sure.” Lucy says.
“I’m 1000% sure, my sweet.” the blonde says, squeezing the brunette’s hand once more.
“Okay, thank you. You’re the best.” Lucy says, kissing Kate’s cheek before making her way to the bathroom.
Kate quickly puts the bowls and plates in the dishwasher and cleans the counter so she can join her girlfriend in the shower. Before long, they are lying in bed. Lucy has her head on Kate’s shoulder, her face in the crook of her neck. The blonde turns down the lights.
“Goodnight, my sweet.” Kate says softly after letting out a yawn. She doesn’t get a response, but she feels Lucy’s even breath on her neck, knowing that sleep has already taken over her girlfriend. “I love you.” she says, sleep taking over for her too.