Valentine's Day 1990

After the excitement of Robert Kemper's trial that had gone horribly wrong, Tom and I decided on having a very low-key Valentine's Day.

It was our first Valentine's Day together, because we got together right after the holiday last year. Tom never brought up the holiday, and when I did, he was not very vocal about it at all. He really didn't like to talk about Valentine's Day, and the few times I have asked him about it, he would shrug it off. If he didn't want to talk about it, I wasn't going to push him but I felt guilty that he didn't feel that he could open up to me about what was on his mind, especially after everything I've talked about with him. I guess it's fair... I didn't tell him about my family until very recently.

I woke up naturally, stretching softly before hugging the pillow. My eyes fluttered open and my eyes adjusted to the light peaking out from the window curtains. The sheets were light but warm, and the heavy comforter over me was a reminder that I was in Tom's bed.

I sat up and cracked my back, noticing that Tom had already gone to work. I spent the night last night, and today was my day off. I held the comforter over my bare chest when I remembered that I was naked. I waited a moment to wake up more before I swung out of bed and headed to the kitchen.

I put my pajamas on and immediately noticed a bouquet of red flowers standing in a vase on the kitchen counter. I smiled softly and excitedly trotted to the kitchen, and saw a heart shaped box of chocolates and a note beside the clear vase. I picked up one of the fragrant roses and held it to my nose, and with the other hand I opened the note. I was giddy as I read his note over and over, admiring his loving words. I feel like I blinked and suddenly I had a Valentine.

At the end, he told me that he wanted to take me to a nice restaurant tonight, which meant I had to wear something nice and preferably something he has never seen me in before. I had to do some errands anyway, so I added buying a dress to my list.

I ate a chocolate truffle with my morning hot chocolate, because I have been trying not to drink coffee so often. I went to my drawer and grabbed casual clothes to wear while I was out and about. I threw on a white tank top with light wash jeans, and I pulled a dusty pink sweater over my head. My outfit was completed with a brown belt, white slouch socks, and sneakers.

I quickly finished my errands and was able to wash the dress I bought for the occasion before Tom got off work. I went to my own apartment to put my groceries away and do my dishes that I was neglecting as my dress was drying. I had set my kitchen timer to remind me when to get ready for Tom to pick me up.

I did my makeup in the bathroom mirror and curled my hair carefully but shook them out. I swiped a red lipstick across my lips before I put on the dress. The red dress fell to my knees with puffed sleeves which were breathable but still warm enough for the chilly night. I tied a flimsy belt around my waist to cinch it. I buttoned up the dress in the front, but there was a hidden zipper I couldn't reach on my back so I decided that I would deal with it later. I decided to stick with a gold jewelry theme, so I wore my gold promise ring among others, the gold locket Tom gave me two Christmases ago, and gold earrings. To finish, I spritzed myself with some sweet perfume. I want to be the dessert tonight.

I heard keys jingle from the other side of the door as I was slipping on a pair of heels. I pushed some of my hair off my shoulder as the door opened and Tom walked in. He was wearing a handsome gray suit with a black button-up shirt and his hair was deliciously unswept. He looked alternately innocent and hungry for sin. His eyes grew wide at me and his mouth slacked. He dropped his keys for emphasis and he said, "wow, you look gorgeous."

I smiled shyly back at him. Sometimes I can't believe that he is real, and he is my boyfriend. What did I do to deserve Tom to be so prominent in my life? I pulled all my hair over one of my shoulders and said, "thank you. Can you help me zip up?"

"Yeah," he said and walked up to me, closing the front door behind him. I turned my back to him, and he put pressure at the bottom on the zipper, pressing the fabric into my lower back as he grabbed the zipper and pulled it up to the top at my shoulders. Then, he grabbed my hand to spin me around and he planted a kiss on my lips.

"Where are we going?" I asked as I grabbed my little black clutch purse. He grabbed his keys from the floor and opened the front door for me.

"I don't think you've ever heard of it," he shrugged and closed the door behind us before locking it. I didn't hear the sarcasm in his voice that I'm usually keen on picking up on. We walked to the car, as I was trying to think of where he would be taking me.

It wasn't until Tom drove us to Le Tarte Tatin that I realized that he was messing around with me. It's one of my favorite restaurants. The cuisine is French, and it's one of the classier places in Metropolis. I'm not a classy person by any means, but occasionally I like to treat myself.

"You tricked me," I said, squeezing my lips together so I wouldn't smile, but I was failing.

"I had to do something to keep it a surprise," he chuckled and found a parking spot across the street.

Le Tarte Tatin is already a popular venue, but for Valentine's Day it was more packed than ever, even though it is a Wednesday night. Tom said that he made a reservation for us, which I was thankful for. We parked and Tom got out of the car as I looked in the back for a jacket, because I had underestimated how chilly it was going to be. I should have known though, because the ground was a little icy.

Tom opened the door for me, and I didn't want to leave him waiting so I got out of the car and he closed the door behind me. We began to walk toward the sidewalk, and I felt him place his gray blazer over my shoulders. He looked so sleek in his black button up shirt, and he fixed the collar.

We only walked a few steps before Tom's foot slipped on the icy pavement. Not enough to fall, but enough for his eyes to grow wide in surprise and his arms to extend out so he could steady himself. We laughed it off and continued walking. I held onto his arm as we walked down the street. When we stopped at a crosswalk, he kissed me on the forehead and I rested my head against his arm.

I am a big believer that everything happens for a reason. If my father never left me, I never would have met Captain Briody. Then, I never would have met Jenko and become a police officer. If I never became a police officer, I never would have met Tom. Where I am right now is a result of fate planning for Tom to be with me. A plan that's been set in motion for many years. I'll always be thankful for the day that I met him. Now it's so clear that he will be in my heart forever. He was mine, at last.

Tom told the hostess his name, and she promptly sat us at a booth. Tom held my waist as we walked through the restaurant. We were handed menus, but I already knew what I wanted. It was the busiest night of the year for this restaurant, and every table was full of dashing men and beautiful women, all on a romantic dinner with their significant other. But, all I saw was Tom.

"What are you ordering?" I asked, slipping off Tom's jacket and I handed it back to him over the table. He set it on the seat next to him.

"I'm thinking about trying the onion soup," he said while pointing at his menu.

I nodded, it seemed like a great meal choice for the cold weather. However, I had my heart set on my favorite: Steak Diane.

The waiter took our drink order. Tom ordered a sparkling wine while I ordered a diet soda. The waiter tried to talk me into one of their many wines, as usual, but I stuck with my soda.

When we received our drinks, Tom poured a bit of his bottle of wine into his little champagne glass. He raised his glass, and I raised mine. He cleared his throat, and he seemed a little nervous. He looked at me and exhaled softly before he began. "This life has been full of twists and turns. Nothing is certain, except for one thing. I always want to be with you. From this day on, you'll never walk alone. You're a part of me, and I'm a part of you. Wherever we may travel, or whatever we go through or what time may take away, it will never change the way I feel about you."

I smiled softly and could feel the tears well in my eyes. Was he proposing?

He continued, "we will never know about tomorrow, but I do know that time has brought us together to share moments that we will carry with us for the rest of our lives. I love you with my whole being, Michelle Janine Gregg. Here's a toast, to you and me."

I smiled up at Tom for his incredibly kind words. I felt so warm inside, but I couldn't tell if I was disappointed or relieved that he didn't propose to me. We have only dated for a year, so it felt a little too soon but I know that Tom is the man I want to spend the rest of my life with. If I know that already, why rush forever? Besides, being married is merely a piece of paper. We don't need that to prove our love and commitment for one another.

I tapped my glass to his and we both took a sip of our drinks.

I nearly jumped out of my seat at the sound of someone dropping plates and silverware echoed throughout the restaurant. Tom and I both looked toward the source of the noise, and we saw a man with a black ski mask over his face, holding a gun at a waiter with broken plates and food surrounding his feet. He held his hands up in surrender, shaking as he stared down the barrel of a gun.

I gulped and looked to Tom, right when he was looking at me. We both darted our eyes back at the burglar and he yelled, "get on the ground!"

I darted my eyes between Tom and the burglar, slowly lifting up my dress to grab my gun that I had concealed in a holster around my thigh. Tom's jaw clenched as he slowly reached into his jacket, side-eyeing the robber, pulling out his gun too. Ever since the Red River Strangler, Fuller had been forcing us to be armed everywhere we go. Regardless of being on duty or not. It was for our own protection, since so many people were out to get us.

I slipped off my heels from under the table as the customers slowly slid from their chairs to get on the ground. The burglar started going around to the nearby tables, and everyone was compliant to his demands. They frantically handed him their keys, money, and wallets.

I cocked my gun, and I put my badge on the table as I held my gun with my steady hands. I took a deep breath in, and out. I heard Tom count down under his breath, and when he reached one, we both jumped up from our seats and pointed our guns to the robber.

"Freeze! Police!" Tom shouted.

"Put the gun down," I demanded in a firm voice.

His gun was shaking as he pointed it to us. On instinct, I put my finger on the trigger, ready to pull at any moment. My eyes were intense in my glare. I swallowed, and could feel the cold floor under my bare feet. I'm not going to lie, I felt like a bad-ass taking down a criminal in formal attire.

"Put it down or I'll blow out your kneecaps," I threatened in a confident voice.

The burglar kept shaking, and he darted his eyes around the restaurant to figure out how he could get out of there. Suddenly, his eyes landed on us and it was second nature for me to drop to the floor. He had pulled the trigger and the bullet whizzed over my head and embedded itself in a decorative column behind me. I jumped to my feet, preparing to shoot back at him when Tom already did. The burglar screamed out in pain, and dropped his gun to the floor. This made me relax my angered face and put my gun down. He gripped his injured arm, and I could see blood pooling through his dark sweatshirt at his bicep.

I set my gun on the table and I marched up to the man, pissed about getting shot at. I grabbed his shoulder with one hand and his wrist with the other and slammed him down on a nearby table. The customers around the table all scooted back in their chairs at the same time as he whimpered out in pain. I grabbed his other wrist and pinned it behind his back, not budging to let him move.

"You're under arrest," I said. I shook my head softly to get my hair out of my face and I looked up at Tom. He was standing by our table, and he quickly gulped down the rest of his small glass of sparkling wine. He came walking up to me and offered to take over. He put his hands over mine as I let my grip slip and I stepped to the side. Tom grasped the burglar's wrists, keeping him pinned to the table. He was grunting as he was trying to wiggle, but wasn't moving much.

The doors to the restaurant opened, and a few cops from the Metro Station came marching in. I gestured to them, and they came over to take the burglar from Tom's hands. They properly arrested him, put him in handcuffs, and took him out of the restaurant.

As soon as he was gone, a massive weight was lifted off of everyone at the same time. Tom and I took a breath and looked at each other, and his sweet smile made me smile. I lifted my dress up enough to reveal a thigh gun holster, and I concealed my gun back in it. I fluffed my dress over the holster, and it completely disappeared.

"You saved everyone!" A waiter announced toward us.

This created a wave of clapping and appreciation throughout the entire restaurant, directed toward me and Tom. Tom smiled close-lipped toward the crowd, and gave them a little wave. I nodded at the customers, and Tom and I snuck back to our booth and the celebration died down.

Our waiter came up to us with his manager and he told us, "your meals are on the house tonight."

I liked the sound of that. But when I thought of eating, I almost felt sick to my stomach. I was still so full of energy and adrenaline, it was hard to say that I was hungry. I scrunched my nose softly as I was thinking, and looked up at Tom and I could tell that he felt the same.

He spoke up for us and he said, "I think we are just going to go home."

The manager nodded, but said, "we've never done this before, but everyone at Le Tarte Tatin is so appreciative of your act, we want to offer to pay for your meals every time you honor us by eating here."

My eyebrows rose with my lips, really liking the sound of that.

We thanked the manager and he and the waiter left while Tom put his gun away and we decided to go back to his apartment. I slipped my heels back on, draped Tom's jacket over my shoulders, and we left.

When we got outside, I saw little flakes of white dance in the night sky, and slowly float down to the ground. It was as if the stars were ascending. I looked up at Tom's face and his cheeks were flushed from the cold. It was almost in the same spot as before, but Tom's foot slipped on the icy patch again and he fell straight to his back. His groan turned into a laugh while I had to rest my hands on my knees because I was laughing so hard.

"Are you okay?" I finally asked and gave him my hand.

Tom crunched up to reach for my hand, but when he pulled, my foot slid out from under me and I collapsed on top of him. We laughed together, but then Tom suddenly stopped. He brought his cold hand up and tucked a curl behind my ear. I leaned down and gave him a kiss. The closest two beating hearts will ever be.

Tom is all I long for. Being with him is like playing amongst the stars, and we both worship and adore each other all the same. I am flown straight to the moon, and I never want to come back down. In other words, I really love him.

"Should we get off the sidewalk now?" I asked after I pulled away.

Tom smiled at me. He looks at me like I'm the most beautiful woman in the world. I never dreamed that someone like him, would want someone like me. "That's probably a good idea."

I rolled off of him and slowly stood up before I helped him up. Tom's eyes were big from concentration and I grabbed his arm and held myself close to him. "I'm gonna grab your arm."

"Okay."

"Don't let me fall."

He chuckled softly, "I won't. As long as you don't let me fall."

"I can't make that promise, if you fall we are both going down," I laughed.

We took small, careful steps down the sidewalk. I could see our breath as we nervously laughed at every slip and wave of fear that we might fall again that casted over both of us until we got to the car.

As soon as we walked through the front door of his apartment, I took off my heels and joked, "that was probably the worst date I've ever been on."

Tom chuckled and said, "it's one of mine too."

"One of?" I repeated.

Tom nodded, "yeah. Do you remember that school dance I told you about? When I found out my dad died?"

"Right," I nodded. Then it hit me that he had gone to the dance with a girl, and he was on a date. I immediately felt insensitive because this is something I should remember... but I don't think he had gone into the specifics of it with me before.

"It was at the Valentine's Day Dance," Tom revealed glumly. Now I really felt like a jerk.

"So that's why you—"

"Yeah," he interrupted, "that's why." His face was sullen, and his eyes drifted down at the painful memory of his that this day is associated with.

"Oh my god, Tom, I'm so sorry," I said and stepped closer to him. I linked my fingers together and rested them over the back of his neck, and his hands found my hips.

"Don't be," he said and kissed my forehead. "It was a long time ago. Wow, I can't believe it's been 9 years already."

I felt terrible. This was the anniversary of his fathers death, and I did nothing to help ease the pain he was definitely feeling. He did not talk about his dad much, but that told me how close they were. Talking about him in the past tense was probably so difficult to hear.

"It's just hard when I want to tell him about something. I want to tell him about Jump Street, I want to tell him about tonight, and most importantly I want to tell him all about you... but I won't ever get to."

That was heartbreaking to hear. I smiled softly and said, "it's okay. Your dad was with you."

Tom smiled back at me and in a small voice he said, "thank you."

I went up on my tip-toes and I kissed his cheek lightly, leaving a soft lipstick stain on his cheekbone. I noticed his cheeks grow red and then he excused himself to take a shower.

When he disappeared in the bathroom, I sat on the couch and slipped Tom's jacket off my shoulders. My mind was running through ideas of what I could do for Tom, and I felt like a lightbulb lit over my head as the idea suddenly came to me.

I leaned over to grab the phone from the side-table and placed the base in my lap. I closed my eyes to try to remember his mom's number, and I called her to answer my questions about Tom's dad. I made sure our conversation was quick so I could complete my plan before Tom got out of the shower.

Luckily, I was finished by the time Tom got out of the shower. He was shaking his towel through his damp hair as he walked out of his room, wearing pajamas. He froze and his eyes went wide as he looked around, seeing the spread of his fathers favorite foods on the table. He turned toward the illuminated television screen, where it was paused at the beginning of Tom Sr.'s favorite movie, and his favorite record was playing. I even set an extra place setting for his dad to symbolize his presence in our hearts and minds.

When Margaret told me what Tom Sr.'s favorite record was, I knew it sounded familiar. I walked toward the record player that Tom had in the corner of his living room and found the record buried under all the rest that Tom had. I knew if I played it, he would know why.

"You did all this?" He asked, walking up to me.

I said, "look, I know this can't bring your dad back, but I'm hoping that this helps."

Tom shook his head with a smile and walked up to me. He gave me an appreciative kiss and said, "it does. Thank you."

"Let me get out of this and put on something more comfortable," I said and slipped out of his soft hold. I opened my drawer and grabbed a pair of pajamas and went into his bathroom to change and wash off my makeup. I came out wearing a lightweight blue floral pajama set. The background was a light cream color, and the sleeves were short. There is a small front pocket at my chest, with buttons that go up the front. The light cotton made it ideal for pajamas to wear in the summer, but I liked wearing these at Tom's because his bed is like an oven.

I put my dress in his hamper and met him by the table, where he was dishing himself up his fathers favorite foods. I was lucky that his father enjoyed the simpler things in life, so I did not have to go out and buy anything, nor would it have taken too long to make. Just chili, chicken pot pie, deviled eggs, and green jello. The chili was from a can so it was quick to heat up, the chicken pot pie was frozen, the deviled eggs were quick, and the green jello was instant and would probably be ready by the time we were done eating. I brewed a pot of coffee, but I decided on having his second favorite drink: water. Tom chose his third favorite: Coors.

Tom took our meals to the couch while I turned off the record that was in the middle of playing the track Don't Think Twice, It's All Right by Bob Dylan. I played the VCR, and the beginning of The Searchers began to play. The rest of the evening was spent watching the old western movie, eating our dinner, and Tom telling me stories about his dad. I was upset that I will never have the chance to meet Tom Sr., but from everything I've heard and the pictures I've seen of him, he reminded me a lot of Tom.

I curled up and rested myself against Tom as he told me about the first time his dad gave him a beer, his first ride-along, how they used to go to the beach together, and how his dad spoke at Career Day at school. I loved hearing his stories, but being full of warm food and listening to his soft and level voice was enough to make me tired. My eyes fluttered closed as I tried to fight it, but I finally fell asleep against Tom. I couldn't wait to wake up to bluebirds sighing out the window, and spend another day with him.

Their first Valentine's Day!! Hope you guys enjoyed!
And if you're a fan of Pirates of the Caribbean, I just finished my series on that if you are interested in reading 🏴‍☠️ 🥳
Next chapter brings Mickey back out into the field, investigating fake prescriptions!