"I'll go get dinner started." I say, standing up.

"Oh, no, we'll get going-" Maddie starts, but Blake stops her.

"You have to stay for dinner."

"It's okay, we wouldn't want to intrude."

"It's okay Maddie, I'll make lasagna." I say.

"Yeah! It's Lasagna Tuesdays!"

"Isn't it supposed to be Taco Tuesdays?" Kevin asks.

"Do you know this guy?" I chuckle. "We do Taco Wednesdays." I say.

"Of course you do." Maddie says to Blake. "We started that when you were old enough to eat Tacos. His tooth was hurting on a Tuesday, so we had tacos on Wednesday."

I laugh before walking towards the kitchen.

Quickly making two trays of chicken lasagna, I put them into the oven. I'm making the salad when Maddie walks into the kitchen.

"Hey." she says.

"Hey." I look up from the lettuce, which I am currently cutting for the salad.

"Mmm, it smells amazing!" Maddie compliments.

"Thank you. I'm making my famous Chicken Lasagna." I tell her. "It usually never lasts for more than two minutes on the table, especially if Blake is there."

Maddie chuckles.

"So, how did you end up with my brother?" she asks, walking over and leaning on the counter.

"We're on the same team." I point out.

"Right."

"Mhm. Actually, he annoyed the hell out of me. Still does too. We would always banter. Hated each other. Then I got into an accident on the job, and couldn't work. His captain who is my brother, TK, made him stay back with me at the station so I wouldn't be alone, and so he could take care of me in case I needed anything."

"So you bonded over an accident?"

"Yeah. Over a broken leg and some second-degree burns." I laugh.

"Wow. Romantic."

I laugh.

"Yeah, pretty romantic." I look up at her. "Why weren't you and Blake talking?" I ask.

She looks me in the eyes. "He didn't tell you?"

I shake my head no. "No. I didn't even know that you guys weren't talking. He told me so much about you, Kevin, and Iris, but he never said anything about you and him not speaking to each other."

"It was him not talking to me."

"Why?"

"Last year, when I was pregnant with Iris, our parents came to see us. Blake was in therapy. He never told me why. I hoped he would tell our parents. It turned out he was trying to get over the fact that they didn't care about him."

"But they do, right?"

"Yes, of course. We all do."

"Then what happened?"

"Blake's mother didn't die giving birth to him."

"What?"

She nods sadly. "My mom and Blake's Dad were having an affair. They worked together. I worked for Nora, Blake's mom, in her flower shop. My mom was divorced, and she had found a good job in Britain, so we moved there. Blake's mom found out and decided to leave his father. She died in a car accident. Blake survived. He was just a few months old. After Nora died, Blake's father married my mom. Our parents didn't want him to know about Nora. They made me promise not to tell him. Blake found out last year. He was pissed at all of us. He ran, again. Left without telling any of us. I don't know how he got a job, but he managed to continue doing what he loved."

"What's with his British accent?" I ask, realizing that I've never asked Blake about it.

"We lived in Britain until he was seven. Then we moved to America."

"Oh."

She looks up at me and smiles. "He loves you, you know. I can tell, just by the way he looks at you."

I smile. "I know."

"When did you say it?"

"What?" I ask.

"The I Love You's." she says as if it was supposed to be obvious. "Did you say them before or after you moved in?"

I open my mouth, but find myself at a loss of words. Did we even say them?

"Uh-we-" I stutter. Luckily for me, the timer goes off. "Oh, the food's ready." I say, quickly rushing over to the oven and pulling the Lasagna out. "The food's ready!" I shout.

"We're ready Babe." Blake shouts back.

I take the Lasagna as Maddie carries the salad and soup outside. The table's set, and everyone's ready. Iris is sleeping peacefully on the sofa.

"Oooh! It smells amazing!" Kevin says.

I smile. "Thank you Kevin." I say, setting the food down.

We all sit down at the table and start eating. Well, everyone else eats. I just play with my food, thinking about how Blake never told me the truth about his past. It bothers me.

"You okay Lia?" Blake asks me.

I look at him. "Hmm? Yeah, yeah, I'm fine."

"Really? You haven't taken a bite of your food."

"Oh-" I look down at my food, "I'm not really hungry. Dad stopped by the station after you left and he brought food for us."

"I missed Robert's food?!" Blake asks, dismayed.

"Don't worry, it was a trial for some chocolate-lemon sour dough bread."

"That sounds terrible." Maddie says.

"Yeah, his trial foods usually are."

"Hey! I liked his Caramel Popcorn Tarts!"

I just nod as I continue picking at my food. Before anyone can say anything else. Iris starts crying.

"I got her." I say before Maddie could get up.

"No, no, it's fine-" she stops me, but I stop her.

"I got it. Take some time off. Eat peacefully." I tell her.

She nods before sitting down. I walk over to Iris.

"Hey Iris." I say, kneeling next to her. "Good morning!"

She stops crying, and stares intently at my face, as if to study me. I go to pick her up, and immediately realize that her diaper is full.

"Ooh! Someone filled their dipey!" I say, wrinkling my nose. This gets her to laugh, just like it makes Nia laugh. "Okay." I say, picking her up. "Let's get you changed." I'm about to go into the small room downstairs, when Maddie calls out.

"Her diaper bag is in the car." she says. "I'll go get it."

"No, no. Sit. I have all the baby supplies that she would need."

Maddie and Kevin turn to Blake.

"You have baby supplies?" Kevin asks.

"You have a baby?" Maddie asks at the exact same time.

Blake looks like he just saw a ghost.

"What?" he croaks.

I laugh at his expression.

"My niece is almost four, and she still isn't potty trained." I say.

"TK has a kid?" Maddie asks.

"Three, actually." I say.

"Three!" she exclaims. "But he looks so young!"

"He's forty-three."

"Wow!"

"Yeah. I know, he still looks thirty. I practically raised his daughter and younger son. His daughter loves staying with me, so we had to keep a stock of diapers and other baby things over."

"That explains why you have so many baby toys!" Kevin realizes.

I laugh. "Yeah."

Iris starts crying again.

"Ooops! Sorry Baby." I say to her. "I better go change her." I say before running off.

****

"Night." Maddie says.

"Night." Blake and I wish her and Kevin.

"Good night." Kevin replies before we close the door behind us.

They had rented an airBnB close by for a couple weeks.

"They're nice!" I say to Blake.

"Hmm. Yeah, I missed them."

"Why didn't you tell me?" I ask.

"About what?"

Wow. Is he for real?!

"Everything Blake!" I exclaim. "Everything! About your parents, and why you came here. The fact that you and the sister that you told me so much about were not talking!"

"Lia, it's not a big deal-"

"It is!" I say. "I thought we were going to be honest with each other!"

"I wasn't lying to you Lia."

"You withheld the truth from me Blake!" I point out. "And you were so hypocritical about it!"

"What are you talking about?" He asks.

"When I found out that Robert wasn't my real father, I was pissed. You told me to talk to TK, when the same shit happened to you, and you haven't seen or talked to your parents or your sister!" I exclaim. His face turns dark.

"Don't you dare pin this on me." he practically growls.

"Wow. That's the part that sticks with you." I say. "You know what?" I say, throwing my hands up. "I can't with you."

Turning sharply on my heels, I storm up the stairs, and slam the door to our room shut. Grabbing my duffel bag, I shove a few clothes in. Swinging it over my shoulder, I grab my phone before walking out. Quickly going down the stairs, I grab my shoes.

"Lia-" Blake says, getting up off the sofa. He sees the bag in my hand. "Lia, where are you going?" he asks.

"We both need some time to cool off." I tell him.

He grabs my wrist, just a bit too tightly. I wince, and he immediately lets go. That will probably leave a bruise.

With that, I grab my keys and walk out of the house to my car.

"Lia, I'm-" Blake says behind me, but I don't look back, because if I do, I know I would be in his arms the next second.

****

I take a deep breath before knocking on the door. A few moments later, Carlos opens the door.

"Lia." He says when he sees me.

"Hey Carlos." I say.

"What happened?" he asks when he sees the duffel bag in my hand. His brows furrow as he looks at me, worried. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you? Should I arres-"

"Carlos, calm down." I say, walking into the house.

"He hurt you, didn't he?" Carlos asks, closing the door behind him.

"No." I say, kicking my shoes off.

"Lia, tell me what happened now, or I'm calling the station, and police cars will be swarming your boyfriend's house."

I sigh and turn around.

"We just had a fight." I say.

"About what?"

"He just wasn't truthful with me." I say. I flop down on the sofa. "Where's TK?" I ask.

"Dropping James off at a sleepover."

"Hmm."

"Don't try changing the subject." He walks over and sits down in front of him. "You know, if he ever raises his hand on you, you can-"

"Carlos, I'm fine." I say. "He hasn't tried to hurt me in any way."

"You show up at ten on my doorstep with a duffel bag, and you're telling me that you're fine?" Carlos asks.

"Look, Carlos, I appreciate that you care for me, but I'm fine." I say.

Just then, the door opens and TK walks in.

"Hey, Babe, why is Lia's car in the driveway?" TK asks as he walks in.

"Because, she's right here." Carlos replies.

I peek out from the top of the sofa.

"Hi big bro." I say, giving him a smile and a small wave.

"Lia, what-" he starts walking over, but stops when he sees my duffel bag "-are you doing here?" he finishes, walking over and sitting down next to Carlos. "Did Blake hurt you?"

"What the heck?!" I exclaim. "Why do both of you think that?"

"Because, you're supposed to be living with your boyfriend but you're in our house with your stuff." TK says.

"I'm fine. Blake and I just got into a fight, and I decided we both needed some space." I say.

"That's it, right?" TK asks.

I sigh.

"Look, I didn't want to go home, because Dad will chew my ear off. I came here to just relax and take some space for myself." I tell the two of them. "I'll be gone tomorrow."

"Lia, you staying here isn't the problem." TK says. "It's just you not telling us why."

"Just let it go TK."

"Okay, okay," he says, putting his hands up in mock surrender, "how about some champagne?"

"I could use some alcohol." I say, leaning back and closing my eyes.

****

I sit in my car for a couple minutes. I don't see Blake's car anywhere, so I'm guessing he's running a bit late. That is, unless he took an uber, or rode with one of the others, which I highly doubt.

Taking a deep breath, I grab my bag and step out of my car. Walking into the house, I walk into the changing room.

"Hey, morning Lia." Trav greets me.

"Morning Trav."

I'm already wearing my Austin FD t-shirt, so I don't need to change. I usually wear the shirt to work, because I hate changing before work. I shove my bag into my locker before pulling out my shoes. I'm wearing flats instead of shoes, because that's all I had at TK's house.

I'm tying my laces when Blake walks in.

"Lia, can we talk?" he asks.

I see his reflection in the mirror in front of me. I ignore him. I'm still mad at him. I tell myself.

"Lia." he says again. "Please. I need to talk to you."

"There's nothing to talk about, Blake." I say a bit too loud.

I realize all the eyes are on us. I glance at Trav. Our eyes meet, and he immediately understands what I need. He ushers everyone out, giving Blake and me some space.

"What do you want to talk about?" I ask, standing and turning to face him.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay." Blake says. "I just don't get why you're so mad."

That does it for me. He doesn't know why I'm mad? What the hell?

"Why would you keep such a big part of your life from me?!" I shout.

"Because, that part of my life embarrasses me, okay!" He yells back.

I stare at him. I can see the hurt, the pain, the sadness, and anger. I can see it as clear as day. All of the emotions written on his face. The tears in his eyes, the frown on his face, the pain in his eyes. They tell me all I need to know.

"Blake," I walk over to him, "you never need to feel embarrassed about anything. We all have our pasts. Mine is Darius. Yours is your family. I get that. But you need to talk to someone. If not me, then someone else."

"I have a therapist," he says.

"That's good." I say. "That's good."

I mean, what else do I say? He's clearly hurting. He needs someone. I'll admit, it stings a little that he didn't trust me with this information, but if he doesn't feel comfortable, I can't force him.

He must have sensed what I was feeling. Well, either that or he's telepathic, because he looks up.

"I trust you Lia. I do. I really do. I just didn't want you to think any less of me." He says.

"Blake, I would never think any less of you. You are the man you are today because of what happened to you, and I'm really happy for that." I say.

"It was a horrific experience at the age of three months." he deadpans.

"No, that's not what I meant." I say quickly. "I just-I mean, I'm not happy you had to go through that. I'm happy with who you are." I bite my lip in anticipation.

He just lets out a breath of air and steps closer to me, wrapping his arms around me.

"I love you." he says.

I freeze. My breath stops. My mind goes blank. What do I do?

"Lia?" he asks.

He moves away from me and looks at me intently.

"Lia, did I say something wrong?" he asks.

I stutter, shaking my head no. "No-no-I-I just-"

"You said it back to me that night." He says.

"What?" I ask, confused.

"That night I asked you to move in. I said I love you, and you said it back to me."

"I thought you were asleep!" I exclaim.

"I wasn't. I was scared to say it to you directly, so I pretended to say it in my sleep." He laughs.

"You crazy, stupid bastard." I say. I try to stay serious, but end up laughing along with him.

"So?" He asks, waiting for me to say something.

"I love you too." I say, placing a quick kiss on his lips.

"Awwwwwww."

Everyone choruses from outside. They whoop, whistle, and clap as they walk in. We're all laughing.

"Idiots!" I say.

They're all idiots, but they're amazing, because they are my idiots, my family.

Heyyyyyy. Sorry for the late updatee. I forgot that yesterday was Wednesday. I just have a lot going on lately, and I'm sorry. So, thoughts on the chapter? Let me know!