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It had been a long and horrible day. Worse, it had been a long and horrible week. Worse still, it had been a long and horrible year. Almost everything and everyone Bobby had ever counted on had been lost to him, in some form or another. Every time Bobby felt there was light at the end of the tunnel, the tunnel suddenly seemed to stretch further off into the distance.
It had all begun with his mother's diagnosis with lymphoma. After so many years of handling his mother chronic but ever-increasing episodes with schizophrenia, this news had broken him like no other revelation had yet, in his forty-some years. Or maybe it was the unending onslaught of revelations that came his way just after her diagnosis. His 'father', his mother's weakness, his brother's son Donny, Frank's death, Jo Gage, Declan, Nicole, Tates, his job, his suspension, the Chief of D's, Ross, even his partner. He sometimes felt that they had all, seemingly in concert, choose the same time to demand and take their measure of flesh from him. One of his partner's most devastating comments to him swirled through his memory, "All your wounds are self-inflicted." He'd given her comment a lot of thought. He realized he bore a good level of responsibility for his current situation, his wounds. There was more to it than that and he knew Eames realized that as well. It took her outburst at him though for him to realize how much he had taken for granted in their partnership.
Slowly climbing the steps outside his door, he stopped to grab his mail from the box. Unlocking the door, he walked straight to the bare kitchen table, took a seat and began to sort through the mail, wondering how many "2nd Notice" bills today's mail contained. He froze as soon as he saw the return address on the manila envelope. Quickly opening the envelope, he pulled out the short letter and read it. It was from Molly, his 'niece'. No one ever quite figured out the correct relationship between Bobby and the little girl, who was the daughter of his great aunt's son and his wife. For simplicity's sake it was decided that "Uncle" Bobby and "niece" Molly worked best.
Her easy acceptance of him had freed a part of himself he kept locked up and hidden away from most everyone –
"Hey, is that you?" A soft voice called from behind him. He sensed her pause in the doorway behind him, before her soft footsteps brought her closer. Hands pressed gently on his shoulders as she leaned over to kiss his cheek. She straightened and wrapped her arms around him to rub her hands on his chest as he leaned back to rest his head against her.
Stealing a glance at the papers in his hands, she nudged him. "I see you got a letter from your new girlfriend …" Blake had only been able to spend a few days with Bobby when he went to visit his 'distant' family but she noticed the positive effect of those few weeks had on him. She sensed in him an acceptance of his new circumstances, a calm acceptance that had been missing for a long time now. It still depended on the situation, there was still a bit of hit-and-miss in the application. Some days were better than others, but there were better days now - something that had been missing for a long time. This gave her hope that he was turning a corner - that sooner rather than later - she'd have 'her' Bobby Goren back.
He offered up the pictures for her to see. As she shuffled through them, he read the short note that Molly had enclosed.
"Just as I thought, no mention of me in your little girlfriend's letter. Girls today sure learn at an early age how to dismiss their rival for a man's attention." Blake joked.
Bobby reached around and pulled her on to his lap. "You have no rivals. You know that." She struggled as much to get away, as she did to not lose her balance and fall on her butt, but soon she began to push away from him. All she succeeded in accomplishing was Bobby's arms wrapping even tighter around her.
She stopped struggling, and the hands that had been pushing against him for release a second ago, now reached out to trace the outline of his jaw. Still not quite ready for this to turn serious, she leaned forward to kiss the line her fingers had just mapped. She softly sighed in disappointment before murmuring, "Oh, it's just not the same…"
Bobby had been lost in a world of sensation, Blake's lips, Blake's hands, and the journey of his own hands. Slowly realizing her dismay, he belatedly responded to her criticism, "What's not the same?" He asked softly, as he turned to nuzzle her earlobe.
"I can't take it any longer. I can barely find you under all that hair on your face. It's coming off now. You've had your chance and you've promised and promised." Blake stood and reached out to him, pulling him to his feet. "And now is the perfect time, mister. I have everything laid out in the bathroom, and if I have to do it myself, I will. One way or another that beard is coming off right now. Now, march."
Bobby mentally shook himself. Her sudden change in behavior jolted him back to his surroundings. He laughed, but let her push him down the hallway. "I said I'd shave it, and I'm going to, when I'm ready."
"Well, I'm ready now, buddy. We can do this the easy way or the hard way, the choice is yours. But that beard is coming off ... it just is, accept it." She was glad she was behind him so that he couldn't see her grinning. She hoped her voice sounded firm and determined.
Feigning resistance, Bobby challenged, "Look lady, I've got a gun and I know how to use it."
Feigning disinterest, Blake replied, "So do I." Pointing past him to the open bathroom door, she reiterated, "In there …now."
Bobby saw scissor, razor, and shaving cream waiting for him on the other side of the doorway.
"You're serious?" Bobby couldn't quite believe it. Blake was pushing him backwards through the doorway.
"Well, I can see I'm going to have to do this myself." She continued to push Bobby backwards until he had to sit on the toilet or fall over it. Blake began to unbutton his shirt as he stared up at her, "You had your chance, now it's my turn. But, seeing how I've never done this before, I think we'd better take off your shirt."
As Bobby shrugged his shirt off, Blake stepped back and reached down to slowly pull her shirt up over her head, "And I certainly don't want to get shaving cream all over my new shirt. This looks like a big job and it could get kind of messy."
Bobby could hear the smile in her voice as she spoke through the shirt before pulling it completely off and letting it drop to the floor. Realizing her true intent, he grinned up at his new barber. "It may get so messy, we might even need to take showers."
"Possibly… possibly." Blake mused pretending preoccupation, "But I think one shower should be plenty. After all, we are under a water conservation warning…" Blake reached for the scissor, slowly working them as she advanced on him. She sat, straddling his legs as she reached up and started snipping away at beard she'd hated since he began growing it.
Bobby realized this was going to turn out to be the best shave he'd ever had.
