He finds out

2

"Santiago." Jake placed a hand on Amy's desk, a mug clutched tightly in his other hand.

"Peralta!" Amy started, immediately blushing. She smoothed down imaginary wrinkles in her blazer and looked up to meet jakes's eyes.

"I think we need to talk." He didn't avert his gaze even for a second. "Evidence locker." She nodded once and walked back to her desk. The bullpen was full as it was early in the morning.

"Jeez, what's that about?" Gina asked from across their desks. She had a , mischievous smile on his face.

Amy rolled her eyes, trying to keep the mood light. "None of your business,Gina . I believe you have other things to worry about. Your job, for example."

"Okay. Touchy subject, I get it. I'll get back to my job." She dramatically looked away and flourished the case file she was holding in the air, then immediately dropped it back onto her desk.

Nervously, Amy stood up and glanced over at jake, who was leaning on the wall near her desk. Amy nodded to him and the two of them walked off to the evidence room.

As soon as Amy closed the door behind them, jake asked "I think you need to explain what happened last night."

Amy sighed and pulled out a chair. "Maybe we should sit down. It's kind of a lot."

They sat down at the small, cold metal table in the middle of the evidence locker. Amy took in a shaky breath. "Well, obviously you know we have a very stressful job. And it gets pretty hard for me to deal with sometimes. Last year I was looking for ways to cope with it all and I found out about age regression. It's just...mentally regressing yourself to a younger age to deal with stress and anxiety. It started off as an occasional thing for me but over time I sort of started losing control over my little space."

"Wow." Jake cast his gaze down at the table, not sure how to proceed. "I guess that makes sense."

"Yeah. Thanks for helping me out last night. I don't know what I would've done without you."

"It's no big deal. It wasn't...the worst." Jake blushed a little, trying to keep his face indifferent.

"What does that mean?" Amy giggled a little bit. "Did you like taking care of me?" she teased, leaning across the table a bit, her arms crossed in front of her.

"Maybe." Jake said quickly. "You were sort of cute like that." Amy started to answer but jake cut her off. "Don't go and make a big deal about it. It's not a big deal."

"Of course not." Amy mimed zipping her lips shut and dropping the key on the floor, making jake chuckle a little bit. "So..." Amy began. "If you liked it, would you mind maybe...helping me out again? No pressure, of course."

"What are you talking about, Santiago?"

"I mean...maybe you come to my apartment occasionally and take care of me some more. It was really nice for me, to feel taken care of and stuff."

Jake turned the offer over in his head a few times. What was he getting himself into? Did he want to do it? Maybe a little. He didn't, however, want to admit that. "I..." he started, not sure how to continue. "Sure, why not." If Amy was offering, he was clearly not going to judge him for accepting.

"Cool! Cool." Amy rubbed her hands over the thighs of his slacks. "How's tonight? My place."

"Tonight's fine."

Jake stood outside Amy's door, his hand raised and ready to knock. He steeled herself, took a deep breath and knocked twice. No need for gratuitous knocking.

Amy opened the door, her hair messy and her face flushed. she was dressed in an baggy t-shirt with shorts poking out from under it. Jake glanced inside. It looked like his grandparents house. All doilies and old European plates and dark wood finishes.

"Hi! Come in." Amy opened the door wider for jake, and he stepped in, trying not to let his nerves get the best of him . "Sorry, I'm a little nervous." Amy laughed nervously, toying with a strand of her hair. She had never told anyone about this part of herself before, and here was the ever intense and jake peralta here to witness it in full.

"Yeah. I get it." Jake admitted and offered a small, brief smile to Amy as she closed the door. After a brief silence, he asked "So...how does all this work?"

"Well I thought we could just sit on the couch and watch TV or something. To start."

Jake nodded, took off his shoes, and let Amy lead her into the living room, which wasn't really a room of its own, just a section of the open plan apartment.

"Do you want something to drink? Water? Soda?" Amy asked as jake sat on the couch.

"No. That's fine."

"Alright." Amy nervously lowered herself next to jake, settling herself in the crook of his arm, which was draped over the back of the couch. She grabbed the remote and turned on a nature documentary, complete with the soothing deep voice of some guy.

Amy tentatively rested her head on Jake's shoulder. Jake tender momentarily, but forced himself to relax. His eyes roamed over Amy curled up on the couch. Her shirt had ridden up some and the edge of a white diaper was barely visible over the top of her shorts. She averted her eyes, trying to focus on the colorful birds on the screen.

"Is this okay?" Amy asked as she slowly wrapped her arms around jakes's waist.

"Yeah." Jake chewed his tongue for a little bit. "Y'know, I think I understand all of this. I act like nothing bothers me but sometimes...this job really shakes me up. The thought that I could die every day. And...yesterday when I was taking care of you it made me feel...good? better? I don't know."

"I get it." Amy said quietly. Her voice was muffled as her face was tucked into jakes's shoulder.

Jake smiles a bit and moved his arm from the back of the couch to wrap around Amy's shoulder. She was slowly relaxing into him.

"Hold on." Amy said, slowly prying herself away from jake. "I'm gonna get something...and you won't judge me?"

"Of course not." Jakes's voice was softer than it usually was.

Amy disappeared into her bedroom for a minute, and then went into the kitchen. Jake could hear her quietly bustling around, and then the gentle hum of  the microwave for a few seconds.

When Amy returned, she was clutching a clear baby bottle full of milk with both hands and blushing rather furiously. "I...want you to give this to me."

"Okay." Jake said quietly. He sat still as Amy shyly draped herself in a sitting position into jakes's lap. She handed him the bottle.

Jake wrapped his arm around Amy's back. He could feel Amy's diaper under her shorts, and it made him want to take care her even more. Slowly, he fitted the nipple of the bottle into Amy's mouth. Amy shifted to rest her head on jakes's shoulder, keeping a hand lightly on the bottle. Jake reached up to stroke her hair and Amy closed her eyes.

A few minutes later, Amy was lulled to sleep by the bottle and the calming nature documentary, and her mouth loosened around the bottle. Jake removed it and set it down on the coffee table. He placed his other hand on Amy's back and picked her up and put her on his hip.

Rather awkwardly, he carried Amy into her bedroom and laid her down. He pulled the covers up to Amy's chin and hesitated before kissing her forehead.

Amy stirred a bit. "Jake?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you stay with me?" She muttered quietly.

"Yeah." He quietly climbed into bed with Amy and scooted closer, spooning her.

"Thank you for this." Amy muttered, relaxing into jakes's embrace.