Ch.2
Olivia awoke the next morning to Noah wiggling in her arms with his eyes wide open and looking directly at her. "Hey there little man. Is someone hungry? And probably wet too, huh?" she coos at her little boy who's just staring up at her. She is met with gurgling noises as Noah begins to fuss. "Well let's get you all clean and dry first and then we'll go get you some breakfast. How does that sound?" she says scooping the little boy up in her arms. Walking into the living room she goes to the diaper bag and grabs a clean bottle and the can of formula the ACS worker had given her as well as a fresh diaper, the wipes, and a new onesie.
Laying Noah down on the sofa, Olivia changes his dirty diaper and gets him into a new onesie. "There we go Noah, all clean! Now, let's see what we can do about getting you some breakfast," she picks up Noah and grabs the bottle and formula and walks into the kitchen. Noah, growing increasingly unhappy, begins to whimper. "Oh I know little guy! No one likes to be hungry, but mama's workin' on it," she says as she mixes Noah his bottle. Shaking the bottle to mix the formula and water together, then testing it on her arm, Olivia deems it suitable for Noah and begins feeding him. Noah begins suckling at the bottle in earnest, trying to get it all down as quickly as possible. "Woah there little one! You gotta slow down there for mama. We don't want you to get sick now do we? No we don't," she coos to him as she slightly pulls the nipple out of his mouth and then reinserts it into his wide open mouth encouraging him to slow down.
Grabbing her phone from the counter, having forgotten all about it when she made it home last night, Olivia makes her way to the couch, sitting down. With one arm resting on the arm of the couch holding Noah while the other hand holds the bottle that feeds him. Noah, content with eating, becomes peaceful. Olivia rests the bottle against her so that Noah can still feed and reaches for her cell phone on the couch next to her. Olivia unlocks her phone and checks the messages. Four calls from Fin, three from Nick, and one from Amanda. All of them wondering where she is and wanting to make sure she's okay. While Noah continues to feed she calls back Fin. Answering on the third ring Olivia is met with a "Detective Tutuola".
"Hey Fin, its Liv. I..." is all she gets out before Fin jumps in with worried questions.
"Babygirl where are you? What happened? Are you okay? I heard you got custody of Noah? Congrat..." he is cut off by Olivia.
"Calm down Fin. I'm fine," she smiles looking down at Noah, as he lays in her arms, as he continues to suck at the bottle "We're fine." She takes a second to rearrange Noah on her lap then says "How did you know that I got Noah? I've had him less than 24 hrs," shaking her head at how fast word can travel in such a large city.
"Liv. You know how it is. No one keeps their mouth shut. People see Olivia Benson leave ACS with a baby carrier and people start to talk," he says back to her in a rather flippant tone.
She laughs at this, thinking about just how much attention her personal life gets. "I guess that's true. But yes, I got custody of Noah. The Judge granted me with one year of being his foster mother, and the end of one year, if I chose to, I can I apply for permanent guardianship of Noah," she told her friend.
"Wow Babygirl! Congratulations," he said excitedly. "I'm really happy for you. Finally things are in your favor. How are you guys settling in?" Fin asked her.
She sighed, thinking of all the things she had to do today. "We're doing good. I just have a ton of things that I need to get for him. A whole nursery set, clothes, bottles, formula. You name it, I need it," she chuckled slightly.
"Don't worry," he assured her. "You'll be fine. Don't stress about it too much. You can do this and if you need anything you know you can call me, any time. Right?" he asked her.
Feeling the emotion bubbling up in her she says "Yes. Thank you so much. For everything over the years. You are truly an..." she is cut off by Fin.
"No need to thank me Babygirl. That's what you do for family," he reply's simply to her. As if everything was always so simple. That they have always been "family."
She sniffles and takes a moment to get her emotions in check before responding. "Just thank you any way. While we're talking I wanted to let you know that I will probably be taking off a couple of weeks to get adjusted and to get Noah settled. If you would just try to hold down the fort and keep everyone doing their jobs, it would really help relieve some of the stress," she tells him waiting for what type of reaction she is going to get.
"Of course Liv. You know I would do anything to help you out," he says matter-of-factly. "You focus on that little boy and yourself. I got your back." Finn tells her, once again proving that he will always be a great friend to her, and forever play the role of her "older brother".
She takes a moment to look down at Noah and just thinks of what an amazing man his Uncle Fin is. "Thank you Fin. From the both of us," Olivia says, once again getting caught up in the emotions. "Would you also be able to give Amanda a call and just let her know what's going on? I'll call Nick myself," she tells Fin, feeling slightly more guilty for adding to his plate "it's the least I can do. Nick's a good partner and I feel bad that I'm going to be out for a while."
"Yeah. Sure Liv, whatever you need. I got you," Fin says to Liv. Feeling good about himself because she's trusting him so much. He thinks back to a time when she was so closed off.
"Maybe if you want," feeling uncertain of herself, she takes a breath, then continues, "I'm sure Noah would like to get to know his Uncle Fin," she finishes looking down at her little boy.
Now it was Fin's turn to get his emotions under control. After a few seconds Fin manages to find his words "Of course Liv. I'd love to meet your little guy." Fin thinks back to when his own son, Ken, was a baby and how sweet and innocent he was at that age.
"Let's set up something for the next couple of days. After I get a chance to set up all of his new things and get organized. I don't want you walking into a war zone!" she says with a slight chuckle.
Fin laughs, "Of course Babygirl. Let me know when you and the little guy are all settled and Uncle Fin will drop by with his mama's favorite pizza and a movie."
Olivia smiles at the memory of all the lonely nights they had shared, strictly platonic, brother and sister relationship. "Thanks Fin. I'm sure by then I'll need a little adult time," she laughed thinking about how crazy her life was about to get. "I'll shoot you a text in a couple of days for you to stop by. Thanks for everything. Talk to you soon," Olivia says as she begins to tend to her son.
"Okay Babygirl. Let me know if you need anything else. Bye."
Olivia looks down at Noah who has just finished his bottle "Hey there little man. You're Uncle Fin can't wait to meet you!" Noah stares into her eyes. Listening intently to all she offers him. " You are going to be so loved. That's a promise from your mama," she coos down to him as she prepares to burp him. Mentally making a list of all the things she will need for Noah, but first things first. Calling Nick and catching him up on the plans for the next few weeks.
After Noah was settled again she dialed Nicks number and waited for an answer.
"Liv! Thank god you're alright! I have been worried s..." is all he manages to get out before she interrupts him.
"Nick. Calm down," instantly sensing the worry in his voice. "Everything's fine. I forgot all about my phone last night. That's why I didn't answer. And I'm sorry for worrying you," she says in a sincere tone. Knowing that she truly didn't mean to put that kind of fear into her colleagues. After everything she's been through, she can see why they probably jumped to worst case scenarios.
"No Liv it's fine! I'm the one who's sorry. I jumped the gun and let my imagination get the best of me," he sighed thinking about all of the things he thought happened to her. Never wanting to see her as hurt and broken as she was when they got her back from Lewis. "I know you're a big girl, and, a police officer who can take care of yourself. I'll try to rein it in next time."
"No Nick. I appreciate the fact that you worry," she tells him "it means that you've always got my back and I need that." She looked down at Noah who had a content smile on his face and she thought about just how many people he would have in his life to protect him. She was happy that he would always have these protective and strong male figures in his life. Giving him someone to look up to, because both Nick and Fin, are not only good protectors and some of the most loyal people she's ever known, but they are also, all around good guys.
"I just hope there's enough of you to go around for Noah," she choked out, getting emotional while thinking about the future of her little boy.
Stunned at the amount of emotion she's allowing him to see, Nick takes a moment to get a response together. "Of course Liv. He's your boy," he tells her allowing a moment of silence. "I've got his back...and, I've got his mama's back," he says before adding "no matter what."
Olivia, touched by the honesty she hears in Nicks voice takes a moment. "Thank you Nick. I don't think you know what that means to me. To hear you say that."
"If you need help with anything at all, please call me. I'll be there. I figure you'll probably take off a few weeks to get into a routine and all," Nick says to her as he thinks about what he would do if the situations were reversed.
"Yes. I'm going to be taking off some time to get us both situated," she tells him "but we're doing okay but I promise if I need anything I will call you."
"Okay good. I'd also like to stop over one of these days and get to know Noah," sounding slightly unsure of himself "I mean, if that's okay with you?"
"Yes of course Nick! I'd love for you to meet him," she replies to him with all the certainly in the world. Knowing that Nick was one of the best fathers she's ever seen, there was no better person to be in Noah's life. "I'm planning on having Fin over later this week also. So I will just let you know what day works for us and you can stop by."
"Great Liv, I can't wait! Let me know if you need anything and tell Noah that his uncle Nick says "Hi". Talk to you later Liv, bye."
"I will. Goodbye Nick," she says ending the conversation.
She looked down at Noah who was fighting to keep his eyes open, trying to evade sleep. She stroked his cheek, all the way down to his arm and grabbed hold of his little hand. Noah slowly wrapped his hand around his mothers. She kissed his tiny little knuckles and whispered to him "Your uncle Nick is so excited to meet you. He's a great guy who's really helped out your mama over the last year. You're going to like him."
She planned to give him the world, and that also included a family that would doanything to protect him and keep him safe. Even though it might not be theconventional family, the people from her squad, were her family. And she was thankful for that every single day.