Liv and Sam had been home just a little over three days. It was their first Monday back to work since their wedding. Sam gave Kate the rest of the week off because she spent the entire last week being so great to Charlee. At one point the two discussed whether it was necessary to have a nanny any longer. Charlee was becoming very self sufficient and now that Liv was around for the long haul they weren't sure the girl needed three adults looking after her. However, due to the demands of both of their careers they decided that is was best to keep Kate around until Charlee could drive- or at least ride metro alone. The couple was very aware that their spouse may get a phone call at 2am summoning them to work. There had yet to be a point when they both had to go to work in the early morning, but they knew it was sure to come.

The couple loved the usual Monday morning comotion. They made certain they had breakfast together as a family and afterward one of them would drop Charlee of at school on the way to work. Liv had moved into Sam's condo in Brooklyn Heights about seven months before they got married. She couldn't believe she was sharing her personal space with another person... another two people. However, the transition was pretty easy for all three. There were times when Liv wasn't sure what the boundaries were between her and at that time ten year old Charlotte, but the little girl had been so happy to have a female influence in her life that she rarely gave Liv any trouble.

Liv shoved half of a chicken salad sandwich and grapes into Charlee's lunch box.

"Do you want carrots or celery?" She held up both vegetables in her two hands.

"Bleeeeh" The little girl was unimpressed.

"Carrots it is." Liv put a small baggie of baby carrots in the light purple lunch box. "Here." She handed the lunch box to Charlee to put in her backpack.

"Can I just get a salad and a Starbucks at lunch like everyone else does?"

Sam eyed Olivia from the table. "No coffee. You are way too young to get started on that crap." He told his daughter. "And you need to eat more than a salad. Take the lunch Olivia made you." Sam hated that the school let the kids go to Starbucks. Granted him and Olivia both drank coffee, but as a physician he was well aware children did not need to be drinking that much caffeine. He knew when he started her in that school he would have to deal with some upper class pretentious ass families that he would never want his daughter to be around. However, it was one of the best schools in Brooklyn Heights and with the money that was left to her from her mothers trust fund and his salary he could easily afford the thirty three thousand dollar a year tuition. He just didn't want his little girl becoming a prep school brat. Fortunately he now had Olivia around to help keep her grounded.

Sam had thought he was pretty strict with Charlotte when she was young, and Charlee was already such a great kid. However, meeting Olivia could not have come at a more perfect time. Charlee was growing into a young woman and beginning to challenge her father on things that he knew nothing about. Like this salad thing. Charlee had mentioned to Olivia once that all the girls in seventh grade only ate salads for lunch. Sam really didn't think too much of it- even being a physician. He thought salads were a healthy lunch choice and shrugged it off. Liv brought the matter up later discussing with him some concerns about that being too small of a meal for a growing girl that did some type of athletic activity almost everyday of the week. Olivia had seen things like this happen too many times throughout her career. She never thought Charlee would do anything to hurt herself, but she knew the pressure girls could put on other girls at that age. She had such a protective instinct for Charlee. Even when they were just getting to know each other. Liv wasn't sure if this was from her job or that she naturally just had a maternal instinct or maybe a little of both.