Chapter 2

"Morning Ben!" Alex smiled when he came around the corner

"Aunt Alexandra, Grace and I came up with a series of questions to ask you and Aunt Olivia. I'll be asking the questions since Grace is busy painting." Ben said putting a notebook on the table.

Alex raised an eyebrow, took of her glasses, and closed her binder she had been working in.

"Wow, someone's very forward this morning." Alex said

Olivia and Sam walked in from the backyard a few seconds later

"What are you two doing?" She asked as she took off her shoes

"Ben and Grace want to ask us some questions, but Grace is painting so Ben is going to ask." Alex said

"Oh…?" Olivia said confusedly

"Please come sit down." Ben said sternly

Olivia sat down at the table and scratched her head confusedly

"So, let's get started. Shall we?" Ben said

"What are your names?" Ben asked

Olivia looked at Alex and shook her head

"Someone's been watching crime television again, when I told them not to." Olivia said

"I haven't been watching, I promise." Ben whined

"I got most of these questions from Uncle Elliot." He continued

"Oh, even better, Alex remind me to make a phone call later tonight." Olivia said gritting her teeth

"I need your names for the record please." Ben said

I'm Alexandra Benson and she's Olivia Benson." Alex said before Olivia could say anything else.

Ben appeared to right down something in his notebook.

"How old are you two?" Ben asked lowering his sunglasses slightly.

"We're old enough." Alex said still trying to keep Olivia from replying sarcastically.

"It says on here that you two are married. Why is that? You two are girls." Ben asked confusedly

Olivia looked at Alex and mouthed "There's nothing written in that notebook."

Alex chuckled silently before leaning over and whispering in Olivia's ear

"I answered the last one, it's your turn."

Olivia narrowed her eyes before turning her head back to Benjamin.

"Well Ben, when two people love each other it doesn't matter if they're a boy or a girl." Olivia said sweetly

"Okay…" He said still kind of unsure

"Anyways, Grace wants to know if we can have macaroni and cheese for dinner." Ben said changing the subject

"Sure! We can go get ice cream afterwards too if you want." Olivia said smiling because the pressure was now off

Grace walked by them sitting at the table.

"I want ice cream!" She said without even looking up or stopping on her way to the living room.

"Alright, I'll start dinner now then so we can go to the ice cream place where we love to watch the sunset." Olivia said getting up

"Do you have any more questions?" Alex asked

"Just one." Ben said closing his notebook

"What?" Alex asked

"Where's our mother?" Ben said asked with tears forming in his eyes.

"I came up with that question myself."

Olivia stopped dead in the motion of opening up the fridge and looked at Alex. Her eyes were pleading with Alex not to tell him the truth. Not to tell him that their mother had been found, and had given up all rights to both of them. She wanted nothing to do with them.

Alex looked at Olivia before standing up from the table.

"Wait here." She said to Ben before grabbing Olivia's wrist and taking her into the bedroom.

"Don't!" Olivia said getting out of Alex's grasp

"Don't what?" Alex said closing the door

"Don't tell me that we have to tell them because we don't." Olivia said sitting on the bed as tears ran down her cheek.

"They're better off not knowing. We could become their parents, redo the spare rooms, and make the house more kid friendly. We've both wanted kids for a long time, this is our dream come true Alex." Olivia pleaded

"Olivia, you aren't thinking this out fully. You should know better than anyone that I would love to become Ben and Grace's mom, but it isn't that simple. We've both seen this happen to children before, and Ben and Grace aren't any different. I know you want to believe that they are, and that this situation is easier to handle because we know and love them so much, but it's not and we have to tell them." Alex said wiping the tears from Olivia's cheeks.

Olivia pulled away from Alex and got up from the bed. She walked to the bedroom window and stared out. Alex stayed sitting on the bed and just watched Olivia.

"Why did this have to happen to them? Why did this happen to us? Why does this happen at all?" Olivia said with a lump in her throat.

"You think it would get easier over the years but it hasn't, and I don't think it ever will." She continued

"How are we supposed to tell them? Is there even a way to tell them?" Olivia asked

"Well, don't worry about that. I'll figure it out I always do." Alex said unsure

"For now let's go back in there and make macaroni, and we'll tell them that we still don't know. Wipe your face off, I promise it'll be okay. It has to be okay."

Olivia wiped her face and tried her best to make herself look as normal as possible. She grabbed Alex's hand and waited for her to open the door. Alex kissed Olivia's cheek before opening the door. When she opened it she hit Ben in the arm narrowly missing Grace who was standing behind him. He had clearly been eavesdropping.

"She isn't coming back is she?!" He yelled

"She left us and you weren't going to tell us, were you?!"

Alex couldn't find the right words to say, she just stared at him as tears rushed down his cheeks and onto the hall floor. Before either Olivia or Alex could say anything, Ben grabbed Grace's arm, ran down the hall into his room, and slammed the door. Alex turned to Olivia who had let go of her hand, Olivia's face was soaked with tears. Without saying a word she walked over to the bed, climbed under the blankets, covered herself, and began crying loudly and heavily. Alex just stood in the doorway. Her body wouldn't let her move, even if it had; where was she going to go?