Tanya fidgeted nervously in the backroom of the police station and glanced down at the tiny cup of water that was given to her. Her throat was feeling a bit dry but she couldn't bring herself to sip it as she noticed the small specks of dirt spinning around it. She had never been to jail before and thought they were going to be chain her up in handcuffs and tie her legs to the table but it was nothing like that. The room was small and damp with a boarded up window on one of the walls and a mirror on the other one. The officer handling the case, she believed his name was Officer Bryant, had left the room to get something and now she was awkwardly staring at the wall in front of her.
During the time she was waiting she couldn't help but to think back to how in the world she ended up in this position. Growing up she was always more of the 'wild child' while Olivia was the one who brought home the good grades, did all of the extra curricular activities, and never got into any trouble. Their family originally stayed in downtown New York but by the time Tanya was born they had moved to a more rural area. There was nothing to do in their small community except go to school and go home so when she fell in love at 13 with a man much older than her, he had all of her attention. When she ended up getting pregnant at 14 the whole entire family was devastated and he dipped out of her life before Nicolas was even born.
Instead of working on growing up and maturing for the sake of her son, Tanya rebelled against everything that she knew she was supposed to do. At the time she was still staying at home with her parents and they helped to raise Nicolas while she disappeared for days at a time. At first it was because she was afraid of sticking around too long. It seemed like all Nicki did was cry and cry and cry and she didn't have the first clue on how to help it and she didn't want to make it any worse. Once he was older, though, it was because she didn't want to be bothered with raising a child. She still wanted to go hang out and party with her friends but she couldn't do that while carrying a toddler on her hip.
After high school she intended on getting a little job at a fast food restaurant or in retail but her parents had other plans. Once she found out they went behind her back and filled out some college applications for her she was furious. It was then that she took Nicolas and moved out of her parents house and found the cheapest apartments she could find to live in. She became dependent on government assistance and whatever man was giving her his money, attention, and time.
It was then that Olivia started to step up and help her with Nicolas. At first it started off small with Olivia giving her money to buy baby clothes and toys but it quickly progressed from that. Before Tanya knew it her sister was picking Nicolas up from school, driving him around to doctors appointments, and he had started to spend all of his weekends with her. It was convenient for her because that still meant that she had time to do her own thing without having to worry about Nicki and his well being.
At first Tanya didn't have an issue with giving custody over to Olivia. It seemed like a pretty good deal, honestly. She could come see Nicolas whenever she wanted but didn't have to deal with all the ins and outs of being a parent. She was seriously considering it until she watched what happened today.
As soon as Nicki was released from the officer instead of running to her he went straight to Olivia and hugged her and wouldn't let go. At first she was just disappointed but that had turned into pure anger since she had been sitting there. She felt as if Olivia was trying to replace her as Nicolas' mother and the thought alone made her blood absolutely boil. The fact that Fitz was there didn't make the situation any better.
She thought that Olivia dating Fitz would just be some little fling that wouldn't last long, but yet here they were more in love than ever. It was very unlike her sister to fall for some pretty boy with nice hair but Fitz seemed to be the exception to this. All Nicolas ever yapped about was 'Uncle Fitz' this and 'Uncle Fitz' that and she was sick and tired of it. It seemed like Olivia was trying to basically force an absolute stranger into their family's lives and Tanya didn't like it one bit.
Not only that, it was pretty obvious that Fitz didn't like her, either. He never came straight out and said it but it was always painfully obvious by the way he looks at her.
'Sorry to keep you waiting, Miss Pope.' Officer Bryant said as he came through the door and broke Tanya out of her train of thought. 'But I wanted to go grab a tape recorder so I can make sure I get everything you said.'
Her eyebrows furrowed. She didn't understand why she had to be recorded or what type of questions they'd be asking her. 'Did you record my sister and her boyfriend?'
Bryant took a mental note of her defensiveness as he took his seat. 'We didn't have to interview them. You were the last person to be seen with Nicolas this morning and we just want to see what happened.'
She sighed. 'I already told you what happened. We—'
The officer shook his head. 'I know but I just need to get an official statement. Are you ready to begin recording.'
Tanya sighed but nodded her head and took a sip of her water. 'Whatever.'
'Great.' he nodded his head and touched the device so it would start recording. 'Please, in your own words, tell me exactly what happened.'
After rolling her eyes, tired of explaining herself, Tanya started to tell her story once more. 'I picked Nick up last night from my sister's boyfriend's house in Georgetown and—'
'Why was he in Georgetown and not with you?' he asked, interrupting but analyzing her body language as she spoke.
'I went on vacation with a friend and its not unlike Nicolas to spend time with his aunt.' she explained before Bryant gestured for her to continue her story. 'I picked him up in an Uber and he was acting all sad and upset but I figured it was because he was tired. We made it back to our apartment and I told him he needed to go to bed. We got into a little argument because he said he wasn't sleepy but I made him go to his bedroom anyway.'
'The next morning I got him up for school and brushed his hair and then I walked him towards the Metro. The neighborhood moms get together every morning and one of them volunteers to ride with the kids to school. I didn't want to have to swipe my card to get in so I kissed him goodbye and he left to find his group. After that I went back home and got in bed and later on my sister came bursting through the door to tell me he never made it school.' she explained, assuming that the officer would believe her story.
Officer Bryant nodded. 'Thank you for your account of the events, Miss Pope. Because Nicolas was missing we made a call to Child Protective Services. They're going to be in contact with you very soon and they'll probably want to schedule a home visit with you and maybe do another interview.'
'Why do we need to get CPS involved? Nicolas was found safe and sound and—'
'It's just protocol, Miss Pope.' he said dismissively, not wanting to alarm her so she'd do something stupid. 'I suggest you comply with everything they ask of you.'
Tanya sighed but nodded her head. 'Am I free to go now?'
He nodded. 'You're free to go.'
She quickly got up and left the room before he decided he needed anything else from her. Her main focus right then was to figure out where her sister had gone with Nicolas so that she could check on him herself. Before Tanya could even dial her sister's cellphone number she was getting a call from CPS.
Sprinkles was a small ice-cream shop close to the baseball stadium and the group decided to stop there to get a midday treat. After having such a traumatizing day nobody felt like forcing Nicki to go to school for the last 2 hours of the day. Usually the area was filled with kids running around in the fountains outside but the temperature was starting to drop in DC so everyone was inside trying to keep warm.
Nicolas hadn't said one word since they picked him up from the police station and Officer Bryant had told them that he hadn't said much to the counselor, either. Olivia's worst fear was that something traumatic had happened and that he was too afraid to speak on it. Nicki tended to be a very happy and affectionate kid so seeing this behavior from him was surprising even under the circumstances. Today he was quiet and shy and barely wanted to look any of them in the eyes at all.
When they arrived at the shop it was around 2pm and there were only a few other people there. Abbey and Leo ordered their icecream first them found them a table to sit at while Olivia and Fitz stayed behind with Nicki. They were regulars at the shop because they brought Nicolas in all the time and because 'Tommy' was always a fan favorite. The ladies behind the counter loved it when he came to visit and Olivia didn't mind them flirting with him as long as he knew who he belonged to.
'Hey, Allstar!' cooed one of the ladies from behind the counter as she peered down at Nicolas. 'Why the long face today?'
Nicolas had been standing in front of Olivia with his back pressed against her thighs. He had been using her as some type of security blanket since they picked him up and he didn't feel like disconnecting from her at all. As soon as he realized that the lady was talking to him he turned his body around so that he could hide his face away in her hips.
Olivia smiled apologetically at the woman, still a little shocked at his behavior. 'We've had a hard day today.' she whispered as a signal for them not to push it.
'Aw man, I'm sorry to hear that. But I think I know what will cheer him up.' she smiled and opened up the bar and spooned out 3 scoops of cookie dough icecream, Nicki's favorite, and put it in a blue cup with a blue spoon. 'My favorite ice-cream always makes me feel better.'
After realizing that Nicolas wasn't going to turn around and get the icecream himself, Olivia reached over to grab it from the woman who now had a concerned look on her face. As she tried walking forward so that they could pay for their desserts, Nicki continued to cling to her thigh, making it extremely difficult to walk.
Fitz raised his eyebrows then reached down and grabbed Nicolas underneath his arms and picked him up so that Olivia could move forward. Nicki purposely made his body go limp, making it harder for Fitz to hold him upright, and he reached out to grab his aunt's arm. He whined loudly as he watched her pay for the ice-cream and didn't stop until Fitz put him back down on the floor so that he could hold onto her once more.
For the next 45 minutes or so they all sat around trying their best to engage Nicki in some type of conversation although it didn't seem to be working quite how they wanted. He would occasionally answer questions by shaking or nodding his head but wouldn't give any verbal responses which was now making Olivia worry more. He insisted on sitting in her lap and had barely touched any of his ice-cream. Leo, who had missed lunch to help look for him earlier that day, took it upon himself to finish the ice-cream. No need for it to go to waste.
There was a metro station not far from the ice-cream shop and Abbey and Leo decided to ride the train instead of getting back in the car with Fitz and Olivia. Nicolas allowed Fitz to carry him but he kept his eyes trained on his aunt as if he was afraid that she would vanish into thin air if he looked away too long. The men walked ahead while Olivia and Abbey stayed behind and talked amongst one another.
'Do you think Tanya is going to try to come get him tonight?' Abbey asked quietly, still working on her ice-cream as they walked. She was notorious for being a slow eater and most of her food had melted but she was still enjoying it.
'I hope not but that's the least of my worries right now. Nicki seems traumatized about something. I just hope nothing happened to him.' she fretted.
Abbey shook her head, wanting to believe the best. 'I'm sure he's fine but being out in the city by himself all day probably shook him up a little. It probably didn't help that he had to be at the police station by himself.'
'I hope you're right, Abbey.' Olivia sighed.
'Leo has been taking notes all day about what happened. I'll email it to you so you can send it to the lawyer in the morning. No court in America would put Nicki back in Tanya's care after they hear about what's been going on.' she assured.
'I've really been wanting to avoid testifying against my sister.' she said as she took hold of her ear and slightly tugged on it. It was a habit that she had since she was younger and she had obviously passed it down to Nicolas because he did the same thing when he was nervous.
This was one of the worst parts of trying to pursue custody of her nephew. Olivia hated the way that Tanya treated Nicolas and she realized that she was just an immature, spoiled brat; but that was still her baby sister. She had no doubt that Tanya loved her son but she just loved herself more and nobody suffered except Nicolas.
The thought of having to get on a stand and air all of her families dirty laundry to a room full of strangers really bothered her. It would be much easier if Tanya would willingly give up custody but after today's events she had a feeling that she wouldn't go down without a fight.
'We're going to be behind you every step of the way.' she assured. 'Have you talked to your parents yet?'
'I'm going to call them tonight.' Olivia said more to herself than to Abbey. She especially didn't want to drag them into this. 'But I really wished I didn't have to pull them into the middle of this.'
'Liv, they're your family. They're already in the middle of it. If anybody can talk some sense into your sister then it's probably your mom and dad.' Abbey reasoned.
'They haven't spoken since Tanya moved out last year.' Olivia shook her head. 'I don't think she's going to listen to a word they say.'
'It's worth a shot.' she shrugged.
Once they all made it back to Fitz's penthouse they struggled to figure out what their next move would be. They didn't want him to miss anymore work but they also didn't want to force him to do homework after the day he had. They didn't want to make him go to bed early but they also didn't want him to miss school the next day. They didn't want to force him to eat anything but they also knew he probably hadn't had much that day.
Luckily for both of them, Nicolas seemed to be moving around on his own once they made it home. When he walked into the living room he took his shoes off and put them in the designated spot on the rack then went and sat in the middle of the floor in front of the television. Fitz's dog trotted out to greet him and plopped his head in Nicki's lap to be petted.
'I think it'll be alright if he misses tomorrow.' Olivia suggested under her breath to Fitz as they stood from afar and watched.
'I think that'll be best.' he nodded his head in agreement. It sometimes amazed him to know how much influence Olivia allowed him to have in the way Nicki was being raised but he loved it.
'I'm just worried about him.' she said, her eyebrows furrowing as she tried to keep herself from crying. 'What if he's been hurt and he doesn't want to tell us? What if somebody threatened to do something to him? What if—'
'Hey, hey.' he cut her off. Fitz took hold of both of her hips and turned her body towards him. He could tell she was getting ready to cry but she didn't need to do it right there in front of Nicki. 'Let's not think that way. We're going to talk to him and see what's going on but until then we aren't going to assume the worse. There's no need to get yourself so riled up for something that didn't happen.'
'I know.' she sighed and nodded, acknowledging he was right.
'Come here, sunshine.' he pulled her closer and kissed her forehead, allowing his lips to linger there. He had never felt her so muscles so tense and he made a mental note to make sure she got a massage once all this was over.
Fitz lead Olivia over to the couch in the living room and they sat beside each other, content to watch whatever Nicolas had playing on television at the moment. Olivia unbuckled her heels for the first time that day and tossed them to the side and Fitz instinctively pulled her feet into his lap. He could only imagine how they felt after a full day of running around town looking for Nicki.
For the next few hours Nicolas mostly just sat quietly and watched television. He kept his eyes trained to the screen but would occasionally check behind his shoulder to make sure that Olivia was still in the room or if she left to use the restroom or get something to eat he would poke his head down the hall to make sure she was still there.
His usual bedtime was 8pm but by 6 Nicolas was falling asleep right where he sat. They thought they were going to have to fight him to get him in bed but he calmly stood to his feet and walked over to where they were sitting.
'I'm ready to take my bath.' he mumbled one of the only things he had said all day and rubbed his eyes.
Fitz nodded. Usually he was the one who handled the bedtime routine which gave them a lot of quality male bonding time. He gently put Olivia's feet down on the floor and stood up. 'Let's go, buddy.'
Nicolas shook his head and put his hands on Olivia's knees. 'Auntie can you do bath time tonight?'
Olivia's eyebrows raised, surprised at his request. She glanced up at Fitz who simply shrugged his shoulders and sat back down on the couch. Nicolas worked to pull Liv up from her seat and she followed behind him towards his bedroom to gather his sleeping clothes.
Once they made it to the bathroom connected to Nicolas' room he immediately started to undress and Olivia sat down on the toilet and watched him. Bath time was usually full of laughs and giggles but tonight the only thing heard was Nicki occasionally yawning and the television on in the other room.
Once he was in the bathtub Olivia kneeled beside him and grabbed his bottle of Paw Patrol bath soap and poured it onto his sponge. She handed it off to Nicolas and watched as he rubbed it underneath his armpits.
'Do you want to talk to me, Nicki?' she asked as she watched him to make sure he did a good job. He had been bathing alone for a while but it wasn't unlike him to just hop in the water and come right back out so he could go play. It wasn't his favorite part of the night.
'A little.' he murmured, averting his eyes from hers.
'Can you tell me about what happened today, Nicki? Where did you go?' she prompted as she reached to take his long hair out of its bun. It was done in a braid so she had to unravel it and gently rake her fingers through his tresses.
'I went to the normal place where my class meets to leave but when I got there they were all getting on the train and I couldn't get on fast enough. I tried running as fast as I could but the doors shut and you always say don't try and get on so I wont get hurt.' he explained softly.
'So what did you do? Did you go ask for help?' Olivia asked as she took some of his shampoo into her hands and began running her fingers through his scalp.
'I tried but nobody was listening to me. Then I tried going to the man that sits at the station but there was so many people and I couldn't reach him.'
Olivia figured that around 7:30 that morning, right around the time Nicolas was there the station, it would've probably been crawling with commuters all in a rush trying to get to work on time. She could imagine how easily a small boy with nothing but a backpack on his back could get lost in the crowd.
'I bet that was scary, huh? Being around all those big people without anybody there with you.' she sympathized.
'Ya.' Nicolas nodded. 'That's why whenever we go places I should always hold your hand so I don't get lost, right?'
'You're right. Now tell me what happened after you couldn't get any help.' she encouraged as she massaged his scalp the way he liked. She could see his body start to relax as she worked her fingers in his head.
'Then I tried getting on the train by myself because I didn't want to miss the book fair but I couldn't remember which way to go.' Nicolas huffed. 'I sat down on the train but I didn't see anymore kids on there so I got off. I thought I had made it to the right place so I got off the train and went up this really big escalator. It was a bunch of people singing and dancing and one of them asked me for a dollar but I didn't have any money.'
'What else did you see?'
'I saw that movie theater you took me to when we went to see Moana.' he said with a small smile.
Olivia smiled back at him. She knew exactly where he was talking about but he was a long way from his school. He must have gotten on the wrong train because the movie theater was in the opposite direction.
'I ran away from the man that asked me for a dollar because he was yelling at me and I got scared. It was a lot of people there, too, and everybody was walking so fast and somebody bumped me and I fell down on my knees.'
'Did you get hurt?' she asked as she glanced down at his knees to check for any scratches or bruises.
'No.' he shook his head. 'But the man said "Watch where you're going kid!" and kept walking away after that. I kept trying to ask people to help me but nobody was listening to me.' he said sadly.
Olivia took a small cup they had set aside and ran the water through his wavy hair to wash all the soap out. It broke her heart to know that out of all the people Nicolas came across not one of them would even stop to ask him if he was lost or needed help. She couldn't imagine seeing a 5 year old by himself in the middle of DC and not stop to see what was wrong.
'Then I passed by this store and they were selling baseball stuff in there so I went inside because I thought they would know Uncle Fitz. They had a bunch of shirts with Uncle Fitz on there and I tried telling the man in there that he was my uncle but he didn't believe me and told me to leave and go to school.'
She almost chuckled at that part. Olivia could imagine that most people didn't believe Nicki when he told them that Fitz was his uncle. 'Did anybody else pick on you? Did anybody touch you in your no-no spots?'
Nicolas shook his head. 'Nobody touched me in my no-no spots, auntie.'
After hearing that Olivia let go of a breath she didn't even realize she was holding in. Her biggest fear was that something had happened to him while he was lost but it seemed like he was just a bit shook up. 'How did you make it to the police station?'
'I went to the park and found somebody in a police uniform. I told him that my name was Nicolas Ramone Pope and that I was 5 years old and that I went to Casey Elementary School and that I was lost. He took me for a ride in his police car and he asked me a lot of questions but I was too scared to answer them. He gave me the phone so I could call you but you didn't answer the phone at your work.'
Olivia smiled. 'That's because Uncle Fitz and I were at your school this morning at the book fair so that we could see you. Did you try calling my other number?'
'No.' he shook his head. 'I was going to call Uncle Fitz next but when I told them who he was they didn't believe me and took the phone from me. How come nobody believes he's my uncle?'
'Because he has a job where a lot of people know him but nobody knows about his family. He's a famous person.'
'Well, he needs a new job.' Nicolas reasoned. 'The police officers called my school and got your phone number and then they called you. I was happy when they said you were coming to get me.'
'It made me happy when they told me they had found you.' Olivia said as she stood to her feet and grabbed a towel so that he could step out of the bathtub. 'We were looking everywhere for you all morning long.'
'Was my mom looking, too?' he asked as he stood up from the bathtub and stepped into her waiting arms so that he could wrap himself up in the towel.
'Even your mom.' she confirmed with a nod.
'Auntie, I don't like living with her anymore. I want to come stay with you and Uncle Fitz.' he confessed.
'I know. We want you to come stay with us, too.' she replied and pressed her forehead against his. 'But it may take a little while. Your mommy still loves you very much and she still wants you to stay with her.'
'No, she doesn't.' he shook his head. 'She doesn't even care about me.'
Olivia's heart nearly broke into two pieces. She couldn't imagine feeling like her own mother didn't love her. 'Yes she does, Nicki. She just has a really hard time showing it.'
Nicolas' bottom lip poked out pitifully. 'I don't like it there. Uncle Fitz said that we were a family and families all live with each other.'
'We're all a family but sometimes families don't stay together. I'm going to do the best I can to make sure that you're safe and happy, okay?' she placed both of her hands on his cheeks and used her thumbs to force his lips up into a smile.
He giggled in spite of himself and nodded. 'Okay.'
'Good.' she smiled and stood to her feet. 'Let's go get you in some pajamas.'
Nicki followed behind Olivia into his bedroom and disposed of his towel and started rummaging through his sleep clothes. After being indecisive for a while he opted to wear his Spiderman top with his Batman bottoms then crawled into the bed where Olivia was sitting. She worked his hair into two long braids then twisted them together then helped him crawl under the covers.
'I think it's almost time for somebody to get a haircut.' Olivia suggested.
'Not me, auntie.' he shook his head. 'I want to grow my hair forever.'
Olivia chuckled and leaned down to kiss his forehead then pulled the covers up over his body. 'Pleasant dreams and have a good night.'
'And don't let the bed bugs bite.' he responded, finishing off their nightly mantra.
As Olivia stood up to walk out of his bedroom Nicolas took hold of her hand and stopped her. 'I wish you were my real mommy.'
She blinked a few times to ward away the tears that were threatening to fall. Olivia had been strong the entire day but just that one sentence threatened to tear the facade apart. Determined not to cry in front of Nicolas she sniffled and squeezed down on his hand.
'No matter who your real mommy is I will always love you and take care of you. You believe me?'
'I believe you.' he nodded and finally released her fingers.
Olivia gave him one more tight lipped smile then walked out of his bedroom and quietly shut the door behind her. As soon as she heard the knob click she pressed her back against the wood and put her face into her hands as her eyes began to sting once more. She had never felt more helpless in her life.
The next day for them seemed even worse than the last. They decided to give Nicolas the day off from school so that he could rest for a little while. He was usually pretty excited to go but this morning when they walked into his room he was laying on his stomach and snoring. Olivia simply shut the curtains in his room then went to meet Fitz in the kitchen.
'What's your day look like?' she asked him as she shoved her phone and portfolio into her oversized Michael Kors purse.
'I took the whole day off to spend with Nicolas. I figured you wouldn't be able to get off work two days in a row.' Fitz responded as he poured some coffee into a bright yellow travel mug. After sealing the top he handed it off to her. 'Hazelnut latte, one cream, no sugars.'
It wasn't until then that Olivia realized that Fitz was wearing an apron with nothing on under it but his black Adidas sweatpants. She kept in her giggle but it was truly hilarious to see how domesticated he was becoming. Before they were together he never cooked a meal, he rarely went to bed early and he certainly never wore an apron.
'Wow. I knew there was a reason we were together.' she smiled and pecked his lips. 'You two have fun. Try going over some of his assignments with him once he gets up. I'm going to call his teacher and see what's going on.'
'I will.' he nodded. 'Have you heard from Tanya?'
Olivia sighed and shook her head. 'No. Not one thing. I guess I'll call the police station as well to see whats going on. I don't know if she was taken into custody or what.'
'You call the police station and I'l handle the school. I'll also call the lawyer up today and tell them all about yesterday's events. They may want a statement from you as well.' he suggested as he took hold of her hips and brought her body closer to his, their pelvis' colliding together. 'You're going to run yourself ragged if you try doing everything on your own, sunshine. I'm still here to help you.'
Fitz had long decided that he would let Olivia handle anything that directly correlated with Tanya. As much as they couldn't stand her he knew that she still cared for her sister and he didn't want to cross any boundaries. He would only step in if she asked him for his help.
'I know.' she smiled and nodded her head. 'And I appreciate you.'
Fitz smiled and leaned forward to kiss her. As soon as their lips touched Olivia began to nibble lightly at his bottom lip and she immediately slid her tongue into his mouth as he opened it. She ran her free hand up and down his exposed side until she reached the hem of his sweatpants. He flinched away from her touch when her fingertips dipped into the waistband of his pants.
'Don't start anything you cant finish.' he grunted against her mouth as he tried to control himself.
Olivia smiled softly. They had been so wrapped up in yesterday's events that they ended up falling right asleep and there was definitely no time for a morning quickie. 'I always finish what I start, daddy.' she said lowly, knowing that it would drive him absolutely crazy.
Fitz growled lowly. 'Olivia you're not going to make it to work on time if you don't stop.' he warned.
'Can I just get one little squeeze before I go?' she poked her bottom lip out cutely, determined to tease him.
'No.' he chuckled and shook his head but didn't move to stop her hand that was now traveling further into his pants. He took hold of her chin, keeping her head in place as he assaulted her mouth once more. Fitz could feel himself getting hard as he thought about bending her over the counter top and fucking her right there.
'Ew! Stop kissing!' Nicolas squealed from the doorway causing them both to jump away from each other.
Olivia gasped and immediately straightened out her clothes. Nicki was standing in the doorway with his pajamas on and rubbing his big, brown sleepy eyes. As much as she didn't want to be interrupted she was glad he was finally awake.
'Why do you guys kiss so much? Every time I wake up you guys are kissing.' he complained.
'Well, then you should be used to it by now, sport.' Fitz teased lightly as he calmed himself down and walked over to the stove. He had already put the pancake mix together for breakfast but was waiting for him to get up to actually put them on the stove.
'You kiss too much.' he whined before making his way over to the kitchen table, dragging his feet as he did. 'Is it almost time for school?' he asked, unaware that he was over an hour late.
'Uncle Fitz and I decided that you could stay home from school today so that you could rest.' Olivia responded as she walked over to the fridge to grab some grapes that she could snack on during the ride to work.
Nicki's jaw dropped. 'But I want to go to school. It's the second day of the book fair and I already missed the first one!'
'But me and you are going to spend the whole day together here, buddy!' Fitz countered as best he could. 'We're going to have so much fun.'
It quickly became obvious that Nicolas didn't agree with their logic whatsoever. Olivia thought about just getting him dressed and taking him but his eyes were big and puffy and had bags under them so one day of rest wouldn't kill him.
'You can go tomorrow. Uncle Fitz and I will come with you and you can show us all the projects you've been working on.' she promised before kissing the top of his head.
Nicolas huffed in complaint but didn't say another word. Fitz shook his head and kissed Olivia's forehead. 'Have a good day at work, sunshine. We'll be here when you get home.'
While everything seemed to be having a smooth start for Olivia and Fitz in Georgetown, Tanya was at her house stressing out. What she thought was going to slip under the rug as a simple misunderstanding had turned into something much bigger. She had overheard one of the officers say something about 'child endangerment' but she was too afraid to even Google what they meant. They were now assigned a social worker who had already been by the house and apparently hadn't like what she seen. They had a date set up in family court which made Tanya jus cringe thinking about it.
Not only that she now had to think about being forced to give custody of Nicki up. Her friends had reassured her that no judge in their right mind would separate a mother and child over a simple mistake and that she was in the clear but she knew her sister better than that. Olivia had the money and resources to take her to court for Nicolas and she knew she wouldn't be able to afford to defend herself.
Before her mind could wander any further there was a knock on her front door. Hoping it would be Olivia with Nicolas she rushed through the living room to see who it was. She was more than a little disappointed when she realized it was only her friend. Tanya pushed the door open and stepped aside so that she could come in.
'Hey, girl.' her friend greeted as she plopped down on the couch and set down a bag of food she had brought from McDonalds. 'Where's Nicki? You couldn't get him back?'
'Not yet.' she shook her head and sat beside her, grateful that somebody had brought something to eat. She felt like she hadn't had anything in her stomach in days. 'I was so tired yesterday after being questioned and stuff I just let him stay the night at my sister's place.'
Jenny sucked her teeth. 'That's the problem.' she said as she bit into her burger. 'He's getting too used to staying over there. Once this whole thing is over you need to stop letting him spend so much time over there.'
Tanya didn't want to admit that the reason Nicki spent so much time with her sister was because she never felt like being tied down to actually being a mother. She liked all the fun parts like watching tv together and going out but she could go without the homework and whatever else.
'I know. I'm going to go pick him up from school today and he's going to stay with me until this stuff blows over.'
'You know what you need to do, right?' her eyebrow quirked at her.
'No.' Tanya shook her head.
'You have to tell the social worker that he's being abused when he's with her. Isn't your sister dating that baseball player now?'
'Don't remind me.' Tanya grunted as she thought about Fitz.
'Make up a story about him touching Nicki or something. You have to make it sound believable, though.' she suggested.
'Jen I don't think I'm ready to take it that far.' she retorted, the plan making her a little nervous.
Jenny simply shrugged her shoulders. 'Don't say I never gave you any advice.'
Tanya sighed and shook her head.
At 2:30 Tanya was waiting outside of Casey Elementary School to pick Nicolas up alongside the other parents. Usually Olivia was the one to come pick him up and she was pleasantly surprised that she wasn't there to get him already. She was happy that they wouldn't have to have any type of confrontation at the school today. All of the adults waited in the cafeteria while the kindergarten classes filed in and the students began running into their parent's arms.
Tanya stood up from her seat, poking her head around as she sought her son out. Her hopeful smile turned into a frown as the last kids came into the room but there was no Nicolas in sight. It wasn't until then that she caught eyes with his teacher and walked over to her.
Mrs. Farr was shocked to see Tanya there but cleared her throat in preparation to talk to her. She had already spoken to Fitz earlier that day about Nicki not coming into school and her emailing his daily work so that they could get it done from home. They also briefly spoke about having to go to court but he couldn't say much about it over the phone since Nicki was in the room. She gave her a tight lipped smile.
'Miss Pope— what a surprise.' she greeted as primly as possible.
Tanya chuckled in an attempt to brush her comment off. 'I'm not sure why you'd be surprised to see me here picking my son up from school. Do you say that to all of the parents?'
'No.' she shook her head. 'Just the ones who don't come regularly.'
Tanya took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself down and to keep from snapping on the older woman. 'Where's my son?'
'Your son didn't come to school today, Miss Pope.' she said curtly, ready to end their interaction.
Her eyebrows furrowed. 'He hasn't been here all day?'
'No, he hasn't. I'm surprised you didn't know that yourself.' she commented, cocking her head to the side.
It took every ounce of strength in her body not to lunge forward at Mrs. Farr for making so many slick comments. Instead she turned on her heel and walked out of the cafeteria without even saying goodbye. She was determined to get to the bottom of this situation and figure out where her son was.
Once she made it outside of the school she picked up her phone to call Olivia, determined to curse her out for trying to sneak around with Nicolas. After not getting an answer at her office she tried her personal cellphone and was more than angry when it went straight to voicemail. Tanya figured her sister was ignoring her but was unaware that she had been showing houses all day in Maryland and that her phone had been turned off.
Feeling hurt and angry, Tanya dialed the number to the social worker assigned to their case. If he couldn't get Olivia and Fitz to listen to her then she knew they'd hear what the courts had to say. Even if she had to make up a lie in the process.
A/N: So here we have chapter 3! It's not the longest thing I've ever written but I really wanted to go ahead and publish something (also its not very edited). I know it's been a while but I've been a little caught up with graduation and visiting family and applying for jobs! In the mean time I've really been enjoying all the other content other fiction writers have been publishing and this season was amazing!
This chapter is just a little angsty but I promise it wont be that bad. Tanya listening to her friend's advice may get her into more trouble than what she thinks! Also I have to thank you all for your continued support of my story. This one in particular really blew up and it's been amazing to watch. I cant thank you all enough! My twitter name is lynalexandria so always feel free to tweet or message me! I love hearing from you guys! Until next time!
