For disclaimers, please see chapter one
Olivia and Jimmy walked out of the precinct and Olivia brought him to her car. She was thankful that she hadn't gotten around to taking out the child booster seat she had for when she looked after Elliot's kids when they were younger. She got him situated in the backseat, got herself situated in the front seat, and they were off.
Jimmy kept asking questions about their destination, which Olivia stealthy avoided answering. When the car came to a stop, Jimmy looked out the window and gasped as his eyes became the size of saucers. They had stopped in front of a Build-a-Bear workshop.
"Livia, do I get to make a bear?" he asked with all of the excitement he felt coming out in his words.
"You get to make whatever animal you want," Liv told him as she helped out of the car. They walked into the building and Jimmy was having trouble where he wanted to go first. Olivia thought she would help him out a little. "Why don't we go and pick an animal, first?" She suggested.
Jimmy grabbed her hand and led the way over to the vast array of animals he could choose from. He looked up at Olivia for a moment, as if studying her. He then looked back at his choices. It looked to Olivia, like he was looking for something specific but she didn't know what and he obviously hadn't seen it yet. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. "That one!" He exclaimed and pointed to a bin full of ready-to-stuff female lions. He couldn't quite reach it, so Olivia gave him a hand.
"Thanks, Livia," he said. He then led the way over to the stuffing station.
"Hey there," the station worker greeted. "My name is Jessica. Are you ready to stuff your new friend?"
Jimmy nodded.
"Ok, first you have to pick out a heart," Jessica said.
"Livia, you get to pick one too," Jimmy said as he picked out his heart. Olivia laughed as she did the same.
"Now rub it on your nose so it doesn't get the sniffles," Jessica started.
"Livia you have to do it too," Jimmy told her. Olivia laughed and nodded.
"Rub it on your tummy so they don't every get hungry," Jessica continued. "Rub it on your funny bone so they are always really silly. Hop up and down three times on one foot so they have really good balance. Turn around in a circle three times so they don't get dizzy. Give the heart a big kiss, make a wish, and put it right in here."
When they finished with the last of Jessica's instructions, Olivia and Jimmy put the hearts inside the lioness.
"Now do you want your friend soft and cuddly, or hard and strong?"
Once again Jimmy looked up at Olivia. After a minute or two, he looked back at Jessica. "Can you go somewhere in the middle?"
"Sure we can," Jessica replied. "Just step on that pedal and let it go when I tell you to stop."
Jimmy did as Jessica said and both he and Olivia watched as the object became a stuffed animal. When Jessica told him to stop, he took his foot off the pedal. She then held out the stuffed animal for him to feel to see if it was how he wanted it. "How's that?" She asked.
He felt the lioness for a few seconds and then he stepped closer to Olivia. He felt her calf much the same way as he had the stuffed animal. Satisfied, he turned back to Jessica. "Perfect," he told her. Jessica laced up the back, handed him his new friend, and pointed him towards the area where her could pick out an outfit for it.
Olivia was surprised, honored, and a little amused that Jimmy was trying to base his new stuffed animal off of her. She had a feeling his choice of an outfit wouldn't be a difficult one to make.
Sure enough, they made it to the wall of outfits and Jimmy pointed to the top right corner, asking her to grab the fireman's outfit. She got it down and handed it to him. He then picked up a pair of Joe Boxer boxer shorts and a pair of socks to go on before the boots. Jimmy put everything on the lioness at the dressing station. Now all they had to do was get the "birth certificate" and they would be all set.
Sitting down at the computer, Olivia filled in all of the basic information. When it asked for a name she looked down at Jimmy who was sitting in her lap. "What do you want to name her?" She asked him.
"Livia," he stated without any hesitation.
With a smile, Olivia filled in the rest of the information. They printed the paper and went to the checkout counter. The cashier placed the certificate in the box and the Livia. Olivia paid and they presented "Livia" to Jimmy. He took the box and couldn't be more proud of his new friend.
When they got back to the car, Jimmy made sure to have Olivia buckle up "Livia" too so she would be safe. Getting herself buckled in, they set off for a little café so they could grab some lunch. Olivia decided now was a good time to try and bring up the events of the fire.
"Jimmy, I want to ask you a couple questions, ok?" she said. Jimmy nodded and looked back to his food. "If you don't want to answer any of them, just tell me and we'll stop, alright?" Again Jimmy nodded. "Alright. Can you tell me the name of the woman you were staying with last night?"
"Melanie. I get to stay with her when Aunt Alex has to stay at work for a long time, or when she hasta bring some of her work home with her," Jimmy replied.
"And what happened when you were with Melanie last night?" Olivia kept her voice light with a hint of curiosity. She didn't want Jimmy to feel pressured to answer if she sounded like she needed to know the information.
"We got to play all kinds of cool games. But then her boyfriend came over. He didn't see me so I went to go play in my room. Then I heard a really loud bang and started to smell something funny. I went to ask Melanie what was happening but all I could see was smoke. Aunt Alex taught me to call the firefighters when that happened, so I did and then you came and saved me," he smiled up at Olivia.
Olivia returned the smile. "Do you think you could describe what Melanie's boyfriend looks to one of my friends from the police station?"
Pleased that they had made some progress, Olivia decided they would take a break from the case. They finished their lunch in relative quiet. When Olivia was getting ready to pay she heard Jimmy speak up. "Livia, can we go to the park?"
Olivia smiled. "Sure. Do you want us to stop and get a Frisbee first?"
Jimmy nodded. "And can we feed the duckies? I never get to feed the duckies when I go to the park with Aunt Alex."
"And why won't Aunt Alex let you feed the duckies?" Olivia asked, thinking Jimmy wasn't allowed to feed the animals.
Jimmy giggled. "Aunt Alex says they are creepy. She won't let me cause she is a little scared of them."
Olivia laughed at the thought of the SVU ADA afraid of a little duck. "Sure we can feed the duckies." They left the restaurant and Jimmy took hold of Olivia's hand. Again, Olivia was both surprised and pleased that Jimmy felt comfortable enough around her to do that.
They got in the car and went to the park. Once there, Olivia stopped at one of the vending carts and picked up a Frisbee. She then let Jimmy lead the way down to the lake. They had left "Livia" in the car, with some mild persuading from Olivia, because they didn't want her to get dirty before Jimmy could show him to Alex.
By the lake, they played with the Frisbee for a while. Although, it was more like Jimmy was running around while Olivia tried to throw it to him. When he had finally run most of his five-year-old energy off, they went to find some duck food. Sitting by the lake, randomly tossing food to the passing ducks, Jimmy turned to Olivia and starting asking her questions.
"Olivia, do you like boys or girls?"
Olivia nearly choked on the breath she had been inhaling. After getting over her coughing fit she tried to answer. "Um…why do you want to know?"
"Just wondering," he said. "Aunt Alex likes girls, so I know it's ok."
Olivia laughed a little. "Well, then yes, I like girls. But that doesn't mean I don't like you," she said as she leaned down and ruffled his hair.
Jimmy giggled and tried to fix his hair. "I'm too young for you."
Olivia laughed at that. "You're right, we can still be friends, right?"
"Yeah," Jimmy replied. "You're cool even if you are a girl."
Olivia laughed again. She couldn't remember smiling this much in one day. "That's good to know, Little Man."
Jimmy smiled and then continued with his questioning. "Do you like Aunt Alex?"
Now Olivia was shocked. She didn't think that it had been that obvious, but if a five year old could pick up on it, who else saw it? "Would it be alright if I did?"
Jimmy nodded his head vigorously. "She likes you too," he told her.
"Really? And how do you know this?" She asked curiously.
"She told me to be extra good, and I only have to be extra good when she likes someone," he explained. "Plus she told me."
Olivia laughed. She was very pleased with this information. She looked down and checked her watch. Noticing it was already 5:30 she decided it was time to get going. "Come on, Little Man. Let's get you home." She took his hand and they went back to the car. Getting everyone situated, they made their way to Alex's apartment.
