My attempt at avoiding lightning bolts from my earlier "This Is It" update.
4. Easter
WC: ~1600
Rating: K. Just cuteness, mainly.
##
"I help, Mommy?"
Olivia smiles at her son, who sits Indian-style on the counter. He squirms as he watches her carefully pour vinegar into several small bowls, and then puts a different color dye in each one. She watches him out of the corner of her eye, and when he leans forward onto his knees, legs still crossed, she warns him, "Careful, baby." He retreats with a shy, chastised smile, craning only his neck to watch her now. "Let Mommy finish this part, then you can do the rest, okay?"
"'Kay," he nods. He leans forward, crinkling his nose in disgust. "Smells icky," he says.
She laughs, crinkling her nose back at him and kissing his forehead. "It does, doesn't it?"
She moves away from the counter to get the bowl of eggs she'd hard-boiled earlier in the afternoon, when a knock interrupts the silence. She looks at Noah, feigning surprise. "I wonder who that is…?" she asks rhetorically. "Do you wanna answer it, sweet boy?"
Noah bounces excitedly, "I answer it."
Olivia gently lowers him to the ground, smiling when he takes off running toward the door as soon as his feet hit the floor.
"Make sure you ask who it is first, Noah," she calls after him, arranging the eggs and dyes in something resembling an assembly line on the counter.
"Who dere?" Noah calls to the door. Olivia looks up and chuckles—he's still standing 10 feet away from it.
"It's Tucker." Even through the wood, Olivia can hear the smile in his voice.
Noah immediately turns to his mom, seeking permission to open the door now that their visitor has been identified. "Go ahead, baby," she says. "Let him in."
Running to the door, Noah pulls it open with two hands, grinning up at the older man who kneels down immediately to greet him.
"Tucker!"
Ed grins, hardly recalling a time where he's received such a warm, exuberant welcome before. He can feel Olivia's eyes on them as they hover in the doorway and he knows that, as much as it means to him that Noah seems to care for him as much as he does, it means even more to her.
"Hey, kiddo," Ed brushes his knuckle on the toddler's cheek with his free hand, his other hidden behind him. "Look what I got." He pulls a stuffed bunny in a police uniform from behind his back and hands it to Noah.
"Mommy, look!" Noah cries, turning to run back to the kitchen, holding the bunny out in front of him for her appreciation.
"Wow," she marvels, before palming the back of his head. She pauses, then prompts him, "What do you say?"
Noah turns back to Tucker, who, in all the excitement, has shut the door behind him and made his way deeper into her apartment. "Fank you."
"You're welcome," Ed says with a small grin. He walks into the kitchen, sidling up to Olivia and putting a hand on the small of her back as he leans in to kiss her softly. "Hi."
"Hey," she smiles, kissing him again. "A cop bunny?" she asks with a laugh. "Is that like the Easter police? Where in the hell did you find that?"
"I'm not givin' away my secrets," he teases. He hoists Noah up onto the counter at the boy's urging, and surveys the small bowls of variously colored dyes. "What do we got here?"
"We are dying Easter eggs," she winks, turning and leaning against the counter to face him fully. "Want a drink?"
"Yeah, but I'll get it." He leans in to kiss her temple, moving around her kitchen with a familiarity and comfort that makes her smile. "You guys do your thing. I'll watch."
Ed pours himself bourbon from the bottle she's taken to keeping around for him, and moves to the other side of the counter, settling into one of her barstools to watch curiously as Olivia helps Noah.
She's patient, showing Noah how to dip the eggs without making a mess and carefully roll it to make sure the whole egg gets colored, and then she moves back a little—enough to let Noah take charge and do it himself but still be close enough to intercept potential multi-colored disaster if necessary.
The whole time, she feels his eyes on her and the heat rises in her cheeks, eyes twinkling when they catch his over her son's head.
"What?" she asks shyly.
"Nothin'," he shrugs gently. "Just like watchin' you."
His face bears a look of innocence, almost. But beneath that there's something else. It's as if he knows how rare it is that someone—an outsider—gets to witness this side of her—playful, goofy…she'll do almost anything to get a giggle out of her son because to her, there's no other sound in the world like his happiness.
Outside the walls of this apartment, to everyone except her son, she has a reputation to uphold. She's Lieutenant Benson. Inside, though, she's just Olivia. She's soft, tender, and wide open. She's a beautiful woman, with a beautiful little boy. He feels himself falling for both of them.
Oblivious to the interaction taking place between his mom and his Tucker, Noah looks up at her. "Mommy, Tucker can make an egg?"
She leans her elbow down on the counter, resting her chin on her fist. "If he wants to," she shrugs, grinning at the man who's made such an impression on her young son. "Why don't you ask him?"
"Tuck," Noah whips his head around to the older man. "You make egg?"
"How 'bout you make one for me?"
Noah grins. "What your fav'rite color?"
Ed pretends to think for a moment, winking at Olivia who's watching their exchange rapturously.
He lives for these nights. He loves being a part of their little world, and he finds, the closer they get, the three of them, the more it happens. She'll text him to meet them at the park some Saturdays, and he makes sure that for every date he takes her on one-on-one, he plans something else they can do with Noah, knowing how important it is that he's included as the relationship grows and deepens.
"How 'bout…blue?" Ed finally says.
"Blue like p'lice?"
Laughing, he nods. "That's right, kiddo. Blue like police."
Olivia stands up straight, interjecting. "Let's get this other one out of the blue first, then we'll make a special one for Tuck, okay, baby?"
Ed watches as Olivia uses a special clear crayon, helping Noah write on a fresh egg before dropping it carefully into the blue dye. While it sits, she helps him fish the remaining eggs out of the other colors, sitting them gently on the holes at the back of the dye package.
Egg-dyeing endeavor complete, it's time to get her little man to bed so she can spend some quality time with the other, new man in her life.
"Okay, Noah," she lifts him off the counter and lowers him to the floor. "You know what time it is…?"
"No, Mommy," he whines. "Wanna stay up wiff you and Tuck."
She rolls her eyes playfully toward Ed and then turns her attention back to her son. "I know, baby…but you know what? The Easter bunny only visits good boys who go to bed when they're supposed to." She watches the resignation slide over his angelic face, and she strokes his cheek with the warm palm of her hand. "Say night-night to Tucker and go brush your teeth. I'll be in to read you a story in a minute."
Obediently, Noah runs around to where Ed sits, his body crashing into Ed's knees in a tender embrace as Ed gently rubs his back. "Night, Tuck."
"Sweet dreams, little guy."
After Noah scampers down the hallway, heeding his mom's instructions, Ed watches her clean up the remnants before she turns to face him again, wiping her hands on a dishtowel.
"What?" she asks.
Ed jerks his head. "C'mere." The rasp in his voice makes her shudder and, smiling shyly, she slowly makes her way around the counter until she stands in front of him, allowing herself to be pulled between his knees. He leaves the nearly empty glass of bourbon on the counter in favor of wrapping his arms around her, and he reaches up to push a hair out of her face that's shaken lose from her clip. Seconds tick by where they just seem to stare at each other, before Ed finally leans in, taking her full lips between his in a slow kiss.
The kiss, though simple, is drawn out, and eventually he feels her hand come to rest on his shoulder as she steadies herself before pulling away.
It's a few seconds before she finds the strength to open her eyes, and when she does, her cheeks are tinted pink. "I'm glad you came tonight," she whispers, moving her hand up so her thumb caresses the side of his neck.
"I'm glad you asked," he shoots back with a smirk.
She takes a deep breath before kissing him again, and reluctantly, she pulls away. "I should probably go make sure he hasn't destroyed the bathroom…"
"Right." She slips out of his grasp and he gets up, taking his glass to the couch where he'll wait patiently for her to return.
"I'll be quick," she promises.
But he waves her off. "Take your time," he tells her. "I'll just be right here."
The look on her face at that moment will stay with him. He's said things like that to her before—plenty of times, actually, on nights just like this. But in her eyes, he registers that his words have sunken in on a deeper level for the first time.
She believes him.
##
I wanted to get this out on the day-of, so my apologies if it's not my best. Prioritizing a You and I update next—this week, sometime. Also, if y'all want a part 2 to "Change of Venue", are there any venue suggestions you think Ed and Olivia should pursue?
You know what to do… [eyes review box]
