Looking up from the stack of child care program papers she was reading over, Olivia glanced at her watch and then over at Allie and Alex who were snuggled on the sofa watching television. She couldn't hide, not that she wanted to, the smile that lit up her face while she watched her lover and the little girl for a few stolen moments. "Alright, Allie-Cat. It's nearly nine o'clock. Time to get ready for bed."
Allie looked up at Olivia, her little lip already sticking out. "Aww! But, Livvie, the game's still on."
Olivia got up from the chair she'd been in and headed towards the sofa. "Sorry kiddo, but it's bedtime. We've got an early doctor's appointment in the morning and then we're going to start shopping for your new bedroom, remember?"
"I remember." Allie replied as she laid her head against Alex's chest. "But Livvie! It's the Yankees!" Turning so she could look up at the blonde who she was snuggled against, she pleaded. "Alex, just a little longer? It's bottom of the seventh!"
"Oh no you don't." Alex warned as she tapped the tip of the little girl's nose. "We're not gonna start this playing one off the other bit, young lady." It took a lot for Alex not to smile as Allie's lip stuck out more. "So here's what we're gonna do. I'm going to Tivo the rest of the game so we can finish it tomorrow, and your gonna go get your jammies on and brush your teeth."
"But it's not the same." Allie whined.
Olivia picked the girl up off the sofa, taking her place next to Alex, and then sat her down on her lap. "That's the deal Allie-Cat. Take it or leave it."
Allie thought about it for a few minutes. "Can we read two chapters tonight?"
"One chapter tonight and one in the morning while Liv's out for her run." Alex answered.
Allie huffed out a great dramatic seven year old sigh. "Ok fine you win but this isn't fair."
"What isn't?" Olivia asked.
Allie looked at her foster mothers and replied. "How am I 'ppose to win an argament with a cop and a lawyer? I'm only a little kid!"
It took everything in both women to hold in their laughter until they heard Allie close the bathroom door. "That girl's a born lawyer if I ever saw one." Olivia finally said as her laugher fading to soft chuckles.
Alex nodded, the idea of Allie becoming a lawyer lighting up her whole face. "Did you get through all the files?" She asked as she cuddled into Olivia's side.
Olivia looked over at the stack of papers on the table. "Who knew it would be this hard to pick a child care program."
"Wait until we start checking into the schools on our short list." Alex replied.
Olivia wrapped her arms around Alex and held her close as she looked around their apartment. It was an utterly different space then it had been two weeks ago. The biggest change was that their guest room was now a seven year old's bedroom compete with stuffed animals, stacks of children's books, and little girl clothes. But there were also little changes. There were Disney DVDs and kids CDs intermixed with theirs, a toy box had found it's way next to the far window, there were little kid toys on the floor next to the dog toys, and a little girl sock near the fire place.
"Did you ever think we'd ever end up like this?" Olivia asked.
Alex smiled. "Do you mean did I ever think we'd be playing house complete with a dog and a kid?" When Olivia nodded Alex smiled. "Actually to tell you the truth, I did."
Olivia looked down into Alex's bright blue eyes. "Really?"
"Really. It use to give me something to look forward to while I was gone. Something to day dream about. They became more hopes then dreams the day you showed up on my door step in Arizona."
There was always a hint of sadness and loss in Alex's eyes when she talked about the time she had to spend away. Olivia felt the same way when she thought about the time that had been stolen from them.
"Did you?" Alex asked.
Olivia was quite for a few minutes. "I never really thought of having kids. I was always afraid I'd screw them up one way or the other. Either I'd pass on my screwed up genetics or become my mother. Guess the ladder still scares me." Olivia paused a moment and then smiled before kissing Alex's forehead. "But I have to admit after we got together the idea might have passed through my mind."
Alex reached up and ran her fingers threw Olivia's hair. She would have replied to what her lover had said about her becoming her mother or passing on bad genes, but was cut short when she felt something land in her lap.
"All brushed." Allie exclaimed as she smiled, showing off her freshly brushed teeth.
Alex laughed. "So we can see." She replied as she wiped hot pink toothpaste off Allie's chin.
"Did you bring your brush?" Olivia asked as she handed Alex a tissue.
"Yeap." Allie replied as she handed Olivia her brush before switching laps.
Olivia checked to make sure Allie's hair had dried from her pre-Yankee's bath which made Allie giggle. She smiled as she started to brush out the girl's hair. After she was finished she watched as Alex and Allie headed off down the hall towards the bedrooms. It seemed that Allie had assigned them each a bedtime duty. Olivia brushed her hair, then Alex read to her, and then when Olivia came in to say goodnight it was her job to check for monsters and bad guys while Alex tucked her in. Olivia laughed at herself.
"It's only been a week, Benson, and your already wrapped around her little finger." She shook her head and laughed again. "The kid worked faster then Alex."
In the bedroom Alex sat on the full sized bed that had once been their guest bed. With her back against the headboard, her knees drawn up, Allie snuggled into her side, and a large green book open and resting against her thighs Alex read aloud.
"...spotted by Mrs. Weasley, who had chosen that moment to appear. "If I see you do that again I'll jinx your fingers together," She said sharply."
Allie looked up at Alex and asked, "What hand gesture did he do, Alex?"
Alex paused in her reading, blinked, and racked her brain for an answer. "A rude one." She finally replied.
"I know that, the book said as much, but what was it? Did he flip him off with his middle finger?" Allie asked.
Alex looked down at the girl. "How do you know about flipping people off?"
Allie laughed, pulled her blankly more snuggly against herself, and snuggled closer to Alex. "I've live here all my life, Alex, I've even taken a taxi before."
"Oh." Alex replied before chuckling and returning to the book. " "Mum, can I have a Pygmy Puff?" Said Ginny at once. "A what?" Said Mrs. Weasley warily. "Look, they're so sweet..."
By the time Alex had gotten to the end of the chapter, Allie was trying to hide her yawns and blinking her eyes sleepily. "Alright sweetie, time to go to sleep." Alex said as she reached over and placed the book on the night stand.
Allie pouted. "One more chapter?"
"You wouldn't be awake past the third page." Alex replied as she eased off the bed and helped the girl settled in.
Allie snuggled down into the pillow and mattress and then looked around. "Where's Livvie? She has too..."
"I'm right here, Allie-Cat." Olivia announced as she walked into the room and started her nightly search for bad things.
Once Allie was settled in, kissed, hugged and told goodnight, she'd fallen right to sleep. Slipping out of the room, Olivia and Alex headed down the hall towards their own room. Once inside Olivia took hold of Alex and kissed her.
"What was that for?" Alex asked with a smile.
"Has anyone every told you your sexy as hell when your being maternal?" Olivia replied.
Alex laughed and kissed Olivia back. "Same could be said about you Detective."
As they set about getting ready for bed, Olivia looked up and watched Alex for a few minutes.
"What?" Alex asked when she noticed.
Olivia smiled. "Nothing."
Walking over to where Olivia was sitting on the bed, Alex smiled as she pushed her lover back until she was laying down, and then straddled her at the waist. Leaning down Alex kissed Olivia deeply, causing Olivia to reach up and wrap her arms around the blond's body.
They made love until they both slipped into a blissful sleep.
The darkness outside the windows was just starting to show shades of light when the heart stopping scream came from down the hall. Both Alex and Olivia jerked awake, neither sure what was happening until the second scream. Both women jumped out of bed and quickly threw their clothes on before heading down the hall. When they walked into Allie's room the bed was empty.
Walking over to the closet door Olivia knocked lightly before opening it. There, huddled on the floor in the corner was Allie.
"It was just another dream, Allie-Cat." Olivia said softly as she held out her hand.
The girl looked at her with sheer terror in her eyes. "Alex?" She said through her soft sobs. "Where's Alex? He was gonna get her.. He was gonna hurt her!"
Alex moved into Allie's line of sight and knelt down next to Olivia. "I'm right here sweetie. See? I'm ok, no one's hurt me."
Allie looked at Alex for a long time before finally coming out and wrapping herself tightly around her. "He.. was.. gonna... hurt... you.. like.. he... did... Bubbe... and... Livvie..."
"Shh." Alex soothed as she carried the scared little girl over to the bed. "Shh.. Allie, sweetie, it was just a dream. Just like the one about Livvie. He never hurt Livvie, or me."
"But.. he.. hurt.. Bubbe."
Alex nodded. "Yes, sweetie, he did but he's in jail now. He can't hurt anyone anymore."
Lifting her head off of Alex's chest she looked into the woman's bright blue eyes for a moment, then she looked over at Olivia who was sitting next to them, then she nodded. She put her head back down on Alex's chest, gripped Alex's night shirt so tightly her little knuckles turned white, and then reached out and grabbed hold of Olivia's tank top, again holding so tightly her knuckles where white.
It had taken an hour for Allie to fall back to sleep and to finally loosen her holds on their shirts. They'd both ended up laying next to her, one on either side, but when they tried to get up she'd whimper and reach out for them, so Alex and Olivia ended up spending another night sleeping with Allie between them.
The next morning the three of them got up early. Allie and Olivia walked Max while Alex went for her morning run, then while Olivia was out running Allie and Alex read the next two chapters of Allie's book. After breakfast and showers they headed out for the day. Their first stop was at Allie's doctor's office. When the walked into the office the lady behind the reception desk smiled.
"Hi Allie!" The much older short haired blond woman called out.
Allie smiled. "Hi Ms. Kimmy!"
Kim smiled as the trio approached the desk and then once again addressed the girl. "And who do you have with you?"
Allie beamed brightly. "This is Alex." She pointed up at Alex who stood at her side and then and Olivia who stood just behind and to the left of Alex with her hands shoved in her pockets. "And that's Livvie. I live with them now cause Bubbe had a stork and can't take care of me any more."
Kimmy frowned at the mention of Sally. "I heard about that. How is Mrs. Newman?" This time she addressed Alex.
"She's doing well." Alex replied. "Her doctors are hopeful."
The woman nodded and then picked up a clip board. "Doctor Bower needs all of Allie's new information."
Alex nodded as she took the clip board and then made her way along with Allie and Olivia to a row of chairs. She quickly filled out the forms about Allie's new address, contact information, her and Olivia's information, and new insurance information. By the time she'd finished a nurse had come out of the back and was calling Allie's name.
"Mary!" Allie shouted as she ran over and hugged the nurse.
Mary smiled. "Hi Squirt." Looking up she noticed the two woman following Allie and smiled. "Right this way." She ushered them into the back before introducing herself. "Mary Douglus. You must be the ones Doctor Bower was telling me about."
"If she was telling you about Allie's new guardians then yeap that's us." Olivia replied. "Olivia Benson," She shook the woman's hand while they walked back towards the scale area. "And my partner Alexandra Cabot."
The look the nurse gave Alex was one Alex knew well. It was the look everyone gave her when they connected her name to the headlines regarding her death and reappearances. Thankfully the nurse didn't start asking a bunch of questions, she simply gave Alex a warm smile.
"Ok Squirt lets see how much you've grown since we last saw you in here. Up ya go." Mary told the girl.
Allie got up on the scale and was weighed and measured. Mary took down a few notes and then helped the girl down. "We got a whole quarter of an inch."
Allie beamed.
"How long have you been helping with her medical care?" Alex asked as they made their way towards one of the exam rooms.
"Seven years." Mary replied. "Bower's been her doctor her whole life. She, Caleb, and Lauren all went to school together."
Allie looked sad at the mention of her parents names but brightened when Olivia took hold of her hand as the walked into the exam room.
After pulled a little set of steps up to the exam table Mary looked over at Allie and said, "Up ya go, Squirt." Allie climbed up and sat down on the paper covered bed so Mary could do the rest of the stuff she needed to do before the doctor came in.
A few minutes after Mary left a tall woman with long dark hair and bright green eyes walked in. "Hello Allison."
Allie smiled. "Hi Doctor Bower."
Walking over to the bed Doctor Bower smiled at Allie before turning to Alex and Olivia who were in near by chairs. "Ms. Cabot, Ms. Benson,"
"Detective Benson." Allie corrected with a beaming smile.
Doctor Bower chuckled. "My apologizes, Allison.. Detective Benson.. I'm Rebecca Bower."
The women exchanged greetings and then the doctor went right into her exam. "How are you feeling, Allison?"
"Pretty good." The girl replied with her head titled up so that the doctor could check her neck.
"You've been through a lot lately." Bower went on. "I bet it's been kinda hard with all the changes?" Allie nodded. "I bet with all the chances, and all your different feelings, sometimes you don't feel like eating much and maybe your not sleeping so good?"
Allie nodded and then looked down at her shoes.
"It's ok, Allison, it's not a bad thing." Bower told her kindly. "Sometimes when stuff like this happens even grown ups don't eat right and have bad dreams."
Allie looked up and smiled. "That's what Alex said. She said it was ok if I didn't wanna eat when I didn't feel like it, but she said she didn't want me to get sick so she and Livvie got me milkshakes with good stuff in it."
"Pediasure." Olivia piped in.
Bower's eyes brightened. When she was done with her exam she sat on a stool next to the bed. "Well Allison, your doing very well. I want to take some blood though so we can test it too."
Allie's eyes went wide.
Olivia got up and walked over to Allie and stood next to her. "Wanna hold my hand?" She asked.
Allie bit her lip. "I'm a big girl, Livvie." Pausing she looked up and asked. "Did you bring it?"
Olivia smiled and nodded. She pulled her gold shield off her belt and handed it to Allie. "Just in case you needed it."
"Thanks Livvie." Holding the badge tightly in one hand, Allie looked down at it and held out her little arm. Doctor Bower was impressed. As soon as the little rubber rope thing was around her arm, Allie slammed her eyes closed. When the needle went into her arm she whimpered and tears welled under her eye lashes. Once the doctor was done Olivia reached over and wiped the tears away.
A few minutes later Mary came back into the room.
"I need to talk to your.."
"My Livvie and My Alex." Allie told Doctor Bower.
Doctor Bower smiled and nodded her head.. "So Mary's going to take you to the playroom so you can pick something out of the Princess Chest and get your gummy bears."
Allie got down off the table with Olivia's help and then handed the badge back.
Once Allie was out of the room Doctor Bower turned to Alex and Olivia. "I have to confess I was concerned when I'd heard Allison had been placed with foster parents. But I can see that even with everything going on she's happy."
"She's an amazing little girl." Alex replied.
Doctor Bower smiled and nodded her agreement before asking, "Other then the lack of appetite and nightmares has there been any other side effects of what happened to Sally? How is she by the way?"
Olivia looked at the doctor a moment before admitting, "She's real skittish around men, but that's not uncommon in victims and witnesses to such violence."
"Sally's going to be moved to a rehabilitation center up state next week." Alex answered the second part of the Doctor's inquiry. "The doctors think there's a chance for some recovery of speech and some movement, but they doubt she'll walk without help again."
"Which means she'll most likely never be able to care for Allison again." The Doctor mused. "How long will she be with you?"
"Doctor Bower," Alex said taking on her professional tone. "our taking care of Allie isn't a temporary fix."
Bower looked at Alex a moment and smiled a little. "It's good to hear you say so. That little girl's been through a lot and she doesn't even remember most of it." Taking a card out of her pocket she handed it to Alex. "That's the name of a Psychiatrist that I've recommended before. I think it might help if she talked to someone."
"Thanks." Olivia replied. "But we've already set up an appointment for her to see Elizabeth Olivet."
Alex suddenly laughed.
Olivia blinked. "What?"
Alex handed her the card Doctor Bower had handed her. Olivia took it, looked it over, and then blushed.
"Elisabeth's good and I only send my kids to the best." Bower explained. She then went on to tell them to do just what they were doing, comforting her when she had nightmares, giving her the pediasure, and just being there for her.
After making an appointment for Allie to come back in three months, Alex, Olivia and Allie headed down to the car, then they head towards the shops Alex had made a list off. Now that they knew Allie was physically handling the changes in her life pretty well, they could relax a little and finally make Allie's room her very own.