Disclaimer: I do not own AHS.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed/followed/favored once again. Really means a lot. Anyway, finished this chapter sooner then I thought so enjoy!

Heaven & Earth

CHAPTER 7- Their Perfect Family

It had rained all night and the streets were moist and covered in remaining puddles. Lana's words had kept Oliver awake all night. Part of him wanted to believe her but the other part was still skeptical. But perhaps Lana had finally accepted her new life. The night before they had dinner down in the basement. Oliver didn't like eating down in the basement very much. It didn't quite feel normal, then again, nothing about his life and their situation was normal. But Noelle was happy whenever she was with Lana and Oliver had noticed that even Lana smiled when Noelle was with her. Things were really starting to change. Even Lana was more complacent. She answered Oliver when he spoke to her instead of ignoring him like usual. Perhaps maybe she was accepting their fate together. Well, he would see about that.

In the morning, Oliver got Noelle out of bed and readied her for pre-school. He put on her rain boots and navy blue coat just in case it rained again. He then placed a red beanie on her head and after he helped her put on her kitty backpack she was ready to go.

"Can I say bye-bye to Mommy before I go?" Noelle asked as she fixed the beanie on her head.

Oliver smiled. "Yes." He couldn't deny her something as simple as that.

"Yay! Mommy!" Noelle hurried to the basement door and jumped excitedly as Oliver unlocked it. Noelle had been so happy to have dinner with Lana that she often forgot to eat. She was so busy telling Lana all sorts of things that her food went cold. But Noelle didn't mind. She would have rather take the opportunity to speak with Lana's then eat her dinner warm. She didn't know when she would get the chance to tell Lana everything she wanted to.

"Be careful." He told her as she made her way down the stairs.

Lana was already up and dressed. She smiled as soon as she saw Noelle running towards her. She picked up the little girl in her arms. "Hi, Mommy." Noelle said happily.

"Hello, little girl." Lana said adoringly to her. "Heading to school?" She asked looking over at Oliver. He nodded.

"I don't wanna go." Noelle pouted looking at Lana. "I wanna stay home with you."

Lana bit back a smile. Noelle was making her way deeper and deeper in to her heart. Lana couldn't help it. "I wish you could stay too but you have to go." She told Noelle.

Noelle groaned and pressed her lips together making a scrunchy face. Lana chuckled softly. Oliver as extremely surprised. It was rare to hear Lana chuckle or laugh. Even a smile was still odd to him but Noelle had the power to bring all this and more out of Lana. "Do I hafta?"

"Yes."

Noelle sighed. "Okay." She looked up at Lana, "Can I see you after?" Lana looked at Noelle and then at Oliver. Noelle looked to her father. "Can I, Daddy? Pleaaaseeee."

Oliver nodded once. "Yes, you may."

Noelle smiled brightly and turned to her mother. "Then we can play."

Lana smiled. "Of course we can."

So Noelle gave her mother a big hug and off she went to school. Noelle played with the ears of her plush kitty backpack as she sat in her booster seat in the back. She glanced out the window and watched Boston go by. Noelle didn't mind going to pre-school, she got to finger paint and learn new things but she was rather shy and had trouble making friends. She didn't mind playing by herself, however. Nevertheless, she would have preferred to stay home and spend the day with her parents instead.

There were also a lot of dangers- things Oliver was extremely aware of- that could blow the truth out of the water. Oliver had been very careful and taken great caution to prevent anyone from finding out that Lana was being kept prisoner in his basement. Like sitting Noelle down and having a very serious talk about the privacy of their home and family. Noelle seemed to understand that she wasn't aloud to talk about Lana but she didn't know why.

Oliver parked the car in the drop off zone and went around to unbuckle Noelle from her seat. "Do you have everything you need?" He asked as he set her down on the sidewalk. Parents were dropping off their children, both fathers and mothers. Noelle watched them walk by. She wished that Lana could take her to school too just like her classmate's mothers did. She would have loved to show Lana her classroom and especially her desk with her name tag on it. But her Daddy had specifically told her that it was not possible.

"Noelle." Oliver knelt down in front of her, grabbing his daughter's attention. Noelle looked back to him. "Do you have everything?" He repeated.

"Yes, Daddy." She answered him. Her eyes then trailed off to a woman who walked one of her classmates by the hand to the front door of the school.

Oliver saw this. He sighed. "Noelle, what's rule number one?"

Noelle looked down to her rain boots. "Don't talk about Mommy or else they'll take her away."

Oliver smiled. "Good girl." and kissed her cheek. "Come, let's go before you're late." Oliver stood and took her hand. He walked her to her classroom where he kissed her cheek, told her he loved her and said goodbye.

Noelle was always sad to see her Daddy go. She wanted to cry and run after him every time but she forced herself to stay put and tough it out. Oliver also hated leaving Noelle behind but it was only for a couple of hours and besides, her education was extremely important to him. So he left his daughter in well capable hands and headed to work. After Briarcliff shut down, Oliver escaped with clean hands. The blame was still pinned on Kit Walker but he disappeared suddenly one day along with another patient, Grace Bertrand. Many crazy stories hit the news. That he had escaped with Grace as his hostage, others said he just went bat shit crazy and killed Grace and then himself and Briarcliff covered it up with a wild story of their escape. But no one ever found out what happened to him. Sister Jude as well went missing a year or two after Kit Walker. Her whereabouts were also unknown. Oliver didn't really care, as long as the truth about him didn't reach the surface. Kit Walker was as good as dead.

Oliver had landed another job at a smaller mental clinic. Patients went to visit him in his office and he would spend about 60 minutes listening to their problems, their fears and issues. Most of his patients were young adults and teenagers. Oliver had just finished with a patient when he received a call from the receptionist.

"Yes, Maggie?" He answered the phone.

"There's a call from your daughter's school on line two."

Oliver frowned and his heart stopped almost immediately. "Thanks, Maggie."

Maggie connected him to line two and Oliver answered right away. "Hello?"

"Ah, Dr. Thredson. It's Mrs. Green, Noelle's teacher."

"Yes, Mrs. Green. Is something wrong with my daughter?" Oliver's heart beat rapidly. He was afraid Noelle had had another allergic reaction.

"No, no, Noelle is perfectly fine."

Oliver calmed down but there was still a streak of fear. "Thanks goodness."

"I'm calling because I'd like to know if you could come down to the classroom today after school. I'd like to talk about a few concerns I have regarding Noelle."

Oliver frowned. "Of course, I'll be right there after school."

"Thank you, Dr. Thredson, have a good day." Mrs. Green said.

"Likewise." Oliver said and hung up. He lay back on his chair and his frown deepened. What concerns could she possibly have about Noelle? Noelle was an extremely well behaved little girl. She had never caused any trouble before besides the time one of her classmates was poking fun at her but the situation was seen to immediately. What if it was about Lana? No, if it were about her the situation would have been bigger then Mrs. Green calling his office. The police would have been at his door about now. Oliver cleared his head and tried not to jump to any conclusions. He looked at the clock on his wall. It was half hour before class let out. He couldn't wait till then. So Oliver packed his stuff and headed out of the office telling Maggie to cancel all his appointments.

He headed to the school and waited patiently outside of Noelle's classroom until the bell rang and children filled out, running in to their parent's arms. When all the kids filled out, Oliver went in to the classroom. He spotted Noelle sitting in her desk scribbling away at a drawing. She looked up and grinned when she saw him, "Daddy!" She jumped out of her seat and ran to him. Oliver picked her up in his arms, "Hey doll face, how are you?"

"Good." Noelle smiled at him.

"Hello Dr. Thredson." Mrs. Green stood from her desk and walked to him. Mrs. Green was a young woman in her late twenties. She was beautiful too with long brown hair and big blue eyes. She was an excellent teacher and Noelle liked her plenty. In a way she reminded him of Wendy Peyser. Perhaps but by looks but by her love of children and teaching. However, Oliver felt no need to harm Mrs. Green or other women like his secretary, Maggie. As long as Noelle was in his life (and Lana as well) everything else was behind him. He had given Bloody Face up.

"Hello Mrs. Green." Oliver shook her hand. He then looked to Noelle, "Hey you, how about you go back to finish your drawing meanwhile I talk to Mrs. Green."

"Okay." Noelle said and Oliver set her down. She obediently walked across the classroom and took a seat at her desk. With cautious eyes she watched her father and her teacher but then continued her drawing.

Oliver then turned to Mrs. Green. Mrs. Green didn't waste anytime and walked to her desk. Oliver followed after her. "I called you, Dr. Thredson, because I'm a little bit concerned about Noelle."

Oliver looked over at Noelle who had begun to hum to herself while coloring. "What's wrong with my daughter? Is she not getting along with her classmate again?"

"No, no." Mrs. Green said, "Little Robbie and Noelle are getting along. Its something else." She moved behind her desk and opened her drawer, "Today after arts & crafts I collected all the children's work and couldn't help to notice Noelle's drawing." She brought out a white piece of construction paper and handed it to Oliver.

Oliver took the paper cautiously and looked at it. It was a drawing of what appeared to be himself and Noelle next to him in stick figure form. Oliver didn't see anything particular about it until his eyes wandered lower on the paper. With a black marker a line was drawn beneath their feet and underneath was a drawing of Lana in her bed with what appeared to be a chain tied to her ankle. Oliver's eyes narrowed and his heart stopped. He looked to Mrs. Green immediately. Many things could have gone wrong, but he never saw this coming.

She nodded. "As you can see this is why I am rather alarmed and dumbfounded as to why Noelle chose to express herself this way about her family." She looked at Oliver, "And I was curious if she has expressed herself this way at home as well."

Oliver hesitated for a moment. He wasn't sure what to say at first but he thought quickly. "Well, as you know it is just Noelle and I." Mrs. Green nodded. She was aware that Oliver was a single father but knew nothing about the whereabouts of Noelle's mother. "Her mother was very sick for the longest time and Noelle for the greatest part of her life, only saw her sick in bed…" he lowered his eyes, "Up until she finally passed and we had to bury her." He looked over at Noelle, "She was at the burial and well….she's still struggling a little."

"Oh, the poor dear." Mrs. Green put her hands to her lips feeling horrible upon listening to Oliver's lie. But somehow Oliver had managed to convince her that Noelle was only drawing her mother the only way she knew her: laying sick in bed. And as to why she was beneath them? Well because she had been buried underground not because she was locked in the basement. "My condolences, Dr. Thredson." Mrs. Green said apologetically.

Oliver shook his head and smiled that charming smile of his. "No need. But thank you for bringing this to my attention. This is not the first drawing she's made of her mother in such particular circumstances." He chuckled softly and let his smile fade as he looked down at the drawing.

Feeling horrible, Mrs. Green excused herself and once more gave Oliver the condolences on his "loss". Oliver asked if he could take the drawing with him to compare to the "others". Mrs. Green agreed and thanked him for coming to speak to her. She then bid goodbye to Noelle and said she would see her tomorrow. Happily, Noelle took her father's hand and waved goodbye at her teacher.

"What was that all about, Daddy?" Noelle asked as they walked to the car. "Am I in trouble?"

Oliver looked down at Noelle when they reached their car. He knelt down to her level and took her free hand. In the other she held the drawing she had been working on. "No, Babydoll, you're not in trouble. Mrs. Green just wanted to talk about the drawing you made of you, Mommy and I."

"Oh." She said realizing she had done a no-no.

"Noelle, we have spoken a lot about this. No one can know about Mommy, do you understand?"

She nodded. "Yes, Daddy. I'm sorry Daddy." Her eyes saddened. "I just wanted to her to be in the family picture with us cause Mommy gets sad when she's not with us." Noelle explained. "I'm sorry."

Oliver smiled and squeezed her hand softly. "Its okay, Babydoll, don't cry. Just remember not to do it again, ok?"

Noelle nodded. "Okay."

Oliver smiled at her. "That's my girl." He then looked at the drawing. "What's this?"

Noelle smiled brightly, completely forgetting the sadness and showed Oliver her drawing. "I made it for Mommy!" She showed it to him. It was a picture of an orange kitty cat. The one she had promised Lana she would draw for her. "Im gonna give it to her for my birthday. Its a surprise." She said proudly.

Oliver smiled adoringly at her. "She's going to love it."

"Yeah huh." Noelle agreed.

"Come on, let's go home to Mommy." Oliver said and stood to his feet.

When they arrived home, Noelle instantly ran to her room to leave her things and put away the cat drawing in a safe place. She then hurried down the hall, "Hurry daddy! Hurry!"

Oliver hadn't even had the time to serve himself a drink when his little whirlwind called to him. After all, he had told Noelle he would let her see Lana after school. So he led her down to the basement where she reunited with her mother and commenced to tell her everything about her day. Oliver remained quiet and pensive the whole time. He'd glance at Lana and keep his eyes on her, studying her. But he couldn't help to think about Noelle's drawing. She wanted to draw a perfect family picture with all of them together. That's how things should be. Lana should be living upstairs with them, not tied down like a prisoner. If Oliver wanted his perfect family then he would have to trust Lana.