"Mommy?"
Alex smiled as she brushed through Jade's hair. The little girl had taken to calling her Mommy, and Alex loved being someone's Mommy.
"Yes, baby?"
"We eat waffles at breakfast?" Jade's speech had slowly been improving thanks to a speech therapist that worked with her three times a week.
"Sure, sweetheart. You go jump on brother and tell him to get up, and I'll go help Mama make breakfast."
"Yes, Mommy!" Jade ran off, and a few seconds later Alex and Olivia burst into laughter when they heard Calvin let out a yell, having indeed been jumped on and woken up by his little sister. Since it was the first day of summer break, Calvin did not take kindly to being woken up before 10 am, waffles or no waffles.
"So, are you sure you'll be okay with both of them while I'm at work?" Olivia asked. It was her first day back to work since Alex had been found, and she couldn't help but be a little nervous. She never wanted to let Alex out of her sight again.
"Honey, I'll be fine. Jade has speech therapy with Amelia at eleven, Calvin has karate at half past noon, and after that we'll go to Central Park and get hot dogs for lunch, and my mother agreed to watch them at three when I have my appointment with Dr. Jones. I'll have my cell and my mace on me at all times, I promise." Alex concluded her speech with a kiss to Olivia's lips, which Olivia eagerly returned.
"Moms. Gross." Calvin whined tiredly when he walked into the kitchen. He hugged both his mothers and sat down at the kitchen table with a huff. Alex ruffled his hair with a smile.
"You wouldn't be so tired if you'd gone to sleep when I told you to last night, mister. Instead you were up well past bedtime celebrating the end of school. Don't think I didn't hear you in your room playing those video games you love so much, my friend. Tonight, those games are mine at 9:30 so you get a proper night's sleep."
Olivia didn't say it, but she was impressed. When she had introduced Alex to the kids, she had hoped that they would fall into a natural habit of co-parenting, and so far it was working out well. These were Alex's children just as much as they were Olivia's, although Alex hadn't officially adopted them yet. Alex made a mental note to herself to start filling out the paperwork later today. It was a little intimidating, going from a childless woman to a mother of two, but Alex was proving herself to be a capable parent, and anything she didn't know, she was learning from watching Olivia.
"Good idea," Olivia agreed with Alex, "well, I'm off. Calvin, I hung your karate uniform in your closet for you last night. I know its summer, but try not to spend all day in front of the TV. Jade, Amelia is coming over later to see you. And Grandma is coming over later to hang out with you guys while Mom goes to an appointment. So both of you be good for Mom and for Grandma. When I come home I want to hear good reports. I love you."
"Bye, Mom."
"Bye, Mama!"
"Bye, darling."
Olivia kissed each member of her family, and headed off to work. She was surprised when she walked into the precinct and the bullpen was flooded with people. She put her coffee on her desk and turned to Nick Amaro.
"Whoa. What's happening here? Is it a party?"
"Eh, in a manner of speaking. Nineteen girls rescued from Jack Gallagher's mansion in the woods. We're trying to track down any family members that we can find. Most of these girls don't have parents anymore. No sign of old Jack, though. We've got Brandon in interrogation to see if he knows where Jack is. So far he's not saying much."
"Any sign of Leslie Morrison?" Olivia's tone was hopeful. It would be great if she could go home tonight and tell her son that his friend had been found alive.
"Yeah. She's alive, but it seems she has a pretty severe case of pneumonia. Six other girls were also admitted to the hospital with injuries and illnesses. One is even in a diabetic coma. Been missing for three years. It's a miracle she's still alive."
"Olivia! My office!"
Olivia turned to Cragen's voice and, out of habit, immediately obeyed it and walked into the man's office and closed the door. Cragen's face was tired and serious.
"Olivia, we have a situation. Brandon still hasn't told us where Jack is, but he did mention that Jack is on the hunt for Jade. We don't know where Jack might be, so obviously this has us concerned for the safety of you and your family."
Olivia inhaled sharply and felt rage bubble inside her. She would die before that man came anywhere near her family! She resisted the urge to storm into the interrogation room and beat him to a pulp. Her losing her cool wouldn't do anybody any good.
"Okay, so do we follow the usual protocol? Get a security detail in front of the apartment and watch our backs like hawks?"
"Right. There will be police in front of your building at all times."
"Yes, sir." The captain was like a father to Olivia, and a father always protects his children and grandchildren to the best of his ability. Cragen dismissed Olivia, and Olivia went straight to her desk and picked up her phone to call Alex.
"Hey, baby." Alex greeted her when she answered the phone.
"Hi, love. Are the kids around?"
"Calvin's watching TV and Jade's in her room playing. Why?" Olivia could hear that Alex was starting to get nervous. She had to tread carefully.
"Sweetheart, go to the window and look out. Do you see two cops standing in front of the apartment?"
"Wait a sec…. Yeah. Looks like Victoria and Kingsley are out there. What's going on, Liv? Why do we have a security detail out front?"
"Baby, I need you to stay calm. The girls from Jack's mansion were rescued today. We've got Brandon in interrogation, and according to him, Jack is looking for Jade. Cragen ordered a security detail out front to keep us safe."
Olivia jumped when she heard a loud noise on the other end of the line. A second passed, and then she heard her son's voice on the phone, talking to Alex, and then talking to her. Alex had collapsed on the floor, shaking. Suddenly she was back in that basement and she was terrified.
"Mom, what's wrong?... Mom, Mom's shaking, what's happening?" Unlike Jade, who called Olivia Mama and Alex Mommy, Calvin simply called them both Mom so there was really no way to differentiate between who he was talking to unless he was looking directly at one or the other. Calvin had heard Alex on the phone with Olivia, but hadn't paid much attention to the conversation until he heard Alex drop the phone, and was now quite worried to find Alex sitting on the floor shaking.
"It's okay, buddy, Mom's just upset. Listen, Cal, I'm on my way home. You, Mom, and Jade need to stay in the apartment until I get there, okay? I'll explain everything when I get there."
"Okay."
"Good boy. Be home soon."
Olivia hurried home to her partner and children, on high alert and constantly checking around her for any sign of Jack. Olivia let herself into the apartment to find her partner on the couch still shaking, and her son sitting next to her holding her hand and trying to hand her a cup of tea that he had made for her. There was no sign of her daughter, though.
"She's in her room. Dress up or something." Calvin said by way of explanation for Jade's absence.
"Okay. Go hang out with her and keep her occupied while Mom and I talk."
Had the situation not been so dangerous, Olivia would have burst out laughing at the expression on Calvin's face when she practically ordered him to go play dress up with his sister. The last time Calvin had offered to play with Jade, he had ended up wearing a tiara and lipstick, and scowling for the camera while Olivia took a picture of the two siblings. But sensing the seriousness of the situation, Calvin did as he was told, albeit reluctantly. Olivia waited until he was out of earshot before she turned to Alex and spoke to the still silent woman.
"Hey, baby, it's okay. I'm here. Don't worry. I won't let that bastard get anywhere near you or our daughter again, I promise. Cragen's got a security detail on us and the entire squad is looking for Jack."
Alex slowly came to her senses. She wasn't in that basement; she was in her apartment with Olivia and her children. But she was terrified beyond belief. Alex knew that both Brandon and Jack were capable of horrible evil. Brandon was Alex's main torturer, but Jack had been around plenty. Alex wasn't sure who she was more afraid of. She knew that both brothers had several peoples' blood on their hands. Including… no, Alex wouldn't let herself remember it.
"I… I'm sorry I freaked out, Liv. I didn't mean to scare Calvin. It's just… you know, hearing their names again brought back a lot of memories."
"Don't apologize for being scared, sweetheart. I'd be scared too if I'd been put through half of what those bastards put you through. Probably brings back a lot of memories from Witness Protection too, huh?"
"Yeah. I don't want to go back into Witness Protection, Liv. Once was enough!"
"Shhhh. I'll do everything in my power to keep us out of there, honey. I promise. But right now we need to call the kids and explain what's going on."
"Calvin! Jade! Come here, please!"
Two little feet and two bigger ones could be heard on the hardwood floors as the kids came running. Jade appeared first, with Calvin right behind her. Olivia and Alex grinned when they saw that Jade had clipped a bunch of her barrettes into Calvin's hair. Clearly, Calvin was a very patient big brother.
"Hi, sweethearts. Look, Mom and I need to talk to you about something. You remember how we told you that Mom was kidnapped a while back? Well, Mom found out today that one of them is looking for Jade."
"My Daddy is looking for me?" Jade looked up at her mothers with a confused expression on her cute little face.
"No, sweetie. Your Daddy's name is Brandon and he is in jail. Jack is the one who is looking for you. The one your first Mommy was running from when she left you in front of the coffee shop."
Jade began to cry, and jumped into Alex's arms for safety. Just thinking about Mister was scary! Jade was scared of Mister, and if he found her, she didn't want to have to go with him!
"Hey, now. Mama and Mommy aren't going to let anything bad happen to you, baby girl. Grandpa Don has put cops in front of our building all day and all night to keep us safe. They won't let Jack or anybody else hurt us."
Olivia decided not to go back to work that day, so she called Alex's mom and told her that she didn't need to come babysit after all. Jade worked with her speech therapist, Calvin went to karate class, and Alex went to the doctor and brought home a clean bill of health.
Jade slept in between Alex and Olivia that night, and for several nights after that. Olivia and Alex tried to encourage her to sleep in her own bed, but the child was having none of that. She didn't want Mister to come snatch her out of her bed in the middle of the night. She knew that Mama and Mommy would keep her safe. After all, Mama had a gun and could shoot Mister if he tried to take her.
Then the next afternoon while the family was hanging out at the park, Olivia's head shot up when there was a loud bang, several people screamed, and Calvin came running toward his mothers with Jade crying and screaming in his arms with her own skinny arms wrapped tightly around his neck.
"Baby, what's wrong? What happened?"
"We saw Jack. He's in the park."
