Awhile later, Olivia came into the spare room. "Hey, I have an idea. Do you want to go to the library?"

"Okay," agreed Joshua.

"Sure," said Alex. "Just let me shower first."

Olivia lifted Joshua off the bed. "Come on. Let's give Alex a few minutes to shower."

"Okay," said the little boy. He grinned at Alex and gave her a wave. "Bye, Allie," he said sweetly, letting Olivia lead him out of the room.

Olivia smiled and sat down in the family room with Joshua. "Do you know how to play Crazy Eights?"

Joshua shook his head, and Olivia taught him the game.

Alex came out half an hour later, her wet hair pulled into a messy ponytail. Joshua looked up and smiled at her. "I beat 'Livia," he said proudly.

Alex gave him a high five. "Good for you. You're just the games master, aren't you?"

Joshua nodded. "Yup."

Alex slung her purse over her shoulder. "Are we ready to go?"

Olivia nodded and helped Joshua to him feet. "Yup." She grabbed her purse and took Joshua's hand.

They walked out to the car and Olivia lifted Joshua into his car seat and buckled him in. she got into the driver's seat and Alex climbed into the passenger seat.

Olivia drove them to the public library. They parked the car and Alex helped Joshua out of his booster seat. He clung to her hand as they went inside.

Olivia went to return some books she and Alex had checked out a few weeks ago and Alex took Joshua to the children's section. "Do you know who my favorite author was when I was your age?" asked Alex. "I loved Dr. Seuss."

Joshua grinned. "Me, too! Let's go find a book."

Alex found them Oh, The Places You'll Go. She curled up in an armchair with Joshua on her lap and started to read to him. "Congratulations! Today is your day. You're off to Great Places! You're off and away!" Joshua snuggled closer to her, and they shared a smile. Alex continued to read. "You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose."

"Hey, can I join the party?"

Alex and Joshua both looked up to see Olivia standing a few feet away. Alex smiled and moved over to make room for the detective. She went back to the book. "Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you."

She finished up with the book and put it away. They checked out The Cat In The Hat, Stephanie's Ponytail, and How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?

They went out for lunch and played mini-golf before they went home. Joshua didn't know how to play, so Alex and Olivia taught him, and he had a great time.

That evening, Olivia and Alex cuddled with Joshua before bed and Olivia read The Cat In The Hat. Alex stayed with him until he fell asleep, then she went back to her own bedroom and lay down beside Olivia, who was still awake and wrapped an arm around the ADA.

"He's really warmed up to you," commented the detective.

Alex sighed. "We've got to plead his foster parents out. Aggravated sexual abuse, producing and possession of child pornography. Ten to twenty."

Olivia stared at her. "Why?"

"Because Joshua can't testify, and without him, we've got no case."

"Why can't he testify?"

"The defense already filed a motion to suppress because his testimony would be tainted, and frankly, do we really want to do that to him?"

Olivia sighed, too. "Okay. I guess it would be easier – for him and us – if he didn't have to testify."

"I'm only thinking of his best interests."

Olivia kissed Alex's cheek and ran a hand through her hair. "Will they take the deal?"

Alex nodded. "Did you realize that we're talking business in bed?"

Olivia smiled and kissed her again. "You initiated the conversation, babe."

Alex snuggled closer to the detective. "Today was a good day," she remarked.

"Mm, it was," agreed Olivia. "He's a good kid."

Alex sighed. "We can't keep him. I wish we could, but we can't."

"We could adopt him. You could get it taken care of, I know you could. We could certainly keep him."

Alex smiled ruefully. "If only I could see the world through your eyes. Not everything is black and white, Liv, and not everything is as easy as it sounds. I'm not a superhero and I'm not a magician. I can't just magically make things happen."

"Well, why not?"

"The thing is, neither of us are particularly good adoptive parent material. We both work long, unpredictable hours in high-risk jobs, and adopting a child can take years. We would be rejected."

"You could pull a few strings. You could ask your uncle for a favor."

"Working with you, I've used up all my favors! I owe other people favors."

"Well, this is important. You can owe one more person one more favor."

"Olivia. You're not listening to me."

Olivia gave her a wan smile and stroked Alex's hair. "You love him, Alex."

The fire drained from her eyes. "I do."

"So why are you fighting this?"

Alex sighed. "Liv, we can't do this for every child vic that breaks our heart."

"He's different, Alex. He's special."

"Liv, they all are."

"Do you really want to get rid of the only happiness he's ever known? Do you really want to say, 'Hey, we were just teasing you these past few days. We've showed you what real love it but now you're not going to get any. You're going to your seventeenth home in five years where you'll be beaten and molested and abused –'"

"You don't know that!"

"We both know the state of the foster care in this country. It's reprehensible. Should we really let this little boy fall through the cracks?"

Alex sighed and shook her head. "No, Liv. We shouldn't." She rolled over so her back was to Olivia.

The detective seemed to realize that maybe she'd been too harsh, and she gently rubbed Alex's back. "You okay, princess?"

Alex nodded. She knew why this meant so much to Olivia, and it meant a lot to her for the same reason. They both wished they'd had someone to love them during their own childhoods, someone to save them from the nightmares that were their lives, someone to show them what love truly was. But they'd found it now. And that was what mattered.

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