July 18th

2266 Azalea Street

Forest Hills, Queens

Time flew fast after Leon was born.

Of course, Bedelia loved him and mothered him, but when she had any down time, she looked into going to night school so she could get her GED to finish her high school education and look into pursuing a college one, no matter how long it took or how old she was by the end. She'd never graduated high school because Kim was born in her junior year, forcing her to drop out of school and get a job to take care of her children since her parents were no help, and Odis Lee had been off doing his own thing at the time.

As for Maggie Blue, she and Noah were the best of friends now, and she was even being looked after by his nanny, too… although in another month, Bedelia would be replacing Chloe as the kids' nanny because Chloe was going to be going on a trip with Habitat For Humanity to The Philippines before moving out west to California, where she'd be starting school at UCLA in the fall.

Maggie Blue was also quite smitten with her new brother, but she also was a little jealous that she was no longer the center of her mother's world, but to rectify that and to give Bedelia time bond with Leon, Maggie Blue spent a lot of time with Amanda and Nick, both of whom were happy to have her and spoil her, claiming that it was a practice run for when their twins were born.

For once in Amanda's life, everything was normal.

Speaking of Amanda, now that hers and Nick's family was expanding, they had moved from Manhattan out to Queens and were now living in an actual house that would be big enough for their their whole family, and with room to spare. It was in a nice family neighborhood with friendly neighbors and good parks and schools nearby—everything the couple wanted for their family.

"Woah!"

Amanda was woken from her sleep with a start, and she had no idea why.

When she looked at the clock on her bedside table, though, she scrambled to disable it because it was about to go off within the next three minutes, as it was.

That sudden movement caused the twins to wake up and wiggle around; they weren't big enough to kick yet, but if anything, they hated being woken up from sleep.

"Okay, babies." Amanda looked down at her fifteen-week belly and rubbed soothing circles on it. "I'm sorry about waking you up. I am."

The blonde's offspring began to settle at the same time that Nick began to stir.

"Talking to Baby Bear and Ladybug?" he asked sleepily.

"Yeah." Amanda leaned over and rubbed her love's shoulder, hoping to ease him awake because he was not a morning person. "Remind me how they got those names."

"Blueberry." Nick mumbled around a yawn.

'Blueberry' was his pet name for Maggie Blue.

"Huh." Amanda remarked. "So the twins are nicknamed Baby Bear and Ladybug, but you call my sister Blueberry, and to me, she's Bluebell. Mama and Audrey both call her Blue. Sweet Leon gets called Leo by… everyone."

"What's your point?"

"The kids in our family get called so many different names that Maggie Blue might forget her name by the time she turns three, and the twins and Leon might never know theirs."

"Is this your way of saying we need to start getting baby name books?"

"Uh-huh."

"What about…?"

Nick fell back asleep in mid-sentence; he was worn out. Yesterday, they'd bought a new bookshelf because one of the ones they'd had before broke during the move. It needed to be assembled, so Nick did that part, while Amanda read the instructions to him, acting as his voice of reason so he didn't flip out from frustration. The shelf was completed and put into the corner where they needed it, but in the end, Amanda and Nick were both so tired that they ordered a pizza and called it a night by nine-thirty.

Deciding to be playful, Amanda moved her hand further down Nick's body to his boxers and cupped his morning wood in her hand, giving the very edge a small swipe with the pad of her thumb.

That got Nick's attention immediately and his hands flew straight to his groin; Amanda was his own personal minx and had a hold on his body, no matter what time of day it was, and he'd just gone from zero to one hundred in .02 seconds because ofthat hold. Amanda's minxish ways were probably how she'd gotten pregnant in the first place.

"I'm awake!" cried Nick. "I'm totally awake!"

"That's what I thought." Amanda smirked as she planted a kiss on her boyfriend's cheek. "I'm going to go walk the dog, and that should give you enough time to get yourself back in working order and make breakfast."

"Why am I making breakfast?"

"Because I made it yesterday." she gave him one last kiss. "Now come on—we still have a schedule to keep on schedule so we aren't late for work!"

After Amanda came in from taking Frannie Mae to the park just down the road and let her pet off her leash, her phone chirped at her, indicating a new text.

It was from Olivia.

We just got out of the doctor's office and found out that your godchild is a girl!

Amanda let out a happy squeal and responded immediately. I'm so happy :D Congrats! Does she have a name yet?

Rachel Serena, after our mothers. And yes, you can tell Nick ;) see you later

Amanda pocketed her phone, and once she hung up her jacket and out her phone away, she joined a fully-dressed Nick at the table, to see that he'd set out two plates of scrambled eggs and toast, as well as two glasses of orange juice.

"What was that squeal about that you made just now?" Nick asked as he picked up his utensils and used them to eat. "Something about Liv's and Alex's baby?"

Ever since the older couple had asked the younger one to be their youngest child's godparents, Nick and Amanda were just as invested in learning things about that child as they were about their own.

"They're expecting a girl!" Amanda chirped.

Nick actually cheered because he'd secretly had his fingers crossed for that outcome. "That's awesome! Does she have a name yet?"

"Rachel Serena, after their mothers."

"That's already adorable." Nick said and then shot his girlfriend a sly grin. "Mandy, I still haven't let go of the baby name book thing from earlier."

"But we've got ages yet!" Amanda complained.

"And we also can't call the kids Baby Bear and Ladybug forever."

"Okay, good point. What are the parameters we agreed on, again?"

"Hispanic names are not off the table, although they'll probably end up as middle names; we're not naming baby boy after me because I was named after my dad, and he's a whackjob; and no double-barrel names, like what your family has."

"Right." Amanda said, remembering now. "What about, for whichever twin comes last, we give them a name that starts with g or z, so as to round things off?"

"Because of Gil and Zara?"

Amanda nodded and reached across the table, taking his hand in her. "I miss them, too."

"I love that idea." he told her. "It sounds perfect."

Amanda just beamed; Nick had already more than thrown himself one hundred percent into understanding the language quirks and traditions of southern culture that she'd grown up with, and he even loved her, through all of the family drama and baggage she that she had going on. But now, she was returning the favor and doing the same because she loved him as much as he loved her.

And even though neither Amanda nor Nick had said it to each other yet, they both knew that no matter what happened, they were going to be with each other for the rest of their lives.

16th Precinct

178 North Street

Manhattan

7:45 am

On most mornings, Olivia walked through the front doors of her precinct building at a quarter to eight.

This morning however, because Noah was with the babysitter earlier than usual so they could get to the OB appointment on time, she and Alex were both running ahead of schedule.

That luxury allowed Olivia to drop Alex off at her office building and for Olivia herself to walk into the actual bullpen at seven forty-five.

Today her head was up in the clouds, though, and not just because she and Alex had seen baby Rachel…

No, today marked exactly one month since Leon's birth, which also meant that before the day was out, Odis Lee was going to strike, and be in the company of a companion.

Olivia was ready to put Bedelia, Maggie Blue, Leon, and even Amanda somewhere safe, but to do that, she had to wait for Odis Lee to make the first move because otherwise, that would be a preemptive strike, and if he was the one in the Rollins clan with the most screws loose, a preemptive strike would be a very bad way start this (she hated to use the word) war.

The bullpen was totally empty because the night shift was always gone before she came in. That was also part of her normal routine.

What set this morning apart from all the others, though, was the sound of a small voice calling her name.

"Olivia, Olivia, Olivia!"

The woman question barely had time to set her bag and coffee mug on the nearest desk when she felt a small body collide with hers and a small pair of arms wrap themselves around her waist.

It took a little effort, but Olivia unwrapped the child's arms and knelt down to get a look at who her visitor was. Olivia received a little bit of a shock.

"Zara?"

Sure enough, eight-year-old Zara Amaro was standing before her, dressed for traveling and tear-stained. Olivia was very confused, but she still tapped into 'mother hen' mode.

"Baby," Olivia wiped Zara's tears. "What are you doing here? How did you get here?"

"Mama had to go back to Kandahar for an emergency, so one of her buddies brought me here on the way to the place where she works. It has the name of a shape, but I don't remember it…"

Olivia's eyes widened. "You mean The Pentagon?"

Zara nodded. "Uh-huh, and she gave me a letter to give to daddy, but she had to go…"

Olivia held Zara's hand when it looked like she was about to cry. "Stay with me, sweet pea—do you remember the name of the person who dropped you off?"

"Staff Sergeant Ryker, but I think her name is Ivy." Zara looked around the bullpen, realizing for the first time that it was empty. "Have you seen daddy or Mandy?"

"They're not here yet, but I'll text your daddy and Mandy so they can get here faster."

"Okay, but can I show you something first?"

Olivia hesitated, trying to figure out what was left, but then Zara wiped her tears with the back of her hand and held her other hand out to her friend.

"Come with me? Please?"

Only because her curiosity was getting the better of her and that Zara wouldn't put off getting her dad or Amanda to come faster to her unless it was important, Olivia stood and gave her her hand.

"Okay, show me."

Zara led Olivia to the break room and pointed to the couch, and Olivia promptly received another shock: two little blond girls—identical twins—dressed in matching tutu dresses and ballet flats were fast asleep, with a blanket cast over them. Olivia didn't miss that both of them had hearing aides.

Nearby was a backpack and luggage that Olivia presumed to be Zara's, but next to those were smaller backpacks and smaller suitcases that belonged to the twins. There were even two jean jackets draped over the smaller luggage.

Olivia spoke softly to Zara, not wanting to wake the little ones up. "Zara, whose little girls are those?"

Zara shrugged. "I don't know. They were already here when I got here, but I didn't see them until after Miss Ivy left. I even got them to fall asleep 'cause they could barely keep their eyes open."

"Good girl." Olivia praised. "Before they fell asleep, did they tell you their names?"

Zara shook her head. "They have hearing thingies, but they still can't talk well. Their names are on their jackets, though."

"Could you read them?"

"Lilyjoy and Rubyjane," Zara cast a glance over at the twins. "But Olivia, is it me, or do they look like Mandy?"

Olivia raised her eyebrows at this and reexamined Lilyjoy and Rubyjane. Zara was correct: both little girls bore a striking resemblance to the feisty southern belle, but Olivia knew that until now, Amanda had never been pregnant before and wouldn't certainly never lie about it, so they couldn't be hers.

They couldn't be Bedelia's either because she wouldn't have been able to keep three small children and a pregnancy under the radar. Plus, Lilyjoy and Rubyjane both looked older by Maggie Blue… although not by much.

Then as Olivia thought about it, she saw Lilyjoy and Rubyjane looked like someone she hadn't seen in three years.

Kim!

Odis Lee had made the first move, and not only that, but his own daughter was the other half of the 'we' he had mentioned last month.

War had started.