#Tuckson

It was not even five in the morning, yet all three Tuckers were wide awake and sitting at the breakfast island, sipping on hot coffee in silence. The only sound was an occasional cough or sniffle from Charlie, who was wearing bags under her eyes like she was at least twenty years older than she actual was.

It had been a long night. Once they all returned to the house, Olivia and Charlie got the kids tucked away before the men returned, but as soon as they arrived, the awkwardness set in.

Trevor, aware of a lengthy absence, but not having dealt with the emotional trauma that Charlie had, was obviously wanting to spend his first night back with her, but she was hesitant.

"It's not that…I don't wanna be with you…" she had tried to explain, to no avail. "It's more that this is a lot to take in…and, I don't think it's a good idea. Plus…what if Lizzie wakes up and comes in?"

Trying to understand, but still struggling, Trevor pouted a bit when the two of them were alone, tried to explain he didn't want sex, he just wanted to be with her and hold her, but he inadvertently pushed Charlie closer to the edge.

"What do you want me to do, Trevor?" she hissed at him. "I know this is hard for you too…but up until like, four days ago, I thought you were dead. Things aren't just gonna miraculously pick back up where we left off."

Now, sitting at the table, Charlie's emotions were swirling even faster, and as she mindlessly stirred her coffee, Ed and Olivia exchanged worried glances.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" Ed tried to ask, but Charlie just shrugged.

"No," she whispered somewhat flatly, not bothering to look up, causing the trio to go back to sitting in silence. Her parents continued to share worried looks, but honored her apparent wish to sit in silence. Until she finally spoke up. "I can feel you looking at each other…spit it out…"

"I…" Olivia began, a little surprised at being called out on the looks, but also understanding her daughter was barely hanging by a thread. "I'm just worried about you. And I want to help you…"

"How do you want to tell Noah?" Charlie asked, deflecting her mother's concerned plea and directing the conversation to something they could actually control.

Ed took a deep breath and rubbed his hand over his face. "Hell if I know…how do we even begin?" he was looking at the table, but his question was clearly directed at his wife, who seemed equally clueless.

"I guess…" she said, pausing a bit. "I guess we just explain what happened, but water it down?"

"Is there a watered down version?" Ed put back at her, trying to figure out what pieces they should leave out.

"No," Olivia said, shaking her head. "But we will make one. We just tell him…that…well, Trevor was hurt by a bad guy. And that the police had to hide him away while he got better and they caught him, and now he's back."

"We all need more therapy," Charlie muttered, getting up from the table to refresh her coffee. "This is fucking insane…"

"Charlie…" Olivia said, standing up and beginning to make her way over to her daughter to try and offer some support, but she was interrupted.

"Mornin' Mommy," Noah said, sleepily rubbing his eyes as he wandered into the kitchen in his train pajamas, his brown hair sticking out in every direction.

"Good morning, my love," Olivia said, making her way over to him and scooping him up for some morning cuddles. Noah laid his head on her shoulder, making eye contact with his sister.

"Charlie! You back!" he said, squirming from Olivia's embrace and bee-lining for the other woman. Charlie hoisted him up, smothered him in kisses, before settling into a cuddle. "I missed you…"

"I missed you, too, pal," she said, her eyes closed and just living in the moment.

"Lizzie back too?" Noah asked, popping his head up with eyes full of hope.

"Yep!" Charlie said happily, loving the smile she got from her little brother at the admission. "She's still asleep though. You woke up early!"

"Not early, Charlie," Noah said, never sleeping late. "Time to get up, read da paper, and drink coffee with Daddy."

Kissing her brother one more time, she put him down and he wandered over to his usual spot by Ed and climbed up onto the stool. But once he got settled, he looked around in confusion.

"Where da paper, Daddy?" he asked, causing Ed to let out a chuckle before looking over to the women to signal it was time.

"Well, No," he said, turning so he was facing him. Olivia went and sat on the other side of her son, while Charlie stayed leaning against the island and sipping coffee. "We need to talk to you about something."

"Okay," he said softly, quickly realizing this was a serious conversation.

"Noah, do you remember Trevor?" Olivia asked softly, running her fingers through his hair as his little brain went into over drive.

"Yep," Noah nodded. "He Lizzie's daddy, but he died."

"That's right, baby," Olivia said, fighting the already bubbling tears. "A bad man hurt Trevor, because he was being a hero."

"I 'member," Noah said seriously. "Charlie still sad? Lizzie sad?"

"Well," Olivia said. "Not exactly. You see, when the bad man hurt Trevor, the police needed to make sure he was safe. So, they made him hide for a long time…"

"He hide? Then he die?"

"Trevor didn't die, sweet boy," Olivia finally breathed out, as she watched nothing but confusion cross her six year old's features. "We were told he died, but he didn't. And now…the bad guy is gone…so Trevor is able to come back to his family…"

Noah just sat silently, while the three adults look at him trying to process this. Given they were confused themselves, it was understandable that the little boy would struggle with how to react. But then, all of a sudden, he surprised them.

"Okay," Noah said. "That good. Lizzie need a Daddy. When he come back?"

Olivia let out a little chuckle, and shook her head in disbelief. Was it that easy?

"He's already here. Sleeping in Charlie's room."

"K," he said, climbing down and making his way towards that side of the house.

"Noah, where ya going? He's still asleep…" Ed said, quickly getting up and following after him, but Noah turned around to speak.

"I go talk to Trevor" he said matter of factly. "Gotta be a good uncle and a good bruvver…so gotta talk to Trevor…"

The three adults looked at him a little confused, but the boy turned around and headed back in that direction. Ed moved to stop him, but Charlie reached out and intercepted.

"Let him talk to him, Dad," Charlie said. "It's fine…he's awake and waiting for the okay to come out. Maybe this is what Noah needs."

Reluctantly, Ed let his son go, but it didn't stop the three of them from standing out in the hallway to eaves drop on whatever it was Noah had to say.

"Noah!" Trevor said, as he answered the knock on the bedroom door. The man stood tall in his plaid pajama pants and navy t-shirt as he beamed down at Noah. "It's good to see you."

"Hi Trevor," Noah said softly, suddenly feeling a bit shy at seeing him after a couple of years. "You alive?"

Trevor let out a little chuckle and nodded his head. "Yeah, I'm alive pal…I'm so sorry I had to go away…"

Noah stayed still, examining Trevor. After a few minutes, Ed cleared his throat from the hallway.

"Why don't we all come out to the living room, so we don't wake the baby."

Noah slowly moved towards the couch, his eyes not leaving Trevor as they all got settled. He took a seat on the couch next to Trevor, before scrunching up his little face.

"You leave, Trevor," he said softly, as if he were repeated what he had been told. "Cuz the bad guy?"

"That's right," the man explained calmly, looking around the room for confirmation that he was okay to answer the questions. Olivia just smiled softly and nodded, signaling he was free to handle this however he wanted. "But the bad guy is gone now, so I don't have to hide."

"Charlie sad when you go away," Noah said softly, looking at Trevor with a squint eye that was identical to Olivia's, though biologically impossible. "And that make me sad."

As soon as Noah said those words, the emotion in the room just smothered everyone like a thick blanket. Trevor tried to swallow his feelings down, while Charlie got up and went into the kitchen for a break.

Ed and Olivia looked at each other, before Olivia excused herself to go check on her daughter, leaving the men in the living room. Ed moved over to the couch, so Noah was in between the two adults, and tried to help navigate the conversation.

"Ya know, Noah," he said. "Trevor didn't want to go away."

"You sad too?" Noah asked, looking up at the face of the devastated man.

"Very," Trevor replied. "I didn't want to leave Charlie…or Lizzie…and I, well, it breaks my heart a little bud."

"Me too, Trevor," Noah said, looking down a bit. For a child that young, he had such a deep sense of empathy and understanding, likely because of his mother. "But I taked good care of Lizzie and Charlie for you. I hug them when they cry. And I play with them. And I make them smile. I be da best uncle."

Trevor let a few tears fall down his cheek, so Ed pulled Noah onto his lap and gave him squeeze.

"You did so good, son," he whispered into his ear. "So so good. And they will keep needing you to love them and be the best uncle, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy," Noah said, squirming out of his grip and leaning over to give Trevor a hug.

"I glad you back, Trevor," he said, closing his eyes a bit and cuddling up, before abruptly pulling away. "You not go away again. Gotta build tall forts for Lizzie."

"Charlie?" Olivia said, approaching her daughter who was now sitting out on the deck as the sun came up over the horizon. Tightening her robe, Olivia went to sit next to her on the step and nudged her a bit with her shoulder. "Talk to me?"

Charlie looked over at her mother with tears streaming in rivers down her face.

"Oh…oh baby girl," she gushed, heart breaking at the sight, and moving to pull her into her embrace. It was the first real embrace the two had shared since the news about Trevor had broken. "Okay, okay…I gotcha…"

"I can't do this," Charlie sobbed. "It's too much. My mind and heart can't handle it. I'm so confused. And now…now…do I have to share my daughter? I can't…I just can't, Momma…"

After the last sentence, the 28 year old just broke down in Olivia's arms, her cries so harsh they were silent and her entire body heaving and shaking as the emotion just wouldn't stop.

Olivia, unsure how to respond, just held her daughter as tightly as she could and rocked her gently. But before she could come up with any kind of response, a throat cleared behind her and the two women turned to see Trevor standing uncomfortably.

"Lizzie is awake…" he said. "Captain Tucker just went to get her…but…"

Charlie quickly stood, wiping her tears and shaking herself off, before brushing past Trevor and heading to her daughter. He stood, looking down and almost defeated, before Olivia approached him and offered a comforting hand on his arm.

"Gotta give it time," she said. "I know it's hard…but it is going to take time…"

A couple hours later, the sun had come up and the morning had warmed to a crisp fifty-five degrees. Lizzie Tucker was dressed in her little blue sweat suit and digging in the sandbox outside, while her mother and father sat on the ledge of the box and watched her.

The girl was introduced to Trevor, and Charlie just simply explained that he was her daddy, and showed her some of the pictures they had looked at together over the last two years. Obviously being Lizzie was still a toddler, she didn't understand any of it, and did not warm up to Trevor quickly.

Feeling defeated, Trevor worked hard to back off and not pressure the little girl to hug him or be around him, but Charlie was determined, so she suggested they let her play in the sandbox a bit. Maybe she would warm up to her father if she was distracted by toys.

"Mama!" Lizzie squealed, as she dumped a bucket of sand back into the box and grabbed her little shovel to try again. "Plop go da sand…"

"That's right, baby girl," Charlie cooed and stroked her hair. "You gonna dump it all out? Wanna build something?"

"Castle?" she asked, looking up at her mom with hopeful blue eyes. Charlie just nodded and looked to Trevor.

"I bet Daddy can build a good castle," she said, gently prodding her along. "You think we should ask?"

Lizzie eyed Trevor cautiously, looked again to her mother who nodded her support, then the little girl slowly handed Trevor the purple bucket.

"Castle, Da-Da?" she asked, her father's blue eyes looking at him wide and hopeful. Unable to contain a few tears at hearing her say "da-da", Trevor took a deep breath, wiped his cheek with his sleeve, and crawled into the sandbox.

"Absolutely, my love," he said softly and Lizzie just grinned at him, before plopping her sand covered bottom into his lap. "Let's build a sand castle."

While Trevor built both a sand castle and a relationship with his daughter, Ed and Olivia watched from the breakfast bar inside the house. Olivia hadn't said much since Charlie's slight outburst this morning, and Ed knew that the emotions of the last week were weighing heavily on his wife. He reached out and played with her hair a bit, looking at her profile softly, blue eyes filled with love.

"They seem okay," he said softly.

"Yeah…"

"Are you okay?"

"No…"

"Baby," Ed sighed out, moving his hand from her hair to the back of her neck and kneading a bit.

"Charlie…" she began, taking a few deep breaths so she didn't just cry her way through yet another conversation. "She's…she's trying so hard, but she's gonna break Ed. I can feel the pieces of her heart falling all over the place every time I look at her. And I don't know how to fix it…"

Ed just sat silently, continuing to knead at her neck, and move his sight from her face to the trio outside. After a few minutes of letting her words sit with him, he began to reply.

"Olivia, look at me," he commanded gently, causing her to look up at him, her brown eyes bloodshot and worn in a way he'd never seen before. "I see exactly what you're seeing. And…it's going to be a hard, hard road. But, she's talking to us. Or at least not running from us. So I hafta believe that we can get her through this."

"I hope you're right," Olivia said softly, giving him a soft smile before kissing him gently and stroking his face. "I hope we didn't damage our relationship too badly…"

"I know I'm right," Ed said, a cocky smirk appearing on his face. "Ya wanna know why?"

"Why?"

"Because I love you. And our family. More than anything in this world," he said, his eyes staring straight into her heart and his words slowly mending the pain and fear she was feeling. "And that, to me, makes us invincible. We've been through too much and survived. We will get through this too. Together."

"Together," Olivia said, smiling at him and grasping his hands tightly in hers before turning her head to watch the scene outside and letting out a breath. "We can do anything together."

A/N: Admittedly, I'm feeling pretty run down these days...beyond just the drama of the show. Hopefully it hasn't bled too much into my writing, but I apologize if it has. Rest assured, I fully intend to keep this story going to the end, despite anything that may happen on screen with our favorite duo. So you can cross that off the list of things to worry about.

Thanks for being such loyal readers, and I hope my coming updates do not disappoint despite my feeling off of my game. Tuckson is endgame in my fic world. #Always

Review, please?