Author's Note: And we have reached the end. I hope this was a satisfying sequel! I know that the original is a favorite of many (no, really! It is by FAR the most favorited story I have on this site) and I hope that this put a nice cap on Maddie's story. Thank you very much for reading and reviewing/commenting!
Beverly Archer eased the door to Maddie's bedroom closed, allowing the knob to quietly click into place. After pausing for a moment outside the door and making sure that there were no sounds coming from the bedroom, she crept down the hall to the kitchen, where her husband, Olivia, and Casey were sitting around the table over a cup of coffee. "She's finally out," she said as she sank into the only empty chair at the table.
Elliot had declined to go along with Olivia when she went to pick up Maddie and the ADA, saying that he was sure that Olivia and Casey were going to want to talk privately after bringing the little girl home. Secretly grateful that her partner was able to read her so well, Olivia had smiled at him and promised to give him a call after everyone was settled.
She and Casey hadn't intended to stay quite so long at the Archers' apartment, especially when it was decided that George, Beverly, and Maddie were going to have a talk in Maddie's room about … well, everything. But Beverly had started a pot of coffee and insisted they stay. The two of them had taken seats in the kitchen to give the small family as much privacy as possible.
George had emerged from the room before his wife and settled at the table to fill the ADA and the detective in on the discussion. No holds were barred this time; an agreement had been made among all three of them to tell the complete truth.
As it turned out, what Maddie had told Casey the night she had stayed with her wasn't a lie. She had in some ways felt as if she would be betraying her mother if she became too close to the couple, Beverly in particular. But what she hadn't told Casey that night was that she had been afraid that Ms. Lowe would have been able to tell if she had become attached to the Archers. Then she'd know that Maddie was lying when she told her she didn't like them and then Maddie wouldn't get to live with Casey. So she walled herself off instead. If she didn't allow herself to like the couple, then she wouldn't be lying to her social worker.
The Archers could not have been more understanding. The two of them assured Maddie that they did love her and wanted her to stay with them, to make a home with them, but they also said that they wouldn't push her. They would wait for her to come to them in her own time, when she was ready. After a tight hug and a few more tears, between her day at school, her adventures alone in the city, and all the crying she had done, Maddie began getting sleepy. George had left then but Beverly remained in the room at Maddie's insistence. She'd wanted someone with her until she fell asleep.
"Is it real this time, you think?" Olivia asked. The question came out a bit more harshly than she'd intended and she cringed. She hadn't meant to suggest that previous breakthroughs were real. She just didn't want anyone, Casey included and in some ways especially, holding out false hope.
"Oh, it's real," Beverly said after a moment of reflection. "It was different this time. More … open, maybe? I can't really explain it, but I know."
George nodded in agreement with his wife and held out his hand to her. She complied and rested her hand in his, giving him a loving smile. "It was the first real conversation we've ever had with her," he said. "The first time it felt like she wasn't holding anything back."
The detective grin and a quick glance out of the corner of her eye told her that Casey had a smile on her face as well. "I'm so glad this is working out for you," Casey said before clearing her throat.
Instantly, Olivia frowned. That wasn't Casey's Getting Down to Business clearing of the throat; it was her Trying Not to Cry clearing of the throat. She tried to catch Casey's eye, but the ADA was too focused on the Archers. "It's like the three of you were just waiting for each other," Casey continued softly.
Beverly and George met each other's eyes and grinned. "We're going to be really happy now," Beverly said. "I can feel it."
George squeezed his wife's hand. "Yes, we are."
Olivia returned the couple's warm smile before gently tapping Casey's knee under the table. "We should let you three get back to being a family. Come on, Case."
The ADA and the detective stood at the same time, and the Archers walked the two women to the door. "Thank you both," Beverly said, an emotional tremor in her voice. "For all your help today. Hell, for all your help over the past two months."
Casey modestly told Beverly that it was nothing at the same time that Olivia said, "It was our pleasure."
Casey gripped Beverly's hands for a moment and squeezed. A look that spoke volumes passed between the women, Beverly's eyes expressing an ocean of gratitude and Casey's telling the woman to take good care of her baby. Then she turned and walked with Olivia out the door.
The entire trip down the corridor and onto the elevator, Casey was silent. Olivia kept a wary eye on her. It wasn't until the elevator doors opened on the first floor that Olivia rested a hand on her shoulder and asked her, "You okay?"
"Yeah," Casey answered after a long beat.
Olivia fixed a kind, gentle smile on the ADA. "No, you're not."
Casey stopped walking and looked the detective in the eye before returning Olivia's smile with a rueful one of her own. "I should be happy for them."
"It's okay if you're not." Olivia reached out and brushed a stray lock of Casey's hair behind her ear. "It's normal to feel like you're losing something."
"But she could never be with me in the first place," Casey argued as she slowly began walking towards the front door of the building. "That's what I had to get through her head."
"And now it's time for you to get it through your own," Olivia said. She wrapped her arm around the ADA's shoulders and tightened in a gentle hug. "You will be happy for them. Eventually. But it's perfectly fine that it's not right now."
Casey could only give her a weary nod.
The two of them exited the building and crossed the parking lot to Olivia's car. Casey wordlessly settled in the passenger seat as Olivia slid in behind the wheel. As Olivia turned the key in the ignition, she watched Casey put her seat belt on and lean her head back against the seat, all seemingly in slow-motion. When Casey turned her head to look out the window, Olivia knew that she had done so to hide the tears in her eyes. "Oh, there's no way in hell I'm leaving you alone tonight. My place or your place?"
Casey sniffled before turning her head again to meet Olivia's gaze. She allowed a half-smile at the impish sparkle in the detective's eyes. "Mine."
"Perfectly fine with me."
"Oh, whatever. You're just lucky I like you, Benson."
Olivia's grin widened. "Yes, I am."
--
A quiet and lazy Sunday afternoon in Central Park was a luxury Olivia very rarely got to experience. She watched with a soft smile as Casey and Maddie tossed a softball back and forth. The girl's cardiologist had finally given her the go-ahead to resume strenuous physical activity, thereby removing all her post-operative restrictions. To celebrate, the Archers had invited both Casey and Olivia to a picnic in the park.
Almost a month had gone by since the night that Maddie disappeared on everyone, and Olivia had to admit that the change in the little girl was absolutely incredible. Of course, the biggest shift was the girl's attitude towards her foster parents. She was loving, affectionate, and completely relaxed around them. And since she was no longer holding her emotions back, she was much more at ease and much happier in general.
"She really is wonderful with her," Beverly said, startling Olivia back to reality. She nodded towards Casey as she shifted position on the picnic blanket.
Olivia tore her eyes off of the ADA and the little girl and smiled at Beverly. "She loves that little kid."
"You know, I'm ashamed to admit this, but I was jealous of her at first," Beverly said, her voice barely above a whisper. She traced the checkerboard pattern on the blanket with her fingers. "I didn't understand why she could get through to Maddie and I couldn't."
"Yeah, that was tearing her up, too," Olivia said gently. "If it's any consolation, she didn't understand it, either."
Beverly didn't have a chance to respond. Casey and Maddie came running back to the blanket then, both slightly out of breath. The ADA plopped down next to Olivia as the little girl settled herself on her foster mother's lap.
She was only seated for a second, however. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted George on his way back to their picnic spot with a couple bottles of water in one hand and a wrapped ice cream Chipwich in the other. "Yes! He found the ice cream man!" Maddie exclaimed, jumping up and running forward to meet George halfway.
The three women laughed after her. "She's settled so well," Casey said, squinting against the afternoon sunlight as she looked at Beverly.
"She really has," Beverly nodded. She first met Olivia's eyes and then Casey's. "While we were watching TV last night, she asked us about adoption. We all know that it's still really early, but … she said she wants us to be her parents for real, Casey."
Casey gasped excitedly and reached over to wrap Beverly in a hug. "Oh, that's the best news I've ever heard!"
Beverly returned the embrace and then let go, but before she could get another word out, Maddie's giggling voice tore through the park. "Beverly! George won't let me have my ice cream!"
"Excuse me," Beverly said with a teasing roll of her eyes. She stood from her seat on the blanket and chased after her husband and her foster daughter.
Casey watched the small family with a the hint of a smile on her face. Olivia, on the other hand, was watching Casey. She held her gaze on the ADA for a long moment, but it wasn't until she heard Casey sniffle that she wrapped her arm around the younger woman's shoulders. "You okay?"
"Yeah," Casey whispered without tearing her gaze from the Archers.
Olivia frowned in concern. She certainly didn't sound okay. "You sure?"
The ADA finally turned her head to look the detective in the eye. "I'm sure. I'm happy for them, Liv. I mean, look at how happy they all are. Each of them is finally getting the family they deserve."
The detective smiled as she brushed a windblown wisp of hair out of Casey's eyes. "And it's all thanks to you, Casey. How's it feel to be the one that set this all in motion?"
"Honestly?" Casey asked.
She returned her attention to the Archers and their soon-to-be adopted daughter. Maddie had finally wrestled the Chipwich out of George's grasp, had pulled the wrapper off, and was now taking a large bite. George and Beverly were walking hand in hand a few paces behind her, both gazing lovingly down at the little girl.
Casey again turned her head to meet Olivia's eyes and gave the detective a wide smile. "Pretty damn good."
