When Olivia knocked on Bedelia's front door, Bedelia answered it promptly. She was very surprised to see her friend, but let her enter.
"Hi, Olivia." she shut the door behind her and immediately began clearing space on the couch for her. "How did you know I was going to be home? I'm not as predictable as AJ, am I?"
"It was just a lucky guess." Olivia said in amusement as she sat down, thinking of the passing mention Bedelia had made of her crazy, jam-packed daily schedule. "I'm actually relieved that I caught you here."
"This isn't a social call, is it?" Bedelia asked as she set next to her.
Olivia shook her head. "No, and Amanda is fine, but we have a case that looks like it's being spearheaded by your husband and Kim."
"Oh, my God." Bedelia paled. "They're already here?"
Olivia nodded, sighing inwardly when it suddenly occurred to her that there was no way she could mention Odis Lee's and Kim's presences in the city without telling her about Lilyjoy and Rubyjane.
"They are, and I'm ready to move Leon, Maggie Blue, and Amanda to a safe place at a moment's notice." Olivia took out the sketch from the manila folder she was carrying, but she kept it facedown. "I need to tell you something important, but I need to show you a sketch first."
"Because you want to know if it's my husband's on that paper, and Amanda-June's memories of him are scant now, huh?"
"Exactly." Olivia showed her the picture, not failing to notice how Bedelia had called her firstborn by her name. "Is this Odis Lee?"
A wide range of emotions crossed Bedelia's face in a very short amount of time as she studied the picture and imagined what could have been if her life had gone a different way.
"Yeah, that's him." Bedelia sighed as she handed the picture back. "What the hell have he and Kim done, or don't I want to know?"
"You don't want to know right now."
"Okay, Olivia. I trust you." the other woman said. "What is it that you said you wanted to tell me, besides this?"
Olivia took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "It's about Kim, and something she did, all by herself."
"Lay it on me."
And so Olivia told Bedelia as much as she knew about Lilyjoy and Rubyjane. She told her about Zara, too.
By the end, Bedelia's hands were over her heart. "It destroys my heart to hear stories of children getting abandoned because the first two times I gave birth, Odis tried to get me to give AJ and Kim away, but of course I said no."
Olivia's heart skipped a beat. "Do Amanda and Kim know that about him?"
"No, thank the Lord." Bedelia let out a sigh and moved her hands to her lap. "And poor, poor Zara—I've never met her, but all I want to do is hug her."
"Zara loves people, and she really loves Amanda, so if you met her, she'd be in orbit when you tell her who you are."
Bedelia actually smiled at that. "May I go visit? Would that be alright?"
Olivia nodded. "The kids are going to be stuck in the hospital for awhile, so they'd totally love a visit. Just gave Amanda a head's up."
"I can do that."
"Good." Olivia stood, getting ready to go. "Thank you for your help."
Bedelia also stood, and she escorted her friend to the front door. "Anything I can do to be of more help, just let me know. Keep me in the loop?"
"Of course."
When Olivia left to go back to the precinct, Bedelia shut the door behind her again and then retrieved her phone from the kitchen table. She'd left it there, next to her gym bag.
Before Olivia had arrived, Bedelia had already been up since dawn, getting herself ready for the day, and taking care of Maggie Blue and Leon before dropping them off to the babysitter. From there, she'd gone to the gym and worked out for two hours before coming back home; true, she wanted to lose all her baby fat, but she also wanted to be in shape for when she became the nanny to the little kids at the end of the month. She'd had other plans for the day of things she'd wanted to get done while she was kid-free, mostly to keep her mind off how she remembered that today marked the day her husband said he'd show up, but calling Amanda was priority.
When her daughter answered her phone, she was a bit surprised. "Mama?"
"Olivia's just been by." Bedelia explained. "She told me that your father and your sister are in town, and that they've gotten mixed up in something crazy."
"Was Olivia specific?"
"No, because she advised that it was better if I didn't know, and that's quite alright with me. She also told me about Lily, Ruby, and Zara; how are they?"
"Zara has been counting sheep on my lap for awhile now because the jetlag finally caught up with her, and Lily is hanging out with Ruby on her bed. They're both not up to par, but I think they're also both a little tired out because it's been a long morning for them. They're probably also missing Kim."
Bedelia felt sad for the little ones all over again. "Would the kids object to a visit?"
"No, actually. They could all do with some cheering up."
"Do Zara, Lily, and Ruby know that you're pregnant?"
"No." Amanda said a third time, although she laughed a little. "I'm surprised that nobody's figured it out because it isn't like I can keep my belly hidden anymore and Zara has already decided that Lily and Ruby are her babies."
Bedelia grinned at that, already in love with how adorable Zara was. "Are you okay, AJ?"
"I don't know." she admitted. "This just feels like it's going to be a very long day."
"I'm feeling the same way, baby girl. I'll be there in awhile."
Amanda breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, mama. See you when you get here."
Because Bedelia believed in a good first impression, especially where children were concerned, she stopped at a toy store to get some cheer-up/comfort items for her all three of her new granddaughters. She found a panda for Zara, an elephant for Lilyjoy, and a leopard to give to Rubyjane. She also passed a display of brightly-colored kid-sized fleece blankets with a sign featuring a buy two, get one free deal. After some careful browsing, she found three blankets that she thought the girls would like and added them to her present stash, even making sure to get everything gift-wrapped.
As Bedelia entered the children's wing at the hospital, she had a sudden flash-forward to some time down the road where she was playing with all of her grandbabies—Lilyjoy, Rubyjane, the two babies in Amanda's belly, and even Zara. That was going to be a fun day… but they just had to get through this one first.
"Anyone home?" she asked when she entered the twins' room.
Zara had since woken up from her brief nap and was now hanging out with Lilyjoy and Rubyjane, leaving Amanda free of her, so she immediately rose from her chair and hugged her mother. Nick also got in a hug, happy to see Bedelia, although it was Amanda who did most of the talking.
"Are you ready to meet them?" she asked her mother.
"Yes." Bedelia showed her the presents she'd bought. "I hope it's alright I bought them some comfort items; they'll definitely come in handy on a day like today."
"They'll be delighted. Come on."
When Amanda led Bedelia to the bed where the kids were, Zara, Lilyjoy, and Rubyjane immediately stopped what they were doing and stared at the new person in surprise. It was no secret that the genes in the Rollins family tree were very strong, but with Bedelia and Amanda in particular, it was just downright disconcerting because Amanda looked like her mother's younger carbon copy.
"Okay." Amanda laughed. "You little munchkins can stop looking at us like that. I want you three to meet someone really special to me—this is my mama, Nana Bedelia. She came for a visit because she wants to get to know all of you."
Rubyjane remembered her manners first, signing and speaking to Bedelia as she went. "Mama's mama?"
"Yes, I am." Bedelia answered her carefully, realizing that Kim was probably going to be a sore subject with the twins. "Is that alright?"
Rubyjane gave her grandmother a nod of approval while Zara voiced a thought that had suddenly popped into her head.
"If Lily and Ruby are going to call you nana, is it okay if I call you abuelita, like I do with my Abuelita Audrey?"
Flattered that Zara was unconventionally offering her friendship in such a way right off the bat, Bedelia nodded and blew her a kiss. "I would just love that, sweet Zara."
The little girl made a trilling noise approval and then gave Lilyjoy a gentle nudge to see if she'd say something to Bedelia since she hadn't yet.
Instead of using her words verbally, she signed to the other two to scoot over so Bedelia could join them. When they got the message and did as asked, Lilyjoy beckoned to Bedelia to come sit and lean towards her.
She obliged and was rewarded with a kiss on the cheek from Lilyjoy and a very bashful smile as she signed that she was happy to meet her.
Bedelia had been informed by Olivia of the twins' delays in speech and was all the more grateful that three years of being Maggie Blue's mother had given her plenty of practice with speaking Sign Language.
"I'm happy to meet you, too, angel." Bedelia carefully signed her words as she spoke them, wanting to do what she could to gain the little girl's trust so she'd eventually become comfortable enough to speak aloud. "Would you like to sit with me? I have presents for you, Ruby, and Zara."
Surprised but enticed, Lilyjoy nodded and crawled into Bedelia's lap. Rubyjane and Zara also gathered close, thanking Bedelia as she doled out the gifts to them.
Amanda decided that Lilyjoy would use her voice in her own time and watched for a moment as her mother brought the little ones a dose of much-needed cheer before she noticed Nick standing in the doorway of the room. When their eyes met, he motioned for her to come join him out in the hallway.
"What is it?" They were standing in front of the big picture window that Zara had been peering into earlier. "Did you get a text from Olivia?"
"No."
If that isn't, then it can only be one other thing, Amanda thought.
Easing herself into the nearest chair, she asked, "This is about Maria, isn't it?"
"Yeah." Nick heaved a sigh and sat in the chair next to hers. "It is."
Amanda had literally no idea what to expect from the part of the conversation that was about to happen because while she'd had only a smattering of interactions with Maria over the years, the two things that she'd gathered from Nick's tales of her was that on the home front, Maria was both selfish and unpredictable.
"What did her letter say?"
"That she had no choice about going back to Kandahar, but that it's just a pit stop for another assignment."
Amanda raised her eyebrows. "Where?"
"She said it's extremely classified… and that if she had to be realistic about a timetable, it could take years to complete. Maria also said that she doesn't know if or when she'll come back and that Zara is in full knowledge of that."
"Poor Zara—this isn't her day, either. Did Maria relinquish her custody rights?"
"Not only that, but she also mentioned you by name."
Amanda was taken aback. "I beg your pardon? She did?"
"Yep. She said that she hopes I get a happy ending with you because the last time we saw each other, she told me that Zara had told her that you and I are best friends. Maria has also known forever that Zara adores you."
"Wow." Amanda laughed nervously. "I don't know what to say."
"Basically, Maria said she'd feel better if Zara was in the place she knows best and had two people who love each other being her parents."
"You and me?"
Nick nodded. "You ready to become a mom a bit ahead of schedule, Mandy? Zara won't say it because she's the proudest kid I know, but she's really going to need you."
Amanda put her hands on her middle, smiling slightly as she felt the twins move around, but in that particulat moment, she was mostly thinking. Zara was eight now, and Amanda first met her when she was four, meaning that she'd known the little girl for the last half of her life… and that probably felt like an eternity to her. Amanda also loved Zara like she'd come from her own body, and that after a day like today, she was going to love her even more.
"Of course," she said, turning back to Nick with a smile on her face. "And if it comes down to it, I'll adopt her."
Nick lit up. "Really? You'd do that?"
"I absolutely would. Zara imprinted on my heart the first time I met her, and she's had a spot there ever since."
Amanda blew out a sudden breath as her children caught her off-guard by randomly going into a wiggle frenzy. Hoping to quell them, Amanda stood and began gently rocking her hips from side-to-side.
"Your daughter and son are making sure we don't forget about them." Amanda said to Nick when she saw him looking. "We're going to have a hell of a full house at home tonight, and we still have to tell those three little darlings in the next room that twin babies are going to be added to their 'at home' posse, and that's going to be before we introduce them to Maggie Blue and Leon."
"Quite an itinerary. Can you handle it? The thin blue line between work and home has been obliterated today."
"Damn the thin blue line." Amanda smirked as she arched eyebrow at her lover in a challenging way. "Question is—can you handle it?"
"Oh, yes." Nick stood and took her by the hand. "Let's just go hang out with Bedelia and the kids, alright?"
Amanda intertwined her fingers with Nick's gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "Okay. Let's do that."
Both partners wanted to stay in their happy bubble—or at least protect their children—for as long as they could because they never knew when danger could strike.