A/N: The condom mystery continues...

THE NOAH SERIES: THE CONDOM

Alex and Olivia waited in the living room for Noah to get home. Alex went back to laying on the couch while Olivia grabbed a book and made herself comfortable in the chair. Maggie went to her room and went back to sleep. They had a game plan for Noah, but neither of them was looking forward to the conversation.

Shortly after school, Noah and Addie strolled in, and Sam was with them - even better.

"Maggie's friends said she came home early?" Addie asked when she saw both her moms in the living room.

"She's sick," Olivia said. "Addie, why don't you go to your room. We need to talk to Noah."

"Not if Maggie is sick," Addie said. "I don't want what she has."

"Fine, then go to Noah's room," Olivia said.

"Looks like you're in trouble," Addie mumbled as she walked past Noah and into his bedroom. Of course, it was Addie. She left the door open and stood there so she could hear everything that Noah was about to get in trouble for.

"Should I leave, too?" Sam asked. Neither she nor Noah had any idea what he'd done to get in trouble. It's not that he hadn't done things that he could get in trouble for, but he doubted his parents knew about any of them.

"Actually, you should stay, too," Alex said, sitting up on the couch. "Grab a seat somewhere."

Olivia got up and moved to the couch so both Noah and Sam would have a place to sit in the living room.

"So, your Mama found this today in the laundry room," Olivia said, sliding the condom across the coffee table.

"And?" Noah said.

"And?!" Alex said. "Do you care to explain it?"

"It's not mine," Noah said.

"Really? Then who's is it?" Alex said. "You are the only guy in this house."

Noah had a surprised look on his face, as did Sam, who was studying Noah.

"I don't know what to tell you, it's not mine!" Noah was getting defensive. "Besides, that's not even the kind I have."

Sam snapped her head around, and both Olivia and Alex took a deep breath.

"What?" Olivia snapped.

"I said, that's not the kind I have," Noah said. "Here, I can show you." He reached for his wallet and pulled out a condom. Trojan Magnum. "That probably wouldn't even fit me."

"Oh my God, we are not having this conversation right now," Alex said to no one in particular. "Why the hell do you have condoms? I cannot believe the two of you. Having sex right under our noses. I just..."

"We're not having sex," Noah said.

"Well, that condom says otherwise," Olivia said.

"No, you taught us way more about sex than we ever cared to know," Noah said. "I'm 16. I have a girlfriend, and I just want to be prepared in case...you know."

Sam was silent. She and Noah hadn't had sex. They had come close a few times, but definitely hadn't. She wasn't sure what to say.

"Then how do you even know you'd need...this?" Olivia said pointed to the condom he put on the table.

Noah sighed. "Do we really have to do this? Fine, guys in the locker room pointed out that...well...and so I decided I should know, just in case. So I tried it on."

"Oh my god," Alex said again. She was dizzy from being sick and certainly didn't want to hear about the size of her son's...she didn't even care to think about the word.

Finally, Sam jumped in. "Noah's right. I promise, we haven't had sex, but the condom is mine. I must have left it here."

It was now Noah's turn to snap his head around and look at Sam funny.

"I mean, I just you know, like Noah, wanted to be prepared and didn't want to leave it up to Noah to have to be the responsible one. But I swear to you, we're not having sex."

Olivia and Alex took a minute to regain their composure and Sam covertly sent a text to Noah, causing a concerned look on his face.

"I don't know whether we believe you or not," Olivia said. "But, Sam, you should probably go home, and we'll sort all of this out with Noah."

"Yes, ma'am," Sam said.

"Can I go to my room now?" Noah said.

Olivia looked at Alex, and Alex nodded. "Fine for now, but we're going to talk about this more. I'm just too sick to deal with it right now."

Noah got up and went to his room. Addie, who had been listening to the entire thing, had already gone back to her room with Maggie.

"Come on, hon," Olivia said. "Why don't you take a nap while I work on dinner?" Olivia laid Alex back down and covered her up with a blanket. She felt her head and ran her fingers through Alex's hair.

"Aren't you afraid you're going to get sick?" Alex asked sarcastically. Olivia kissed Alex on the forehead.

"I'll risk it."

Olivia walked over to check on Maggie, who was still sleeping. "Addie, you probably want to get the air mattress out and sleep in Noah's room tonight, unless you want to sleep with me. Your Mama is probably going to stay on the couch."

"Ew, no," Addie said. "You guys have sex in that bad. I'll get the air mattress."

"Well, we do put clean sheets on the bed, but fine, suit yourself," Olivia said and left to go fix dinner.

Addie got up, got the air mattress and walked gingerly into Noah's room. Noah was sitting on his bed texting with Sam.

"Mom said I should sleep in here tonight, so I don't get what Maggie has," Addie said, much more timid than normal.

"Whatever," Noah said. "Oh, and by the way...we're even now."

"I ... um..." Addie started.

"No, do you have any idea how much of an ass chewing I'm going to get?" Noah said. "Sam figured it out and saved your ass. But now, I just had to convince her not to feel bad for lying to our parents. She wanted to tell the truth. But I know you, if we rat you out, you rat us out."

Addie had been covering for Sam and Noah for weeks, so they could have alone time. They weren't having sex, but they were still doing things that Alex and Olivia wouldn't be happy about if they knew about. It was usually nothing more than making out, but being alone in bed together was against the rules. Addie covered for them but made it known that they were going to owe her big time.

"I'm sorry, Noah," Addie said. "I really didn't mean for you to get in trouble."

"Yeah, but I don't see you going in there to confess either," Noah said.

"Fine, we're even," Addie said.

#

After dinner, Olivia felt bad watching Alex lay on the couch and walked over and offered her hand.

"What?" Alex said.

"Come to bed," Olivia said.

"You told me I had to sleep here," Alex said. "Besides, didn't you tell Addie she could sleep with you."

"She decided it was gross to sleep in a bed that we've had sex in," Olivia said.

"She does realize they've all slept in our bed before when they were younger?" Alex said.

"Well, I'm sure she'd prefer not to think about it," Olivia said. "Which is fine, because I sleep better next to you anyway."

"That's a lie," Alex said. "What about the kicking and cover stealing?"

"I've gotten used to it," Olivia said. "And I have metal shins by this point." She laughed and pulled Alex up. "Look, I've been around you and Maggie all day. If I'm going to get sick, I'm going to get sick. Let's go to the bedroom and figure out what the hell we're going to do about Noah."

They walked into the bedroom, and Alex collapsed on the bed. "Liv, do you believe them?"

"Honestly, I don't know," Olivia said. "I mean, I want to. They seemed sincere, but..."

"But they're hormonal teenagers?" Alex said.

"I mean, I guess at least they're both being responsible, whether they are or not," Olivia said. "But they're both still minors. I mean, legally, since they are the same age and over 13, it's okay."

"It's okay?" Alex said.

"That's not what I mean," Olivia said. "You know the laws better than I do. I just mean, professionally speaking for me, it's not like they're breaking a law."

"I know that, but Liv..."

"No, I know," Olivia said. "There's so much more to it than just the sex. I don't know. I mean, I was having sex at 16 and was probably a lot less thoughtful about it than they are. I mean, it's not like we can make them stop."

"We can tell them they can't see each other," Alex said.

"Alex..." Olivia said. "Come on."

"What, it's not like they're Romeo & Juliet," Alex said. "When they're adults, they can do what they want."

"Sweetie, you realize my mom tried to stop me from seeing someone when I was 16, too," Olivia said. "That didn't end well."

"Well, he was your mom's student, and it was inappropriate," Alex said. "Oh, and you tried to get engaged, and your mother was an alcoholic and came at you with a bottle. That's like comparing apples to ... I don't even know...dirt."

"You're right, but you know teenagers," Olivia said. "They'll just sneak around."

"We're not telling them it's okay to have sex!" Alex said.

"I'm not suggesting that!" Olivia said. "I'm just saying forbidding them from seeing each other isn't the answer either. Jesus, what are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that I'm sick, Olivia," Alex said. "And that I just had to hear about how big Noah's ... thing...is, and am having to come to terms with the fact that if he's not already having sex, is probably is going to be having sex soon."

Olivia sighed. "I know. I'm doing the same thing. I just don't know if telling them they can't see each other is the answer. I mean, if they're having sex, they're going to keep having sex."

"You're right," Alex said. "And no, I don't think forbidding them from seeing each other is the way to go, but we need to talk to Noah again. Or have Carisi do it or something. I just..." Alex began crying, and Olivia wrapped her arms around her.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Olivia said, rubbing Alex's back.

"Our kids are getting so grown up, and I'm not ready," Alex said.

"You're starting to sound like me," Olivia said. Alex laughed through her tears.

"I know, I'm turning into a big softie like my wife," Alex joked. "Now, will you rub my back until I fall asleep? I can't adult or parent anymore today."

"Always."

A/N: Yes, we'll get more into the Addie thing in a few chapters. Thanks for the reviews. Let me know what you think of this one since I twisted it up...though some of you suspected.