Last one. #Tuckson

One Year Later

"You're so cute when you're grumpy," Trevor said as he stood in the doorway to their master bedroom. He just finished putting Lizzie down and had gone back to check on his wife, who was now a little over eight months pregnant and on bedrest.

"Hmph," Charlie grunted out, trying to adjust her legs a bit where they were propped up, and eventually giving up with a huff. "I'm fat and miserable. Hardly cute."

"You're always cute," Trevor said gently, coming over to adjust the pillow under her ankles as he began to rub at them.

"Sweet Jesus that feels good," she moaned out, eyes closing and taking some deep breaths. "I hope this little guy makes his entrance soon. I'm tired of being tired."

"Soon, baby," he said softly, concentrating on his task. "I know you're miserable, but…"

His voice caught in his throat causing Charlie's attention to snap to his face. She stiffened and reached for his hands, taking them in hers and rubbing her fingers along his palm.

"What is it, Trev?" she asked, her head cocked to the side and her eyes wide.

Trevor just shook his head, willing tears away, before meeting those piercing blue eyes of hers.

"I missed this part last time," he whispered. "The grumpiness and the labor and the delivery and all of it. And I just…I know you are ready for this to be over, but I'm just so grateful I get a second chance."

Charlie's eyes welled with tears as they continued to gaze at each other, hands firmly held in the other's. Not long after they returned from their honeymoon, the couple started actively trying for another child. It wasn't lost on either of them that Trevor was a bit older and since expanding their family was a priority, they got to work. Within a couple of months, they broke the good news to Ed and Olivia who instantly began planning to update their now spare bedrooms with a crib so both grandkids could stay over at any point. Trevor doted on Charlie in between his commuting back and forth from the city, still taking cases and building up their nest.

Time passed quickly for the family, Charlie's pregnancy going smoothly and Trevor soaking up every moment of it. But as her due date approached, the couple got apprehensive. After all, it was at this moment the first time when their lives got turned upside down. Trevor was a little extra clingy, and would occasionally annoy Charlie. But their lines of communication stayed open, so it never got out of hand.

Now, as Charlie sat back and observed his face, her features softened and she began to rub his arms a bit.

"Hey," she whispered, reaching up with one hand to cup his chin. "No more of that thinking. You're gonna be right there, holding my hand, the entire time. And pretty soon, you'll be holding your screaming, red-faced son."

"You tell your parents the name yet?" Trevor asked, shaking his emotions off and deciding they had enough of the sad talk. It was time to look forward.

"No. I figure we will when they meet him."

"I love you," Trevor whispered, leaning forward and beginning to kiss his wife. Slowly at first, but she quickly deepened it, causing him to moan and adjust so he held himself above her body on the bed.

"Trevor…." she said softly. "Tessa…."

"Doors are closed," he said, brushing off the nearby presence of his sister who had come out for a visit, in hopes of being around for the birth. "And she's out cold. Has been since, oh, seven. Thank God for jet-lag."

He made his way down her neck and collar bone, hands caressing her expanded belly and her sides, before getting a bit more aggressive and biting at her earlobe. But he stopped abruptly when her body tensed and she let out an unpleasant scream.

"Owwwwww," she said, her eyes wide and panicked looking.

"What?" Trevor asked, alarmed and immediately feeling guilty. "Oh god, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"No," she gasped, scrambling to sit up. Or as much as she could scramble at this point. "Not you."

Her face had broken out into a sweat and Trevor noticed her body beginning to tremble.

"Charlie? Baby?"

"Oh god," she gasped, her face in a grimace. "Something's wrong, Trevor…."

Ed, Olivia, and Noah were camped out at the dining room table with Monopoly Deal spread out in front of them. Noah was still learning the concept of the game, but Ed would patiently answer all of his questions and Olivia would often check his cards and help him select a good move. He was quickly becoming a master, and Ed was convinced that soon he'd be haggling them over the full board game.

"Okay," Noah said, chewing his bottom lip and thinking hard about his next play. "I gonna….STEAL DAT PROPERTY!"

He laid down his steal card and grinned at his dad, as Ed let out a groan and pretended to be upset that he was once again about to get beaten by his son.

"You sure you don't want anything of Mommy's?" Ed asked, a last ditch effort. But Noah shook his head hard.

"No," he said. "I want THAT one."

"Fine," Ed grumbled, handing Noah his newly acquired piece of property and let out a sigh. "I'm never gonna win this game again, am I?"

Olivia was watching the exchange with an amused smile, and she leaned over to peck Ed's lips after his question.

"No," she said, before kissing him again. "Probably not."

"Ewwwwwwww," Noah squealed, exaggerating his disgust at the PDA.

Ed and Olivia chuckled before Olivia returned to her seat and began her turn. She was just about to lay down her choice when the doorbell rang, causing the family of three to jump.

"What the…" Ed said, standing up and checking the time. "No one ever rings the doorbell this late…"

Olivia, not overly worried but wanting to be cautious, told Noah to stay at the table and walked behind Ed to the front door. But she watched as his shoulders dropped in relief and he swung the door open to a wide-eyed Tessa and a sleeping Lizzie.

"Hey you two," he said, ushering them in before his stomach dropped. Something was wrong. "What's going on?"

"Trevor just took Charlie to the hospital," Tessa exclaimed. "Sharp pains. Bleeding. I came here to stay with Noah so you two could get up there."`

That was all the older couple needed to hear. They scurried around, grabbing shoes and purses and wallets before kissing Noah and heading out the door. Tessa laid Lizzie on the sofa, then went to at the table with Noah, who looked a little confused at what had just taken place.

"Charlie havin' da baby?" he asked, his blue eyes wide with curiosity. Knowing that the last time Charlie went into labor brought up other bad memories, Ed and Olivia had prepped Noah for the possibility of a quick exit once her water broke. So the little boy was very aware of what had happened and was quickly settling back down, having a casual conversation with Tessa.

"I think so," Tessa said with a smile, deciding it was best to just not think about the worst-case scenarios. "We'll have a nephew pretty soon!"

"Wow," Noah said, before giving Tessa a sly smile. "Wanna play me in Mono'ply before da nephew born?"

"You betcha."

"I gonna win," he said, gathering up the old game and getting ready to deal a new one.

"Yeah, you probably will."

Ed and Olivia stood outside of the nursery, hand in hand, watching the hustle of the nurses beginning to clean up the new baby. His entrance into the world had been abrupt, and pretty terrifying, but he seemed to handle it in stride. Olivia looked up and watched as Ed's eyes followed his grandson as he squirmed through his first bath and was placed under the warmer in his diaper. His little red arms and legs flailing around as he would occasionally let out a cry, just making sure the nurses knew he was still there. Ed put his free hand on the window, as if to try and calm his grandson down and Olivia just rubbed his back.

"He's okay, babe," she soothed him, knowing the man was worried and refusing to show it.

Ed just nodded.

"Just wanna hear about Charlie," he said softly as Olivia rested her head on his shoulder.

"Me too," she said emotionally. "But the doctor said they got in there with enough time. So it's just a matter of getting her stitched back up and stabilized."

"Jesus," Ed sighed, rubbing a hand over his face but keeping his eyes on the baby. "That was terrifying."

"It was," Olivia agreed, before fully wrapping her arms around her husband and resting against his chest as they watched the baby begin to settle down in his little warmer.

Not long after the couple had arrived at the hospital and found their daughter and son-in-law, the doctor realized her placenta had ruptured and rushed Charlie into the operating room for a c-section. Trevor barely had enough time to get into a gown and scrub down before the baby had been delivered and whisked off to the nursery. Neither Ed nor Olivia had been able to see Charlie at all, but the nurses assured them she was doing okay and was just very out of it. But as the couple stood outside of the nursery, guarding the new addition to their family, it all began to catch up to them.

"Trevor looked frantic," Ed mused, still not ready to calm his nerves down.

"He did," Olivia admitted, "but I can't blame him…we all were."

She shuddered, thinking back to the agonizing minutes they spent in the waiting room, hoping and praying that everything was going okay, jumping at every little noise in hopes it was a nurse or doctor coming to tell them good news.

Olivia was about to open her mouth to try and offer a little more reassurance, despite her own anxiety, when movement in the nursery distracted them and they watched Trevor enter in a fresh gown. He waved at them before eagerly taking his newborn son into his arms. Rocking him and kissing at his head, he spoke to him, though Ed couldn't make out the words, before walking to the window and letting the grandparents get a closer look.

Ed looked like he was about to jump through the window as he waved and spoke to his grandson. Olivia, though, was quiet. Staying in his arms and allowing the emotion of the moment to wash over her. Just then a throat cleared behind them, so they reluctantly turned from the baby to face the doctor.

"How's our daughter?" Olivia asked quickly, hand gripping Ed's.

"Just fine," he assured them. "She's sore and emotional, but everything went just fine once we got in there."

"Thank god," Olivia whispered out, her body finally relaxing as she let a few tears escape. She had been the strong one throughout the crisis, but now it was her turn to just breathe.

"She's asking for you," he said, nodding at Olivia. "So if you wanna come with me, we can get you scrubbed down and to her recovery room."

"Okay," she said, looking up to Ed and kissing him on the cheek. "You'll be okay?"

"I'm just fine," he assured her. "Go take care of our girl."

He watched as the doctor and Olivia hurried down the hallway and disappeared behind the double doors, before turning his attention back to his grandson. Trevor was still just rocking him and smiling. Once he noticed Ed standing there, Trevor said something to the nurse and before he knew it, they were waving him in.

"Momma?" Charlie asked, her voice groggy and her eyes only half open, but her head was moving around trying to locate the source of the soothing voice.

"Right here, sweet girl," Olivia cooed, shifting her chair closer to the bed and running her hand through the girl's hair. "It's okay, baby. You did just great. And so did the baby."

"Son…my son…." Charlie said, still not totally with it but alert enough to know her baby was no longer inside of her, and out in the world somewhere.

"He's with his Daddy and his Papa in the nursery," she said. "And he's just beautiful. Already stealing the hearts of the nurses."

"Good," she said, still not totally relaxed but Olivia could tell that soothed her just a bit. "I want to hold him…see him…"

"You will," she promised. "Soon. Right now I just need you to rest. Let your body heal, okay?"

"Kay…" she said, eyes closing but her hand reaching out for something. Olivia immediately took it in her own and kissed it.

"I'm right here, Charlie," she assured her. "Everyone's okay, no one's alone, and I'm not going anywhere."

"Love you, Momma."

"I love you too, baby," Olivia responded, trying to keep her tears at bay now that everything was just fine with her family again. "And I'm so proud of you."

"He's got my jaw," Ed said, standing proudly as he cradled his grandson in the hospital room the next morning.

"He does," Olivia said from her perch on the bed, fussing with Charlie's hair. "Can't deny that kid is a Tucker…"

"Then I guess he will fit his name," Trevor quipped reaching out to take Charlie's hand.

"Oh yeah?" Ed said, finally turning from where he was pointing out the trees to the baby in the window. He walked over and handed him back to Charlie, who cradled the tiny infant close to her chest. "Well are ya gonna tell us the name, or do we hafta guess?"

"Go ahead," Trevor said, signaling it was Charlie's name to reveal. She just grinned at her dad.

"Mom, Dad, meet Tucker Allen Langan."

Ed's smile filled his entire face, the creases of his eyes wrinkling more than Olivia had ever seen.

"Tucker, huh?" he said, trying to brush off he emotion and instead appear to be cocky and proud. "Well, that's only appropriate if he's gonna support the Tucker jaw."

"Yep," Charlie said with a smile, looking over to Trevor. "Lizzie and Tucker Langan. Sounds pretty perfect to me."

"The pride on your face is intense," Olivia observed later that evening, loving nothing more than just how Ed's face was glowing in the dusk of the evening. "It's a top three favorite look of mine - when you ooze pride."

"Two kids, two grandkids, all within an arm's reach. We gotta lot to be proud of," Ed responded, tearing his eyes from the kids and giving his wife a smile reserved just for her. "We did good, Liv."

"We sure did," she says, before eyeing him with a smirk. "Still plenty of things to do good."

Ed's face blushed a little bit, before he narrowed his blue eyes and looked his wife up and down.

"We're always gonna do that good, baby," Ed quipped before leaning over and kissing her softly, running his tongue along her lips, teasing what he anticipated would be an amorous night once the kids were asleep. "I love you."

Olivia, eyes still closed, leaned forward and rubbed her nose against his, her lips curled in a content grin.

"I love you too. I love our family. I love our life."

Just as Ed was getting ready to respond, a little shriek came from near the water table. One quick look told the couple there was nothing urgent, but little Lizzie looked shaken up so Olivia got to her feet and jogged over. She sat down on the grass and pulled the little girl into her lap, rocking her back and forth and totally giving into the pitiful cries.

Ed took a sip of his beer and observed the sight: Olivia Benson sitting cross-legged on the grass, her granddaughter curled in her lap and her son blowing bubbles into her face. Her nose crinkled as she laughed, and the brown in her eyes was shining brighter than he had ever seen. Puffing his chest out and letting out a chuckle, Ed Tucker once again got the proud smirk crossing his features. It had been a long road, but he got what he wanted out of life and he gave his wife everything she wanted and more. As he sat on their back porch, observing the sight, a feeling of pure contentment washed over him. This was endgame, what he was experiencing in the moment, and it had been worth every battle they fought along the way.

And that's a wrap! Thank you all for coming along on the TucksoNoahLie ride with me. I've loved writing this family, and I'm a little sad to see it end. Maybe I'll drop random snippets and one-shots (feel free to message me requests), but this is the end of the full-length stories featuring this particular universe.

#Tuckson #Endgame #Always