36.

"I can't take the Fourth off this year," Olivia told Ed reluctantly as they readied for work Monday morning. "I mean…hopefully I'll be able to get home at a decent hour and see the fireworks, but I can't leave New York."

"That's okay," Ed said with a mouthful of toothpaste, "It's a Tuesday anyway. Prolly be slow."

"Let's hope so." Olivia had long ago stopped banking on traditionally slow nights. She'd been burned one too many times.

"We wouldn't do anything crazy anyway, right? Just go upstairs?"

Olivia leaned forward and plucked a few stray hairs from her chin. "Right."

"Whaddya doin?"

"Tweezing."

"Tweezing what?"

"Um, hair?"

"I've never noticed any hair or any tweezing."

"Ed," Olivia tried to reason, "You've seen me tweeze before."

"I have?"

"Yes."

"Honestly, Liv?" He looked her up and down approvingly, "I'm just glad to be in the same bathroom as you."

"Now that's a quote for a Valentine's Day card."

He kissed her cheek. "I'll go write it down."

….

Carisi rubbed his forehead vigorously between his index finger and thumb. Monday night had bled into Tuesday morning and he was tired.

"Carisi, why donchaa go get a couple hours in the crib?" Fin suggested, "Oh, and Happy Fourth of July."

Carisi groaned. "Yeah, thanks. But I can't sleep in there."

"Me neither."

Carisi appreciated the camaraderie, "Seen your grandson lately?"

"Not lately. They've been on vacation, seein' Alejandro's family."

"Gonna watch the fireworks tonight?"

"Maybe…if we don't get a call. And you're on duty, too, ya know, the Lieutenant and the Sarge have family stuff. But…are you the Lieutenant's family stuff?" Fin grinned devilishly at Carisi.

Carisi blushed. "Honestly?"

Fin sat down and softened his expression. He surprised himself with his response. "Yeah. Honestly."

"I'd really like to be in their family stuff." Carisi shifted in his chair, "They…all of them…they're really good people."

"I've known Liv for a long time," Fin said, "And, I've known Tucker for a long time."

"Yeah, I heard Tucker was kinda an asshole."

Fin smirked, "Yeah, asshole sounds about right."

"He ever investigate you?"

"Nah," Fin answered nonchalantly, "He always went after Liv's old partner, Stabler, After he left he kinda backed off. 'Cept for the time he tried to get Liv's old boyfriend killed."

Carisi did a double take, "What?"

Fin chuckled, aware at how extreme that must have sounded. "I'm exaggeratin' but only a little bit." He went on to summarize the investigation into the Twelfth Precinct and how Brian Cassidy's life had been in danger. "Then, after that, Liv made Sarge and the whole thing with Lewis went down…then before we know it Liv's seein' Tucker."

"But he arrested the Lieutenant, didn't he?"

"He kinda had to," Fin said with a shrug, "That case…man…that was a weird one. Nonna us could figure out what was goin' on, but, we had a good ME then and she saw somethin' weird with the DNA…good thing…or she might still be in jail."

Carisi rubbed his chin. "Guess I'm glad I missed all that. I like this Tucker. Even if you all are still a little lukewarm about him."

"If Liv's happy we're happy. But," Fin leaned over his desk, "I'll tell you what, he ever screws up? We're the first ones to have her back."

"Amen to that," Carisi agreed, "But I don't think that'll happen. I'm more worried about screwin' somethin' up with Brooke and him coming after me."

"Yeah," Fin said, "I heard, uh, you cross Tucker's daughters and you end up with a swollen face."

"How'd you hear about that?"

"Happened in a cop bar. People talk."

"From what I heard, Chief Dodds deserved it."

"Maybe that's why he hasn't made a big deal outta it."

"Prolly."

Both Fin and Carisi caught sight of the Lieutenant coming out of the elevator and they turned to greet her with weary smiles. She looked surprised to see them.

"Have you been here all night?"

"Yup," Carisi answered proudly.

"Why?"

"Little party over at Hudson," Fin answered, "Report's on your desk. But, same old thing, high school girls pretendin' to be older, drink too much, start takin' pictures, they end up online. Child porn. Pretty open and shut."

"How'd we get it?"

"Local precinct handed it off. Parents filed the initial complaint."

Olivia sighed. "Okay. Anything else?"

"Carisi's been up all night and refuses to take a nap."

Olivia rolled her eyes and let out a sarcastic laugh, "Carisi, go home for a little while."

"Thanks, Lieutenant." He turned to Fin, "See, she knows I can't sleep in there." He jerked his thumb towards the crib and grabbed his phone and keys. "I'll be back in a couple hours."

"Tell Brooke hello for me," Olivia said breezily. She disappeared into her office and left a red-cheeked Carisi at the mercy of Fin, who doubled over with laughter.

…..

Sarah showed her ID to the day care desk attendant who then buzzed her through the double doors and into the main day care area. It certainly wasn't the first time she had been in the place, but, each time she retrieved Noah the primary-colored walls and toddler cacophony made her wince. Sensory overload. The children moved in mini-circles, playing games and having conversations that made sense only to them.

One teacher greeted her with a curious smile, and Sarah answered the question before she could pose it. "I'm here for Noah. Noah Tucker?"

"Oh, sure, he's right over there," she pointed to a group of boys huddled around, no surprise, a train set.

Sarah took a few steps, but Noah looked up, saw her, and ran over immediately. "Hi Sare bear!"

"Hi, No!" She smiled at his grubby face and equally grubby red-white-and blue t-shirt, "I'd hug ya, but you're a little dirty. Wanna go to the spray fountain and get cleaned up?"

Noah's eyes brightened, "Uh-huh! Lessgo!"

"Okay, where's your stuff?"

"In da cubby."

"Show me."

Noah trotted over to the cubbies and Sarah followed. Noah started dragging everything out and Sarah collected it. "Seems like kinda a lot for a day at day care," she murmured, sifting through his things—lunch box, sippy cup, extra shoes, an extra outfit, a few assorted toys, coloring pages, and a package of wipes.

"Some of that stuff stays here," an unfamiliar voice said.

Sarah looked up and, next to her, stood a tall young man with a boy a bit younger than Noah perched on his hip. "Oh," she said, "I guess that makes more sense." She shoved the clothes, shoes, and wipes back into the cubby. When she reached for the toys, Noah interjected.

"No, Sarah! Those toys mine! We take 'em wiff us!"

"Why do you bring all these toys to day care when there're toys here?"

Noah squinted at her, "Daddy let me."

Sarah laughed. "And Mommy doesn't?"

"Mommy say toys stay home."

The man laughed. "You the nanny?"

Sarah screwed up her face, "No, he's my brother."

He smiled. "Really? This one's my brother."

"Really?"

"Yup," he replied, still smiling, "This is my Dad's…um…fourth marriage?"

Sarah grinned back at him, "Well, you have us beat. This one," she mussed Noah's hair, "Is from marriage number two."

"I've never seen you here before."

"I don't pick him up very often. I didn't have to work today, so I thought I'd spend a little time with him. After I slept in, of course."

The man smiled, revealing a row of perfectly straight, white teeth which probably seemed whiter because of his tanned olive skin. His dark brown, thick, curly hair was slightly unkempt, probably intentionally, and Sarah wondered about his ethnicity. He had an exotic air about him. "I did the same thing," he replied. "What do you do?"

"Accounting. You?"

"At the moment, I do law school."

"Sare Bear! Lessgo!" Noah hugged Sarah's leg.

"Okay No, we'll go," she slung his backpack over her shoulder, "I'm taking him to the fountain at DeWitt Clinton. Care to join us?"

"Uh, sure, that's a great idea. We were going to swim at our pool, but it's inside. It'll be good to be out for a while." He stuck out his hand, "I'm Isaac."

"Sarah." His handshake was firm. "And this is Noah."

Isaac bounced his brother, "This is Lucas."

Sarah grabbed Noah's hand, "So, we'll go home so I can get him changed and meet there in maybe a half hour?"

"Sounds good."

…

Since meeting Ed and his daughters, the frames behind and on Olivia's desk had multiplied and she regularly rotated the photographs. One, however, remained constant. It was taken at the beach last summer—the three of them on the blanket, smiling up at the sky as the fireworks exploded, illuminating their faces. Brooke had taken the photo, thinking it would probably be a throwaway, but upon further inspection, realized it was precious and a keeper.

Olivia fixated on that photo now.

With Carisi still out, Rollins off-duty for the day, and Fin also sent home to take a break, she had some rare alone time in the squad room. Uniformed officers still milled about, but SVU's business was quiet for the time being, probably the calm before tonight's storm, and an idea popped into her head. She sent a text to Ed.

Free for lunch?

He immediately responded. Where?

Bring me something?

Ed arrived thirty minutes later with two deli sandwiches and sodas. He put the bags on her desk and started unwrapping the items before he noticed Olivia simpering at him.

He raised his eyebrows. "Yesss?"

"Close the door," Olivia commanded in a voice a couple of octaves deeper than normal.

Ed raised his eyebrows and froze.

Olivia repeated, "Close the door."

Without a word, Ed sauntered away and pushed the door closed.

"Lock it."

He obliged and turned back to her with a smirk. "Lieutenant, you've entrapped me under false pretenses."

"You don't sound terribly upset, but," Olivia took a handful of his shirt and tugged it from his waistband, "You can file a complaint on your way out if you so choose."

Her mouth collided with his, making him stumble backwards. With his lips still on hers he smiled and rasped, "I knew you wanted to do this."

Olivia replied, "You're very persistent," and opened her mouth wide, curling her tongue around his.

"If I wasn't, we wouldn't be together," he managed to croak.

"Shutup, Ed." She playfully shoved him onto the sofa.

Enjoying her assertiveness and her hungry countenance, he fell backwards with exaggerated helplessness and muttered in an overly-compliant tone, "It's your office, Lieutenant."

They fell into each other, kissing and pawing at one another's waistbands, careful to toss the weapons and badges aside. Acknowledging they had to be both quick and precise, Olivia wasted little time and shoved his pants down as they deepened their kiss all the while grinding against him.

Ed could only gasp, "Liv" and fumble blindly with her button and zipper as she rotated her hips and plunged her tongue more deeply into his mouth. He felt her wriggle out of one pant leg and then another and she straddled him, teasing, before stepping out of her panties and guiding him into her.

Typically, it was Olivia who gasped the Oh Gods during sex, but it was Ed, now, who moaned those words as he reached to pull her into him even further, burying his face in her neck, and finally, pushing her over the edge by expertly flicking his fingers between them. The sight of her fighting to hold in a shriek made him come earlier than he would have liked, but Olivia either didn't notice or didn't care. She collapsed onto his chest and hummed contentedly while he used both hands to reach up her shirt and caress her back, bringing them both down from the sexual high they'd just experienced.

"We better not stay here too long," she panted.

"I know."

"It's good though."

Ed grinned, "More than just good…I've always wanted to do this."

"Well, Happy Fourth of July."

"Good things always happen on this day."

"They do?"

"Yep. Last year, remember? At the beach? We decided we'd live together?"

"Oh yeah…"

"And the Fourth of July before that? We'd just kinda…started seein' each other?"

Olivia smiled. In the summer months after Noah's adoption she, Ed, and Noah formed a cautious bond, and they'd watched the fireworks together on Olivia's building rooftop. At the show's conclusion, Olivia invited Ed in for a nightcap. He accepted, and their first real make-out session ensued.

"I remember," Olivia purred, "I didn't know what was happening."

"I knew what I wanted to happen," Ed replied, "And it did."

"It did."

"Thank you, Liv."

"For sex in my office?" She mumbled into his chest.

"Well, that, and, for letting me love you."

"I've never felt more loved by anybody. Ever."

"And you never will."

Olivia hummed contentedly, soaking up the last few sweet seconds before she had to put herself back together again.

"You do realize," Ed remarked, amused, "You are never gonna be able to suggest lunch without me thinking it means this, right?"

"Well, stay on your toes, Captain," she purred, "You never know when this will happen again."

….

Ed, Sarah, and Noah claimed their spot on the rooftop well before sunset. As soon as Sarah and Noah returned from the spray fountain, she lugged their folding chairs and cooler upstairs to reserve a space and gleefully found that only a few other people had the same idea.

"Now, Noey," she instructed, "We have to pick up our order from the deli."

"You get cake?"

"Brownies."

"YUM!"

Satisfied their space was secure for the time being, Sarah led Noah back downstairs. "But you haveta eat some sandwich, I'm worried your blood sugar is too high and Mommy and Daddy won't let me and Brookey see you anymore."

Noah stopped walking and stared up at Sarah with a horrified expression.

Sarah smacked her forehead with her palm, "I'm sorry, Noey! That's never gonna happen. I'm just being dramatic."

"You damatic?" Noah whispered.

"Yes."

"I damatic?"

"No, you're perfect." Sarah picked him up and hugged him. "Perfecto! And I love you."

"Luvvvvyou!"

Considering it was a holiday and he technically didn't have to be working anyway, Ed returned home briefly after lunch to change and, feeling energetic, took his bike out for a ride along the Hudson River. He pedaled vigorously and wove in and out of slower pedestrians and cyclists. Optimism flooded his body and soul and he pictured the future—continuing to teach Noah how to throw the football, loving his wife, providing for his family in every way possible. He'd never felt more masculine.

When he arrived at home, Sarah was organizing more bags to take upstairs. She grinned at her Dad from behind the cluttered island, knowing he would scoff at but secretly appreciate the abundance of food and drink.

"Where's Noah?"

"Taking a nap."

"Alright. I'm gonna shower and we should prolly head up there soon."

"I put the chairs up there already."

Ed kissed her on the head, "Very smart. Thanks."

"Is Livvie coming?"

Ed frowned. "She's gonna try, but, she's still operating with a thin squad and she's tryin' to make sure Carisi doesn't haveta come in."

Sarah grinned mischievously, "Well that is very nice of her, but…what about that other detective? That guy who shot the kid? I thought he was working at SVU?"

"He didn't work out, or, as soon as there was an opening somewhere else, he transferred. SVU isn't for everybody."

"I bet."

"And Liv, she's been interviewing some other people, but she hasn't been happy with any of 'em."

"They don't just send people to her?"

Ed's cheeks flushed with pride, "Not anymore. One PP's given her a lotta latitude with personnel…"

"Oh Daddy," Sarah swatted at him, "You're so cute."

Ed rolled his eyes. "I'm getting cleaned up. Did you call Grandma and ask if she wanted to come?"

"I did but she said she doesn't want to come all the way to Manhattan to sweat to death on the roof, but she did say we should come for Sunday dinner this weekend."

"Prolly not gonna happen," Ed muttered.

"Not for me at least," Sarah replied, "I'm going to the Yankees game."

Ed furrowed his brow, surprised to hear excitement in her voice. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"With people from work?"

"Nope. This guy I met. Isaac."

Ed nodded nonchalantly and went to get cleaned up, secretly almost giddy with relief that the "guy" wasn't Bill Dodds.

…..

#Tuckson