Title: Welcome Home
Author: ZombieJazz
Fandom: Law & Order: SVU
Disclaimer: I don't own them. Law and Order SVU and its characters belong to Dick Wolf. The characters of Jack and Benji have been created and developed for the sake of this AU series.
Summary: Olivia continues to work at establishing her family and learning how to navigate motherhood while still serving with SVU. There's lots of challenges for her ahead as she adjusts to the changes in her life, surmounts new situations and legal troubles for her and her adopted children, and tries to find some time and space for herself in it all too. This is the sequel to Hello, Goodbye.
Author's Notes: This AU series is for SVU fans and readers who want Olivia to have something that resembles a more normal life outside of work and a family of her own - hopefully somewhat realistically within the canon of SVU. Most of the chapters will ultimately take place outside of the work environment, so there aren't going to be too many references to cases from the show. But this story would generally be starting in about Season 15 of the show. Please let me know what you think and if you distribute elsewhere.
Jack glanced up at her and Brian as they returned to the living room but he didn't say anything, instead shifting his eyes back to the television screen and to his videogame system that had seemed to become a constant crutch for him since he got back from summer camp.
It'd taken a while to get Benji to bed. It usually did anyways but he was excited about her birthday still – and likely a little hopped up on sugar. Brian being there didn't exactly help either. That made her little boy want to keep his eyes open too for fear he was going to miss something. Eventually the compromise had been reached that Brian would come into the bedroom and read him a story too – but he was going to bed, he wasn't going to hang out in the living room with them until Brian left. She didn't need to be sending an exhausted little boy into school on Monday.
The story had proved a pretty good compromise for Benji anyways. He'd negotiated with her – like he always did in his little boy ways. He still got his two stories from her and he got a third one from Brian. It was a pretty win-win.
It'd been a little strange sitting with Brian in the boys' bedroom while he read to Benji. It wasn't the first time she'd seen Brian read to her son. They'd hauled part of their storybook collection with them both times they'd spent a weekend at Brian's cabin. Benji had presented Cassidy with a book there and demanded it be read to him on the couch in the little rustic living room. Even then it'd been kind of cute to watch. Though, it was a different dynamic than now. Benji still had his day's clothes on and he really hadn't sat still on the couch. He'd been parading around it and just occassionally going over to look at the picture while Brian read the page. Brian definitely didn't have the best reading voice – at least not for storytime. He clearly wasn't used to reading out-loud, especially the usual rythming sing-song of the books that Benji preferred. He'd been stumbling over words in his raspy monotone and hadn't even been showing Benji the picture before he turned each page.
That night it'd been a little different, though. They'd all sat together on Jack's upright futon – though Brian had been a little reluctant about if he was allowed to sit on that too. When they had settled Benji had sat between them in his pajamas. He'd initially been leaning towards Brian to look at the book but he'd eventually cuddled into her while she sat listening to the story too. She'd coached Brian a bit on how to turn the book to make sure Benji could see the pictures and to read at a bit slower rate than he was hurrying through – to to pause after he finished each page to give her little boy a chance to look at the pictures and to offer his babble or ask a question. It felt a little odd to be sitting there with Brian and her little son. But it felt nice too. Oddly normal even if a little strange.
Still, she knew Jack likely hadn't been that comfortable with it. But he hadn't said anything about it when she'd come out to request Brian's presence and he wasn't saying anything now. He seemed to be trying fairly hard to be cooperative that night. He was biting his tongue and keeping most of his attitude in check. Even though she didn't that solved all their problems, Olivia sort of hoped that if he practiced that for a while that maybe it'd lead to an improvement in the relationship dynamic for all of them.
She gestured for Brian to take a seat on the couch and as he did, she sat next to him and settled lightly against him. It was just enough that she could have a bit of contact but not enough that she thought it would be too much of a display of affection to send her son over the edge. Though, the reality was that she'd had such a nice night, she likely wouldn't have minded having a bit of alone time with Brian to round it out. She could use a bit more affection and she could think of some ways to thank him for helping her have a nice birthday. But she also knew that wasn't going to happen. So she'd have to settle for his arm drapped around her on the couch and the feeling of his chest against part of her back. Maybe as he left, she'd step outside with him or go down to the lobby with him so they could at least get in a kiss that was a bit more than a peck without Jack's stare – that was likely to be more of a glare.
"Sweetheart, do you want to put it on something we can all watch?" she suggested.
Jack just glanced at her. "This is free right now. I want to finish downloading it. Then I'll go and you can … have privacy … or whatever."
Olivia snorted a bit at that and glanced back at Brian. He gave his head a small shake.
"Jack," Olivia said a bit more firmly, "we've already talked about this. Brian isn't going to be spending the night for … a while. I know you aren't comfortable with that. And I'm not comfortable with that yet either."
Jack just shrugged. "I saw his overnight bag in the hall."
Brian shook his head again at that. "It's my gear bag, Kid," he told Jack. "I'm on rotation in like two hours. Just left it here so I wouldn't have to go back into Brooklyn to get my shit. I'll be heading out in like 30."
Jack gazed at him. It felt like some of the first real eye contact she'd seen Jack make with Cassidy. Eye contact that wasn't a stare or a glare or an evil eye.
"You're going to work?" he asked like he wasn't entirely convinced.
"Yea," Brian nodded. "Just came back here with you guys to have cake. Nothing to get worked up about."
Jack's eyes said he was processing that. He was quiet.
"If you really want to give us some privacy, you could offer to babysit one night so Brian and I could go out for dinner," Olivia suggested.
"We had dinner," Jack said flatly.
Olivia shrugged. "I tend to eat dinner daily."
He examined her. "I babysat last night so you could go out."
She nodded. "And I appreciated that. I'd appreciate it more if you did it again."
He's eyes stayed on her but no comment came. Apparently he needed some time to process that too. She hoped that in the slight attitude shift he was displaying maybe he'd find it in himself to let her go on a real date where she didn't feel like she was sneaking around behind his back. That might be a pretty decent birthday gift too.
"I don't think we want to sit here and watch you play videogames tonight," Olivia said instead when her son hadn't offered a response and gestured at the TV. "Can you please put it on something else?"
But Brian spoke up. "Let him finish downloading his game," he said and Jack's eyes shifted again to him. "Gotta get the free shit before the Xbox One comes out, right? Don't know what's really going to be left after they start phasing it in."
Jack just squinted at him but Olivia was looking at Brian. He was clearly trying again. He was likely trying to take advantage of Jack's somewhat more co-operative attitude while it existed too.
"What's Xbox One?" she asked, trying to give him some sort in starting a conversation and maybe connecting with Jack. But also because she really didn't know.
She knew that Jack's Xbox let them play Netflix. She knew that he could play games on it for hours. She knew that when he was in a more positive mood and she could stand being in the same room with him she could end up sitting and playing certain games with him for more time than she likely wanted to admit – though, she usually used it as an excuse to have a distracted conversation with him. Beyond all that, though, she really hadn't bothered to learn much about the game console he had sitting there. Until Benji started bugging about wanting to play, she didn't think she needed to know much. And she already knew what her answer was when Benji started wanting games of his own and play-time when it wasn't with Jack – no, unequivocally.
"New console that's coming out," Jack muttered and went back to looking at the download bar on the screen. It looked like they were going to be waiting a few minutes for him to be done.
"New console?" Olivia said.
"Yea," Jack allowed.
"What does that mean? This one isn't going to work anymore?"
Jack shrugged. "It will still work for now. What? You afraid you're going to lose Netflix?" It was almost a tease. He hadn't done a lot of that lately either.
Olivia nodded. "Benji would be very upset if we lost Netflix," she said.
That wasn't a teasing matter. She'd become fairly dependent on the streaming service. It was nice to be able to pick out and know what her son was watching without having to worry about it – and without having to worry about him being bombarded with advertisements ever. It was even better that they didn't have to be around at a specific time – or for her to figure out how to record anything – for him to watch some of his favorites. Even if the service meant that she'd gotten to watch a lot of episodes of a lot of shows on repeat that she really could've done without having ever seen once – let alone enough time to sear the dialogue into her brain.
"You'll still be able to use the console," Brian assured her, apparently sensing her distress that her son was going to lose an endless stream of old Rescue Bot episodes. "They'll just start changing policies and phasing out things when the new console launches."
"When does it launch?" she asked.
"November," Jack put flatly.
"So when will they … phase things out?" she asked. "When are we going to end up having to buy a new one?"
Jack's ears perked up at that and his head spun back towards her. "You're buying a new one?"
"That's not what I said," she corrected. "I asked when are things going to be phased out enough that we'll need to buy a new one?"
Jack sighed and looked back to the screen. She could almost feel invisible thumbs twiddling as he watched the download bar.
"Likely not for a couple years," Brian said. "They won't expect everyone to buy the new on instantly."
She nodded at that and then gestured over at the game system. "And how much does one of these things cost?"
"They'll put on bundles," Brian provided again. "You're likely looking at between $400 and $500."
Her eyes got big. "Four and five hundred dollars?" That seemed ridiculous. It was a box that connected to the television. "It better come with a whole library of games for that price."
"Maybe one or two," Jack said.
Olivia shook her head. Hearing there was a new system coming out had made her briefly think that it may be an easy solution for her son's birthday or Christmas present. But there was no way she was spending that much money on a single gift. She didn't even spend that much on a single child last Christmas. There were going to be other things he'd want and need. Hopefully their relationship would be stable enough by then that he'd be a little more forthcoming about what those items actually were so she didn't have to strain quite as much to come up with ideas this year.
"What game you downloading?" Brian asked.
Jack gave him another glance. "Walking Dead," he said flatly.
Brian gave a little nod. "What chapter?"
There was another glance. "The first."
"It's an interesting game," he allowed. "I'm on chapter three."
The stare at him continued. Olivia could feel herself staring at Brian too. She knew he played some games. It'd come up before. It seemed like it was his wind-down, distraction and stress relief method. She didn't really fault him that. They all needed that – and it wasn't like she'd ever done a very good job at adopting that for herself. It was sort of good he had. Still, it was a little strange to hear a grown man talk about videogames. Though, she'd heard Fin talk about them too. But his discussion usually included bragging (that she supposed she was supposed to be impressed with but she never really cared) about his surround sound system and entertainment system and the size of TV and speakers and whatever. Boys and their toys. Apparently they were just as unlikely to outgrow them as they were fart jokes.
"You say that about every game you see me playing," Jack informed him. There was an edge to his voice but it wasn't as harsh as the usual tone he took with Cassidy.
"Guess you must have good taste in games," Brian said.
Jack squinted at him. Olivia knew that both of her boys' squint eyes were meant to show their displeasure. But they looked so funny when they did it – and how much alike they looked when they did it – it almost always inadvertently made her smile, even though she knew that was the last thing either of them wanted out of her.
"You like Walking Dead?" Brian asked, ignoring the look.
Jack didn't respond so Olivia did for him. "He really likes the Walking Dead," she said. "We watched all last season. It's part of our Sunday night tradition."
Jack cast her a bit of an unimpressed look – but she realized more-so that she was getting one from Brian too, who was looking down at her from behind her shoulder. She glanced at him. It was a 'why didn't you tell me this before' look – like she'd somehow been holding back important information.
"We're looking forward to Season 4, right, Jack?" she suggested, trying to get the eyes of the two men off of her – or at least the somewhat accusing looks she was getting.
"It starts next week," Jack allowed quietly.
Olivia nodded. She actually knew that. She'd actually pathetically put it into her calendar so she'd remember. So she could try to use it as something to leverage her relationship with her son back on track. To reintroduce him to one of the routines he'd enjoyed last year. She didn't want to miss it, or have him think she'd forgot or wasn't interested in watching it with him. The show had kind of grown on her – even though it again was something she likely would've never sat down in front of if it wasn't for the boys entering her life.
"You know what else is next weekend?" Brian asked. Her and Jack both looked at him blankly – but his eyes were only on her soon. "You heard of the Walking Dead Escape?"
Jack was gazing at Brian more with that mention. She had no idea what Cassidy was talking about but the look on Jack's face clearly said he did.
"Yeah," the teen allowed quietly.
"It's here next weekend. Saturday night."
Jack's eyes just settled on him. Olivia could see him processing that at about a million miles an hour. He was trying not to let any of this thoughts or emotion display on his face – but Olivia could see it. She was sure Brian could see some of it too. Brian might not know her son as well as she did but he did know how to read people. He could see that he'd piqued the kid's interest – Jack just didn't want them to know that.
"You wanna go?" Brian asked.
The silence in waiting for a response felt to sit between them a long time. Olivia was about ready to hedge bets on Jack saying 'no'. It seemed to be the only response he was capable of putting forward to Brian – even if he'd been trying to behave that night, this was likely asking a bit too much of him. More than he could give.
But then Jack's head made the slightest movement – one that really couldn't be classified as a nod but was undoubtedly a nod.
"OK," he allowed a near whisper.
"OK," Brian said and nodded in agreement while Jack turned back to looking at the television screen. Cassidy cast a look down to her and she looked at him. She was a little surprised but Brian almost looked smug. "I'll get us signed up."
