Forty-Nine.

The texts started arriving around eight.

Good luck, Noey!

Have fun in math today, big boy!

Have a good day, math genius!

Olivia fussed over him for an extra few minutes. She adjusted his belt. Untucked and then re-tucked his shirt. Smoothed his hair. Made sure his leather boots were double knotted. Her phone vibrated constantly. She was needed at the precinct. Horrific crimes needed investigating. But her boy was taking a major step today, and she was going squeeze every second out of the morning.

Nearby, Ed filled Noah's shark backpack with his supplies. He added a small bottle of water to his lunch, zipped the lunch box, and placed it next to the bag.

"Daddy you put cookies in there?"

"Mommy did, pal."

Noah leaned forward and kissed Olivia's forehead. "Thank you, Mommy."

"You're welcome, sweet boy."

"Babies comin' to school?"

"No." Olivia grabbed Noah's coat, mittens, and hat, "Mommy's taking you to school, just the two of us, then I'm going to work. And Mommy and Daddy will pick you up."

Before leaving, Noah ran over to Maggie and Wyatt and gave them each a kiss goodbye. He crouched in front of them. "See ya later, babies!" Standing tall again, he pointed at his chest and proudly announced he was going to school.

Olivia came over to Ed. He could see the near-panic in her eyes. "It'll be fine, Liv," He whispered in her ear as he hugged her, "The only one not nervous is Noah. That's a good thing."

"Promise me you'll call if they call?"

"Promise."

"And promise me you'll call if they don't."

"Promise." He held her at arm's length by the shoulders and studied her face. The moisture in her brown eyes, her freckles, her earth-toned makeup, and he smirked approvingly, his own eyes narrowing and his lips turning up slightly. "I love you."

"Mommy, I'm HOT!" Noah was dancing around, entertaining the twins, but he was also in his outerwear and working up a sweat.

"Okay. Let's go. Time for school." She kissed Maggie and Wyatt and ushered Noah from the apartment. As usual, he half-skipped most of the way to school and let his mother hug and kiss him goodbye before eagerly heading in to his classroom. Olivia said a few words to his teacher, and by the time their brief conversation ended, Noah was already on the rug and ready for the morning story. He gave her a little wave. She waved back and blew him a kiss. To her delight, he returned the gesture.

…..

Olivia did not have much time to worry about Noah that morning. As soon as she arrived at the precinct, Rollins and Fin came in with a complaint from the previous night. They produced printouts of cell phone screen shots. Olivia peered at the text through her reading glasses and furrowed her brow. The social media posts were lurid, but they didn't seem criminal, at least not without context.

Rollins pointed at the woman in the photos, "Bria Hubbard," she said, "Came in last night with the screen shots. That's her boyfriend."

"Chillin' with my baby mama," Olivia read one of the posts. The attached picture showed Bria and the man sitting on a sofa. They were both smiling. "And what's the complaint?"

"Bria alleges he's stealthing," Rollins answered.

"Stealthing?"

Fin explained, "There were a few cases about a year ago around the country, men poke holes or take off the condom during sex without telling their partners."

"I remember," Olivia murmured, "There was a push to pass a statute covering this but it kind of faded away."

"Looks like it's back," Rollins said.

"Bring Bria in," Olivia directed, "Let's get her statement and proceed from there." Rollins left the room and Olivia squinted at Fin, "And…what exactly is the man's reason for doing this?"

"Some of the online forums say the main argument is they have the right to spread their seeds."

"Online forums?" She squinted at Fin, for he appeared to have a little too much knowledge about this phenomenon.

Fin twisted his face, "It was in The Ledger article. I'm surprised you missed it."

"I don't read The Ledger on a regular basis," Olivia retorted, rolling her eyes, "And this time last year I was kind of…pregnant."

He smiled, "Those babies are beautiful, Liv."

"Thanks," She glanced at the photograph of Noah on her desk, "Today, though I'm worried only about my big guy."

"What's going on?"

"It's, well, it's not bad," Olivia noticed Fin's brow furrowing with concern. "He's going to another class, a first grade class for math today and I'm nervous, not about the math, but about the other kids being mean to him."

"Ah, he'll be alright."

Olivia glanced at the time, "He should be in there now. I'll be better this afternoon. I'm picking him up today, so I'll have to leave for an hour, maybe less."

"We can handle it."

"I know," she smiled appreciatively, "Thank you."

…..

Sarah swiveled in her large desk chair and faced Battery Park. Despite the frigid January day, people, mostly tourists, milled about and she could see them in the distance, looking over the harbor and snapping photographs of the Statue of Liberty. She was slightly bored; other than some mundane spreadsheet work which could be finished in no time at all, there wasn't much to do. Her job came in spurts—she was either extremely busy or sitting idle—there was no gray area. The gray sky portended more snow and the dreariness of it all made her want to leave and waste the rest of the afternoon in a bar somewhere.

"Sarah?"

The voice was Hillary's. Sarah spun around slowly. There she was, in a dark suit and striped blouse, shoulder length brown hair falling in slight curls. She wore a serious expression on her face even though her round, friendly cheeks made it difficult for her to appear all business. Hillary's face always leaned toward a smile.

"Hey. What's up?" Sarah eyed the accordion file under her arm.

"I'm ready to send off these reports and didn't know if you wanted to take a look first. The file is huge and needs to be scanned, but I want to make corrections before it's in the system."

Sarah waved her closer, "I'll look at the summary pages." Hillary dropped the file on her desk and Sarah looked inside. "Damn. This is huge."

"Jessica called me halfway through the print bitching," Hillary said, unable to contain her laughter, "As if the machine and paper and ink is hers."

"No shit." Sarah checked her phone before searching the file for the summary pages. "It won't take me long. Maybe thirty minutes."

"Okay."

Sarah checked her phone again and looked up. Hillary was still there, looking at Sarah curiously, maybe feeling a little slighted from the partial attention. "Sorry," she held the phone up, "I'm waiting to hear about Noey's day in math class. I've been worried sick all morning and Daddy was supposed to keep me posted."

Hillary was confused. "Math class?"

Sarah told her about the move, "And we're all freaking out and Noah's kinda like, whatever guys."

Hillary thought about the Tucker family and how supportive and sweet they were with one another, especially the children. She wanted to ask if Sarah had said anything about the past week to her father or to Olivia, but they were at work and everything felt normal. There was no need to make waves.

"I bet he'll do great."

"Livvie was more worried about the kids being mean, but I told her, Noey's so nice and cool and calm, he'll probably fit right in, even though he's a little shorter than everyone else." Sarah started giggling, "Omigod, omigod, omigod, I cannot stand this I have half a mind to go over to that school and spy."

My niece's day care has a live webstream," Hillary said, "A little creepy, but good for the parents I guess."

"And sisters! Ugh." Sarah let her head fall dramatically onto the desk. "Okay, okay, I'm going to look at these and then I'm leaving. Want to get a drink? Late lunch?"

"Sure," Hillary said.

"Give me a half hour."

….

Olivia was running late that afternoon, and instead of meeting Ed and the twins at home, she caught up with them in the school lobby. Ed deftly held both baby carriers and Olivia couldn't help but admire him—the babies were getting heavier and carrying the two at once in their car seats was a bit grueling.

"Hello my loves," she said breathlessly, kissing Ed's cheek and touching the twins' faces. "You look sleepy Maggie and Wyatt!"

"Just started wakin' up."

"You didn't take them to day care?"

"Nah. I didn't have much to do today, so we worked from home. Commissioner called though, I have a meeting there tomorrow. Early."

Olivia raised her eyebrows. "The Commissioner?"

"Yep," Ed sniffed and peered past Olivia and down the corridor where children were starting to emerge from classrooms. "I see him."

Noah was of paramount importance, but something about the way Ed talked about meeting with the Commissioner made her uneasy. However, further inquiry would have to wait. Olivia took Maggie from Ed and followed her husband down the hall to where Noah was standing in a circle with four other boys. One of them was demonstrating the use of a small toy, a fidget spinner, and the others were entranced.

Ed turned to Olivia and grinned.

"I know," she said softly. They had spent the entire day agonizing over Noah's hour in first grade, and the highlight of his day was probably this moment right now—watching his friend expertly transfer the spinner from one fingertip to another.

A collective groan resounded from the group when the toy finally fell to the ground. The parents used the break in the action to pull their respective children away, and Olivia tapped Noah's shoulder.

"Hey sweetie!"

Noah seemed surprised to see her. "Hi Mommy!"

"Did you have a good day?"

"Uh-huh, Mommy, can we get one a those?" He pointed to the owner of the toy. "It spin REALLY FAST!"

"Sure."

Noah threw his arms in the air, "YES! I wanna red one."

"Okay."

They got Noah into his coat, hat, and mittens and the five of them piled into the car. Olivia noticed some people shooting annoyed glances in their direction. "Someday we're going to get a reprimand about parking."

"We're the police," Ed muttered. "They need to get over it."

Olivia took her seat beside Ed and pulled on her seatbelt, "I suppose…but I don't want to cause trouble."

"They should be honored we chose this school for our son."

Olivia accepted his reasoning with a sardonic grin. "Okay, Captain."

"Where to?" He asked.

"Noah, are you hungry?"

"Verrrrrrry hungry!"

Olivia checked her phone. No one had called or messaged. "Well, let's get something to eat and then I'll go back in."

"Whatcha want for a snack, No?"

"Steak!"

"That's not a snack, that's dinner."

"Tater tots!"

"To the pub we go," Ed concluded. "I think we single-handedly keep that place in business."

"But is it okay if all of us go?" Olivia asked with exaggerated sincerity, "I thought the pub was now a Noah-Daddy spot?"

"We all go," Noah said firmly, "Babies have tater tots?"

"I don't think so," Olivia said, "Maybe we'll get them some mashed potatoes."

"Wyatt have tater tots before!" Noah protested.

"Oh did he?" Olivia asked, nudging Ed. "I didn't know about that."

"We gived him a verrrry little piece," Noah reported, "He LOVE it, didntcha, Wyatt?" Fully awake and alert now, Wyatt's laughter filled the car in response to Noah's tickles.

"Please tell me you haven't snuck him soda already," Olivia intoned.

"If I had, I'm sure we woulda been busted by now," Ed muttered, jerking his head playfully in the direction of the backseat.

Olivia patted his leg, gazed adoringly at him, and cooed, "I love you."

Ed and Olivia managed to wait until the drinks were served to ask about Noah's time in math class. During the rest of the ride to the pub, he played with the babies and rambled on and on about the spinner. Olivia used her phone to find one online and ordered a red one without telling Noah. It would be fun to surprise him.

"Sweet boy, tell us about math class."

Noah put his crayon down, putting all his attention into the recap. "We do meas-ur-ing," he said, "and then we put the numbers on the big board and put 'em in order."

"Oh yeah? What did you measure?"

"The animals."

"The animals?"

"Uh-huh. The teacher had a whole bunch of animals like Bernie."

"Which one was the tallest?"

"The SNAKE!"

"Which one was the shortest?"

"The ladybug."

"Did you…" Olivia was dying to find out how the other kids treated him, "Did you meet any new friends?"

"Uh-huh. James. I work with him."

"Oh?"

"The teacher say, 'this is Noah' and everyone say hi, and then everyone have a partner and then we work!"

"Was it hard?"

"No."

Ed and Olivia exchanged smiles. Everyone's anxiety about Noah's big day had been unnecessary. He sent a text to Sarah and Brooke conveying that message. Predictably, Sarah replied immediately with thank gawwwwwwwd.

The Tuckers finished their snack and their drinks, and Olivia accompanied them back home before returning to the precinct. She took a few minutes to cuddle Maggie and Wyatt, kissed Noah and told him how proud she was of him, and was just about to leave when Ed stopped her in the foyer.

"Uh, you forgot about me," he pouted.

"I am so, so, so, so sorry," Olivia opened her arms wide, "Come here." Olivia hugged him tightly. Ed took advantage of the close proximity and kissed at her neck and in the space behind her ear. Chills fluttered down her spine. "Ed!"

He tilted his head back and kissed her on the lips. "Sorry." Another kiss. "I love you."

"I love you, too," she replied, smiling, "I feel bad leaving."

"Don't."

"But I do."

Ed stroked her hair. "You, Olivia Margaret Benson Tucker, are so very important—as a wife, a mother, and SVU's commanding officer—don't feel bad about leaving one role for another. I think…I think one reason we found each other was so you could do it all, and not feel guilty about it, because I'm here, your children know their parents love them, and at the end of the day, even if it's late, the middle of the night, you fall asleep next to me, and when that happens, I don't feel shortchanged or slighted, I just feel…lucky…and honored." He'd gone overboard, and tears were pooling on her lower lids, "Don't cry," he said, kissing each cheek. "Go get the bad guys."

"Okay."

He patted her rear end, "See you later, Lieutenant."

Blinking back tears, she managed a slight smile and said, "Yes you will."

#Tuckson