"So this is the last of it?"

"As far as I know, yeah. I think he just needed these last signatures from you guys and we're done. Everything your Dad wanted to happen…." fingering the wad of paperwork sadly Olivia sighed, ".. has happened."

"Have you spoken to Kathy since the funeral?" asked Eve, throwing a look at her brother.

"No, no I haven't spoken to her since that last meeting we all had at the funeral directors."

"Mom…."

"Don't 'Mom' me Evie, you know how I feel about this."

"I know the two of you didn't see eye to eye on…."

"Eve I'm warning you…." said Olivia, lifting her eyes from the paperwork and setting them carefully on Evie.

Sam shifted in his chair. There were moments where a stranger could be so easily fooled by Olivia's warm and gentle demeanour. The honey smile, the kind eyes lined with years and patience. Though her hair had greyed and her skin wrinkled, the passage of time had barely left it's footprint on her naturally beautiful face. Those close to her, however, the years had done nothing to lessen her fire or weaken her gritty and often stubborn resolve.

"I'm just saying that even though you guys didn't agree on the arrangements for Dad…"

"What? You mean because he wanted an intimate family goodbye and she gave him a Catholic circus?" flared Olivia, her tone sharp and her eyes blazing.

"I'm with Mom here, Vee. Kathy was way out of line throwing her weight around the way she did. The way she had no right to. She used the fact that there were more of them than us to pull rank she didn't have. Mom should've had the final say because that's what Dad would've wanted. She knew him better than anyone and Kathy just couldn't stand that. Even after all this time."

"Sammy…." as beautiful as it was to have her son speak such cutting truth Olivia felt morally obliged to at least feign an attempt to quiet him.

"I guess all I'm figuring is that maybe it doesn't matter so much anymore. All that stuff. I just think that Dad would care more about us not losing touch with his other kids than he would what kind of funeral he wound up having."

"He'd have cared more that Kathy was totally disrespectful to Mom and they all stood by and let her take over."

"Yeah but so did we in the end, Sammy. So did Mom….."

"Cal didn't, he almost levelled Dick when he laid into Mom."

"Dick in name….." said Eve without thinking, and Olivia burst suddenly into a guttural laugh.

It surprised both Eve and Sam, but with unspoken permission granted they laughed too. Pushing the paperwork into a large brown envelope Olivia smoothed it closed and folded her arms across her chest.

"Evie's right, none of matters, not anymore. I couldn't care less that Kathy Stabler felt like she needed to make some bizarre final stand after a lifetime of water under the bridge. We were all there, together. All of his kids, all of his family. That's what would've mattered to your Dad. He'll forgive me giving up the fight on the church and the incense and Father Righteous and his Catholic guilt. El made his peace with his God on his own terms long before Kathy started picking out extortionately priced coffins and I take comfort in that. You should too Sammy. Let it go."

"So will you?" challenged Sam, his recently cut hair high and tight. He was the spitting image of his father.

"His kids will always have a place in my family….." pursing her lips Olivia held a beat, looking between the two of them and speaking with a clear and strident tone "…. their mother will not."

"That's really what you want?" sighed Eve, realising that this was not a battle she would win.

"You now the funny thing about getting old, my love? You get really sure about things. You guys can make your own choices without fear of upsetting or disappointing me. But as far as I'm concerned I've said all I have to say and I won't be speaking to Kathy Stabler again until the end of my days."

"I'm right there with you..." shrugged Sam, the choice easily made.

"I know Cal will be right there with you both…." laughing with a resigned fondness Eve recalled Calvin's contribution to the funeral discussions. His fierce and innate need to protect Olivia had made it something akin to restraining a service dog trained to attach uncompromisingly.

"Sweetheart you don't need to make any decisions now. You don't need to make any final decisions at all. We're all processing everything in our own way. You're your own person and if you want to keep in touch with Kathy I'm okay with that…." reaching for Eve's hand Olivia gave it a gentle squeeze.

"My head just still feels so fuzzy. There's just such a lot of Dad and the past whirling around in there right now I don't think I want to make any decisions at all right now."

"So don't….." said Olivia softly, her warm eyes smiling, "… it's just all gonna take time, and that's okay."

"Can I change the subject?" asked Sam, rocking back and forth in his chair clearly with something big on his mind fighting to leave his tongue.

"Go for it?" asked Eve, sending the need to sure up her course in preparation for whatever he was about to say.

"So I hope this doesn't seem like, weird, or in poor taste or whatever since we only just signed all the paper work. I just have been waiting for the right time to tell you guys something. I wanted you to the first to know. Well, and Cal too actually but he's snowed under at the shop and I'm gonna take him for a beer later."

"Sam will you spit it out already I'm starting to sweat here! I swear to God if you tell me you and Beth are moving away or something I'll….." stopping mid-sentence Eve realised that she wasn't even willing to give voice to the idea.

"Beth and I are looking into adoption."

"Oh my God…." peering out at her brother through recently cut bangs Eve blinked slowly.

"Well, more than that actually. We've been looking into it for a few weeks and if you guys are cool with it then I wanna suggest to her that we use the money Dad left me to make it happen. So, you know, what do you guys think?"

"Sammy are you kidding me I think that sounds amazing. I mean I know you guys have kind of been trying but not trying for a long time. Did you decide that…."

Eve held her tongue, deciding to let him lead. Though she had gradually got to know Beth better over the years they weren't particularly close, and she hadn't shared any of their fertility struggles with her. At first it had saddened her that though by law her sister, she hadn't found that emotional connection with Beth. It felt like a betrayal somehow since she grew ever closer to Texas despite all the pain in their past. Her relationship with Sam was the same as it had always been, however, and so she had made peace with Beth always remaining just out of reach.

"It's more than that. I mean I guess we could use the money to try more options to have a baby ourselves. I just don't want to. Beth is so keen on adoption and I wasn't sure at first. I am now. I don't even wanna pursue other options. I want to adopt and I want to adopt a kid, not a baby."

"What makes you so sure though Sammy? I mean what changed your mind?" asked Eve.

"Mom did, and Dad too, but mostly Mom. Well, you and Cal…." picking at the hem of his jeans Sam lowered his gaze and felt suddenly a little shy to look Olivia in the eye.

"Me and Calvin?" asked Olivia tentatively, her voice croaking slightly after a long silence.

"Because you love him like a son…." said Eve, tears pricking at her eyes as she answered for her brother.

"Because he is her son…." replied Sam, suddenly now needing to look at his mother and look clear into her soul as he affirmed, "… he's your son just the same as I am."

"Sweetheart…." mouthed Olivia soundlessly.

"The way Cal looks at you? You know a lot of people say they'd do anything for their family but he's proved it, time and time again. He took a bullet for you: literally. He spent as many hours as Evie and I did caring for Dad the past two years. Cal was the only one Dad would let bathe him and take him to the bathroom at the end. Something stronger than blood ties him to all of us. What if Beth and I can do that for a kid? What if we can do for a kid what you and Dad did for my brother?"

"Oh bro…." sighed Eve fondly, moving over to him and hugging his neck with threatening tears. "You're just the best human."

"Mom?" asked Sam, talking over Eve's shoulder as he saw Olivia cover her face with her hand.

"Hey, are you okay?" asked Evie, as both children rushed to her side.

"What he did for us….." choked Olivia, tears staining her cheeks as she lifted her eyes to them, "… what he did for all of us. What he did for me."

"So you think I'm, well, we're, doing the right thing?"

"Oh my love, my sweet boy. Evie Grace taught me how to be a mom. It was overwhelming and confusing and exhausting, because babies are. You were too, though I'd honed my craft a little by then and your Dad and I were a real team. Loving the both of you was easy, it was so, so easy. Always, no matter what because I had you from the moment you started growing inside me and I knew you inside out. Sure we've had tough times, had challenges to face together, but the love was easy."

"And loving Cal wasn't?" asked Eve, a dark cloud forming in her heart as she feared she was reason for the difference.

"Not even close. Loving that beautiful boy was hard. It's still hard some days. I didn't have him from the start. I didn't get to nurture him and shape him and protect him from the world from the second he first breathed into it. I had to learn how to love him, but with you two I just knew. I had to figure out how to reach him, where you guys were always right at my fingertips. He was so young the first time Vivian gave him up and he came into my life, and even then there were scars on his little heart already. Babies are easier, not easy, but less complicated and…."

"I don't want easy…" shrugged Sam, a steady smile spreading across his face. "I've never had easy. I've never had straightforward, not since I was a kid myself. My life has always been complicated and messy and different and I've finally figured out how to be okay with that. Maybe it'll even turn out to be something I can use to help someone else."

"I know it will, Sammy. I think you'll make an awesome Dad. You've got the biggest heart…." biting her lip and taking a shaky breath Eve nodded toward Olivia, "… you've got her heart."

"We probably don't tell you how awesome you are often enough Mom. Because you are, by the way, and for the record. I mean thinking about all of this, well, I dunno. I just got to realising that it isn't even just Cal. Tex put in long hours, all-nighters with Dad. Feeding him, watching her stupid telenovelas together and translating them to make him laugh. He pretend to hate every minute but he loved it and she loved him."

"He loved her too, even after everything. After all that had happened stubborn old Dad loved Tex like she'd been one of us all along…." a tear slipped down the side of Eve's face and she quickly swiped it away with the sleeve of her sweater.

It had taken Elliot a lot longer than Olivia to move past Calvin and Texas getting together, and the ending of her marriage. His sentencing of Texas had seemed harsher than that he'd given Calvin and it had been a point of deep contention for a while. Olivia couldn't stand for the inequity and Eve had simply wanted to preserve Calvin and her mother's happiness. Then, with time, wounds had gradually healed and like all families they had grown stronger and moved forward together. Texas had become a sister to Evie and Sam and an easy step-mother to the twins. Elliot had softened, mellowed, and after a decade truly getting to know Texas his face lit up when she entered the room the same way it did all his other kids.

"She has been one of us all along. Ever since you first started hanging out with her at that Calvin's mom's place. Ever since Mom pretty much just adopted her too. She loves you Mom, and let's be brutally honest and say we all know that she's stayed clean and sober all these years because of you not just Cal. I know it's not the same but you've still mothered her, and you've been the closest thing to that she's ever had."

"He's right, you know."

"Adoption, fostering, I don't know. I don't know what it'll look like yet. I just know that this is what I'm meant to do….." looking to Olivia, falling into her eyes, Sam smiled, "….this is what you taught me to do."

"So you lied?"

"Si."

"And then you went to jail for him?"

"Yes."

"You went to jail and let Calvin stay with Evie even though you were in love with him?" asked Leni, her mouth struggling to keep up with her rapid firing brain as she tried to understand everything her mother was telling her.

"No, no mija I went to jail to let him stay with Evie and his family…." it stung, to revisit the past, but there was a passionate conviction in Texas' breaking voice as she explained, "…. because I was in love with him."

"Was it as horrible as it is in TV? In the movies? Did you wear orange?"

"Leni don't do that. Don't sensationalise this. I'm telling you that your mother did jail time. In addition to being a whore and an addict I…."

"You've been clean for years Mama, and don't use that word to talk about yourself. I know you did things. You think you had a choice but I know you didn't. I know Calvin gets mad at you sometimes for being so honest with me but I know that it's the only way you know how to be and I love you for that…."

"How did I get so lucky with you, huh?" rasped Texas, in awe of her daughter wise beyond her years.

"It wasn't luck, mama. You raised me, right? I'm me, because of you. Well, and I guess Papa and Cal helped a little too."

"They helped more than a little."

"I know you didn't have a choice in all the things you did to help Calvin and his family any more than you had a choice in whether or not to lie to the police and do his time for him. It's just who you are. You don't always do the right thing, or the smart thing, or the legal thing….." grabbing for Texas' hands and squeezing them in her own Leni flashed a little smile, "… but you do the kind one. You love big. Too big sometimes, like going to jail for a boy, which is so stupid by the way but…."

"Elena I understand if you're ashamed of the things I…."

"Oh, cállate, Mama."

"Did I tell you too much? Cal's probably right. You're still so young, sixteen is just a baby still and I don't want to scare you. I don't want to freak you out, mija. I just couldn't bear you to hear any of it from anyone else."

"I love you, okay? I love you more than anything else in the whole world and I'm not freaked out. I know who you are and no matter how much I hear about your past that won't change. All those things made you strong, and kinda crazy but in a great way and I'm proud of you."

"Ay! No…."

"I am, Mama. You know all the shit you've been through…"

"Don't cuss, amorcito."

"It could've made you hard. It could've made you cold and closed off. You could've quit a million times and given in to the drugs and all that stuff but you didn't. You kept fighting. You kept fighting and you stayed warm and loving and trusting and that takes balls. That takes real balls, and I'm crazy proud that you're my mom."

"I'm the one who's crazy proud Leni…" breathed Texas, reaching across the bed and grabbing her daughter. Hugging her close, squeezing her tight she kissed her thick black hair and thanked whatever higher power had brought her here.

"So one more question?"

"Anything, mija…." smiled Texas, relaxed now and an open book.

"When are you gonna tell him?" asked Leni innocently. Folding her legs underneath herself she sat Buddha like and stared at her mother with a glimmer of challenge in her dark eyes.

"Tell who? What?"

"You know who, you know what…." said Leni, her voice quiet but deliberate as she tried to force Texas to meet her eyes, "…. so I am right?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm not the only one who's been a little loca the past few weeks mom. Plus our cycles have been in sync since, like, forever so…."

"I'm too old…." swallowed Texas, the glob in her throat choking her so she couldn't catch her breath for a second.

"Forty is the new thirty, right? Besides Grandma Liv had her babies real late and she did just fine so, sorry, next argument?"

"Really late, speak properly…." she countered, swerving off the road before straightening the wheel and adding shakily, "….I didn't even take a test."

"Okay, but you know that that doesn't actually change the facts though right? I mean its classic Texas Arliss logic but it doesn't affect science. Just because you put a blanket over your head doesn't mean we can't see you. Not taking a test doesn't make you any less pregnant."

"Don't you talk about your mother like that, show some respect!" she knew her mother angry, and this wasn't angry, this was drama. This was doing anything she could to create a diversion.

"Look I'm sorry, okay, I just…." lowering her eyes, remembering their earlier conversations Leni sad softly, "… I mean do you not want to be? Is that why you're…."

"No! No, I mean…." heart thundering in her chest Texas felt suddenly lightheaded, "… it's just complicated."

"Everything is complicated with you. Apart from most of the time it really isn't. Most of the time it's juts you self-sabotaging."

"Self-sabotaging? Ay! What are you my shrink? My life coach? Shut up!"

"Yeah, yeah I pretty much am and fine, fine I'll shut up for now but you know this won't go away. You've got, what, a maximum of nine months before you'll have no choice but to admit this is a real thing?"

"Don't say anything to your Dad? I just need to take a second to get my head around this first."

"Mama don't overthink this, okay? I mean, take a test, so we're actually dealing in facts but after that. Don't over think it. This is a good thing. This is a freakin' awesome thing."

"You think so?"

"You and my Dad are endgame. You have this like, totally epic lifelong star struck love story. All those years you were on and off like all the best movie couples and then he risks everything leaving Evie and finally getting together with you. Now I find out that you also casually went to fucking jail for him one time because you're that stinking in love with him?"

"Don't cuss, lady!"

"Cal's raised me like his own my whole life and been the best Dad ever. Are you seriously telling me that you have to get your head around having a baby with him?"

"No."

"What are you so scared of Mom?"

Even now, even after all these years Texas looked just exactly the same as Leni remembered her doing as a child. Her black hair was dyed that way now, her olive skin freckled and jaded by a lifetime in the sun, and her curves were a little fuller since her body had been allowed to thrive on a decade of sobriety and stability. But her skirts were still too short, her wardrobe wild flashes of colour and leopard print, and her soulful eyes still blinked out from behind heavy kohl liner and lashings of mascara.

Elena wasn't short of female role models and she watched in fascination and learned from each of them in different ways. Evie and her Grandma Liv were undoubtedly beautiful, sweet, intelligent, kind and warm. Texas was wild in comparison, even now. A little too sassy, a little too sexy, but infectious and undeniable and a force of human nature that breathed life into every room she entered.

Leni caught Calvin watching Texas sometimes, saw the way she looked at him, and felt almost as though she ought to look away. Like she was intruding on something intensely passionate and intimate and achingly beautiful: she had never been in love but she recognised it. And she wanted that someday. She wanted to be just like her mother, and she wanted someone to look at her the way she caught her dad looking at her mama.

"It just doesn't seem, I never thought, I never dared hope or imagine. I was so happy being your mom and a step-mom to the twins. I just figured I couldn't anymore or it wasn't mean to be and…."

"Well evidently it was."

"Is that the mine?" saved by the bell a shrill ring cut through the moment of loaded tension.

"Ermm, yeah, here…" said Leni, foraging in the comforter and retrieving Texas' cell.

"Evie? Yeah, no, he's not here. At work. I guess it's on silent. Can I help? Of course! No, no, of course! I'll get him there as soon as I can, si, si, okay? Ciao!"

"What's going on? Is she okay?"

"Your Grandma Liv became unwell visiting Fin here in the city. Evie is on her way with Sam but I need to get the truck to your Dad at the shop so he can go be with her."

"Go! Go and text me when you know she's okay. I love you!"

"Thanks for coming, bro."

"Don't even…" said Calvin succinctly, first bumping with Sam as they met in the parking lot of the care home.

"I'll wait here, mija, leave you and the boys to…."

"Are you kidding me?" said Eve quickly, grabbing Texas' wrist and dragging her at pace toward the entrance way. "How many times do we have to talk about this?"

"I…."

"You come with us, Tex. Every damn time, okay?"

"Did they give you a carer name to ask for?" asked Sam, looking across to Eve.

"No, no but we'll figure it out the place really isn't that big."

Calvin held the door for all of them, and as she passed through Texas slipped her hand subtly and silently into his.

"Hi there, excuse me? We got a call that our mom was taken ill and so we're here to take her home."

"Is she a resident?" asked the kindly faced woman behind the reception area as Eve's tone struggled to hide her rising concern.

"No, no she was visiting Odafin Tutuola and he is."

"This is quite a turnout Mrs Stabler!"

"You did not all need to come…." said Olivia with a shaky sigh, lifting a trembling hand in defiant dismissal of the assembled squad as she emerged on the arm of a uniformed carer.

"The twins and I were already at Sam's place when you called."

"Beth stayed with the kids…." added Sam, piecing in the frantic half hour that had transpired.

"He called me….." shrugged Calvin pointing shamelessly at Sam.

"He didn't answer because he's useless, but I did, and he took the bus today so I picked him up on the way…." finished Texas with a flurry.

"And you guys are…." ventured the newer carer, her introduction to Olivia's family, and the speed at which it closed ranks, a steep learning curve.

"My kids…" answered Olivia, a broad smile drawing across her now perfectly calm face as she danced her eyes along the four of them, "… these are my kids."

"Sorry I didn't catch your name?" asked Eve brightly, trying to read the carer's name badge. "I can't remember seeing you here before?"

"I'm Cora, and yeah, yeah this is only my second shift. Are you guys all here a lot then?"

"Yeah, yeah Fin is family…." said Eve without taking pause, and giving the nervous looking carer a warm smile of encouragement.

"How's he doing anyway with you out here stealing all the attention?" asked Calvin, tossing his eyes in Olivia's direction. She rolled hers back, giving his thick arm as harder punch as she could muster but barely making an impact.

"He's fine, but I think that maybe your mom could do with a ride home…." said the carer, clutching hand until she was carefully transferred onto Calvin's waiting arm.

"Home…." said Olivia quietly, less of a statement and more of a question.

"Mom?" asked Eve, gesturing expectantly to the parking lot.

"Mom what is it?" asked Sam, when Olivia failed to respond. He could see the light fading from her face again and that lost look returning. "Your home is at Evie's now, remember? In Connecticut?"

"I'm not losing it just yet Sammy. I didn't forget…." laughed Olivia nervously, bringing her hand to her mouth in a rare moment of discomposure. They all waited, watching, unsure as to what to say next.

Sam looked to Eve, because he always did. Eve held her ground, courage in her conviction that Olivia belonged as close to her as possible. Olivia's home was with her. Calvin said nothing, while Texas watched him intently. She could hear the melody but she couldn't decipher the lyrics.

"I have an idea?" said Texas, her intonation denoting a question. Even now, in this setting, it was as though she were asking permission to speak. It was unnecessary, since she long ago earned her place at the table and yet she still held herself in check and waited for approval.

"You gonna share it with the group?" grinned Sam, teasing her one of his favourite pastimes. In every other element of their relationship since the moment they had met Texas had lead so far from the front he could barely make her out on the horizon line, but here he had the home court advantage.

"I have actually been wanting to pick your brains Evie about this new idea I have for that project you've been working on. It's pretty bold, probably stupid. I'd love your opinion. Maybe I could ride home with you?" she babbled, her eyes sparking and her hands gesticulating emphatically in the direction of Eve's car. "Cal maybe you can….." losing momentum Texas arched desperate eyebrows at Calvin and waved wider, "… take Olivia somewhere, si?"

"Take me somewhere?" asked Olivia, a little puzzled.

"Hey what about me?" asked Sam, not reading any of the signals being transmitted.

"I'd love your opinion too…." said Texas flatly, grabbing for the handles of Sam's wheelchair and attempting forward momentum.

"I've got the break on there, Tex."

"Well take it off, won't you?"

"I kinda like to have control of my own wheels and not be taken hostage so…."

"!Ay!" was all she need say, with a flash of her eyes and heat in her tone. Sam clicked off his break and lifted his hand to his temple in an acquiescent salute.

"Okay, okay, come on Sam let's go…." sighed Eve with a laughing smile, understanding implicitly what Texas was attempting to achieve, "…. Mom I love you, and I'll see you back at the house later."

"I'm right behind you!" called Texas, as Eve and Sam said their goodbyes and headed toward Eve's car.

"What is happening here?" mouthed Calvin silently, as Texas leaned in to kiss him. Grabbing his confused face with both hands she lifted to her tiptoes and whispered in his ear.

"She needs you, guapo. Do your thing."

"My thing?" he grunted, guttural and audible only to her.

"Don't be cute…." she rasped back, pressing another kiss against his cheek, "… you know you can crack her like a walnut."

"So Leni is a teenager."

"How's that working out for you?"

"Awful, just fucking awful. No one tells you about this shit."

"Oh, they do, sweetheart."

"Okay but you don't listen, right? You're so neck deep in diapers and Girl Scout cookies you forget. You laugh it off. You think you got this whole situation handled and then they turn sixteen and bam, you're fucking parental roadkill."

"What's going on, sweetheart?" laughed Olivia softly, as they sat together on the bench outside the care home.

"She goes to school with a chatty little shit is what's going on. Some kid who likes to run his mouth. Actually, not true. Some asshat correctional officer likes to run his mouth in inappropriately to his teenager son who then decides to run his mouth to my daughter."

"Correctional officer?"

"She told her about Tex…."

"No, no he can't do that. That is a flagrant breach of…."

"But he did…." he cut in, watery eyes drifting to meet hers and adding with a grim quiet, "… and I'm scared. I'm scared to death that she's too young to know any more pieces of the past. Of our past, you know? Me and Tex."

"Sweetheart you know that you can't get into this, right?" asked Olivia, reaching for Calvin's forearm and laying her fingers around it gently. "I know you want to. I know you are itching like crazy to fix this for the both of them but you can't. You can't, you mustn't. It's not your place."

"I know, I know and I told her that. And I know Tex will handle it."

"And so will Leni, my love. Elena is a smart, empathetic and intuitive kid who loves her mother fiercely. As fiercely as you do. You and Texas have a story and you'll tell it. When the time is right, piece by piece, you'll tell your story to Leni and in time to CJ and Livi too. It'll be scary and it'll be hard, but they'll understand. They'll understand that it's made you who you are: separate and together."

"I just want them to have it easier than we did. Not easy, just, easier. Better. All the stuff Leni's having to learn about her mom and me it just doesn't seem fair…."

"Life's not fair."

"Well you're sassy today…." he laughed, turning to her a deeply furrowed brow and a wry smirk. "I might just leave you at this old folk's home and let them deal with you."

"That is not even close to funny and…." but catching herself mid-sentence Olivia found his eyes, and then her smile. Chuckling to herself she groaned. "Ugh you are annoyingly endearing Calvin Arliss did anyone ever tell you that?"

"You did, you do, all the damn time….." his voice cracked, and chewing at his cheek Calvin added, "… practically my whole life, as it goes."

"You believe it yet?" she smiled, and his heart clenched. It felt like the sun on his back.

"Let me take you home."

"What, already?" she asked, a little surprised and then kicking herself for betraying her disappointment. "I thought you said we had a lunch reservation."

"That was a lie. This whole thing was just something Tex made up on the spot back there because I think deep down she knows what I know, even if she doesn't realise it yet. I didn't realise it till just now."

"What's that?" said Olivia slowly, now genuinely mystified as to what was going on.

"I didn't talk to Evie, or Sam. I'm just winging this. I'm just going on gut."

"Cal what are you talking about?"

"When you and Mr S gave us the house, me and Tex? You said it was because we deserved a place to build a home like the two of you did, to put down roots, to build a life. I was always insanely fucking grateful but it felt weird. No matter how okay with it Eve and Sam said they were."

"They were completely okay with it, sweetheart. You know that."

"I know that now. I know that now because I understand why it happened this way. I understand how I pay it back. To them, to Mr S….." nodding slowly, the pieces slowly falling into place Calvin locked his jaw around the emotion gnawing at the back of his throat, "… and to you."

"Calvin?"

"Live with us here in the city? That is one massive fuck-off house for five of us, four of us when Leni stays at Gil's, two of us when the twins are with Evie and Paul. There's space, there's room, there's a massive hole left where you used to be. Let me take you home. Mama come live with us at the house, at your house….." grabbing for her hands, enveloping her tiny fragile fingers in his giant paws Calvin dipped his gaze and locked on her teary brown eyes, "…. let us take care of you. Let me and Tex take care of you the way you have always taken care of us."

"I'm not…."

"Don't make me fight you on this?"

"Home?" voice barely there she gasped, searching his face and finding her answer there.

"Calvin Benson…." he said, shifting the plates beneath Olivia as she caught a glimpse of the little boy in the man, "… because you rescued me."

"Oh sweetheart….." grabbing for his face, holding it in trembling hands Olivia nodded slowly and let tears fall unchecked, "… oh my sweet, sweet boy."

"Evie and Sam come over all the time anyway. It's fucking annoying how often. You'll have us all there. All your kids, your grandkids, your family…." recomposing himself Calvin grinned determinedly, ".. you'll barely have a minute's peace."

"I threw out all his things."

"Okay."

"I read somewhere that it could be helpful. I don't think that it helped."

"Okay."

"I talk to him, sometimes. All the time, actually. He's the person I screenshot things for. He's the one I think to tell when I hear something funny. He's who I want with me when I'm scared, or sad, or…." lip trembling she shrugged, "… he's the person I want with me all the time. Only he's not with me. He's not with me and I'm alone now."

"You're not alone, Mama…." draping his arm around her Calvin inhaled slowly, pinning her into his chest and kissing her hair with a steady exhale, "… you won't ever be alone."

"Is there really no lunch reservation?" she asked, a small voice from the folds of his jacket.

"Nope."

"Do you think we could make one?" sniffing staunchly Olivia sat herself upright. Dabbing at the corners of her eyes with her index fingers she squared her shoulders to the world and took a deep breath. "Before we go home?"

"You bet your ass we can…." said Calvin. The corners of his lips pulled slowly to a smile, and he nodded steadily with relief. His promise to Elliot had not been made lightly, and he would fulfil it with every breath he took.