It's not as long as my usual updates and probably not as good. But instead of forcing myself to finish it, I decided to post as is.

Chapter 43

"Feel better?"

Olivia cocked her head to the side and sipped her drink, eyeing Ed's body language as he sat next to her at a neighborhood pub. After he returned from the building's gym, she instructed him to take a shower, that they were going out for a bit. Emma watched, amused, as her father did exactly as Olivia told him to without argument.

"Yeah," he grunted. "Sure."

Wiggling her jaw a bit, Olivia just kept watching Ed. He would shift occasionally, take a sip of his drink, rub his forehead, then repeat the process. Now nursing his fourth bourbon, not once did he look up from the bar. Olivia reached out and gripped his wrist, her thumb stroking it slightly.

"What is it?"

Ed sighed. "The hits keep coming, Liv," he finally said, spinning the near-empty glass of bourbon in his hands. "Feels like one thing after another."

Not letting go of his wrist, Olivia's eyes followed the path Ed was spinning with his glass. "Sure has," she whispered, allowing herself to get lost in her own thoughts. "At least…" Olivia's voice trailed off, and broke slightly garnering Ed's attention.

"Liv?"

She shook her head and took a moment to gather her emotions. Finally, she lifted her gaze and stared into his eyes. "At least now, well, we aren't so alone."

Heart cracking, Ed shifted his stool. One hand reached out to stroke her cheek and the other gripped her thigh. "You aren't," he whispered, his eyes narrowing as he looked at her. "We aren't."

"Promise me that won't ever change?" Olivia's voice was at a higher pitch than normal, revealing a near desperate moment for her and Ed felt it.

"I promise you," he began, "Olivia I promise you that I will try with every fiber of my being to make sure you are never alone again."

Olivia nodded and bit her lip before leaning up to give him a quick kiss.

"Can we go back home?"

Ed raised his eyebrows at the term "home." Despite wanting to get him out and for some fresh air, Olivia now only wanted to be back in the apartment with all of them, and she referred to it as home. He almost brought it up, almost went for it and officially asked her about moving in, but he didn't. Instead he allowed them both to live in the current moment, the current need to be together, and nodded his head.

"Absolutely," he said, throwing cash onto the bar and helping her up. "Come on."

They stumbled in the door a few minutes later, Ed realizing the bourbon had more of an effect than he realized given he hadn't eaten much that day. Emma had been dozing on the couch and startled at the entrance.

"Sorry," Olivia said softly, fixing Ed a glass of water and sending him to the living room. She followed quickly and sat next to him, rubbing his arm. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah," Emma said quickly, standing up. "Everything's fine." She eyed her father warily and folded up the blanket she had been using. "I'm gonna go lay down."

"Em…" Ed said, reaching out for her hand, but Emma flinched ever so slightly at his touch. "You really okay?"

"Of course," she said, moving past them. "Tired. Goodnight."

Ed went to stand up and follow her, but Olivia pulled him back down. "Not now," she said softly, squeezing his hand and realizing perhaps the effect of the alcohol on Ed had upset Emma slightly.

"Fuck," he hissed, realizing the same thing. "God I'm an idiot."

"No," Olivia said firmly. "You're not. It's okay."

Ed leaned his head back on the couch and looked up at the ceiling, the last few weeks passing through his head. "At first, when I realized what was happening," he began, "ya know, that I was being set up, I was angry. But a split second later, I immediately thought about my kids. How they need me. They need a parent."

"They do," Olivia allowed. "And they have one. They have you."

"Maybe I should retire," he mused. "Emma's…terrified of something happening to me. To you. Perhaps, well, perhaps it's time for me to at least entertain the idea."

Olivia just sat and watched Ed as he tried to think clearly with a bourbon-clouded brain. "Ed…"

Refusing to allow the alcohol to reduce his emotions, he shook his head and swallowed hard. "She's my little girl," he whispered, looking at Olivia. "The hits just…they keep coming."

Nodding, Olivia pulled Ed into her arms and closed her eyes. "It'll be over soon," she assured him. "I have faith in Carisi. I have faith in you. We'll talk to Emma in the morning. My squad will clear all of this up. It'll be over soon."

"It has to be," he rasped, griping her more tightly to him.

The next morning, instead of going to school, Emma explained to Ed that she wasn't feeling well and he quickly allowed her to stay home. She was midway through the last semester of her senior year, had a few college acceptances, and Ed had no desire to push her. Ordinarily a stickler for making sure his kids were in school, making good grades, and not playing sick, Ed had come to realize those things didn't matter in their current situation. For once, he didn't argue. Surprised, Emma just nodded, grabbed a drink, and turned to go back to her room, but her father's voice stopped her.

"Wanna come…watch something with me?"

Emma turned around and could see the need in Ed's eyes, so she agreed. They cozied up on opposite ends of the couch and Ed surfed Netflix for a good movie. He hit play, but kept the volume low.

"Listen," he said softly, patting Emma's leg. "I'm sorry about last night."

"It's okay," she said quickly, shrugging.

"No," Ed said. "It's not. I didn't…think."

Emma didn't give a response and let the conversation dissipate for the moment, pretending to be enthralled in The Day After Tomorrow.

"Interesting movie choice," she finally said with a smirk.

"Eh," Ed said. "Going with the doomsday theme, apparently."

Letting out a big chuckle, Emma finally loosened up. "So many things wrong with this movie." Father and daughter spent the next half hour picking holes in the movie, laughing and enjoying time together.

"Hey," Emma finally said, looking around. "Where's Olivia?"

"Probably miserable at work," Ed responded. "Left early and took Noah to daycare."

"She's been…really great."

Ed took a deep breath and hit pause on the movie, turning to fully face his daughter. "I know things have been tough," he began, hiding his smirk as Emma let out a scoff. "Okay, tough is an understatement…"

"But listen," Ed continued. "Olivia…I love her. You know that, right?"

Biting her lip, Emma nodded, not looking up from where she was twisting the blanket around in her hands.

"I'd like to find a way, somehow, for all of us to…be together."

Emma looked up at Ed. He couldn't quite read her expression. "As in, live together?"

Ed nodded.

"Where?"

Ed looked around. "Here, I suppose," he said. "I, we, would need to figure out the room situation for when Nate comes back…"

"Nate never comes back," Emma snapped. "Pretty sure you don't have to worry too much about him needing a room."

Shaking off and ignoring the gut punch Emma's comment landed, Ed just nodded and carried on. "Are you ready for that?"

She was quiet for a little while, before posing her own question. "Does it matter if I am?"

Ed grabbed for her hand. "It does," he said firmly. "It does. If you told me right here and now that you weren't ready, and you needed more time, Olivia and I would hold off. We could continue our relationship the way it is. And that would be okay."

"But…you don't want to."

"I want us to be together," he said simply, shrugging. "All of us."

Emma nodded and squeezed her dad's hand. "Look," she said. "I can't promise I'll just…forget everything else that's happened. But she's been…amazing. Through all of it. Since mom died…since before mom died. And…I'm trying."

"I know you are."

After a few minutes, Emma looked up at Ed and smiled. "Go for it," she said. "I think, well, I know…that we need her. Even when I'm distant."

Smiling back at her, Ed pulled Emma into him for a hug. "I love you, baby girl."

"Love you too, Daddy."

Ed let his eyes close at Emma calling him daddy for the first time in a while. She was no longer a little girl, but she was his little girl and deep down he knew she would always need him. His children, and now Olivia and Noah, they all needed him. And once his name was cleared, and things went back to normal, he was determined to get them all under one roof. Permanently.

Olivia rushed over to where Ed sat at the mahogany bar and squeezed his neck. Remaining on her feet while he was seated on the stool gave her several inches on him in height. Olivia cupped his face and kissed at his lips, neither one of them able to hide their smiles.

"It's over," she cooed, her eyes darting around his face.

Ed grinned and leaned up for another kiss. "It's over," he said.

"I figured you'd want to celebrate at home, with the kids?"

"I do," he said, gesturing for her to sit down. They ordered a glass of wine to share, knowing they needed to avoid what had happened the last time, and he fidgeted slightly.

"But?"

"Can't get anything past you, huh Lieutenant?"

"No," she said. "Now spill."

"Move in with me," Ed rasped, surprising himself at how he just went for it.

"What?" Olivia asked, her voice raspy in shock. "Ed…"

"I, well, I had this whole thing planned, what I wanted to say so you knew that I meant it. That I was all in. That Emma…Nate…we all want this. But…clearly I just blurted it out. And maybe…maybe that was for a reason. Maybe it's that simple."

Stunned, Olivia sat back and rubbed her face. She took a deep breath and looked at Ed, really looked at him.

"Are we ready for this?"

"Liv, how could we not be?" Ed asked. "I'm tired of watching you go home at night. I hate sleeping without you. I don't want to be without you. Ever."

"Ed…" she rasped again. He had always been sincere and open with her, but the passion and pleading in his voice was something she had never heard.

"I know we'll need to work on details, figure out how it will work. What it will look like. But…please, Olivia. Please. Can we try?"

Biting her lip as she felt the burn of tears begin in her eyes, she nodded slowly as she kissed his hand.

"Okay," she finally whispered. "I…okay."

"Really?" Ed's face lit up and Olivia couldn't help but let out a chuckle.

"Really," she responded firmly. "But I'm gonna need more closet space…"

Laughing, Ed kissed at her face. "You can have whatever you want."

A/N: It goes without saying that I am absolutely devastated at how they ended our beautiful Tuckson arc. It was cruel and unnecessary, and I am just gutted. I make no promises about if/when this story will go on, but can only hope it will eventually. For now, at least in this world, they are together.