Chapter Two

Monday Morning

10:07 a.m.

One, two, two-and-a-half rings…

"Liv." Alex's voice was direct, in control.

And there was the lump again. Olivia smiled. "Hey, Al."

"I'm just about to leave the high school. We had an exam today and the last person just finished. But I'll be on my way to get the kids in about five minutes…"

Background noise on the other end—papers whispering, feet shuffling, a door closing in the distance.

"I'm already in the car, Al. I'll go get them. It'll be faster." Olivia inserted her key into the ignition and placed her phone on the magnetic holder before starting the tiny, black Datsun.

A silence on the other end. One, two, three, four seconds as Olivia waited.

"Al?" Olivia started.

The external noise on the other end was now absent and there was nothing but dead air—not even her wife's breathing.

The brunette waited but her wife still said nothing.

"Alex?"

Did we get disconnected?

Olivia took the phone from the magnetic circle and looked more closely at the screen, squinting. The call was still going, the time still ticking by.

She held the bottom of her iPhone close to her mouth now.

"Babe. Are you there?" Olivia tried.

"This is an absolute nightmare, Liv." Alex's voice was soft, almost inaudible.

But the brunette heard it. Heard the fear in her voice, the meekness, the foreshadowing.

"I know, Al. But…we can…"

"We can what, Liv? What's happening…what's about to happen…it's all out of our control."

And there's that gloom and doom. Olivia closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, her car shimmying slightly as it idled. "Alex…" Olivia began. "It's not…"

"People are getting sick so easily, Babe. Just by people being next to other people. Just by touching them." Alex's voice was shaky now. "If I have it…if you have it…if one of us gives it to one of our kids…if they give it to one of us…or if someone gives it to my parents…"

"Listen, Alex…" Olivia shifted into reverse now and checked her mirrors, "…I'm heading to get the kids…I'll be home in about half an hour…we might stop by the grocery store first—"

"You're not going to the grocery store, Olivia. Absolutely not."

Olivia shifted into drive and then began out of the parking lot. "Alex, I figured we should go now, before everything gets crazy."

Silence again.

"Al?"

"I'd really like for you not to go to the store, Liv. I actually am gonna beg you here."

Olivia smiled as she turned onto the street. "Beg me, huh?"

"I'm serious, Liv. Please don't go. Please."

"Al, I have that canister of wipes you put in my car. We'll stay away from people who seem sick, it'll be OK. Besides, we really do need a few things. Better to get them now."

Another silence.

"A-lex…" Olivia drew her name out playfully.

"OK. But last time for a while. OK? We'll order them online next time. OK?"

"OK, Babe."

"Promise?"

"Promise, Al. OK. Let me get all this done and I'll be home."

"OK, Liv. Please be safe."

"You, too. Alex. See you at home."

And the call disconnected, three beeps signaling that her wife had hung up. The brunette placed the phone back on the holder and then set both hands on the wheel, thinking as she headed down 1st Avenue and toward 69th Street. She passed one of Alex's favorite French cafes Le Pain Quotidien, thinking about maybe going in for a few croissants for the morning, but then thought against it. She drove by Bareburger on 73rd and thought briefly about perhaps bringing the kids by after the grocery store and picking up something for she and her wife, as well, but then remembered that they had already decided on what they would make for dinner just that morning. Alex's recent words echoed in her head:

"People are getting sick, Babe. Just by being next to people. If I have it…if you have it…if one of us gives it to one of our kids…if they give it to one of us…or if someone gives it to my parents."

If Alex was already this trepidatious, what would the next days, even the next weeks, bring?

Olivia took a deep breath as she passed Numero 28 on the left, one of their favorite pizza places, and she wondered if Alex would be OK with delivery pizza soon. Just thinking about it made the brunette's belly rumble. She hadn't had much breakfast—only a cup of coffee and then a banana and a half of a bran raisin muffin at work that Fin had brought—and after that intense workout in the stairwell with Fin, her body was telling her she needed more food.

Olivia passed Agata & Valentina, one of their usual grocery stores on 79th, quick and around the corner from home, thinking that this would probably be where she and the kids would go for groceries.

Turning right on 80th Street, she slowed her Datsun and pulled up behind a line of about ten or so cars that were also waiting to pick their children up in front of the Caedmon School. She sat a couple of buildings down from the pick-up spot and she craned her neck to the right and ahead to see what was going on.

Her cell phone rang and she looked at the Caller ID: Vanessa Frankel. It was Theo's fourth grade teacher. She tapped on the phone icon. "Hello? Ms. Frankel?"

"Hi, Mrs. Benson-Cabot. We have Theo and Isabel and Grace here. Theo said he sees your car but we need to make sure. We're right here, standing at the bottom of the steps."

"OK…I'm getting out. I'm just headed your way. I'm about ten cars down." Olivia turned the car off and removed her seat belt before she yanked on the handle and exited. She shut the door firmly, phone still to her ear before she moved around the front of the car and stepped up and onto the sidewalk, walking toward the school.

"Mama!" Theo beamed from four-hundred feet away, his little arms and huge smile a pleasant sight. Isabel was to his right, smiling and mimicking her older brother in enthusiasm, and Grace stood on his other side, her face close to her own teacher, Mrs. Morgan's, waist, her huge brown eyes full of questions, but still smiling.

All three ran towards her, backpacks on, throwing themselves into her body, their arms wrapped around her tightly.

"Hey, there." Olivia smiled at their teachers. "How are you?" She looked at both teachers—Ms. Frankel, thin, petite, big blue eyes, and Mrs. Morgan, similarly petite but with sandy blonde hair, brown eyes, and olive skin.

"We're good. Just…wondering what's going to happen now…probably like you are," Ms. Frankel spoke.

"This is unusual, isn't it?" Olivia narrowed her eyes, smiling. She looked down at the kids who were all smiling up at her. "Hi, my loves." She held them closer to her body before beginning to stroke Theo and Grace's hair as she continued to listen to the women.

"Yeah…about eight-thirty…the principal asked us to give the kids their iPads and send three weeks' worth of assignments home...just in case," Frankel added.

"Yeah," began Mrs. Morgan, "…we were all running around like crazy most of the morning trying to get everything ready for the kids."

"So, their iPads are in their backpacks?" Olivia questioned, raising her eyebrows.

"Yes. And three weeks' worth of work is in an envelope in their backpacks, too." Ms. Frankel smiled. "We might be sending other things like stories and little lessons to them on their devices if it's longer than three weeks, so we wanted them to have them at home."

Olivia looked down at the kids again. "You got all that, Babes?"

The three nodded and she looked back at their teachers. "Well, thank you so much. You'll keep us posted?"

"Definitely, through our parent/teacher app, email, phone, Facetime," Mrs. Morgan smiled.

"All right. Sounds good." She looked down at the kids. 'What do you say to your teachers, guys?"

A flurry of "byes" and their teacher's names spouted from all three kids.

Olivia looked back up and smiled, taking the kids into her outstretched arms and beginning to turn, looking back at the two women. "You two be safe, too."

"We will," they both replied.

Olivia turned and began ushering the three children to the car. "Mama's got the Datsun today, so it'll be cramped, my babies."

"Yea!" Theo beamed, The Bat Mobile!"

"Yes, Baby," Olivia laughed, "The Bat Mobile."

Actually, the Liv Mobile, but he was close.

"One stop, grocery store, and then we'll go home and see your Mommy, OK?"

More cheering from the kids as they got inside her little black car, Olivia ensuring all belts were secured, and they headed off to try and get home before the blonde worried any more than she was already.

Alex leaned with her elbows on the gray wood of the kitchen island and looked at the clock on her iPhone for the thirtieth time in the past twenty minutes. It was 11:22 a.m. and she had been eagerly waiting for her wife and children to arrive back at home—safe and sound.

She had gotten home around ten-thirty, had showered and brushed her teeth for the second time that morning, and had changed into a pair of faded jeans and a pink and white button down shirt, her hair damp and in a loose ponytail, glasses on, tan slipper boots on.

She pressed the bottom button on her phone again—11:23.

She had already wiped down all door handles, disinfected the island, the car handles and steering wheel, and felt, at that moment, that she was finally in a position where she might be able to relax, even if only minimally.

A low rumbling behind her and she lifted her upper torso from the island and moved to the garage door, folding her arms.

The door flung open and her three children came at her, faces wild, backpacks on.

"Hi, my loves. How is everyone?" Alex squatted down and kissed all of their faces—so fresh and red and rosy—and then looked up at her wife, who was walking in behind them, pressing the button to close the door.

Olivia only smiled.

"Hey, Babe," Alex stood now, Grace and Isabel still holding on, and moved closer to the brunette, "…how're you?" She let her mouth hover a couple of inches in front of her wife's. "Should we…can we…?"

"Yes, Alex. We can kiss each other 'hello'," Olivia offered almost impatiently.

They kissed quickly, too quickly for the blonde, and then Olivia moved to the island with two fabric grocery totes and set them on top. "They were completely out of eggs, almost out of milk…I snagged the last gallon, but it's whole milk. They only had white bread and it was one of the last of four loaves. I took this one and then looked back down two seconds later and the rest were gone. Just like that." Olivia snapped her fingers.

Alex looked down to find Isabel trying to snap her fingers now, her tongue sticking out in concentration, Grace simply watching her. She looked back up at the brunette. "I can't believe they're out of those things already, Liv.

"I can do that, too! Uncle Jonathan showed me a long time ago." Theo offerred, and then proceeded to snap repeatedly, jazz band-style.

"Awesome, Theo!" Olivia chirped. "OK. You three go on up and change from your uniforms and then come back down and we'll make dinner. Fajitas tonight!" Olivia grinned widely.

"Yea!" Theo cheered. "I love fajitas."

The three then began down the hallway, running with heavy backpacks, toward the stairs, up, and out of sight.

Alex turned back to her wife then. "How are you, Liv?" She placed her hands on the rough denim of her waist and held on.

"I'm OK, Al. It's you I'm worried about."

Alex laughed lightly through her nose. "I'm OK, Liv. Right now, at least. We just…we just have to be really, really careful with germs, that's all." Alex reached up and tucked a lock of hair behind her wife's ear and looked her tresses over."Your hair is wavy, Babe." Alex smiled.

"I let it air dry. Fin and I ran stairs and I showered, and…"

And Alex couldn't help but lean in and press her mouth to her wife's as she spoke. The brunette looked too irresistible standing there, hair sexy, mouth full, talking about working out and showers. And given the current situation, Alex just needed the closeness, the feeling of connection. Olivia's hands went to her backside and squeezed firmly, the brunette moaning lightly.

Alex pulled away slowly, keeping her eyes closed, relishing in the smell, the feel, the taste of her wife's touch.

Finally, the blonde opened her eyes and looked at her wife, the brunette's eyes almost concerned.

"You have to tell me, Alex…tell me when you need to talk about this whole thing, through whatever happens. When you're feeling stressed, or icky…" Olivia smiled broadly and bit her lower lip.

Alex swallowed and nodded. "I will, Liv." She cleared her throat of the rasp. "I promise."

But she could already feel herself slipping, even if only a little. Every moment that she was informed of another fact or detail about this citywide virus, a small crack began.

And she knew herself well and also understood that this was only the beginning of a very difficult time for herself, for her family.

She felt it in her entire being.

Alex kissed her wife once more, smiled, and squeezed her waist firmly. "Let's get cooking, Babe."

"Let's do it, Al." Olivia winked.

A/N: As we can see, Alex might not be OK. Olivia knows she has to be. The kids are kids, but we all know they react to their environment. I hope you enjoyed and please let me know by reviewing, following and/or favoriting. Thank you so much to those of you who have already done so.