A/N: I don't own any of the characters except my own.
The next morning started out like any other day at the Tucker house. Diana got up to get ready for work and Kara got up to get ready for school, while Ed let the dog out and made breakfast for his two favorite girls. They had breakfast as a family and after Diana left, Ed went to take his shower. Once he was ready, they left and went to pick up Kelly before heading to school. After he dropped the girls off, he let Hank know that he was on his way over. Hank said he was ready. He arrived at the Voight's and Hank came outside.
"Mornin'."
"Hey."
"Are we getting' Al?"
"Yeah."
Ed drove to Al and Meredith's and Hank let Al know when they were about there. Once Al got into the SUV, they went shopping to get furniture and toys for Brandon. Ed ended up going overboard with what he bought and not everything was going to fit in the SUV with the three of them.
"We probably should have come in two vehicles."
"I can fix that."
Hank called Olivia.
"Hey."
"Hey. We need a favor. How busy are you?"
"Right now, it's quiet. Why?"
"Ed went a bit overboard with what he bought for Brandon and we can't get everything plus the three of us in his SUV."
"Where are you?"
Hank told Olivia where they were and then she left to meet them there. Amanda left shortly after to meet her. When she arrived, she got out of their SUV and couldn't help but laugh when she saw Ed's SUV. She took a picture of it and sent it to Diana.
"Was that necessary?"
"Yes."
Then Amanda arrived and got out of her vehicle.
"Oh, geez, Tucker! You're as bad the Carisis were with Jesse this last Christmas. She had gotten so much stuff from them that Sonny had to make several trips to bring it home. Congrats on becoming foster parents though."
"Thanks. I wanted to get him Legos but didn't know which ones to get and then all this other stuff somehow ended up in the cart."
Ed's phone rang but he knew it was Diana before he even looked. While Ed was talking to Diana, Olivia handed Hank the keys and kissed him before she and Amanda headed back to the Precinct. They put some of the stuff into Hank and Olivia's SUV and then once Ed was off the phone, they headed home. Once they arrived at Ed and Diana's they unloaded both SUVs and took it to the house and went upstairs with the furniture first. Then they started putting everything together.
"Did Diana overreact as bad as Olivia did?"
"Well, she didn't expect me to buy as much as I did but she didn't laugh at me like Liv did."
"Honestly, I did the same thing with Rachel except we had her before I bought the stuff. Is this gonna get done before Diana gets home and Ms. Jackson brings him over?"
"I think we need help."
Ed made a call to his brother-in-law and then hung up the phone. A little while later, Dan, Jack, Shawn, Brian, Jason and Ed Sr. When they arrived, they rang the bell, so Ed went to answer it.
"Hey. Come on in."
"Thanks."
Everyone came in and took their jackets
"So, you and Diana are fostering a kid?"
"Yeah. We found out last night that his case worker was bringing him this afternoon. Hank and Al went shopping with me."
"When do we get to meet him?"
"Olivia had a case that involved him and the last foster family he was with and she suggested not to overwhelm him with the entire family at once."
"That actually makes sense. Poor Eddie had to meet us all at once."
"Yep."
"How old is he?"
"According to Olivia, he's 6. Diana is working part of the day today and taking tomorrow off. We need to take him to get him into school."
"How does Kara feel about this?"
"She's excited. We're hoping we can keep him and eventually adopt him but I know it's a long process. I know what Olivia went through with Noah. They were able to adopt Rachel after 3 months instead of a year like she did with Noah."
"Hopefully things will work out."
"I love this dad stuff more than I thought I would. I started to realize what I was missing with I was with Olivia but I felt awkward around Noah sometimes. I'm glad things turned out the way they did though. It was a little easier to adjust to being around Kara but I'm with Noah and Rachel all the time. Hank, Olivia, Erin and Jay went to dinner at Olive and Trevor's last night and Diana and I stayed with the 3 kids. Kara was doing her homework and Diana was giving Noah and Rachel their bath, so I was left in charge of Camille. She went right to sleep."
"That's a good thing."
They all headed upstairs and got to work.
"Hey, you two."
"Hey."
"So, how was dinner last night?"
"Good."
"Olive is pregnant, isn't she?"
"She is and they're getting married."
"I'm not surprised."
"None of us really were."
"Trevor is a great guy."
"He is. Olivia hopes they're not getting married for the wrong reason. She doesn't want to see any of them, including the kids, get hurt if it doesn't work out. Trevor said he wasn't asking her to marry him just because of the baby. I know she has said she would love not to have to work. Marrying a lawyer gives her that option now."
"It certainly does. She could decide not to come back after the baby comes."
"That is very true. Erin tossed it back and forth after she had Camille even after they decided to move here. Especially after she fell and broke her ankle."
"How's she doing?"
"Better. She's back to work but on desk duty. Olivia is still not doing full duty either but she wants to limit being out in the field to only when she has to. She is actually looking forward to summer when Shauna joins the squad."
"She's looking forward to moving here. I'm glad she and Patty finally worked things out. I could see where she was coming from. Most of us could."
"Pretty much the same reason I didn't want to make it my life."
"We really like Jeff and the girls. His parents are nice too. I'm actually glad they'll all be at Disney together. I hope they can start something up. Hearing what her ex did to her really pisses me off. She needs someone that will love both her and her son and my grandson deserves to have a dad."
"Introducing them was all Diana with help from her partner in crime."
"Partner in crime is about right. Long distance is hard though. Olivia and I did that for 6 months."
"How do we find out how old our smoke detectors are?"
"I'll check it out."
Jason checked all the smoke detectors throughout the house and then he came back.
"They're the 10-year ones but there's maybe 3 years left. I'll put some new ones in for you. Hank, did you want me to check yours too while I'm here?"
"Ours were replaced last year. Thanks anyway."
"No problem. I just thought I'd ask."
"I probably should have had them checked sooner. They can be so sensitive though."
"They are pretty sensitive sometimes. I'll be back."
Jason left and went to get new smoke detectors, while everyone else continued putting the furniture together. Jason returned and installed the new smoke detectors.
"That's it?"
"Yep. That's it. I do it for everyone in the family all the time except for Patty and Jack, Mom and Dad and the Pub."
"Those are all my problem."
"I need to get Rachel from Preschool. Do you need me to come back?"
"I don't think so. Thanks for your help."
"Yeah, no problem."
"You want me to drop you off, Al?"
"Yeah. Are you gonna take the SUV back to Olivia?"
"I'll check."
Hank texted Olivia and then he and Al went to get their jackets before heading to pick up Rachel. Olivia replied back and said she did, since Jay was picking up Erin early for PT, Jeff had some errands to run before he headed home and Diana was only working part of the day. He said he would bring it back once he picked up Rachel and went to the house with Al to get the other one. He also asked her if she wanted to have lunch and she replied that she did. Hank went to get Rachel and then they headed home to get the other SUV. Noah and Rachel wanted to go with and Camille was taking a nap, so Noah got in his seat and they headed to the Precinct. Al picked up Meredith on the way. When Hank and the kids arrived, they waited for Al and Meredith and then they went up. The kids waved to everyone and went to Olivia's office.
"Hi Mommy!"
"Hello, my babies."
"We wanted to have lunch with you."
"That's great!"
Both kids went to give Olivia and hug and then she got up. She took their hands and walked out of the office. Then she kissed Hank.
"Where are we going?"
"The Pub?"
"That works. Erin, do you want to come too?"
"Sure."
"Anyone else?"
"Sure."
Everyone got their jackets and headed down to both of Hank and Olivia's SUVs and then Al and Hank drove to the Pub. When they arrived, they got out of the vehicles and went in.
"Hey, everyone."
"Hey."
"Where are the guys?"
"At Junior's."
"I asked if he wanted me to come back and he said they were fine."
"I talked to Senior a little bit ago and he said they were pretty much done but they were going to stay there for a while."
"I have to show you what your son did."
Olivia got out her phone and showed Colleen. All she could do was shake her head and laugh. Then the others looked at the pics.
"Oh, geez! They don't even have this kid yet and he's spoiling him."
"Hank had to call me to bring our SUV to them because Ed realized they couldn't fit all the stuff he bought in his with the 3 of them."
"We all hope to meet him soon."
"I told them not to overwhelm him with all of you just yet. I get that Erin, Dan and the kids are there more than anyone and I know Ed, Diana and Kara are here a lot but he's been through a lot lately. I really don't want him to be too overwhelmed with so many new people."
"What happened with him?"
"He was abused by his foster parents. He's been in the system pretty much his entire life. His biological parents are deceased. He wasn't in this home for very long and he just wasn't adjusting. He was wetting the bed more and instead of contacting his case worker, his foster parents started hitting him. He called 9-1-1 himself and we were called in. We also found out that the other kids in the home were being abused as well. His case worker is the same one both Noah and Rachel had. She had contacted me a month ago because Ed and Diana had put me down as a reference. Honestly, I feel better knowing that he's being placed with them."
"We will love him like he's one of us, just like we do Kara and all of you."
"That's good to know. I did tell Ms. Jackson, the case worker, that Ed has a big family, so he will have lots of love. I told her that their situation is a lot like ours."
"Is he in school?"
"He's 6 but they said he's in Kindergarten. I think his birthday is in October. With a lot of love and understanding, I think he'll be ok."
Their food was brought out and then everyone ate. After they were done, they said goodbye to the Tuckers and went outside. Olivia took one of the SUVs and headed back to the Precinct with her squad after she kissed Hank and the kids. Hank took Al and Meredith home and then headed home as well.
Diana was just arriving at home. She got out of the SUV and went in. She was surprised to see everyone.
"Hey."
"Hey, Diana."
She went over to Ed and kissed him.
"How was work?"
"Same crap, different day. As much as I enjoyed the cruise we went on, I'm ready for another vacation."
"Kara's off next week, right?"
"Yeah, which is why I want to see what we can do about getting Brandon into school as soon as we can, so he start right after their break."
"Maybe we can see if we can spend a few days at that water park we went to for Rachel's birthday. Kara has been wanting to go back."
"Erin and I were talking about doing the same thing. Why don't we go up together?"
"That sounds great."
Dan called Erin and she thought it was a great idea. Ed made reservations for all of them and then the guys left to head back to the Pub. Diana called work and said she would be off next week as well as tomorrow. Ed took Diana upstairs and showed her what they had done.
"Wow! His room looks great."
"I'm glad you like it. I just want him to feel comfortable here."
"I do too. Olivia said we can always call them if we need help with anything and she did tell me to keep in touch with Trevor."
"Ok. Jason replaced our smoke detectors while he was here. He said there were 3 years left on them but he did it anyway."
"That's great. I see Lola likes it in here."
"Yep. She was watchin' when we were workin' in here. We weren't sure we'd get everything done with just the 3 of us, so I called for backup. Dan happened to be off today and Jason was off. Hank and Al stayed until Rachel had to be picked up from Preschool and then they were going to take the SUV back to Liv I guess."
"Other than Hank and Al, I'm not used to having this much help. This family stuff is still kind of new to Kara and me."
"I get it and this dad stuff is still pretty new to me."
"At least I haven't gone through the phase where Kara hates met yet. Hank went through that with Justin and Al and Meredith went through it with Lexi. I'm expecting her to start her period before too long."
"Dan said the same thing about Kelly. It's not like I've never dealt with that before. I do have 3 younger sisters and I was still at home when Erin started goin' through it."
"It seems like only yesterday that Kara was 5 and starting Kindergarten but now she's 11 and in 6th grade. Now we're going to have a 6 year old, who's in Kindergarten."
"Yep."
Diana kissed Ed and then the doorbell rang. They went downstairs with Lola right behind them. It was Ms. Jackson.
"Ms. Jackson."
"Hello. This is Brandon. Brandon, these are the Tuckers, your new foster parents."
"Hey, Brandon. I'm Ed and this is Diana. We have an 11-year old daughter Kara, who's at school."
"Hi."
Brandon looked at Lola.
"This is Lola. You can pet her."
Brandon shyly put his hand on Lola's head.
"Ms. Jackson, would you like to see his room?"
"Of course."
Everyone went upstairs, so they could show Brandon his room and so Ms. Jackson could see it."
"Very nice. If you have any problems, give me a call. Here are his records for you to get him into school."
Ms. Jackson handed Ed the file and then Diana walked her downstairs.
"I'll be in touch."
"Ok."
Diana shut the door and went back upstairs. Brandon was sitting on the bed with Lola.
"It looks like you made a new friend."
"I like dogs."
"We're glad to hear that. We got her from the shelter just before Christmas."
"She needed a home like me?"
"Yep."
"Do you work?"
"I do. Ed is retired and is home. He does spend a lot of time over at my sister and brother-in-law's. Do you remember Lieutenant Voight?"
"You mean Olivia?"
"Yes."
"I like her and Amanda too."
"Well, that's good because she's my sister."
"Really?"
"Yep. Ed has a big family too. How would you like to spend some time at a water park?"
Brandon's eyes lit up.
"When?"
"Next week."
"I would love that."
"Good. Tomorrow we will take you to see if we can get you into school and then we'll take you to get some clothes."
"Ok."
"We're going with one of Ed's sisters and her family, so you can meet some of them."
"How many do you have?"
"I'm the oldest of 6. My parents own a Pub."
"I never had a grandma and a grandpa before or even a real family."
"We don't want to overwhelm you with Ed's family just yet, so we will introduce them to you a little at a time."
"We do need to check and see if Lola can stay with Hank and Olivia or my parents while we're gone."
"I'll check with Hank and Olivia. I'm sure it won't be a problem. Maybe we should have them over for dinner tonight."
"I'll go see what I can find and you check with them."
"Ok. I'm going to take her for a walk, so I'll take Brandon with me and we can head that way."
"Ok."
"Brandon, do you want to go for a walk?"
"Ok."
They went downstairs, so Diana could get her jacket and Lola's leash. She kissed Ed and then they went for a walk. They walked to Hank and Olivia's. When they got there, Diana rang the bell. Hank opened the door.
"Hey."
"Hey. This is Brandon. Brandon, this is Hank, Olivia's husband."
Brandon held his hand out, so Hank shook it.
"Nice to meet you."
"You too."
"Are you and Liv doing anything for dinner?"
"I was just trying to figure out what I was going to make. Erin has PT after work and she and Jay usually go out for dinner afterward. We went to the Pub for lunch with Olivia and her squad. The only one that didn't go was Camille. Come on in."
"Thanks."
They went in and then Stormy and Misty came to see who was there as did Noah and Rachel.
"This is Stormy and Misty and Noah and Rachel. Noah and Rachel, this is Brandon. He's going to be living with us for a while."
"Hi."
"Hi."
"Wanna come play with us?"
Then Brandon looked at Diana.
"For a little bit. I need to go pick up Kara soon."
Diana's phone rang. It was Ed, so she answered it. He called to tell her that his sister was picking Kara up and he kind of invited them for dinner too. Then she hung up.
"Well, it looks like Erin, Dan and the kids are coming for dinner too and Erin is picking Kara up."
"Let me call Olivia."
Hank dialed Olivia's number, while the kids went to play
"Hey, Honey."
"Hey. Do you wanna go over to Ed and Diana's for dinner?"
"Sure."
"Ok. I guess Erin, Dan and the kids will be there."
"Sounds like a plan. What time?"
"Hold on. Diana, what time?"
"6?"
"Is 6 ok?"
"That works. She said 6."
"Sounds great. I'll see you in a little while."
"Ok. Love you."
"I love you too."
Diana texted Ed to tell him that she told Hank and Olivia dinner was at 6. He replied and said he was fine with that. Hank then hung up the phone.
"She said that was fine."
"Good."
"How are things goin' so far?"
"So far so good. He and Lola seem to be getting along pretty well so far. We're actually planning to go the water park we went to for Rachel's birthday next week with Kara off except she doesn't know yet. Would you and Olivia be able to take care of Lola while we're gone?"
"It shouldn't be a problem. I'll check with Olivia.
"Ok. If not, we can ask Ed's parents or someone other than Dan and Erin because they're going with us. We're leaving Saturday and coming back the following weekend. I needed a few days off. I loved getting away for a week with just Ed when we went on the cruise though."
"Olivia and I feel that way too. As much as we love the kids, sometimes we just need time for us to reconnect. We're really hoping that this year is better than last year was."
"I understand. As far as work goes, this has been a bad year so far."
"Hopefully that gets better too."
Then Lucy came out of the kitchen.
"Hey, Diana."
"Hey, Lucy."
"Brandon is so polite and they are all playing together nicely."
"That's great. I'm glad they seem to be getting along. I'm glad Olivia warned me about Ms. Jackson."
"She did not like Liv when she first had Noah. She was a little better when they first got Rachel. If you need help with anything, don't hesitate to call me."
"Thank you, Lucy. We appreciate that."
"You're welcome. Hank, I'm going to head home. Camille is in the playpen."
"Ok. We'll see you tomorrow."
"Yep."
Lucy went to say goodbye to the kids, got her stuff and then she left. Diana and Brandon stayed for a little while longer and then they left with Lola to head home. Hank went into the living room to join the kids and wait for Olivia to come home. A little while later, Dan and Erin arrived with the kids. Everyone got out of the car and Kara unlocked the door. They went into the kitchen.
"Hey."
"Hey, Sweetie. BRANDON, CAN YOU COME IN HERE PLEASE?"
"SURE."
Brandon came into the kitchen.
"Brandon, this is Kara, our daughter. Kara, this is Brandon. Also, Brandon, this is Ed's youngest sister Erin, her husband Dan and their kids Connor and Kelly. This is Brandon."
"Hey, Brandon. It's nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet all of you too."
"You too."
"Kara, you should go up and see his room."
"I need to see this too."
Kara, Kelly, Erin and Connor went upstairs and looked at Brandon's room. Then they came back downstairs.
"Wow! That looks great. Olivia showed us the picture of everything you bought."
"Why doesn't that surprise me?"
"We think it's cute."
"Kara, we are going to the water park while you're on break."
"Yes! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Kara gave both Ed and Diana a hug.
"I am so jealous."
"We're going too."
"What! No way!"
Kelly hugged her parents.
"When are we going?"
"We leave Saturday morning and come back the following weekend."
"So awesome! Who's taking care of Lola while we're gone?"
"I asked your Uncle Hank if he and Aunt Olivia could do it. He said he'd talk to her. If not, then maybe Grandma and Grandpa or someone else in the family. Uncle Hank didn't seem to think it would be a problem. Lola gets along pretty well with Stormy and Misty."
"Yeah, they did. Kelly and I are going to go upstairs and do our homework."
"Ok."
Kara and Kelly went up to Kara's room to do their homework and Connor went to find a spot to do his too. A couple hours later, dinner was in the oven and Hank, Olivia and the kids were on their way over. When they got there, they rang the doorbell. Diana answered it and invited them in.
"Olivia said ok to Lola staying with us."
"Oh, great. Thank you so much."
"No problem."
Everyone took their jackets off and then they went into the kitchen. Rachel and Noah went to find Brandon.
"Hello, Edward."
"Hey."
Ed went over to Olivia and kissed her cheek.
"Are you doing anything while the kids are off?"
"Not really. They've been bugging us to go swimming though."
"Maybe we could take them with us."
"Absolutely."
"Erin and Jay have been talking about going to Chicago for a few days to see Will, Nat and Owen. If they go and Noah and Rachel go with Ed and Diana, that gives us a few days to ourselves. That would also give Lucy some well-deserved time off."
"You two are sure?"
"Of course. I wouldn't have offered otherwise."
"It sounds great. We better ask Noah and Rachel first."
Olivia went to ask Noah and Rachel if they wanted to go to the water park with Aunt Diana and Uncle Ed and they said they did. When Brandon saw her, he gave her a big hug. Then she went back into the other room.
"They're excited."
"Good."
"Thank you so much for this."
"No problem."
Once dinner was ready, everyone sat down and ate. Things seemed to be going ok but then Brandon spilled his milk. He got upset and ran off. Ed got up and went to look for him, while Diana cleaned it up. Ed found him in the closet in his room.
"Come here, Buddy."
"Don't hit me."
"I'm not gonna hit you. It was an accident. The last place you lived, the same thing happened and they hit you. Is that what happened?"
Brandon nodded his head and then he moved closer to Ed.
"No one here will ever hit you. I promise."
"Why did those other people hit me?"
"I don't know, Buddy. I really don't."
Brandon had tears running down his cheeks as he wrapped his arms around Ed and then Ed wrapped his arms around him. Olivia had come up to check on the situation.
"I guess that time you spent with Noah helped prepare you for this."
"I guess it did."
"Everything ok?"
"Yeah. He thought we were gonna hit him."
"This happens quite a bit with kids that are abused. They remember what happened to them. He's old enough to remember what happened to him."
"I think we'll be ok."
Ed got up and picked Brandon up before they went back downstairs to finish dinner. After dinner, everyone left to head home and Ed and Diana both tucked Brandon in after he was ready for bed. Kara came in to say goodnight and Lola came in as well. She jumped up on the bed and got settled.
"Thank you for letting me live here."
"You're welcome. If you need anything, you know where to find us."
"Me too."
"Can you leave the door open a little?"
"Of course."
Ed and Diana both kissed him goodnight and then they left to door open. Kara went to bed and the Ed and Diana went to bed as well. The next day after they got Kara off to school, they took Brandon to get him registered for Kindergarten and then they took him shopping for some new clothes. They were all excited about their trip to the water park and Hank and Olivia were looking forward to some time to themselves with Jay, Erin and Camille going to Chicago for a few days and Noah and Rachel going with Ed, Diana and the kids. Olivia had told Fin that she was planning to take some time off and unless they really needed her, she was not available. As he always did, he assured her that they'd be fine.
Stay tuned for moreā¦
As always, reviews are appreciated.
