A/N: Some of you said you'd like a part two, and I guess that managed to spark my muse. It's just a conglomeration of some random scenes I couldn't get out of my head. Hopefully it's semi enjoyable. Once again, parts were inspired by a Bones quote that I loved. It's underlined.

There was a knock on the door of her apartment, and Amanda quickly went to open it. "Hi, Mia!" She greeted with a smile when she came face to face with Sonny's niece.

"Hey, Amanda," she smiled back.

"Thanks for agreeing to watch the girls on such short notice, I really appreciate it."

"Well, Uncle Sonny did say it was important..." she smirked, crossing her arms much like Sonny would. It was definitely a signature family trait. "Is this really the first date you two are going on?" She asked as she studied Amanda's outfit, with an eyebrow raised.

Amanda suddenly felt exposed and wished she would have put on her jacket before she answered the door. "He told you that?"

"Yeah, but I didn't believe him. I thought he was just using some good old fashion Italian/Catholic guilt like my nonna and mom would. But he didn't have to guilt me, I would have said yes anyways."

"Well, it is true. Your uncle would never lie, Mia. You know that. It wasn't some type of guilt trip."

"Interesting..."

"Why's that?" she asked casually as she ushered Mia to the kitchen and gestured for her to set down her backpack.

Mia shrugged. "He just always talks about you and the girls when we have Sunday dinner. Just like last week he was asking Aunt Bella if she thought Billie was old enough to enjoy the aquarium. He said you'd never been there, and he couldn't wait to take you because he'd knew you'd love it, but he wanted to make sure the girls would have a good time, too."

Amanda moved around the kitchen and tossed her phone and keys into her purse as she went. "Wait...are you sure he said that last week?" She asked, looking up at Mia.

"Yeah."

"Like absolutely certain?"

"Positive. Why?" Mia asked curiously.

"Oh, no reason. Was he by himself?"

Mia scoffed. "Yeah. Who else would he bring besides you?" She asked rhetorically, rolling her eyes. "I swear...we all thought you've been dating for a long time. Aunt Gina wants to know why he's hiding you from us."

Amanda took a bit too much joy in the fact that Girlfriend never went out to Staten Island for dinner with his family, but she tried not to let it show. "Um, Billie's already asleep," she began, changing the subject. "She might wake up in a little bit, though. If you just rock her, she should go back to sleep pretty easily. Sonny said she hadn't been sleeping well while I was in Atlanta, but Billie and I got lots of snuggles in today, so hopefully that will help. Jessie will probably want a snack before bed, and that's fine. She should be in bed within the next hour or so. Her new obsession is Biancabella and Other Italian Fairytales, she'll probably ask for two stories, at least."

Mia beamed. "I loved that book!" She exclaimed. "Nonna read it all the time to me. I used to call Aunt Bella "Aunt Biancabella" when I was little because of it...well, actually I think it was Uncle Sonny who convinced me that Bella was short for Biancabella. Aunt Bella hated it."

Amanda chuckled at the thought of Sonny instigating his sister like that. "Oh, and help yourself to anything in the fridge you want. Your uncle's been babysitting for the last five days, so there's tons of leftovers in there. Hey, Jessie," Amanda called out to the living room. "Come say hi to Mia before I leave."

Jessie ran over to the kitchen. "Hi, Mia!" She exclaimed happily.

"Hey, kiddo! I'm excited to hang out with you tonight."

"Me, too...even if Momma just got home and is already leaving again," Jessie replied with a pout.

Amanda kneeled down to Jessie's level and brushed her hair away from her face. "I know, sweetie. I know, but I'll be home tonight. I'll come in and give you a kiss when I get home, I promise." Jessie didn't say anything, so Amanda continued. "I'm sure Uncle Sonny will come in and say good night, too. You know how you and Billie got to see Uncle Sonny every day for the last five days?"

Jessie nodded.

"Well, Momma didn't get to see him at all, and that makes me kind of sad. So, we're going to go out for a little bit when he's done working..."

"And that will make you feel better?" Jessie asked.

"Yes," her mother nodded.

"Okay. Uncle Sonny makes me feel better when I'm sad, too. I cried 'cause I missed you and he hugged me and kissed me and then I felt better. Maybe he can hug and kiss you and make you feel better, too," Jessie suggested innocently.

"Yeah, I think that's a pretty great idea, Jessie." Mia agreed in a sing song voice with a smirk.

Amanda was nervous as she walked down the hallway towards Sonny's office – her high heel boots clicking against the tile and echoing in the empty hall as she went. She knew that he wouldn't turn her down for drinks this time, but the last time she appeared in his office – before he awkwardly tried to tell her he was seeing someone and her father's doctor calling – she was working up the courage to ask him out for drinks, too, so she couldn't seem to help the anxiety that was bubbling in the pit of her stomach. She took a deep breath when she approached the door.

"Hey, Dominick," she greeted as she stepped into his office, her tone was light and her smile was flirtatious.

The overhead light was turned off and when he looked up at her, the desk lamp illuminated his face. He swallowed thickly before he spoke. "Wow. You look great." A slow smile appeared on his face and his gaze never left hers.

She couldn't help but to mirror his smile. "Thanks." She ran her fingers through her hair as she walked over to sit in the chair in front of his desk. "So, I have a sitter tonight..."

"Yeah," he chuckled, "my niece who very graciously agreed to babysit even though I may have called her at 6:30am, which for the record, is apparently not the appropriate time to call a twenty-something year old..."

"I thought you said you were going to call her on your way to the office. You didn't even leave my apartment until 6:20 and you said you had to go home first..."

"Yeah, well, I may have been a little bit excited for our plans," he confessed with a slight blush. "I needed to make sure there was time to find another sitter if Mia couldn't do it."

Amanda grinned. "You know she thought that you were just laying on some Italian/Catholic guilt when you told her this was our first date."

He wrinkled his nose. "I guess I should have asked if it was okay if I told her that. I mean I told you that you could set the pace, and then I go and tell Mia. And I'm sure Mia will tell Theresa and Theresa will tell Bella, and Bella will tell Gina, and Gina will tell Ma, and Ma will tell Aunt Josephina, and Aunt Josephina will tell Aunt Maria...and eventually it will make its way through the entire family, slightly embellished, I'm sure – kinda like that game of telephone. By the time it makes its way around the entire Carisi family we can be married and living in Albany for all we know." He joked.

Amanda laughed. "Nah, don't worry about it, besides, she made it sound like your family thinks we were already dating...it probably won't even be news to them."

"For the record, I tried to tell them we weren't dating, but they're stubborn. They didn't believe me – especially Gina."

She fought the urge to ask if that's why he never introduced them to Allie. "It's okay. Anyways," she began, trying to get back on track, "since I have a sitter, I thought I could take you out for a drink...or three."

He pretended to think about it for a second. "Uhh, I have a lot of work to catch up on." He gestured across his desk. "Maybe I can take a rain check?" He teased, as he leaned backwards in his chair and stretched his arms out behind his head.

Amanda stood up, picked up a file folder from his desk and reached over to swat his chest with it. "Hey!"

He laughed and held his hands up in surrender-moving back up to sit in a seated position. "Well, I suppose I could go for a drink...or three." He winked, even though he didn't actually think Amanda had enough energy to make it to three drinks tonight.

"Good."

"Just give me one second..." he began as he logged off his computer and locked his filing cabinet. "Okay, I'm all set. What about you?"

"Can't wait," she smiled.

He grabbed his coat off of the coat rack, and slipped into it, before he flipped off the desk lamp and reached for her hand in the dark.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" He asked once they were in the hallway and he let go of her hand so he could lock his office door. "You gotta be exhausted."

"I am always exhausted," she replied with a shrug. "And this is important to me...is it important to you?"

"Yes, of course it is! But I want you to have a good time, and if you're too tired, we can always cut it short. I believe our deal was to collect on a raincheck...there was nothing in this agreement that specifically stipulated three drinks were a requirement."

"Of course, you'd go all lawyer on me, Carisi." She rolled her eyes at him.

He shrugged and looked over at her. "Occupational hazard," he said as his hand went to her lower back to guide her down the hallway towards the elevator. It was an innocent touch – one they had shared hundreds of times before, but it felt different now.

"You know, Jessie wasn't very happy with the fact that I just got home and I was already leaving, but I also think she was disappointed she wasn't going to get to see you tonight."

"I miss them already, too," he said sincerely. It was amazing how quickly he and the girls fell into their own routine in such a short amount of time. It had been exhausting in its own way, of course, and he had a whole new understanding for Amanda's ability to be a full-time cop and a single mother.

"I figured that, so I may have told Jessie that you'd come in and kiss her good night when we got home tonight," she replied sheepishly as she reached over to press the button for the elevator.

"You invitin' me back to your apartment before we even started our date, Rollins?" He teased as they watched the numbers above the elevator light up.

"Maybe," she shrugged, "but don't play coy with me. You already planned on it. I know you. It's a triple win for you, actually. You want to make sure I get home safely, you want to check in on Billie and Jessie, and you're going to want to make sure Mia will get home safely, too. You'll offer to take her home, and she'll argue with you about it. Eventually, you'll reach a compromise. She'll take a cab, but you'll memorize the cab number, the plate number, and a description of the driver. You'll also tell her to Facetime you when she gets back to her apartment."

The elevator doors opened, and they stepped in. "Well, that does sound like me." He admitted with a smirk as he pressed the button for the lobby.

"You're not doing that just because Mia's your niece, either. You'd do that for any babysitter I had tonight because you're a good man, Dominick."

And in the back of her mind, she thought, I don't know how to date a good man.

They went to their usual bar, and Amanda couldn't help but to nervously pick at the label on the beer bottle as they sat together at one of the high-top tables. "I made an appointment with Dr. Hanover for next week," she blurted out quickly after they finished talking about the things she had missed while she was in Atlanta. Then she took a long gulp of beer as she waited for his reaction.

He leaned forward, studying her carefully. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I-I don't know, really. I just know that this -us," she clarified, waving her hand in the space between them, "is important to me, and I don't want to mess things up. I don't know how to date someone like you. Well, not even someone like you... I mean you."

His brow furrowed the slightest bit. "I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean." He replied honestly, wondering if she was suddenly having second thoughts about giving their relationship a real shot.

"It's nothing bad...it's just I don't know how to date a good man – and that's what you are – one of the absolute best men in the whole entire world, and I'm not saying that to be dramatic, either. I truly believe that you are." Her eyes softened when she smiled at him before she took a breath and continued. "I always keep men at an arm's length so I won't get hurt...I pick and choose what parts of my life I share with them, and it still fails. But you...you're different. You already know everything about me, the good, the bad, the downright ugly things, and yet, you're still here. You broke a date to handle a crisis for me when my dad's doctor called, and no man in my life has ever done anything like that for me." She picked up a mozzarella stick from their shared appetizer plate. "And for some reason, that scares me."

He frowned before taking a swig of his own beer. "I don't want to scare you – ever. When did...please tell me if-"

"No," she interrupted, "not you. The idea of having a normal, healthy relationship scares me. I've never, ever seen one in my entire life. You at least had your parents..."

"Yeah, well," he shrugged. "They weren't always perfect, either, Amanda. People go through things. It's part of a relationship evolving, I think."

She raised an eyebrow. "Even your parents?"

"Even my parents. There was one summer when I was about eight or nine," he recalled, "when they told me and my sisters that my dad had to go out of town for work for a while and they didn't know when he'd be back. Pop only had one suitcase with him when he left, and Ma was just...off. Well, a few days later, Theresa and I were walking to the park and we saw him coming out of Mr. Marino's barber shop. So, we followed him – all the way to Uncle Tony and Aunt Maria's house. Theresa and I literally treated it like a stakeout. Hell, maybe that was what first made me entertain the idea of being a cop. We would hide outside of his work, and follow him when he left. He never went home; he always went to Uncle Tony's -for at least two or three weeks before he finally came back home and things were normal again. To this day, I don't really know what the problem was, but it was something, and they worked through it."

For some reason, Amanda found an odd level of comfort in this information. "So even good relationships aren't always good."

"Not even in the movies, my dear," he replied with a dramatic old time Hollywood accent. Then he became serious and reached for her hand. "We just need to learn how to communicate with each other effectively – no more beating around the bush, hiding behind veiled comments. And honestly, since we're both aware that we are on the same page now, I think that will become easier."

She gulped down the rest of her beer and motioned towards the bartender to bring over more. "Then in the spirit of full disclosure, I was jealous as hell when I realized you were about to tell me you did have a date right as I got that phone call."

"I should have been honest with you from the start...I didn't want to hurt you, and in turn, I think I hurt you more. I just...I thought maybe NYE was going to be a turning point for us, and then the Amber Alert came through, and the moment was gone...we never quite seemed to get it back, either. So, I had to try to convince myself that I was reading too much into something that wasn't even there. For as awful as it makes me sound, Allie was a good distraction."

"I think that just makes you human." Amanda bit down on her bottom lip for a moment, knowing full well she shouldn't have expected him to wait forever for her. Then she gave a polite smile and "thank you" to the bartender when he brought their second round of drinks. "I, um, I think I've known for a long time how you've felt about me, and I tried to ignore it because I was scared. But, now...now I think I know how you must have felt when I was dating Al and pregnant with his child. I'm sorry."

"That did hurt a lot..." he trailed off for a second, recalling how when she went into labor, she held his hand in the hospital and asked him not to leave, but then Dr. Al had appeared out of nowhere and proposed to her. "But, Amanda, Billie is here because of that and I love her so much. I can't imagine a world where she doesn't exist. I don't want to imagine a world where she doesn't exist."

Amanda watched his eyes light up when he talked about Billie. He always seemed so happy when he talked about her girls – his smile was bigger, his eyes brighter. Words failed her and she squeezed his hand. "Thank you for everything you did these last few days. Hell, the last seven or so years, really. You really have been my lifeline. And, again, I'm really sorry about our blow-up fight in the squad room when you left us for the DA's office and calling you stupid."

"Stop apologizing for that, Rollins. It was a... difficult time...and you can fight with someone, and be angry with someone and still love them." As soon as he said the word love, he was afraid that it would send her running. Surely, she had to know how much he did love her, but knowing it and hearing it were two different things. He didn't think she was ready to hear his "I love you" declaration yet.

Instead, he was pleased with the watery smile she gave him. "You're so good to us," she choked out, forcing herself not to cry. The adrenaline she lived off of for most of this the week was starting to wear off, and she brought her hand up to wipe away the tears that spilled from her eyes.

"Hey, hey," he soothed as he pulled out his wallet and dropped enough cash on the table to cover their bill and a generous tip. "Let's get you home, huh?"

"Okay," she sniffled. "Even if we only had two drinks," she tried her hand at humor to stop herself from crying, but it didn't work.

Sonny stood up and helped her slip into her jacket before putting on his own. "We can have our third drink in the comfort of your own home, huh? How's that sound?"

She didn't answer verbally, she only nodded and allowed herself to melt in his embrace as he wrapped an arm around her and escorted her out of the bar. When they stepped into the cool air, the dam broke and every emotion she tried so hard to keep in check these last few days poured out. She slipped her hands in his open jacket, wrapped her arms around his waist, and held on to him as if her life depended on it. She felt safe.

"I got you," he murmured into her hair – a parallel to that moment in the elevator after Bucci had abducted her last year – as her tears spilled across his chest. "I got you. It's okay. Everything will be okay. I'm right here. It's okay to have a lifeline," he said. "We're each other's lifeline, Manda. There's no reason to let go."

The room was dark – except for the soft glow coming from the nightlight– when Sonny opened the bedroom door to his goddaughters' room. It became a habit to check on them frequently these last few nights, and it was something he didn't want to give up any time soon. He knew that he and Amanda couldn't jump into things too quickly, but he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this was the life he wanted. Forever.

There was, however, one major difference about checking in on the girls tonight. He wasn't doing it alone this time. Tonight, Amanda was with him and he felt complete.

"Sleep well, baby," Amanda whispered as she leaned over Jessie's bed and placed a kiss on her forehead.

Jessie's eyes fluttered open for a moment. "Mommy..." she began sleepily. "You did come to kiss me goodnight."

"Well, of course I did. I promised, didn't I?"

"Uncle Sonny, too?" She asked, hopefully.

"Uncle Sonny's right here," he said as he finished adjusting Billie's blankets and then turned to face Jessie as Amanda stepped over to Billie's crib.

"Yay. Will you be here in the morning?" By now, she was able to keep her eyes open.

"Uhh...I'm not sure," he stammered, awkwardly, trying to search Amanda's eyes in the dark for an answer.

"We should have French toast if you are."

He chuckled. "So noted."

"Momma, can I talk to Uncle Sonny alone, please?"

"Um, uh, y-yeah, of course, honey." She did her best to mask her surprise. "I'll, um, I'll go get us that third drink, Dominick," she said before kissing Jessie one more time and slipping out of the room.

"Is something wrong, Pumpkin Pie?" Sonny asked in a whisper as he kneeled beside Jessie's bed. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Did you give Momma a hug and a kiss?" she asked curiously.

Even though he was a detective turned prosecutor – he had not been expecting that to be their topic of conversation. "Umm...where'd that question come from?"

"Inside my head," Jessie replied, like it was the most obvious answer in the whole entire world. "Or maybe my mouth, actually."

Sonny couldn't stop his laughter. "I mean, why are you asking me that?" He clarified as he fixed Jessie's blanket and adjusted the stuffed animals around her.

"Well...Momma said that she was sad cause she didn't get to see you for five days, and I told her that I was sad when she was gone and you gave me a hug and a kiss and then I felt better. I said I bet if you did that for her, she'd feel better, too. I don't want Momma to be sad."

"I don't want Momma to be sad either." He brushed Jessie's hair out of her eyes. "All I want is for Momma to be happy."

"Then you better give her a hug and kiss," Jessie said adamantly. "Mia thinks so, too." She supplied.

He couldn't help the little eyeroll that happened naturally. Of course, Mia would have an opinion on that matter, too. "Okay, okay, okay. I think I can do that."

"Good."

"Now, that we have that order of business taken care of, it's way past your bedtime. Get some sleep, okay?"

"'Kay." She mumbled as she began to drift asleep again.

Sonny stepped out of the girls' room and pulled the door closed behind him with a soft click. He made his way back to the living room and found Amanda curled up with a blanket on the couch, two beer bottles on the coffee table waiting for them, and the television on some reality TV show with the volume turned down very low.

This was home to him.

Her.

The girls.

This was the only thing that could ever be his home, and he was foolish to think that Allie had been anything but a consolation prize.

She moved over just enough for him to sit down before she snuggled next to him much like she had on NYE – only this time they were even closer than before – and not just physically – it was mentally and emotionally as well, too.

"Mia Facetimed you when you were in there with Jessie. I hope you don't mind that I answered. She's home safe."

"That's good and of course I don't mind, Amanda."

There was a comfortable silence between them before she spoke again. "What did Jessie have to say that she couldn't say in front of me?" Her tone was amused, genuinely curious, and she tapped her fingers steadily against his chest.

Sonny chuckled. "She said that you were sad that you didn't get to see me while you were gone, so I should give you a hug and a kiss to make you feel better."

Amanda laughed lightly. "I had a feeling that's what it was about...she may have said something like that to me as I was leaving earlier."

"Mmm, I see," he hummed as he turned so he could kiss her on the lips. He would never tire of getting to kiss her like that, and he couldn't wait for the day they crossed the next level in their relationship. If kissing her was this magical, he knew he couldn't even begin to imagine what everything else would be like.

"I, uh, know that you've spent a lot of time here lately, but maybe you would want to stay the night?" she asked with a small yawn.

"There's no place else I'd rather be."

"Good. I just have one question, though..." she started, as her head came to rest on his chest and her eyelids heavy as she tried to fight sleep. She tried to push the thought out of her mind, and focus solely on the latest Real Housewives drama playing out on the television in front of them, but she just couldn't.

"What's that?" He asked quietly, bringing his hand up to massage her scalp gently.

"Did you watch reality TV with Allie?" There were a lot of things she didn't ever need to know about him and Allie, but she needed to know the answer to that question.

"No way!"

"Not even HGTV? Because technically that falls under the umbrella of reality TV, Counselor."

"Not even HGTV," he confirmed.

"Okay, good," she gave a sleepy smile with her eyes closed. "That's our thing."

"Yeah," he agreed. "And Amanda?"

"Hmm?"

"As long as we have each other, we'll be okay. I promise you that. I mean look how far we came already. You didn't even like me when I first came to SVU..."

"Yeah, well, that mustache didn't help any," she reminded him. She opened her eyes and reached her hands out to cup his face between them. "I much prefer being able to see all of your face." She said softly before kissing him. "You really think we'll be okay, huh?"

"I do," he nodded. "I really do."

"Me too." She whispered back.

And, in the decades that followed, they were okay, because their friendship was the foundation of their relationship – not the fickle nature of love.