A/N: Thank you for the positive responses so far. I hope you like the next part.
...her breath caught in her throat, trying to gauge Olivia's response.
Nothing was said. Neither of them moved, or even seemed to breathe for an endless moment, before Olivia's lips crashed into Amanda's. Both of them moved feverishly, their breathing shallow as their lips moved together in a smooth, caressing dance. Olivia's hands wrapped around Amanda's shoulders, drawing the younger woman closer as she sucked her bottom lip between both her own, nipping lightly at it, eliciting a gasp from the blonde.
Olivia used the opportunity of Amanda's slightly parted lips to dart her tongue forward into the younger woman's mouth. There was a moan of longing, though where it originated, neither of them knew nor cared. Amanda's hands slid around the base of Olivia's skull to twine into the short, baby fine hairs at the nape of her neck, as her tongue tangled with Liv's, tasting each other fully for the first time.
The kiss lasted for several moments, and when they broke apart, both of them were breathless, and not to mention, slightly dazed. Their eyes met and reality hit Amanda like a punch in the gut. Oh shit, she had just made out with her boss! She was so fired! She opened her mouth, trying to apologise, to say anything that might prevent the loss of her job, and her friendship with Olivia. She stood there, gaping like a fish, but before she could gather her thoughts enough to form a coherent sentence, she noticed Olivia's mouth beginning to curl into a smile.
"Wow," the older woman panted, both her tone and her expression were incredulous. The smile spread wider until it became a full-on grin, the likes of which Amanda rarely saw on the brunette's face. It was as though she couldn't believe what had just happened. She had been extremely nervous about showing Amanda the room, worrying it would scare the southern woman away. She had been hoping to use it as a segue into a proposition that they spend more time with each other. She had never imagined that Amanda felt for her, the same way she felt for the blonde. But it had been Amanda that made the first move.
Amanda's eyes went from being wide with fear, to being wide with surprise. "You, uh, you're... okay... with this?" she asked in a bewildered tone, gesturing with a pointed finger from herself to Olivia, "with me kissing you I mean?"
Olivia took hold of Amanda's pointing hand between both of her own, holding it against her chest just over her pounding heart. "Amanda, I've wanted to do that for so long," she smiled. "I just never had the balls to tell you how I feel about you." Her eyes darted between the sapphire ones facing her, trying to read what Amanda was thinking. "I never dared to hope that you would feel the same way," she added in barely more than a whisper, her voice thick with emotion.
"I do, Liv," Amanda whispered back, cupping a tan cheek with her free hand, "I've felt this way since the moment I met you." She leaned in and placed a small, chaste kiss to Olivia's lips, her eyes never leaving her dark mocha orbs as their noses brushed together.
Liv smiled into the kiss, pressing her forehead against Amanda's for a long moment before taking a shuddering breath and whispering shyly, "Maybe we should put the kids to bed?" she suggested. "Then we don't have to worry about being interrupted."
Amanda bit her lip, torn between continuing kissing Olivia and seeing to her children. As though Liv knew what she was thinking, the brunette chuckled lightly, "I'm not going to change my mind, Manda. I want to be with you."
Feeling reassured, Amanda nodded, taking Olivia's hand securely in her own, she led the way to the door and back down the stairs to find the kids.
They found Noah just waking up as they re-entered the den. Liv pressed a finger to her lips and pointed at the still sleeping girls, signalling to Noah that he needed to keep quiet. He nodded his understanding as he carefully extracted his arm from around Billie and stood. He succeeded and stood, making his way over to his mother. "It's time for bed, sweet boy," Liv whispered to him, crouching down to his level so he could wrap his arms around her neck. "Why don't you go put on your pjs while I help Aunt Manda get the girls upstairs? I'll come and tuck you in in a minute, okay?"
"You're staying here?" Noah looked at Amanda hopefully as he stepped back from Olivia. When the blonde nodded, he asked, "does that mean we can have pancakes for breakfast?"
"Sure buddy," Amanda grinned. Noah absolutely loved the way she made pancakes, and requested them whenever one of their sleepovers occurred. The little boy hugged the southern woman tightly around her waist and she ruffled his curls, before he turned back to his mother. "I'm thirsty, Mommy, can I have some water?" he said in a whisper, rubbing his eyes tiredly.
"Sure sweetie, I'll bring you a glass up, okay?" With a nod, Noah scampered towards the stairs, heading off to get changed. Liv quickly retrieved a plastic cup from the kitchen and returned to the den, where Amanda was lifting Jesse gently into her arms. Liv followed suit with Billie, flicking off the lights behind them as they headed up after Noah.
Once the girls were laid on their new beds, Liv opened a drawer of the dresser and pulled out some pyjamas for the girls, handing them to Amanda. Seeing the blonde open her mouth about to tell her off, the brunette explained quickly, "don't worry, I didn't go out and buy them all new stuff. These are just a few things that you left at my place before we moved."
"Hmmm," Amanda narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her captain for a few seconds before she recognised the garments in her hands. "Alright. I'll let you off, just this once," she said with a flirtatious wink at the captain.
Liv responded with a flash of her megawatt smile and a low chuckle, before she left to deal with Noah.
Amanda set about getting her girls ready for bed. Luckily for her, both girls were heavy sleepers, so it was a quick and simple task for her to get both girls changed and tucked under the covers without waking either of them.
It gave her a little time to think about all that had happened between her and Olivia tonight, and to consider what was to come. Her stomach leapt with anticipation as she imagined what it would be like to touch Liv, to disrobe her, to kiss every inch of her…
A shudder ran down her spine and her core tightened at the prospect. Shaking herself mentally she returned to the task at hand. She fussed over the girls a little longer, tucking Jesse's long hair behind her ear, smiling as she wrinkled her little nose when it tickled. She adjusted the blanket over Billie, loosening it so that the toddler could cuddle it how she liked to.
Meanwhile Liv had filled the cup in the bathroom, and shuffled into Noah's room to check on her son.
He was already in bed waiting for her to kiss him goodnight, "can I have Eddie?" his high sweet voice asked as soon as she passed the threshold.
"Of course, we can't forget Eddie, can we?" She asked as she lifted Noah's favourite stuffed elephant and handed it to him. He pulled it under the covers, snuggling into it.
"Mom?" he asked, innocently, "are Aunt Manda and Jesse and Billie gonna come live with us forever now that they have their own rooms?"
Liv hesitated, then, avoiding an outright answer, she said, "would you like them to live with us?"
Noah smiled, nodding his head vigorously, causing his curls to bounce wildly. "It would be like having sisters." He said matter-of-factly. It brought Liv up a little short, it flashed before her, the image of them as a family unit. As an only child to a single, barely-there mother, Liv did not have a lot of experience of having a big family, but she found herself dreaming now, that Noah's words would become a reality.
"What about Aunt Manda, what would she be?" Liv asked, curious as to how her little boy's mind worked.
He thought for a moment, pursing his lips in concentration. "Mmm, well, my friend Preston at school has two mommies, so I guess she could be like my other mommy. 'Cept that could get confusing. Like if I say 'mommy' and you wouldn't know if I was talking to you or Aunt Manda." he frowned now, trying to puzzle out the problem of two mommies.
Olivia smiled at her son's expression, his dark brows furrowed over his crystal blue eyes. "Well," he began slowly, "Jesse and Billie call Aunt Manda 'mama', so I guess I could call her that too. And they can call you 'mommy' like I do."
Her heart swelled at the thought. She already loved Amanda's girls as if they were her own, so having them call her 'mommy' would be a dream come true. In danger of getting carried away with her fantasies, Olivia shook herself mentally. She wasn't even sure Amanda would want all that. It really depended on what happened tonight.
Not wanting to set Noah, or herself, up for disappointment, she said, "let me talk to Amanda about it, okay? She might not want to live here." The crestfallen look on her boy's face crushed her. "hey," she forced a smile on her lips, using her forefinger to lift his chin slightly, making eye contact with him, "we will just have to wait and see, sweet boy, now go to sleep." She kissed him on the forehead, ruffled his hair and whispered, "I love you."
"Love you too," he grinned back. As she turned and headed back out the door, he called after her, "will Aunt Manda come and kiss me goodnight?"
She smiled at him, "I'll ask her, but this stays between us for now, okay?" she added with a warning tone, suddenly serious. The last thing she needed was the blonde being scared away by being asked to move in and take on another child. Especially when they had only shared their first kiss less than half an hour ago. That was the very definition of moving too fast. When Noah nodded his understanding, she smiled again. goodnight, sweet boy."
"G'night, Mommy."
Amanda stood for a moment in the semi-darkness of the girls' new bedroom, just a pink nightlight projecting butterflies on the ceiling to light it. She turned at the sound of a quiet knock, finding Olivia poking her head around the door, smiling at her.
"Hey, Noah asked if you would go say goodnight to him," the brunette said in a whisper, sidling up to the blonde, stroking her fingertips lightly over her forearm and leaving goosebumps in their wake. "Are they settled in okay in here?"
Amanda tangled her fingers with Liv's as she nodded. Bringing their joined hands up to her lips, she ghosted a kiss across the other woman's knuckles, pleased with herself when she heard Liv's breath catch in response to the touch. At least I seem to have the same effect on her as she does on me.
"I'll be back in a moment," the blonde said, her voice low and husky, her blue eyes darkened to violet, full of unspoken promises as she left the room.
Creeping quietly into Noah's dark room, she could just make out his outline, curled up in a ball at the top of the bed, snuggling his Eddie tightly. thinking him already asleep she approached as quietly as she could, but as she neared the head of the bed, his eyes opened slowly to look at her. "Hey buddy," she whispered, crouching down beside the bed, automatically reaching to brush the curls from his eyes, "your mom said you wanted to say goodnight."
"Mmph," he muttered unintelligibly, burying his nose into his pillow, already nearly asleep.
She chuckled lightly to herself, kissed the top of his head and whispered, "g'night little man," then stood to leave the room.
As she walked she heard a quiet "'night, Mama," mumbled from the bed. She froze. Mama?
Slowly, she turned to face the little boy again. Did he just call me mama? Noah's breathing was deep and even now, and she knew he was asleep. With a small shake of her head, she backed towards the door.
Years ago, when Noah was very little and just learning to talk, he had struggled, his development delayed slightly due to his unfortunate start in life. The first time Amanda heard Noah speak was at the station, and they had all crowded into Liv's office to see the little boy that Lucy had just dropped off. Liv had handed Noah over to Amanda to hold while she sorted out a snack for him. "Can you say A-man-da, Noah? Say A-man-da," she had encouraged as she bounced him slightly in her arms.
Noah had simply gazed at the blonde holding him for a long moment, before placing a pudgy hand on her cheek and saying "Man-a."
The whole office went quiet and Amanda gasped as her eyes flew wide, looking from Noah to Liv, as the brunette dropped the bag of cheerios she was holding and hurried over to them. "What did you just say?" she asked the toddler in Amanda's arms. Noah patted the younger woman's cheek and replied, "Man-a." It had been a sweet moment, as tears of joy sprung to Olivia's eyes, made even sweeter for the blonde by the placement of Olivia's warm hand in the small of Amanda's back as she fawned over the boy in her arms.
Smiling fondly at the memory, she reached to open the door. I must have misheard him. He must have reverted to calling me Man-a because he's tired, she reasoned to herself, why would he call me mama?
They met on the landing, Amanda emerging from Noah's room as Liv softly shut the door to the girls' room. The look in Olivia's eyes, made the musings in Amanda's head vanish. It was just them now. Just her and Olivia. In this moment, nothing els mattered.
When they came together, Olivia didn't hesitate to take hold of Amanda's slim waist and pull the blonde close, Amanda wrapping her arms around Liv's shoulders. With a mischievous grin, Olivia asked in a low, sultry voice, "so, are you ready for the next part of the tour?"
"Where are we headed next, Captain?" Amanda asked with feigned innocence, her lips brushing the older woman's ear lobe as she spoke, causing a shiver down Olivia's spine in response.
Olivia pressed a soft kiss to the column of Amanda's throat, "I was thinking," she murmured, kissing again a little higher, "maybe," she kissed just below Amanda's ear, hearing the blonde gasp, and her breathing become ragged, "my bedroom?"
A/N: the 'M' rating comes next...