A while back, I posted a one-shot titled "Aftermath" in a series titled "Precious Moments." I mentioned then that it had the potential to turn into something more. Well, 87 years later perhaps it has done so. Reading that one-shot isn't 100% necessary to begin this story, but I feel it sets the stage. Feel free to go back. Or not. Your call.

This story explores the idea of Tuckson slowly starting their relationship a bit earlier than on the show...post-Lewis and pre-Noah. While I have a vague outline of where it will go, I imagine it will evolve on its own - whether with a few chapters or with many. I also don't anticipate it following the show too closely, though I may incorporate a few storylines along the way. I'll also be taking my own liberties, so if you are one to need a fic that strictly follows the show timeline, well, sorry. This will be a new Tuckson universe for us to enter and I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 1

Olivia stood in front of the desk downstairs at the social services building. Noah was securely gripped against her chest and she swayed gently back and forth, humming so softly she barely realized she was doing it. Eyeing the lady in front of her producing the necessary custody forms that had been signed and sealed by Judge Linden, Olivia began to feel the reality of what had just transpired.

"Detective Benson…would you be interested in being a foster parent to this child?"

Ever since those words had been muttered, Olivia felt like she was walking on air. From the time she nodded and saw the paperwork start, to when she walked into the play area where Noah was and scooped him up, sitting in a rocking chair and allowing herself to hold him, smell his baby scent, and come to terms with the fact she was taking him home, she was floating. Now she stood, gripping a little boy who was now completely dependent on her, and as her copies of the paperwork were slid into an envelope and handed over, an unfamiliar sense of panic ran through her veins. She had nothing at home. No blankets, toys, food…for her or a baby. There was no place for him to sleep. No diapers. Her heart rate began to spend up and before she could stop herself, she slid her phone from her pocket and fired off a text to the first person she could think of that may be willing to help. Slipping her phone back without waiting for a response, she took a deep breath.

"I…uh…" she stammered, trying desperately to appear under control out of fear they would quickly change their minds and take Noah from her right then and there. "Is there…does he have anything? Toys? Clothes?"

"Of course," the elderly lady said, coming around the desk and reaching into a nearby cabinet space. "This bag has a few of his favorite things, including a red blanket he likes to sleep with." She handed that over and Olivia slung it over her shoulder, thinking that was it, but the lady gestured for Olivia to follower her down the hallway. She produced an old, worn diaper bag. "In here you'll find some formula and a few jars of baby food, though he seems pretty adverse to trying it. Sorry we don't have any baby cereal to spare." The woman spoke quickly, almost as if she was ticking off a checklist in her head. "There's also a small supply of diapers for him and a couple of outfits. Andrew will be out front with a carseat for your ride home, unless you plan to take transit?"

Olivia, slightly bewildered, looked at the bags then down at Noah, quickly making her decision. "No, we'll take a cab." She glanced at the lady's name badge, chastising herself for not looking before. "Thank you, Linda. Thank you…so much."

Linda walked her to the door, introduced her to Andrew, patted Noah on the back and gently squeezed Olivia's arm. "This is the best part of this job…watching the lucky babies go home with someone like yourself. You take care of that little boy, Detective."

"I promise," Olivia said, making eye contact with Linda before turning and heading out the door. Realizing quickly she had no free hands to call an Uber, she stepped towards the curb but Andrew held her back.

"I'll hail one, ma'am," he said kindly, one arm holding what looked to be a slightly out-dated seat.

Is that even safe Olivia thought to herself, but shook it off. Her apartment wasn't far. Andrew successfully flagged down a cab and Olivia, with Noah and all of the bags, made her way to the car. The driver, seemingly impatient, drummed against the steering wheel as Andrew struggled to get the carseat buckled in. Worried he wasn't doing it right, but having no real way of knowing, Olivia bit her lip and hugged Noah more tightly to her body. She swayed back and forth, the bags knocking against her legs, but she didn't care. Pressing her lips to Noah's ear she whispered, "We're going home, sweet boy. It's okay. We're going home."

Hours after she first arrived at the facility to pick up Noah, the cab finally screeched to a halt in front of Olivia's building. She had a death grip on Noah's carseat the entire ride as the driver, who was either mad at how long they took to load, or just a reckless driver, flew and weaved through traffic as they zoomed uptown. Breathing a sigh of relief, Olivia quickly searched for her wallet in the midst of all the bags she now had in the backseat of the cab. Beginning to get worked up as the driver mumbled some choice words, she could feel her panic turn into burning tears in her eyes. Her life had changed drastically in a matter of hours and she was feeling like she couldn't keep it together. Just as she was getting ready to snap at the driver, a knock on the passenger side window startled her. Olivia lifted her head and felt her entire body relax, a smile growing on her face.

"Here, lemme take care of this," a gruff voice said, handing the driver a wad of cash before opening the back door and grinning down at the little boy, happily sucking his fist and blissfully unaware of the stressful transition he was experiencing. "How about we get ya outta this thing, little man."

Olivia marveled, watching the man seamlessly lift Noah from the carseat, place him on his hip, and with one hand release the carseat from the belt and head to the front of her building. Grabbing the rest of the bags, Olivia mumbled a sarcastic thank you to the driver before closing the door with her hip and making her way to where Ed Tucker stood, Noah in his arms as he looked around his new surroundings. Before she had a chance to thank him, she noticed he was surrounded by a few boxes.

"Ed..what did you do?"

He grinned at her. "Ah, a friend had a few things in storage from their last kid. He helped me bring them over, ya know, just until you find the stuff you want. Hope ya don't mind…"

Olivia stood slack-jawed, but her body began to relax. "I…I don't mind at all. That was just…quick."

Ed just shrugged, ignoring her comment at how quickly he scrambled to pull this off. "Good," he said, a teasing grin forming on his face. "Well, ya gonna invite me upstairs?"

Olivia let out a laugh and finally signaled at her doorman that she was ready. He came out with a cart, helped them load up, and Olivia took Noah from Ed. She snuggled him against her neck and whispered to him on the way up. Ed, a semi-frequent visitor to Olivia Benson's apartment these days expertly grabbed her keys from the compartment in her purse, opened the door, and allowed her and Noah to walk in ahead of him, busying himself unloading the cart and giving them a few minutes to themselves.

"Welcome home, Noah," she whispered, trying to push the returning burn of tears down. "Welcome home."

Olivia came out of the backroom, Noah bathed and his hair was sticking straight up from being towel dried. He wore pajamas that had faded in color and appeared slightly too big for the little guy, but Noah didn't seem to mind. He kept his hand in his mouth, but rested his head against Olivia's neck, seemingly content so far in his new surroundings.

"Almost done," Ed grunted from behind a wooden crib. He had moved the coffee table over and it was littered with tools, but Olivia didn't mind. The crib looked perfectly safe and complete to her, and Ed's arms flexed as he turned the last of the screws tightly in.

I don't mind this view, she thought to herself, before shaking her head at herself. Get it together, Benson.

"It looks…great," she whispered, moving around and sitting on the couch with Noah. "Noah, look at your new bed that Ed put together! It's going to be so cozy."

The little boy showed no interest and cuddled further into Olivia, still not sure what to make of the new apartment. Ed wiped residual sweat from his forehead and stood up.

"Done." he exclaimed proudly. "Where ya want it?"

Olivia bit her lip, looking around a little bit. "Um…well…"

Ed could tell she had no idea where the little boy should sleep, so he offered some advice, hoping he wasn't overstepping.

"I think my kids slept in the room with my ex and I for the first three or four months. But some babies stay in their parents' room until they are almost one…I think. There's no wrong decision here, Liv."

She smiled at him, realizing she was currently in over her head and having someone who had raised, or helped to raise two children would come in handy.

"Okay," she whispered. "My room for now. In case he's scared these first few nights…"

"You got it," Ed said. Olivia began to get up but he shook his head. "Unless you want to direct me where things should go, you can stay put with little guy and I'll get you all set up."

Olivia, once again finding herself stunned at the day, merely nodded and sat back, listening to the sounds of Ed moving around furniture, trying to stifle his grunts which made her chuckle. Ever since she ran into Ed at the bar all those months ago, they had kept in semi-regular contact. In fact, surprising both Ed and herself, she had been the first one to instigate another drink. It started slow, just some shop talk as they complained about cases or impossible coworkers. Eventually, as Ed felt their trust in each other grow, he took her to a nice dinner and finally gave her a long, overdue apology for how he had treated her through the years. Olivia remembered how pained his face was, his remorseful tone, how he explained his lack of trust in anyone, but how it was no excuse to take it out on her. She had eventually interrupted him by grasping his hand and kissing it.

"Ed, I forgive you," she whispered. "You don't need forgiveness, because you were just doing your job, but I do…I forgave you a while ago."

"Liv…" he began, trying to formulate his next thoughts. "I…I enjoy spendin' time with you."

Olivia smiled, remembering how cute he looked as he admitted that last statement. They were developing a trust. It was slow. They were both still incredibly cautious. But it was building, and Olivia was tired of fighting it. Ed continued to prove himself trust worthy, and as she heard him mutter "there, perfect" from back in her bedroom, her trust in him grew even more.

Holding Noah tighter against her body, she pressed her lips against his cheek and took a deep breath. "Well sweet boy," she said, "it may not be perfect just yet…it may never be perfect…but you're gonna be just fine."

Several hours later, Olivia came out of her bedroom, left the door open just a crack and wandered back out into the living room. Noah was, for the time being, sleeping peacefully in his new bed, the old red blanket by his side. Ed had busied himself trying to put away some of the newly bought things she had sent him out for that evening, as well as sorting through the bag that came along with Noah.

"I didn't know if you wanted to keep any of this," he said, gesturing to a basket he had put all of the worn down toys, "I put it all here, so you had some kind of organization happening. And you can decide down the road…or never."

Olivia hugged her arms around her torso and smiled softly at Ed. The day had been overwhelming, to say the least, and she could have easily gotten home and felt nothing but stress and terror at having nothing ready for this little boy who was now in her care. She could've had to drag him back out to get bedding, toys, and diapers, but she didn't. As soon as she sent that brief, panicked text to Ed Tucker, he was there. In fact, he was more than there. He made it seem…easy. Effortless. She knew she had an uphill battle, and in the back of her mind she kept reminding herself that Noah being in her care may likely be temporary. She shuddered at the thought and shoved it aside for now.

"Ed…" she muttered, moving around the couch and grabbing his hands, helping him up off the floor. "I…thank you. Thank you for all of this."

Her voice cracked slightly, but she cleared her throat, steadying her emotions.

"You don't have to thank me, Liv," he whispered, boldly moving his hand to brush away a strand of hair that had fallen loose from her messy bun. "You don't have to do this alone."

Olivia smiled softly, her head leaning into his touch. Her body began to relax and she suddenly became aware of how exhausted she was. Stifling a yawn she backed away and looked towards the kitchen. "I, well, do you want a drink?"

Ed shook his head and leaned over to grab his jacket. "Nah," he said, his blue eyes softening as he studied her face. "You are exhausted, and I don't imagine little man will sleep through the night. So I'm gonna go. You get in bed, sleep while you can."

"Thank you," she whispered, following him to the door. As he opened it and walked out, Ed turned back to look at her. Olivia rested her head against the door and just grinned sleepily at him. "Talk to you tomorrow?" she asked, suddenly nervous and wondering if she shouldn't have made that comment. Ed smirked and leaned in, sweetly kissing cheek a couple of times.

"Whenever you want," he whispered. "Whatever you want."

Olivia watched as he disappeared into the elevator before closing the door and locking up. She slowly wandered into her living room, looking around at the lack of clutter she expected to see. Inhaling deeply through her nose, she could detect a faint hint of Ed's cologne, now mixed with a sweet baby smell. Her smile continued to grow as Olivia moved through, cutting off all lights except the one above the stove, and made her way into her bedroom.

"Sweet Noah," she whispered, leaning over his crib and watching him breathe, a slight nasal sound coming with each inhale, but no less comforting to Olivia. She leaned over, kissed his nose and lightly ran her finger along his cheek. "Sleep tight, baby boy. I'll be right here if you need me."

Crawling into bed, Olivia felt all of her muscles scream with relief as she let herself fall against her pillows and pull up her comforter. Exhausted, she tried to close her eyes but her mind was racing. The day was overwhelming, but was also perfect. Shuddering, Olivia tried to ward off the anxiety that began to rush over her, warning her this could all be temporary. Ed could be temporary. Noah could be temporary. Rolling over and taking a deep breath, she quelled those thought for the time being, allowing her body to finally rest thinking that perhaps, this time, it could be permanent.

Well, are you in?