This wasn't my original "morning after" scene, but I was motivated by a request from MOONLIJJT on Twitter!

Also, I know the actress/es playing Jessie Rollins have brown eyes, but in my head, she has Amanda's blue ones...so just go with it ;)

Hope ya'll enjoy!

Chaos.

That was what had always greeted Amanda in the mornings. Growing up, it was a certain thing that her parents would be bickering over too hot coffee or a burned breakfast, and doors would be slamming before too long after.

These days, the chaos was different. She was usually woken bright and early by the annoying blaring of her alarm clock. Despite longing to stay in bed, she would force herself to get up and wake up her girls, take Frannie out, and get the day rolling with breakfast before darting off to daycare, school, and work. Sometimes things were forgotten, shoes were lost, or keys were misplaced, and the crazy train would keep on chugging. It was better than what she had grown up with, but still...it took it's toll sometimes.

Thankfully on weekends, she got a little reprieve. An extra hour or so of rest before Billie or Jessie inevitably woke up and started calling out for her, or before Frannie started scratching at the front door to go on her walk. This particular morning, it was none of these little chaotic things that woke her up, but the vibration of a cell phone on her nightstand.

Amanda blindly reached over for the source of disturbance, groaning a little as she was forced to pry her eyes open to find it. The morning light from the window behind her bed made a glowing filter across the room, but it was dim enough that there was no way the sun had risen yet. Someone was calling awfully early.

She moved to sit up, but realized she was tangled in more than just her sheets, and became aware of the warm arm curved protectively around her waist. With a glance over her shoulder, Amanda saw Carisi's face, mouth slack and breathing evenly; still sleeping despite the noise. A smile tugged at her lips as she recalled the previous night, but that insistent buzzing was preventing her from truly being able to enjoy the moment.

Careful not to disturb him, Amanda outstretched her arm and felt around the nightstand until her fingers closed around the phone. Still squinting at the bright light, she fumbled for the answer button and pressed the cell against her ear.

"Hello?" she said thickly, relaxing back against her pillow, and Carisi's chest.

"Hello?" the other line answered, and the familiar voice cleared some of the sleep still clouding her brain.

"Liv?" Amanda sat halfway up and Carisi's arm fell from her as he resettled, "Is everything okay? You need me to come in?"

It was the only explanation that she could think of as to why her boss would be calling her at this time, on her day off.

"Amanda?" her Captain asked, confusion obvious in the older woman's voice.

"Yeah, I'm here," she assured her, "What's wrong?" There was a brief moment of silence, then a slight chuckle came over the line.

"Uh, nothing really," Olivia told her, "Except, I'm pretty sure I called Carisi's number."

Any trace of sleep disappeared with those words, and Amanda hastily pulled back the phone pressed to her ear to really look at it. Sure enough, it was a newer model than her own and had a much blander case.

Damn it.

Her eyes darted to the night stand, where her own phone laid dead closer to the far edge, before she glanced back over her shoulder to where her...ex partner? Boyfriend? Lover?...whatever the hell they were now...was still asleep, or at least refusing to acknowledge that he was awake yet, as his eyes remained firmly shut.

"Amanda?" She heard her name from the earpiece and reluctantly brought the cell back up.

"Yeah, hey, Liv, sorry...I uh...I grabbed the wrong phone."

She and Carisi had yet to discuss just how soon they wanted to go public, or what label they'd be putting on their relationship when they did, but she'd been expecting to have more than one day before having to tell Liv and be pressured about all the disclosure paperwork that would inevitably follow.

"I see," Olivia sounded like she was fighting back a smile, "And why exactly is Carisi's phone at your place, at six in the morning?"

"He...came over to see the girls?" The statement came out more like a question, and Amanda cleared her throat before spinning a story on the spot, "He, uh, I told him last night that they missed him. He's making pancakes."

"Oh," Liv was almost surprised; enough so that hopefully some doubt was casted, but she recovered quickly, "Well, can you put him on? I want to follow up with some of the points on the Catalina Machado investigations before signing it over to the Feds for good."

Amanda glanced back down at Carisi, who was still passed out.

"Uh, yeah...well…" Shit. "Actually, can he call you back?"

"Is now a bad time?" Liv pressed, "It'll only take a few minutes."

"No, it's fine...I think he, uh, he just ran Frannie outside," Amanda grasped at straws of excuses, "But he'll be back in a bit."

She started tapping Carisi's shoulder, trying to wake him up, without alerting Liv to the fact that he was currently sleeping in her bed.

"Mhmm?" his head lifted, disgruntled.

"Shhh," she motioned to him with a finger on her lips, then pointed at the phone pressed to her ear. Confusion clouded his sleepy expression.

"Okay, then," Olivia was responding, "Then yes, if you don't mind, have him call me when he's back?"

"Yeah, of course, Liv," Amanda agreed, again motioning with her hands to try and explain to Carisi that Olivia was on the phone and that they were a breath away from being busted, "As soon as he gets back, I'll tell him you called."

Carisi sat up and ran a hand through his hair, which was an adorable mess without its usual gel, and she wished her boss would hurry up and hang up so that she could actually appreciate this moment with him.

"Huh?" she asked, realizing Liv was still talking.

"I said that I would like for you to go ahead and come in on Monday, if you can; since I have you on the phone. Fin's claiming post non-nuptial time off, and I could use you for a few hours to help Kat with some of the legwork on a case she's working."

"Oh, yeah, that should be fine. I'll just need to confirm with Sienna about watching the girls...I'll call you back when I do."

"Sounds good," Liv acknowledged, and the call had finally begun to wind down when Amanda's bedroom door opened.

Jessie, rubbing her eyes from sleep, walked through it and declared an immediate, "Mommy, I'm hungry."

Shit. Shit. Shit.

"Okay, baby." And into the phone she said, "Liv, I should go, the girls are-"

"Uncle Sonny?" Jessie's tone perked up as she noticed who else was in her mother's bed, and when the realization truly hit, she squealed in that high pitched way only little girls can, before bounding onto the mattress and launching into Carisi's arms.

"Uncle Sonny! You're here! Momma didn't say you were coming! Why are you in Momma's bed? Did you have a sleepover?! Can we have a sleepover in my room?!"

"Jessie, shhh," he tried to calm the excited child, "One question at a time."

As Jessie began repeating her questions in a lowered voice, Olivia's voice rang smug in Amanda's ear, "So...he's all done walking Frannie, then?

Amanda blushed scarlet and didn't even try to save face this time, "You, uh, still need to talk to Carisi?"

"Depends. Carisi, the A.D.A?" Liv was laughing at her, she just knew it, "Or Uncle Sonny, who apparently has sleepovers in my detective's bed?"

Amanda just shook her head and ignored the jibe, "Here he is."

Carisi, who had pulled Jessie into his lap with one arm, took his cell with the others, and was smirking at her as he brought the thing to his ear.

"Hey, Liv."

Thirty mortifying minutes later, Frannie had been taken out, both girls were awake, and Amanda had even managed to put some real clothes on.

Carisi had decided to uphold her original story by whipping up some pancakes for the girls, and while Jessie was usually jumping to help him, Saturday morning cartoons had captured both her and Billie's attention, and Amanda took advantage of that.

"So," she started, walking around the bar to where Carisi was pouring butter into a frying pan, "This morning was fun."

He chuckled at her choice of words and glanced over, "Liv said she's happy for us."

"I didn't mean to answer your phone," she said by way of apology, "It was dark and I was half asleep, and I wasn't sure if we were telling people this soon or-"

"Rollins," he washed over her worries, "It's fine. We're good. Right?"

For a split second, some doubt crossed his face, but she was quick to squander it.

"Oh yeah, no we're good. Perfect, actually. I...I don't have regrets about anything we said or did last night."

He smiled again. Big, goofy, and dimpled. How the hell did he manage to look so fricken adorable at six-thirty in the morning, in last night's clothes, with a dish towel over his shoulder, while holding a spatula?

"None, huh?" he double checked, ignoring the food for a moment to give her all of his attention.

Amanda smiled back at him, and lifted a hand to his cheek, feeling a thrill at the fact that she could touch him like this, and every other way. Casually. Lovingly. Purposefully. There didn't even have to be a reason or an explanation to simply enjoy the physical contact.

"None at all," she stated.

Carisi leaned into her touch, the same peaceful contentment she felt overcoming him, too, and she stretched up on her tiptoes to brush her lips against his. It was a short kiss, sweet and happy and perfect. Exactly how she could imagine starting every single day for the rest of her life.

A thought that no longer scared her. Not with him.

"Love you," he said, because he could do that now, too, and Amanda said it back for the same reason, "I love you, too."

They shared a private moment, before the pancake started to burn and he turned dramatically to save it, barely succeeding, and she giggled at his antics. The noise was not ignored by her oldest, who left her place in front of the tv to come investigate. Her baby sister trailed behind her, always ready for new excitement.

"What's funny, Momma?"

Amanda shook her head, but couldn't hide the smirk on her face, "Nothing, baby. Uncle Sonny was just being silly and almost burned breakfast."

Carisi scooped Billie up onto his hip, where she was more than happy to be, and Amanda went around the counter to take a seat at the bar. Jessie followed, reaching up to be pulled into her mother's lap.

Amanda obliged, knowing that these times that her baby would be small and vulnerable enough to want to cuddle with her were fleeting.

"Uncle Sonny is super silly," Jessie agreed, as she settled against her mother's shoulder.

"Hey now," Carisi pointed a spatula at them with his free hand, "You two keep it up and Billie and I'll be havin' pancakes by ourselves."

Amanda snickered at the affronted look Jessie gave him, "Hey, no fair!"

"Is so fair," Carisi fired back, "Since Billie's the only one being nice to the chef."

Her youngest gurgled out an encouragement in words that were barely English, but adorable all the same.

"Billie's a baby," Jessie reasoned, indignantly, "She can't eat all the pancakes! And she's only being nice because she can't talk all the way yet."

Carisi smirked, narrowing his eyes slightly at the five year old, "Oh, all right. You've made a good case. I guess we can share. Whatcha think, Billie Boo?"

Billie nodded, probably not even knowing what she was agreeing to, just happy to have Uncle Sonny's attention.

Jessie straightened up proudly, and Amanda brushed back the blonde strands that were falling down the little girl's back, smiling to herself at how easily this all could work. Carisi had been such a big part of her daughter's lives for so long that having him here now was nothing for them to bat an eye at. He fit so well into their little world, joking and cooking, and raising these girls with her...it was unbelievable that it had taken so long for her to accept that this had always been his place.

His family.

"Momma," Jessie had leaned her head back, and her attention was focused solely on Amanda.

"Yeah, baby?"

A small hand touched her cheek, as her own eyes shined up at her from her daughter's face.

"You're so pretty when you smile big."

Smile Big was a thing they had started when trying to get Jessie to look less annoyed in her school pictures last year. Amanda had explained that you had to part your mouth and show your teeth and look into the camera like you're really happy.

Well, there was no camera here now, but she was the happiest she could remember being in a long time, and something close to a sob caught in her throat as she realized her girls were going to pick up on that.

"She's right, ya know," Carisi said softly, and Amanda looked up to see that he was smiling too, "It's a good look for you."

She rolled her eyes with a laugh, and he winked, and they teased each other well into serving breakfast, but there was a sincerity behind the looks they exchanged across the table. Ones that told him how happy she truly was, and a gentleness to his expression that told her this, with her and the girls, was everything he'd ever wanted.

This morning, as Billie spilled syrup down her shirt and Jessie not so secretly snuck Frannie bites from her plate, which ended in paws on the table for better access and a round of laughter as Amanda swatted the dog down, the craziness felt different.

It wasn't putting her at her wits ends, or looking like one more mess she'd have to clean up, but rather a memory she would always treasure. Because, for once, she wasn't doing it alone.

That crooked grin greeting her from across the table was the furthest thing from chaos she had ever known, and without a word, she reached her hand out, lacing her fingers with his. It felt so peaceful, having him there. Her lover, her best friend, her partner. At her side where he fit so perfectly.

There was so much she still wanted to say to him. Wanted to explain. Seven years of ups and downs and an entire future to discuss. But there was time. All the time in the world, really, because she had gone for the nice guy for once, and it was the best decision she could have made.

And whatever happened moving forward; in happiness, chaos, and partnership...they would face it together, with all the love of the enduring bond they'd built between them.

A bond that, as he had so eloquently put it in his speech, never goes away.

The end!