By the end of the night, both Sophia and Casey left with full hearts, but fuller pockets because both of them had scored well with the auction and the raffle.

To Casey's delight, through the auction, she won the travel tickets, along with the luggage set. She also won a family photoshoot with a local photographer, but Casey made sure that Sophia had been occupied while the bidding for that was going on because she wanted to surprise her with it, as a possible date activity. She even won some things for Melissa: a play kitchen, and collection of kid books, complete with a shelving unit. Those would be delivered to her place the next day.

As for Sophia, she cleaned up very well in the raffle. The laptop also came with a whole box of accessories for it, and Sophia was delighted, just by that. What surprised her was that she just about swept clean the cash prizes category. Not only did she win a gift basket that consisted of a variety of instant win scratch cards, but she won four of the beautiful multi-tiered money cakes, and according to the man giving the prizes out to the winners, together, the total of the cakes was worth well over a thousand dollars, closer to two thousand. Sophia had entered the raffle mostly for chance of the money prizes, but she didn't expect to win anything, much less five of the prizes. Needless to say, she was very pleased.

Amanda and Carisi left the party first, mostly because Amanda was getting tired and wanted to rest her ankle, but Sophia and Casey left about an hour after them.

Gentlemen that he was, Benoît Rollins helped the couple down to their limousine, and he even helped them load all of their new things into it. Zoltan Balthazar caught up with them while this was happening.

"Wait!" he said, jogging over.

Sophia poked her head out of the back seat. "Zoltan, hi! What's up?"

He held out a new, brightly-colored duffel bag to her. "This is for you, my friend."

Sophia took the bag. It felt heavy. "What's in here?"

"Some extra things from the family, and also a few anonymous benefactors."

"For me?"

"Yes, my friend." Zoltan smiled at her. "Open the bag when you get home, hm?"

Intrigued, Sophia responded, "I will. Thanks!"

He just smiled knowingly and stood back as Benoît helped Sophia get settled in the car again. When she was settled, Benoît closed the door for her and gave the driver the signal to start driving.

Sophia looked to Casey to see if she knew anything about the last-minute gift, and she saw her looking away a little too quickly.

"Okay, what do you know?" Sophia asked her.

Casey looked sly. "Things. Zoltan was right, though—open the bag when you get home."

"Will do. Speaking of which, would you like to come say good night to Melissa? She'll be sleeping, but she'd love hearing in the morning that you came to see her."

"I would love to come tell her good night." Casey sighed. "I just don't want this night to end."

"Neither do I, but at least there's dinner night tomorrow and movie night on Friday."

"Yes. We do have that."


When they returned to Sophia's building, the chauffeur was kind enough to wait for Casey, and the doorman helped her and them bring everything up to the Benson-Cabot apartment. Olivia had left the door unlocked, so Sophia opened the door with ease to let them in.

"Wow!" Olivia said when she and Alex came to greet them. "That's a lot of stuff—and so much cash! What did you guys do at the gala?"

"There was an auction and a raffle. Casey cleaned up in the auction, and I cleaned up in the raffle."

"I'll say." Alex laughed and picked up one of the money cakes. "We want to hear all about it."

Olivia picked up the other money cakes. "But first, we'll help you bring everything to the table."

Once all of Sophia's raffle prizes were brought in, she turned to her mothers. "Where's Melissa?"

Olivia pointed. "On the couch; she tired herself out, waiting up, so we let her sleep there. Her pajamas are laid out on the bed in the office, all ready for her."

"That's perfect. Thanks, mom."

Sophia picked Melissa up and held her.

"Mommy, is it time for up?" Melissa asked, half-awake and yawning hugely.

"Not quite."

Casey leaned over and kissed Melissa's dark locks. "Mommy and I are going to get you ready for bed. Just close your eyes."

Melissa gave another yawn and then a nodded and laid her head on her mother's shoulder, eyes shut. She was out like a light.

Quietly, because they didn't want to wake Noah, the little family made their way down the office at the end of the hallway. Next to the rocking chair Sophia liked to sit in with Melissa so she could sing her to sleep was a freshly made-up bed. Melissa had been using it for the past few days, tired of sharing a bed with Noah.

Her favorite Frozen-themed nightgown was laying on top of the covers, and as though they did it every night, Sophia and Casey worked together to undress Melissa and put her into her pajamas. Casey tucked Melissa in and gave her a forehead kiss.

"Good night, my tiny love. I'll see you tomorrow."

Sophia also gave their daughter a forehead kiss. "And I'll see you in the morning. We love you."

Melissa sank into a deeper sleep, a broad grin on her face.

While Sophia threw Melissa's dirty clothes into a nearby hamper and put up Melissa's bed guard to keep her from falling out, Casey noticed a nightlight and switched it on.

She looked back at Melissa, sound asleep in her bed, and suddenly realized that she would have been completely content to just watch her sleep.

Suddenly, though, she felt like she was being watched, and when she looked around, she saw Sophia waiting for her from the doorway.

"Come along," she mouthed, holding out a hand.

Casey nodded and joined her, taking her hand and closing the door behind them.

"I don't want this night to end." the redhead said for the second time that night when they were out in the hallway. "I wish that I could wake up tomorrow in my bed and see you there."

"That sounds like a great idea for the not-so-distant future." Sophia kissed Casey's fingers. "Come on—I'll see you down to the car."

Casey agreed to this, and after saying good night to Olivia and Alex, she and Sophia headed back down to the parking garage. After a kiss good night and seeing Casey safely into the car, she stayed until the car was out of sight.

When she was back in the apartment, she changed out of her party things and into pajamas. She even let her hair down, took out the bobby pins and shook it out so that was in its natural state.

After a quick snack because she was hungry and the baby was giving her grief about it, Sophia finally invited her mothers to sit with her at the table, so she could tell them about her night, and so she could show them what she had received, open the mystery bag, and also so they could undo all of the bank notes on the money cakes and count it.

"So how did things go?" Alex asked as she, Olivia, and Sophia fell into a rhythm of undoing all of the bills on the money cakes and sorting them according to value.

"Why are you so eager?" Sophia laughed. "Maybe you and mom should go on a date."

Olivia coughed pointedly. "Focus, children."

"We are focused! Alex is just being funny!"

"We're eager because you fell in love with someone who has basically been our baby sister for over eleven years. We've always wanted the best for Casey, so far as a happy ending is concerned. Now it's here, and you're part of it. Spill, Sophia Rose."

"We hung out together, and also with Amanda, Kim, Blue, Dominick, and Zoltn. Casey even saw some people she knows from work, and she introduced me to them."

"Who did you meet?"

Sophia thought about it, then said, "First, we ran into Barry Moredock."

"How about that?" Alex mused. "In what feels like a lifetime ago, he was my teacher. Sometimes, we've been on opposite sides in the courtroom, but at the end of the day, I still go to him for advice when I'm stumped on a case."

"He told me to call him Uncle Barry, and to ask you about Yonkers in 1999."

Alex turned red. "He would bring that up…"

"What happened?"

"File that under things I'm not sharing until you, your mother, and I can all drink alcohol together."

Sophia pretended to pout. "Oh, alright. One of you ask me who else Casey and I ran into tonight."

Olivia cooperated. "Who else did you run into tonight?"

"Judges Donnelley and Petrovsky. Once they realized who I am, they told me to call them Elizabeth and Lena."

"Wow. They must have really liked you." Olivia said in surprise. "I don't know Moredock well, but I know Petrtovsky better than I'd like to because of all the times the squad has used Alex or Casey to play 'Go Wake The Judge.' I bet Casey still has nightmares about it."

"What the hell is 'Go Wake The Judge'?" Sophia wanted to know.

"It's when your mom and the squad come up with a near-hairbrained scheme to crack a case open or overturn it, but it's a late hour, so they sacrifice the pawn to go to a judge's house." Alex explained.

"Oh, Allie-cat, we don't think of you or Case as the pawns." Olivia cooed, measuring stacks of two dollar bills in front of her. "You're more like the knights."

"Thanks… I think." Alex turned her attention back to Sophia. "The judges from the courthouse we try most of our cases in all hang out together, and they have poker nights; I've crashed the judges' poker nights a few times, but I know for a fact that Casey actually still does have nightmares about doing that, herself. I also know that she used to do it with such a frequency for awhile that the judges would bet with each other about it."

Sophia giggled. "I'll have to ask her about that, then, but don't worry: Lena liked me. So did Elizabeth—she actually called me 'Mini Olivia,' if you can believe it."

"Wow." Alex laughed. "I know her very well because she's my current teacher, and she kicks my ass when I'm getting too wrapped up in a case and can't see the forest for the trees. She does it all with affection, but it still takes quite a lot to expose Elizabeth Donnelley's soft side."

"She also has a long history with our squad," Olivia chimed in. "But it's an 'Even though this is ridiculous, I'm still going to help because I'm not that heartless' fashion. We even saved her life once."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Another story for another day."

Sophia sighed. "Well, then the last word on that is that the judge even said I remind her of her daughter."

This threw Olivia for a loop, and she looked up from yet more stacks of bank notes to gauge Alex's reaction to this news. To her credit, Alex wasn't the least bit perturbed. She was actually starting on the next tier of the money cake, which consisted of five and ten dollar bills.

"Alex," she said. "Did you know that Elizabeth is a mom?"

"I actually did. I also know that she has three grown kids—two sons, and a daughter. Their names are Julian, Silas, and DeLaine."

"Wait—how do you know?"

"DeLaine prefers being called Dell, and she's best friends with my cousin, Emelia, and now that I think about it, I think Dell and Mia are in business with one of the older Stabler sisters, but I don't remember which one."

"Wow."

Sophia gave a nervous laugh. "My world is getting smaller and smaller every day. I have to find them now."

Olivia actually laughed in amusement. "What else happened at the gala tonight? Did you get to know the Rollinses a little bit more?"

"As a matter of fact, I did. I even made friends with Beth Anne."

"You did what?" the others cried in unison.

And so, Sophia told them about her chat with the family matriarch.

"I think you have my gift of peacemaking." Olivia said when Sophia finished. "Beth Anne used to be a raging ball of anger and sneers. I think you melted her."

"She attributed her change of heart to you, too." Sophia winked.

Alex held her hand in the timeout position. "What did everyone else have to say about this?"

"Casey was impressed, but Amanda, Kim, and Blue were all flabbergasted." Sophia pointed to her new laptop at the end of the table, waiting to be open and set up. "Beth Anne told me to pick anything I wanted from the auction table, and I chose the laptop. She won it for me in the auction."

"Wow. That's incredibly generous."

"It is, and I actually really needed a computer because the one I have now is ancient and on its last leg, as it is. The one I got tonight is the newest model of the brand."

"What else did you get besides that and cakes made of cash?"

"A gift basket full of instant win scratchers, and a duffel bag full of mystery items that was given to me by Zoltan just before we left. He said to open it when I got home."

"Does he know what's inside?"

"His tone suggested so, and so did Casey's, and she was extremely cryptic."

Alex gave a smirk. "You really want to see what's inside, huh?"

"I really do."

Suddenly, Olivia cried, "Done!" and they saw that she had finished the money cake she'd been working on. There were neatly laid stacks of one, two, five, ten, twenty, fifty, and hundred dollar bills in front of her. The lieutenant was now flexing her fingers and her neck to keep them from going stiff after all of the hard work she'd just finished.

"Sophia, who donated this cake? The top tier was made of fifties, and the toppers were hundreds folded into flowers and birds!"

"The placard by that one said 'anonymous.' Everything else was donated by the bank."

"That's going to be a fun trip tomorrow. Do you have time?"

"I start at noon and I'm done at five." Done with her own money cake, she arranged all of her bills into proper stacks, according to value. "I'll go before then. The bank is on the way to work, anyway."

"Good."

Also done, Alex began sorting the bills that she'd detached and unrolled. "By the way, Sophia, we won't pretend that we didn't hear you and Casey discussing menu choices for dinner tomorrow night. What's the deal on that?"

Sophia turned red immediately.

"Casey invited us to her place tomorrow for dinner because she wants to have us over. It's hard, being away from her. We're here, and she's there." Sophia sat back in her chair. "I know things have gone so fast, and so does she, and we're fine with it, but now I have a whole family of my own… and half of us are living apart from each other…"

In the blink of an eye, big fat puppy dog tears were cascading down her cheeks and she was rubbing her eyes. Immediately, Olivia and Alex were on their feet and were on either side of her, holding her hands, patting her cheeks, and wiping her tears for her.

They'd seen her through a few hormone-induced crying jags before, but something told them that this was a little different. Once Olivia and Alex were sure that Sophia was going to be fine, they waited for her to speak first.

"I'm sorry." she finally said.

"There's nothing to be sorry for." Olivia told her.

"Are you jealous of us?" Alex asked tentatively.

"No, not at all. I've just grown up even more than I already have since the day I found you and passed out in your office. I love it all, but time is just moving a lot slower than I want it to." Sophia explained. "Casey feels the same way, and she got almost as emotional as I am now when I walked her back to her car. I love her so much, but I've also never known a love like this before. It's a lot to take in."

"And you want to marry her?" Olivia recalled.

"Yes."

Olivia smiled lovingly at her offspring. "Then that's how you know it's true. I love Alex like that."

"It's true, and I love Olivia just the same." Alex confirmed. "We've known each other since what feels like the dawn of time, but we've survived both my injuries and my going away several times, and being apart was so hard."

"Didn't you come back at one point?"

Alex nodded. "I did, and it was to testify. That was the first time Casey and I worked together."

Sophia looked from Alex to Olivia. "What happened when you two were together again?"

"Oh, Sophia," Olivia sighed heavily as a wave of emotion washed over her. "It was like time stood still, and I never wanted it to end."

"We'd do anything for each other, and in some cases we have. I'd die for Olivia."

"And I would die for Alex." Olivia gave Sophia's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Things do level out, so just take a deep breath and let it out."

Sophia breathed in and out a few times, and soon, she was feeling back to herself.

"How about we put all this cash away," suggested Alex. "And we see what's in the duffel bag?"

"Yes, please!"

When Sophia opened the bag, the first thing she found was an envelope with her name on it.

Inside was a note:

Dear Sophia,

Every year, the publishing house has a gala like the one tonight, with fun and games, and everything, and every year, there is a recipient of a 'mystery bag' of extra prizes. This year, it's you. Enclosed are gifts from the family, and from a few benefactors who wish to remain anonymous.

Also, you and Casey are part of the family now, so that means that you both have the same family privileges at the publishing house in New York, as well as the one in Atlanta. These privileges include an open invitation to any all future events at either location. I hope to see you both!

If you ever need anything, just ask.

Benoît Rollins

Sophia read through the note twice and then handed it to her parents to read.

"I think it's safe to say that you've been accepted into the Rollins family." Olivia said when they were done.

"And to think that this time last year, I was lonely enough to arrive at the realization that my only friend was my toddler daughter. Every friend I've ever had has left me at some point."

"Hey." Alex patted her hand in a reassuring way. "You've got more friends now, and better ones, to boot. You always got us as friends, too."

Sophia smiled at this and lifted out the first thing she saw. It as a cube-shaped package wrapped in gold wrapping paper.

The gift turned out to be a really nice camera, perfect for top-notch photography sessions and the like.

"I used to have a really nice camera, and I'm good at photography." she told her mothers. "But I had to sell it so I could buy winter gear for Melissa."

"Is this one like the one you had?" Olivia asked.

"It's actually a lot better." Sophia put the camera aside and pulled out another wrapped box. "I wonder what's in this one."

That box turned out to contain equipment for the camera, all just as top quality.

Sophia amassed quite a few treasures from the mystery bag that night. In addition to the camera and the gear, there was also a reading tablet for eBooks, an Apple Watch and accessories, a selection of gourmet food and candy, a selection of DVDs, none of which Sophia had in her already extensive collection, very nice personal DVD player, and a decorative jewelry box that contained a few more things.

"Oh, my God."

"What?" Olivia asked, looking up from organizing Sophia's new things.

"Look!"

Sophia dumped out the box contents and spread them across the table. They were looking at a variety of gift cards and a few other items that looked like they were redeemable for other exciting things.

The gift cards were for the groceries, music, the local bookstore, a local restaurant, the movies, the museum, and even the zoo.

"This can really help me get back on my feet." Sophia said, trying not to get emotional all over again. "This is also date night material."

"Oh, there's more than that." Olivia said suddenly, pulling an envelope and pointing at the logo in the corner. "That's the mark of The Plaza Hotel, kid."

Eagerly, Sophia opened the envelope and inside found an all-expenses paid reservation booked for the following weekend.

She looked at her parents' waiting faces.

"This is an all-expenses paid reservation for the hotel next week, Friday to Monday; it's a staycation, and there's even spending money!"

"You're set, Sophia."

"I really am. Where's my phone?"

Spotting it first, Alex picked it up and handed it to her. "Here it is. You going to call Casey?"

Sophia took the phone and nodded. "You bet. I need to tell her how full my heart is right now."

She left for her bedroom and called her favorite number.

Casey picked up on the third ring, and they talked long into the night, dreaming of their adventures that lay ahead.