16th PRECINCT

966 WEST 88th STREET

MANHATTAN

25 MINUTES EARLIER


This morning, Casey and Alex were both at the precinct, wrapping up some paperwork from Olivia, regarding a case they'd just closed. Out in the bullpen, Fin, Elliot, and Amanda had just finished their cases reports, and now they were wondering what was going to become of the rest of the rest of the day.

On the other hand, Carisi had only just finished his work and returned from delivering it to Olivia's inbox before his desk phone rang.

It was his parents—Dominick Carisi Senior, and Solomia Carisi—and they were both on the line. However, Solomia had commandeered the conversation and was talking in rapid-fire Italian. Carisi understood the language good and well because he and his older sisters had been brought up speaking it in addition to English, but at the moment, his parents' voices were overlapping and it was hard to keep track.

And for some reason, Senior and Solomia were both on the bad side of hysterical.

Amanda looked up to see her lover sighing and rubbing his forehead, frustrated. With his other hand, he held his desk phone to one ear, but he didn't seem to be listening.

"What's wrong?" Amanda asked him.

"It's my parents. They're both on the line, and they're upset about something."

Amanda had met Senior and Solomia a few times, and she got on well with them. They loved her, and they loved that she made their son happy, and they also loved Jesse dearly. They even loved that Jesse was getting a sibling, but… the way Amanda saw it, Senior and Solomia were both intense people. Especially when they weren't speaking in English.

"Let me guess—they're both speaking Italian, and at the same time?"

Carisi nodded. "Yes."

"Liv speaks it."

"Liv speaks what?"

The woman in question had been passing by, with Alex and Casey in tow, but she stopped off at her underlings' desks when she heard her name being said. Across the way, even Fin and Elliot both looked over to see what was happening.

Carisi explained the situation, and then said, "I'm not sure if my parents have even noticed that I stopped talking. Could you try talking to them, lieutenant, since you speak Italian, too? It sounds urgent, but I can't make heads or tails of what they're saying."

"Sure, Carisi. I'll give it a whirl." she pointed to his chair. "May I?"

"Of course." he quickly vacated and pulled the chair out for her. "Here you go."

Olivia situated herself, and even found a pen and blank yellow legal pad to write on. She looked up at Carisi.

"What are your parents' names again?"

"Senior and Solomia. They're bakers, out on Staten Island."

Olivia thanked him and turned her attention to taking the phone call. By this point, Elliot and Fin had given up on containing their curiosity and joined the others, watching in fascination as Olivia descended into speaking Italian so fast, that it was no small wonder Carisi had gotten lost.

Casey explained the situation to Elliot and Fin when she saw them walk over. Together with Alex, they stood a little ways away from where Olivia was.

"Wow." Fin said as he and Casey turned back to look at Elliot. "All these years, and I've always known she was multilingual, but I don't hear Italian from her too often."

"Same here," Casey remarked. "And English isn't even my first language."

Elliot sighed as old memories came flashing back. "I've heard Olivia speak Italian a lot before, but it was way back in yesteryear, and mostly when she'd be in a towering temper."

Alex grinned. "She talks to herself at home, especially when she cooks, and it's always in Italian; apparently, her mother was the same way. Also, a lot of the books that Olivia owns are in Italian, so I can't even read them."

As the friends continued to talk about Olivia's language skills, Amanda sat at her desk, watching her CO. But then she jumped when she felt her iPhone begin to vibrate in her pocket, followed by the sound of birds chirping—Sophia was calling.

Quickly, but quite perplexed, Amanda answered her and turned her chair away from the others.

"What's wrong?" Amanda asked her sister. "Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm not. You were just the first name in my contacts."

"Hey, keep it together, Sophia. Why did you place a call to begin with?"

She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "I'm at work, and I... uh, found two babies out back, in a double stroller by the cardboard dumpster."

"What the hell?"

"And I don't know why, but Aria is one of the children that I found."

"What the hell?" Amanda repeated in a slightly louder tone, but only because what she was hearing was just so incredible. "Who is the other baby?"

"I honestly don't know, Mandy, but her blanket has a gigantic letter 's' on it."

"Well, do you have any idea of how old she is?"

Pause. "My best guess is three months, max, but it's hard to tell because she curled up on my chest. Aria is holding on tight, too, like a baby koala."

"Oh, boy." Amanda ran her fingers through her hair. "Listen, something is happening here, but someone will catch up with you soon. If medical assistance is called for, you keep the girls together and you don't let them out of your sight, okay? Do you understand me?"

"Y—oh, God."

Amanda spoke urgently into the receiver. "What's happening, Sophia? Tell me."

"Aria's just had a seizure. I have to get off now." Sophia spoke so calmly that it sounded like she was in shock. "Virginia just called 911."

"Alright. You take care of yourself, too."

"I will."

The sisters hung up, and when Amanda turned back around, Carisi, Olivia, Alex, Casey, Elliot, and Fin were all staring at her, eyebrows raised. So Amanda got straight to the point.

"Sophia's just called me to say that she found two abandoned babies behind The Watering Can."

"What?!" the other six yelped.

"The eldest of the two is Aria Carisi—our dear Dominick's niece."

Half a dozen pairs of eyes met her with such incredulity that Amanda just explained the whole situation, including Sophia hanging up with her because Aria was having a seizure.

Unsurprisingly, Carisi spoke first. "I have to go see Aria—I'm her uncle!"

"You're her only uncle." Amanda reminded him. "Does anybody want to tell me what the deal is with Senior and Solomia?"

Olivia answered her as she gave Carisi's chair back to him, and she made a conscious effort to use English again. "Amanda, Bella's vanished—just about about into thin air. She and Aria were supposed to meet Senior and Solomia for breakfast, but they never showed, and Bella's phone keeps going straight to voicemail; it might even be off. Teresa and Gina can't find Bella either."

Amanda winced. "Are they all on the way here?"

"They are."

Now Carisi was wincing. "I apologize in advance for any drama they bring. Bella and I are the drama-free ones."

"Apology accepted." Olivia told him. "Can you get on the horn again and call Solomia back? Tell her to make sure they go over to Mercy. The paramedics that look after Aria are going to bring her there."

Carisi bobbed his head in acknowledgement and made the call. Meanwhile, rest of the team gathered around Amanda's desk to keep talking.

"What about me?" Amanda asked. "What should I do, lieutenant?"

"Please go with Fin and Elliot to the florist. They can secure the scene and talk to the Novaks, but I want you to look at any available security footage and download it onto a flash drive. Then I want you to meet us at the hospital. Will Sophia be there?"

"Yes—I told her to stick with the kids."

"Good. You can be in charge of getting her statement, since she called you first."

Alex chimed in, speaking on hers and Casey's behalf. "Olivia, do you need us?"

"Yes." she decided. "Please come with Carisi and I to the hospital. He can be with Aria while he waits for his family, and you two can come be my voices of reason if we meet someone who is less than cooperative."

Olivia surveyed her team.

"You all know what you have to do—let's roll."


MERCY GENERAL HOSPITAL

PEDIATRICS INTENSIVE CARE UNIT

365 WEST 32nd STREET


After leaving Carisi to watch over Aria and wait for the incoming Carisis, Doctor Larom led Olivia, Alex, and Casey down to the hallway to the room where Sophia was, with mysterious Baby S.

Olivia, Alex, and Casey were all very taken by the sight in front of them when they they entered the room, each for their own reasons, not none more so than Casey was.

In a rocking chair by the window, Sophia was had her winter things, shirt, and apron off, and was holding Baby S to her bare chest. The little one herself was down to her diaper and a clean blanket draped over her back, and she was awake, watching the new people. Sophia's bare baby bump was also exposed, and perhaps it was a trick of the light, but Casey swore she saw Agnes' and Esme's limbs ripple across the surface. Casey also noticed that even with the curtains drawn shut at the window, the room was quite toasty, thanks to a space heater.

So she took off her coat and scarf hanging them up on a coat rack by the door.

"How are you doing, Sophia?" Casey asked her.

"I'm dazed, but pleased that I found the babies before they got any colder than they were." she gave the baby in her arms a cuddle. "I've been tasked with jump-starting this little girl's body temperature, and since all we know that her name starts with an s, I gave her a name."

"What is it?"

"Serena, because that was Olivia's mother, and it's very beautiful."

She looked over to Doctor Larom.

"Have you seen Aria?"

Larom nodded. "We just came from there—Detective Carisi is holding her while he waits for his parents and his older sisters to arrive."

"Good. Aria isn't alone."

"Correct, and she's already recovering well." the physician motioned towards the florist's tiny charge. "Has she taken the bottle yet?"

"No. Serena is refusing, steadfast."

Larom sighed and stuck her hands in her coat pocket while beside her, Olivia and Alex hung up their own jackets and scarves on the coat rack. "Serena just misses her mother, but try again in a few minutes, please, and send for me at the end of the hour if she keeps this up."

"Will do, doc. Thank you."

She nodded and showed herself out, closing the door behind her. When the doctor was gone, Sophia looked up at both of her mothers, and her lover, too.

"Okay." Sophia rolled her eyes. "Just get it all out, all three of you."

"You look so natural, holding a small baby like that." Olivia blurted.

"Beautiful, too." Alex added.

Casey crossed the room and kissed Sophia. "Radiant is the word."

Sophia blushed and then looked to Olivia. "Mom, I'm always happy to see you, but I'm extra glad today."

"That's nice of you to say, kid. What makes today so particular, in your mind?"

Using an elbow, since her hands were full with Serena, she pointed at the table in front of her.

"Because the EMTs found a note tucked into Serena's onesie."

"Did they, now?"

Sophia nodded. "Yep, and it has your name on it."