RESIDENCE OF OLIVIA & ALEX CABOT
122 SOUTHWELL
MANHATTAN
The first thing Olivia did upon arriving home was put her things away. Her intention after that was to repeat the process with Melissa so she could go find Noah. When she turned to help her, she was greeted by a surprising sight. It was even kind of precious.
Abigail had already put her own things up, and had even relieved Melissa of her snow accessories. Now she was showing her how to unzip the zipper on her jacket. She even helped Melissa to take off her boots in a way that would keep her from tripping over herself too much.
Olivia watched as they put Melissa's things away, too. "You're so nice to help her out."
"Melissa is my niece." Abigail said in a simple 'that's that' tone. "I like to teach her things."
"That's incredibly sweet. How old are you, again?"
"Twelve."
"And you have a lot of nieces and nephews, right?" Olivia knew the exact order, but she found Abigail amusing.
"I have a lot of nieces and nephews." Abigail returned in a cheeky manner that reminded Olivia forcibly of Casey. "None of them who have been born are younger than Melissa, though."
"I see." Olivia arched an eyebrow. "Any idea of what you want to do when you grow up?"
"I want to be a lawyer like my sister, but one who helps kids." Abigail bounced on the balls of her feet. "Is that a thing?"
"Yep. Do you know who in this house is a lawyer?"
Abigail took a shot in the dark with her guess after she used the process of elimination. "Is it Alex?"
"That's right!"
"What about me?" came a familiar voice.
Alex joined them in the front hall. Serena was in her arms and as always, Noah was trailing beside her. The little boy was even wearing a pair of kid-sized reindeer antlers. They had been amongst his presents under the tree.
Noah squealed at the sight of one of his favorite playmates. "MISSA! MISSA! MISSA!"
Entertained, she gave him a hug and gestured towards Abigail. "Do you remember Aunt Scrappy?"
Olivia winced—if Noah echoed that particular name in the wrong way, it would come out very wrong, indeed.
"Cappy!" he chirped. "Auntie Cappy!"
"Huh." Abigail said in surprise. "That's new."
Noah blew her a kiss before he reached for Melissa. She understood what he wanted and held his hand. Together, they dashed off to the living room.
Alex shifted her attention to Olivia again. "What were you and Abigail saying about me?"
"I told her that you're a lawyer." Olivia explained to her wife. "Abigail said she wants to be one when she's older because she wants to be like her sister."
"Oh, really?" Alex regarded their other guest. "Have you told Casey that?"
"No." she answered. "Should I?"
"It would make her super happy." Alex told her in a knowing tone. "Is there anything you'd want to focus on when you're a lawyer?"
"Well, what do you do?" Abigail tried.
"My job is to oversee the cases that Olivia's unit handles."
"Woah! Really?"
Alex nodded. "Yes, and I love it."
"I want to be the kind of lawyer that helps kids. Maybe one day I could even be a judge." Abigail told her. "What do you think, Alex?"
"I think that that's a wonderful idea. You should go for it." Alex winked at her. "If you have any questions today, ask away."
"Alright…"
Abigail had grown distracted—Serena had noticed her, and was now studying her closely. She had an intense gaze.
Alex moved closer to Abigail and crouched down slightly so Serena could have a better focus.
"What do you think?" Alex kissed her daughter's cheek. "This is your auntie."
Serena reached for Abigail. She was definitely interested.
"Would you like to hold her?" Alex asked Abigail.
"I would love to."
Alex eased Serena into Abigail's arms.
"Hold her tightly, but not too tightly." Alex advised her. "Do you know what I mean?"
Abigail nodded sincerely; she was very practiced with holding babies. "I know exactly what you mean."
"Good. Olivia and I will help you move now."
They guided Abigail to sit on the couch in the living room. Here she was greeted by Harper, who was working on a knitting project. Serena stole Abigail's attention again by snuggling up to her and allowing herself to drift off to sleep—her nap from earlier had been derailed. Serena even grinned when her new friend began to give her back rubs.
Olivia made them both comfortable and then touched a finger to the youngest Novak's forehead. "How's your noggin, kid? Still smarting from when you walked into the door?"
Alex laughed in disbelief. "Come again?"
Even Harper looked up from her knitting. "What did we miss?"
"Our friend here has been bumming out that she's going to be her parents' last child." Olivia supplied. "When I told her that she could hold Serena, she accidentally walked into the closet door because she was in a daze."
"Oh, dear." Alex took a seat on Abigail's other side. "Are you still sore?"
Abigail shook her head. "Nope. Now I'm just happy."
Alex gave her a smile. "Serena is happy, too, and she's a cuddler. It's okay if you want to give one of her hands a kiss."
Abigail did. Serena responded by giggling, and holding tightly to Abigail's fingers. She liked her new friend.
Olivia sent a picture of them to Casey, and stepped out to the foyer. She also needed to catch her breath. Or maybe pinch herself.
"Is this real?" she murmured to no one.
DING!
Casey had responded to her text already. We love that picture! I just sent it to my parents—that's the kind of the thing they like to frame!
I can't wait to see when they do ;) Olivia sent back.
The lieutenant pocketed her phone and finally picked up the bag of gifts from their flower shop family. She'd left it by the door.
"Yep." she said aloud as she headed back to the living room. "This is definitely real."
Abigail held Serena until she fell asleep.
Noah moved in on Abigail when Alex left to put Serena to bed. He had a request of her.
"Read, please?" he deposited a new storybook into her hands. "Love you!"
"Right back at you." Abigail pulled Noah onto the couch. "Come cuddle."
Noah gave her a squeezing hug when he was comfortable, and then beckoned to Melissa. She'd been waiting for an invitation.
"Come on." Abigail beckoned to her, as well. "Come on. You're okay."
Melissa scrambled to join them, pleased that she could.
Noah's book was a volume of kid-friendly fairytales. Abigail selected one at random and began to read. Her companions were spellbound.
During this time, Olivia had been working in the kitchen with Harper and Alex to make the final preparations for lunch. Things were going fine until Harper had a sudden realization.
"Hey," she said suddenly. "Is it just me, or is it too quiet?"
Olivia and Alex both paused to listen. They'd been checking in on the kids, but Harper was right: it was too quiet.
"Come on, Allie-cat." Olivia said to Alex. "Let's go make sure that Noah hasn't talked Melissa into doing anything ridiculous again."
Quite to the contrary of Olivia's fears, they were met with an adorable sight. The kids had stopped reading because Melissa and Noah were both fast asleep, holding on to Abigail's shirt for security. They were having their own Christmas Day nap. Abigail had her arms around both of them.
Then she saw the Cabots watching.
"I'm sorry!" she squeaked, sitting up straighter. "I didn't mean for them to fall asleep!"
"Don't worry." Olivia picked both toddlers up. "It's good for Noah and Melissa to count sheep right now. They'll be wide awake for Aunt Tiffany's party."
"Oh!" Abigail set Noah's book aside and rose to her feet. "What happens now?"
Alex held a hand out to her. "Olivia is going to put the little kids to bed, and you can help Harper and I set the table for lunch now."
"Okay." Abigail took Alex's hand and began to walk with her. "What did you make?"
Alex told her all about it.
By the time lunch was over, Abigail had warmed up completely to Olivia, Alex, and Harper. She especially loved having their attention. Even for the big family that she hailed from, Abigail was often on her own. It was a refreshing change to have three very interesting people to herself.
Once the last remnants of lunch were cleared away, Olivia and Alex worked on setting all the baking supplies ready.
Abigail sat in a chair near Harper's. The pregnant woman was occupied for the moment with following her babies' movements with her hands. Even in these last days of pregnancy, she was mesmerized by feeling her offspring move.
"Is it time for them yet?" Abigail asked her. "Ma said that some babies keep their own schedules."
"That's an accurate fact, but my babies aren't officially due for another week."
"Ma told me once that I came three weeks early."
"Oh, my." Harper glided a hand over her baby bump. "My fingers are crossed that these two stay put."
"You don't want them to come today?"
Harper shook her head. "Uh-uh. Christmas is magical, but I also don't want to miss Aunt Tiffany's party."
"That's a good point." Abigail remarked. "Her parties are the best."
She paused, thinking.
"But wouldn't it be cool if the babies had their birthday on Christmas?"
This time, Harper nodded. "Guess what?"
Abigail promptly leaned forward. "What?"
Harper gave her a mischievous grin. "Today is my birthday."
"Wow! Then I guess one birthday on Christmas in our family is enough, huh?"
Harper nodded a third time and began massaging her middle yet again. Both of the babies were kicking now.
"Please come here, my friend." she said to Abigail.
The girl got up and closed the small distance between them. "Yes?"
"Did I hear that you want to be a lawyer when you grow up? And then a judge?"
"Yep. I even have a cool middle name that totally works for it—Victory."
"That is really cool." agreed Harper. "You could even go by that name when you're older."
Abigail mulled this over. "I never thought about it that way before."
"Think about it—the Honorable Judge Victory Novak, defender of children and crusader for justice." Harper proposed.
"Oh, I really like that." Abigail hugged Harper. "Thanks for the idea."
"You're very welcome."
Harper arched her back suddenly, so Abigail made a small hasty retreat.
"Do you need something?" the girl asked her cautiously.
"No, sweetheart." Harper replied in a reassuringly. "The babies just woke up from a nap and they're kicking me. Do you want to feel them?"
Abigail drew closer again. "Yes, please."
Harper took the girl's hands in hers and set them on her burgeoning belly. "Abigail Victory, meet Xander Jude, and Zoelle Caroline Margaret. They're the ones giving you kicks right now."
As if on cue, Xander and Zoelle began kicking even more.
"This is amazing…" Abigail marveled.
Olivia and Alex were watching the scene from a few feet away. The magic happening was yet one more thing they would have missed, had Harper never stumbled into their lives.
Alex called to them. "It's time to start now."
The kitchen table had been arranged into three different work stations, meaning that the Cabots actually had an agenda about this baking session. Abigail was immediately curious.
"Who is doing what?" she asked, putting on an apron that Alex passed her.
"Harper and I are going to bake chocolate chip cookies," Olivia answered. "But I'm also going to teach her a recipe I know for cookies that have rainbow hearts in the middle."
Abigail gaped openly at her—that last part had her taken aback.
She turned to Alex. "What about you?"
"I'm going to make cookies that are stuffed with Nutella."
"What?" Abigail's tone was laced with astonishment, but she still used a hair tie from her pocket to secure her long red hair in a bun. "How does that work?"
"Come bake with me, and I'll show you."
Abigail zoomed to Alex like there was a magnetic pull in place. They even fell into a conversation about what it was like to be a lawyer as they started their baking process.
Olivia drew close to the other adult in the room. "How are you, Harp? Need anything?"
"No, Olivia, but thank you."
"Okay." Olivia kissed her sister on the top of her head. "Let's get started."
They tackled the chocolate chip cookies first as they began their own conversation.
The gathering of the four of them was a memory that Olivia would remember forever. It was moments like this that she had longed for when she was younger. Now they were happening every day. She soaked in every little thing.
Christmas music played softly.
The little kids were asleep upstairs.
She was baking with Harper.
Alex was baking with Abigail.
The house was warm.
Snow fell gently outside.
Everything was perfect.
Olivia didn't have to wonder now if this charmed scene from her life was real. She just knew.
And the day wasn't even over yet.
