Hey guys!
I finally came back with part two of this little piece I started. I'm not sure about it, so I'm hoping you guys are happy with how this second part has turned out. Thank you for all the feedback and support with this collection so far. It really means a lot.
I present to you 'Conflicted Part 2' of the Intimate Moments Collection.
Enjoy :) xo
Conflicted [Part Two] [Intimate Moments Collection]
A whole lot of thought and prayer had led to this moment: Edgar Pierce navigating his car through the streets of Syracuse, New York. He wondered if he made the right decision. His stomach was in knots and he swore he was on the brink of throwing up.
In the week and a half since he had received that letter from his birth mother, his mind had been plagued with thoughts of why he should or should not go through with this. He had talked to his adoptive mother again and she once again reminded him that he needed to think about it and make the decision for himself, and that she would support him in whatever. His wife had said the same; process the information and make a decision from there.
When he finally did talk to his sister - the day after he had gotten his letter - she had told him that she needed to think hard about it. He and his sister had the same experience no doubt, but even he knew - and Olivia had reminded him as well - that two people could grow up in the same situation and one could still have a worse experience than the other. He took that into consideration which was why he was not completely surprised when on Thursday - just two days ago - Adeline called him and told him that she had really thought about it but she just couldn't bring herself to go through with this. Edgar had asked her several times if she was sure, but she told him she just couldn't do it, that she wasn't ready. He had respected that, however; Adeline had made that decision for herself and her own mental health. He couldn't blame her.
He was still fully trying to process whether or not he himself had made the right decision by coming up here.
With Noah spending the weekend at Lucy's house with her and her family, Edgar and Olivia had come up to Syracuse the night before. He was so grateful for Olivia's support throughout this week. He'd felt such a mixture of emotions and so many thoughts flooded his mind, and Olivia was right there by his side as they worked together to process what she was feeling. When he asked her to accompany him to Syracuse for this meeting, she jumped at the chance. After finishing work the day before and after ensuring that their son was safe and sound at Lucy's, the two had hit the road.
They were dressed casually; Olivia wore a pair of skinny jeans and pale blue t-shirt underneath her grey cardigan, and a pair of white Keds sneakers. Edgar was dressed rather similarly, in a pair of dark blue jeans and blue t-shirt underneath his leather jacket, along with some sneakers as well. Their wedding rings glistened in the sunlight; they were in this together, no matter what today would bring.
As he turned into the neighborhood where the house stood, he felt the knots in his stomach grow tighter. Olivia must have sensed the nerves, seeing as she simply placed her hand on his knee and rubbed gently with her thumb.
"Relax."
"I'm relaxed, I swear…" he took another breath as he slowed down some, as the speed limit dropped for the neighborhood; "I really appreciate you coming with me. You didn't have to and you really could have said 'no', but you didn't and that really means a lot to me, and-"
"And shut up, because you're rambling," she laughed a bit as she cut him off; "Baby, there's nothing I wouldn't do for you; you know that. I'm here to support you."
Edgar smiled and squeezed her hand. He then briefly dropped her hand and pulled to park along the street, outside of a two story white house. It looked different than what he remembered from many years ago, but it was the same house, just with renovations.
He turned off the engine, then simply sat there for a second as he tried to figure out his next move. Anxiety was creeping in faster than before and his hands trembled a little. He wasn't sure if he could do this.
He swallowed a little then shook his head. He absolutely couldn't do this.
"I can't do this…" he glanced at his wife as he reached out to press the button to start the car; "This was a mistake."
"Wait...wait...baby…" Olivia took his hand, stopping him from starting the car again. She then reached out and placed a hand on his cheek so he'd look at her;
"Baby, it's not a mistake."
"Olivia-"
"Let me finish…" she told him as she stroked her thumb underneath his eye; "You've come this far. You don't have to talk about all the heavy things today if you don't want to. You can just go in, say hello, get reacquainted and see what happens; see how you feel. Just don't give up quite yet, okay? See what's on the other side of that door, alright?"
Edgar took in her words as he nodded his head. He then chuckled a little and said; "I have defended and prosecuted some of the roughest criminals in the world, and I'm sitting here scared to go face my birth parents? That's pa-"
"If you say that's pathetic, I promise I will slap you," she raised an eyebrow, though she smirked as she looked at him; "Come on, let's just see what today brings. One step at a time, okay?"
Edgar nodded his head. Before opening his car door, however, he leaned over and placed a kiss onto her lips; "I love you."
"I love you too." she quietly spoke. She kissed him once more, then after they both took a deep breath, they got out of the car.
Edgar kept a tight grip on Olivia's hand as they made their way up the walkway and up the couple steps to the front door of the home. Edgar pressed the button for the doorbell, then looked over at Olivia; "If some shit goes to the left, you got your off duty weapon, right?"
Olivia let out a laugh even though she knew he was serious. She glanced up at him; "I'm a cop; of course I have my off duty weapon…" she leaned into him as she squeezed his hand; "Breathe; it'll be fine."
Edgar opened his mouth to say something else when the door opened. Behind the glass screen door was a middle-aged, dark skinned woman. She had brown eyes and a friendly smile, and her braided hair was in a bun. She wore a floral scrub top and a pair of black scrub bottoms, and a plain grey hoodie.
"Can I help you?" she asked, giving them both a smile.
Edgar froze for a second so Olivia nudged him, then she spoke up for him; "Um, hi. We're looking for Glenda and Richard Brown?"
"May I ask who's looking for them?"
"Uh...Edgar...I'm Edgar…" Edgar finally managed to speak, though his voice was a little shaky; "And this is my wife, Olivia."
The woman's face changed as if something had dawned on her, and her smile grew wider; "Oh yes; they told me about you so they'll be happy that you came up…" she then opened the door, allowing the pair to step inside; "I'm Erica by the way; I help take care of them. I...I'm actually your cousin; our moms are sisters."
"Oh...cool…" Edgar gave her a smile as both he and Olivia shook her hand; "It's nice to meet you."
"Yeah same; always nice to meet family," she then gestured to the room just to the left of them; "Um, they're in the living room if you want to follow me?"
Edgar nodded, and both he and Olivia followed the woman to the living room. They stood in the doorway as she poked her head in, and they listened as she announced to the two older individuals that "Edgar was here with his wife Olivia". She stepped aside and gestured for them to come into the room, and Edgar discreetly squeezed Olivia's hand before leading her into the living room.
And now here he was, face to face with two figures of the past that he had fought to forget.
It was clear that addiction and now illness and overall old age had left its mark on their bodies. They were both thin and a little frail, with his father being confined to a nearby oxygen concentrator to help with his breathing as he sat on the couch. His mother was seated on the armchair near his father, with a cup of coffee in her hand. They both smiled and their eyes lit up at the sight of Edgar, even though Edgar was unsure of how to approach this at all.
"Get it together, Edgar; you're not a kid anymore." he thought to himself.
"Ed...Edgar…thank you for coming." the older woman spoke up. She put the cup of tea down and slowly stood up, and she slowly came around the coffee table, stepping closer to him. Edgar almost wanted to step back, but he stood his ground. He still hadn't let go of Olivia's hand, and Olivia was simply rubbing his hand with her thumb as she stood with him.
Glenda gestured for the couple to sit down on the small loveseat. Edgar squeezed Olivia's hand again before sitting down along with her, though he still didn't let go of her hand. Erica offered to get them some iced tea, to which they both accepted. Edgar was still trying to find the words to say and Olivia was just doing the best she could by just holding his hand and supporting him.
Erica returned some moments later with a glass of iced tea for them both, then announced that she was going to head to the grocery store before leaving the room. They heard the front door close, then an awkward silence consumed the four individuals for a minute. It was almost as if nobody knew what to say; Olivia didn't think it was necessarily her place to speak and so all she did was rub Edgar's hand with her thumb. She could feel from the way he was gripping her hand so tightly that he was drawing strength from her right now.
It was Richard who broke the silence. He drew in a breath, and he quietly spoke; "You've certainly grown into a strong man, Edgar."
Glenda hummed in agreement; "You have...and with a very pretty wife." She gave Olivia a smile, one which Olivia returned as she gently placed her other hand on Edgar's arm.
"Thanks uh...yeah it's been...it's been a rollercoaster life but I'm grateful for it all, especially for this beauty." Edgar spoke. He nudged Olivia a little and gave her his handsome smile, and she blushed a little as she leaned her head on his shoulder.
"Have the two of you been married a long time?" Glenda asked.
"It seems like it, but no…" Edgar replied; "We've been together a couple years now and been married for almost a year; our anniversary is next month."
"Aw that's lovely; how did this little love story arise?" Glenda wondered.
Edgar and Olivia exchanged a glance and let out a little laugh. "It's always a weird story." Edgar pointed out.
"In a nutshell; we met through my boss, and it turned out that Edgar here was defending a perp that my squad picked up," Olivia explained; "The perp turned out to be guilty, and Edgar apologized for doing his job and we met again a couple weeks later."
Both Richard and Glenda had to laugh at this. "So...I take it you're a cop? Isn't that a conflict of interest being that Edgar is a lawyer?" Richard chuckled a little as he looked between them both.
"It is, which is why I don't try SVU cases," Edgar shrugged a little; "But yeah, so that's our story, and now here we are."
"Well that's great, so congratulations so-...uh...Edgar." Richard gave a slight smile. So easily had the word 'son' almost rolled off his lips, but was that even appropriate considering all the time that had passed and the circumstances surrounding this whole situation?
Edgar had noticed the slip of the tongue but didn't say anything. He simply glanced at his and Olivia's joined hands, rubbing his thumb over her fingers just as he did that night they met a couple years ago. He remembered that moment; holding her hands during prayer at the Garland household. Holding her hand had strangely calmed him then, and now, he felt that same sense of calm.
There was a little more silence, then Richard spoke again; "How's your sister...Adeline?"
"Adeline is pretty great; she's...she's a social worker, and she's got a husband and kids; she's doing great." Edgar replied.
"That's good to know," there was a brief pause, then Glenda continued; "We hoped that she would respond, but...we haven't heard anything."
"You'll tell her that we asked about her, yeah?" Richard added.
Edgar nodded his head, though he knew he probably wouldn't tell Adeline this information for a few days. She was supportive of him coming to do this but she just couldn't bring herself to do it, and he understood that.
"I'll tell her…" he then looked up; "She uh...she wasn't ready."
"Understandable," Glenda remarked with a nod of her head; "We know that we put you both through a lot, and honestly, it wouldn't have been surprising if you hadn't said anything to us as well."
"I'll be honest and say that I almost did not respond, but I just...I wanted to let it go completely…" Edgar paused for a second, and he once again squeezed Olivia's hand for comfort and strength all at once; "Adeline and I didn't deserve any of the pain we suffered, and yet - over the course of this last week especially - I've found myself finding some peace with what happened.. Though it hurt terribly and destroyed us for a while, the best thing that ever could have happened to us was getting adopted by Kelly and Ron Pierce. Those two gave us a life that you two couldn't give us, and I know that had it not been for them, we wouldn't be here."
He shrugged a little as he seemed to get a bit emotional. Olivia squeezed his hand, and he gave her a little smile then turned back to the two older individuals as he finally found his voice again;
"You know it's gonna take a lot for us to build something, but I at least wanted to clear the air, and tell you to your face that I do forgive you. It's taken a whole lot of soul searching, and therapy over the years and there's obviously a lot for us to talk about, but I do forgive you."
Olivia was listening intently as he spoke, and she wanted to cry almost. They'd had this conversation earlier in the week, and she knew he had been a bit nervous to say all this. However, she reminded him that honesty was key here and that what he felt was perfectly valid. Hearing him say this again and watching him as he looked the people that had hurt him so deeply in the eye was chilling and emotional and beautiful to watch all at once. She was so proud of him right now, and all she could do was squeeze his hand.
Glenda and Richard seemed to take in every word that their estranged son was saying. Though it was hard to hear, they were both proud of him for speaking up and standing by everything that he felt in his heart. The two knew they had made a lot of mistakes and had hurt the two people that had relied so much on them, and they knew they'd never be able to apologize enough. However, it was at least a nice thing to hear that Edgar had forgiven them, and they just hoped that their daughter Adeline would soon do the same.
It was Richard who stuck out his hand first, and Edgar reached over and shook it. Richard squeezed his hand and placed his other frail hand over his estranged son's hand; "Thank you, Edgar; thank you for your forgiveness."
Edgar gave him a smile, then he reached over and clasped Glenda's hand in his. Glenda squeezed his large hand with both of her small ones as she gave him a teary eyed smile; "You've always been such a sweet boy…" she reached up with a frail, shaky hand to briefly cup his cheek; "Thank you so much."
The four of them remained in the lounge for a little bit longer and actually had a decent conversation as the two once again got to know their son, and got to know his wife a little more as well. Even Erica had come back eventually after the grocery store run and she too joined them in the lounge for a chat. Though it was going to be a process of getting to know each other again, Edgar was grateful for this time and grateful to share it with Olivia.
After that short while, however, Edgar announced that they were going to head out so they could let them rest. Hugs were shared and Edgar promised to call every now and then to just check in. The couple then headed out of the house, and they remained silent as they walked down the walkway to the car. Edgar let her in first, then he got in himself.
They were silent for a bit as they started on the road back to the hotel. Olivia could tell by the look on Edgar's face that he was feeling so many things, so she didn't push him to talk right away. She simply rested her hand on his knee while she used her other hand to drop a text to Lucy to check in. She just wanted Edgar to know that she was there for him and was ready to listen anytime he wanted to talk.
They eventually reached the hotel and parked in the parking garage, and before long they were making their way back into the building and up to their room. As soon as they were inside their room, Olivia slipped off her cardigan and kicked off her shoes. She took Edgar's arm, thus capturing his attention as he leaned against the counter for a second. He gave her a soft smile, and she gave him one back.
"What?" he smirked as he looked at her. She shook her head as she leaned closer, holding onto his arm while gazing at him;
"I'm just very proud of you."
Edgar chuckled a little as he moved his arm to wrap around her. He pulled her against his chest while still gazing at her; "I'm proud of me too…" there was a pause, then he continued; "We can talk more about it later because I need to process, but I just...I need to say thank you. Thank you for supporting me on all of this; it means a lot."
Olivia reached up and draped one of her arms around his neck. She stood on her toes and placed a soft, delicate kiss to his lips as she whispered; "I'll always have your back, I promise."
Edgar squeezed her a little before leading her through to the bedroom of their suite so they could relax some more. Though he still had a lot to process in his head, he was glad to have at least taken this first step. Forgiveness was hard, but he had done it.
And he knew he couldn't have done it without the beautiful woman by his side. His wife. His Olivia.
Leave me some reviews friends. You know, I was saying a couple nights ago that I love writing these little pieces and breathing life into the character of Edgar. Here's to hoping he comes back to the show for real to make Ms Benson happy. Alright; please leave some reviews. More to come soon. Stay safe and wear your mask :)
