Gregory had been on the phone long enough for his food to get cold. She had press documents to work on, but even after Olivia finished, his place was still empty across from her. Rose packed his dinner away, taking her empty plate and leaving the coffee pot for Gregory.
The smell of the coffee was tempting. She knew she shouldn't, but Gregory wasn't here to lecture. Heaven only knew when he'd be off the phone, his call seemed to be the kind that could go all night. That thought made coffee all that more attractive, she hated to go to bed alone. The bitter liquid would keep her awake until he got off the phone.
Olivia poured her cup and took a tiny sip, feeling rather foolish sneaking into the living room with her forbidden coffee. The mail was still on the table, work had run late that afternoon. Neither of them had even looked it. Usually she left it for Gregory, he liked to manage the bills, but he was still on the phone. Perhaps there'd be another letter from Sean.
Most of it was professional correspondence. The amount of mail Gregory could receive in one day was proving to be quite astonishing. The careless stack she was making on the end of the coffee table fell over onto the floor, scattering the letters. Sighing in exasperation, she set down her coffee and got down on the floor to pick them up.
One letter missed her search and remained beneath the sofa. Thinking she had them all, Olivia pulled herself back up. Wrapping her hands around her coffee and wondering about her children, her gaze drifted out over the dark garden. Caitlin's outburst at the restaurant was still heavy on both of their minds. More so on her husband's, he'd been barely concentrating at the office.
Even Roger's playful gloating over breakfast that morning hadn't made him feel any better. Cole St. John had been identified from a partial fingerprint found where he had torn his glove. Now Ricardo seemed confident he could pin the rest of the threats on Cole St. John. Even Interpol was getting involved. She breathed in rich aroma of her coffee. Cole would be caught. He wouldn't have a chance to threaten the baby.
Maybe he was upset about Bette's article, but that didn't make any sense. The article was his idea. He wanted to smooth over any question about her pregnancy by encouraging Bette to use it prominently in her column. And Bette rarely needed much encouragment.
He was still deeply concerned about something, but it certainly wasn't public opinion. Gregory's reputation hadn't been better. Liberty was doing well. His firm was as smugly pleased with him as they usually were.
Perhaps he'd be ready to tell her tonight when they worked on their next letter to Sean. Thinking of her son shocked her out of her reverie. He didn't know. They were letting Bette tell the world in the paper tomorrow, but they hadn't told their own son he wasn't going to be the youngest anymore.
Olivia hurried to the phone, picking it up without remembering Gregory was still on the line.
"Yes, it'll be in the paper tomorrow." Gregory said with resignation in his voice. "I'm sure you see why I'm reluctant to accept your offer under these circumstances."
Respect for his privacy overrode her curiosity and she hung up the phone quickly. What offer? What was going to be in the paper? When had her life become a spy novel? She wondered as she retreated back to the sofa. Watching the closed door to his study wasn't constructive, but it did make her feel better.
Glancing down at her watch, Olivia realized what time it was in England. If she'd gotten through, Sean would nearly getting up and getting ready for class. It was almost six am in England. Her yawn reminded her it was ten in California and even the coffee she wasn't supposed to be drinking wasn't keeping her awake as well as she had hoped.
Returning to the dining room, she refilled her cup. Her left hand settled guiltily over her stomach, "I've already done the damage, might as well keep going. It'll give me something to think about when I wonder how you turned out so differently then I imagined."
"He can't hear you Liv." Gregory's hands were heavenly on the tension in her shoulders.
"Oh, why can't he?" She retorted gently, grabbing the chair for balance as his strong fingers dug into the tightness of her muscles.
"No ears yet." He sounded incredibly certain of his fact. Surprised, she tried to turn around, but he insisted on continuing his work on her shoulders. "You're tense today." Gregory's ministrations coaxed a sigh of agreement out of her. "He won't be able to hear you for a few months."
Her surprised noise made him chuckle. "I've been doing my homework. I always felt ignorant when you were pregnant with Caitlin and Sean. This time, I'm going to know everything." He kissed her cheek, took her coffee away from her and drained the cup. "And I know this is bad for you."
"You're in a good mood darling." Olivia smiled at him, more curious now about his phone call now that he was suddenly in high spirits.
"Where did my dinner get off too?" Gregory wondered as he surveyed the empty dining room table.
"Rose put it in the fridge." She passed on.
Following him into the kitchen, she watched as he pulled it out and placed it in the microwave. Turning back to her with a gleam of pride in his eye, Gregory rubbed her arm. "You'll never guess who just called."
"It must be important," she began. "You've been on the phone nearly three hours."
Rescuing his dinner from the microwave,Gregory dug into it quickly. "Yes, I'm sorry about that darling. It couldn't be helped."
Smiling in faint amusement as he devoured his dinner as if it was going to be taken away from him at any moment, Olivia folded her arms over her chest. "Well, who was it?"
Grinning around a bite of his potatoes, Gregory wiped his mouth on his napkin. "The DA."
"The DA?" Olivia repeated in surprise. "Darling, what would the district attorney want with you?"
"She's retiring, Laura Fitzgerald is retiring after eighteen years giving me hell in court." He finished off his chicken and left his empty plate in the sink.
The curl of her mouth showed her amusement. "No wonder you're in a good mood."
He lead her back out to the living room and sat her down on the sofa. "That's not all. You're not going to believe who she wants as her replacement."
"I'm afraid I'm not current on my who's who of California lawyers." Olivia retorted dryly, trying to find her answers in the smug smile on his face.
"I think you know this particular lawyer quite well."
She stopped him with a hand as he leaned in to kiss her. "You?"
Not one to be deterred easily, Gregory took her hand and kissed it instead. "Me, apparently I've caused equal trouble for her over the years. She seems quite impressed with me."
"Few women aren't." Olivia reminded him as she tried the idea out in her head. "District Attorney Gregory Richards?"
He leaned back into the sofa and shook his head. "I didn't accept."
Her expression faded into confusion. "Why wouldn't you accept?"
Caressing the furrow in her brow away with a gentle hand, he finally got to kiss her cheek. "Long hours at the office and even longer hours in court. We're going to be very, very busy with our own project soon enough." He kissed her forehead patronizingly. Thinking the subject was closed, he reached for the mail and started organizing it.
Reaching out, Olivia pushed the mail back down to the table, drawing his attention back to her. "I think you should accept darling."
Gregory raised an eyebrow, but waited for her to continue. "Why?"
"Because you should give something back." Was her simplistic answer, and only the seriousness of her blue eyes kept him from laughing.
"Give something back?" He repeated without letting emotion into his voice.
"Put the bad guys away." Olivia continued, surprising him with her enthusiasm. "You could keep men like Cole St. John off the streets for good."
Gregory's hands went immediately to her knees, instinctually reminding her that he would protect her at all costs. "Don't worry about Cole, don't even think about him."
"You know I'm right." Her smaller hands wrapped around his larger ones. "Don't you want to be able to look your son in the eye and tell him how you made his world a better place?"
"Isn't his world going to be better if his father is here when he comes home from school?" Gregory pulled his hands away as he stood to pace in front of the glass doors out to the terrace. "I think we learned the hard way that no amount of money can replace time."
Olivia rested her elbow on the back of the sofa and watched him. "Being District Attorney isn't about money. It's about doing the right thing."
"The right thing?" His laugh was bitter. "All of a sudden you care about morality?"
"I care about you." Olivia began softly as she traced the pattern on the pillow on her lap. "I care about Caitlin, Sean and the baby. I worry about how they see you. Your children idolize you. Remember how Sean used to follow you from room to room? How Caitlin used to play court with her dolls?"
Olivia reached for him and he stopped pacing and knelt across from her, letting her run her fingers through his hair. "Someday this baby is going to look at you and want to be just like you. Let him play District Attorney and save the world."
He wiped a tear from her eye, preventing it from running down her cheek. "I doubt it's that glamourous Liv."
"It probably won't be glamourous at all." She agreed with a smile.
Gregory squeezed her hand once before circling the sofa and settling down next to her again. "I'm told the right thing rarely is."
Turning his face towards her, Olivia filled his mouth with warmth, showing her gratitude as she kissed him. "You call her back. Now, before Mrs. Fitzgerald changes her mind."
Thoughtfully helping her up, Gregory noticed the dark smudges beneath her eyes. "I'll turn Roger on you if you drink anymore coffee."
Laughing softly, Olivia snapped her fingers at the lazy St. Bernard in the corner of the living room. "Don't worry, Belle won't let me have any of the nasty coffee."
The huge fluffy body brushed against his legs as Belle made her way to Olivia's feet. He returned the sweetness of her kiss from a moment ago, drawing a pleasant look of surprise. "You always see the best in me Liv."
Olivia fingered the lapels of his double-breasted jacket. "My weakness is that I don't think I can see anything but the best when I look at you." She looked into his eyes, letting him listen to her breathing in the silence. "Goodnight darling." A brush against his cheek with her hand, and the dog was following her up the stairs to bed.
His watch said it wasn't quite eleven. Laura Fitzgerald was a night owl, and if he called now he could catch her before the late news started.