A New York Evening

by SugarFap

Based on the Video Killed The Radio Star episode in s23. Trevor and Olivia's date at the gala and what happens afterwards. Originally a one shot but with all the lovely comments and encouragement, this will be multichapter :)

18. Chapter 18

Hi everyone, thanks for reading this far. This has taken a little longer due to commitments at work etc and also a little bit of writers block. For the record, I am going to be working a little bit on IDKYA and will get back to this soon. Ive been asked a few times in the comments and yes, will definitely be finishing IDKYA and also Everything After That (this is actually one of my favs, give it a read if you feel bored).

has actually changed and turned email notifs off so go back in to your settings and switch them back on if you still want to be updated about this fic or any of my others that you have favoured.

I hope you enjoy the chapter, please leave some feedback bc I thrive on it like a dog with a treat Hahahaa! Lots of love!

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"It's so cold!" Noah complained to Trevor. Trevor got out of his sleeping bag and put a sweatshirt on. Noah wasn't wrong, it was cold but sunny outside and he knew it would be a warm day. He unzipped the sleeping bag all the way and dragged it over to Noah. "Here…" he smiled and wrapped him in it. "Snuggle in…" he went in to his bag and pulled out the little boy's beanie and helped put it on letting the top of it cover his ears. "Anyone would think it's winter," he teased him.

Noah giggled.

"You hold tight there and I'll go start the fire again and then I'll make you a hot chocolate while I have my coffee, how does that sound?"

"Yeah thanks," Noah nodded with a smile. "And can we go for a walk or go fishing?," he wondered, excited by the adventures that Trevor had promised him.

"We can have some breakfast and then we'll go for a walk to scope out the best fishing spot, does that sound good?"

Noah nodded.

"Perfect," Trevor smiled.

"Could I call Mom?," he asked just as Trevor was about to step out of their tent.

"Let's just wait for Mom to text, she was very tired last night and said that she and Ava were probably going to have a sleep-in."

"Okay," Noah agreed, "Mom deserves to sleep," he agreed.

"Okay hold tight, keep warm," he went outside and smiled at the quiet surroundings. It was nice not to hear traffic but rather birds singing and the beautiful sun. He knew Olivia would appreciate it too if she'd come along. He didn't know how she would like sleeping on the ground, but he knew she would enjoy the simplicity of it all.

Perhaps even Ava too.

The fire was still smouldering from the night before so he added a few more bits of fresh wood and a fire brick and got it going again. He wasn't cold like Noah, but it was a bit chilly. He warmed his hands and began to work on his instant coffee.

He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and pulled it out. He laughed to himself deeply to see a photo from Ava. She was laying next to Olivia who was clearly in a deep sleep. Ava was holding Olivia's pointer finger, perched at her own nostril. He shook his head and laughed again.

"Don't you dare… leave her alone to sleep you brat!," he typed in response, "you are so funny, I hope you had a nice night. How are you feeling today?"

Ava's first response was a line of laughter.

The next was a little more serious, "I had a really nice night. I met Rafael's boyfriend and they both gave me some good advice and Liv and I had a good talk when we came home. I was thinking about what you asked me about Sarah and I don't want to cause any problems but… maybe you can call me and we can talk about it more."

Trevor had informed Ava he planned on taking her mother to court to dissolve her parental rights. Ava had felt sad and cried and asked her Dad not to start any problems. He held off moving forward after Ava told him she wanted to think about it and talk about it with her psychologist.

"Of course honey, why don't you go upstairs and I'll call you now, Noah is still resting in the warmth of his sleeping bag (and mine!) and I'm having my coffee."

He stuck his head back in the tent and smiled to see Noah watching something on the iPad. "C'mon Noah, you know better… you need to ask."

"Awww," he looked sheepish, "Sorry Trev…" he seemed like he was still sleepy.

"That's okay, you can watch cartoons for a little while, but no games. Just cartoons. You hear me?"

Noah nodded, "I'm gonna watch the Ninja Turtles that Ava showed me from when she was little."

"Okay, that's fine…but if you want to play games or have any other screen time you need to ask, you know that."

"Okay," he agreed, "Sorry." Noah added, understanding that rules were still rules with or without his Mom being present.

"Its fine… we are still figuring it out together," he smiled at Noah, "but Mom and I are on the same page when it comes to all your screen time, so don't think you can trick me," he winked with a little smile as he left Noah alone.

He took a short walk from the tent so that Noah couldn't hear that he was on the phone. He turned around to watch for him, to make sure he was keeping a close eye on everything given that there was a fire burning away.

His phone rang as he was about to text Ava asking if he should call yet.

"Hi Dad," she greeted him.

"Good morning sweetie, how did you sleep?," he wondered.

"Laying down," she answered wryly, causing him to laugh. "Ha ha, very funny smarty pants."

"I slept well, Liv and I were both really tired. We tried to watch a movie but we fell asleep straight away. We camped out in the living room."

"What do you mean? You both slept on the couch? That's terrible!"

"Noooo Dad, Liv made us a bed on the floor, it was fun," she replied.

"Oh… sorry," he smiled, "what about school yesterday, I didn't actually have time to ask. How did you go?"

"I think I made a friend at school… its still too early to tell but she's been really nice to me. Her name is Emily. She's in to alien books too, she probably won't be my best friend but its nice to talk about stuff that isn't annoying like boys and social media."

Trevor smiled, so relieved to hear how much brighter his little girl felt. "I'm happy as long as you're happy, sweetheart," he told her genuinely.

"Thanks Dad…. Liv and I discussed Mom last night and how Olivia feels about it and… she told me that it was up to me from now on how I want to address her," she told her father cautiously, wondering if he might be upset.

"Honey, I am so aware that you have a biological mother… but I am taking in to account all the things you've told me and the things that I know as an adult and it concerns me greatly that your Mom never called me or sought help when you told me she knew you were self harming… and there are so many other things that I take issue with beyond that."

"What's that got to do with me putting a label on Liv?" Ava pressed.

"I guess I just want you to know that I understand why you're so eager to find someone to fill that spot."

Ava sighed, "that's not what it is…"

"No? Well…maybe you can explain it to me…" he commanded gently, thinking that she was just trying to fill a hole that had been burned within her by her own mother.

"If you had any other girlfriend, I wouldn't be looking for her to be my Mom. I love Olivia because she makes me feel important and supported the way that you do. She sorted out stuff for me at school and she protects me the way you do. She does all the things that you do, that Sarah should have done and she never makes me feel second best to anyone or like she loves me any less than she loves Noah…"

Trevor was impressed that Ava had really given it a lot of thought and her reasons made a lot of sense. He knew in any other girlfriend situation he may not have ever ended up with anyone who cared about his daughter quite as much as Olivia did. And he realised how true her words were and it had never really struck him before just the depth of her love for his child. "I get it…" he said slowly and deliberately because he fully understood all at once.

And his capacity to love Olivia Benson grew just a little more than he thought was possible.

"I never got that experience with Sarah…" she murmured quietly "and I hate telling you that because I know you feel guilty about it, but I just want to be honest."

"I know and I'm sorry. My Dad guilt is not for you to worry about. I just need you to know that if I truly knew any of that or if I knew she had behaved in any way that wasn't motherly after I left, then I'm so sorry and I would have changed it and you would have lived with me, I just thought it was better that you stay with your Mom because she was your Mom and we all have this preconceived sexist notion that mothers are always going to be better at the job than Dads…"

"I know Dad, I could have spoken up too, but I told Liv last night that I just really wanted her to love me so I spent all of my time trying to be perfect and I think even if you gave me the choice to stay or go with you, I probably would have stayed because I didn't need to win your love, you gave it freely but I desperately wanted hers."

"Oh, kiddo…" he breathed, blinking back tears. "I'm so sorry."

He heard her voice break. He had to clear his own throat that became thick with emotion. He listened to her cry for a moment. "Knowing this, sweetheart, I'm going to move forward with sole custody of you. I would really like your Mom to relinquish her rights at this stage. She shouldn't have any rights."

"I know this is so stupid Dad, but…" she paused to try to compose her voice, "I don't want to hurt her feelings or make her feel like I don't want her…"

Trevor swallowed the lump in his throat. His daughter had the kindest heart. "This isn't on you, honey, this is on me and what I'm choosing for you. I am taking that choice away and Mom won't know that it had anything to do with you, I promise you. But… even if things happen and Mom relinquishes her rights, I will never ever stop you from seeing her if you decide you want to."

Ava sniffed. "Okay…"

"What I'm trying to stop, is her deciding she wants her daughter back full time after you've adjusted to this new life, after she's neglected your wellbeing and your needs. I am trying to avoid you ever having to be put in a messy situation. This is never going to be about me."

"I know, Dad…" He wiped a tear away. She sounded so sad.

"I love you so much, you know you're always going to be my number one baby girl no matter what, you could be 30 and I'm still going to think of you as my precious little angel."

Ava snorted a sob and a peel of laughter at the same time at her father's cheesiness. Trevor managed a smile too. "I love you too, Dad…" she murmured, "I'm glad we're close now, I think I'm the luckiest daughter in the world that my Dad is so cool and smart and nice and not awkward around me…"

A smile started to form upon Trevor's lips that spread broader. It wasn't often that genuine compliments came from his daughter in a heartfelt way. Often she complimented him in passing and it always sounded more matter-of-fact than heartfelt and in a way that he knew she would get annoyed with him if he made a big deal of it.

"I just love your heart, Ava Grace, it is the thing about you that I am the most proud of."

"I wish I could give you a big hug…" she admitted.

"Why don't you go back and give Liv a big hug and tell her Dad said you both needed it."

Ava chuckled, "You're so cheesy Dad."

"I know, I know… I just miss my girls."

"We miss you too. I hope you have a good time though. Send us a lot of photos today."

"Promise I will." He sighed, "Honey, I better go, Noah needs to eat breakfast and I promised him a hot chocolate. Tell Olivia to text me when she's awake and I will give her a call."

"Okay Dad, Love you, stay safe."

"I love you too. I've loved our talk."

"Me too, bye Dad."

He smiled and hung up and went back to the tent. He opened it up to check on Noah and found him sleeping again, wrapped up tightly in a sea of blankets with his face the only part of his body visible.

It was still early; he decided to leave Noah to it and make himself a second cup of coffee.

/

Olivia opened her eyes, feeling Ava snuggling up beside her. "What are you doing?," she asked sleepily with a smile, loving when both of the kids were cuddly.

"I just spoke to Dad," she said softly, "he said I should come and give you a hug and to tell you that we both deserve it."

Olivia chuckled, she rolled over and hugged Trevor's daughter warmly. "Good morning honey," she smiled.

"Good morning…"

"What's wrong? Why were you up so early talking to your Dad? Wait, what's the time?"

"Its just 7… I just wanted to text Dad to talk cos I missed him I guess," she shrugged, pulling away from Olivia.

"He'll be home tomorrow…" Olivia replied with a little smile. She yawned, "but its okay to miss him too, it's been awhile since you've been away from your Dad for more than 24 hours."

"I know…" Ava sighed. She closed her eyes.

"Are you okay?" Liv asked her, realising that she didn't seem happy.

Ava nodded, "Yeah… I just feel sad about my Mom today… Dad told me he wants to go ahead with the court thing…" she shrugged. "I know he's doing it to protect me and I know Mom doesn't care about me and doesn't care about my feelings, but I don't want to hurt hers."

Olivia propped herself up against the back of the couch and tried not to yawn. She patted her lap with a cushion, sensing the teen needed a little affection and assurance. Ava moved closer and laid her head down and Olivia began smoothing her hair despite it still being neatly braided. "Its okay to feel like that, that just shows what a beautiful soul you are that you still take in to consideration her feelings. That makes you such a wonderful person, Ava, but this is your Dad's choice and I am sure he will take in to consideration your feelings and weigh up what is best for you. Your Mom won't blame you, she will be mad at your Dad."

"I know, I just think about Mom being alone in California and that makes me so sad."

"You know you can text her at any time if you want to say anything to her, I know your Dad would be okay with that."

Ava nodded. "I dont think she wants to hear from me though…"

"I get it, it's a hard situation," Olivia murmured.

"Dad said to call him when you wake up…" Ava informed her, trying not to think about her Mom and focusing on her time with Olivia. "Noah wanted to talk to you and he said he missed us both."

Liv smiled. "Okay… So, what do you want to do today? Do you want to go somewhere for breakfast or do you want to make something?"

"Mmm. I can just make us some scrambled eggs and toast while you talk to Dad if you like?"

"You're the best…" Olivia replied planting a kiss on her forehead. "Let's do breakfast in bed…"

Ava slowly sat up and grinned. "Do you know how much Dad would hate that?," she asked with a laugh. "Not crumbs in the bed!," she gasped holding both of her hands to her cheeks in mock-shock.

Olivia laughed, "I know, that's why I suggested it. And you know what? Bring that orange juice bottle in here too, we can just drink directly from it. But if you tell your Dad I will deny it ever happened."

Ava cracked up. "This is why I love you so much, you let me do stuff Dad wouldn't… but within reason where I know I don't have to feel guilty for it."

Olivia smiled at her, "I would never allow you to do something that I think your Dad would actually be upset with me for. I think as long as he didn't have to witness it and make his little forehead vein pulsate, he'll be fine."

"Thanks for cheering me up, Liv. I feel better…"

"Good, babe, I'm glad to hear it."

She got herself up, "I'll go make breakfast, why don't you call Dad and then we can eat and plan our day."

"Sounds like a wonderful idea. Call out if you'd like some help."

/

"Its Mom, do you want to answer?" Trevor asked.

Bleary-eyed, Noah ate his cereal slowly. He nodded. Trevor hit answer and handed the phone to Noah.

He went outside to check on the fire and to get Noah's little backpack from the backseat of the car. It had some not-so-necessary belongings. He grabbed a fresh water bottle and tossed it in his own bag and made sure Noah didn't have anything important that he needed in there.

He finished his third coffee and rinsed the cup out and rinsed out the hot chocolate that Noah had all but finished and waited patiently for him to pass the phone over.

After his early morning chat with Ava, he needed to bounce it off Olivia to get her opinion of what he should do. Finally Noah finished with his Mom and got up and handed the phone to Trevor outside of the tent.

"Noah I would like you to finish your breakfast and your cartoons and then let me know and you can brush your teeth and get dressed and we'll go for our walk."

"Okay Dad," he replied absently. Trevor smiled to himself and took the phone.

"Hi my sleeping beauty…" he greeted Olivia.

He heard her chuckle. "I miss you so much," she murmured.

"I miss you too! I miss both of my girls," she could tell by the lightness and the happiness in his voice that he was smiling. It made a smile instantly spread across her mouth too.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," he replied, "Noah is eating his breakfast and then we're gonna go for a walk and scope out the best fishing spot and I'm gonna teach him how to fish."

"Why does that make you sound even hotter to me," she chuckled in to the phone softly.

"Baby, stop…" Trevor laughed, hating that her voice was almost a soft purr and he could do absolutely nothing about the way that it made him feel in his lower stomach.

Olivia laughed again. "Ava is making our breakfast and then we will figure out what we want to do for the day…"

"Did she tell you we talked this morning?," he asked Olivia.

"Yeah actually, she came in a little while ago and snuggled me and it woke me up… but I don't mind. We had a talk about her Mom last night and this morning and there was a shift between how she spoke about Sarah last night and then after she spoke to you…"

"Good or bad?," Trevor wanted to know.

"She had a lot of guilt this morning and it really hurts to watch her feel like that… I have to be so careful with what I say. I told her if she really wanted to talk to her Mom or text her or whatever, you wouldn't stop her."

"I wouldn't, but I am moving forward with the petition for sole custody. I have to Liv, I don't want her coming back at any point and staking claim after she's been such a shit Mom."

"Fair, but… just be careful, baby, keep Ava in the loop and don't discourage her from chatting to her Mom."

"I won't, you know I never would…" he let his voice trail, "anyway, Ava and I had a nice heart-to-heart this morning. I am so proud of her, Liv, she has such a beautiful, loving heart. I don't know what I did to deserve children like her and Noah and a woman like you, I count myself blessed."

"Me too…"

"Ava has my AMEX, can you maybe take her shopping or something retail-like today? Let her know that she can use my card and I won't be upset."

"She can use my card and I won't be upset." Olivia replied.

"She's my kid, Liv, you don't have to pay her way…"

"Well actually, she's kinda my kid too, she called me Mom last night and I understand my kid called you Daddy."

"Well played Benson," he chuckled. "But… she's got my card and I am happy for you to let her go a little bit crazy for summer stuff."

Olivia smiled at Trevor's generosity. "So I'll take her to Chanel?," she teased.

Trevor laughed, "Honey, are we talking about the same kid? She would abhor that. She would be much happier with a pair of expensive Nikes or Adidas and I'm cool with that… get something for Noah too and you."

Olivia smiled. "Maybe I'll get something for you." Her voice was suggestive and soft. "Maybe something for us, for when we're alone."

"Yeah be careful shopping for that kind of thing when in the company of my daughter," he chuckled, "but actually, that's a nice idea… I really really miss you."

"I miss you too…"

"Ava told me about the conversation you guys had last night and then she told me all the reasons why Olivia Benson is so important to her and I can't tell you how much deeper I fell in love with you, love…" he let his voice trail.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"She just outlined all the special things you've done for her - the things that I know if I had any other girlfriend, they wouldn't have done for her because no one comes close to your heart Liv, and I feel so, so, so deeply blessed that I have you and that you chose me…"

"You chose me," she murmured.

"I happen to think its the other way around… but okay, either way it made me super hot for you," he chuckled.

Olivia managed a laugh too. "Well… I love you… and also Ava hung out with Rafael for a little while last night and I think its the first time since Noah I've seen that man warm to a child. Those little jerks played a trick on me and let me believe that he was plying her with wine, I was ready to rip his face off."

Even Trevor found the funny side of that. "Oh Liv…" he laughed, "you poor thing. But was it okay? Did she seem like she was okay with him?"

"Yeah, it was interesting actually… he invited her to dinner to some fancy place he likes going to, they bought her mocktails and as it turns out Rafael has a boyfriend and we both got to meet him. They've been together for over six months now and I can't believe he wanted Ava to meet him before me, I'm slightly jealous!"

"Wow! I did not see that coming!" Trevor was shocked too. "I always thought he was in to you…"

"Nah, maybe when we first met?," she offered, "but he is very in love with his boyfriend, they're so cute together! And Ava was so happy to have someone to talk to about everything and I think it's healthy and sweet… there are some things, I guess that we just won't ever really understand."

"I know…" he said with a little sigh, "and that kind of kills me."

"Me too," Olivia agreed, "but at least now she has two responsible adults she can talk to if she feels like she can't talk to us."

"I'm glad Rafael has been good to her, even if he is a dick to me," Trevor laughed.

"That's just how he warms to people, I promise he will love you in no time."

"I'll take your word for it…" he replied. "Okay Liv, I think I gotta go, Noah is staring at me impatiently because I promised we'd get ready and go for a walk when he was done with his breakfast."

Olivia laughed, "Okay, text me or something later, I love you, take care of my little boy and send us lots of pictures and send me some hot ones later…" she chuckled in spite of herself.

"You too," he replied softly, "miss you, love you!"

/

"Do you like them?" Olivia asked Ava with a smile as the nail assistant came to take payment. She had hot pink nails with yellow smilies all over them. She had tried to insist on Liv getting the same, but Olivia used work as her excuse. Instead, she chose a charcoal colour with some light sparkle through it.

"Yeah," she smiled, "thanks…"

One of the women came to the counter to take payment. "Are you having a Mom and Daughter pamper day?," she asked, directing her question to Ava who was still examining her nails. Olivia smiled and glanced at Ava who's neck snapped up to gauge Olivia's reaction. She glanced back at the nail artist and smiled, realising that she was being spoken to.

"Yeah, thanks Mom," she said to Olivia who handed her card over. She glanced up at her, smiling cheekily.

Olivia put an arm around her and gave her a little squeeze. "You're welcome, babe," she kissed her temple. "Thank you so much," Olivia said to the artist. "We love our nails."

Ava watched her place her purse back in to her bag as they headed toward the door. Liv held it open for her as she stepped out and Ava almost ran in to someone who was familiar to her. She instantly smiled, "hi!"

"Oh, Ava, hey!," the girl greeted her. She smiled warmly at Trevor's daughter and Olivia observed that for the first time ever, she didn't tense around the company of another girl her own age. She seemed relaxed. "How are you?"

"Good! You?"

"Good thanks, I'm just on my way to pick up my little brother and take him to the park." The small girl with gorgeous dark hair that was tied in to a high pony-tail that Olivia could only imagine would hurt her scalp after a day.

"Oh, this is my uh… my Mom, Olivia… Mom this is Luna."

Olivia couldn't help but to feel a swell of feelings for Ava as she stammered over the title. The girl looked up and smiled at Olivia. She looked sweet and just like Ava, seemed to dress age-appropriately. She had a few piercings including a ring in her nose and a few more in one ear than the other. "Hi, nice to meet you Mrs. Langan," she greeted her politely, sticking her hand out to shake it.

"Hi Luna, its so nice to meet you, how do you girls know one another?"

"School, I met Ava in a club she joined on Tuesday."

Olivia turned to Ava and smiled, "hey, baby, you didn't tell me you joined a club!"

Luna looked a little sheepish. Ava shrugged and turned to Liv, "its for LGBTIQA+ support."

"Oh! That's so great," she smiled, "I'm glad you guys have that, its really important," she nodded.

"Its nice to make friends who get it," Luna replied, flicking her eyes up slowly at Ava, as if appraising her. "What are you guys up to?"

Ava showed her her nails, "we just got our nails done, my Dad and little brother are away camping so we're just hanging out and doing girl stuff."

Luna grinned at her nails, "wow, they're so cool! Did you come up with that idea?"

"Sort of," Ava shrugged. Olivia was so happy to see her having a normal teenage girl interaction. "I just thought a smiley would be cool…"

"Don't be modest," Olivia cut in, "you knew exactly what you wanted," she put an arm around Ava.

"I love all of your creative stuff! Your Mom is right, you don't need to be modest. You're very cool, Ava Langan and I don't even think you know it."

"You heard it here first…" Olivia teased Ava, "Luna thinks you're cool, I think you're cool…"

She saw Ava's cheeks flush.

"It was so good to see you, you still haven't texted me so I have your number too!," she told Ava.

"Oh, shoot… Sorry I forgot last night and I have strict rules around my phone use," she informed Luna, "but I'll text you when I get home because I left my phone on charge."

"Cool! I better go pick up my brother or else my Mom will kill me if I'm late."

"Nice to meet you, Luna," Olivia told the cute, petite girl.

"You too, Mrs. Langan."

"It's Olivia," she corrected her.

They said their goodbyes and walked along for a moment in silence. Olivia could tell Ava was a little embarrassed. "Soo…." She began.

"Don't say it…" Ava started to laugh. "Just… be cool."

Olivia laughed, "Sorry I'm not as cool as you, kiddo… she seems nice."

"Right?" Ava asked, looking up at Olivia with a big grin on her face, her cheeks pink.

Olivia couldn't help but to laugh. She wrapped both of her arms around her and gave her a squeeze. "Did I just witness a little crush already?"

Ava giggled, "She's just really cute. I'm not looking for a girlfriend, its just nice to think a girl is cute without having to feel like if a single soul finds out they will harass me and bully me until the end of time."

"I think the crush was actually mutual," Olivia shrugged, "she really wants you to text her."

"I think I'm just going to make friends, I'm too young for a girlfriend, I have a lot of things I want to focus on right now."

"Mmmmhm, we'll see little Ava, we'll see." Olivia chuckled.

/

"You did great!" Trevor encouraged Noah after he threw the line in to the water. "Now we sit and we wait and we enjoy nature…"

"What if I catch a fish Trev?," he asked, "what are we gonna do with it?"

"Well… it depends on how big it is. If it's really big we might keep it and have it for dinner…"

"I don't want to hurt it…" he pouted, "I just want to catch one… wait, won't my hook hurt it? Will the fish bleed?"

"Don't worry Bug, the fish don't hurt forever, it'll heal, we don't have to eat it, we can just toss it back and enjoy the activity instead."

"Okay," Noah replied sitting down comfortably. He thought for a second and winced in to the warm sun that was beating getting hotter as it grew closer to lunch time. "Trevor is it weird for you to hear me call you Daddy?," he wondered.

Trevor pulled his long-sleeved t-shirt off, dressing down to his t-shirt. "No, not weird, I think it's different but I'm okay with it, does it feel weird for you?"

Noah shrugged, "Mmmm not weird either, I just feel like Mom is gonna be mad so I have to be careful."

"I promise Mom won't be mad," Trevor told him, "I've already talked to Mom about it and you can even talk to her about it too if you want to."

"Okay." Noah agreed. "After we have lunch today can we go in the water to swim?"

"Yep!" Trevor smiled, "I think today is going to be very warm," he told Noah. "So, let me know if you get too hot here, Bug, okay? And we'll have to remember to keep putting sun cream on."

Noah smiled and nodded.

They sat quietly and Trevor was surprised by just how much Noah was taking to nature. He expected him to want to use a screen or complain about being bored, but he didn't, he sat quietly and listened to the insects and the movement of the fish in the water flipping about.

"Dad…" he spoke quietly.

"Yeah?," he turned to Noah, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow, "do you think you and Mommy will get married? Will you ask her?"

Trevor smiled, "I think so… I hope so, I hope Mom will say yes."

"Me too… but actually, when we get back to the city I need you and Ava to come with me so we can pick out a really nice piece of jewellery to go with the birthday present we're making her."

"Ohhhh, will you buy her a wedding ring?" Noah asked with a grin.

Trevor laughed, "not just yet… maybe we can get her a bracelet or a necklace or something like that."

"If you buy her a ring she might think you want to get married so its better to not buy her a ring until then," Noah remarked.

"Good thinking bug," Trevor replied with a nod, "when I decide to ask Mommy to marry me, I will get your help and Ava's help too."

"I'll be so happy and I bet Mom will be too," Noah replied. He gave a big yawn, "Daddy, I don't think we're gonna catch any fish."

"You know what?" Trevor smiled, "I think you might be right… do you want to pack up and go back to our camp site and have some lunch and then a swim?"

"Yeah!"

"Okay, wind your reel back in slowly… and we can pack up."

Truthfully, Trevor was starting to feel sunburned and he was sweating in the sun and could tell by Noah's reddening face that he was too. He knew Olivia would kill him if he came home with either of them sunburned.

/

"Are you sure Dad will be okay with this?" Ava asked, coming from the change room wearing a tie-dyed blue, purple and pink hoodie with some label across the front that Olivia wasn't too familiar with.

"Promise," Liv smiled, "and we are gonna buy you guys some new summer clothes. So what'll it be, dresses or shorts or both?"

"I don't feel like I look good in dresses," Ava replied, "I feel too much like a boy. I have no boobs and no butt."

Olivia smiled gently at her, "honey, you're 14 and you're very thin and athletic… You have a beautiful body and don't you ever let anyone else tell you otherwise, love."

"Okay," Ava smiled.

Olivia helped encourage her to buy a few little cute summer dresses and a couple of pairs of shorts, t-shirts and tanks and finally, their favourite, pyjamas.

"Dad told me that I can tell you that we're alllll going on a summer holiday together, the destination is a secret for now, but it's going to be hot and we are going for four weeks."

Ava's eyes widened. "Are we leaving the country?"

Olivia grinned at her, "I can't tell you… but I can tell you that we should get some matching pyjamas and then we will go and get you a new pair of cute sneakers from the Adidas store…"

"Why are you spoiling me?," she asked with a little laugh, "Is Dad going to kill me when he gets his credit card bill?"

"Firstly, honey, we've mostly been using mine and its because that's what we do on a girls trip, we spoil ourselves within reason. If you were an entitled little brat this would never be happening, but you're not and you know the value of things and I know you appreciate them so we are doing this once-in-a-blue-moon type of spending, so come on… time for summer pyjamas."

"What on earth are you guys doing here?" Olivia heard a voice from behind her.

Ava looked up and grinned, "heyyyy!"

"Hi kiddo, cute dress!," Amanda looked down at her eldest, "Jesse, this is Ava, doesn't she look so pretty in her dress?"

The blonde little girl nodded, "I like your dress!"

"Thank you!" Ava grinned at her. "You must be Jesse!" She looked at the little girl in the stroller who looked sleepy, "and you're Billie!" She gave Amanda a hug which Amanda seemed slightly surprised about.

"We've just gone and had our nails done and now we're doing some summer clothes shopping for our vacation which Ava is going to be surprised by when her Dad announces where we are going," Olivia told Amanda so that she knew not to spoil the surprise. She leaned over and kissed Billie hello and swept up Jesse. "Hi my beauty!"

"Auntie Liv!" Jesse grinned wrapping her arms around her and giving her a big squeeze.

"We just got some dresses and Mama is some pyjamas…"

"You could join us!" Ava told her, "we're going to get some pyjamas too, right? Why don't we take Amanda to the place we got our matching family PJs."

"Cute," Amanda chuckled, "Trevor and Noah match with you guys too?"

"Daddy and Noah do whatever we tell them to do… they like to make us happy." Ava replied.

Olivia laughed. "Ok honey, if you want that dress, go get changed and we'll take it and pay for it and we'll go get some PJs."

"Thanks Mom…" Ava grinned, she looked at Jesse, "when I get back in to my clothes, I'll give you a piggy back!"

Jesse giggled with a little bit of excitement. Ava disappeared in to the change room. Amanda raised her eyebrow at Liv with a big smile. "Mom," she whispered, "how do you feel about that."

Olivia smiled back and shrugged, "We had a big talk last night and I get her reasons… I don't hate being called that, but I've told her whatever label works for her is fine by me, but I am still uneasy about how it would make Sarah feel but at this point, knowing what I know… Sarah can just…" she looked at Jesse and smiled, turning her head slightly so the little girl could't see her, "fuck off," she mouthed to her work colleague and friend.

Amanda laughed, "Good, you seem happy. Are you guys having a good weekend?"

"The best," Olivia nodded, "you wanna join us? I think Ava really likes you and she loves little ones too."

"Mmm, I don't want to intrude."

"You're not… actually, I kind of want to ask you about something… not work related for once, but maybe when there aren't so many little ears floating around."

Amanda laughed, "Okay, sure… but if its gonna upset Ava, I don't want to impose."

Liv shook her head, "she just invited you and she loves you and I know she will love the girls."

/

"How much fun are you having? On a scale of 1-10?" Trevor asked Noah, watching him zip around in the water.

"100!" Noah shouted, getting out on to the embankment, holding on to the rope someone fashioned from a tree. He ran toward the water and let the rope swing him in to the middle of the swimming pole before letting go.

Trevor laughed. He got out of the water and dried his hands and face off with the towel and grabbed his phone. "Do it again, I'll record it and send it to Mom and Ava…" he told the little boy who swam his way back to the bank.

He giggled happily and ran back up to the rope. Trevor hit record and watched him do it again, making a loud Tarzan noise as he plopped in to the water. "What a great kid!" Trevor murmured with a laugh in to the video before stopping it. He found Olivia's contact and hit send and went back in to the water, spending a little time rough-housing with Noah, something that he was endlessly happy about.

They played in the water til the late afternoon. Noah was so exhausted, Trevor could tell. They got out after four and decided to go back to the camp site and light a fire.

"What are gonna have for dinner tonight?" Noah wondered as Trevor gave him a small plate of crackers with some cubes of cheese and some sliced apple.

"I was thinking we could make some cheeseburgers, what do you think?"

"Oh yeah! Can I help?"

"Of course you can help. I like it when you and Ava help Mom and I with dinner and all that stuff, it makes it easier for everyone."

Noah smiled and offered one of his crackers to Trevor.

"No thanks Bug, you eat. I'm gonna have a beer and I think Mom would be upset if I offered you one," he joked.

Noah laughed, "I don't like the smell of it so I don't think I'd like the taste."

"Good, its terrible for you. I hope you never like it," he added, "but you can have a soda with dinner if you like."

"Thanks Dad," Noah set his plate down and got a little bit closer to the fire Trevor had started. It was still hot outside and Noah and Trevor hadn't bothered changing out of their swimming trunks, but they were both fast drying off.

"I'm surprised you haven't used the iPad today," Trevor remarked as he poked the wood in the fire drum, motioning for Noah to stand back a little.

"Nah," he shrugged, "I like hanging out with you more…"

Trevor smiled, "I'm glad, it's nice to be outdoors and listen to the birds and all the other noises."

"I like that too," Noah agreed.

"After you finish your snack we can play catch for a little bit like I promised and then we'll make dinner, okay?"

"Thanks!" Noah flashed him a smile, stepping closer to his Mom's partner and putting his arms around Trevor's waist, surprising him. "You're the best, this is the best trip ever!"

"Aww," Trevor smiled and leaned over, embracing him back. "I'm having a great time with you too, bug, we're gonna have so many fun stories to tell Mom and Ava!" He gave Noah a little squeeze. "Love you," he told him, kissing the crown of his head.

"I love you too!" Noah replied, the words were always so effortless for the kids and he felt glad that neither one of them had any problems expressing their affection physically or verbally. It was something that didn't really come easily to him as a kid, he was glad he'd opened up a lot, trying his best to change the toxic patterns of behaviour from his past.

/

"So what do you want to talk to me about," Amanda asked, watching Ava with the girls. She had Billie balanced on one hip while she pushed Jesse on the swings.

Olivia stared at the girls and shrugged, "I dunno, I feel so uncomfortable with… asking for advice about relationship things," she finally laughed and drew her eyes away.

Amanda cocked her head to the side reproachfully. "Come on, Liv, we've known each other for over ten years, I'm your friend and together we've had some wild-ass conversations."

She laughed again, "yeah but they weren't about me … and Trevor."

"Is it a sex question? Cos I feel like you're probably getting more than me at the moment," she chuckled, "I have two little ball busters that don't give Sonny or I any time alone."

Liv grinned, "but they're so cute, look at Ava, she looks like a young mother… that's a very scary thought…."

Amanda laughed but turned back to Liv, "OK don't change the subject, what do you need help with?"

"I think- well…" she struggled, "I think I wrote cheques to Trevor that my body can't cash," she finally laughed too at her own awkwardness.

Amanda rose an eyebrow, amused. "In what way?"

"I told him he could look forward to some photos or something later and I've never done that before and it feels so childish and stupid but-"

"Say no more," Amanda smirked, "its really not that hard Liv, remember when I took a couple of photos to honey-trap Barba's ex friend? Men are visual creatures, you could take what you think is the worst photo ever and they'll get themselves caught in that trap in a heart beat."

Olivia laughed, "Oh yeah! But wait, its different when you're trying to do something nice for the man you're in love with over trying to catch a sexual predator."

"That is a good point," Amanda agreed, "Liv, my advice is to just do what feels comfortable and only do it if you're comfortable. That's all Trevor would want and you know that… but its okay to have a little bit of fun with it."

"Thanks…." Liv smiled. She looked up and saw Ava chasing the two girls toward them. "Pause on this one, we need to circle back."

"Ohhhh no, Ava is going to get you both!" Olivia exclaimed, grinning at the tiny girls with her arms open wide ready to receive them. Both Jesse and Billie crashed in to Olivia's arms full of giggles and squeals. "I'll save you," she promised them.

Ava dropped to the grass beside the two women. "Amanda you guys should come over and have a real, solid girls night…"

Olivia looked at Amanda and raised her eyebrow with a little smile.

"I've learned to mix great cocktails because Dad and Mom are alcoholics and need me to bartend when they hit the bottle," she glanced at Amanda ignoring Olivia's protests, she held her hand up to her mouth, shielding her words from Olivia, "which is every night if you don't mind me telling you…"

Amanda began to laugh at the teen's snark.

"That is not true! If I ever catch your hand even touching an alcohol bottle again, I will put you in handcuffs until you turn 30."

"Again?!" Amanda looked at Ava who quickly closed her mouth.

"Oh, we don't have to talk about that…" Ava replied quickly.

Amanda sensed that Olivia would fill her in later and that it was a sore subject. "Well, as much as I love the idea of a child mixing cocktails, I think the girls and I have dinner plans with Sonny tonight."

"Aww!" Ava shrugged, "maybe another night."

"Absolutely another time," Amanda agreed, "but thank you so much for the invite."

"Why don't you take the girls for one more spin on the slide?" Olivia asked suggested to Ava, "and then we'll decide what we should do about dinner and whether or not you want to do anything else before we go home."

/

"Daddy, is Ava happy now she is at my school?" Noah asked as he ate his burger. Every time he heard the title come from the little boy's mouth he felt happy, it did something to him; it felt surreal that for better or worse he had swiftly taken on Olivia Benson's 9 year old who was still very much young for his age but so smart in many others.

"I think so, the kids seem to be kinder to her. I hope that they won't bother her anymore."

"I don't know why they were so mean to her to begin with," he shrugged, "why is it such a big deal if she wants to marry a girl?"

Trevor nearly choked. "How do you know that? Did Ava tell you?"

Noah took another small bite of his burger and shook his head. "I heard them teasing her about it on our way to school when she used to walk me."

"Oh."

"Its not a big deal, those kids were so stupid," he continued, "Maybe I'll have a girlfriend or maybe I'll have a boyfriend when I get big, but I'd be really sad if someone was awful to me for liking a boy."

"You like boys as well as girls?" Trevor asked curiously.

Noah shrugged again, "I don't know, maybe… But, I don't want a boyfriend or a girlfriend, I'm only nine," he giggled.

Trevor smiled. "Yeah you have a long time before you have to worry about that kind of thing, but you know when you do, Mom and I will never ever be upset or disappointed with whether or not you want to date a cute girl or … even a cute guy," he told him sincerely.

Noah giggled at the idea of having a boyfriend or girlfriend. "I know that, Mommy told me that before."

"Good," Trevor told him. "And as for Ava, the same goes for her. She can like girls or she can like boys, it doesn't matter, we just want you guys to be happy, that's all that matters."

"Kids are just mean sometimes for no reason," Noah observed.

Trevor smiled, "Yeah, sometimes… the kids in your class are nice to you, aren't they?"

Noah nodded, "Mmmhmm, sometimes Timmy is mean to a girl in my class because he doesn't like her because she's fat."

"Hey, hey…" Trevor shook his head, "don't use that word please, I don't ever want you to use that word."

"No, I don't call her that," he corrected Trevor.

"You just did. Bug, don't use that word to describe anyone. It's so unkind and it's so hurtful and can create a lot of problems for people."

"Okay," Noah replied quietly feeling chastised. "Well what do I say when someone is…big," he said softly.

"Nothing," Trevor told him seriously, "you don't say anything at all because it is none of your business. How someone looks is none of your business ever. You just be kind and if Tim is calling your classmate names you need to tell him to cut it out or you need to tell your teacher. Imagine how upsetting it is to hear awful things said to you? Remember how sad Ava was?"

Noah nodded, "Yeah, that made me sad. I just don't want Tim to be upset with me."

"If you hear him do it again, even if its not to your classmate's face, even if it's just to you in private, you need to tell him to stop it. I don't want to ever hear you or Ava have stood by while your friends are being cruel to others."

"Okay, I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry Bug, just be mindful of people around you, I know you have a very good heart and would never want someone to feel bad and sometimes people don't have the bravery to stand up to someone so that's why sometimes we have to say, 'don't do that, I don't like when you're being mean to her'," he advised Noah who seemed sheepish.

"I will say something to Timmy when he's mean to Samantha next time," he resolved.

"Good. And if it gets too difficult you let Mom or I know and we can handle it for you," he told Noah, "okay?"

Noah nodded and gave him a little smile.

/

"K babe, what do you want to do?" Olivia asked Ava with a grin, "the world is your oyster!"

Ava mock-gagged, "Great the world is my booger of the sea…"

Olivia laughed, feeling Ava link her arm around hers, giggling. "We have a lot of stuff, we should go and dump them at home and then… maybe we could go to dinner somewhere nice and wear nice clothes?"

She was surprised, she thought Ava wouldn't be really interested in fine-dining. "Yeah? You wanna wear one of the dresses you bought?," she asked her. She had convinced Ava that she should have at least one or even two nice dresses for a special occasion.

"Maybe…"

"Okay, I think that sounds like a great idea… it'll be fun. How fancy should we go? Dad's credit card fancy or my credit card fancy?" Liv joked.

Ava chuckled. "I don't mind. You choose somewhere, I don't know anywhere fancy, Dad's never really bothered taking me anywhere unless its been for someone's birthday."

"I'll find us somewhere nice. How adventurous are you feeling? Do you want to try some new things?"

"Sure, why not? This is a new experience, the whole Mom and Daughter type day, let's add to it!"

/

"And," Noah took a deep breath, "then, you could say 'hey Olivia, Ava and Noah and I want you to say yes to being my wife," he told Trevor as Trevor tucked him in to bed.

"You've just got it all figured out, don't you bug?," Trevor smiled at him.

Noah grinned and nodded. "I could help you find Mommy a ring!"

Trevor grinned, "Soon bug, not just yet, but soon, I promise."

"Okay Daddy."

"Alright, I want you to go to sleep because you've had such a huge day and tomorrow we'll go for another swim and another walk and throw ball for a little while and we'll go home after lunch to see Mom and Ava."

"I love camping but I do miss Mommy and Ava," Noah admitted.

Trevor gave him a kiss goodnight. "Me too," he replied. "I'm going to turn on your iPad and you can watch something for 15 minutes while I go and pack up some things outside."

"Okay, goodnight." Noah smiled.

Trevor went outside and picked up his novel. He was tired but was enjoying the reading in the night by a crackling fire and a camp light. He read through all his texts with Olivia and smiled, he was happy that she and Ava were bonding and going somewhere nice for dinner.

/

"This is so nice!" Ava looked around the restaurant in a little bit of awe. "This feels very nice, like .. maybe it's not where I belong."

"Honey, you belong anywhere you wish to belong and don't you ever let anyone make you feel like there is an establishment that is too good for you. We are going to sit down and eat an amazing dinner. We both look beautiful especially you, you look like a young woman and it's just a little bit scary," she gave Ava a little squeeze.

Ava chuckled. "Thanks Olivia, you look beautiful too. I love you with straight hair, it's so sleek and pretty and your dress looks so good!" She reached out and ran her fingers over Olivia's soft dark hair.

Olivia wore a form-fitting navy blue dress with cuffed sleeves and a plunging neckline. The dress hemmed at her shapely calves and she would have been lying if she didn't admit that she'd noticed a few wandering gazes as they were being seated.

To start, Ava chose a mocktail as Rafael had for her and Olivia chose a glass of pinot and some herbed flat bread while they decided on what they wanted to eat.

"What can I have?" Ava asked, excited by all the seafood on the menu.

"What do you mean?" Olivia asked, "are you asking permission on what you choose to eat?" She looked up from her menu and at Ava.

The teen shrugged. She really did look grown up with a sweep of shadow across her eyelids and a little winged liner that she had surprisingly done on her own so perfectly. Olivia had loaned her a soft pink lipstick too, nothing too crazy, but just a little colour.

"I mean… you tell me what you think I should have so I don't over-eat or eat the wrong thing, I don't know what's good."

Olivia rose her eyebrow. "Does your Dad do that when you both go out?"

"No, Dad and I usually just get something simple like pasta or Japanese but when Mom and I would go out when she couldn't organise Casi… she just knew what she wanted me to eat and I don't know what to choose."

"Well, I don't want to choose your food for you, Ava, you're old enough and I want you to get as much or as little as you want," Liv was actually glad that there was no sign of pricing on the menu, she knew prices would dissuade her from getting what she really wanted. "And we can go through the menu together… but first question, do you like seafood?"

"Yes," Ava smiled, "I love seafood."

"Excellent; a girl after my heart," Olivia grinned at her. "Have a look at the appetisers first and we can order something from there…"

Both fell silent as their eyes fell over their menus. "I like crab cakes," Olivia told her, "but I really like lobster too, what's your favourite seafood?"

"I like shrimp actually all shellfish except oysters, they are so gross."

"Okay so what if we get some shrimp scampi and some crab cakes and we can share that? Maybe we also get lobster because … why not?"

"Yes!" Ava said with a smile. "Thanks Olivia, for taking me out."

"Thank you for being such wonderful company," she replied. "I love hanging out with you, I hope you know that kiddo."

"I love hanging out with you too. You're the best Mom and I am really lucky to have you."

"Aww," Liv smiled back at her warmly, "you are so sweet… don't make me get sentimental because I cry very easily."

Ava laughed.

The waiter brought them their drinks and took their dinner order. "I am really looking forward to lobster," Olivia admitted, "its been so long."

"Maybe one day we could attempt to make lobster rolls. That would be so good."

Olivia grinned at her, "Did you know that's one of your Dad's favourite things to eat?"

Ava nodded. "Maybe we should do it for his birthday or something… we'd have to make a dozen for him alone," she laughed.

"Sounds like a plan."

Ava took a sip of her strawberry mocktail. "There must be so much sugar in this…" she remarked.

"Don't worry about the sugar, I'm not worried about the sugar," she replied quickly. "Honey, I need to ask you something because this food talk is starting to sound like red-flags to me."

Ava avoided her eyes.

"Tell me," Olivia leaned over the table and took her hand, "do you have any food habits that I need to be worried about? I understand you probably aren't going to tell me… but, do you binge eat or make yourself sick over food?"

"No, I promise," Ava replied sincerely, "I just get worried because Mom used to tell me that eventually I'd lose my metabolism and I'd get bigger and I wouldn't be able to swim or dance."

Olivia sighed. There were things that she knew as a mother she just couldn't forgive Sarah for. "Ava, that's not the way it works. I know you know this, its basic math, you output more calories than you input so you're not going to stack on any weight and even if you did. I understand that this is more than weight, its about being careful to still enjoy the things you love. Would it matter if you didn't win every single race at the pool?"

Ava looked at her as if she was crazy. "Yes, absolutely. I don't want to lose. I love to win, that's why I train so hard. I want to swim for the Olympics one day and I want to be the best, why bother doing something in half?"

"Okay," Olivia said seriously, "I respect that ethic, Ava, but my comment still stands. You do a lot of physical exercise and I don't think at this point, its going to matter what you eat. You aren't going to put on any weight. If anything I would say you've become more muscular since I've known you."

"Good. Maybe next time someone messes with me I can smack them with my muscles."

Liv managed a smile. "You are so dedicated, I wish I was more like you in school."

Ava laughed, "What were you like?"

"Desperately wanting the attention of pretty much any boy who would show me a little," she admitted, "but painfully scared of girls my own age."

"I can relate to that…" Ava replied.

The waiter came to deliver their appetisers. They were both momentarily silenced, thanking him as he left them with two plates and some cutlery.

"This looks good…" Olivia murmured, spooning out some food for the both of them.

Ava thanked her and smiled down at the food that looked so good. She placed a napkin in her lap, following Olivia's lead. She made sure to use the right fork and was extra careful not to spill anything.

"How old were you when you had your first boyfriend?" Ava continued her questioning.

"Twenty seven, so I hope you'll wait a little longer than I did for your first love," she replied, humourless, taking a bite of the scampi shrimp.

Ava started to laugh, "Yeah right, tell me!"

Olivia laughed with her and finally shrugged, "Okay, okay. I met him when I turned fifteen," she replied, "but that wasn't a good situation and not at all a healthy relationship."

"Oh, can I ask why?"

Olivia thought about how much she was prepared to share with her. Finally she shrugged, "it's kind of a hard subject for me to be truthful, but… I think it's an important one. My boyfriend at the time was in his 20s and I didn't have a Dad or a Mom at home who cared for me as much as you do, so I just really craved someone to take care of me. Do you know that it's absolutely against the law for an adult to have a relationship with a child like that?"

"Yeah, if it's sexual, that's a pedophile, I know."

"Its what we call statutory rape and grooming. He knew I needed someone and he charmed me in to being secretive and keeping it from everyone. He knew my mother and anyone else would disapprove," Olivia explained, putting her fork down for the moment and focusing on the teen in front of her. "I think it's important for you to know that because I would hate for anyone to ever target you and use the things that you are most vulnerable about to isolate you from those that love you."

"But I know I always have you or Dad to talk to."

"I know, but it happens to girls who have happy homes too, sweetheart, and it's not just men that do it, it's less common in women, but it doesn't mean women don't groom teen boys or teen girls, so you need to always have your wits about you."

Ava put her fork down too. "Did you sleep with him?"

Olivia nodded. Ava made a face. "I'm sorry," she said softly.

"Its okay honey, I didn't know any better and I know it wasn't my fault. I just thought I was in love — and maybe he thought he was in love, but I doubt it. Maybe its partially why I do what I do. I just need you to not be in a rush to fall in love and sleep with someone because that's such a huge decision."

"Maybe I could talk to you about it if I ever have any intentions of sleeping with someone."

Olivia smiled, "I would love it if you did. I would rather you come to me and talk it out with me and even though it might be confronting for both of us, but… we can both manage."

"Do you think that having sex with a girl over having sex with a guy is less serious?" Ava asked.

"No, absolutely not. It's all a big decision, honey and I think it's not something you should irrationally decide to do."

"Okay, I promise I'll talk to you about it if I ever meet someone I wanna hang out with more than just friends."

"Good… now eat your food."

/

Olivia texted Trevor once she was home. Both she and Ava had sent him a few pictures of themselves all dressed up. As she got changed she finally bit the bullet as she stared in the mirror at her pink lace bra.

She took a few photos of different angles and went and poured herself a glass of wine while Ava put her pyjamas on. She chugged it down and poured another as Ava joined her.

"Let's go watch another episode of Housewives…" she suggested.

Olivia followed her back in to the living room where they'd made their beds the previous night. She carried the bottle in with her and placed it behind her on the lamp table.

"You're drinking like you had a hard day, am I hard to be around?" Ava teased her.

"No, sweetheart, I'm just winding down, probably sending you the wrong message…" she realised it was probably inappropriate to sink a bottle of pinot in front of Ava.

A text came through from Trevor. She glanced down at it; "Hi baby, are you able to talk?"

Olivia swallowed some wine and excused herself to go and chat for a few moments in private. She headed out of the living room and in to Trevor's office which adjoined it. She closed the double-doors that separated it and went to take a seat. She texted him back, "Are you alone right now?"

She could see him typing and smiled. "Yes, are you?"

She scrolled through until she found the images that she had taken and selected two and hit second on his contact with shaky fingers.

Her anticipation was building as was her nervousness. She saw some typing finally as she got up and paced. Finally she heard the blip of the message. She dared to look at it. "Wow…." He used dozens of drool face emojis and a few heart eyes and finally, the one that made Olivia laugh, an eggplant.

Another message came through, "I haven't seen that bra. I hope you'll be wearing it when I get home tomorrow afternoon … and not much else besides it…"

Olivia smirked, her face going a little rosy. A few seconds later, her phone rang. She picked up the call despite feeling a little bashful. "Please tell me you were wearing matching underwear… I really have a picture in my head now…" he chuckled lightly in to the phone. His voice was low and full of bass.

"I can't tell you that, but I can tell you that when you see me tomorrow I'll be wearing matching underwear…" she purred in to the phone.

"Oooft, hopefully the kids can find something to do for an hour or so…" he laughed in spite of himself.

"I don't like your chances, but…maybe it can be a reason to look forward to going to bed," she replied.

Trevor agreed. "But, these photos are beautiful, I hope you know how gorgeous your body is. I'm gonna get them printed for the bathroom mirror," he joked.

Olivia laughed, "traumatise the kids for real… thanks Trevor, I was really stressed out about sending that to you, I didn't know if it was stupid or not…"

"No," he said, "I don't want you to feel stressed out, I want you to feel happy about being free enough to send things, just make sure you only send them to me," he joked, "and it doesn't always have to just be boobs… It can other …stuff…"

She chuckled softly, "like what?"

"Love, you can send me whatever you want, boobs with a bra, boobs without a bra… what colour underwear you're wearing, your sweet butt…" he smiled.

She laughed, "I really miss you," she sighed as she fell back in to the couch. "But we had an amazing night and an amazing dinner" she told him, "it made my credit card wince a little but it was totally worth it."

"Liv, I told you to use my card, I wanted you to use my card. I'm gonna transfer you some money. How much was dinner?"

"No," she said quickly, "I wasn't telling you to complain. I don't want you to pay. It was my choice to take her out to that place."

"I'm transferring you money," he said decisively. "I like to pay for you guys…"

"Well we're going to send you broke, so start watching your pennies," she retorted. "Anyway, how did your day go?"

"Good baby, Noah and I spent most of the afternoon in the water, it's so hot out here. It was a bit chilly last night but tonight it's supposed to be really warm. Tomorrow is hotter apparently so I'll probably let him swim a little in the morning and I've already started packing up to come home to my girls…"

"I'm glad you're having a good time, but I will be so happy to see you both!"

"Me too," he replied softly, "well… I might get an early night. The earlier I go to sleep, the earlier I wake up and get to see you," he chuckled at his silliness.

"Enjoy the quiet," she said, "don't sleep it away. It's only 8," she chuckled.

"I know, but I'm tired, that kid has a lot of energy," he admitted.

Olivia laughed. "Okay then, you better go get your beauty rest. Ava and I have our matching all-in-one pyjamas on and we're doing crackers and dip and some blue cheese which Ava tried for the first time tonight and surprisingly loved."

Trevor laughed, "you're turning my daughter in to a food snob."

She smiled, "she really went for the lobster bisque…"

"Oh shit… no wonder dinner was expensive, you guys actually had the most expensive seafood. Crab? Lobster? Scampi Shrimp? Sea bass?"

Olivia grinned, "Yep, only the best for our sophisticated palettes, baby."

They both laughed. "Okay well, thank you for the sexy photos. I will .. save them for later to look at when I need a reminder of how hot my love is," he said softly. "I really love that you did this, I can hardly believe it…"

Olivia felt her cheeks heat up. "You're welcome, I love you so much. Sweet dreams."

"Sweet dreams to you too, miss you."

/

"Mama, I am going to eat all this cheese if you don't hurry up," Ava called as Olivia came back through to the living room after hanging up with Trevor.

"Don't you dare!," she threatened Ava. She tossed her phone aside and poured herself another wine and got down beside the teen. "Okay, what are we watching?"

"We can watch Housewives, The Bachelorette or 48 Hours is always good…"

"Mmm, I see enough crime at work, let's go for the Bachelorette," Olivia shrugged, sometimes enjoying the suspension of reality.

Just as Ava was queuing the show to play, there was a knock at the door. "Who's that?" Ava asked, furrowing her brow. "Amanda maybe?"

"Don't think so, no one really knows I'm here… maybe someone for your Dad?," she asked, looking a little bewildered.

"They have to have the door code or make it past Scott," Ava seemed shaken up too, realising that Olivia was alarmed. "No-one knows the code and…" she glanced at the clock, "I think Scott isn't at the desk after 8."

"Don't worry, its okay. You stay here, I'll answer the door." Olivia couldn't help but to feel a little worried about an unwanted visitor. She went in to the next room and unlocked the safe and pulled her gun out. Ever since Lewis, random knocks on the door were a little triggering at times, especially when she was somewhere that her immediate friends and coworkers were not aware of.

Ava stood back, her concern erring on panic when she saw Olivia's handgun. She'd never seen it in her hands before. She took a step back in and grabbed for her phone in case she needed to call 911.

"Hello? Who's there?" Olivia called behind the door.

There was some silence. "Who's there?" Olivia called in a more demanding voice.

She could hear a muffled voice but finally, "It's Sarah! Who is that."

"Fuck!" Olivia muttered, feeling her stomach lurch. "One second," she called back and went to put the gun away. She glanced back to see Ava who was wide-eyed in shock.

"Its my Mom?," she was as white as a ghost. Olivia nodded slowly. "It's up to you if you want to see her, honey," she said softly.

Ava just stared blankly at Olivia. She was stunned. Olivia told her she was about to open the door. Ava took a few steps closer, wanting to see for herself.

There she was, Ava thought, her mother stood looking like nothing had ever changed. Sarah had a smile on her face but Ava knew what it meant, it was the smile of irony almost, that whatever was going on in front of her was not actually making her happy. She felt her heart-rate quicken and was absolutely dumbfounded.

"Hi, I'm Olivia," Olivia said gently to break the ice.

"I can see that," she appraised Olivia with a once-over, looking her up and down. "This is cute…" she motioned between Ava and Liv, "you got matching pyjamas…" She crossed her arms when neither Liv or her daughter said anything.

"You're very quiet back there, a 'hello Mom' might be nice or are you just busy enjoying this cosy new set up with your father?"

"That's actually not what this-" Olivia started, feeling a little lost for words, unsure of her boundaries and taking care not to upset Ava if she showed her anger.

"Olivia with all due respect, it's a little hard for me to take you seriously; you're a grown woman in a matching all-in-one with my teen daughter, I don't even know what this is."

"It's Olivia enjoying time with me," Ava snapped as her eyes filled with tears, feeling protective over the woman who actually enjoyed being around her.

"Oh for goodness sakes, you're a novelty, of course your father's girlfriend is going to want to look more favourable-"

"No, stop!" Olivia held up her hand firmly, "Stop it, I won't allow you to come here unannounced upsetting Ava. She's your daughter, absolutely, but this is Trevor's house and you don't actually have any right to be here. You can say what you want and think what you want about me, but don't fill her head with things that aren't true."

Sarah sucked her neck back and rose an eyebrow at Olivia as if she had no right to call her behaviour out. "Do you genuinely think you can police me when it comes to my daughter?," she asked, looking amused.

It dawned on Olivia that Sarah had no idea that she was a police officer.

"As it turns out, I'm actually a Manhattan police captain, so yes, I do think I can police you. I'm not looking to control your right as a mother, but I am policing the appropriateness of you turning up unannounced while Trevor is away. He will be back tomorrow afternoon and you are welcome to come back then not at almost 8:30 in the evening."

Olivia forgot about her pyjamas and stared the woman down. Sarah's hazel eyes bore in to her own but she wasn't standing down. This woman had zero right to try to get in to her daughter's head.

Finally Sarah peeled her eyes away and glanced at Ava. "You really managed to make yourself out to a victim, didn't you kiddo?," she asked rhetorically shaking her head with a smile. She turned to Liv, "she's not a victim, she's quite clever like that, actually-"

"Enough," Olivia was fuming now. "You can go, I'll let Trevor know you dropped by."

As soon as Sarah turned, Olivia slammed the door shut. She locked it and turned to Ava making her way toward her. "Honey, are you okay?"

She bravely nodded despite her tears. "Come on, let's go sit back down…" she put an arm around her as they got back in to bed, both of them still reeling.

"Come here," Olivia held her arms out and Ava sidled up to her and embraced her warmly. "I know that you know this, but what she said isn't true, I love you on your own merits and if your Dad and I broke up tomorrow, I would still want to see you and I would still love to have this relationship with you."

Ava nodded. She could feel her shirt wet from her tears. "And I don't believe you are making yourself out to be any kind of victim. I don't even believe that you are a victim. I believe that you've made it through some pretty big stuff for someone your age and both Dad and I are eternally proud of you for that…" she kissed her temple. "K?"

Ava nodded again. "Could you let Dad know she was here?" She murmured.

"Of course, babe. And I hope I didn't upset you with anything I said either."

"No, you didn't. Thanks for defending me and taking care of me…"

"Always always always, sweetheart," Olivia replied. She reached for her phone with Ava still flanked by her side, holding on to her. She dialled Trevor's number but it rang out. She knew he was probably asleep already and had maybe put the phone on silent.

"He's probably in bed already babe, but we can speak to him first thing in the morning, I promise."

"Okay…" she replied, sniffing. "Why did she come here?" Ava asked, "do you think she wanted to see me but got hurt when she saw us in the same pyjamas?"

Olivia's heart ached for all the ways Trevor's daughter internalised her mother's cruelty. "I'm not sure, sweetheart, but I want to tell you that regardless of how she might have felt, she had no right to be cruel."

Olivia noticed her phone screen flashing. It was Trevor returning her call. "Hang on, Dad's calling back." She picked up the phone.

"Hey love, sorry I missed your call I was just using nature's bathroom," he chuckled. When Olivia didn't laugh, he figured something was wrong. "Is everything okay?"

"Mmm, we just had a visitor. Sarah turned up at the front door."

"What!?" The shock in his voice was clear. "Sarah? As in my ex wife, Sarah?"

"Yeah, I have Ava right here beside me, she's a little shaken up."

"Okay, tell me what happened?"

Olivia relayed the conversation to Trevor and the way she had asked her to leave.

"Thanks for dealing with that for me Olivia, I'm so sorry you were put in that situation."

"I'm fine love, I know Ava is a bit upset though but that's okay, we're gonna put something on TV soon and try to calm down a little."

"Okay…" he sighed. "Can I speak with her for a minute?"

/

Trevor felt irate and frustrated with his ex and a whole lot of sad for his daughter. "Hi sweetie," he greeted Ava gently, "I'm sorry that you're upset."

"Its okay," she wept.

"Its not really okay, but I'm glad Olivia was with you. Do you want to tell me how you're feeling or talk about it?"

"No…" her voice trailed off, "I just feel … sad and disappointed that she didn't care that she hadn't seen me in so long… I don't understand why she came."

"Me either, but don't worry honey, I'll speak with her tomorrow and I'll find out what's going on. I don't want her upsetting you. I hope this won't upset your time with Liv, I know how much you were both looking forward to hanging out without us boys lurking around…" he tried feebly to joke.

"It won't," she replied.

"Good. Don't worry, I'll figure it out and we'll talk about it then."

"Okay,"

"I love you so much, sweetie. I have got my phone on so if you want to talk to me at any time, you just call…"

"Thanks Daddy, I love you too."

/

After a tense text exchange, Trevor had agreed to meet Sarah after he got home to find out what she wanted. He didn't want to be leaving again so soon after arriving home, but he knew he needed to sort it out for Ava's sake. He didn't want her to be left wondering.

"I know you're tired kiddo, we've had a big morning, but just a few more things and we can get going, k?" Trevor said gently to Noah.

He nodded. Noah was a little grumpy; he didn't want to get out of the water and didn't want to end the weekend away. "I'm not really tired, I just don't want to go home yet," he corrected Trevor.

"I understand, but there's no school and no work tomorrow and we all need a day to relax,"

Noah sighed and helped Trevor load things in to the car.

"What would you like to do for lunch?" Trevor asked. "Your choice, anything you like as long as we can find it on the way home."

"Really? Fast food?," he asked, his eyes lighting up.

"Sure… it's up to you."

"I haven't had Taco Bell in a long time cos Mom doesn't like it and Lucy only takes me there when its special."

"Okay, let's do that," Trevor smiled, trying to cheer himself and Noah up and not let on that he was angry or frustrated. He stopped Olivia's little boy as he was about to hop in to the car. "Hey bug?"

Noah turned back, "Yeah?"

"Thank you for such a fun weekend, I had the greatest time. I hope you did too."

Noah finally smiled, "I had the best fun that's why I don't want to leave," he admitted.

"It wouldn't be as special if we stayed for too long, I don't think, but don't worry we'll be back really soon, I promise. Come over here and give me a hug, you look like you need one and so do I!" Trevor admitted.

Noah obliged him with a little smile. Trevor opened up his arms and Noah did too, embracing for a moment. "I love you, you're the best son a Dad could ever ask for," Trevor told him as he let go.

"I love you too, Dad." Noah replied, still getting a little buzz out of hearing the words spill from his own mouth. It was still a little foreign to him but it was starting to feel more comfortable.

"Okay, you hop in the car and I'll just check that we have everything," he told Noah.

/

"My son stinks…" Olivia told Trevor quietly with a laugh, "why does he smell so bad!?"

Trevor began to laugh, "its the smell of the wilderness, I don't know… but he enjoyed himself and I'm very happy about that."

"Okay, but I'm going to need to make him take a bath in the middle of the afternoon," Olivia chuckled. She looked over at Ava who kept taking steps back each time Noah took one closer.

"Can you stop focusing on our stinky kid and focus on me?" Trevor asked, with a little smile. "I missed you!," he said sincerely. "I missed your face…" he kissed her lips. "I'm feeling a little needy."

Olivia glanced away from the kids and back at Trevor, smiling. "I love you, I'm sorry you had a shitty morning dealing with Sarah," she murmured, taking his face in her hands and kissing him again.

"Thanks…" he murmured. "I've actually gotta go and see her soon and find out what she wants. I'm so sorry she was so rude to you, but honestly I expected nothing else."

"I'm fine, I felt bad immediately when I answered but then her insults started and I lost all sympathy."

"Funny how she accuses Ava of this victim mentality when really she's the one who's always accusing everyone of making her life tough when she's really just making a rod for her own spine," Trevor sighed.

"Dad, when are you going to see Mom?" Ava asked, interrupting, coming in to the kitchen. He let go of Olivia and turned to his daughter.

"Soon, I'm gonna run upstairs and have a quick shower."

"Can I come?," she asked gently, "I want to know why she's here too."

"No honey, not this time. I need to talk to her and depending on how that goes, you can go and see her, but I'd like to see her first."

"Oh…" Ava seemed put out.

"Don't worry," he assured her, "I will fill you in when I get back and then we can organise a time for you to see her if that's what you want."

"Okay," she agreed, "I don't even know why I want to see her, she was being mean last night."

"Its natural for you to want to see her," Olivia told her, "don't feel bad about that, Ava," she added.

"Well…. Can you make Noah take a shower or something? He smells like wet dog. I think it's his hair."

Both Trevor and Olivia laughed. "Yeah, right after your Dad has a shower, he's going to have a hose down."

/

"Honey, can you put your game down for a little while, I need you to go have a shower," Liv told her son as he paused his game and looked up at her.

"I can have one tonight, Mom, it's so early!"

"Noah," she began gently, "I would really like you to have a shower now, I'm going to be really honest with you, you are a bit smelly from your camping trip."

Noah began to laugh, "I'm not smelly!"

"Oh, yes you are," Ava challenged him, making a face, "your hair smells like … butts, but it's okay, you've been outside for two days, but you definitely need a shower just like Dad had one."

He laughed more, set off by how grossed out Ava was, "I don't smell like a butt, you smell like a butt, butthead!"

Ava laughed at his silliness, "Please, please go and have a shower and I will even let you come in my room and watch TV with me and play my Switch."

"Okay!" Noah put the iPad down and jumped up.

Olivia grinned at Ava, "thanks kiddo," she murmured, following Noah up the stairs to get him some fresh clothes and help him with the water settings that he still could never seem to get right.

"Hey Mom, can you help me with my hair?," he asked. Olivia was surprised. He was at the age where he started wanting a little more privacy and wanted to do things on his own when it came to bathing and showering.

"Yeah? Of course I can help you."

"But you can't look at me," he said seriously.

Olivia laughed, "How am I supposed to help you wash your hair if I can't look at you?," she asked. "And by the way Noah, you need to know that I have seen you naked longer than you care to remember, I'm your Mom."

"I know but…" he paused and shrugged, "I just like to be private."

"That's totally fine, I'll help you wash your hair but I'll keep my eyes to myself, how about that?" She hid her smile but she was glad that he did understand a sense of what should remain private but a part of her always felt a little put out that he actually cared so much about her seeing him naked. "Why don't you have a bath then? I think it'll be easier for me to help."

"Okay, thanks Mom."

/

"And then we went fishing but Mom, I don't think I like it very much because I really didn't want to hurt the fish but I think Da-Trevor enjoyed it and I didn't want to hurt his feelings because he did everything I wanted to do," Noah told Olivia excitedly, raving about his weekend.

Olivia smiled as she rinsed her son's curls with warm water. She'd missed washing his hair and enjoying bath time conversation with him. "That's really nice, Noah, doing something that sometimes you don't want to do because you know it makes the other person happy, I'm proud of you for being thoughtful."

"Thanks Mom, Trevor wanted to catch some fish and eat them but I don't think so…"

"You love fish though," she smiled, "where do you think that fish comes from?"

"The store," he replied nonchalantly like it was a silly question.

Olivia let out a peel of laughter, "aww honey," she chuckled, "someone has to go and catch the fish in order to bring it to the store so that we can cook it for our dinner. What you and Trevor were doing is the same — but that's why it's really important not to waste your food like that."

"What do you mean?" Noah asked slowly, closing his eyes tightly so Olivia didn't get soap in them.

She tried to think of how to word it so as not to scare him out of eating meat. It was already hard enough to get him to eat meals. "I mean that when we have fish for dinner, that fish has given its life so we have food to eat and if you think about that, that's a pretty big deal, right?"

Noah nodded.

"So if something has given its life to us so we have food, we should do the right thing and not waste it and throw it in the trash like it's nothing. We should do our best to make sure we eat it all…"

Her son stared at her for a second and she watched his eyes fill with tears. "Oh, no honey, I didn't mean to upset you," she said softly, instantly feeling terrible.

"I don't want to hurt an animal," he said softly, "if I can live without eating a fish then can't I just eat something else? Is it the same for cows? What animal does burgers come from? Or hot dogs?" She could see his brain working, thinking of all the meat he'd consumed.

"Sweetie, it's okay, it's one of those things we do in life. We eat cows and chickens and pigs and sometimes other meat. It means we should try so hard not to waste the animal, but we get lots of vitamins and nutrients from them."

She watched the tears run down his face and realised just how exhausting it was some days two have two very sensitive kids at home. "Mom, when I had lunch today with Trevor I didn't finish it," he cried, "I had a taco and some fries, I think I threw my animal in the garbage," he covered his face with his hands and began to cry.

"What's going on?" Ava asked, pushing the door halfway open. "Noah, what's wrong?"

"Mom put her big foot in her mouth…." Olivia replied with a sigh. Ava glanced at her quizzically.

"Go away!" Noah snapped at her, "I'm in the bath!," he told her as if she didn't know. Liv glanced at her apologetically.

"He likes to have privacy," she informed her as she gave her son a hug, kissing his forehead.

"Okay, okay…" she held up her hands and backed out.

"Honey, that wasn't nice to yell at Ava," she told him, "I know you're upset but you don't have to worry, I just said that we try our best not to waste but if your tummy can't fit more food in, you shouldn't force it. Okay?"

"I don't want to eat animals anymore," he said softly, sniffling.

"Maybe we just eat less animal food instead of stopping it entirely. You need iron and protein if you're going to be a dancer and a swimmer." She went back to finishing his hair. "Maybe this conversation is a little too grown up for you to understand fully right now, but you haven't done anything wrong, sweetheart."

"Promise?," he asked.

"I promise," she told him sincerely.

/

Trevor took a seat with his take-away coffee and waited for Sarah to show up. He felt so tense that his stomach was aching. He had a folder with legal documents he wanted Sarah to sign to absolve her rights to Ava but he expected that she would make an attempt to take her daughter back.

She was never great on the follow-through and he thought that perhaps her job opportunity in California didn't go so well.

He had no time to wonder further as she bustled through the door wearing a tiny red dress, showing off her legs and a little too much of her cleavage. It was unlike her. She looked over-groomed and well made up. He was surprised and also a little suspicious.

He stood up, "Hi Sarah," he greeted her.

"Hi Trevor," she replied humourlessly and took a seat, ignoring his gesture for her to take a seat.

"Do you want a coffee or…?," he was trying hard to be polite.

"No thanks, I can't stay long, I have plans," she replied flatly.

"I heard you were less than kind last night when you turned up-"

Sarah laughed, "Can we not do this already? Trevor, come on… It took your girlfriend forever to open the door and when she did she and Ava were wearing comically stupid looking pyjamas like they were both 8, how am I supposed to respond to that?"

"Like a Mom who hasn't seen her daughter in…" he looked up at the roof and thought for a moment, making a show of it, "oh right, just on eight months now…"

Sarah sighed. "You have been pushing me away since I brought her over to you-"

"No, don't you do that. Stop passing the blame. I have all but begged you to contact her more, to be softer toward her and to try to understand what she's dealing with but all you've done is stone-walled us." He hated how his ex wife had the ability to turn everything around so that everyone else should have felt sorry for her.

"Ava needs a mother, Sarah," he continued, "you don't have to live with her, you don't even have to be in the same state as us, but she wanted your comfort through all of this and you just dumped her on my door and ran."

"I had a job, Trevor," she told him. She was trying not to become angry with him and he was trying to share the same courtesy but it was hard. "Surely you can understand that."

He shrugged, "I just don't get why you would think that I would begrudge you for that. I know you think I've been an absent Dad, but I thought I did the right thing by letting you have full care and me on alternate weekends. I would have been quite happy to share custody of Ava and I'm sad that that kid never told me that half of the time you told her she was inconveni-"

Sarah shook her head with frustration. "I don't have time for the kind of stupid, frivolity that you and her have. If she wanted me to dress in matching pyjamas and act like her friend, then no Trevor, I don't have time for it and it's not me, the silly stuff? That's always been you and it's always annoyed me."

"You didn't give birth to a tiny adult, Sarah, fuck," he could feel his blood pressure rising, "you gave birth to a child and she's still a child," he sighed and took a sip of his coffee. "You used to do fun stuff with her when she was little, I don't understand why it's such a big deal, maybe you'd enjoy yourself." Maybe get that stick out your ass, he wanted to add but held back.

"You and I are different, Trevor, very, very different and that's why we aren't together."

"No, Sarah, we're not together because nothing I ever did was good enough and something flicked within you and you decided you didn't love me anymore and so you acted coldly toward me and my very presence offended you and you pushed my buttons until you set me off time and time again," he had finally lost his temper and was barely keeping a lid on it. He knew if they were in private he might not have been so calm.

"And I know I am not perfect by a long shot," he continued while he was on a tangent, "but I tried and I would have stayed and kept trying for Ava and I am pretty damn regretful that I didn't take my child with me so that she could have enjoyed being a kid more than being told to quell her joy and playfulness because her mother didn't understand 'frivolity'," he made air quotes with his fingers above his head.

"I just don't understand why everything has to be such a fucking drama with you both…" she spoke softly, drawling out her words with resolve as she sat back. "What if it's just not that serious?," she asked, "I fell out of love and it happens. You were at work all the time and I was at home with this kid who wanted to play games all day long, endless cuddles, endless crying and complaining and you got to come home and be super Dad."

"It is that serious though, this whole frivolity bullshit, Sarah, it's a part of having a child and being a good parent. You treated her like a mini adult. You pushed your weird food insecurities on to her, you told her that her interest in the same sex is wrong, you pushed her away when she needed you. And the worst of all of it was that you sacrificed her mental and physical health without giving a fuck… you knew she was cutting and you didn't even fucking tell me that!"

She hook her head, "you didn't see the photos, she's not a child, Trevor, she was taking photos of herself making out with Rhiannon for the whole internet to see. She wanted me to know about the cutting, I know my daughter."

"It actually turns out you don't and in what fucking life is it normal for anyone to cut themselves for attention? Even if it was for attention, and it wasn't, by the way, don't you think it's an extreme way to go about it and probably required some external help?" he spoke quietly, not wanting the world to know about his daughter's mental health. "And also, I saw the photo you're talking about and it wasn't a fucking photoshoot. She was being bullied by her best friend under your nose. I've seen the messages, I have full access to her Instagram account and all of her text messages, you might think my apartment is the fun place, but I am strict with Ava. I know what she is doing and where she is going at all times and thank goodness she always wants to be at home hanging out with her boring-ass old Dad. I couldn't be happier for that…"

"So you're perfect, congratulations Trevor, you did all the right things—"

"I never said I was perf-" he took a deep breath, remembering just how easily Sarah could anger him. "I'm not perfect Sarah and sure Ava will do things that I don't like and there are always going to be consequences, but she's still a child. She still enjoys kid things… she just wants her Mom to be her Mom, why can't you see that?"

"I don't support her lifestyle, Trevor. You know that, I don't support it and I don't agree with it and above all else, every time I look at her I just see you and I can't tell you how much that pisses me off. She's just a walking, talking little Trevor Langan, miniature lawyer in the making…"

"So that's what this is all about? You brought this child in to this world and she's too much like her father so you don't like her? What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Don't you dare Trevor…"

"If you turn your back on Ava, don't you dare ever come back again."

"I don't plan on coming back," she said bluntly, "I am going to California permanently. I've met someone and I am not letting Ava ruin my happiness again."

Trevor laughed sardonically feeling a little broken inside. "Ava didn't ruin your happiness. If you opened your heart she would have been enough… but she isn't enough, is she Sarah? Nothing will ever be enough because you can never be fulfilled."

"I don't want to lose Ava, Trevor, but Ava has chosen her lifestyle, she's chosen you who will clearly not tell her-"

"Stop it!," he spat his words, realising that he was worked up and that his voice was raising, "just stop making excuses for yourself. Our daughter is perfect regardless of whether or not she loves men or women or fucking… aliens, I don't care and it doesn't affect us! You want a reason to leave because it's easier than recognising that you're a fucking poor excuse of a parent who has zero regard for anyone but herself!"

"Fuck you…" Sarah retorted.

He slid the folder across the table. "You want your new life without Ava? Make it official. You're never ever going to break her heart again on my watch."

Curiosity got the better of her. She opened the folder and stared at the paperwork for a moment before shaking her head and sliding it back at him aggressively. "I'm not signing anything with your name on it."

"Well then we do it the hard way, I'm filing legal paperwork," he told her, reorganising the papers and closing the file. "You'll never have Ava again."

Sarah smirked at him, "I never came to collect Ava, I already told you that. Since you're such a child rearing expert, you have at it, I'm here as a courtesy to let you know that I will be in California permanently with my fiancé."

"Congratulations. I hope he knows what he's in for," he replied spitefully. "Lucky him. Goodbye Sarah."

He picked up the paperwork and his almost-empty coffee and turned to leave the same way he had come in.