Saturday found Olivia sitting on the bed, with a few prescription bottles, bandages, and various ointments, as she signed the discharge papers, while Barba moved about the room packing the few items that have managed to find their way from their apartment over the week-long stay. Dr. Thompson was going through the instructions with Olivia - even though she already knew it all by heart - but as he sadly pointed out, Savina's injuries were a bit more extensive than her own. They all looked up from the respective tasks when they heard a knock at the door, and Barba called for whoever was on the other side to come inside. Diana poked her head in, and smiled warmly at the occupants of the room.
"Hey," she greeted, frowning slightly when she saw Barba packing things up, and the pill containers by Olivia's hand, which was holding the discharge papers steady as she signed them. "You're releasing her?" she questioned, her deep blue eyes fixing the doctor with an accusatory glare. "I thought you said she had at least two weeks here," she reminded him, without giving him a chance to answer. "Why are you releasing her now?" she demanded, her worry now seeping through her previously calm voice.
Dr. Thompson put a hand up to stop a mainarde of questions that were about to come out of the teenager's mouth. "That's when I thought she was gonna go to a group home, and not go home with her parents. She wasn't that critical actually, but I would've prefered to monitor her closely, rather than release her and pray to God that she gets supervised thoroughly enough," he hastily explained.
"Oh," was the only thing that came out of Diana's mouth. "That makes sense."
"DIana?" Savina's questioning voice sounded from the bathroom.
"Yeah," Diana called back.
"Can you come in here for a sec?" Savina wondered, almost pleadingly, and Diana wordlessly made her way over to the door. But not before she threw a worried and exhausted looking Olivia a reassuring smile. She knocked on the door, after she tried the knob and finding it locked. "Hey, Sav, open up."
The door clicked open at that, and she pushed it back enough to slip inside, before it clicked closed again. Olivia had her ears tuned in to the sounds on the other side, searching for any sounds of distress. But after a few seconds, she realized that Diana was helping Savina with her clothes.
Half an hour later, all the papers were signed, the required prescriptions were filled, and Olivia had the instructions memorized by heart. Savina was grudgingly sitting in the wheelchair, with Olivia pushing it, and both Finn and Barba carrying the bags. Diana was walking next to Savina, keeping her updated on all the gossip she was missing out on, and Officer Gonzalez was trailing behind them. Both Olivia and Finn's eyes were darting around the floors in search of a certain redhead, or anyone who seemed out of place. Both of their weapons were on their hips, and Fin even maneuvered all the bags into his left hand, to keep his right one free, and ready to reach for his weapon.
Barba pulled the car around to the front, and Diana helped Savina out of the wheelchair, and into the backseat with the least disturbance to her ribs as possible. Olivia's heart twisted when Savina hissed in pain when she sat down, no doubt agitating the wounds. Diana wordlessly moved around the car, and slid in next to her. Finn put the bags inside the trunk, before he made his way over to his own car, as Olivia slid into the passenger seat.
"Sav, why don't you try lying down? Put your head in my lap, you don't have any cuts on your back, and it should help your ribs," Diana suggested, wittily avoiding any mention to the real reason Savina was fidgeting in her seat, and uncomfortable.
Barba waited patiently for Savina to maneuver her body into lying down like Diana suggested, and for Finn to pull up behind him, before he finally pulled out into traffic.
The ride to Barba's apartment was mainly spent in Diana and Savina bickering in the backseat, with Savina's smart mouth and sass making both adults laugh, especially when Olivia would give a knowing look to a proud and smug Barba. Olivia was very much enjoying the noise coming from the backseat, even though she hadn't slept properly for a week, and was beyond exhausted. And even though she could feel the beginnings of a headache forming at the back of the skull, and even though she knew that if she simply closed her eyes and asked them to keep it down, she'll be able to keep it at bay...she didn't have the heart to ask for the quiet. She had spent years with that quiet, spent endless nights wishing for the noise, cried away in the darkness of her apartment at how empty and silent it was. And so, she simply rested her head against the window, closed her eyes, and listened to the constant, friendly bickering coming from the backseat, with Barba occasionally weighing in, a small, content smile pulling at her lips.
Carisi was on the floor, a washcloth draped over one shoulder, the sleeves of his sweater pulled up to his elbows, as he played with Noah. He looked up at the sound of clicking heels, and saw Amanda coming back from the back of the apartment, where all the bedrooms were.
"Carisi, you're gonna burn the lasagna," she exclaimed when she saw him engrossed in the blocks and cars with Noah. Carisi merely scoffed in response, as he leaned into Noah, and conspirationally whispered to Noah, but kept his voice loud enough for Amanda to hear. "Never take cooking advice from your Aunt Amanda. She barely knows how to defrost a pre-cooked frozen meal, and she burns even that!"
"What was that Carisi?" Amanda inquired with a raised eyebrow.
"I think you should leave the cooking to those of us who knows their way around a kitchen!" he deadpanned.
She opened her mouth to fire off another retort, when the noises coming from the direction of the front door stopped her. Noah's head snapped up immediately at the noise, and he quickly rose to his feet, scrambling over in the direction of the door, with both Amanda and Carisi hot on his heels, just as Finn's voice sounded.
"Kids!" he called, earning himself two identical sets of eyerolls from Amanda and Carisi, just as Noah squealed his name, as he wrapped an arm around his leg.
Finn smiled down at the excited almost-two-year old, as he sat down the bags in his hands. "Hey slugger," he greeted, as he unwrapped Noah from around his leg, picking him up and perched him on his hip. Olivia and Barba were not that far behind them, with Diana and Savina walking at a more leisurely pace behind them, their arm interlocked.
"Sassy!" Noah squealed once he spotted the young brunette, before he abandoned Finn's arms, and reached out for Savina to take him, since he saw Olivia and Barba taking care of coats, jackets and bags.
"God, I love this kid!" Diana teased, as she took Noah from Finn, planted a kiss to his cheek, and perched him on her own hip. Savina leaned over and planted a kiss to his cheek, before she bumped noses with him a couple of times. "I can't carry you right now, baby. As soon as I sit down though, okay?" she spoke softly, and Noah nodded eagerly.
"Looks like you and I have been benched!" Barba quipped, and Olivia laughed.
"Come on in, I'm making lasagna for dinner, and there are grilled chicken and cheese toast for snacks if anyone's hungry," Carisi listed, and Savina's eyebrows rose in surprise.
"You cook?!" she said in surprise.
Carisi smirked proudly at her. "If I didn't, they would've starved by now," he joked, and Savina giggled as loud protests sounded from everyone around, as they made their way into the living room.
"Savina, I got you your backpack from the Salerno's apartment. Doc said you can ease back into schoolwork," Finn told her.
She nodded, smiling appreciatively at him. "Thanks. Did you happen to get my clothes while you're at it?" she wondered, and he looked at her in confusion, before his eyes locked with Barba's, who simply shook his head at him.
"You can go get your stuff at anytime, Savina, there's no rush," Barba started, and she turned her head to give him a questioning look. "Come with me," was the simple answer he gave her. She looked over at Olivia, who simply shrugged at her.
They all followed Barba down the hall to the room that would be Savina's room, and out of them all, Amanda seemed to be the only one not confused. Barba walked inside, and flicked a switch on. "This is gonna be your room," he said, pointing to the now fully furnished room, before he walked into the closet, and flicked a light on in there as well.
"I told Amanda a few days ago to buy you anything you might need, figured you'll need them," he told her, almost shyly, as he watched her face closely to gauge her reaction.
"You called me yesterday, and asked me what kind of toiletries she used, make up, shoe size," Diana listed, realization now dawning on her.
"Yeah, she and I are basically the same size with jeans and shirts, but I needed help with other things," Amanda explained, as they all now waited for Savina to say something. She walked slowly further into the room, went into the closet, before she went to the bathroom, and finally over to the dresser and looked at the items placed on top of it.
"I really don't know what to say, you didn't have to do any of that," she finally spoke, her voice shaky and slightly choked up.
"Savina, if there's one thing you need to be sure of, is that I never do anything because I have to," Barba interjected softly. "You're our daughter," he stated gently. "And this is what parents do."
Savina nodded tearfully. "Thank you," she whispered, and to both their surprise, she didn't flinch when he leaned forward and kissed her forehead gently. "Don't mention it, just let me know if you need anything."
They were all sitting around the table, all leaning back in their chairs, their empty plates evident of how delicious the meal Carisi has cooked was. Even Savina had wiped her plate clean, and was leaning her head against Diana's shoulder.
"Damn, that's delicious!" Finn complimented.
"Language," Olivia chastised half-heartedly.
"Can you move in with us?" Diana wondered, and Savina chuckled, her hand flying to her ribs to splint them.
"We should get going," Carisi pointed out, though he made no move to actually get up.
"Actually, before we all go. I know that Mini Dodds will start on Monday, so I figured today was a good day to share something with you all that I don't want the bosses to know just yet," she started, and when they all turned their attention to her, she took a deep breath and released it slowly. "I'm pregnant."
They were all silent, and very still for a few agonizingly long seconds, as they all stared at her. Savina - seemingly the first one to find her voice - sat up straight, and cleared her throat. "Are we happy about this?" she asked cautiously, and Amanda finally realized why they were all silent. She had been terrified about how they'll react, and they all thought the fear on her face was her wariness about the pregnancy. Her face broke into a smile, as her hand went down to lay over her stomach.
That seemed to kick everybody into overdrive, as they all got up from the table and took turns congratulating her. Noah, who had gone to his blocks a few minutes prior, toddled over to them, and reached for Amanda, seeing as everyone was hugging her, he didn't want to be left out. She happily obliged, and he wrapped his arms around her neck tightly. "Manda," he squealed happily, and she laughed.
"You won't be the only baby around here anymore," she cooed, and he frowned at her.
"You're gonna have to tell 1PP at some point, Amanda. I know they're slow, but they'e bound to notice a baby bump at some point," Olivia told her, and she nodded.
"I know, I know. I promise I'll be careful, but I don't want them putting me on desk duty as soon as the new Sergeant is assigned! I'll be butting heads with him as it is," she remarked, and Olivia had to admit that she did have a point.
"Don't worry, Liv. We've got her back," Finn assured her.
"That's one lucky kid," Savina stated.
"She's not the only one," Amanda reminded her gently.
"I know."
I am terribly sorry for the late update you guys, but I've got some other stories floating about in my head, and the updates depends on which one my brain decides to obsess over, as well as time. I do hope that you enjoy this chapter. Things should start to pick up soon by next chapter, I'll be introducing Dodds a bit sooner than the show did, and some of the storylines from the show will be featured but the timeline may not fit canon.
Also, I have a bit of a favor to ask. As some of you many have noticed, I published another story on AO3 (Archives of our own) called Bir Ask Hikayesi. Details about that story are in the summary, and I was hoping you guys can pop over there and let me know what you think. It's based on a Turkish series, so it might seem like an original story to you guys. So let me know what you all think. The penname is the same.
Here's the link to make your job a bit easier. /works/6419455