Chapter 100

It was still dark when Doris was woken by small arms and legs hitting the bed next to her. It took her a moment to register where she was but once she did, she instantly turned to wake Emma from her nightmare. She gently placed a hand on her shoulder and spoke softly. "Emma darling. Emma, wake up."

Emma's body thrashed harder as she screamed in her sleep. "No, no, stay away from my mommy!"

Doris sat up and gently took the girl into her arms to stop the violent swinging of her arms. "Emma, sweet girl wake up." She rocked her back and forth while she continued to speak in soothing tones. "Emma, it's okay darling, you're safe, auntie's here." She swayed back and forth, talking quietly to the beauty in her arms until Emma's body went limp and she fell back into a more restful sleep. She shifted slowly to lay both herself and Emma back down. Laying Emma almost completely on top of herself in hopes that the full body contact would help her sleep peacefully the rest of the night.

Just as they were settling back down, Sam knocked quietly on the door and peaked his head in. "Is she okay?"

Doris's eyes flew back open and she whispered. "Yes, just a bad dream, she's fine now."

"Okay. Let me know if you need anything."

"I will. Go back to sleep Sam." As Sam closed the door, Doris kissed Emma's head several times and tightened her grip on the child before closing her eyes and drifting back to sleep herself.

A few hours later, Natalia woke to the sun streaming through the curtains. She felt a familiar weight against her side and turned her head to place a kiss on Olivia's temple. It seemed like it had been forever since she woke with her wife pressed against her. She raised a hand to run through Olivia's hair and just watched her sleep. After a moment, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye, there was a body lying on the floor beside their bed. As she lift her head slightly off the pillow, she realized it was not one body, but two. Ava and Rafe had snuck into their room at some point and made themselves a pallet on the floor.

Olivia stirred next to her and Natalia laid her head back on her pillow and rubbed her hand up and down Olivia's back, hoping to lull her back to sleep. She was unsuccessful however, Olivia groaned and rolled to her back. Natalia turned to her side and propped up on her elbow.

"Hey baby, are you hurting?"

Olivia's eyes slowly opened and she let out a small whine. "Yeah, my r-ribs." She tried to grab the pill bottle from her nightstand but Natalia stopped her.

"Hey, stop. I'll get it baby." She whispered. She carefully slid from the bed and stepped around her children, making her way around the bed and handing Olivia a pain pill along with her heart meds and a bottle of water. She helped Olivia to sit up and sat on the edge of the bed beside her. "Here you go honey. Take these."

Olivia gratefully swallowed the pills and handed the water bottle back to her wife. "Th-thank you s-sweetheart."

Natalia swept the hair from Olivia's eyes and smiled at her. "Of course, baby. Do you need anything else?"

"No, I'm o-okay. Thank y-you."

Natalia carefully leaned in to kiss Olivia's lips. Pulling back slightly, she pressed their foreheads together. "How's your head feeling?"

"Okay, h-hurts a little, b-but not a-as bad as my r-ribs."

Natalia sat back and looked into Olivia's beautiful face. "I'm so sorry honey, I wish I could take it all away for you."

Olivia smiled at her love. "I'm glad it was m-me and not y-you sw-sweetheart." Suddenly a thought occurred to her. "Om my god, D-Doris and Emma a-are in o-our r-room, she saw ev-everything." Olivia started panting loudly.

Natalia rubbed a hand down her arm. "Hey, hey, calm down baby. It's been taken care of. Phillip had a cleaning crew that specializes in this sort of thing come and take care of it for us while we were at the jail last night. She didn't see anything."

Olivia visibly relaxed. "O-oh th-thank g-god."

"You didn't really think I'd let her see that did you?"

Olivia grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it. "N-no, I'm s-sorry, I, I just, I d-don't really remember h-how bad it w-was, but I can a-as-assume it wasn't g-good. I'm g-glad none of y-you had to clean that." Natalia looked down at their joined hands and sighed. Olivia hooked a hand under her chin and lifted her face to meet her eyes. "Hey, wh-what's wrong sw-sweetheart?"

Unshed tears were glistening in Natalia's eyes as she looked at her wife. "It was so bad Olivia." She shook her head. "There was just so much bl-blood, yo-your blood." She stuttered through her sobs as she fell forward, leaning on her hands to keep herself above Olivia.

Olivia ran a hand through her hair. "Oh h-honey. I'm so s-sorry you saw th-that." Natalia's cries had woken Ava and Rafe and they crawled up onto the bed with their mothers. "H-hey you t-two. Where did y-you come from?"

Natalia sat up straight and wiped at her eyes. "They were on the floor." She sniffed.

"Yeah, sorry. We woke up in the middle of the night and just wanted to be close to you guys." Rafe said.

Olivia reached her free hand to grab one of his. "N-nothing to be s-so-sorry about. I'm gl-glad you're h-here." She glanced at her daughter who had been unusually quiet ever since Olivia was released from the hospital. "Ava, ba-baby, are you o-okay? You've been aw-awfully q-quiet."

Ava laid her head on her mom's leg and turned her face up to her. She shook her head and closed her eyes. "No mom, I don't think I am." She said as she turned her face into her mom's leg and started to cry.

Olivia placed a hand on her head and stroked her hair, looking from Natalia to Rafe. "What's wr-wrong baby?"

Ava didn't speak, just burrowed further into her mother. Rafe laid down beside her and wrapped his arms around her middle. Natalia reached over and lay her hand on top of Olivia's for a moment and then moved it to Ava's shoulder.

Feeling the love and support from her family, Ava lifted her head enough to look back at her mother. "I thought I was okay, I really did. I mean, I worked like all day every day, and I know that wasn't super healthy, but I just wanted to stay busy until you came home. I thought I would be okay once you were here. But then, when I saw your room, I just…" She broke off as she started to cry harder than before.

Olivia tugged on her shoulder. "Come here b-baby, c-come sit by m-me."

Ava's head snapped up. "No! I do-don't wanna h-hurt you."

"You're not gonna h-hurt me Ava. Come on up h-here by me." She did her best not to stutter in hopes it would coax her daughter up towards her. She pat the spot next to her and waited for Ava to move.

Rafe released his hold and once Ava was settled next to their mom, he moved to sit on her other side with Natalia moving from the edge to sit in the middle of the bed on her knees facing her family lined against the headboard.

Olivia kissed the side of Ava's head and let her lips linger for a moment. "I know y-you're scared b-baby, but I'm o-okay. My ribs w-will heel and my h-head is already b-better. Frank is in j-jail and will be staying t-th-there for a very l-long time."

Ava sniffled and lifted her head from Olivia's shoulder. "I know, but mom, you almost died, and Rafe too. I, I don't know how to handle it mom. I've almost lost you so many times. I, I…" she started crying again, burying her face in her mother's neck.

Olivia winced silently as she moved to be able to rub her daughters back. "Shh, baby. I-it's okay."

Natalia moved closer and rubbed Ava's leg. "I know it's hard Ava, but we are all here for you. We'll get through this, as a family."

Rafe hugged his sister from the side. "Yeah, all of us can work through this together."

Natalia made eye contact with Olivia before she spoke again. "How about I call Dr. Boudreau this afternoon. I think we could all benefit from speaking with her."

Ava's head shot up. "No, I don't want to go back to the hospital."

Olivia rubbed her back again. "No b-baby. Felicia isn't go-gonna send you b-back honey. It's n-not like with M-Max. S-she can j-just talk to us. W-we will all g-go together. Natalia's r-right, we all n-need it."

Ava silently nodded her head and laid back down on Olivia's shoulder. Rafe leaned against her and the moms shared a knowing look. Natalia knew Olivia wasn't fond of therapist, but she was glad she had agreed to go, even if only for family visits. She knew Ava, Rafe, Olivia, and Emma all really needed some help to move forward, and if she was honest, she needed it too. Even after her break down with Phillip, she was still barely holding it together. Seeing her babies like this made it even harder.

Before anyone could say more, Emma came bounding into the room, Sam, and Doris both staying in the doorway. "Mommy, you're awake. Are you okay? Can I hug you?"

Olivia moved gingerly to sit straight up and motioned for her youngest to come to her. "Of c-course my J-Jellybean. Come h-here."

Emma ran to her mother's side and wrapped her arms around her, squeezing as tight as her little arms could. It hurt Olivia's ribs to bend the way she was, but she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from wincing and just held her baby girl for a moment before pulling back. "Climb up h-here Jellybean. S-sit with u-us."

Emma carefully climbed onto the bed and sat next to her Ma who wrapped her in a hug and kissed the top of her head. "Morning baby. How did you sleep with Aunt Doris?"

"Good she's a really good at cuddling, but not as good as you and mommy."

Olivia smirked at her best friend. "Awe, D-Doris, you're s-such a good a-auntie."

Emma smile wide at her newly appointed auntie as Doris walked to the side of the bed and placed a hand on Olivia's shoulder. "Yes, well. How are you feeling this morning?"

"I'm g-good. Wish this damn st-stutter would quit."

"I don't know Spencer, it's kind of growing on me."

"Oh s-shut up W-Wolf."

"No really, it's getting better every day. Before you know it you'll be back to your old snarky self."

Natalia giggled. "She's still snarky Doris, it just takes a little longer to get her comments out now. I kind of like it, makes it easier to ignore."

Olivia swatted towards her wife who was too far away to hit. "Ha, ha, you t-two are so f-funny."

Doris's laughed before growing serious. "Hey Emma, can you get out the stuff for pancakes so we can make some breakfast?"

Emma jumped from the bed. "Yay! Ma, will you make banana pancakes?"

"Of course, sweetie, I'll be there in a minute."

Rafe stood from the bed. "I'll go help her get everything ready."

"Yeah, me too." Ava added as she wiped her face again and kissed her mother's cheek before following her brother and sister from the room.

"I'll go make sure those three don't kill the kitchen." Sam said, offering a small smile to his sister and sister-in-law.

Once everyone was out of the room, Doris walked over and gently shut the door before taking a seat on the edge of the bed. Olivia locked eyes with her wife for a moment and then turned to her friend.

"What's g-going on D-Doris?"

"I just wanted to speak with the two of you for a moment. Emma had quite the nightmare last night. I think she might need to speak with someone."

Natalia and Olivia locked eyes again. "Yeah." Natalia Said. "We were just talking about that. We all know Rafe's been having a hard time, but Ava broke down this morning as well. We've decided that we are all going to make an appointment to speak with Felicia Boudreau."

"Good, I think that's a good idea, but I think maybe Emma might need to speak with a child's psychologist on her own. Felicia is great, I've seen her myself in the past, but Emma might need more than the family visits, and someone who specializes with children might benefit her more."

Olivia cleared her throat. "I agree. A-as much as I h-hate psychologist, I know m-my children are h-hurting and I don't k-know how to h-help them."

Natalia moved to sit closer to her wife and took her hand. "It's going to be okay honey, we'll get them all the help they need, and we'll get through this, together, like we always do."

Olivia gave her a small smile and nodded. "I k-know."

Doris pat Olivia's leg. "I think you need to speak with someone as well my friend. I know you think you can take on the world by yourself, but you've been through something very traumatic and I think you need to get some help for you too."

"I'm g-go-gonna go to the f-family sessions."

"I understand that Olivia, but maybe you should speak with Felicia by yourself too, really talk to her, about the things you won't say with your children present."

Olivia huffed. "I'm w-willing to go to f-family sessions because my k-kids need it, but beyond that, I just d-don't know."

Doris went to speak but Natalia beat her to it. "Okay honey, we'll start there. You don't have to go by yourself if you don't want to." Natalia made sure to lock eyes with Doris, letting her know not to push it.

Doris nodded and stood from the bed. "Alright then, I'm gonna go help with breakfast, and by that I mean get some coffee and watch."

Natalia chuckled at that and kissed her wife. "I'm gonna go with and actually help. I'll have Sam bring you some coffee and when you're ready you can join us. Okay?"

"Okay. T-thank you b-baby."

Once Doris and Natalia were in the hall, Natalia grabbed Doris arm to stop her from walking further and whispered. "Listen, I agree that Olivia needs to speak with someone, but she really hates therapist and psychologist. I'm hoping she might go alone after a few family sessions, but we can't push this, she'll just shut down and lock all this up if we do."

"I understand that she doesn't want to go. I know she thinks it makes her weak or something equally stupid, but she needs to go. I know she's your wife, but I've known her for a very long time, and that," She pointed to the door. "Is not Olivia Spencer. I can tell she's scared, and just putting on a brave face, and that's not good for her. She needs to actually deal with this. She can't just pretend it didn't happen."

"I know. And I agree, but we have to tread lightly with this. I want her to go, I know she needs to, but we can't gang up on her and force it, she's going to have to decide to go on her own, or it won't do her any good."

"And what about you Natalia? Are you going to go by yourself?"

"I don't know. I'm not sure I need to. Olivia and Rafe went through so much, and they need it, I think I'll be okay with just the family sessions."

"No, don't do that Natalia. I know Olivia and Rafe went through a lot, I know they both faced their death, but you can't diminish what you're going through. You almost lost your wife and your son in one foul swoop, your eldest is being just like her mother and trying to hide behind work and your youngest can barely sleep. What you're going through doesn't matter any less then what they are going through. I agree that family sessions will be good for all of you, but I think you ALL need to go individually as well."

Natalia wanted to deny she needed it, but she knew she did. "Let me get the kids and Olivia talking with someone first, then I'll worry about me."

"Maybe you going will help Olivia to go. Think about Natalia."

The two let the conversation end there and went into the kitchen for coffee and to help make breakfast for the house full of people. After breakfast, and clean up was done, Natalia and Olivia showered together so Natalia could help her wife. Ava, Sam, and Rafe went to their own spaces to get ready for the day.

Doris helped Emma to get ready and then went to ready herself. She needed to go into the office for a bit, and she wanted to stop at the police station and make sure nothing went wrong with Frank's transfer. She had gotten word that his arraignment hearing would be Monday morning and she also wanted to speak with Mel and make sure everything was in order to ensure bail wasn't an option.

Once everyone was dressed for the day, Natalia helped Olivia get situated on the couch and handed her the remote. "Alright baby, I want to drive Emma today since she had a rough night, and I need to speak with both her teacher and principle about Michael. Then I need to grab some things from the office so I can work on them from here. Josh should be returning this afternoon and I asked him to meet me here to discuss St. Louis."

"Honey, you d-don't need to work from home, S-Sam is here f-for a few d-days to help me, you need to g-go to work. It's Rafe's first d-day back and someone needs to m-make sure Ava doesn't overdo i-it."

"No, Olivia, I am going to be here with you until you are cleared to go back to work. Rafe and Ava have both been told they are not to work past two thirty. That way I know Ava isn't drowning herself in work to avoid her feelings like someone else I know. She is going to run by the store and be home no later than three thirty. Rafe is going to pick up Emma and take her to see Phillip for a couple hours and be home by five. Security guards will be with all of them and Michael will be with Emma all day at school and he has been instructed to call me if he notices anything off with her so we can bring her home early. I just need to run and grab a few things for the St. Louis property and I want to call and talk with Andrew about rescheduling the grand opening in Chicago."

"Thank you s-sweetheart. And not just f-for taking care of e-ev-everything at work, but for p-picking up the slack a-around here, and with the k-kids."

Natalia kissed her wife sweetly. "It's what you do in a marriage. Sometimes I need to do a little extra, sometimes you do, and sometimes we work perfectly together."

"Mmm. I love y-you Natalia."

"I love you too. Now, here's the remote, and I let Sam know when you need your pills again in case I'm not back by then. I will be as quick as possible." Just as she got up from her place on the edge of the couch, Ava, Sam, Doris, and Emma came down the stairs and Rafe entered the living room from the kitchen. "Alright, everyone ready to go?"

No one wanted to leave Olivia, but they all knew it would drive her mad if they all stayed and fussed over her, so they each kissed her cheek said their 'I love you' and headed out the door.

Doris filled her and Natalia in on her plans for the day and promised to be back later to fill them in at the very least.

"You aren't staying tonight?" Emma asked, looking up at her aunt with pleading eyes.

"Em…" Natalia started.

Doris cut her off with a hand on her shoulder and knelt down in front of Emma. "Do you want me stay again sweet girl?"

Emma nodded and threw her arms around Doris's neck. "Please. I feel safe with you and I can't sleep with mommy until she's better."

Doris hugged the small body against her tight and rubbed her back. "Then I will be here. Okay?"

Emma nodded. "Will you eat dinner with us?"

"Of course, darling. I'll be here by six. Is that okay for dinner?"

"Yeah. That's great. Will you drive me to school today?"

Doris looked between the two moms for an answer. Natalia stepped in, knowing that Emma felt like Doris being the mayor made her untouchable. "Emma sweetheart, I need to talk to your teacher, so I'm gonna take you today, but Mr. Michael will be with you all day."

"Okay Ma. You'll keep me safe?"

Natalia's heart clenched at the words. "I would never let anything happen to you Jellybean."

Doris stood from her place in front of Emma. "Alright, I have a lot to do today and then I'll stop at my house and just pack a bag with a few days of clothes. I'll see you all around six and I'll let you know if anything important comes up today."

"T-thank you D-Doris." Olivia stuttered.

"Of course." Doris left and Emma followed her out to go talk with Michael while her mommies said bye to one another.

"Alright my love," Natalia started. "I'll be back soon. Phillips alarm company should be here soon to set it up and Sam is here for anything you need. Please try to rest while I'm gone." She gave Olivia a pointed look at her last words.

"I will b-baby. I p-promise."

"Good." Natalia leaned down and kissed her wife tenderly but with all the love she felt for the woman. This kiss was to convey all of her emotions at what their family was going through, but also to comfort her wife while she had to be out of the house.