A/N: I don't own any of the characters except my own.
Everyone was preparing to go to the baseball game. When they arrived at Wrigley, they went in and found their seats. Lisa and Trevor ended up taking her nephews and PJ as well as Emily, the boys and Kevin. Rita and Sarah watched Lexie and the twins. Casey and Alex were there with Antonio and Kyle as well.
"This is so amazing!"
Their seats were behind the home dugout and players remembered them from when they saw them play in New York. Hank went over to talk with the players and Justin went with Daniel as well. Everyone went to get food and then they waited for the game to start. They all seemed to be enjoying themselves. After the game ended with a Cubs victory over their crosstown rivals, everyone went over to Hank and Olivia's for pizza and pool party. Rita and Sarah brought the girls over.
"There's my princess."
"Dada!"
"Did everyone have fun?"
"We sure did."
"Was she ok?"
"She got a little fussy after you left but she was ok after a while."
"Mama!"
"Hi baby girl!"
"How were the boys?"
"Fine as always."
"Has she eaten recently?"
"No."
Olivia went to get Lexie a jar of food and Hank moved the high chair, so Olivia could feed her. Trevor and Lisa fed the twins as well. Hank found out what everyone wanted on their pizza before he ordered it. He went over to Lexie and wanted a kiss. She was all messy but kissed him anyway. Olivia handed Hank a napkin and then he wiped his face before he kissed her.
"Kevin, did you enjoy your first experience at Wrigley?"
"It was so awesome! I can't wait to go again sometime."
Trevor's phone rang and he noticed it was Greg, so he went into the house as he answered it. After he was done talking, he went back outside.
"I invited Greg and my father-in-law over."
"That's fine."
"Was Dad at your office?"
"Yeah. He's getting advice from Greg on how to handle your mom. She threw him out because he's siding with you."
"It's her own fault. Contrary to what she thinks, I can make my own decisions and have been for a long time. My ex cheated on me and I was planning to break up with him anyway. I don't tolerate that in a relationship. I need someone who will be faithful to me and I found that when I met Trevor. Maybe this is what I get for being born. It was quite obvious that she always favored you because you were the perfect one. You chose your family over a career just like she did. I had a kid to support on my own. What the hell was I supposed to do? I didn't expect her and Dad to do everything for me the way Gram and Pop did with Aunt Maggie? I realize Aunt Maggie's situation was different but Mom has always looked down on me because I chose to work. I am the only female in this family that didn't choose to be a housewife."
"You followed your dream. I wouldn't put too much weight on anything Mom says anymore. You and I have always been close but you were also closer to the boys growing up. Jen and Tracy have always been in their own little worlds."
"No arguments from me on that. I had to live with them. I was so glad when Kev was born because there was finally another boy in the family. I'd rather have the two of you as sisters than the two I have. I admire Aunt Maggie for everything she did to raise Kevin. She could have terminated the pregnancy or put him up for adoption but she didn't."
"Something tells me I would have gotten along with Kevin if I had known him. I was also the product of rape and my mother blamed me for everything that went wrong in her life, especially with her being an alcoholic. Noah was too and his mother was an addict. She was trying to get cleaned up for him but she had gone out looking for a fix and was raped and burned to death. His father is also deceased. Hank and I are the only parents he has ever known. He has been through so much in such a short time. I never lived up to my mother's expectations either and nothing I ever did was good enough. Amanda feels the same way about her relationship with her mother as well. Her sister has been in and out of jail but in their mother's eyes, she can do no wrong. She treats Amanda like crap because she allowed Kim to be arrested. Kim tried framing Amanda for murder over money. Kim stays away until she wants something, either someplace to stay or money. My half-brother Simon is like that. He only contacts me when he wants money. Thankfully I haven't heard from him in years. We share a father but he was actually a father to Simon and all I had was a mother who was drunk and abusive. She used to tell me that I would never be able to make anyone happy and I deserved to be alone and miserable."
"My mom told me that I would never find anyone as wonderful as Eric. Eric really wasn't all that wonderful."
"You did do a lot better than Eric. I might be more biased toward Trevor because he's Greg's best friend and I had secretly hoped you two would have gotten together at our wedding. Eric was unfit to be a father to my niece."
"The only thing is, if he had married that one he cheated with, he would have fought me for custody and used the fact that he could give her a more stable life than I could. Mom probably would have supported him."
"Greg, Dad and I wouldn't have. Dad hated him and never thought he was good enough for you."
"The few times I met him, I never liked him and neither did Mom and Dad."
"Aunt Maggie said the same thing. His mother hated me."
"She was a bitch."
"I have a feeling that if I had ever said anything to them about Emily, they would have tried to get custody."
"You did the right thing and Greg was the one that told you not to say anything. She looks like our family more than anything anyway. As far as she knows Trevor is her daddy and he loves her more than Eric ever would have."
"I think you're right. I did end up with a much better guy than Eric. I appreciate you and Greg more than you will ever know."
Greg arrived with Steve, Jen, Tracy and their families. Greg kissed Sarah and then both Sarah and Lisa hugged their dad. Jen and Tracy hugged Sarah and Lisa as well before they hugged their brother.
"Daddy, I am so sorry about all this."
"It's not your fault. Your mother needs to stop thinking the world revolves around her and she needs to stop treating you the way she does."
"Where are you going to stay?"
"With one of you two hopefully."
"You can stay with us."
"Is that ok with Trevor?"
"Of course it is."
"Do Aunts Ellen and Maggie know about this?"
"Yes. I took the rest of the week off, so I'd like to spend that time with you and my grandkids."
"I'd like that."
Rita got a call, so she answered it. After she was done talking, she hung up.
"Everything ok, Mom?"
"That was Alli. Dave and Amy were in an accident. Dave hurt his back again and Amy broke her leg, so they want me to go out there. I have no idea how long I will be out there."
"Don't worry about us. We'll be fine."
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
"I can help out when Dad goes back to work."
"Thank you."
"No problem."
"Tell Dave and Amy that we hope they get better soon."
"I will do that."
Rita hugged Trevor and Lisa and went to say goodbye to the kids before she left to pack, make arrangements for her flight and call Joe. Lisa introduced her cousins and their families to everyone and then Hank and Justin went to get the pizzas.
"We're sorry. You're all eating dinner."
"We just ordered pizza. We always order more than what we have. You're welcome to stay."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure."
"Thank you."
"No problem."
"What brings you here?"
"We closed on our respective houses and the kids wanted to see their new rooms. Everything is all packed and ready to be moved. We're not that far away from you."
"PJ, you'll be the only one not out here."
"Actually, I have an interview tomorrow. I miss hanging out together like we used to. I'm confident the interview is going to go well. I already had a phone interview. I'm hoping that moving to a new city will be good for me and I can finally settle down. I want kids."
"Since when?"
"For a while now but I just can't seem to meet the right woman."
"I never thought we'd see the day that our little brother wanted to settle down, get married and start a family."
"I've always wanted a daughter. For a family with mostly girls, Lisa is the only one that has had girls. Even Kevin has a son."
"That's why I would have thought Mom would have been close to Emily because she was the first granddaughter for her and in the family in general."
"Trevor, you have a brother, right?"
"Yep. He and his wife have 4 kids, 2 of each. My nieces are twins and they're the oldest."
Trevor pulled out his phone and showed them a picture of his nieces and nephews."
"Wow! Your nephew looks like you."
"Oh, yeah, he sure does."
"Where do they live?"
"Hartford. Mom knows Jenna from when she lived with her grandparents. They were neighbors of theirs."
"That's a small world."
"Yeah, it is."
"That had to have been so hard on Uncle Ed not to know that he even had a daughter for 25 years."
"It was. It fills a void for Aunt Maggie because Jenna calls her 'Mom'. They both said they were actually considering moving here because they are here so much anyway but with Jenna and the boys in the picture and Kevin too, they don't want to just up and leave. They both have grandsons that they want to be active in their lives as much as possible."
"I know I'm part of the reason that they're staying in New York but if they choose to leave, I'd be ok with it. I kind of like having 3 grandmas. I wish I had known my real dad. When I was old enough to understand, Mom told me about him and what had happened. This past school year, I had to do a paper and present it to the class on a significant time in history. I chose September 11th and I asked my teacher if I could bring in someone to talk about their experience with it and she said it was fine. I asked Grandpa Ed if he'd do it because the NYPD was directly involved with it and Grandma took me to the Station where Dad was out of to ask if someone from there who knew him would talk about their experience as well. They both agreed and answered any questions my classmates had. I talked about how it affected me even though I wasn't even around when it happened. It helped me connect more with my dad. Grandma and Mom both came to hear my presentation. I got an A on it. Mom recorded it on her phone and sent it to me."
Kevin got his phone and then showed the video to everyone. All of his cousins had tears in their eyes.
"Wow, Kev, that was so amazing!"
"I want to have it saved to something more permanent and once I do, I'll get everyone copies of it."
"I could probably help you out with that if you'd like. We can work on it after dinner."
"Cool. Thanks."
"No problem."
"Thanks, Mouse."
"It's no big deal."
Hank and Justin returned with the pizzas and then everyone ate. Kevin showed Hank and Justin his presentation while they were eating.
"Good job with that."
"Thanks. Mouse is going to help me save it to something more permanent, so I can give it to the family."
"I think Ed did a great job with what he said and very rarely do you see him get choked up. Did your mom show this to the squad?"
"Yeah, she did. Fin said it was awesome but brought back a lot of memories. Chief Dodds even saw it and loved it. I also want to give a copy of it to the people my dad worked with"
Everyone finished eating and then Mouse took Kevin to work on his video. He also wanted to incorporate the pictures he had taken.
"He's a good kid."
"Yeah, he is. He is every bit like his dad."
"That's for sure. Kevin would have been so proud of him."
"That's true."
Lisa started to become emotional again, so Trevor wrapped his arms around her.
"Lise, how are you feeling?"
"I'm doing better."
"Why is Aunt Pauline being such a bitch?"
"Because she blames Olivia for what happened. If Olivia had been there, she probably could have been shot instead of me and Mom would have been fine with that. She had been watching Noah, Lexie and Daniel while their nanny was off recovering from hip surgery except when Rita was gone when she had to stay with our kids. Olivia was gone because she and Hank had taken the afternoon off and then their daughter-in-law was taken to the hospital. Olive is the receptionist at Greg and Trevor's office and Trevor rode in the ambulance with her. If Olivia isn't around, I'm next in charge and Kyle is now a Sergeant as well. Mom still thinks I am going to end up like Pop. Dad went in with me, so if something had happened, he would have been the first to know and that should have eased Mom's stress level a bit but it didn't. She started in with Olivia and Trevor basically said that she couldn't see the kids because of how she was treating her unless she apologizes. She tried telling him he had no right to do that and he told her that he's their father. The aunts and uncles were here and supported his decision, Dad supported his decision and Sarah and Greg supported his decision. They won't let her see the boys either. Dad can see all 9 of his grandkids."
"That sounds reasonable."
"I'm hoping this is only temporary but I can't deal with her anymore."
"She changes like the wind though."
"Oh, yeah. We know that too well."
Pauline came around to the backyard.
"What do you want, Mother?"
"I need to talk to Olivia."
"Do you want to talk inside?"
"No. This can be said in front of everyone. I never should have blamed you for what happened to Lisa and I certainly did not mean to make it sound like I would have rather had something happen to you. I don't. When Lisa was shot, I started thinking about how my dad had died. I have never really gotten over that and I am scared half to death of losing my baby that same way. It took my sister 15 years to finally move on after Kevin was killed."
"Mom, how do you think I feel? I was close to Pop and Kevin was my best friend."
"I know and sometimes I act like I'm the only one that lost dad. Mom lost her husband of many years, Ellen and Maggie lost their dad too and the six of you lost your grandpa. The kids were all born after he was gone. He would have loved all of his great grandchildren but I honestly think he would have spoiled Emily and the twins rotten. He was such a softy when it came to his girls, whether it was one of the three of us or the four of you. He adored PJ and Kevin too. Each time Mom was pregnant, he never cared if we were boys or girls. I don't think I ever really gave you the credit I should have with how you raised Emily. I thought Eric was good for you but how could he have cheated on you? I'm glad you never told him or his family about her."
"Let me ask you this, if he hadn't died in that accident, married the one he cheated with and then decided to fight me for custody using the fact that he could give her a more stable life than I could have at the time, would you have supported him or me?"
"You. If he loved you as much as he said he did, he wouldn't have cheated on you. Trevor is a great guy. You really lucked out with him. I apologize for my behavior and I hope everyone can forgive me."
"Pauline, we're ok."
"Thank you, Olivia."
Olivia hugged Pauline and then Lisa did too.
"We're fine too. You're a pain in the ass sometimes though."
"You sound like Ellen and Margaret."
"They'd know."
Sarah hugged her and so did Trevor and Greg. Pauline told Steve he could come back home. He kissed her and wrapped his arms around her. Tracy, Jen and PJ all hugged her too.
"Is it me or are your boys getting taller?"
"It's not just you."
All the kids came over to see Pauline and her grandkids hugged her.
"I'm taking the rest of the week off to spend with Lisa and Trevor's kids."
"Ok. Where's Rita?"
"On her way to Hartford. My niece called and said my brother and sister-in-law were in an accident. Dave hurt his back again and Amy broke her leg."
"Did your dad go too?"
"Nope. She said she was going to tell him she was going."
"I'll help wherever I am needed."
"Thanks."
"Pauline, have you eaten yet?"
"No, not yet."
"Help yourself to some pizza."
"Thanks."
Pauline got some pizza and sat down.
"Isn't Kevin here?"
"He is but Mouse is helping him record a video from his phone onto something more permanent. He's giving copies of it to all of us. He did a report on September 11th and had two speakers there too to talk about what it was like and to answer any questions his class might have had. One was Uncle Ed on behalf of the NYPD and the other was someone that worked with Kevin. He said it helped him connect with his dad more. He showed us the video Michelle took and sent to him."
"I can't wait to see it. Maggie is so proud of him and I think Kevin would have been too."
"No doubt. He wanted to be a dad more than anything. Although I do think Michelle could have handled it better than she did."
"She should have."
Everyone kept talking and mostly everyone had gone back into the pool. A little while later, Mouse and Kevin returned. The kids were starting to get tired, so everyone went home. Hank gave the boys a bath and Olivia gave Lexie one before she fed her. As she was feeding her, Hank brought the boys in to say goodnight.
"Night, Mommy."
"Goodnight, Sweetie."
"Night-night, Gama."
"Goodnight."
Both boys kissed Olivia and then Hank went to tuck them in. Hank came into the bedroom, kissed Lexie on the head and went to take a shower. After Lexie was done eating, Olivia took her into the nursery and put her in her crib. She went back into the bedroom and Hank was just coming out of the bathroom.
"I'm glad things are ok with Pauline."
"I am too. I'm going to take a quick shower."
"Ok."
Olivia went to take a shower, while Hank got into bed and looked to see if there was anything he wanted to watch on TV. A little while later, Olivia came out of the shower and got her hair dried. Then she joined Hank in bed.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
They kissed each other and then they made love before falling asleep in each other's arms.
Stay tuned for moreā¦
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