Author Notes: More Christmasy Happy Tuckson goodness. I miss them.
Last Chapter, and the longest.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Olivia spends Christmas morning with her family.
December 25, 2017
After making love, the couple had changed into their pajamas for the night. Liv had slipped on a pair of light blue satin pajama pants and an oversized navy NYPD t-shirt that Ed swore might've been his; Liv did her best to deny it. He wore a worn and faded green t-shirt and red flannel pajama pants, that Liv teased him for being one of those people that get festive even in sleepwear; Ed swore it was just coincidence that he grabbed the two items from his dresser.
They got back into her warm bed and Liv snuggled up next to him the moment he settled on his back and she rested her head on one side of his chest, allowing her to hear his heart beat and breath intake under her, while her hand came to rest on the other side, feeling the rhythmic thump of his heartbeat under her fingertips. She smiled in contentment.
Ed sighed and wrapped an arm around her, caressing her arm with his fingers as he kissed the top of her head. The pair eventually drifted off to sleep.
By morning, they were on their sides with Ed spooning her, his arm wrapped around her waist. That was the first thing she noticed when her body started to wake up and her eyes fluttered open. It was also just after seven and a bit of early morning daylight peeked through the edges of her curtains.
She turned over to face Ed and found him smiling at her, wide awake.
"Morning," she greeted and snuggled her body closer to his, draping one leg over his hip.
"Merry Christmas, Olivia," he replied softly and kissed her forehead.
She titled her head up and gave him a dreamy smile and a kiss. "Merry Christmas. How long have you been up?"
"About ten minutes," he answered. "Kinda figured we'd have to be up early."
"Do you think he's up yet?"
"Haven't heard anything, but, you never know, he probably got up an hour ago and has all of his presents opened without making a sound," he said.
"That's not possible," Liv stated. "I'm not a heavy sleeper; I would've heard him."
"Kids can be sneaky when it comes to Christmas morning," Ed explained. "I did it, once, and managed to open three of my presents before my eldest sister caught me and snitched. I had to sit on the couch watching everyone get excited over their presents first; I had to wait until after church to finally open the rest of mine. And, when you're family's Irish Catholic in a neighborhood of Irish Catholic families … that was a long wait."
She laughed softly before her leg tightened its hold over his hip and she moved impossibly closer to his body. "Well, maybe, if you want, you can open one of your presents early this year."
He didn't want to mention that he didn't have any other physical presents to open anyway, but he technically unwrapped this particular present just a few hours earlier when she had taken him to her bedroom. And, in all honesty, he'd like nothing better than to bury his whole body in hers and never leave, but it was Christmas morning and she had a five-year-old who was old enough to fully understand what this morning meant and had been antsy for it since last night. He let out a disappointed sigh.
"As much fun as that would be," he began and gave her a sensual kiss – one that Liv attempted to deepen – to emphasize his statement and apologize for the cold shower he was about to douse their bodies in, "it's already getting lighter out and Noah's internal Christmas morning alarm clock will probably go off very soon. Probably should shower and start breakfast so we can get him to eat before he goes nuts."
That cooled down her libido and she, too, let out a disappointed sigh and took a moment to bury her face into his neck and upper chest before beginning to pull away from him entirely and started to sit up. "You're right."
Ed reached out and touched her wrist and she looked down at him. "We'll rain-check it."
She gave him a smirk. "You bet your ass," she said and got out of bed.
Liv took the shower first, and alone, to avoid temptation, while Ed moved into the kitchen and grabbed the waffle maker for the usual Christmas morning Santa waffles. When she was done, but back in her pajamas anyway, Liv took over the waffle breakfast, finishing up the last of the waffles and adding the whipped topping and fruit to make a Santa face. Ed took his shower and also stayed in his accidentally festive pajamas. As he came out of the bathroom, Noah's bedroom door whipped open and the kid was bug-eyed.
"CHRISTMAS! WHERE'S MOM? IS IT TIME TO OPEN PRESENTS NOW?!" Noah asked quickly and excitedly. He was about to make a run toward the living room area, when Ed stopped him.
"Slow down, big guy. How about we go to the bathroom and brush our teeth and eat breakfast first, okay?" He was attempting to calm the kid down but all he got in return is a look of dejected annoyance.
"Fine," the boy muttered and shuffled toward the bathroom Ed had just vacated.
Ed heard a quiet giggle coming from the kitchen and headed in that direction to see Liv desperately trying to hide the amused shake of her body as she poured a glass of milk for her son and some coffee for herself.
"Really?" he asked and moved behind her and pinched her sides and her giggles turned into a little shriek and a gasp before she swatted his hands away. He noticed the Santa waffles were over by the small dining table rather than on the seated side of the counter island. "We eating over there?"
She handed him Noah's milk before pouring a cup of coffee, too. "Yeah, sometimes we do sit over here to eat."
Noah came rushing out of the bathroom, ready to bypass breakfast and go straight for the tree, but was stopped by his mom, who redirected him to the table.
The three of them sat and ate their Santa waffles, though Noah was trying to eat as fast as he could because he was itching to get to the mountain of gifts he'd seen. Once they were finished, Ed made a beeline to the tree to block the kid's access and told him to wait until his mom was done cleaning up their plates.
Liv placed the refilled cups of coffee on the island rather than bring them over to the coffee table, as she felt that, in Noah's excitement, he might spill them and she didn't want to make that kind of a mess. She grabbed her phone, ready to take photos and video – she noticed Ed doing the same automatically – as she approached the couch.
"Okay, Noah," Ed began. "You have a lot of stuff here, so we'll go open one present at a time there's not a wrapping paper tornado all over the place."
Noah sighed but didn't put up an argument; he just wanted to open his presents now.
He received a bunch of clothes, including some shirts and pajama sets with some of his favorite cartoon characters, including the dogs from PAW Patrol, the Ninja Turtles, and various superheroes. Ed and his mom also purchased some intellectually-stimulating toys – such as puzzles and strategy games that were easy enough for a kid his age to understand, and some card games – as well as some superhero and dinosaur action figures, a race track and a few Hot Wheels cars. Another present from Santa – actually from Ed – was a set of wildlife creatures on a plastic stand. It was like a puzzle and you put the animal in the correct spot and press down, it gives some facts about the particular animal. It also had a corresponding app with games and other facts about various wildlife creatures and locations. Along with it, came a plush lion that came from the same company that made Eddie the elephant.
Noah jumped up and ran to his room and came back out with the elephant and sat him down next to the lion.
"What's the lion's name going to be?" Ed asked him.
Noah looked at his mom and Ed for a moment, lost in thought, then turned to look at the lion before looking back at Ed. "Her name is Olivia, like mom. Eddie and Olivia; they love each other and they're family."
Olivia, who had been recording video of it, froze before tears welled up in her eyes. She didn't end the recording but placed the phone in her lap. Ed reached to her and rubbed her knee with his hand, tears appearing in his eyes, too. She was about to just lose it in the middle of Christmas morning. Her son's response had been so innocent, but it made her realize that her revelation the other night had been right and her decision to get Ed back and their engagement last night affected all three of them, not just the couple. To her son, Ed was a part of their family already. He may have gone away for a while, but he was still family.
Ed was touched by Noah's words, as well. He loved and cared about the little boy as he had fallen more in love with the boy's mother, and he knew that Noah adored him and being around him and playing with him. Ed just never realized how much he had actually meant to Noah until that moment. They were a family. They'd already been a family, even if it took the two adults a little while to realize that. And, as long as he and Olivia continued to work on their relationship and not let it fall apart again, someday soon, they would be make it official and Noah would be his son.
Noah had turned his focus to his new toys and the remaining presents under the tree, so he was completely oblivious to his mother's reaction. He reached past Ed and grabbed a couple of items that were from him to his mom. He handed them to her. "I made these at school. They're for you!"
Liv, after wiping her eyes and getting her emotions in check, took one of them and opened it. Inside the box was a little structure made out of painted popsicle sticks glued together. The sticks were either red or green and had some glitter on them. The two ends were supposed to be Christmas tree-shaped while the sticks on the sides were vertical with the edges of the sticks glued together. She didn't know what it was.
Noah could see that and explained. "It's supposed to be a thing you put stuff in. She said it could be a napkin holder or a thing to hold pencils in or whatever. Do you like it?" he asked hopefully.
"I love it," Liv told him and brought him in for a hug. "It's perfect, sweetie. Thank you." She let go of Noah and unwrapped the second box and pulled a square ceramic box. It was painted white, with two sides having Noah's painted handprint on it – one hand for each side – in dark blue and neon green, another side had a variety of color splotches on it, and the fourth side had his name painted on in his own handwriting. She could tell that because the gift stickers his projects came in, his name was clearly written by a teacher with neat handwriting; Noah was five and in the process of learning how to write, so his letters were often messy and squiggly. The lid of the box was entirely bright red with lots of red glitter.
"It's for cookies!" he exclaimed, then a thought occurred to him and he whipped around to where they had placed Santa's milk and cookies last night. He jumped up to see it and noticed the small white hairs by the crumbs and on the glass. "Mom?"
"What is it, baby?" she inquired, carefully setting the ceramic box down and wiping excess glitter off her hands.
"Is Santa losing his hair?" he asked, holding Ed's small white hairs in his hand.
Liv looked at Ed to field that question since it was his idea.
"Maybe he is," Ed answered and feigned childlike curiosity for the kid. "He always wears that red hat, so maybe he's hiding that he's going bald." He pretended to examine the hairs.
Noah looked up at Ed's salt-and-pepper short hair. "He's gonna look just like you!" He laughed and Olivia barely contained her own giggling as she moved off of the couch and onto the floor to reach for the rest of her gifts.
Ed tousled the curly hairs on the boy's head and laughed himself. Their – or, rather, his – little ruse worked and he was thankful Noah was still young enough to believe in the magic so they could have this kind of fun.
Noah brushed the hairs back onto the plate and moved back to his toys and tried to figure out what to play with first.
Liv had moved down to where Ed had been sitting so he first went to get their coffees and set them in a safe location on the coffee table and sat himself down between said table and the couch and watched her open her other presents.
Carisi gave her a small plush teddy bear with an NYPD hat and shirt and gold shield to match hers, with another teddy bear for Noah, along with an Italian recipe book.
She opened the gift from Amanda after reading the card from her and Jessie. It was some scented aromatherapy bath candles. Ed picked them up and smelled them and was intrigued by the scent.
"Maybe later," Liv commented quietly to him with a sexy look on her face.
"These candles are supposed to be designed to relieve tension," Ed countered.
"Well, they can relieve one kind of tension while we relieve another kind."
For the first time, Ed wished Noah wasn't in the room or anywhere in the vicinity, otherwise he'd take Olivia up on her offer right there on the floor. Instead of replying, he set the candles down and took a gulp of his coffee. The heat burning his throat sent the needed jolt to his system to cool down and remind his body that there was a child in the room.
Liv smirked at him, tempting him to take the bait; she found that she loved teasing him and watching him trying to ignore her. She then she moved on to her next present. It was from Nick.
A small square jewelry box that held a silver chain-link bracelet and an ice blue and silver dolphin charm. She smiled and touched the dolphin.
Ed eyed it and thought it looked pretty and deserving of Liv's touch and affectionate expression, but wanted to know about it. Not out of jealousy, just curiosity. "Amaro gives you jewelry?"
Liv wanted to make a comment about him being jealous but she didn't get that express when she looked him, so she answered honestly. "Uh, it's a thing we do. When I was with Cassidy, the year he took me to the Bahamas, I almost didn't go because of the case we were working. But, Nick insisted I go and have a good time … though, he didn't know it was with Cassidy. I gave in but told him he owed me jewelry the next Christmas. Since then, he sends a bracelet. I have a few in my room. A couple Christmases ago, he sent a bracelet that his daughter, Zara, made, because she was into making those beaded friendship bracelets at the time. I still have that one, too."
"That's sweet," Ed responded. "I'm glad you have friends like that, like him. People who love and care about you and think of you even after they leave."
She knew what he meant by that – who he meant by that – but chose to ignore it. "They're my family, too. So is Nick."
"I know that, Liv," he replied, noting the slight iciness in her voice. "I'm just saying that I'm happy you have that."
She smiled at him and reached to grab the thick rectangular envelope from Fin. Inside it was a gift card for an audio book app and a card and a bunch of photos of Ken and Alejandro with their son Jaden, and some pictures of Fin with his grandson. Her smile got bigger and she showed them to Ed.
He took them from her to look through. He and Fin still weren't on good terms; they just tolerated each other, and he hoped that would change in the near future. But, he was happy that, in the last few years, Liv and the people she worked with started to have lives of their own. He knew Cragen had found someone and went to live a life with her. Amaro, seeing a dead end with the NYPD, went to California to be near his kids. Rollins, seemingly troubled when he first met her, now seemed to have it together and had a little girl. And he knew – through rumors and other channels – about situations involving some of Fin's relatives and he was happy that the now Sergeant had a family, too. He was happy for her squad and that she had that little chosen family in her and Noah's life, especially after everything she'd been through.
He set the pictures on the coffee table and looked under the tree. Aside from a card, the rest of her gifts were from him. So, he had to ask. "So, nothing from Barba?" Liv grabbed the card and indicated it. "Just that?"
"Uh," she started and pointed toward the refrigerator. "He bought me a nice bottle of wine. It's on top of the fridge still; I was saving it."
He thought about the recent stressful situation she'd gone through. "I'm surprised, given what just happened, that you haven't opened it yet."
"Don't think it hasn't crossed my mind," she replied and gave him a look that he was familiar with. "After that …" she nodded subtly toward Noah, who was happily playing with his superhero and Ninja Turtle action figures on the floor. "… I wanted to so bad. But, I didn't; I wanted to be on alert instead."
"Understandable," he replied, knowing full well of her history and how she coped with stress, but he didn't press it any further, so he indicated his gifts for her.
Liv was grateful he didn't want to continue that topic but waited to grab the next present, to mention something. "I wanted to save it for a special occasion, maybe … Maybe for us, or open it to celebrate our engagement, with a party."
Ed smiled and leaned in to kiss her. "We can do that." Another kiss. "Now, you gotta couple more presents there. Might want to open 'em."
Liv smiled back at him before pulling the last presents toward her and opening them. A small square box held a pair of steel blue tear drop earrings, another square box held a matching bracelet with steel blue pearls, and a long, but small, rectangular box held a necklace with a matching steel blue tear drop charm. They all matched the exact color of his eyes and she wondered if that was intentional or not.
"Ed, they're gorgeous!" She exclaimed and moved to kiss him, passionately. "Did you get these, too, when we were still together?"
"Yes, except for that last one you haven't opened. I wanted to give you these for Valentine's Day," he explained. "But … Like the ring, I didn't have the heart to return them or sell them. They were meant for you; I just could never work up the nerve to send them to you. I didn't want to risk you being upset with me."
She gave him a sympathetic smile and kissed him again and then opened her last gift. It was a delicate gold watch that could double as a bracelet if she wanted it to. "Wow."
"That I got not too long ago," he told her. "Especially with Christmas coming and your birthday, I was contemplating things …"
"Like I was?" He nodded. Liv set the jewelry boxes next to the one from Nick and moved close to end to hug him. "I love you."
"I love you, too, Olivia," he replied and nestled into her embrace.
Noah, meanwhile, noticed that there were no more presents under the tree, and he noticed that all of the presents were for either him or his mom and nothing for Ed.
"Why didn't you get anything from Santa?" he asked. The couple moved apart and looked at him, confused, but they noticed his focus on Ed and understood.
"I already got my present yesterday," Ed responded.
"Santa delivered your presents before everyone else?" the boy inquired, surprised that such a thing was possible.
"Well, not exactly, Noah. Come here," he held out his hand and Noah dropped his toys and approached Ed and sat in his lap. "The thing I wanted most, for Christmas, was to have my family back. You and your mom." He looked at Liv and saw tears appear in her eyes. "Santa didn't give me that; your mom did. She came over yesterday and asked me to come home. That's all that I wanted. Your mom gave me my present yesterday," he explained and turned to see Olivia barely holding back the tears. He put his arm around her and kissed her forehead before looking back at Noah.
Noah assessed the moment and his mom's happiness and hugged Ed first before moving to hug his mom. Then he leaned back and looked at both of them. "Can we set up my race track now?"
Both adults laughed out loud; leave it to a five-year-old to burst the emotional bubble they'd been in.
"Sure thing, bud," Ed responded and took a sip of his coffee before joining Noah over by the race track's box to open it and begin assembling.
Liv discarded the wrapping paper first before she moved to sit on the couch. She picked up her phone and realized it had been left on the video she'd been recording when Noah had named the lion after her. The video had finished recording, but because the lens was facing down on her couch, there wasn't much; she'd have to look at it and edit it later on. She grabbed her coffee to take a drink before opening up her messaging app to text her friends and squad and Merry Christmas and chat about the gifts as she watched her fiancé - she was trying to get used to that word - and son build a decent-sized orange track with tall loops and took turns trying to make the cars complete it without toppling off.
They took time to check out the parade and the holiday specials and cartoons for the rest of the morning. By lunch, Ed had helped set up more of Noah's toys and taught him how to take apart the track to put it away and he promised to play some of the new games during the week.
"Are you staying for good this time?" Noah asked.
"Yes, he is," Liv responded before Ed could and gave him a smile.
"I will be," Ed offered his reply. "But, after lunch, like the last couple of years, I have to leave to go see the rest of my family; my mom and my sisters and brothers and my nieces and nephews."
"Why can't me and mom come?" he asked. "We're family, right?"
Liv chose to answer her son. "Maybe next year, okay? Ed and I just got back together yesterday and," she moved toward him and bent down to show him her engagement ring, "at some point soon, we're going to get married." She let out a breath at the realization that that was real; she was really engaged to Ed Tucker. She felt a moment of panic and was pretty sure Ed had noticed it, too, but covered for her son. "Maybe, sometime before next Christmas, we can meet Ed's family." She looked to Ed to see if that suggestion was okay.
Noah looked at him, too, with the same hopeful expression.
Ed had noticed her fleeting moment of panic in regards to their engagement. Given how their relationship had ended before and her skittishness, he wasn't surprised by it. What he was surprised by was that she was making promises to her son about the future and meeting his family. He was hopeful about their future and he definitely wanted them to meet the rest of his family, so Liv and Noah would know what it felt like to be part of a large and loving – if a bit overbearing – family besides her chosen one.
He reached over and took Liv's hand in his and touched the ring on her finger. "Yeah, we can do that. Would you like that, Noah?" The little boy nodded. "Okay," he assured both of them.
Noah seemed satisfied with that answer and went back to playing with his toys.
Olivia got up and moved into the kitchen to prepare a casual lunch for them – leftover deli meats and slices of bread cut into small squares for mini sandwiches, along with some fruits and vegetables – and Ed followed close behind.
Once they were both out of earshot of the boy, Ed looked at her. "So, uh, did you mean that, about me staying for good?"
She turned to face him. "Yes," she answered carefully. "But, not officially. I moved in here with Brian and look how that turned out. I'm not … I can give you a key, if you want, and you can stay here every night, but give me time to get used to … everything."
He moved close to her and wrapped his arms around her in a hug. "Of course, Liv. I'm not pressuring you into anything you're not ready for. I just want you to know that I do want to stay for good; that I'm not going anywhere."
Liv flashed to the last time Ed had promised her that … but she was the one who ended things between them, not him. He meant what he said.
"Okay," she replied softly and kissed him.
The couple unwrapped themselves from each other and Ed helped assemble lunch for them. The three of them ate around the coffee table and watched cartoons. Afterward, Ed got dressed and ready to leave.
He gave Noah a hug, but the kid was too concerned with his race track again to linger on the connection. The couple moved to the door.
"So, if I don't stay late, I can come back later tonight, and we can pick up where we left off this morning," he said.
"As much as I would love that," she began, "and, I definitely want it, you should spend as much time with your family as possible. They're important, too, and it's Christmas. We can wait until tomorrow; it's not a big deal."
"All the same, I'll make due on that promise." He pulled her close to him and gave her a deep sensual kiss to show her he meant it.
Liv wrapped her arms around him and melted into his body and the taste of his lips. If it weren't for Noah in the room and Ed having to get to his family for the holiday, she would already be pulling him back toward her bedroom without a second thought.
They reluctantly pulled apart and Liv stepped out of arm's reach to avoid further temptation for both of them. They could hear Noah making explosion and crashing sounds from the other side of the wall.
"I am definitely going to try to make it back here tonight," Ed breathed out. "We are definitely going to continue this."
She licked her lips and enjoyed his quiet groan as she mentally worked through her wardrobe and lingerie and underwear collection to see if there was anything she had on hand that she could surprise him with if he did, indeed, show up later that night.
It took him a moment but he chose to ignore the bait and instead raised his voice to call out to Noah. "See you later, Noah!"
"Later, Ed!" Noah exclaimed from the other room and they heard his running footsteps before he appeared around the corner and gave Ed a big hug. "Come back home, okay?"
Ed froze and looked up at Noah with a look of surprise and affection. Like mother, like son. Liv stood there, staring at Ed, with tears forming in her eyes and raised a hand to her mouth. She never mentioned anything to Noah about getting Ed back, so he had no way of knowing he had just repeated her words from yesterday.
Noah moved out of the man's embrace and looked up at both adults, wondering why neither of them were saying anything.
Liv stepped forward placed her hands on her son's shoulders and bent down to be eye-to-eye with him and gave him a smile. "Ed's going to come back home to us, I promise."
Ed looked at the both of them and he knew he was going to come back that night, regardless of what his family wanted or said. He was going to come back home to his little family.
"Yep," Ed replied and nodded at the boy. He ruffled Noah's hair and leaned over as Liv stood back up and gave her a quick kiss. "See you," he whispered to her.
He walked out the door and Olivia closed it behind him and secured it.
"Mom?"
"What is it, Noah?"
"Wanna race cars?" he asked, looking up at her excitedly.
She put a big smile on her face. "You betcha!"
They moved into the living room and toward the race track and Noah showed her how to set up the cars in the battery-powered launcher with two launch buttons and, showing her the way Ed did, how to launch at the same time.
The first few tries, Liv's car either skidded off the orange track or fell and didn't make it through the loop. A couple times, Noah's car fell or got knocked off the track by Liv's, but after a bit of playing and Noah's desperate attempts to help his mom out, finally her car made it through the track and the mother and son spent nearly an hour racing the cars to count how many successful runs they could each get. In the end, Noah managed to beat his mom by three runs.
She hoped future Christmases were like this one, or better, and with more family – Ed's and her own – but this Christmas was now her absolute favorite. She had everything she wanted; she had the best five-year-old son in the whole world and an amazing fiancé who loved her and her kid.
She had a perfect family Christmas.