Nine.

Ed stretched his legs and rested them on the coffee table, making sure his heels rested on a throw pillow rather than the recently-cleaned tabletop. He had one eye on a football game and the other on his phone.

"Liv, are you on Twitter?"

From the island where she was dicing fruit, Olivia screwed up her face and sassed, "Don't you think you would know if I was?"

"I dunno. Do we know everything about each other?"

"We know all the important things," she retorted, "And I've looked at Twitter before, mostly for case purposes, but I've never thought to create an account. I'd probably get too absorbed in the negativity…especially with the election coming up. Why are you even asking this?"

"Sarah sends me texts with tweets."

"Oh, she does that with me, too."

"See? I didn't know that."

"I've shown them to you before."

"You have?"

"Yes," Olivia said, "They're usually silly…from The Onion or some videos with babies and kids in them. And you don't remember. Proving my point. Not important."

"This one is important."

Ed held up his phone, but Olivia was too far away to read the words. She could make out what looked to be a modernist drawing of a couple making love.

"It says, 'if you don't laugh at least once during sex, you're having sex with the wrong person.' Don't you think that's important?" Ed asked with all the seriousness he could muster.

"Very much so."

"Do we laugh at least once?"

Pondering the question, Olivia scooped the seeds and pulp from the cantaloupe she'd sliced in half. "Laugh…well…not always, I mean, we—"

"—Lieutenant, are you nervous?"

She looked at him with a cocked eyebrow, "No. I don't think that meme is true."

"What's a meme?"

She jerked her chin in his direction. "That."

"Oh."

"So, as I was saying. Laughing isn't always…appropriate…for us. Like, two nights ago, after our date? Such a romantic evening…it wasn't really a laughing type of lovemaking."

Ed smirked and pursed his lips. "That's for sure. Wait," he made a clicking sound, "What about last night?"

"Last night we, um, slept."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Are you—"

"Ah! Shit!" The small paring knife Olivia was using caught on the melon rind, and when she tried to right its path, the blade pierced the pad of her thumb.

Ed darted to the kitchen, grabbed a towel, and pressed it to her bloody hand. The amount of blood belied the relatively minor cut, and Olivia used her other hand to separate the clean fruit from the piece that would have to be thrown away.

"Sweetie, it's only a little cut."

Ed squeezed the thumb and slowly peeled the towel away from the wound. "Still bleeding," he reported, "But it doesn't look too deep. C'mon. Let's put something on it." He led her to the hallway bathroom where the first aid supplies were located. She hissed at the sting of alcohol. He mumbled an apology, but continued with the triage. In seconds, the thumb was cleaned and bandaged.

"Thank you," she said sweetly. She kissed the tip of his nose then his lips.

He kept her close. "You're welcome. Still sting?"

"No."

They kissed again, more passionately this time. Ed angled his head and tangled his fingers in her hair but abruptly pulled away when they heard footsteps. The twins were napping, so they were undoubtedly Noah's.

He immediately noticed the bandage. "Whadja do, Mommy?"

"Cut myself, sweetie," she answered, "But Daddy fixed me up. I'm okay. Want to help me put the fruit salad together?"

"Sure!"

"What were ya doin' in your room, bud?"

"Was workin' on the c'puter then I put da subway back in da boxes."

"You did?"

"Yeah."

"Why, sweet boy?"

Noah giggled, "Kept steppin' on it! I crushed da C!"

Olivia and Ed laughed with him.

"Alright," Ed said, "How bout we get outta the bathroom?"

"Good idea, Daddy," Noah took Olivia's hand and kissed her thumb, "Dere ya go Mommy. All better."

Olivia bent down and kissed his head. "Thank you, sweet boy."

"Welcome."

After Olivia and Noah arranged the berries, melon, and grapes in layers and covered it with plastic, Ed suggested they play a game. Noah skipped to the closet where they were stored and spent several minutes making his choice. Ed and Olivia cleared space at the dining table.

"Care to make a friendly bet?" He asked mischievously.

"Sure."

"You're not gonna ask about the terms?"

Olivia patted his chest, "Either way, aren't they pretty much the same?"

"They are," Ed replied, "I love our competitions."

"I love you." She kissed his cheek then called to Noah. "Sweet boy, what are we playing?"

Noah joined them with Monopoly Junior in his hands. "Dis one!"

"Oh good," Ed said, taking his seat, "I'm great at this game. Get ready to give me all your money."

"We'll see…" Olivia murmured.

"Last time I was da winner," Noah said as he unpacked the box.

Ed and Olivia exchanged surreptitious, conspiratorial glances then grinned shamefully.

Are we really thinking of teaming up against our son?

"You know what I like best about this game, bud?"

"What, Daddy?"

"Playin it with you and Mommy."

Noah smiled and agreed. "Yeah," he said softly, "But what we gonna do when Maggs and Wyatt can play? Dere's only one more piece!"

"Maybe Daddy and I can be on a team then," Olivia suggested. "Since he's so good…he can help me out."

"Yeah," Noah said, "Or we do boys 'gainst girls."

"Or that."

"Kay, roll to see who goes first!"

The game commenced. Olivia paid attention but also found her mind wandering to the future. She anticipated spirited Tucker Family Game nights and other friendly competitions like beach volleyball and bowling. Maggie would probably take the games a little too seriously, and Noah would most likely be a stickler for rules. She pictured Wyatt remaining calm and, perhaps, trying to mediate disputes. She imagined the kids ganging up on the parents. Most of all, she looked forward to sharing the laughs, the togetherness, and the good-natured banter. The fact her kids were growing up with everything she never had brought a great deal of solace to Olivia Margaret Benson Tucker.

…..

Ed and Olivia meandered along the path, occasionally swinging Noah between them. It wasn't long before they passed a playground. Noah dug in his heels and insisted they stop so he could swing. Olivia looked at Ed apologetically. Minutes ago he'd suggested a walk, and now, a few minutes later, it was already time to stop.

"Do you mind?"

"Of course not," he replied, trying not to make her feel guilty about asking the question even though, in his opinion, it was wildly unnecessary. "Let's go."

Ed and Olivia removed their blazers and draped them over a nearby fencepost. They stood together, taking turns pushing Noah. The little boy grinned and threw his head back, enjoying the breeze.

Olivia gave Ed's fingers a squeeze. "Thank you."

"For stopping to swing?"

"Well, yes, but, Ed, I'm feeling really…" she trailed off and fixated on Noah for a few seconds, "…like I said, I've never been happier, it's only…it's almost confusing for me to feel this way, you know? I don't exactly know what to do."

Ed skipped a push, gently cupped her face, and kissed her. "You're doing fine," he said reassuringly, "And the fact you said what you just said is proof you do have some idea what to do. A few months ago, I don't think you woulda said that to me."

She cast him a grateful smile. "Probably not."

"You hungry?"

"Subject change?"

"Temporarily," he replied, "I skipped lunch thinking I'd leave early and got caught up and didn't leave 'til you called."

Olivia mentally replayed her day. "I didn't have lunch either. Carisi brought me something, and I think it's still sitting on my desk."

"After we swing, let's find a spot on a patio somewhere," he suggested.

Olivia pressed her lips together and only offered a slight nod.

"Liv?"

"I'm fine."

He grabbed her hand and kept Noah swinging with the other. "Hey…is bein' here bothering you?" Ed looked around. He was fairly sure this was a different playground than the one where Olivia and Noah encountered Ali, they were on the opposite side of the park, but memories of last week could easily be triggered. He saw tears once again welling in her eyes. "Liv?"

"I shouldn't have taken him with me," she mumbled.

"Hey," he said in a watered-down version of his IAB voice, "You got a call about an abandoned kid. Not even you," he chased down her gaze and looked her in the eyes, "Not. Even. You. Coulda known he was gonna pull a gun outta that bag."

She managed a weak smile. "Have you been talking to my shrink?"

Obviously perplexed, he stared back at her, brow furrowed.

"That's almost, word for word, what he said," Olivia swallowed hard, "After Mike…"

Ed wasn't sure what to say, so he kissed her cheek again and pulled her close. Even in the shade, the heat and humidity were stifling, but he didn't care.

"I hope he doesn't…remember," Olivia said, talking about Noah.

On the backswing, Ed craned his neck around so Noah could see him and the little boy squealed and giggled.

"Has he said anything? Acted anything out?"

"Not that I've seen," she said, "And Lucy hasn't said anything."

"Then he prolly remembers you protecting him."

There were no words to describe how much Olivia appreciated Ed's insight both at that moment and dozens of other times in the past year. "Maybe you're right," she said. "After all…when I…when I think about Dodds, that horrible, nightmare of a day, I always, right before I tell myself I need to stop, I remember you being there with me. The whole time. Even when things are fuzzy…I remember you."

"The last thing I was gonna do is have you go through that alone," he said, "And you're not going through this alone, either, or anything else. Unless, of course, you tell me to get outta here. Even then…" He was smirking now, hoping his little joke would ease her melancholy.

To his relief, she laughed. "Ed Tucker…"

He raised his eyebrows, held her at the hips, and asked playfully, "What?"

"Will you," she took a deep breath, "Take us to dinner?"

"Absolutely."

Noah's swing slowed. He put up a minor fuss, but was appeased when Olivia hoisted him in the air and flew him a little before putting him down. "Sweet boy, we're going to eat."

"Whatcha want for dinner, bud?"

"Fre'fries!"

"Should be easy to find. We could also throw a burger in there too." Ed saw Olivia put her hair up into a clip. "You wanna stop at home and change?"

"Do you have shorts there?"

"Yeah."

She glanced at his wingtips, "And shoes?"

"Yep."

"Okay, let's do that," she said, "And I'm going in a little later tomorrow. Stay tonight?"

He leaned in, over Noah, for a kiss, "Whatever you want."

….

On the way out of Noah's school, Sarah readied her umbrella. She muttered something about preferring snow to cold rain, nodded at the security attendants, and held Noah close as they walked outside so they were both covered as much as possible.

"Sare Bear, where we goin?"

"We're going to drop your bag then we're going to a museum. It's rainy and gross, so, let's learn."

They made the pit stop and, to Noah's disapproval, hopped on a downtown train rather than an uptown one. "Gotta go UP t'get to the dinosaurs!"

Sarah groaned. The only person in their family who could tolerate the Museum of Natural History was Sonny. She suspected Justin would be a good sport about it too, but science wasn't his favorite thing in the world, either. "Noey, there are about eight hundred museums in New York. We're going to a different one. Then we'll shop and eat."

"Kay."

On the way downtown, the train grew extremely crowded. At one point, the conductor announced the F was now running as an express and, a station before their stop, he came on again and declared it would now be running on the C line. Noah frowned and looked up at Sarah for clarification.

"Sometimes they do that, Noey. If a train's broken or something's wrong with the track."

Mind blown, Noah stared at the map. "But da F's orange and da C's blue! And they go diff'rent ways!"

"We're okay. We get off at the next stop, and it's stopping there for sure."

Noah twisted his body in every possible direction, "But what about dese other people?"

"They'll figure it out."

It ended up being a tough afternoon for Noah. In addition to being unable to comprehend how the trains could simply switch from one line to another, Sarah took him on the Irish Outsiders tour at the Tenement Museum. She figured he would like going into the old building and witnessing how people lived over a century prior, but she did not predict the tour would include heartbreaking details such as poisoned milk and the death of an infant. After all, when she called, the attendant assured her they welcomed children ages six and up. When she and Noah sat down for their usual early dinner, he inevitably rattled off questions and comments.

"Sare Bear, those people only had three rooms!" Noah held up his hand and ticked off the number of rooms in the Tucker home. "And, and, they hadta go outside for da bathroom! And da kitchen…didn't have a fridge'rator! So the baby couldn't have good milk and she died!"

Grinding her teeth and anticipating her father's harsh stare when he heard Noah repeat the tale of turn-of-the-century immigrant tragedy, Sarah reminded Noah of the happier parts of the story. Nevertheless, he fixated on other aspects.

"Sare Bear, why they couldn't have a 'partment like us?"

Sarah took a gulp of gin-and-tonic before answering. "Noey, because, well, a lot of people, when they came to this country, they were poor. They didn't have a lot of money. And, the bigger and better your apartment, well, it costs more. So you have to have a job that pays a lot of money if you want a nice place."

"Why those people didn't get a job for a lotta money?"

"Well, remember what the tour guide said?"

Noah twisted his lips and replied, "Yeah, she say people wouldn't give 'em jobs 'cause they were different."

"Right. That was very wrong. So, when they got jobs, they usually weren't paid very much and they didn't know how to do a whole lot at first because in Ireland most of them were farmers." Sarah grinned, "And, how many farms are in Manhattan?"

Noah returned her smile. "I don't think we have farms," he said slowly, "We have buildings."

"Right. So, those people took the jobs they could get and they had to sacrifice."

"What's that?"

"It means, you don't buy stuff you want because you have to pay rent and bills and buy things you need like food and clothes." She leaned forward, "Noey, we are lucky. You, Maggie, Wyatt, me, Brookey, Sofia, we're all really lucky because we don't really have to sacrifice. Your Mommy and Daddy have good jobs and can take care of you…and they even bought another house on the beach. Most people don't have what we have. So it's important we help other people when they need it, and we're nice, and kind, and generous to everyone."

"I am, Sare Bear."

"I know you are. That's my second favorite thing about you."

Noah giggled. "Second favorite?"

"Yep. My favorite thing about you is that you're so darn cute." Sarah reached over and tapped his nose. "But, good looks aren't everything, so make sure you study and learn as much as possible so, when you get older, you can make a lot of money and have a gigantic house and we can all live with you."

Noah laughed even harder. "Sare Bear! Everrone hasta have their own house!"

"What if you live in a castle? There's a lot of room in a castle."

"If we have a castle, dat means we're kings and queens so we need crowns."

"I'll tell you what, if you end up buying a castle, I'll getcha a crown. No problem."

"Thanks."

"You're very welcome. Now," Sarah took one of the cherries from his Shirley Temple and popped it into her mouth, "Are you still upset?"

"No, I jus' didn't want da baby to die."

"Well, the good news is that we don't really have the milk problem anymore. Well, at least not here."

"Where da problem?"

Sarah wanted to punch herself. She had successfully walked Noah out of the darkness only to shove him back in again. "In countries where all the people are poor and the government doesn't help."

"What countries?"

"On the continents of Africa, Asia, and South America. A lot of them, Noey. People don't have food or clean water or a place to live."

"Some people in Ma'hattan don't have a place to live," Noah protested, "We see 'em on da ground!"

"I know," Sarah groaned, "They all have different stories. Maybe, someday, after you fix the subway you can work to help those people."

Noah's eyes widened as he remembered the earlier train debacle. "How did da F jus' change to C?" He asked rhetorically then made a bloopity-bloop noise. "We get on da F and get on da C and we didn't even get out!"

"Magic," Sarah said.

Noah shrugged. "Yep. Magic."

…

An hour after he'd taken Noah to his room for bedtime, Ed joined Olivia in the living room. At her side on the couch was a pile of the kids' laundry which Ed had intended to fold. Piles of child-specific pants and shirts were stacked on the coffee table. Ed grabbed an armful of the freshly dried garments and pitched in.

"I don't know what possessed Sarah to take him to that museum," he muttered. "What's next? The Holocaust Museum? Nine-eleven?"

Olivia reminded him Sarah had apologized and had also called about Noah's age. "And, from what she told me, it sounded like they debriefed."

"Well, I don't want him to start givin' money to people on the streets."

"He asked about that?"

"Yep. I told him we don't know their stories, so it's best to help them in other ways like give to charities who know how to help them better."

"Oh boy."

"Then he asked if I had a bathroom in my house when I was a little boy."

Hearing this, Olivia burst into laughter. "Are you upset that he got a little dose of reality today or that he thinks you're…over a hundred years old?"

Ed's cheeks flushed with amusement. Olivia was giggling like a schoolgirl and there was a teasing glint in her eye. He inched closer to her. "Think you're funny, dontcha?"

"A little."

"Okay, Lieutenant," he kissed her cheek gently. His lips barely touched her skin, but she felt her shiver and he moved to her neck. "You are very, very funny. And extremely beautiful. Like, I'm pretty sure, the most beautiful woman in the world. And you were not supposed to be folding clothes."

Olivia dropped the shirt she had in her hand and threw her arms around his neck. "Ed. He's definitely not asleep yet. We don't need another whatcha doin."

Ed regarded her with his sassiest expression. "I'm kissing you sitting up on the couch." He moved to the other side of her face and continued slowly kissing every inch of exposed skin before stopping abruptly and pressing his forehead to hers. "Would you rather me kiss you laying down on the bed?"

"Yes."

Ed jumped to his feet but hovered over her and pecked at her lips. "Well, then. Let's go."

Olivia eyed the clothes.

He gently placed a finger on her cheek and redirected her gaze to his. "I'll get those tomorrow."

They ambled to the bedroom. Ed was practically draped over her back.

"Why is it you never let me do the laundry?" She asked.

"Because when I married you I promised you wouldn't have to do chores ever again."

"You did?"

"I think so."

"I really don't mind. At least…the kids' clothes…it…makes me happy."

"Fine," Ed said, his voice a little strained because he uttered the reply as they fell onto the mattress. "You do the clothes. I'll do everything else."

"Deal. Thank you."

"I told you before," he gave her a quick but deeply passionate kiss, "Whatever you want."

….

#Tuckson