117. Well, this week's #Tuckson melancholy stems from thinking about Tucker walking away from OMB and Noah and resisting the urge to go back. How devastating it must have been for him to decide to give up and move on to the next best thing even though it's not what he really wanted. Ugh, Dick Wolf, you suck.

…..

Noah wasn't cooperating. In his defense, he didn't know he was supposed to be cooperating. After his bath, he said goodnight to Maggie and Wyatt and chose to play on the iPad rather than sit in on the twins' story time. When it was time for his own books, Olivia wedged herself in bed next to him and grabbed the Irish folktale book only to have Noah crinkle his nose, shake his head, and request a different title.

"Are you sure?" Olivia asked, making quick eye contact with Ed who was lingering in the doorway.

"Yep."

"Maybe just one?"

Brow furrowed, Noah looked up at his mother. He wasn't used to her having any say whatsoever in the books he chose. The only struggle he ever ran into with her was negotiating a third or fourth story on some nights. Seeing the determination in her eyes, Noah relented. "Arright. One Irish story then another one and another one."

"Deal. Here," Olivia handed him the heavy tome, "Open it up to the table of contents. There's one I really want to read tonight but I can't remember the name."

Twisting his lips and bobbing his head back and forth, Noah cheerfully replied, "Kay," and opened the book. It was large, almost as big as his torso. He rested it on his chest and carefully opened the cover. Out fell a folded piece of paper. He crinkled his nose. "What's dis?"

"Open it, bud," Ed slowly tiptoed into the room. He didn't want to miss the big reveal.

Noah looked up and then back at the paper. He unfolded it and squinted at the words. "Dat's my name…" he scanned another line and finally realized what he was looking at. His jaw dropped and he gasped. "Ire-LAND? I'm goin' dere on Del-ta?"

"You sure are, bud. With me, Mommy, and Grandma."

"T'morrow?"

Olivia smiled and kissed Noah on the head, "No sweetie. On your next school vacation. Spring break."

"S'spring today!"

"The weather was like spring, but it's still January," Olivia gently explained. "We're going in April."

"How many days is that?"

"About sixty," Olivia replied. She felt bad. To a little kid, sixty days must have sounded like an eternity.

Unfazed, Noah stared at the printed flight confirmation and laid back on his pillows. "I'm goin' to Ireland," he murmured before sitting up straight again, "I gotta call Grandma! And we gotta start packing blue and green 'cause dat's what da Irish wear and, and…" Noah couldn't find words to express his excitement. He bounced on his knees, clutched the flight confirmation, and hummed one of the tunes Caroline had taught him. "Does Gramma know I'm goin?"

"She does, pal. It was her idea. She wants to show you where she was born. Where our family's from."

Noah stopped bouncing and nodded solemnly. "Yeah, that's 'portant." He let himself fall onto Olivia's lap, "Thank you, Mommy and Daddy. I've wanted to go there my whole life."

Olivia couldn't help but laugh at the adorable remark. She kissed Noah's head. "I'm so happy we can take you, sweet boy. It's going to be so fun to see Ireland with you."

Noah looked up at her and asked, "You been dere b'fore?"

"Nope," Olivia said, making quick eye contact with Ed and winking at him. "First time for me, too."

…

Sarah and G took advantage of the mild weather and camped out on Sarah's terrace with take-out food and a bottle of wine. They were dressed in bulky sweaters and jeans, and Sarah dragged out a small space heater to combat the mid-forties temperatures. "Anything we can do to get some fresh air," she reasoned, "And it's a gorgeous night. I wish desperately for spring."

G nodded wholeheartedly, "I do too. For the weather and all of my work stuff will calm down," she said. "This is the busiest time of year for me. I have the auction at Noah's school and then a few public school fundraisers going on. It's almost getting to be too much."

"You don't have help?" Sarah asked. She refilled G's glass without asking if she wanted more, her way of offering assistance.

"I do, but, you know, well, I don't know if you know, but I have trouble trusting people to do their jobs, so I end up either doing everything or double and triple checking so much it's similar to doing everything.

Sarah folded her legs underneath her body, leaning forward so far G almost reached out to catch her. The messy bun on top of her head flopped back and forth when she regained her balance and she took a long drink before replying. "You know...I don't think I totally get what you're saying. I mean, I do, in a way, but, when I first graduated and got a job? It was cutthroat. We were supposed to go out and solicit projects, then develop the team, and we kind of had to be a team to make it work. It was do or die. And now? Well, I'm in charge of those teams...those kids," Sarah laughed, "I don't feel old at all but I sure sound like it."

Slightly jealous, G asked, "So...who do you report to?"

"Our CFO," Sarah replied. She sensed what G was really asking because Brooke often posed similar questions. "So, right now, I'm overseeing teams who are working with mid-level companies all around the world. They're trying to break into the market, trying to figure out cracks...a way to sort of, well, I call it cheating but it's not cheating, predict what the next major tech trend, or whatever trend will be, and then we go after it."

"Sounds exciting."

"It is. Like...we guided Uber through its IPO process," Sarah breathed deeply and stared up at the bluish-black sky, "That was what got me where I was. My work on that. The international part of it...have I ever told you I'm exceptional at languages?"

"I know you speak Spanish."

Sarah grinned. "I do, and I have no idea why. I just pick up on languages. I never really tried. Oh, I suck at grammar, but I can understand and somehow, I don't know-my sister and my Dad hate me for it," she giggled a little, "I am the kid who never did a damn thing in school and always aced the tests. Like, it literally drove my Dad crazy."

G was quite sure Ed Tucker was not crazy, but she didn't call Sarah out on her misuse of literally. Also, she noticed Sarah dropped the professional veil when the focus shifted to her apparent giftedness. "Yeah, that would be irritating."

"I think Noey's going to be like that," Sarah said, "But, well, he likes to study things. He's actually going to be smarter than I am. He's naturally smart but he loves to know things. I didn't give a fuck. I just picked things up."

Now G really felt the burn of envy, but she was happy to talk about Noah rather than her job or anything mildly personal. "He's such a neat kid," she said, "I'm sorry you couldn't pick him up the other day, but I had a great afternoon. Especially after a crappy day at work."

"That's the best," Sarah gushed, "Going to get Noey and letting him...gawwwd, just getting him from school. He's always so happy and happy to see me and of course I buy him all kinds of shit and we go to dinner but he, uh, it's-"

"-he loves to spend time with you."

"Yes." Sarah stared at G with wide eyes, "You get it!"

"I know." G let her guard down. "And, yes, it was so great when he ran to me-the clerk got him out of class early-and he was so happy and didn't want to go home right away." G told Sarah all about calling Olivia and Ed and going to Dos Toros with Noah. "And then the twins were so happy to see me when I took him home. It was, just," G paused because she felt herself choking up, "So nice."

"Yeah…"

"I couldn't believe Ed and Olivia let me take him though, I-"

"-you've babysat them zillions of times."

"But to pick up Noah from school and then, kind of," G flapped her hand in the air, "Say go ahead and take my kid to dinner?"

Sarah started giggling. "You do realize they use that time to, uh, well…I'm pretty sure those days they make Maggs and Wyatt stay up so they nap a long time…" The twinkle in Sarah's eyes was unmistakable. She paused until she coaxed an embarrassed grin out of her friend and neighbor. "They were, uh, in PJs weren't they?"

"Not exactly."

"But they'd been doing it for sure."

G reddened.

Sarah shrugged and giggled more. "Gawwwd. Ugh." She looked at G pleadingly. "I know I'm so weird when it comes to them. You can say it. Think it. Brooke does, everyone does, but I am infatuated with my Dad and Livvie. I don't know why, well, yes I do, it's because they're both people who held back for so long, like, their whole lives, and they finally met their soul mates and...look what happens? It's the best love story."

"You believe in soul mates?"

"I do," Sarah said firmly. "But I don't believe in the instant connection thing. I think it takes time to realize it. But you have to admit, when you see my Dad and Olivia together, they, there's something special there. They don't have to do anything but be in the same room and you can feel it. It's...gawwwd, it's, well, I don't know what I'm trying to say, but it's optimistic."

"Optimistic?"

"Yeah. If my grumpy Dad and Livvie, with all her stuff, got together and fell in love and are, like the best couple on the face of the Earth? That's fucking optimistic."

G wasn't about to disagree, but she did ask, "Do you ever compare you and Justin to them?"

"No way."

It was not an answer G expected. "No way?"

Sarah shook her head and split the rest of the wine between their glasses. "That would be unfair. And," she leaned closer to G, "Between the two of us, this is Brooke's problem. Liv and my Dad are unique in too many ways. We can't compare ourselves to them. But Brooke does. That's her problem. I may be obsessed, fascinated, but I don't kid myself. Justin and I will have our own story, and it's not going to be anywhere near my Dad's. Brooke thinks I want to be them. But I don't. We can't."

"Maybe Brooke has trouble being happy for other people."

Raising a finger in acknowledgement, Sarah replied, "Very good point. That's hard. Especially when you're not happy."

"Brooke's not happy?"

"She," Sarah winced, "She has high expectations for herself that she's never been able to live up to. She wanted to be the next great inner city white teacher but she got tired. She wanted to redeem herself and go help kids in Brooklyn read but she also wanted to be a mom. Now she feels like shit because she's taking the trust money but...it's really what she needs to do."

"The trust money?"

"Yes. Our mom left it."

"I hope Brooke finds what she's looking for."

Sarah groaned, "Brooke's worst problem-she always compares herself to other people. And I've never been able to cure her of that."

"How did you do it?"

Sarah screwed up her face and appeared genuinely baffled. "You know. It's innate. I've just always done my own thing, now, I've fucked up a lot doing my own thing-"

G laughed politely.

"Look," Sarah said, "I've had an easy life. Not without its shit. But an easy life. And it's because I seize the good things and forget about the bad. Brooke can't do that. She weighs everything. Which is why she carries around our mom's death and I don't. I let it go and chose to focus on my Dad and Livvie and Noey and then the twins."

"How have you dealt with your Mom's death?"

Sarah stood up. "I think we'll need another bottle for that."

…

Barba kissed Olivia on the forehead and left her alone in front of the courthouse. She blinked back tears and took a few steadying breaths. As soon as Barba admitted to ending baby Drew's life, she reckoned with the fact their professional relationship would never be the same, but she didn't think she'd also lose him as a friend. The wind whipped the flaps of her trench in the air and she shivered.

"Helluva birthday," she muttered to herself. Caught up in the whirlwind of the case against Barba, she had almost forgotten about it. Barba certainly had. One person, however, did not. Right around the time the jury announced its verdict, Ed Tucker sent a text message complete with balloon and gift emojis.

Coffee later? He'd asked.

To hell with coffee, Olivia thought. It was early, but she wasn't going back to the office. Dejected, demoralized, and sad, she stood in the middle of the sidewalk and considered her options. Go home and wallow? Pick up Noah early and take him to do something fun? Or should she call Ed and set up some type of, er, date? Time with Noah had been limited lately, but she was in such a terrible mood she decided he might be better off at day care with his friends and perpetually-cheerful teachers. Besides, if she and Ed could embark on the path of reconciliation, Noah would also benefit.

Ed chose a symbolic place-the pub where they'd shared one of their first non-work-related drinks and, afterwards, one of their first non-chaste kisses. Olivia tried not to read much into his choice, it was, after all, close to his office, but when she saw him hunched at the far corner of the bar cradling a neat bourbon, her entire demeanor thawed. She momentarily forgot about Barba, about the sharp criticism Ed had leveled at her, about the redhead...and strode toward him reminding herself that they weren't together and a kiss and hug hello was out of the question. A second bourbon was waiting for her next to a glass of ice cubes. Ed hadn't wanted them to melt in the liquor before she arrived.

He greeted her with a smirk. His eyes twinkled as he wished her happy birthday in his deepest, sexiest voice. Sliding the bourbon and ice toward her with one hand, he extended the other, "Let me get your coat."

Olivia shrugged off the trench and passed it to him. She dumped two ice cubes into the bourbon and raised her glass, "Cheers."

"Cheers," he said. Though he took a long drink, he did not take his eyes off of her. "You okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"I heard about Barba...good for him, but gonna be no way he goes back to the DA's office now. And word on the street is that Stone's here for good. Young punk…"

Letting the disparaging comment slide for now, Olivia instead focused on Barba's future. "He has options," she said, "But you're right, they don't involve anything close to what he's been doing. I, um, right before I called you he told me he was leaving, not just the DA's office, but the city, it's," she met his eyes, "It's been a rough day."

"Well, I've got nothin' to do. Want another one?"

"I'm not finished with this one. And I'm surprised you're the one pushing alcohol as the answer when-" Olivia winced. She was upset about Barba and letting herself get defensive for an entirely different reason. One of the only disagreements she and Ed had when they were together started from his concern over her drinking habits. "-Never mind," she said, "I...I have to get Noah in a little while. Lucy's off today."

"Then we'll behave."

"You don't have to be...somewhere?"

"Somewhere?"

"I don't know. Somewhere with...your girlfriend?"

Ed chuckled, "Patty?"

"We were never formally introduced, so I don't know. Is that her name?"

"It is, but she's not my girlfriend," Ed replied firmly, "She, uh, it didn't work out."

"You certainly didn't waste any time getting things started."

"Huh?" Ed appeared genuinely confused, "What are you talking about?"

"Rumor has it that you met her the night we broke up." Olivia's blood started to boil when Ed laughed even harder. "What?"

"That is absolutely not true."

"I feel like I'm in middle school," Olivia said, rolling her eyes, "So forgive me for sounding like it. Fin heard you met her after an officer involved...at the hospital the night…" she trailed off before she could finish the sentence.

"I met her a couple of weeks before the fundraiser," Tucker was still amused, "I don't wanna speak ill of Fin, but he must've heard wrong or...I don't know. He needs better informants. You send him out to get dirt on me?" Ed was teasing now and leaned forward on one elbow. He was inches away from gripping her thigh and getting back to the way they were a year ago. "Nice strategy. Nobody would ever think Fin would care about who's dating who in NYPD."

"You haven't lost your IAB touch."

"So you really did send him?"

"No," Olivia retorted sassily. Now that she knew Ed's girlfriend was out of the picture, her ego and confidence got a boost. "But did you meet her after a shooting?"

"Yeah, but only because she was the first one to talk to the vic who made the accusation. That's how I met her."

"And figured you'd try to heal a broken heart?"

Ed lifted his eyes to meet hers and replied softly, "Yeah."

Olivia reached for one of his hands. "Ed, I am so sorry. I wanted to call. I actually started to call a few times, but I...it got away from me, and then it seemed like too much time had passed. That it would be laughable to think you'd just come back…"

"...I would have. I will."

Slack-jawed, Olivia processed his words. Did he say what she thought he said?

"I will, Liv," he repeated, sensing her uncertainty. He inched closer so their knees touched. "I love you. I never, ever stopped loving you. I never will stop loving you-"

"-I'm hearing a but."

"-No buts, other than, an assurance," he held her hands and straightened his back. "When it gets hard again, and it will get hard again, we're not gonna shut the whole thing down. We're gonna get through it. Together."

Olivia's jaw trembled.

"No more bein' apart for us…"

Tears welled in her eyes. His gaze was intense and tenacious. It was strong enough to make her feel as if she were in his arms though he was merely holding her hands. But she longed to be back in his arms, for him to make love to her and then patiently let her lie against his chest and stare out into the night for as long as she wanted, until she fell asleep.

"I want all of it back, Ed," Olivia finally replied, "I want to finish the fairy tale...our story."

"I want that too."

They smiled at each other before spending the next minute so wrapped in a tight embrace. There were other issues, more challenges to iron out, but right now, Olivia felt weightless with relief. Ed Tucker had shown her what it was like to be loved unconditionally and with endless understanding and compassion, he was a true partner, and attentive lover, and though she had not devoted nearly enough time to their relationship, she didn't realize how much she loved and needed him until he was gone, until the morning and evening texts stopped, until she realized Noah, too, missed the man who had become a father figure.

Ed pressed three firm kisses to her lips. "What time do you have to get Noah?"

"Six-thirty at the latest."

"Then we have a couple hours…"

Olivia propelled herself off the stool and swiped her coat from the hook. "Let's not spend them here."

…

Strapped in his booster seat, Noah kicked his legs against the paper bags sitting below him. Wyatt was trying to participate in the game, but his feet couldn't quite reach. Ed steered the car across the Brooklyn Bridge and Noah explained to Wyatt that the bridge was built "a really long time ago" and a "rooster was da first person" to cross the bridge. Ed glanced at Noah through the rear-view mirror.

"How do you know that, bud?"

"Da fact book at school," Noah replied matter-of-factly.

"And a rooster crossed first?"

"Yep! It was in a lady's lap. She was in a carriage and da President was there."

"Why a rooster?"

"For good luck!"

"Oh."

"We shoulda brought Sonny a rooster," Noah said. "He had bad luck 'cause he had to go to the hospital and we had to take care of Sof so Brookey could take care of him. That was a lotta people!"

"Sure was, but, even though Sonny was sick, it was nice to have Sofia over. Don't you think?"

"Yeah." The bags at Noah's feet contained a get well package from the Tucker family as well as some items Sofia had left behind.

When they arrived at the Carisi apartment, Sofia ran to Noah and Wyatt and greeted them like long lost friends. It was shocking for her to see the boys there, and her reaction made Ed realize they didn't bring the kids together enough and, when they did, they almost always met in Manhattan. Though smiling and cheerful, Brooke was clearly tired. Her shoulders slumped, her skin was pale, and Ed thought she looked like she'd lost weight. Pangs of guilt stabbed him in the gut. Olivia constantly praised him for being a great father, but the accolades weren't fully deserved. He'd been neglecting Brooke.

"You gettin' enough sleep?" Ed quietly asked Brooke before Sonny entered the room.

"No," she replied, "Last night I slept on the couch. Too hot and he's breathing so heavily and I'm a light sleeper anyway."

"You need a vacation."

"We just had one," Brooke snapped, "And we brought back the flu."

"Want to get out? Go for a walk? We can stay a bit."

"Nah. I'm okay."

"Tucker!" Unlike his wife, Sonny's color was normal and he had his familiar jaunty air about him. He fist-bumped Noah and slapped hands with Wyatt on his way to shake Ed's hand. "Good to see ya!"

"Good to see you outta the hospital," Ed replied, "Feelin' better?"

"Very much. That was scary for sure. But. All good now. Back to work Monday."

"Already? You don't wanna think about taking another week?"

"I can't," Sonny replied, "I'm the new guy...I gotta be there."

Ed's eyes darted between Brooke and Sonny. The tension was palpable. "Why don't we take Sof Monday? I'll come get her in the morning. You can work. Brooke, you can get some rest. We don't need you wearin' yourself out and getting sick, too. Seriously. We don't mind."

Brooke agreed. "I can bring her, though. Car seat…"

"She's big enough to use Maggie's or Wyatt's." Ed was ready to say he'd transport Sofia by subway if need be so Brooke milk every second of her day off. However, she relented and, for the moment, Ed felt better. Seconds later, though, Wyatt's scream pierced the calm of the living room.

"Shit."

Wyatt was on his knees, crying, with blood gushing from a wound on his forehead.

…

The story of the Titanic fascinated the kids for different reasons. Noah agonized over hubris-how could people not consider the worst case scenarios? The thought of people waiting in the ship's lower decks for sure death tortured Wyatt. Maggie, who, in preparation for the visit and unbeknownst to her parents, watched the 1997 movie, believed Rose and Jack were based on real people and both admired and lamented their doomed love story. She meandered through the Titanic Museum in Cobh with a dreamy, slightly sad expression on her face. After the visit, she noticed the adjacent Titanic Bar and Grill and insisted they go there for lunch.

"Brrr," she said as she folded her arms across her chest and leaned into her mother, "It's cold here in Ireland!"

Olivia put an arm around Maggie and playfully dragged her along the path to the restaurant. It had been tough to pack lightly for the trip since they were visiting three very different temperature zones and now Maggie had an additional hoodie from the museum gift shop in her possession. "We can have some soup here," Olivia said, eyeing another customer's bowl of what looked like some sort of chowder. "That'll warm you up."

A cheerful hostess sat them at a booth overlooking the patio and the harbor in the distance. The kids jostled over the seats closest to the window. Noah relented and let Wyatt go in first. From the minute the twins started speaking in full sentences, it was common for Ed and Olivia to be left out of the trio's conversations. Before the food arrived, the kids imagined aloud their grandmother's initial embarkation to the United States from this very town.

"Do you think she was scared?" Wyatt asked.

"No," Noah said with all the confidence he could muster, "Not Grandma."

Ed glanced over his menu at Olivia. She'd put on her reading glasses and pretended not to realize he was covertly staring at her. She pursed her lips, murmured that the seafood was probably excellent there, and flipped to the drink list. "Feel like a beer?" She asked Ed.

"Are we sharing?"

"Are we really that old?"

"-You're not old, Mommy," Maggie chimed in.

"Thank you," Olivia said, "Then I'll have my own beer." Ed winked and she felt her face flush. Under the table, she kicked at his leg, trying and succeeding to elicit a smirk. "What looks good to eat other than the soup?" Nobody answered right away. Olivia's phone vibrated. Ed had snuck a text. You look good, he typed. Olivia looked up and mouthed, "You're staring."

Ed shrugged. Olivia was on to him and he didn't care one bit. Their London hotel room was small, hardly the junior suite described on the website, and they hadn't had a chance for any intimacy other than a few protracted goodnight kisses. In this small town, they'd opted for a two bedroom flat booked through AirBnB. The night before, Ed and Olivia made up for the nights in London and Ed was intent on continuing the trend.

"Dad, where was Grandma actually born?" Noah asked.

"In a house."

Maggie nearly choked on her soda. "In a HOUSE?"

"You almost were, too," Ed replied, "But we got Mom to the hospital in time."

"Not true," Olivia retorted.

"We had to be in a hospital because Wyatt couldn't breathe," Maggie said, directing her words to Ed and implying that she was disappointed he was so badly mistaken. Then, she started giggling, "You know what Brayden said?"

"Who's Brayden?" Noah asked.

"Brayden and Bethany, they're twins too, in our class." Maggie good-naturedly explained. She had more patience with Noah. "Brayden said twins means that the parents got an extra kid by mistake. So," she tapped her fingers on the table and laughed as she delivered the next question, "Who's the mistake?"

"Joke's on you," Ed replied, "We implanted you both."

"Ed!"

He regarded Olivia innocently.

"What?"

…

Waiting at home while the doctors stitched up Wyatt's cut in the emergency room was almost as bad as having to go home from the hospital while he was hooked up to breathing machines in the NICU. Ed reported Wyatt was brave and had hardly cried during the procedure. They were now waiting for the final discharge papers and Wyatt's prescription. Olivia listened. Five stitches. The injury occurred as the result of a game of chase, very similar to the circumstances that had resulted in Maggie's Gulf Coast split lip.

"Lemme talk to Mommy," Olivia heard Noah say. Sonny and Brooke offered to let Noah stay with them while Ed took Wyatt to the hospital, but Noah refused. He was not going to leave his brother's side.

Ed handed Noah the phone. "Hi Mommy! Wyatt has little threads in his head!"

"I heard, honey. And Daddy sent me a picture." In the photograph, Wyatt looked exhausted and dazed but normal save for the purplish line above his left eyebrow. "Is Wyatt doing okay?"

"Yep! I holded his hand when da doctor was putting da stitches in. He was a very good boy and he stayed still."

"You are such a good brother, Noah. I love you."

"Love you, and, know what else? There's BLOOD all over da car!"

"We'll clean it up."

"And a little in Wyatt's hair."

"We'll wash it."

"Doctor said to keep da cut dry."

Olivia smiled into the phone. She was sure Noah had listened intently to the medical staff's instructions and wouldn't let his parents slack on Wyatt's care. "We will, sweet boy. Can you put the phone up to Wyatt's ear for me?"

"Uh-huh."

"Hi sweet Wyatt," Olivia cooed. "It's Mommy. I love you honey. You'll be home soon."

"A'da'dotter, Mama," Wyatt slurred.

"Yes you are. And I'm proud of you for being so brave."

"I fah down! Hurt, Mama."

"Mommy's going to help you feel all better, okay? I'll see you when you get home. Bye, sweetie."

"Bye bye Mama."

Olivia was certain Wyatt shoved his fist into his mouth and was close to falling asleep. She said a few more words to Ed, hung up, and went back to her computer. She'd been crafting a letter to the Benson Center staff, explaining her decision to step back and serve primarily in an advisory role, but the words simply weren't coming out the way she wanted them to sound. She read what she'd written so far, opened a new blank document, and started from scratch.

"Maggs, how should I start?"

Maggie was sitting next to Olivia with her LED drawing pad and a bowl of veggie straws. She leaned over and peered at the laptop. "You daw dere," Maggie pointed to the screen.

"I have to type some words. See?" Olivia fired off a quick sentence, "This says I love Maggie."

Maggie scribbled some lines on her pad. "I love Mommy!"

Olivia smoothed Maggie's hair and kissed her head. "You are so precious, sweet girl."

Maggie continued to draw and made little bloopity-bloop songs as she worked. Olivia put the computer aside and quietly looked on. It wasn't difficult to scale back her role at the Center if it allowed her time for more moments like these. She read another text from Ed. He was on the way home with their sons, and soon they would be all together once again.

….

#Tuckson