125.

Olivia entered the hotel room and greeted Ed with a relieved hug. She'd done her duty by seeing Joannie and wanted nothing more than to be in her husband's arms and enjoy a few hours of sand, sun, and surf with him. The news was still on and she raised her eyebrows. "I heard on the way there that there were cases in New York, all over now," she said sounding mildly concerned, "Anything new?"

"Just that scientists are predictin' the worst. Apparently it's exploded in Italy, Iran...and you can be without symptoms for a long time, or never, and still pass it on."

Olivia glanced warily around the hotel room and zeroed in on the remote control which she had read harbored the most germs and were rarely cleaned. "Do you think we should get some wipes?"

"Already done," Ed replied with a proud smirk. "Cleaned the whole place."

Olivia put her hands on his chest and kissed him on the lips, "You are the best, Ed Tucker." They kissed more, but Olivia reluctantly nudged him away before things got too heated, "Do you mind if we hit the beach for a little while?"

"Of course not," Ed kissed her forehead, "Let's get down there. Not too crowded at all. Hungry?"

"A little. All I had was a scone."

"We can order somethin' down there."

"They do that?"

"Yep. You booked a full service resort, my dear."

"Well," Olivia emerged from the bathroom wearing a flowy lavender cover up over one of her many sleek black bathing suits, "Lucky us."

Ed licked his lips and eyed her with desirous eyes. "Yeah. Lucky us."

…

Sleepless nights were common in the life of Olivia Benson, but, on this particular night, she couldn't pinpoint the cause of her restlessness. Work was always stressful, but there wasn't one particular case or victim nagging at her. For once, Noah had enjoyed a stretch without an ER visit or even a minor illness, and Olivia hoped her pediatrician's prediction that he'd grow out of his lung issues was coming true. Nevertheless, sleep was elusive.

She got out of bed and went to make tea. As she waited for the water to boil she leaned against the edge of the countertop and smiled. Yesterday, Ed had come over for dinner. He brought Chinese food, wine, and cupcakes. It was a quiet, simple night, but full of laughter and bonding. After Noah went to bed, Ed and Olivia cleaned up the kitchen, intentionally bumped into one another, and ended up in a fierce makeout session right across from where Olivia was standing. Their clothes were unbuttoned and unzipped and very nearly off when Ed suggested they move to the bedroom. More familiar with one another now, they took more risks during lovemaking, and it added a new, exciting element to their sex life.

Olivia laughed softly. She had a sex life. She had this burgeoning, very mature, relationship in the palm of her hands, and it dawned on her why she couldn't sleep. She wanted Ed. Acting completely out of character, she dashed back to her room and grabbed her phone. It was late, but not too late, and she gave herself a fifty-fifty shot that Ed would answer. He did. On the second ring.

"Hey Liv," he said, sounding like he thought she was calling because of an emergency.

In a way, she was. "Hi," she said in a hushed voice. Her mind was racing with thoughts but she struggled for words.

"Somethin' the matter?"

"No, no," Olivia dunked the tea bag in and out of the mug, "I couldn't sleep. I...I guess I was missing you." She could practically feel his smirk coming through the phone. Ed was prone to teasing her; surely he understood the true purpose of her call.

"Want me to come over? Bring you some tea?"

Olivia immediately dumped the contents of her mug into the sink and tossed the soaked bag in the trash. Doing her best to sound casual, she asked, "Would you mind?"

"Not at all. Be there soon."

….

The sun wasn't brutally beating down on beachgoers, so Ed and Olivia kept the umbrella provided to them tied up at first. The loungers were placed too far apart for Ed's liking, so he moved his closer to his wife's and tested the distance by leaning over for a kiss. She grinned and asked, before he got too comfortable, if he would rub sunscreen on her back. He eagerly agreed, took his time, and, at the end of the process, made sure to punctuate it with a few kisses to the back of her neck. He brushed sand from his feet and reclined on the chaise. Folding his hands behind his head, he casually asked how the morning had been.

"Hard at first," Olivia replied, "But then, we spent most of the time looking at pictures of the kids."

"Our kids?"

Olivia chucked, "Who else's?"

"That was probably good for her. To have a diversion?"

"I think so, it's, God, Ed, death is hard enough without having all the unanswered questions. She's going to need a lot of diversions. I'm glad she has such a strong support system here. A lot of family and friends. But it still doesn't explain...the why."

Ed looked at Olivia, reached over, and gave her hand a squeeze. Like Mrs. Cassidy, Olivia needed a why, but it was an answer they'd never receive. "Never easy, but, uh, there's some peace of mind in knowing," he was referring to the men and women he knew who had taken their lives. There had been too many, mostly after the 2001 terrorist attacks, but each person Ed knew who had taken his or her life had been suffering. "His mother give you any insight?"

"Not really. She mentioned the word heartbreak a lot. Brian was always someone who, well, I suppose he was restless. Joannie told me he never really found what he wanted, he was never comfortable, and I think that's spot on. Described him to a T. But it still doesn't explain...this."

Ed sat up, spun around, and perched himself on the edge of the chair. "What do you think happened?"

Olivia shook her head. "I think, like so many people, he was fighting demons he couldn't slay and didn't know how or couldn't bring himself to get help." She took her sunglasses off and Ed did the same. "We didn't know everything about each other. There was always something holding me back from opening up to him, and, as it turns out, the reverse was probably true. The odd thing is, Ed, I never believed there was more to Brian than what he showed me. I don't know if that's his fault or mine."

Waves crashed and seagulls squawked. A minute or so passed.

"You want me to take a stab at answering that?" Ed asked.

"I do."

"It's nobody's fault," Ed stated firmly, "It's that it wasn't meant to be. And I'm not sayin' that because we are." He smiled when he saw a tiny smile form on Olivia's face, "Those nights we stayed up talking, just rambling on about everything, those nights were so easy for me Liv, I mean, the content was hard but actually letting go and letting you hear some of those things, it wasn't hard."

"It was for me," Olivia said, "At first. But I'd never talked about it with anyone, not like that, not with someone I trusted with all my heart and soul."

Ed sat next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. He kissed her cheeks and then her lips. "There's the difference," he whispered.

"And it was easy after I...let myself trust you."

"You know everything's safe with me, Liv."

"I know," she stared into his eyes. "And it's one of the reasons I fell in love with you. Why I love you so much. You know it all, but you...it's all so normal, between us, as if, there was never any of that awfulness at all."

"Because you're more than the worst things you've been through."

"We both are."

…..

When Olivia and Maggie saw the men of the house return with their arms full of shopping and takeout bags, they giggled and ran over to help. Maggie admonished her father and brothers for "takin' forever" and Olivia laughed even harder when she saw the food from the pub.

"Oh my...mozzarella sticks...calamari, chicken wings…"

"And chicken tenders!" Wyatt proudly exclaimed. "And barbeque and honey mustard! They gave us extra!"

"Cause we're regulars," Noah added.

Ed handed Olivia a bag from CVS and held up a small paper bag, "Slime products," he said, "And the last bottle of Christmas spiced bourbon in the store."

"Mommy and Daddy got a special drink so we did too!"

Wyatt ran into the kitchen with the bag and Maggie and Noah followed. Olivia grinned at Ed. While the kids unloaded and unwrapped their ice night treats, Olivia and Ed snuck a few kisses in the semi-privacy of the foyer.

"Special drink, huh?"

"You know those kids are gonna be out like lights after all this junk and stayin' up late."

"You are so right Ed Tucker." Olivia slipped her arm around Ed's waist and they walked into the main room of the apartment, stopped in their tracks, and watched the kids set the table. The Tucker family almost always ate their meals at the table or, if they were separated or in a hurry, at the island. Rarely did they eat in front of the television, yet both Ed and Olivia assumed they would. Maggie, Wyatt, and Noah, almost robotically, fell into the regular routine, even if they were serving themselves from take-out containers and bags of chips.

Ed pressed his face to the side of Olivia's head and whispered, "We did good, Liv."

"Yeah we did."

Maggie deposited a handful of silverware in the middle of the table and spun around on her heel to face her parents, "Whatcha drinkin?"

The question was posed innocently, for Maggie knew she and her brothers had their favorite sodas to drink and the parents never, ever drank the kind of liquor Ed purchased while they were eating. With dinner, they usually had water and, at times, wine. But both Ed and Olivia found the question hilarious and they cracked up to Maggie's bewilderment.

She crinkled her nose and put her hands on her hips. "Why you laughin?"

Ed picked her up, kissed her forehead, and put her down again. Maggie slapped the hair from her face. "We think you're funny," he said. "That's why we had you. We always knew you'd be funny and we needed some entertainment."

Maggie was all business. "You wanna special drink or not?"

"We'll have a beer," Olivia said. "I'll get it." She saw Ed's raised eyebrows and explained, "Pub food."

Family dinners were always loud. The Tucker kids had been raised to talk about their days and describe events using vivid descriptions. Olivia and Ed had made a habit of discouraging vague language and the use of "they" or "them" when actual names could be given. As a result, the kids were adept conversationalists, they asked questions, and they challenged one another. The habits began as soon as the twins could string sentences together and Ed and Olivia loved to watch as their brood debated and discussed school-age-kid issues.

"What if there's ice on da whole city?" Wyatt asked, "How we gonna get into da buildings?"

"Gotta have an ax," Maggie said.

Noah laughed, "The ice doesn't get on doors and stuff like that," he said, "And even if it does we'll be at home and when we're out it'll be gone."

"What if da whole whole city got iced and we couldn't get out? Like we're all ice cubes?"

Wyatt was clearly having fun, but Olivia knew he could easily start taking his imagination seriously. She took her seat next to Wyatt and gave him a quick side hug. "We're not going to be ice cubes because we're keeping you three right here inside where it's warm."

"Yeah!" Maggie said. "And we can go out and save people with hot water! We'll save 'em all! Like superheroes!"

Ed thoughtfully chewed on a piece of chicken. "You three would be formidable superheroes," he said, "Think of a name."

Maggie giggled. "Can't be Powerpuff Girls."

"What's for-mid-a-ble mean?" Noah asked.

"It means something or someone is so powerful, so awesome, it's hard to stop them."

Wyatt twisted his lips, "If Daddy and Mommy are superheroes, too, we can be For-mid-a-ble Five!"

"I love that," Olivia said.

"Me too!" Maggie chimed in, "We should get shirts."

"No, we need capes," Wyatt said, "Or a whole uniform."

The kids boisterously debated how to best outfit themselves as superheroes and, by the time the table was cleared and they were munching on cookies, Noah had the large drawing pad on the floor and they were working on a logo. Noah, the stronger artist of the three, outlined the letters and Maggie and Wyatt supplied him from their ample stash of pens and markers. Ed and Olivia retreated to the sofa, sat together, and needed no other entertainment than the sound of their children's voices collaborating on their project.

….

Sarah rushed home, or, rather, to her temporary home and dropped her bags in the middle of the foyer. She said hurried hellos to the twins and Noah and plopped next to Justin on the couch. "Thank gawwwwd she's late. I've been trying to leave since three."

Even though Justin was accustomed to seeing his wife in her usual pantsuits, he never believed it was her preferred attire. His Sarah was the Sarah of weekend sweats and jeans and funky, flowy tops. He helped her shrug off the blazer and kissed her cheek. She smiled and kicked off her heels. "Thank you."

"No problem. And yeah, a politician late. Shocking."

"Noey! Can you grab your Sare Bear a bottle of water or something? I'm parched."

"Wanna kid drink or a 'dult drink?" Noah dutifully asked.

"Kid." Sarah was thirsty, but she also needed a few extra seconds of adult talk time. Under her breath, she said, "Brooke is still sick. We're probably going to have to keep Sofia. Sonny's trial is over tomorrow. Closing arguments in the morning. Do you think she has it?"

Noah approached with a glass of water with ice. "Here ya go, Sare Bear. I spilled a little but I wiped it up with da towel."

"Thanks Noey Boey," she gulped the water, put the glass down, and hugged him. "How was your day?"

"Scary!"

"Scary?"

"Uh huh! There's a birus out there!"

"Vuh," Sarah said, "Virus, but, how do you know about it?"

"Da principal sent a letter. Justy has it."

"It's on the island," Justin said. "Says they're making sure to deep clean every night...makes ya wonder what they do, uh, on a regular basis."

"No shit." Sarah playfully covered Noah's mouth, "Forget that. Anyway, we're going to watch the President and she's going to tell us what's up. She'll take care of us."

Yeah," Noah climbed into Sarah's lap, "I like her better den da other guy. She's nice and she smiles and she's a good person."

"Why do you think she's a good person?"

Noah scrunched up his face. "I jus' know."

Sarah leaned against Justin and cradled Noah. "Yeah, sometimes you just know."

…..

Ed showed up with the tea. Neither he nor Olivia acknowledged the pretext. She thanked him, put the paper cup on a side table, and gave him a kiss. Ed kicked off his sneakers. He wore jeans, a plain gray t-shirt, and a navy cargo jacket which he hung on the coat rack. When he turned around, Olivia was next to him.

"Hi there," she whispered tentatively. He played with a strand of hair and smirked. Olivia hugged him, smelled lingering hints of his aftershave, maybe a little bourbon, and the cool night air. "I'm really glad you're here."

Ed rubbed her back and tilted his neck so he could see her face. "Sure you're okay?" On the way over he figured she was summoning him for sex, but he didn't want to get caught assuming one thing and cause undue awkwardness or tension. However, she didn't seem very willing to surrender any distance between them.

"I'm good," Olivia replied, "Seriously. I couldn't sleep, and after going through all the reasons why, I finally settled on you."

"I dunno if that's a compliment?"

"Oh it is," Olivia cocked an eyebrow and grabbed his wrist. "I missed you." She walked him to the bedroom and closed the door. Recently, Ed had started spending the night and ducking out early, before Noah woke up. Sleeping alone had never bothered Olivia, but Ed's absence was powerful and rolling over in the middle of the night to wrap her arms around his sturdy body was a comfort she craved.

"Only been a day, Benson," Ed teased. He started kissing her face and neck. "Only a day."

His breath tickled her skin and sent pleasant chills up and down her spine. She gasped. "It seems like more than that."

"I know," Ed was still kissing her slowly and deliberately. "I miss you too. I think about you all the time, Liv." He bit her earlobe. She gasped and pawed at his hips. "I'm so happy you called."

"I needed you here." Olivia nudged him toward the bed and the fell on top of the mattress.

Before kissing her on the mouth, Ed smoothed her hair and whispered, "All you gotta do his call. And I'll be here."

….

Olivia traded her empty cup for a fresh margarita, thanked the server, and peered over at Ed. "Is she on yet?"

"About to be."

"I should've brought my phone." In the bustle of travel and meeting Cassidy's mother, Olivia had forgotten to charge her phone and it was dead seconds after she returned to the hotel. Knowing they were safe with Ed's phone and not going far, she left hers on the charger in the room.

"She's comin' on now," Ed reported, "Come over here."

"Is there room for me?"

"Olivia Margaret, there's always room for you." Ed didn't move much, but there was space for Olivia to slide in next to him. He put one arm around her and held the phone with the other. "Alright, Kamala, crisis number one. Let's go."

The newly sworn in President took the podium. She was graceful and poised; serious yet reassuring. She thanked the press and the American public for being patient with her tardiness. She had wanted to make sure she had accurate, timely information before speaking to her constituents.

"Three months ago, a virus no one had seen before was reported to have infected dozens of people in China. It spread throughout Asia, Europe, and Australia, and is now affecting people on our shores. From what I have learned from our nation's top doctors, epidemiologists, and infectious disease specialists, I am extremely concerned. But, just as I was a joyful warrior prior to assuming this office, I am now an optimistic President and a resolute commander-in-chief. I am confident we have the knowledge, the resources, the systems, and the personnel to minimize the impact of the coronavirus on Americans and our neighbors."

Olivia's entire body relaxed, "I love her," she murmured.

"Me too." Ed replied.

President Harris ticked off a list of measures the federal government would take and followed it with firm directives to governors. "Now is not the time for political pandering or posturing," she warned, "No matter what your party affiliation, failure to act, failure to follow the directives of our experts will result in the loss of life."

Ed groaned. He hated politics. Olivia settled in further and patted his arm.

"I am immediately asking all federal offices to begin reducing staff to essential personnel only and to transition employees to telework status. There will be no effect on pay, sick or vacation leave, or any other benefits. I strongly encourage governors to embark on the same mission."

"Oh my God…"

Harris continued, "I am also calling for all nonessential air, train, and interstate bus travel to halt within the next seventy-two hours. Do not panic," she stared into the camera, "If you are away now, you will be able to get back home, but any newly originating trips are indefinitely postponed. Since it is abundantly clear that close contact causes the spread of this virus and it is most likely carried and passed on by people with no symptoms, I am directing governors, mayors, and other localities to limit bar, restaurant, and cafe services to drive through or delivery only. Additionally, I am asking that governors and state Secretaries of Education immediately prepare local school districts to transition to distance learning. This includes making preparations for providing food service, technology support, and other student services as required by law. Do not use lack of funding as an excuse. The federal government will ensure state coffers are not unnecessarily burdened. "

Ed smirked. "She means business."

"She sure does. And thank God we'll be able to get home."

"We'd get there no matter what," Ed kissed her on the head, "Drive if we had to."

President Harris pressed her lips into a straight line before continuing, "The only way," she began again, slowly, "for us to ensure a swift end to this pandemic is to collectively decide we will sacrifice a few weeks of abnormal life rather than a few months or longer. The CDC will publish more guidance on these efforts in the next few hours, and I ask that state officials and citizens regard the recommendations as having the full force of law. Finally, I will be signing an executive order after I speak here today requiring all employers, whether they employ two people or two hundred thousand, to provide paid sick leave to their employees. This order will come on the heels of an emergency spending bill ensuring this additional financial commitment will not result in the closure of small or medium-sized business."

"Ed, this is...getting a little scary-"

"It'll be okay, Liv. She's got this."

President Harris gripped the podium. It was clear she was about to make her most poignant, personal plea, "Again. Like most Americans, I have not encountered a crisis as serious as this. However, I ask that you, like I have, rely on the experts, the science, and heed all directives and procedures put forth by local and state officials. There is no need to panic. I have been assured that our grocery store and supermarket supply chains are fully stocked and operable. Please do not make a run on your local stores and clean them out of products. Do your normal shopping, but do so while keeping your distance, helping your neighbors who may be in need and unable to get out. Be a good citizen. Yes, we love our lifestyle as Americans, but trust me when I say, it'll be painful and inconvenient for a bit, but very, very less painful and inconvenient if we all do our part now. You are all in my thoughts and prayers and I care for all of you with all of my heart. As you make preparations in the coming days, know that I and the rest of our nation's leaders are acting in the very best interest of you and your families…"

Olivia sat up. "I need to see if we can change that flight to tomorrow after the funeral. We need to get home sooner rather than later."

"I'll call," Ed opened the Delta app. "Then we'll call the kids. Glad we stocked up before we left."

"Yes," Olivia said, "Do you think people will listen to the President and not run to stores and stockpile?"

Ed grunted, "No. So maybe I'll ask Sarah to grab us a few things." An employee picked up the phone, "Oh, hi, um, my wife and I…"

Olivia listened as Ed successfully changed their flight. Even though the President sounded confident and hopeful, there was no doubt that the nation was in the throes of crisis. But Ed's calm demeanor soothed her. All of a sudden, the Gary Wald case and Brian's death seemed less daunting. No matter what, Olivia had Ed, she had her children, and she wholeheartedly believed they would emerge on the other side of all of this stronger and more in love than ever.

….

#Tuckson