151.

No matter how calm and serene the apartment was before their arrival, once the Tucker kids marched inside, the Vidal home instantly became hilariously raucous. Pearl yelped and jumped and her paws skidded on the floor when she brought a mouthful of toys to her young visitors. Maggie and Wyatt shouted "PUH!" at the top of their lungs and Noah attempted to call out commands only to have the yellow labrador puppy completely ignore him. He was a good sport about it though and did his best to incorporate Pearl into whatever he and his siblings decided to play which, on this afternoon, involved the Playmobil sets Sarah kept in the guest room closet. When Noah slid open the door, he noticed an additional plastic storage bin.

"Sare Bear! There's more stuff in here!"

"I know," she pranced into the room and pulled the new box out and onto the bed. "My Barbies!"

"Barbie?" Noah groaned.

Wyatt fixated on a two-door silver Corvette buried under mounds of doll outfits. "Cah!" He peered through the plastic and grinned when Sarah unearthed it and put it on the floor.

"That's Ken's hot rod," she said, "He picks up Barbie in that thing and they have a romantic date. Barbie loves convertibles."

"Good thing," Ed muttered, "That's all the Barbie world has."

Noah shrugged, "I guess da Barbies can come to da town."

While the kids merged the two toy genres, the adults gathered in the living room. Sarah, always eager to host an impromptu party, served sangria, chips, salsa, and two types of dip. She sat on one end of the couch next to Olivia and as they talked and laughed she, more than once, put her head on Olivia's shoulder. Wyatt occasionally drove the Corvette into the room, dumped its passengers at the door to the balcony, and rolled back into the guest bedroom. At the end of one trip, he paused and pointed down the foyer.

"G c'puter, Mama!"

"Oh!" Olivia exclaimed, "I totally forgot about that. Thank you, sweetie! Want to go with me to take it to her?"

"I dive, Mama."

Ed patted Olivia's knee and used it as leverage to jump to his feet. "I'll go with ya."

"Down one floor! Four-sixteen."

"Be right back," Olivia said, shouldering the bag.

Unlike Sarah's floor where it sounded like everyone was having guests over on the beautiful spring afternoon, the floor below was eerily silent. There were also a couple of lights out in the wall sconces. Ed tapped the bulbs to see if they were loose, but his efforts were to no avail.

Olivia knocked on the door and softly called, "Hey, G, it's Ed and Olivia." She couldn't tell for sure, but she thought she heard footsteps. However, everything stilled and no one opened the door.

Ed had his hand on her back, "We can leave the bag at Sarah's."

"Didn't you hear someone?"

"Can't tell," Ed replied.

"I hope she's okay."

"Liv, she's probably out," he said gently, careful not to discount his wife's thoughtfulness.

"Yeah," Olivia said reluctantly, "We'll remind Sarah to check back in later."

Ed kissed the side of her head and took the bag, "Let's get back upstairs to Barbies."

Olivia laughed, "Wyatt seems to want them out of the apartment."

"Maybe he's thinkin' they're going on vacation."

"Speaking of vacation," Olivia said, "Next week's Noah's spring break. We haven't even thought about any plans."

"Wow. That came up fast."

"We can brainstorm later," Ed said with a hint of naughtiness in his tone.

"It's a date." Olivia grinned, amused at how he could turn the most mundane sentences into flirtatious banter. She patted his back pockets and watched him smirk-it was the cocky, confident version he wore when he knew he'd struck an amorous chord. It wasn't yet mid-afternoon, but Olivia was already counting the minutes until the brainstorming session.

…

Sitting across from Alex separated by two glasses of wine both looked and felt familiar. The conversation flowed like they'd been keeping in regular touch since Alex left the city, but, in reality, it had been a couple of years since they'd last spoken over the phone. They were older women now with more wrinkles, aches, and gray hairs, a few of which had escaped most recent dye jobs, but their voices and laughter sounded the same as they had thirty years ago. Alex still spoke deliberately and chose her words carefully. Olivia listened hard, her head cocked to one side or the other, always ready to pick up on unspoken sentiments. Alex was still working on behalf of domestic violence victims, and she was understandably cagey about many specifics. Olivia understood and didn't pressure her to reveal more information that what she was comfortable with. In a way, she was relieved. It didn't take much for her to miss Special Victims work, even though she'd been away from the job for almost two decades.

"I'm excited to see Maggie," Alex said when the conversation shifted to more lighthearted topics.

"It's too bad you're not in the city for longer," Olivia replied, "Wyatt will be home next week. Their school breaks didn't exactly line up this year."

"No crazy trips to someplace like Panama City Beach?"

"Hah!" Olivia bellowed, "We got lucky in that sense. With Maggie so close to the ocean she's never terribly anxious for a beach getaway, although she loves the Delaware house. They all do. And Wyatt's never been much of a partier. He'd rather put a chair in the sand and read a book by himself. I guess I'm lucky...my kids like to come home and spend time with their parents."

"Very lucky," Alex said, "But I'm sure you and Ed have offered up some pretty amazing travel over the years. Unless Ed's social media is lying."

"Oh my God," Olivia replied, "You follow him?"

"Sure do," Alex said, "Have to keep tabs on my people."

"We've been-oh! There's my girl," Olivia stood up and smiled at Maggie as she made her way in. Two shopping bags dangled from both wrists. "Hi honey," she hugged Maggie as if she'd just stepped off the airplane after a semester-long absence.

"Hi. Sorry I'm late. I have no excuse," she quipped, "I'm simply irresponsible."

"No you're not," Olivia murmured.

Maggie shifted her bags and purse to her left hand and held out her right, "Hi," she said to Alex and flashed a smile full of straight, bright white teeth, "I'm Maggie."

"So nice to meet you," Alex said, "Have a seat. I'm sure your mom won't mind if I buy you a drink."

Maggie shot her mother a mischievous grin. She and Wyatt had been of legal drinking age for almost a year and their mother still wasn't used to the sight of the twins sipping a beer or a glass of wine. When the waiter came around she asked for one of the fancier concoctions from the menu and giggled when Olivia swiped the card to examine the ingredients. Surely she was most interested in the alcohol content.

"What'd you buy?" Olivia asked after she'd placed the card on the other side of the table.

"Presents for JJ," she replied, "And a few things for me! We still have real stores here. It seems like L.A. is full of chains. It's boring."

"You think you might move back to the east coast after you graduate?" Alex asked. She had a feeling Olivia would be grateful to her for asking the question. It was blatantly obvious how much her friend adored her spunky young daughter. It must have been agony for Olivia to be separated from her during the school year.

"I still have another year," Maggie admitted this with some reluctance, for, unlike Wyatt, she needed a couple of extra semesters to finish her Bachelor's Degree. Ed and Olivia weren't disappointed or upset, but as they made plans to celebrate Wyatt's graduation, Maggie was feeling slightly left out. "But I don't want to stay in L.A., that's for sure. Most of my friends are moving out of state, or doing a year abroad. It's so expensive to start out in California even though it's gorgeous, well, the coast is."

"I've never spent much time there," Alex said, "But I remember when I was in Monterey, that was a nice little town, and we were amazed at how different the food tasted."

"I noticed that too! And they use a lot less salt! But still," she added, "Not enough reason for me to stay."

All of this was making Olivia so giddy she almost started bouncing up and down in her chair. This time next year, they would be making plans to haul Maggie's belongings across the country to whichever eastern city she chose. Olivia didn't care where.

"What are you majoring in?" Alex asked.

Maggie giggled again, this time with self-deprecating sarcasm. "Well, I started in psychology then switched to marketing and now I'm in business administration because, well, I need to graduate at some point and I really don't know exactly what I want to do."

"Not many people your age do," Alex replied, hoping Maggie perceived the comment as wise instead of condescending. "You'll figure it out."

"I hope so…"

Olivia patted Maggie's hand, "You will. One step at a time. And I think you're going to love your job this summer."

"Oh yeah!"

As a teenager, Maggie worked at a few different amusement parks along the Delaware and Maryland shores. For the past two summers she drove a beverage cart at a country club-a job Ed initially balked at but he relented when Olivia insisted she would be able to handle and deflect any boorish behavior. The club's management team liked her so much, they invited her back as a special assistant to the director, a position that would allow her to use the tools she'd learned in her business courses. The job started in May, so Olivia and Ed were preparing to spend the bulk of the late spring and summer months at the Delaware house. The director even offered them a discounted membership, and Ed and Olivia were planning to get fitted for new golf clubs.

Maggie explained all of this in animated fashion. She waved her hands around and beamed at the prospect of doing everything from helping plan events to assisting with web design.

"What a fantastic opportunity!" Alex said. "See? This might change your life."

"Maybe," Maggie slurped some of her drink through a straw and frowned at the amount of ice in the glass, "At the very least, I get to use the pool and spa...I'll be relaxed and have a gorgeous tan!"

Alex smiled and studied Maggie's features. From photos she decided Wyatt favored Olivia more than his sister, but, in person, Maggie was very nearly a spitting image of her mother. Even though her face was narrower and her eyes blue, the cheekbones and jaw were certainly inherited from the Benson side. Maggie's expressions, mannerisms, and body language were also replicas of Olivia's. Alex guessed Maggie's naturally wavy, long brown locks were the envy of many of her peers.

"What does Wyatt do in the summer?" Alex asked.

"Swims and reads," Maggie said.

"He works at school during the year," Olivia explained, "So we give him the summers off."

"I can't believe he doesn't get bored out of his mind," Maggie remarked.

Alex grinned. "And Noah? What's he up to?"

"He's still in D.C.," Olivia said.

"On the Congressman's staff?"

"Yep. Fighting the good fight. He keeps saying he doesn't want elected office, but I'm not sure I believe him."

"I told him a long time ago he should be President," Maggie said.

"I don't know," Olivia replied, "He might be a little too kind and honest for that."

"Mom! You're so cynical! We need kindness and honesty!"

"We'll see," Olivia murmured, "But I don't think he has the stomach for it."

"Maybe he needs to man up and get the stomach for it."

Alex chuckled. It was too bad she had to leave so soon. She was very interested in witnessing the Tucker family dynamic. It seemed like all three kids had different yet strong personalities and she wondered how that played out when they were all together. "You know," she said, "I may be able to sneak away for some time in July. Does that club of yours allow guests?"

"I dunno," Maggie said, "But I'll check! It's not like super snobby, so I bet they do."

"Of course, only if you have room for me for a couple of nights."

Olivia lovingly rolled her eyes at her colleague and friend, "We always have room for you. Just say the word."

"You can take my room," Maggie said with a wink, "That way, when I come back too late, I don't have to walk up those creaky stairs."

…

When G heard the first knock at her door and also Ed's and Olivia's voices, she was certain they were there to call her out for snooping around in their room. They were both ex-cops. How could she have been so stupid? They probably had nanny cams set up, or, even more incriminating, a way to quickly check for fingerprints. The room was a mess, but they could probably sense when a stray t-shirt or pair of shorts was out of place. Maybe she'd shed a hair or a piece of fiber from her clothing had fallen onto the carpet. She imagined Ed's and Olivia's disappointed faces glaring at her and she couldn't bring herself to answer the door.

Later, as G ate leftover garlic chicken for dinner, she was again forced to decide whether or not to open the door. Begrudgingly, she hoisted herself off the barstool and shuffled to the door. She saw Sarah through the peephole and breathed a sigh of relief. Surely Olivia wouldn't send Sarah to handle the initial interrogation.

"Hi Sarah," G tried to sound as normal as possible. "What's up?"

"You left your bag at Livvie's," Sarah said.

"Oh, shit, wow," G shouldered the computer bag, "Thank you. I didn't even miss it. Guess that's a good thing I totally managed to disconnect from work this weekend."

"Well done," Sarah said, "Livvie and Dad brought it earlier but you were out. Whatcha up to?"

"Eating dinner," G placed herself squarely in the middle of the doorjamb. She didn't want company and Sarah usually found a way to invite herself inside.

"Oh, sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to bring that back before tomorrow," she took a step backward and gave G a little wave, "Have a good night."

"You too."

Shocked Sarah left so easily, G closed the door and leaned against it. Her chest heaved and she closed her eyes. Was her trip through the master suite that bad? She vividly remembered the bathroom and how Olivia's side of the vanity was way more cluttered than Ed's. G had picked up a few bottles of moisturizer and perfume. It was good stuff and a little pricier than she imagined what Olivia would own. Then again, she imagined Ed would buy his wife things, and, clueless about which to choose, would opt for the most expensive items. Even with Ed and Olivia absent, the entire space reflected how connected they were. The two bath towels hung together on the rack and overlapped as if one person had wedged them there. On what G assumed was Olivia's nightstand, two pairs of reading glasses, one hers and one his, sat next to each other. Their pillows were all bunched up in the center of the mattress. The framed photo on Ed's nightstand was of the two of them on what looked to be their rooftop. Olivia's head was on his shoulder and they posed with easy smiles. G wondered why Ed had chosen that picture out of the thousands they must have had. She stared at it for a while. How was it possible two people could be so in love that their passion for one another practically jumped out of a blurry, hastily taken selfie?

Finally, she committed the worst offense of the evening. Her face and neck got hot and her stomach flip-flopped, but she couldn't resist. She opened the drawer.

Inside she found the familiar silver bottle of lube Caroline had hilariously questioned a few months ago, a couple of other tubes, and two pints of liquor. G held them both in her hands and read the labels. Barrel-aged maple spiced bourbon. White chocolate liqueur. Underneath everything were torn-out magazine pages. G flipped through them. Sex positions. Instructions. A couple of X-rated quizzes. The pages had been folded and refolded dozens of times. A gust of wind hit the window. It startled G and she quickly replaced everything the way she'd found it. Exactly the way she'd found it. She was sure of it.

"Ugh," she groaned aloud. It was probably fine, and she would have to face Olivia sooner rather than later. If she wanted a fall fundraiser, they needed to jump on a venue in the next few days. Maybe she'd send her a text thanking her for returning the bag and suggesting they meet and make a final decision in the next week. She could get a read on her.

Yes. That was a good idea. G found her phone, typed a message, and paced nervously until she heard the familiar chimes signal a reply.

…..

Olivia and Noah were enjoying a lazy Saturday afternoon on the living room floor when someone buzzed the apartment. The squad was under strict instructions to avoid calling unless there was a major emergency, but their definition of "major" and hers could easily differ. Carisi was the worst. At times he was confident and had a swagger about him, but there were instances when he needed way too much validation. She would not have been surprised if he was the visitor, but it wasn't him. It was Sarah, Ed's daughter, who she had seen only a couple of times. Sarah apologized for barging in but explained her Dad caught a case early that morning and was still at the office.

"We're going to miss the first inning," Sarah said of the Yankees game, "But, that's okay I guess. Those games last too long anyway."

"It's nice that you make it a regular thing to go to the games together, though."

"You and Noah should come with us! Maybe the next one, I think it's in a couple of weeks. If you're not working?" She asked the question in the tone of a kid who'd grown up knowing weekend down time was not always a given with two busy parents.

"We'd both love that," Olivia said, "Let me know the date and I'll move some things around."

"I will!" Sarah swung Noah around, "You're going to love Yankee Stadium, Noey!" Noah giggled and squealed. Sarah took the reaction as a positive sign. "It's gonna be the best! You can have hot dogs, ice cream, popcorn, whatever you want!" She put Noah down. He made a beeline for Olivia and asked for ice cream. "Oops, sorry!" Sarah said.

"It's okay," Olivia smiled and looked at Noah lovingly, "How about we go out for some? It's such a nice day...we should get outside."

"Great!" Sarah said, "But I feel kind of bad dragging you out."

Olivia put a hand on her shoulder. "Think of it as doing us a favor and helping us take advantage of gorgeous weather."

"Right-o!"

At the ice cream shop they snagged one of the few outdoor tables under an awning. There were only two chairs available, so Sarah happily held Noah in her lap. Olivia passed her a handful of napkins. Noah's chocolate cone with sprinkles was already dripping. A few minutes later, Sarah's phone danced on the table. She ignored the call, but it rang again and again. It probably kept ringing, but Sarah shoved it in her purse.

"It's my mom," she groaned in response to Olivia's inquisitive expression. "She wants to make sure Brooke and I are going to her house tomorrow."

"Special occasion?"

"No," Sarah said, "She's entertaining." Sarah spat out the word 'entertaining' as if it were laced with poison. "It's for Dave's, her husband's, work friends. Ever since she moved to that monstrosity of a house near the Sound she thinks she's a Kennedy."

Olivia regarded Sarah sympathetically. She and Sarah had never had a conversation about Angela before. Ed described his ex-wife as an ambitious late-bloomer in the world of finance, but they'd never dove into details of her parenting.

"Having people over is nice," Olivia said, "But I'm always exhausted afterward. A lot of planning and preparation for a few hours-"

"-and then you have to clean!"

"Right. But, I wish I had more time to socialize more."

"Yeah, if you're schedule's anything like my Dad's, a day like this...must seem like treasure."

"Definitely. But, I've been trying to let myself disconnect when I can. Like today. I was going to ignore the door just in case it was a member of my squad. And then I couldn't."

"Ugh. I'm so sorry."

"No, no, I'm glad you stopped by," Olivia said. She reached over and dabbed at Noah's face. He would need an outfit change and maybe a bath when he got home, but seeing him desperately try to keep up with his melting cone was worth the mess. "Thrilled, actually. I'm happy you felt comfortable enough to do that."

"Well, maybe now Daddy will give me your phone number."

"He refused to give it to you?"

"Yes."

"Well," Olivia grabbed her phone and opened up an entry for a new contact, "We'll override him right now."

"Omigod, omigod, omigod," Sarah said, "I'm totally gonna call you later, okay? I love taunting my Dad."

"Yeah...he grinds his teeth and gets so red…"

"I knowwwww!"

…

Ed picked up Noah from school solo Monday afternoon. He usually brought one or both of the twins either to give Olivia some alone time or which was more often the case, he preferred company on the short walk to the school. Today they had spent the post-lunchtime hours on the rooftop and the twins were still happily playing when it was time to leave. Ed asked Maggie and Wyatt if they wanted to go, and they both answered with resounding no's. Wyatt did add a firm, "you bing No here!" Ed nodded and promised he would return with their brother.

Noah marched out of his classroom with an unfamiliar boy. They were trailed by Noah's teacher and a woman Ed presumed to be the boy's mother. As soon as Noah saw his Dad, he waved, ran over, and excitedly introduced his new friend. "Dis's Mateo! He's gonna be in da school after spring break and in our class! And guess where he lived b'fore New York?" Noah was so delighted he could hardly contain himself.

"Where?" Ed asked.

"TEXAS!"

"Texas, huh?" Ed held his hand out to Mateo and the little boy shook it, "Nice to meet you, Mateo-from-Texas. Welcome to the city."

"Thanks," Mateo replied softly and smiled shyly.

"Mateo was in our class all day," Noah said, "He was shad-ow-ing me!"

"Well that's a big responsibility, bud. I bet you did a great job and showed him the ropes, right?"

"Yup!"

Mateo's mother approached and shook Ed's hand, "Hi," she said, grinning broadly, "I'm Rebecca, Mateo's mom."

Ed had seen the woman before. He was sure of it. Was she an actress? They'd recently moved from out of state, so, if he had seen her before, it had to have been on television or a movie. "Nice to meet you," he said, "Welcome to New York."

"Thanks."

"Been here long?"

"We finished moving last week. Still settling in and getting used to everything. I'm glad we've finally found a school."

"We love it," Ed replied.

"Daddy, can Mateo come over?" Noah asked. The two boys had drifted a few steps away and were whispering to each other.

"Not today, bud. But, uh, ya know, if you're not too busy some night this week maybe you'd like to come over to our place? I'm sure my wife would like to meet you." Ed saw wedding rings on Rebecca's finger, but he always made it a point to mention "my wife" when having conversations with the mothers and female nannies at the school or at the park. Sarah's occasional teasing had apparently had an effect on him.

"That would be so nice," Rebecca said, "If you don't mind the intrusion."

"We don't. Let me get your number and I'll have Olivia reach out."

They exchanged phone numbers and Noah and Ed hustled home. The whole way Noah talked about how Mateo had basically followed him around the entire day. During their time together Noah learned a lot about the new student. In addition to Austin, Mateo had also lived in a place called San Diego. His school's cafeteria food wasn't very good, but he liked the day's lunch offerings. He had an older brother and a younger sister who wasn't old enough to go to school yet. Mateo's brother was staying in Texas to finish the school year. His favorite color was red, favorite superhero was The Hulk, and he was proud of his Hot Wheels collection. Noah's favorite detail was that he'd brought his bike. "We're gonna ride to da statue," Noah said, "C'you take us, Daddy?"

"Yeah, sure."

Noah repeated the entire story when they reunited with the rest of the family on the rooftop. Olivia listened intently and asked follow-up questions. When Ed mentioned he'd offered to have Mateo and his parents over, Olivia wholeheartedly agreed.

"But not Wednesday," she said, "I'm meeting G in the afternoon."

"Okay. Do you, uh, mind calling Rebecca and setting it up?"

Olivia laughed and kissed him on the lips. "I don't mind. Send me the number. A little awkward for you, Captain?"

"A little."

"Mommy? How come you call Daddy Captain sometimes and sometimes you call him Ed?"

"Cause Mommy calls me Captain when she's flirting with me," Ed answered.

"What's flirting?"

Olivia sighed and gave Ed a semi-reproving look. "Flirting is when Moms and Dads tease each other, but it's in a nice way, for fun."

"Yep," Ed chimed in, "That's exactly right. Mommy's great at definitions."

Noah narrowed his eyes, "Now you flirting, Daddy?"

Ed and Olivia burst into laughter.

"Yeah bud," Ed replied, "You caught me."

…

#Tuckson