220.

As Ed threw the football back and forth with Noah, he wondered how much longer they were going to luck out with the weather. Chilly mornings had been giving way to mild afternoons, and when Ed found himself picking up Noah solo from school, he brought along the football.

"That tight spiral's lookin' good, bud," Ed complimented Noah. He wasn't being overly generous. Noah displayed excellent throwing form and took the directions Ed gave him very seriously. He made sure to step into the throw and follow through.

"You think I can throw it all da way to that tree over there?" Noah asked breathlessly after running down a pass from Ed.

Ed looked over his shoulder. The tree was another twenty yards away. "I think so."

"Go deep, Daddy!" Noah threw the ball in a high arc. It had plenty of steam on it to reach the tree and beyond. Ed had to jump to snag it. Noah threw his hands in the air, referee style, and shouted, "Touchdown!"

They played until Ed realized he was getting thirsty but had nothing to drink. He suggested they head for home but stop for water before they got too far. On the way out of the bodega, Ed spotted a flower stand and tugged on Noah's hand. "Let's get Mommy somethin, bud."

"Kay!" Noah led the way over, skipping along, and father and son assessed their options. Noah spotted a deep purple bloom and pointed excitedly, "I like those!"

Ed agreed. He extracted the small bouquet and waited for the attendant to tell him the price.

"Amaryllis," the man murmured in a barely audible voice, "A flower for someone who sparkles."

"Mommy sparkles," Noah said.

"Yes she does," Ed replied before asking what he owed.

"Fifteen."

Ed nodded and handed over the bills. "You gonna carry them, bud?"

"No," Noah said, "How bout you carry em? I don't want to drop it!" He replied, chuckling at himself. Noah was wearing his backpack and held the football in one hand, Ed smiled and took the flowers from him. "Daddy? Why'd we get Mommy flowers t'day? Is it special?"

"Every day is special with your Mommy," Ed replied seriously, it was the most serious tone he ever used with Noah.

Pressing his lips in a straight line, Noah looked up and nodded confidently in agreement. Truer words had never been spoken. Ed continued, "When you have someone in your life as good as your mother, you have to make sure you always tell them you love them but it's also nice to bring them little surprises every now and then." Another nod. Proud at how Noah paid attention to and mentally cataloged everything he said, Ed added another piece of advice. "And always make sure to pick up your towels and dirty clothes off the bathroom floor."

Noah giggled.

Ed grinned at him. "I'm serious, bud. Leaving that stuff on the bathroom floor is a bad move."

Still giggling, probably because he knew his parents' areas of their home were always the messiest, Noah replied, "Kay Daddy."

…

Amanda Rollins stirred her vodka tonic more than she drank it and compulsively glanced at her phone in between raving over how well Maggie and Wyatt behaved. "Jesse would never have occupied herself like this," she said with a rueful expression on her face. Maggie looked up from her drawing, smiled, and went directly back to scribbling purposefully on one of the two small notebooks Olivia always carried with her. She loved the idea of having a running log of the twins' artwork and their development. To go along with the notebooks, she purchased two sets of four small pens which came in their own pouches. The memory of Noah lecturing the twins on how it was important to put the pens back to the pouches when they were finished would forever be one of her favorites.

"They love to do work like their brother," Olivia replied. She and Ed also made a concerted effort to limit the twins' screen time, but she didn't want to seem sanctimonious. Refocusing her attention on Rollins, she remarked, "It's been a while since we've really talked. How are you?"

"I'm good," Rollins said with a weak smile, "Work is…well, it's not the same without you there, I miss you."

Olivia's lips curled into an apologetic smile. "I miss you, too." She saw Rollins' disbelieving expression and continued, "I do. I miss the camaraderie. The adrenaline rushes. Being in the room and knowing we were gonna get a perp to spill his guts. But…there are a lot of parts I don't miss, and they outweigh everything else."

"Yeah…"

"How's Jesse?"

"She's doing great. Loves school," Rollins took a quick drink, "And Declan is slowly but surely making his presence known."

Olivia couldn't tell whether or not this development pleased Amanda or not. Declan Murphy had trouble resisting the allure of undercover operations, and, though he'd been local for over two years, there was always a chance he'd take another assignment. Olivia understood Rollins' balancing act more than anyone. Having Jesse's father in her life was important, but the potential damage of an abrupt disappearance would, especially at his age, have lifelong, devastating repercussions.

"That must be tough," Olivia said softly.

"I just wish I knew how things were going to turn out, ya know?" Rollins replied. "It gets confusing. There are nights when he's over, brings pizza or whatever, and it's like we're this little family. But I know it's not real. It's never going to be real, not with him, but what am I supposed to do?"

"Tell him you need a different arrangement," Olivia said.

"Seems simple."

"Are you worried about how he'll react?" Olivia was perplexed. She had never been under the impression that Rollins wanted a long-term relationship with Declan Murphy, and Amanda was not one to keep her feelings to herself.

"No, he'll understand," she said, "I'm worried about how I'll react. It's nice to have someone else around. Everyone else who's come through my house is gone. My sister and my mom couldn't take it here, so they're back down south-it's not like having them there was healthy for me anyway-so Declan being here and being dependable, well, I don't want to do anything to disrupt that."

"I get it."

"You do?" Rollins asked, truly baffled.

"Sure. It was a little different, with me and Ed, but there was a stretch there-now I know I was looking for ways out because I was scared-but there was a stretch when I was trying to convince myself that I loved him being there more than I loved him. Which, of course, was not true."

"You tried hard to sabotage it," Rollins grinned and shook her head.

"I did. But he held on. And so did I. But," Olivia made sure to make eye contact with Rollins, "I held on because I was in love with him. And it was so intense…I had to trust it. I had no choice. It's still that way and I still do. Is…is that where you're at with Declan?"

"No," Rollins admitted somberly. "Not at all. We're friends. We trust each other. And maybe that's all I get. Maybe that's enough."

"And maybe it's not," Olivia said softly. "There's a lot of life left to live."

Rollins nodded. Olivia certainly knew what she was talking about. If anyone had embraced the idea of a brand new second act, it was her. On the opposite side of the vodka tonic glass, her phone started to vibrate. "Speak of the devil," she said, holding up the phone and revealing the caller's identity to Olivia.

"Tell Declan I said hi."

"He was doing school pick-up today," Rollins said, "I better get this."

"Of course."

Olivia helped the twins take sips of their Shirley Temples then tapped the pinned conversation at the top of her iMessages. Ed had sent a video and a few pictures of his football outing with Noah. Olivia nearly choked up as she thought about how Ed went from being "Tucker" to "Daddy" in about a year's time and how differently her son's life would be had she succeeded in permanently breaking things off with him. What a terrible mistake that would have been! She hoped, however Rollins chose to proceed with Declan, she would opt for a path that kept him in Jesse's life as much as possible.

….

It had been another long day, and Olivia entered her apartment kicking herself for missing dinner with Noah for the third consecutive night. The interminably-chipper Lucy popped up from the couch, greeted Olivia, and, before leaving, mentioned Noah had been fussy when she put him to bed and was probably not yet asleep. Olivia hated that her child was struggling to rest, and she darted to Noah's room without changing clothes or even taking off her boots.

Sure enough, there he was, wide awake, lying on his back in the new bed that seemed too big for him. "Hey sweet boy," she said, "Whatcha doin?"

Noah turned his head to her and smiled but didn't answer.

"Are you…counting sheep?" Olivia asked, sitting down next to him.

Having never heard of this technique before, Noah giggled softly, turned away then back to Olivia, and asked, "C'we go see Ed?"

"Ed?"

Noah nodded eagerly. "Wa'see'da'train."

Olivia kissed the top of his head and pictured the old, turn-of-the-century locomotive Ed Tucker kept on one of his living room shelves. When she first saw it, in the early days of their relationship, she knew Noah, if he ever laid eyes on it, would be intrigued. Its wheels didn't roll, and it had sharp edges, but the first thing Noah did when he arrived at Ed's place was to run over to the shelf and check on the train.

"We have a lot of trains here. Even this one." Olivia reached over for the stuffed caboose on the other side of Noah's pillow and nuzzled his neck with it.

When Noah stopped giggling, he once again insisted on seeing Ed. "Ed'guh'come over here?"

"No, not tonight. It's late. Time for everyone to go to sleep."

Noah closed his eyes and Olivia kissed his forehead. "I love you, sweet boy."

"Loveouu," Noah whispered.

After changing clothes, Olivia went to the living room, poured a glass of wine, and, as she often did, flipped her phone over and over in her hand, debating whether or not to give Ed a call. As she deliberated, she sorted through how she felt about her son's relationship with her boyfriend. Noah had always been happy to spend time with Ed and often asked if they were going to see him, but it was still surprising to find him sitting up, wide awake late at night, and apparently thinking about Ed Tucker.

She finally sent an "are you up" text to Ed and he replied a minute or so later in the affirmative. He answered her call immediately and sounded alert and happy to hear from her. "Are you just now getting home?" He asked.

"Yeah," she replied, "It's been…a day."

"Need anything?"

Olivia wished he could have seen her appreciative smile. She knew if she asked him to bring her food or drinks or even to come over and make her a cup of tea, he would do it in a heartbeat. Why, she asked herself, why was she making this so difficult?

"No thanks," Olivia replied, "Really, thank you. Thank you for asking."

"You're welcome."

"I called because…well, I wasn't going to call because I'm exhausted, and, like I said, today was…nonstop and I brought work home…but-"

"-Liv, you don't owe me a call every night."

"Ed…when I got home, Noah was still awake. I went in and the first thing he said to me was about you, and the train you have at your apartment."

"That old thing…"

"Yes. And I'm always nervous he's going to cut himself on it, but, anyway," she screwed up her face and waved her free hand in the air. "He's thinking about you. You're a part of his life. Our lives. And…I wanted to call and tell you that. Tell you that we love you." Olivia blinked back tears of joy and relief.

"I love you."

"Do you…do you want to come over?"

Ed hesitated. "Sure, but, work?"

"Is it selfish of me to want you here even if I have to finish up a few things?"

"Not at all. Just didn't want to keep you from it if it was somethin' that needed to be done."

"It does, and you won't."

"On my way."

Olivia sat cross-legged in the middle of the couch and concentrated on her breathing. Ed would be there in less than thirty minutes, and she craved his presence more than ever. He might bring a book, but, more likely, he would scroll through the news on his phone and patiently wait for her to finish. Smiling at the thought, she wondered if he would bring the train. Of course, she said to herself, of course he'll bring it. And in the morning Noah would wake up, see it, and believe a dream had come true.

…

While Ed started dinner and Olivia and the twins were still out, Noah parked himself at the island with a pencil and one of his notebooks and made a list of the items he needed for his newly assigned biome project. By the time Ed had cut the potatoes in quarters and dropped them in boiling water, Noah had the first page almost filled.

"Quite the list you got there, pal," he remarked. "We better get started tomorrow."

Noah regarded his work with a serious expression. "You think I'm missing something?"

"Whatcha got so far?"

"Sand, cactuses-or is it cacTIE?-a little bit of water, camels…" Noah rattled off his list and concluded, giggling, with "bats and lizards."

"I think you can use both cacti and cactuses," Ed replied, "And I think you have a pretty good list. You have the animals, the plants, the terrain-"

"Dat's all on da rubric!" Noah produced a paper from his folder and handed it over.

Sure enough, Ed had listed three out of the four criteria. The fourth, creativity and presentation, he was certain Noah would master with ease. "You don't have to add any people?"

"Nah. Buuuuut," Noah grinned like he did when he believed he was about to present a brilliant idea, "They have dis biome in Texas! And Sare Bear's takin' me there."

"Oh, she is?"

"Yep. Prolly in da spring. Not da summer 'cause it's too hot. But even if it's hot they have beaches. Lotsa biomes in Texas." Noah flipped the page and started drawing a preliminary sketch of his project.

"Are you glad you got the desert?" Ed asked.

"Meh," Noah shrugged, "It's easy but not that interesting."

"What's the most interesting one?"

"Rainforest! Lotsa birds and animals and different trees and sounds-all kinds of stuff."

"Maybe next time."

"Yeah," Noah replied, "But maybe I can research more to find cool bugs and snakes!"

"You know what, bud?" Ed leaned across the island and cupped Noah's face, "I am so proud of how you always figure out how to get things done. And how you make the best of things. The desert wasn't your first choice, but you're rolling with this project like it was your first choice. Good job." Ed punctuated the praise by kissing the top of Noah's head.

"You wanna help me research after you're done with da dinner?" Noah asked.

"Yep."

"Daddy?"

"Yeah, pal?"

"Where'd you learn to cook?"

"Well…" Ed paused for a minute and thought about his cooking journey. He had never cooked when Sarah and Brooke were younger-Angela took care of the meals-and when the girls were out and living on their own, he got by on whatever he picked up from the cart outside of IAB headquarters for breakfast, lunch was usually takeout, and dinner, well, often ended up being the leftover lunch. It was only when Olivia and Noah came into his life that he started cooking meals on a regular basis. "I think I always had an idea how because I saw Grandma cook. And then I thought it was fun, so I found recipes to try and now I have a bunch of favorites."

"Tacos are da best, though."

"Tonight we're having turkey meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans though."

"That's yummy, too." Noah set his work to the side and tapped his fingers on the granite countertop and murmured,"I wonder what da desert people eat for dinner…."

"Fried rattlesnake," Ed answered.

Noah cracked up.

Ed smiled and turned to stir the potatoes so they didn't boil over. "And Cactus pudding for dessert. Delicious."

"Daddy…"

…

Olivia moved around the bedroom slowly, taking great care to tie her hair back and remove her jewelry. She knew Ed was watching her every move and he knew she knew, so they both were playing the same subtle, intimate, flirtatious game. Finally, when Olivia swapped her blouse for a t-shirt, Ed spoke. "You ever get tired of me staring at you?" He asked softly, in his sweetest voice. His hands were clasped behind his head, he smirked in classic Tucker fashion, and his own t-shirt rode up on his torso ever so slightly, revealing his belly button and the lowest of his toned abdomen.

Olivia spun around, smiled, and answered, simply, "No."

"Gonna be much longer?"

"No," she said again, this time with a wink, before disappearing into the bathroom.

While patiently waiting for her to return, Ed stared at the ceiling, still smirking and basking in contentment. It had been another fantastic day in the lives of the Tucker family. The twins loved preschool, and Ed and Olivia had finally allowed themselves to appreciate and take advantage of the few hours of time to themselves in the mornings. Though they harbored mixed emotions about Noah growing up, their son constantly filled them with pride. Everything Noah did was completed with acute care and attention, and he was one of the kindest, good-hearted people Ed knew. Outside of their home, Brooke had finally found her professional footing, and Sarah was still breezing through work and life with her characteristic aplomb. It wasn't yet Christmas, but Ed's thoughts drifted to their Delaware home. He couldn't wait for everyone to be all together on the beach again, so he chuckled when Olivia climbed into bed with him and made a suggestion.

"You know," she said, "It might be fun to have Thanksgiving in Delaware this year. What do you think? Do you think everyone would come?"

"I was just thinking about the house," Ed replied, "I would hope they would."

"Even your mom?"

"I think she'd love it." Ed reached over and stroked one of Olivia's cheeks. "Let's get the word out tomorrow."

Olivia leaned her head into his hand. "And we can have Noah's birthday there, too."

"Do you think he'd rather have something here? With his friends?"

"We can do both," Olivia said, "Maybe the next weekend. And let's ask him. Sometimes he has ideas totally different from ours."

"He sure does. Oh, speaking of, I need to remember to get pizza dough from the shop down the street tomorrow."

"Why?"

"When I was making dinner earlier, Noah was asking me about cooking and it got silly and we tossed around some ideas for different types of recipes and…he thinks that breakfast pizza this weekend will be a good plan. Said he saw it once when he did brunch with Sarah."

Olivia laughed. "That boy has had more grown up experiences than I have."

"Me too."

"So anyway," Ed inched closer to her, "You're in for the breakfast pizza experiment?"

"Absolutely."

Olivia closed her eyes and waited for Ed's kiss. He proceeded slowly, tentatively, in case she wasn't in the mood. She smiled, opened her eyes to meet his, and silently encouraged him to keep going. As he massaged her breasts and felt him become more and more aroused, Olivia moaned and clawed at his back in case he was thinking about creating any unnecessary space between them. But he didn't. He never did. Ed had, more than once, assured her he was never going anywhere, and he lived that assurance every day, every hour, of their lives.

…..

They were only an hour into the trip and Maggie had already spoken enough words to fill a novel. In between anecdotes of friends and school, her softball team, and the Netflix series she and other tweens obsessed over, she asked if she could, please, just this once, sit up front. It was a request Ed routinely denied and he smirked at Maggie's pouting face each time via the rear view mirror.

"See!" Maggie said after one of the rejections, "You wouldn't haveta check on me in the mirror if I was up there!"

"You're not wrong," Ed replied.

Maggie frowned. "You're not wrong" was her parents' way of telling her she had made a valid point but they would, nevertheless, not allow her to do whatever it was she was requesting. Disgruntled, she stared at the unimpressive interstate highway scenery, but could only maintain her grumpiness for so long. "Are we stopping at the rest area?" She asked after they passed one of the familiar blue signs.

"Not unless you need to."

"I don't. I wanna get to the beach FAST!"

"I'm workin' on it."

"It's kinda cool we're gonna get there first!"

"It's a little weird."

"Yeah…well, McKenzie's mom and dad are divorced and she doesn't have any brothers or sisters so she goes places with her dad or her mom-just one of em-all the time. She prolly gets bored."

Ed grinned at the tacit insult. "I promise I'll try not to be boring for the next two days."

Maggie giggled at her slight. "I didn't mean you were boring! You're fun!"

"I am?"

"Yes! You drive the jet skis wild when Mom can't see-we're gonna get them, right? When we get there?"

"When we get there we have to make sure the house is in order."

Maggie groaned.

"It won't take that long. And you can do the fun stuff."

"Like what?" Maggie asked since getting the house in order sounded like code for cleaning and other related chores that were, definitively, zero fun.

"Like uncovering the hot tub and turning it on? That sound fun to you? Oh, and stocking the fridge."

A smile formed on Maggie's face. Those chores were not all that bad.

"Oh," Ed added, "We probably need to fix the bricks around the fire pit and the chairs wiped down. And we need to get out the cushions for the furniture on the porch."

Maggie nodded. All of this was doable if not slightly enjoyable.

"Then we'll head over to the marina."

"Yes!" Maggie exclaimed, holding a fist in the air. "And can we go to the shack for dinner? I bet the volleyball guys are gonna be playing tonight!"

"I bet they are, too." Ed smirked. Last summer Maggie had taken an interest in beach volleyball, and he suspected it was, in part, because the young men who participated in the local leagues were tanned, muscular, and impressively athletic. Olivia was or pretended to be naive about the whole thing, but Ed saw the twinkle in Maggie's eye when she talked about the volleyball matches and it wasn't totally due to how much she enjoyed the sport itself.

"We can have oysters and shrimp and cocktails and watch some bump, set, spike!"

"Cocktails?" Ed asked.

"That's what they're called on the menu!"

"Yeah," Ed murmured, picturing the menu that did list all mixed drinks, with and without booze, under the same general heading. "I guess they are.

"Don't worry, Daddy," Maggie assured him, "I'm not gonna tell we have cocktails. I know I'm not old enough!"

"Maybe just say they're kids' cocktails."

"Oh, yeah, good idea. Anyway," Maggie paused and smiled. As they continued south, more billboards advertising the various attractions of the Atlantic Coast popped up, and she loved seeing them. "I need to get the yellow glass to add to my collection."

"You only need yellow?"

"Yep!"

Maggie's bedroom at the beach house-which she often had to cede to guests-included a variety of her collections. The plastic "glasses" from the shack were stacked on one of the floating shelves, and, in her closet was a set of twelve plastic compartments with shells, plastic bendy straws, cheap toys won at the local arcade, and mini golf balls representing her five holes-in-one. Maggie's collections were not limited to the beach. Her wrists were full of different types of bracelets which she wore each day, and she had a similar set of plastic bins in her closet in New York.

"Well, we'll ask for yellow, then," Ed said.

"No! It has to be random."

"Okay, okay," Ed held up one hand in surrender.

"Ten and two!" Maggie shouted. "Ten and two!"

Ed chuckled at the reprimand. "They teaching driver's training now in sixth grade?"

"No," Maggie replied, "I dunno where I learned that. I think in a movie."

"And they say television will rot the brain."

"They do?"

"Well, they used to."

"They need to update the rules."

Maggie could have easily told Ed he was too old and old-fashioned and he needed to get with it, but she didn't and, for that, Ed was grateful. "They probably do," he replied, "They-"

"HEY! LOOK!" Another billboard caught Maggie's attention, "There's another Go Kart track in Fenwick! Can we go?"

"Yep. I bet those new Go Karts go fast."

"I bet they do!" Maggie rubbed her hands together. "We should go get a sneak peek so I can beat Noah and Wyatt."

Ed and Maggie exchanged a conspiratorial glance in the rearview mirror. "I think we should," he replied.

"YES!" Filled with cheer and sensing an even deeper connection with her father, Maggie tried her front seat request again. Ever so sweetly, she asked, "Daddy, can I sit up there just for twenty minutes?"

"No," Ed replied firmly, "I love you too much to take that risk."

Maggie groaned.

"Hey, but on the plus side, you get to drive later at the Go Kart place."

Her grin returned. "Yep," she said cheerfully, "And I'm gonna get first place! I wish they gave out ribbons or something….that would be a good collection."

…

Mostly because Noah's birthday always fell during the week of Thanksgiving, he had not had an elaborate birthday party since he'd been in preschool. He had attended many of his classmates' parties, a few of which were over-the-top and elaborate, but when his birthday rolled around, he had never expressed an interest in a similar gathering. Olivia speculated it was because Halloween had recently passed and the excitement of Christmas was brewing, but she made an extra effort to assess this year's birthday desires.

"My birthday's gonna be at da beach!" Noah exclaimed after Olivia articulated the rough plans she and Ed had in mind.

"Yes, sweetheart," Olivia replied, "But we can have another party for your friends after, like, the next weekend."

Noah frowned, "Den it's not my birthday."

"Your party doesn't have to be on that exact day."

"Uh-huh!"

"Well…would you rather stay home and not go away for Thanksgiving?" Olivia offered, "Then we can have your party on the right day?" She hoped he would decline the offer because, this year, his birthday fell on the day after Thanksgiving and she doubted many families would even be around to bring their children.

"Nah," Noah replied, "I wanna have my birthday with shrimpies and lotsa lobster claws!"

"Are you sure? Remember, it's cold at the beach, too. It's not like summer."

Noah didn't seem to care. He was laser-focused on seafood, bonfires, and a house full of his family members. "I wanna have my birthday at da beach," he said, "C'we have a cake and s'mores?"

"Of course, sweet boy." Olivia hugged and kissed him. "I guess we should probably get started on inviting everyone."

"You want me to send a group text?" Noah asked with generous, hopeful eyes.

Olivia started to say no but reconsidered. It was a bit of short notice, but who would decline an invitation from sweet Noah? "Sure honey," she said, "Make sure you send it to Grandma, too."

"Gramma doesn't check her phone all the time."

"We'll call her then."

"You gotta call da phone on da wall in her kitchen."

"Got it."

….

#Tuckson