The Other Side
Summary: What if the events of The Good Wife happened nine years earlier than they did? Chicago's youngest State's Attorney, Peter Florrick, finds himself in prison after his sex scandal breaks, while Alicia finds herself starting over at Stern, Lockhart and Gardner along being a good mother to Grace and Zach, who are just four and five. Support comes from the unlikeliest of corners. Alicia/Will, AU.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. I will be bringing in dialogue and cases from the show, and guess what? I don't own those either! Title and lyrics are from 'The Other Side' by Jason Derulo.
Author's Note: Thank you so much for your lovely reviews for the first chapter, especially to those I couldn't reply to! I'm really enjoying writing this little AU journey for Will and the Florrick family so it's really good to hear you're enjoying reading! To everyone who's read, followed and favourited, thank you as well and I'd love to hear what you think!
Chapter Two
"Mom, she got tomato sauce all over me! Mom!"
"I heard you the first time, Zach," Alicia soothes, walking through from her bedroom dressed casually in jeans and a sweater. "Why don't you go change your shirt, buddy, and tell your Uncle Owen on the way that supervising doesn't mean drinking wine in front of the TV," she advises, deliberately pitching her voice loud enough to carry into the living room as she wipes sauce off Zach's cheek with her thumb, before sucking it clean. "Mm, tasty," she grins, laughing as he wrinkles his nose in disgust before darting off towards his room.
"Well look at you, trouble," she murmurs then, turning her attention to Grace and planting a kiss on top of her hair. "Did you forget that the toppings are supposed to go on the pizza?" she teases, not expecting a response. Grace just looks up at her with a smile that would be serene, were it not for the cheeky little glint in her eyes.
She doesn't need more than a word.
"Oops."
"Oops is an understatement," Alicia responds easily, looking up as her brother ambles into the kitchen with that understatement. "I dread to think what happened while I was at work today."
"Alicia, Alicia, you worry too much," Owen grins, resting his elbows on the counter next to Grace. "Let's finish the pizza for mommy, Gracey," he murmurs, bumping her little shoulder and getting a giggle out of her. "She gets all growly when she's hungry, you know," he tells her daughter, as the doorbell buzzes. Alicia chucks a towel at him as she heads out to the hall, catching Zach by the back of his clean shirt as he skids through on his socks.
"Slow it down, speedy," she murmurs, releasing him as she through to open the door.
To someone she most definitely wasn't expecting.
"Sounds like chaos in here," Will murmurs from the doorstep, his lips curled into a full-on smile that's almost dazzling. He's waving a stack of client files in one hand, and it distracts her from the fact that he's reaching towards her with his left hand. "You've got a little… sauce," he murmurs, seconds before his fingers wipe a smudge from her jaw.
She sucks a breath in at the touch of his fingers, and their eyes lock for a long second as he drops his hand back down to his side.
It's been a little over two weeks since that afternoon in his office, and every time he's pressed his fingers into the small of her back to guide her into a courtroom, every time his fingers have brushed hers as he hands over a file, she's felt those familiar tingles.
He doesn't look away until she feels two little hands on her leg and Grace peeks shyly around her knee, tomato sauce smeared all over her face and even in her hair, along with what looks suspiciously to Alicia like cheese. Will laughs heartily at that, and his eyes soften completely as he glances back at Alicia.
"Looks like you're having fun in there," he murmurs, raising an eyebrow. "If I had any doubts she was your daughter, they're well and truly assuaged," he adds, before turning the full force of his grin on Grace. "Hi again, Grace. Are you helping mommy cook?"
Alicia feels like her heart might stop when Grace nods, still hanging onto her knee. "We're makin' pizza," she tells Will quietly, her voice soft and hesitant but so very certain. Alicia can't help herself from reaching down to lift Grace up, tomato sauce be damned.
Because somehow, Will has charmed words out of her daughter before he even steps through the door.
The second time he's met her.
"Pizza, huh?" he murmurs with a grin.
"Friday night is make your own pizza night in the Florrick house," Alicia explains, unable to stop herself from smiling at him. "It's very exciting."
"So I see," he murmurs. "Well I just stopped by to give you these files for Monday, so I'll get out of your hair and let you get back to your pizza," he offers warmly. It's on the tip of her tongue to ask him to stay. It really is.
And then, with nothing less than a miracle, Grace takes the decision out of her hands.
"Stay for pizza," she declares, her little voice decisive and without a hint of question, making both adults laugh. There's a hint of a question in Will's eyes, and it only takes her a second to nod her agreement with her daughter.
"I'd love to stay for pizza," he tells Grace, his eyes sparkling. "Especially if it's pizza made by you." She swears she sees a blush cross her daughter's cheeks, and she lets her wriggle back down to the ground, watching for a second as she flies back towards the kitchen.
"Quit flirting with my daughter," she murmurs, laughing softly at the look on his face as she closes the door behind him. "Charmer," she adds under her breath, smiling when he chuckles right back.
It's only as he shrugs out of his leather jacket that she really gets a chance to take him in, dressed down in jeans and a deep blue sweater. She hasn't seen him without a suit since she started at the firm, and she can't help but notice the way the sleeves of his sweater are rolled up to the elbows, showcasing his strong arms, the muscles in his biceps a little more refined than they were at Georgetown.
He looks softer somehow, even with that strength. She doesn't want to admit how much she likes it.
"She's going to be a little heartbreaker when she grows up," Will murmurs, snapping her out of her trance as she shoots him a wry smile.
"Tell me about it," she agrees, taking the files he carries and setting them on the side. "I've never seen her take to someone quite that quickly though," she murmurs, gesturing through to the kitchen. "Owen's here, by the way."
"Thanks for the warning," he responds instantly, quirking a grin in her direction.
A few hours later, after too much pizza is consumed, after the children are tucked safely into their beds, after the second bottle of wine has been opened and, much to his dismay, Owen has been dispatched to his own apartment, the case files still lie unopened on the coffee table and Alicia is thumbing off the late night talk show which boasts yet another exposé on Peter Florrick's hookers as it's headline.
Time doesn't make it any easier.
"How Chicago's youngest State's Attorney falls from grace, huh?" she murmurs a little bitterly when she feels his eyes on her. Will's hand is a gentle pressure on her arm as she bows her head, eyes closed. His presence is more comforting than she feels able to admit to herself when she still feels so broken.
"I can't even imagine what all this is like for you," he murmurs softly, when she tips her head back against the couch. Her eyes are dry, but glassy as she finally meets his gaze, and she knows he can see the pain there.
"I hate him more for what he's done to the children than what he's done to me," she whispers softly, shaking her head slightly. "I don't… it almost doesn't hurt me, even though it should. I just feel numb about it. But the kids…" she hasn't talked about this with anyone but Owen, her apathy for what he's done to her compared to the way he's torn her children's lives apart.
"That's understandable," Will tells her softly. "Do they see Peter much?"
"No," she answers forcefully, closing her eyes for a moment. "I won't take my four and five-year-old children to a prison. I won't expose them to that." The arguments she had with Peter when she told him of her decision still haunt her. They said more hateful things during those arguments than they have during any of their arguments about the scandal itself. "Maybe it would be different if they were teenagers, but they're children."
She expects judgement in his eyes, but when she manages to look up, she sees nothing but compassion.
"A prison is no place for children their age," he murmurs softly, his thumb tracing gentle circles against the sensitive skin of her forearm that somehow give her the strength to tell him one of her greatest fears.
"I'm terrified every time I leave them with Jackie," she whispers. "She's almost as angry as Peter that I won't let them see him. I have nightmares about her taking them to see him without my permission, but I can't… I don't have a choice. I can't work without Jackie's help, and I need to work…" Sucking in an unsteady breath, she closes her eyes for a moment. "God, I'm sorry Will. You don't want to hear all this. Again."
"Of course I do," he whispers softly, his fingers squeezing her arm gently. "I'm your friend before I'm your boss, Alicia."
"I don't have many friends left," she admits quietly, covering his fingers with her own.
"All the more important to make the most of the ones you do have then," he murmurs. "And for what it's worth, they seem to be coping pretty well, from what I've seen in the last couple of weeks," he tells her softly. "Zach's a bundle of energy, and Grace is one of the sweetest little girls I've ever met. My niece is pretty damn cute, 'Leesh, so that's really saying something."
"They're amazing," she manages quietly, a watery smile crossing her face. "They… just amaze me, every single day, but Zach... he's so grown up, Will. Sometimes I look in his eyes and it's like he understands far too much, and Grace, my beautiful little girl just shut down completely when her dad left." She wipes an arm roughly across her eyes, shaking her head. "She doesn't talk, Will. Tonight was the most I've heard her speak in weeks, and I'm so scared that what Peter's done to her can't be undone." A sob shudders through her body as her fears come crashing down, and before she quite realises what's happening, Will's arms are encircling her, all that strength focused on her. "I don't care about what he's done to me," she whispers through her tears. "I just care about them."
"It's okay not to be strong all the time, Alicia," he murmurs softly, his lips brushing the shell of her ear as she struggles to pull herself together. "Just take a couple of deep breaths." His fingers start to run soothingly through her hair, and she loses herself in the smell and the feel of him, just for a moment. Because she can't remember the last time that someone took care of her without asking.
"Thank you," she whispers softly, when she feels like her voice has stopped shaking.
"Stop thanking me," he murmurs, and she can hear the smile in his voice. "And stop apologising, too. You don't need to. Now, do you want to know what I think?"
"Do I get a choice?" she asks quietly, laughing softly as she wipes the tears from her cheeks, her heart warming when she sees his smile widen a little at her laughter.
He smiles a lot, when they're together. He always has done, even in Georgetown.
She'd just forgotten quite how addictive his smiles are.
"Not really," he admits with a grin, stroking his fingers gently against her shoulder when she goes to move. "Stay," he murmurs softly, increasing the pressure of his hand imperceptibly. She knows it's wrong. She knows she should move, but it feels too good to do anything but what he says.
Just for a little while, she wants to forget that so much is wrong.
"I think that Zach is a smart, funny little boy who can see that something bad has happened and wants to do everything he can to make sure his mom is happy," he tells her quietly, pressing a finger to her lips before she can protest. "You'll get your turn, counsellor," he murmurs, eyes sparkling. She can't help but laugh at that, because he won her over with legal jokes all the way back in Georgetown. Apparently, they still work. "And as for Grace, she won me over before she even talked. She's a beautiful, clever little girl, Alicia, and I think she's just scared and confused, so she keeps her words to herself unless they really matter. I'd be willing to bet my season tickets on the fact that she was a little shy before all this?"
Her heart feels like it might beat right out of her chest, and she can only nod her agreement. Because he's met her children a total of twice, and somehow he's managed to put their personalities into words she hasn't been able to find.
And apparently he's not done.
"You know why I'm not worried? Because they have got the most amazing mom I've ever met, Alicia. I thought you were… incredible, in law school, and you make everyone stop and stare in a court room, but I'm in awe of you as a mother." His voice is soft and sincere, and she feels like her heart might beat right out of her chest. "Those kids have more love than they could ever wish for in you, and I have no doubt that you will get them through this." He pauses, and her breath falters as she lifts tearful eyes to his. "I hope that I'm around to see that," he murmurs quietly, brushing the tears from under her eyes with his thumbs before cupping her cheeks.
"I hope you are too," she whispers, because she didn't realise it until then, but it's the god's honest truth.
She loses track of how long they sit there, how many tears he catches with his thumbs, but it feels all too soon when he eases himself away from her with a gentle smile.
"You look exhausted, 'Leesh," he murmurs softly, her nickname from Georgetown slipping out again effortlessly and giving them both pause. "Go and get some sleep," he adds, standing up and stretching his arms above his head for a moment before holding a hand out to help her up.
He holds her hand in his all the way to the door, and she finds herself impulsively pressing a kiss to his cheek once he's shrugged into his jacket.
"Will…"
"If the next words out of your mouth are thank you," he cuts in warningly, the grin on his face at odds with his words.
"Noted," she murmurs softly, her cheeks burning as he smiles that particular smile that's always been reserved just for her.
"I'll see you Monday," he murmurs softly, and before she can respond, he's pressing his own kiss to her cheek and heading out towards the elevator.
When she leans back against the closed door, she finds she's already pressed her fingers to that very spot.
She's woken from the best night's sleep she's had in over six months the next morning by a warm, wriggly body as Grace squirms her way into her mother's arms, burrowing down with a thumb snugly in her mouth.
"Morning, baby," Alicia whispers sleepily, curling an arm automatically around her daughter. Grace lifts wide, awake eyes to her mother, serious and quiet as she curls her other hand sleepily into Alicia's hair. "You're awake so early. No school today my love," she murmurs softly, rubbing a palm soothingly down her back. "It's Saturday, remember?"
"Momma, cuddles," she murmurs contentedly, wriggling around until she's totally comfortable. "Sat'day cuddles."
"That's right, baby," Alicia whispers softly, wide awake in an instant at the sound of that beautiful little voice. When she looks up, Zach is hovering in the doorway, one arm wrapped tightly around a grey stuffed elephant. She holds an arm out, laughing softly as he scrambles eagerly onto the bed. "My two favourite people," she murmurs softly as Zach worms into their embrace, sharing Rory with Grace without complaint, as his sister curls a fist around the elephant's trunk. "Good boy," Alicia murmurs against his ear, pressing a kiss against his forehead and receiving a proud little grin in response.
"Can we have pancakes for breakfast?" he whispers, hope springing in his eyes.
"Absolutely," she whispers back without a second's hesitation, rewarded with a big grin. "Saturday mornings are for sleeping though, remember," she adds, running her fingers through his hair gently. "When we wake up, we'll make pancakes. Deal?"
"Deal, Mom," he whispers, closing his eyes and snuggling into his sister, who's already sleeping peacefully with her face mashed into Alicia's shoulder.
She gets another two hours sleep with her children tucked into her side.
Will texts her when they're eating an incredibly late brunch of pancakes and watching cartoons (or at least, the children are), and she doesn't have to hesitate for a second when she tells him that her weekend is going amazingly, so far.
It fast becomes a tradition, that Friday night pizza is followed by Saturday morning pancakes.
tbc.