New Chapter
She walked up to the bathroom door, hearing the shower running. She laid her head on the door thinking how stupid she was. She made him angry for no reason. She knew he wasn't cheating on her, she knew that. But the woman, girly side of her got the best of her judgment. Now all she wanted to do was go in there and just be near him after he basically avoided her all day.
She slowly opened the door, getting a wave full of steam. She figured he didn't hear her come in because of the water.
"Trevor," She walked in the bathroom.
He didn't respond. She assumed he was either ignoring her or didn't hear her.
"Trevor honey." She repeated.
"What?"
"Are you angry?"
"I don't know, maybe."
"Well, you have a right to be. I should've known better. I'm sorry."
He didn't say anything.
"I just thought that…"
"What, just because I went on like two dates with her and you saw us together that I was screwing her, nothing happened, nothing ever happened."
Now it was her turn to consume the silence.
"I'm with you Olivia. You're my life right now, you're carrying our child. Why the hell would I jeopardize all that for a woman I barely know?"
"You wouldn't."
"Then why would you even insinuate that?"
She swallowed hearing the anger in his voice.
"I don't know, I knew you would never do anything like that," She stared at the floor. She didn't know what to say next. "When are you coming to bed?"
"Don't know I'm not really tired."
She heard him turn the shower off. He pulled open the curtain and took the towel she had in her hand. He wrapped it around his body.
"You should go to bed," He said running his fingers through his damp hair. "You had a long day. We can talk about it in the morning."
She just nodded and left out of the bathroom. It was about 30 minutes before he went back in the bedroom. All he heard was her soft breathing. He noticed how she didn't even change her clothes. He put on a pair of boxers and laid in bed beside her. He ran his fingers across her cheek. He knew she had been crying because he felt the dry tears alongside her face. He pulled her close to him, kissed her temple and drifted off to sleep.
"What do you mean you still don't know, Olivia?"
"I don't Melinda. He's not the same man I met 4 years ago."
"Olivia, open your eyes. That man is working his ass off trying to get you to forgive him and gain your gratitude again. He even came back."
"No one asked him to."
"No one had to ask him to."
She looked at Noah sitting in front of the TV. His eyes were glued to SpongeBob, another show that'll easily direct his attention away from whatever's going on around him. She glanced back Melinda.
"Where's Fin?"
"He's at Terry's with Ken."
Olivia noticed how she said Fin's ex-wife's name. She said it as if it left a horrid taste in her mouth. She had her suspicions that Melinda didn't like Terry or that Terry was very fond of her. Melinda adored Ken and actually respected his homosexuality.
"You haven't told Fin about Trevor, have you?"
"Of course not. But you know he's going to find out sooner or later, along with those other detectives and Don, right?"
"I know. I'm just not ready for that yet."
"So you're going to wait till the kids 15 years old to tell your friends."
She held up her hand. "Hold on. You and Fin are my friends. Nick and Amanda are coworkers. That's it, nothing more."
Melinda looked at Olivia. The silence overflowing them besides the sound of Sandy singing about going back to Texas. Even though Olivia has seen this particular episode more times than she can attempt to remember, she never got tired of that song for some odd reason.
"Aunt Linda." Noah said breaking the quietness.
"Yeah hon."
"What's a Texas?" He asked not taking his eyes from the screen.
"Texas is a state."
"A state," He reiterated in amazement. "Is it big?"
"Really big."
"What about fast cars?"
"Those too. There are a lot of fast cars in Texas."
A commercial came on the TV, losing interest in Noah's attention. He turned around and laid on his stomach, kicking his feet in the air.
"Can we go Texas?"
Melinda smiled. "You'll have to ask your mommy."
Noah turned to Olivia. "Texas Mommy, please? They got fast cars."
"I don't know. Texas is really hot."
"But they got fast cars."
"We have fast cars here too, Noah."
"But Texas has faster ones," He whined. "Aunt Linda said so."
"Well, maybe Aunt Linda can take you."
Noah shifted his attention back to Melinda. "Ok," He turned back around to face the TV.
"I still can't get over how adorable that kid is."
Olivia smiled. "Yeah, he is."
"You've got to give him a chance. If not for you," She pointed to Noah. "For him."
"He's playing with my head Melinda."
"How is he doing that?"
Olivia sighed, looking at the TV screen. "He-He kissed me."
Melinda looked like she did a double take. "What, when, where, what did you do?"
"It'd be nice if there was one question at a time."
"Sorry," Melinda took a deep breath. "I'm ready."
"He kissed me yesterday night."
"What was he doing here?"
"He spent the day with me and Noah."
"What did you do?"
Olivia shrugged. "Nothing."
"Nothing, you had to do something, what do you mean nothing?"
"I mean nothing."
"Where'd he kiss you, cheek, lips or forehead? Come on, I need details."
"The lips."
"Oh my god. Ok, I have to ask. Olivia, do you still love him?"
She placed her head in her hands and shook her head. "I honestly don't know. He hurt me, badly."
"But…," Olivia looked at her strangely. "There's always a 'but'."
"But deep down, I still might. I really don't know." She rubbed her eyebrow. "I need some water. You want anything?"
"I'm good."
"Ok." Olivia stood from the couch and walked towards the kitchen. Noah, who's attention was distracted for the whole conversation, stood up for the first time since Melinda had gotten there earlier. He walked over to the couch. Melinda picked him up and set him on her lap.
"Aunt Linda."
"Yeah."
"Is the man my daddy?"
Melinda choked on the saliva that was trailing down her throat. That question caught her completely off guard.
"Noah, uh," Melinda set him more sturdier on her lap. "What man?"
"The tall man."
Melinda had no idea how to respond to this conversation. Especially coming from a 3-year-old.
"What's he look like."
Noah raised his arms as high as he could. "He's really tall." Noah then pointed to his eye. "His eyes are like mines."
"Hon, why would you ask me that?"
"'Cause, I saw them kiss. Mommy's and daddy's kiss. Icky"
Melinda smiled at the comment. "When did you see them kiss?"
"Don't tell Mommy."
"I won't."
Noah shook his head. "You have to promise."
"I promise."
"Night-night."
"Night-night? Why weren't you in bed?"
He just shrugged his shoulders.
"Maybe you should ask your mommy if the man is your daddy."
"Can you, Aunt Linda?"
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because you're a big boy and that's what big boys do."
He nodded and looked back to the TV.
"Let me get this straight Tommy-"
He frowned. "It's Thomas."
Olivia ignored him. "Tommy, you raped her, strangled her, and cut her finger off. You must've really hated her."
"The bitch says I raped her."
"She's not saying much of anything now," She slapped the morgue photos on the table. "But the DNA is speaking loud and clear."
"You've got a good imagination sweetheart, but unless I hear the words Thomas raped me, I'm leaving."
"We don't need words if you have forensics, Tommy."
He laid back in the chair. "You're bluffing."
"Try me."
"I'm not taking any chances. I'm entitled to an attorney right, I'd like to use one now."
"Innocent men don't need lawyers."
"I know how you detectives work, especially female ones."
"And how's that?" She questioned leaning farther into his face.
He leaned in until they were eye-to-eye. "You make people guilty."
Olivia gave him one last stare down before leaving the room. She found Cragen, Amanda, Nick, and Fin watching through the 2-way.
"Well he's not going to cooperate." She said placing her hands on her hips.
"You did good, Liv. You spooked him a bit." Cragen said knowing she was blaming herself for him lawyering up.
She looked at him. "But it's never good enough, is it," She looked around. "Where's Barba?"
"He's on a temporary reassignment in Boston."
They all shot him the same look simultaneously indicating they had no idea.
"What do you mean a temporary reassignment?" Fin asked.
"He's doing some work in Boston for a while."
"How long is a while, he's coming back, right?"
Cragen nodded.
"Then who's our prosecutor then?"
"A man who I have no doubt will make our lives a whole lot easier prosecuting cases."