A/N: Wow! Glad to know there's an interest in this story. Ask and you shall receive...a longer chapter for you all! Thanks for all the reviews, follows, and favorites! Your comments make my day.
Alex paused as she turned toward her purse and shuffled through it. She pulled out her wallet and tugged at the photos inside of it, shoving them into Olivia's hands. "Please, I love them and they deserve to be around family after losing both of their parents to a drunk driver."
Olivia took the photos and shuffled through them, looking at pictures of Ben at birth, six months, a year, a year and a half, and two. She then shuffled through pictures of Lexie's ultrasound, Lexie at one month, at two months, three months, and then at five. She knew all the ages because she had the same exact photos framed at her apartment. She turned to the last one, a picture of Alex in between Claire and Adam, both of them hugging her with huge grins on all of their faces.
Instead of responding, she reached into her back pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She handed it over to Alex and waited as she unfolded it and looked down at the faded picture that she had printed a month ago and kept at her desk when she was feeling down.
Alex looked down in shock at the picture of Olivia holding Lexie in one arm with Ben sitting on her shoulders, the brunette's other arm stabilizing Ben. Olivia was grinning widely as she looked down at Lexie swaddled up in a pink blanket. Ben had pieces of Olivia's brown locks in each of his hands and his lips were puckered out as if he was trying to kiss the top of Olivia's head. "Who are you?"
Olivia looked back up at Alex as she took the photo and shoved it back into her pocket. "I'm Detective Olivia Benson, NYPD Special Victim's Unit. I met Claire eight years ago as a beat cop when I found her beaten and bruised in the rain. I took her down to the precinct, gave her some clean clothes and got her dried off. She broke down and told me about her abusive boyfriend and I encouraged her to press charges."
Alex opened her mouth, about to call her on her lie, knowing that she was the one who pressed charges against him only seven years ago. "She told me that he would kill her so I convinced her to stay at my apartment while I hunted him down. It took me a week before I was able to arrest him but she refused to press charges after he sent one of his friend to rough her up a bit."
Olivia licked her lips as she pulled out her chair and sat back down, Alex following her lead. "She fled from my apartment and I never saw her again until almost six months later. She had a broken a wrist, half a dozen broken ribs, and two black eyes. I took her straight to the ER and hunted him down once more. I arrested him and lied, saying that I allowed him to make one call when I didn't because I knew he'd call someone to go after Claire."
Alex couldn't believe what she was hearing. She knew that Claire had tried to go to the cops before the case was passed onto her but she didn't imagine it being that bad. "I convinced Claire to press charges but we didn't have an ADA at the time so the case was turned over to Homicide's ADA."
"That was me," Alex whispered, hoping not to stop the brunette from continuing her story.
Olivia looked up at her in surprise, now realizing that the blonde was an ADA. "The ADA, uh, you I guess, got him ten years. She came back to thank me after the trial. She uh, she told me all about you." Olivia paused as she looked up into ice blue eyes which somehow seemed to warm up as the seconds ticked by.
"She said you convinced her to move on and restart her life. She told me that she really wanted to but she didn't have the money so I gave her five thousand, all I had left in my bank. She got an apartment and I helped her get a job working as a victim's advocate at a local precinct."
"I kept asking her where she got the money from," Alex whispered as she chuckled softly. She remembered arguing with Claire about the money, begging Claire to tell her the truth. She was afraid that Claire had made a deal with someone she shouldn't have and tried to convince her to return the money and that she would replace it with her own funds. Claire had said no, insisting that she had already done enough for her and paying her five grand might look suspicious after Claire testified in a trial of Alex's.
"She fixed her life and finally called two years later when she met, and I quote, 'the man of my dreams' which was Adam. She offered to pay me back for the money I gave her but instead I asked to be invited to her wedding as payment."
"I don't remember you there," Alex stated as she eyed up the brunette, wondering how she could forget such a gorgeous yet haunted face.
"Unfortunately I was in a hostage situation on their wedding day so I missed it. I sent my apologies and visited them after their wedding and honeymoon, apologizing profusely. Anyway, she sent me pictures when Ben was born. She invited me to come over and Ben took to me easily. It became a common occurrence for me to visit, I guess. I loved Ben with all I had and Claire and Adam were like the family I never had."
Olivia looked down at her lap and the blonde wondered momentarily what she could mean by that statement. "When they had Lexie, I was ecstatic. I helped them repaint their baby room and set up new furniture for her. I missed the day she was born though because I was in the hospital myself but Claire insisted that Adam bring little Lexie to me so that I could hold her."
Alex remembered Lexie's birth. She was there beside Claire and Adam the entire time and held Lexie after both of them had. She was surprised when Adam had insisted to take Lexie to another room but never questioned it much because she returned her attention to Claire and Ben instead.
This time, Alex spoke up, recounting her side of the story. "I think you've already gathered that I was the ADA that sentenced Claire's ex. We stayed in touch over the years when she was getting back on her feet. Adam is like a brother to me. We met when we were younger and grew up together. I actually introduced Claire and Adam on accident. Adam was visiting me on a business trip when Claire came to my apartment, jumping up and down because she got a promotion. Adam though she was cute and they chatted for a bit in my kitchen."
She laughed as she remembered Adam asking about Claire the moment Claire had left her apartment. He wanted to know everything there was to know about the young blonde. It was merely two months later that Adam relocated to be closer to Claire after they started dating.
"They started dating shortly after and I was the maid of honor at Claire's wedding. I was by their side when Ben and Lexie were born and I cried when Adam asked me to be their godmother." The last portion of her sentence came out as a whisper. She unconsciously ran her finger underneath her eye to catch any tears that might've strayed out.
Before the women had a moment to talk about it, the door burst open once more and a frantic looking Paul came in with two stacks of paper. "Ladies, the contract," He stated as he pushed them toward Alex and Olivia, keeping his distance.
They both wasted no time in grabbing pens and scribbling their names on all the marked places for signatures. Normally Alex wouldn't be so hasty and would've read the contract thoroughly but all she wanted in this moment was to hold her niece and nephew close and never let go.
"Where are they?" Alex questioned as she signed her named on the last line and slid the packet forward.
"Jennifer?" Paul called and the door creaked open just as Olivia pushed her contract toward Paul as well. She turned just in time to see Ben peek his head through the door with red eyes and dried tears across his cheeks.
"Antie Wexie! Antie Wivia!" Ben cried out as he pulled away from Jennifer's grip on his shoulder and ran the short distance to them. Alex wasted no time in dropping to her knees so that Ben could jump into her arms.
"Oh Ben, my sweet baby boy," Alex cooed as tears finally spilled over. She wrapped her arms tightly around the little boy and cupped the back of his brown locks, pulling him as close to her as humanly possible. "Oh my sweet boy." It was only then that she registered the sharp pitch cry coming from Lexie.
By the time she got to her knees, Olivia was cradling Lexie in her arms, rocking her soothingly and shushing her as she did so. She felt a pang of jealously course through her as she watched Lexie quiet down and open up her little blue eyes, looking up at Olivia curiously and then lovingly, as if the six month old somehow recognized her.
"There you go Lexie, what a good girl," Olivia cooed as she rearranged Lexie and propped her against her chest so that her head was on her shoulder. Wide blue eyes landed on Alex and she felt her heart skip a beat as she walked over to the small head of wispy blonde locks. She cupped the back of her head and kissed Lexie's forehead gently.
"My sweet little girl," She whispered as she pressed another kiss to the crown of her forehead. "Oh how I've missed you so much." She straightened up and avoided the urge to pull Lexie out of Olivia's arms. Instead, she cleared her throat and readjusted Ben. "If you'll be kind enough to carry Lexie down to my car I can take them home and get them settled in."
Olivia raised an eyebrow at the blonde. "And what makes you think they're going home with you?"
"Well obviously I have the means to take care of them," Alex stated, immediately regretting it as she saw the flash of anger cross Olivia's features. "I mean, I have a three bedroom apartment which will fit them comfortably."
"And I have an office that I can easily convert to a room for them," Olivia argued back. "Plus I've already baby-proofed my apartment because they were going to visit me next week."
"But you're a cop."
"Detective," Olivia growled, warning the blonde to watch herself.
"Your job is dangerous just the same and you can't take days off. You're on duty all the time. You're crazy if you think I'm going to let you leave them alone with some random babysitter."
"And what about you?" Olivia shot back as she held Lexie closer to her. "You're a lawyer who is always in court. You think you can care for them any better? Just because you can hire a more expensive babysitter? Besides, I already took two weeks off of work."
Before Alex could cut in, saying she took time off as well, Paul spoke. "Actually, uh," He paused as both women turned to him with glares. "You two can't separate the children and you all have to go to the same home."
"Excuse me? Says who?" Alex snapped as she stepped closer to Paul.
"Says the contract that you just signed!" He cried out as he took a step from Alex. "You both signed it, without reading it which is stupid might I add." Alex shot him a glare that he ignored. "You agreed that one of you must move in with the other in order to raise the children. There is no way around it, trust me, I consulted other lawyers as well after meeting you two."
"Oh my god," Alex muttered as she walked over to the table and snatched the contract. She flipped a few pages before pausing.
"Please tell me he's wrong," Olivia pleaded as she stood next to Alex.
The blonde continued skimming for a few seconds as Ben squirmed in her arms. "Antie Wivia?" He sniffled and rubbed his leaking nose on his fist before reaching out for the brunette.
"Hey buddy, give your Auntie Alex a moment and then I'll hold you."
"You will not be holding him," Alex snapped as she pulled Ben back to her. "It's okay Ben, I'm going to take you home with me and Lexie is coming with us."
"So the contract…?" Olivia questioned.
Alex turned to the brunette. "He's right. You have to move in with me."
"Excuse me?" Olivia growled as her eyes widened. "I am not just going to move in with you. Are you out of your mind? You can move in with me! I have to go to work every day and for all I know you live hours away from here!"
"And you don't think I have work? I have a larger home than you. Three bedrooms and two bathrooms. There is no way that I'm going to share a bedroom with you in your single bedroom apartment. And I only live half an hour from here. You're moving in with me or you're relinquishing your guardianship of these two."
Olivia gaped at the bluntness of the blonde but technically she was right. With three bedrooms and two bathrooms they could both completely avoid each other while still being close enough to take care of Ben and Lexie. The brunette swallowed her pride and looked at Paul once more, waiting for him to say that he was just kidding. "Fine," She grumbled as she watched Alex straighten up and hold Ben closer to herself. "What's your address?"
Alex looked taken aback slightly as she looked over to Paul and then back to Olivia. She pulled on the brunette's arm, tugging her to the side so that Paul couldn't hear them. "Are you crazy? Do you honestly think I'm going to let you, a complete stranger, come into my apartment? You can stay at your own da—" She stopped herself from cursing in front of the children. "You can stay at your own apartment and visit when you'd like but I must be there."
"No. No way. You don't get to take them from me like that. Either I move in with you or you move in with me. Isn't that right, Paul?" She questioned, turning toward him. Alex scowled at the immaturity of the detective to turn to Paul rather than dealing with this on her own.
"Uh, yes. That's what the contract says and if either of you break it, the children will be placed in foster care. They made it clear that you two are to be co-parents and living together is a requirement." Paul looks between them for a few seconds before speaking again. "I don't think they meant that you had to be together sex—"
"SHUT UP!"
"WATCH YOUR MOUTH!" Alex and Olivia both screamed at Paul who immediately shrunk in place.
"Oh my god, this is a disaster," Alex muttered as Ben squirmed in her arms once more.
"Auntie Lexie," Ben whispered, his speech clearer after he stopped crying. "Potty."
Alex suddenly started laughing, shaking her head. "Oh my god what am I going to do," She mumbled to herself.
"I can take him, Alex," Olivia offered up.
"There is no way in—that I'm going to let you take him to the bathroom. I don't know who you are and what you do to child—"
"Stop," Olivia growled out as she used her free arm to grab onto Alex's arm. "Don't you dare finish that sentence. I work for the Special Victim's Unit for Christ's sake. Don't you ever accuse me of being some pedophile. I work with children for a living and I have taken care of children on multiple occasions. While it's obvious that you've never changed a diaper or taken Ben to the bathroom, I have. In fact, I babysat them all the time so that Adam and Claire could have a date night. I don't care if you don't trust me because they did and that's all that matters. Now either take Ben to the bathroom or take Lexie from me so that I can."
Alex stared her down for a few seconds before lowering Ben to the ground. Before she took Lexie, however, she kneeled down at Ben's height. "Hey buddy, are you okay with Olivia taking you to the bathroom?"
"Auntie Livia?" Ben questioned as he looked up at the brunette with a grin. "Auntie Livia! Teached me potty wit Mommy." Alex seemed satisfied with that answer and rose up again and reached out for Lexie.
"I'll be back in five minutes or less, okay? Sometimes he likes to play with the toilet paper," Olivia whispered, causing Alex to grin slightly as she thought of Ben spinning the roll until it all came out. Once when she visited Adam and Claire, Ben came running out with his shorts around his knees and a trail of toilet paper behind him, screaming 'Auntie Lexie'.
"Okay," Alex mouthed, no words coming out even though she meant them to. She reached out and allowed Olivia to place Lexie comfortably in her arms. Once she was there, she pulled the little girl close, inhaling the lingering baby scent that Lexie still carried. She kissed the little girl's forehead repeatedly, earning an amused giggle from her.