A/N: Well guys, this is the last chapter. I truly appreciate all who took the time to, not only read, but review and express your opinions. I hope you enjoyed the story. There will be an epilogue after this chapter just to wrap a few things up. Again... thanks for reading.
Chapter 34: "I'll Be Home For Christmas"
Olivia was still sound asleep when she heard sounds coming from downstairs. Julia had been coming over every morning to make breakfast and help out with the baby. She glanced at the clock and realized that she had slept past eight for the first time in days and for more than a couple of hours at a time. Xander had finally fallen asleep around one am and had actually slept through most of the night. She looked in the bassinette next to the bed and saw him still asleep.
Turning the baby monitor up, she took a quick shower then found a pair of jeans and one of Alex's old Harvard sweatshirts and threw them on. The hoodie still held a hint of Alex's scent on it which made her feel just a little closer to her beloved fiancé. She managed to finish brushing her teeth just in time to hear Xander's high pitched cry. She walked out of the bathroom and lifted him from the bassinette and kissed his head.
"Someone must be ready for breakfast. Ooh and you're a little wet too. What do you say we get you changed and after breakfast maybe we can Skype your Mama and see how she's doing today? We might even be able to talk Dr. Avery into letting me bring you to visit her for Christmas in the morning. Would you like that?"
Xander made a cooing sound and Olivia took that as his answer. A quick diaper change and they were off downstairs to start their day. Olivia could hear someone moving around in the kitchen.
"Julia, I thought I told you that you didn't have to come by today. It's Christmas Eve. You should be with Bill and the rest of your family."
"Nonsense! I already told you that you are family and under no circumstance will you be spending Christmas Eve alone." Julia walked up to the staircase and smiled brightly as Olivia and the baby descended. "Besides, I have someone with me today. This particular family member just couldn't wait to come by to see you and little Xander. She's a demanding little thing."
Olivia bit her lip to keep from frowning. She wasn't really up for any visitors just yet even if it was someone from Alex's family. As she and Julia rounded the corner, Olivia nearly passed out at the sight before her. There sitting patiently on the sofa was Alex in the flesh.
Bill was placing a wheel chair behind the sofa while Julia went over and propped Alex's leg up on a few throw pillows. Olivia just stood there blinking, sure that her eyes were deceiving her.
"I'll put the spare crutches away in the guest room. I assume you're going to be staying there until you're a bit more mobile." Bill said.
Alex nodded, but never took her eyes off Olivia and her son. "Thanks Uncle Bill. That's fine." She flashed Olivia a watery smile. "Hey honey. I'm home."
Olivia's eyes filled with tears as she crossed the room and carefully sat down. She wanted to grab Alex and hold on forever, but was afraid to hurt her. Her eyes fluttered closed for a moment as Alex reached over and caressed her cheek.
"Hi." She whispered as she leaned in for a soft kiss. "What are you doing here? You're not on the lam are you?"
Alex laughed softly and rested her forehead against Olivia's. "No. My fabulous doctor thought I was doing well enough to come home and released me this morning."
"Fabulous huh?" Olivia asked with a knowing smirk. Alex just shrugged her shoulders. "Why didn't you call me? I would have picked you up."
"I know you haven't been sleeping much and Aunt Julia and Uncle Bill were more than happy to bring me home. Besides, I kind of wanted to surprise you."
"Oh you are the best surprise ever, baby. I can't believe you're really here." Olivia said leaning in to kiss her again when Xander decided to break the moment by letting out a loud wail. They both looked down at him and laughed.
"Someone hasn't had his breakfast yet. You want to hold your son while I go heat up his bottle?"
Alex couldn't seem to make her voice work. She swallowed the lump in her throat, trying her best not to cry. This would be the first time she had really been able to hold her son on her own. "I'd really like that."
Olivia carefully placed the fussy baby in Alex's arms and watched in amazement as he instantly calmed and latched on to Alex's pinky. "Hi there little man. I'm your Mama." She sniffed and wiped a stray tear away. "I have been waiting for so long to hold you. You and I have so much catching up to do."
Olivia stood and headed to the kitchen, giving Alex a moment alone. She stood next to Julia as they watched the tender moment between mother and son. Bill was across the room discretely taking a few snap shots of the moment.
"I can't believe she's finally home." Olivia whispered.
Julia could only nod. This had been an emotional rollercoaster for them all. She cleared her throat. "I've noticed that you are running low on a few things so Bill and I are going to go out and do some grocery shopping and give you two some much-needed time alone. We will be back in a few hours to help get everything settled in the guest room. I know Alexandra will want to be near you and the baby."
Olivia smacked her forehead. "Oh God, I hadn't even thought about that. She can't go up and down the stairs."
Julia chuckled. "Don't worry about it, dear. You've both been through quite an ordeal. I'm sure you've had a lot on your mind lately. Besides, we have it all in hand. Those lovely detective friends of yours, Mr. Tutuola and Mr. Amaro, said that they will be coming by later to move the office furniture and set up your bed and crib in the guest room down the hall."
Olivia felt herself tearing up for what felt like the hundredth . "Everyone has been so wonderful. I don't know what we would have done without any of you."
Julia smiled and wrapped an arm around her waist. "We're family, dear. You'll never have to worry about that."
Later that evening, Olivia and Alex had a quiet dinner alone while the baby slept in the bassinette across the room. Afterwards, Olivia began picking up the clutter that had piled up around the apartment while Alex sat on the sofa holding Xander. Olivia knew it was probably best to let him rest in his crib, but she also knew Alex had missed so much of his life in the past couple of weeks. She wouldn't dare attempt to interrupt their time together. Taking a quick glance at the two loves of her life, she went back to cleaning. She wanted to finish everything up so she could help Alex shower and put the blonde to bed soon. It had gotten fairly late and although Alex had napped throughout the day, Olivia could tell that she was still exhausted.
She glanced around the now pristine kitchen and nodded at the job she'd done before switching off the lights. When she stepped into the living room, she was met with such a heartwarming sight that she nearly wept. The lights were turned down low and the twinkling lights of the 59th Street Bridge bathed the room with an ethereal glow. Alex was sitting on the sofa with their son in her arms having what looked like a serious conversation. Olivia simply stood there and watched.
"I'm really sorry that I missed your birthday, Xander. Let's just say that I was uncharacteristically delayed by traffic. I was really trying to get there, but apparently fate had other plans for me." Alex paused and gently ran a finger over his tiny cheek. Xander wiggled and made a cooing sound. "My father… your grandfather… He used to always tell me that everything happens for a reason. We might not always understand it at the time, but there is a reason for everything. I'm not really sure why all of this happened, but I do know that it's made me appreciate every single moment even more than before. So, I'm going to make you a promise right now. I promise that I will always be there for you from this moment on. You are the most important person in my life; you and your Mommy." Alex smiled softly as his tiny blue eyes blinked at her. "Speaking of your Mommy; she is so amazing. You are such a lucky little boy to have her as your mommy. Did you know that she's a First Grade NYPD Detective? She is and she's really good at it too; one of the best that I've ever seen." Alex lowered her voice to a whisper. "Don't tell her, but she used to make me extremely nervous. That was when we first met and I had this incredibly embarrassing crush on her. I'll have to tell you all about that later. It's a really long story with lots of twists and turns. It was like we just kept missing our chance to be together, but… I think we might have finally gotten it right this time around. Anyway, as I said, she used to make me nervous, but not anymore. I'm just in awe of her now. I'm in awe that she actually chose me. I guess that makes us both very lucky doesn't it?" She paused again and glanced at the lights of the city in the distance. "I can't believe that you're really mine… my son. You know, I might be biased but I think you might be the most handsome baby boy on the planet. Just think, you could become a lawyer then you and I could go into practice together. Your good looks, intelligence, and obvious charm combined with my connections… you and I could take over this entire city."
"Why stop there? Why not take over the whole world?" Olivia said finally making herself known. She had discretely wiped the tears away from her eyes as she listed to the love of her life talking to their son.
Alex blushed slightly knowing Olivia had heard her little speech. "You shouldn't eavesdrop. My son and I were bonding."
"I can see that. You seem to already have him wrapped around your finger. I guess he takes after me in that respect." Olivia said before placing a soft kiss on Alex's lips. She then leaned in and placed a kiss on her son's head.
They both sat in silence for a long time, just enjoying being together as a family. Finally, Alex broke the tension with a soft laugh. Olivia looked at her oddly.
Alex tilted her head towards the clock. It was a few minutes after midnight. "Merry Christmas, Liv."
"Merry Christmas to you too." Olivia smiled then shook her head. "This isn't really how I thought we'd spend out first Christmas together, but we've never done anything the easy way, have we?"
Alex chuckled and shook her head. "No we haven't."
"It's still pretty amazing though." Olivia said tucking a loose lock of hair behind Alex's ear. "I'm just happy to have you home."
"I'm glad to be home."
They both looked down at Xander who let out a long yawn. "He's so beautiful, Olivia. I can't take my eyes off him. Is this how you felt when he was born?"
Olivia shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah. When I saw him for the first time, I finally understood the true meaning of love at first sight. He looked up at me with those big blue eyes and it was like we had known one another forever."
Alex kissed her son's sleeping head. "I know what you mean. I know I can't, but I just want to hold him like this forever."
Olivia watched her fiancé in silence for a moment. "You know… it's officially Christmas Day now. Would you like to open one of your presents?"
Alex shrugged her shoulders. "Sure."
"You're going to have to put him down for a second." Olivia said with a smile.
Alex pretended to think it over. "Well… I guess, but just for a second."
Olivia went over to the tree and picked up a beautifully wrapped medium-sized box. She placed it next to Alex before gently taking their sleeping son and placing him in the bassinette. Alex lifted the box and shook it for good measure. Olivia rolled her eyes playfully and told her to just open it.
Alex tore the bright red wrapping paper away and lifted the lid only to find a smaller box inside. She opened the smaller box to find yet another box. Three smaller boxes later and a lot of laughter, Alex finally lifted a small square, velvet box with the Cartier icon on it. She gave Olivia a knowing look. Olivia took the box and slowly opened the lid. Alex gasped when she caught a glimpse of a beautiful Cushion Cut Sapphire surrounded with a micro pavé diamond setting in a platinum band. It was simply exquisite.
Olivia cleared her throat. "I wanted the shade to be the same color as your eyes. I think its pretty close."
"Oh, Liv… it's… it's beautiful."
"It doesn't hold a candle to you." She took Alex's hand, slipped the ring on her finger and kissed her palm. "I know you already beat me to this, but there's always been this tiny part of me that hoped I'd be the one to pop the question if I ever had the chance. To be honest, never in my wildest dreams did I ever believe it would ever actually happen. You were this impossible dream… a fantasy really. How often does a person get to say that their fairytale came true? But I can. I get to say that and I get to wake up with the person I dreamed of for so long and it's even better than I could have ever imagined. Love has never been an easy emotion for me to express; you know that. I just always thought there was something wrong with me because of my past. But with you it's always been different… effortless even." She smiled softly and took a breath. "I know I'm not the easiest person to love and being with me means putting up with a lot, but I know without a doubt that you are the person I'm supposed to love and spend the rest of my life with. I guess you fixed me… because I can honestly say that I love you beyond my heart, Alex. I love you from my soul. I just wanted you to know that."
Alex hadn't bothered to try to wipe her tears away. She simply smiled through them as she leaned in and kissed Olivia. She pulled back and caressed her beloved's face. "You are so wonderful, but there were two obvious fallacies in that beautiful speech."
Olivia laughed. It was just like Alex to point out a false statement, even in the middle of a declaration of love. "Oh really, Counselor?"
"Yes. There was never anything to fix and you are… by far the easiest person to love…" Alex whispered as she pulled Olivia close and kissed her soundly. "… and I'm going to love you for the rest of my life."
The End… Epilogue to come