"Momma's home," Alex called out as she kicked the door shut behind her and dropped her briefcase to the floor listening for the sounds of her wife and children.

"Kitchen," Olivia called back letting Alex know where they were.

Alex walked into the kitchen and smiled at her wife of eight years and their three children, Michael, Andrew, and Elizabeth. Olivia had gone out on medical disability from the department five years prior after being injured, once again, on the job. She had been trying to rescue a little boy in a boarded up building when the floor gave way beneath her. Upon landing, Olivia had shattered her right leg and fractured her back in three spots.

This injury had caused old wounds to surface between them again. Olivia was determined to work again and not be a kept woman and Alex was just as determined to have her alive and by her side forever. When the doctor had told her that she would never again return to a uniform, it had destroyed her and almost destroyed their marriage. Olivia had become withdrawn and, at one point, moved out of their bedroom and back to the room down the hall. Alex had given her the first night alone, but on the second night, she had marched walked right into the bedroom and crawled right in bed with her. Olivia had ordered her to leave that she was useless to her and begged her for a divorce. Once they had finished the shouting match at each other that rivaled any other before, they had broken down in tears and held each other till emotional exhaustion caused them to pass out.

Once they had reached a stable point in their marriage once again, Alex approached Olivia about them having children. She would be the first to tell you she had never once saw herself as a parent and that it was a tactic to keep Olivia by her side. Granted, it was not the right reasons to approach them becoming parents, but it turned out to be their greatest accomplishments and made Alex possibly the happiest woman on earth.

Once they had discovered that Alex would never be able to have children due to the internal damage she received at the hands of Jess, Olivia agreed to carry their child. What neither of them counting on was Olivia never being able to carry a child to full term because of the multiple injuries she had sustained on the job. After suffering through a second miscarriage, Alex decided that they would either adopt or find a surrogate mother, but they would not be putting themselves through that pain again.

Michael and Andrew were twin boys who parents were killed by a drunk driver when they were a year old. The only family that was left to care for the boys was their elderly grandmother who lived in an assistant living facility. With a heavy heart, she decided to give the boys up for adoption so that they could have a better life.

Once Trevor, the grandmother's family attorney, had discovered that the boys were being put up for adoption, he had immediately called Alex and offered them a private adoption. After a brief discussion with the grandmother, they had agreed upon the adoption with the stipulation that the grandmother was to remain in the children's lives. This had brought the grandmother to tears because she knew that it was best to give them away, but hated the thought of never seeing them again.

It wasn't until after they had signed the papers that they had received the biggest shock of them all. Marilyn, their surrogate mother, was pregnant with their child, a little girl. Within a matter of months, they had gone from a couple only wanting one child to being the parent of three children. If you ever asked Alex, it was the best thing that ever happened to them.

"How was your day?" Olivia asked as she struggled to keep the look of pain off her face as she straightened up.

"It was another day of hearing how bad one person can be to another," Alex sighed as she walked in and pulled a chair out motioning for Olivia to have a seat, "What do they need?"

"Juice, juice, juice," The boys began chanting together along with Elizabeth trying to copy them, causing both women to laugh.

"I'm sorry I'm home late," Alex said as she poured the boys cups of juice. She hated when she had to work late and she hated it even more when she could tell Olivia was in pain from over doing it with the children. She had offered to hire a nanny to come over while she was gone to assist in chasing after the three children but Olivia had refused the help, "I'll see if I can't rearrange my schedule tomorrow so I can be home by lunch and you can have a break."

Olivia grabbed Alex at the waist and pulled her into her lap despite her protests kissing her soundly on the lips. She knew that Alex hated the days that she had to work late and felt guilty about leaving Olivia all the work to do with the kids. Even though she would never admit it to Alex, she really did wish she was home more especially on the nights that she bit her lips to keep from crying out in pain when she moved.

Alex sighed happily as she wrapped her arms around Olivia's neck and closed her eyes. She could remember a time when that she thought love was being beaten and raped on a nightly basis. Then she met this wonderful woman who convinced her to reveal her deepest and darkest secrets to her. A woman who with that knowledge became her knight in shining armor and showed her what true love was. It was Olivia who showed her that, even at the darkest of times, there would be a light at the end of the tunnel and for Alex she would always be her guiding light.

A/N: I can't believe this story has now come to a close and to be honest I'm actually a little sad to see it go myself. I would have to say that this story has become a big part of my life while writing it. I want to thank everyone out there who has stuck with me and made this long and at times educational story possible. I hope that I have given this story the closure that it so justily deserved.