Sarah squeezed Jay's hand. "I can't wait to see her face," she whispered. She had just handed Olivia a large, loosely gift-wrapped box, and Olivia was carrying it carefully to Lily.
"This is an extra-special birthday gift," Olivia said to Lily. "If you sit there real quietly, I'll put it next to you on the couch. But you gotta be real careful opening it, and real quiet."
Lily had no idea what to expect, so she did what her Mama told her. Very carefully, and barely breathing to make sure she kept quiet, she lifted the lid off the box. She gasped when she saw the wriggly puppy inside. She looked up at Olivia, and then over at Alex. She looked back in the box. "Is he for me?" she asked, awestruck.
"He is, angel," Alex blinked away her tears. "He's your doggie now." She sat on the other side of the box on the couch. "Want me to pass him to you?"
Lily nodded, lost for words. Gently, Alex lifted the pup from the box, smiling as he wriggled and tried to lick her face. "Here you go," she lowered him into Lily's lap.
"Can I touch him?"
"Of course you can, baby," Olivia told her. "Just remember that he's little, and you'll be fine."
Lily stroked the dog's head, and giggled as he turned and licked her enthusiastically. He squirmed excitedly in her lap, eventually rolling on to his back to demand a tummy tickle. Lily's face radiated joy. "What's his name?" she asked.
"He doesn't have one yet," Olivia said. "We thought maybe you'd like to name him. Do you have any ideas?"
"I wanna call him Wiggle!" Lily declared. "'cos he's all wiggly."
Alex laughed. "Well, I think that's a great name. What do you think, Grandma Wheels?" she turned to their elderly friend.
"It's perfect," Wheels beamed. She knelt by the couch, and stroked him gently. "You're a very lucky puppy," she said. She straightened up, and laughed. "My knees are too old for that," she grinned. She looked around her, and her heart filled. On days like this, she felt May's absence even more acutely than usual. But she also realized that she still had a lot to live for. The room was filled with Alex and Olivia's friends – her friends too, now. She watched Joe and Vanessa fuss over Lily on her birthday, and smiled. She looked over to one of the armchairs, and she saw Casey holding baby Maisie, who was just about asleep. Casey rocked her gently, whispering quietly to her.
Wheels looked more closely. Casey seemed tense, and the smile that she was wearing didn't quite reach her eyes. In the large gathering, she seemed a little apart, as if she didn't feel confident enough to join in fully. More than once, she had glanced at her watch.
Wheels approached Casey, and perched on the side of the armchair, reaching out to ghost her fingers over Maisie's blonde hair. Casey looked up and smiled at her. "She's so special," Casey said. "So fresh, and innocent."
Wheels nodded agreement. "They're both special little girls. And they both adore you," she smiled. "Lily loves it when you come to the park with them, or if you see them there."
Casey gave a small, sad smile. "I love kids," she said, quietly.
"D'you think you'll have your own?" Wheels sensed she half-wanted to talk.
Casey shook her head. "Charlie has a lot of problems. They could be hereditary. And … well, it wouldn't be fair on a kid. Well, would you look at that?" she changed the subject, as she gestured to the nine-month-old baby in her arms. "Somebody's gone to sleep." She got carefully out of her chair. "I should probably put her down for a nap, d'you think?"
Wheels nodded. "Her bedroom's over here, let me show you."
Wheels stood back as Casey lowered the slumbering child into her crib. She was watching her carefully, so she didn't miss the small wince that Casey gave as she caught her ribs against the side of the crib. Casey quickly masked her pain. "Is she okay like this?" she asked.
"That's perfect," Wheels said, as she peered over. "Any moment now, she'll move from her back and settle on her side. There she goes," she smiled. "However you put her down, that's how she ends up. And she loves it if you rub her back a little, that's it, just like that," she nodded approvingly at Casey's actions. Casey should definitely have children of her own one day, Wheels decided. She had a natural touch.
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"Grandma Wheels, come look at Wiggle!" Lily ran up to her, giggling. "He's done a tinkle all over Mommy!"
Alex was looking distinctly unimpressed, as she tried to pull her wet shirt away from her body. Olivia was holding the small puppy, and was almost helpless with laughter at the expression on her wife's face.
"He didn't mean it," Olivia gasped out.
"And that's supposed to help me how?" Alex's tone was icy. "I'll leave you to soak the cushion cover while I shower," as she stalked away, she winked surreptitiously at Lily, so that she knew that she wasn't really angry. "And you're booking those obedience classes first thing tomorrow," Alex called over her shoulder as she opened the bedroom door with a flourish.
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Olivia spent the next 20 minutes setting up the pen in the laundry room, where they had agreed that Wiggle would spend any unsupervised time, so that accidents could be easily mopped up from the linoleum floor. Lily brought the puppy to watch the preparations taking place, and as soon as everything was firmly in place she started putting Wiggle's toys, blanket and water bowl in place inside. "He won't have to spend all his time in here, will he Mama?" Lily was concerned.
"No, baby girl. We just need somewhere to put him when we're real busy, so that we know he's safe when we can't be with him."
"Like when we're having dinner?"
"Exactly that. But I expect he's going to be spending nearly all of his time with us. But, since he's not quite house-trained yet, and we don't know where he's gonna tinkle, I think maybe we should always have a towel under him when we're holding him, don't you?"
Lily nodded solemnly. "I don't think Mommy's really cross," she whispered to Olivia.
Olivia laughed. "I don't think she is either. I think she was just trying to make us laugh."
"I resent that," a grinning Alex said from the doorway. She was dressed in clean jeans and a loose, white shirt. "I'll have you know, I am incandescent with rage!" she took the puppy gently from Lily, held him close to her face, and addressed him in a serious tone. "You should know, Wiggle Benson, that having a whizz on one of the city's most highly respected ADAs is a very serious offence."
Lily giggled.
"Silence in the court, please," Alex kept a poker face.
Lily giggled again.
"So, Wiggle. I would like to know if you intend to offer any defense, or should we move straight on to sentencing?"
Olivia could have sworn that Wiggle grinned as he stuck out his tongue and licked Alex on the tip of her nose.
"I see. Well, in that case, you're forgiven. I can offer you a full pardon," Alex hugged him to her.
Lily grabbed a towel from the pile on the chair. "Mama says we should hold him with a towel, just 'til he learns not to tinkle on us," she advised sagely.
Alex took the towel, and slid it under the dog. "I think that is an excellent idea, Lily. Hey, this looks good," she gestured to the pen. "We can maybe sit in here with him from time to time, so he gets used to it and won't be sad if we sometimes have to leave him in here," she stepped over the wooden side, and sat herself in the middle of the pen.
Olivia lifted Lily over the side so that she could join them. "I'll bring you a glass of wine," she winked at Alex.
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There was much hugging and laughter as the party dissipated early evening. Wheels watched Casey closely as she hugged Alex, noting that she was being careful of her side. "I'll walk you to your car," she said quietly.
"It's okay, I'm catching a cab," Casey said.
"I'll wait with you," Wheels was firm. She didn't want to embarrass Casey in front of her friends, but she did want just a moment alone with her. As they left the building, Wheels touched Casey's arm. "It's none of my business, I know," she said softly. "And I'm guessing you know better than most where to go to get help if you need it. But," she passed her a piece of paper. "This is my address, and it has my home number as well as my cell on it."
Casey opened her mouth to object.
"Don't," Wheels said gently. "You don't have to say anything. I just want you to know that I'm here for you, any time of the day or night. I have an empty guest room, and I won't ask questions. If you need me, call me."
"I won't need you," Casey muttered, her face white.
"Then it's all good," Wheels said brightly. "And look, there's a cab."
Casey opened the cab door. She turned back to face Wheels. "Why are you doing this?" she asked, her voice little more than a whisper.
"Because my granddaughters adore you. And I happen to think they are right. You're a special person, Casey Novak. Never forget that."
Casey reached out and touched her hand briefly. "Thank you," she said softly, and climbed into the cab.
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"So our baby's five," Alex turned and looked at Olivia as she snuggled under the covers that night.
Olivia nodded. She reached out to touch Alex's face gently, and smiled. She kissed her softly. "It was a great day, wasn't it? Did you see Caryn, trying to ride Lily's bike?"
Alex grinned. She picked her cellphone up from the nightstand, waving it. "See it? I got video! I'll bet Petrovsky would love to see this!"
"You wouldn't?" Olivia laughed.
"You're right. I wouldn't. But Caryn doesn't have to know that," Alex chuckled.
"You, Counselor Benson, are a very wicked woman," Olivia kissed her again.
Alex nodded. "You want me to show you just how wicked I can be?" she was already unbuttoning Olivia's pajama top.
Olivia's mouth went dry. "Oh yeah," she said. "Oh God yes."