Alex was exhausted. She had been at work since 6am and now, 13 hours later, she was finally letting herself into the apartment.

"Carolyn?" she called quietly, hoping that her sister wouldn't have put Maisie to bed yet. She could hear Lily chattering in the background, so she knew she was still up.

It was on days like this that Alex sometimes wished that Olivia had a less-demanding job. Her wife had been on duty for over 30 hours, she realized when she looked at her watch and, apart from one text earlier in the day, had not had time to make any further contact.

Olivia's case was complicated and extremely time-sensitive, Alex knew. But that didn't stop her missing her. So she was utterly delighted to see not Carolyn, but Olivia walk toward her, with a freshly bathed Maisie in her arms.

Olivia was smiling as she approached her. She kissed her deeply, yet so gently. "Hey, hot stuff," she said, as she passed over their sleepy younger daughter.

"You're home," Alex said.

"I'm home," Olivia smiled. "You look exhausted, Alexandra."

"Right back atcha, Benson. I'm so pleased to see you. And you," she smiled at Maisie, who grinned back. "Momma," she said.

Alex hugged her tight. "So where's your sister?" she walked toward the living room, where Lily was playing with Wiggle on the floor.

Lily looked up, her face creasing with delight. "Mommy!"

Alex sat on the couch, smiling as the tired Maisie snuggled into her. She patted the seat next to her. "Come tell me about your day," she instructed Lily, who was also in her pajamas. "Did you have your bath with Maisie?"

Lily nodded. "Mama gave us a bath. She says we can give Wiggle a bath tomorrow, as it's the weekend. Can we Mommy?"

Alex laughed. "Of course you can, baby girl. And since it was your Mama's idea, she can help you," she grinned wickedly at Olivia.

Olivia pretended to give her the stink-eye, making Lily giggle. She handed Alex a glass of wine, earning a look of pure gratitude from her wife.

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"So you broke him?" Alex asked, as they ate their dinner after putting the girls to bed.

"Yeah," Olivia stifled a yawn. "Eventually. Nine hours."

Alex leant across the table and touched Olivia's hand tenderly. She knew that even the successful interrogations could take it out of Olivia – and the lack of sleep in the preceding few days had only made this one worse. Olivia was struggling to hold it together, that much was obvious to her. "You don't have to be brave for me," Alex said softly.

Olivia nodded. She swallowed. "I know," she said after a beat. "I just don't think I can face any more of it tonight."

Alex nodded. "Okay," she whispered.

Olivia pushed her plate away. Alex noticed that she had eaten less than half, but she didn't comment. She took a few more mouthfuls of her own meal, and then collected both the plates, scraped them and put them in the dishwasher. She put a soft hand on Olivia's shoulder. "Bed," she suggested.

Olivia nodded, but made no attempt to get up from the table. Alex guided her gently to her feet. She looked anxiously into her eyes, seeing the all-too-familiar look of pure devastation on Olivia's face. She cupped her cheek, and kissed her on the lips.

Alex pushed Olivia into the bathroom to wash up first, and helped her into her warmest, flannel pajamas when she emerged. She then went to the bathroom to brush her own teeth and wash. When she returned, Olivia was still sitting on the side of the bed, seemingly too tired to even get into bed.

Alex helped her under the covers, and slid in next to her. She gathered her in her warm arms, relieved to have her back with her. She would bounce back, Alex knew. By tomorrow morning, there would be no apparent trace of the harrowing last few days – or at least none that anyone else could spot. But Alex would know. Every time Olivia had to deal with a case, it hurt her soul. Alex hated to see her suffer, but she knew that it was her vulnerability that made her so effective.

Olivia buried her face in Alex's front, and finally started to relax. She had held it together at work, and again when she got home, because she couldn't bear her daughters to be affected by her job. But Alex knew. Alex always knew. And though it pained Olivia to know that she couldn't protect Alex from the evil that she saw every day, it was also a relief. Knowing that her wife understood. Knowing that she didn't have to pretend. She felt Alex's hand rubbing soft circles on her back. She felt safe.

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It was nearly 10am when Olivia rolled to the side and realized that she was alone in bed. She peered at the clock, barely able to believe her eyes. She had slept for over 12 hours.

She went into the bathroom and peed, then shrugged on her robe. She smiled at the sight before her. Lily was sitting on the floor, with Maisie sitting between her legs as they both played with Wiggle. Alex emerged from the kitchen, looking, to Olivia's eyes, as beautiful as she had ever been. Olivia loved it when Alex wore no make-up, and today she looked so young and fresh.

Alex passed her a cup of coffee. "You look better," she said in a quiet voice.

"And you look unbelievably beautiful," Olivia said.

Alex grinned. "Melinda and Rosie are taking the girls for a couple of hours this afternoon. Maybe we can schedule in some … alone time," she kept her voice low.

"Oh God yes," Olivia felt a quickening in her. It had been eight days since she and Alex had made love, an almost unheard-of drought in their usually very active love life.

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Olivia pulled a still-panting Alex to her, and kissed her soundly. She reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind Alex's ear. "Well," she said, a hint of smugness in her voice. "That was definitely worth waiting for," she kissed her again.

Alex nodded. "Sure was," her breathing was still uneven. "But then," she ran her finger across a full breast, "it always is."

"We promised to take the girls to the coffee shop tomorrow," Olivia said. "Jay says Joe and Vanessa are complaining they haven't seen them for ages."

"It's not even three weeks," Alex laughed. "They're great, aren't they? Like grandparents. Talking of which, we must see if Wheels can come too."

Olivia shook her head. "She's got lunch with her book group tomorrow. She's really doing her best, to make a life here."

"She's amazing," Alex snuggled further into Olivia. "I don't know how she does it. It must be so hard for her. Lily would be lost without her now, she's for ever telling people she's got a grandma now. And did you see her face when she fixed the timing on Jay's motorbike? Pure hero worship!"

Olivia chuckled. "I'm glad she has such positive role models. And we have such great friends, and family. She sees everyone helping each other out. That's such a great example."

"She's learning how to be," Alex mused. "I'm sure we're getting a lot of stuff wrong along the way, but then I look at her, and realize how much we must be getting right. Maisie too. Maisie adores Lily," she smiled.

"So," Olivia changed the subject. "Caryn and Abbie are off to Washington tonight. Apparently they're staying for five nights, so they can get four chances at the clinic. I hope they can do it. I'd never have thought of Caryn Wright as being maternal, but she's a natural with Daniel."

"If a little unorthodox," Alex laughed.

"You're kidding? She's more traditional than Abbie! According to Abbie, Caryn's set up a jar, and she has to put in five dollars every time she swears in front of Daniel. She says it's costing her a fortune. But she's trying, Caryn says."

"Very trying," Olivia said, drily. "So," she stroked Alex's arm. "We haven't really talked about a schedule, have we?"

"Schedule?"

"For us. If we're gonna try for another baby. I was thinking, maybe after Maisie's birthday. That's only seven weeks away. I mean, we could try and get in one go before but, in the unlikely event it takes, I could end up throwing up all through her first birthday party! Remember how sick I was last time?"

Alex blinked. "You still wanna do it?"

Olivia sat up and leant on one elbow. "Of course I do, honey. Why? Did you change your mind?"

Alex shook her head. "Not me. I was just worried you might have. And I didn't want to put you under any pressure. Not with the way work has been lately."

"It's only because work's been so crazy that we haven't talked. I still want to try, if you do?"

"More than almost anything," Alex whispered.

"I'll work out the dates, and book it for as soon as possible after Maisie's birthday then, huh? I'll call them on Monday."

"Are you sure?"

"Very sure. Now see if you can sleep for an hour. You've been crazy too, and we've got until 5pm before Rosie brings the girls back. You're going to need all your strength, if we're gonna have three kids running around," Olivia teased.

"Piece of cake," Alex said, sleepily. "We'll train Wiggle to babysit."

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"So?" Sarah smiled as Jay welcomed her in the door, and pushed her toward the couch, where she had been sitting with the laptop for the past few hours.

"Wait there," Jay instructed, as she disappeared into the kitchen. She was back a few minutes later with two steaming mugs of tea. She laughed. "Well, you can take your coat off."

Sarah laughed, shrugging off her jacket. "I forgot," she said. "C'mon, you sounded so excited on the phone. I'm sure I've come home without half the groceries we need."

"We can get take out," Jay smiled. "Look," she showed a website to Sarah. "This looks perfect. It's a correspondence course in plumbing, and it's got regular training weeks all around the country. And I can do the ones I need to at a time that suits me! You don't have to go to all the courses, but it says I really should do the one on working with gas, and there's another one on basic electricals I should do. And once I've done enough, and studied a lot, I can take the examination, and then I'll know if I'm ready to get a job! They even have a huge network of plumbing companies who are happy to take on apprentices, so I can continue learning on the job. It's perfect." She looked so happy that Sarah's heart filled with joy.

"That's wonderful, Jay. Are you sure it's what you want to do?"

"Completely," Jay said. "I can stay with the Fire Department while I'm training, and I can take two weeks' vacation time to do the courses. That's the only drawback, I'll be away from you."

"Where are the courses?"

"This first one's in Baltimore, in August. That one's about working with gas furnaces. I'm not sure about the second one yet, it depends on how well I've got on with the rest of my studies. But I'll try to make it as close as possible."

"I've never been to Baltimore," Sarah said, with a smile. "I'll come with you."

"But you'll be bored," Jay protested.

"I'll find plenty to do. It's supposed to be a fascinating city. And," she toyed teasingly with the top button of Jay's shirt, "you know how a hotel room makes me horny."

Jay's mouth went dry.