32.

Noah sat at the dining table in his booster seat, shirtless, and picked at his breakfast. Very slowly he took a spoonful of the oatmeal, lifted it, and let it drop back into the bowl.

"Glop, glop, glop," he murmured and then repeated the action.

For the moment, his parents were distracted. Ed was on his way out, earlier than usual, and he planned to catch Chief Dodds before police business made him unavailable for the rest of the day. Olivia moaned a little at his tender goodbye kiss. When he broke away he stayed close, played with her hair, smirked, and whispered, "See ya in a couple hours."

"Okay." Olivia smiled back at him lovingly, "You know, you don't have to do this."

"I wanna get it outta the way, Liv." Last night as they lay in bed, Ed announced his plans. He would see the Chief, explain everything—how he saw the encounter, how he was a protective dad, a cop…anything to smooth things over so Olivia didn't have to pay the price at work for her husband's reaction.

Olivia straightened his tie. "I know. I appreciate what you're doing, I wish—"

"I woulda told you Sarah was crazy from the beginning?"

They shared a laugh and Ed remarked, "I think I would almost rather talk to Dodds than her right now."

"Well, lemme know how it goes."

"I will." He gave her one last peck and went over to Noah. From the other side of the island, Olivia watched as Ed questioned Noah about not eating and then gave him a kiss and a hug.

"Love you, bud."

"Lubbyou Daddy!"

"See ya later, alright? At the concert?"

"I da LION ROAR!"

Ed chuckled, "I know, pal. I'll listen for it." He shot one last smirk at his wife and child, and added "Love you two" before he left. Olivia swore she saw a hint of trepidation in his features before he disappeared down the hall. The door clicked shut and Olivia sat next to Noah.

"Why aren't you eating breakfast, sweet boy?"

"Want bagel wiff creecheese," Noah replied matter-of-factly.

"We don't have bagels here right now. So, eat your oatmeal. And, this weekend, we can go shopping and you can pick out what you want."

Noah regarded his mother skeptically, "T'morrow Sunday?"

"Saturday."

"Get stawberry bagel?"

"Sure."

"I play soccer?"

"You have one last game tomorrow and then your team party is the next Saturday. And you have swimming tonight. We have a busy day, sweet boy! So, eat your breakfast."

Olivia swore Noah rolled his eyes. However, he picked up his spoon and began gingerly scooping oatmeal into his mouth.

"Good boy," Olivia mussed his hair, "Finish eating and then we'll get your lion shirt on for the concert."

"I gonna ROAR, mommy!" He announced through a garbled, oatmeal-filled voice.

Olivia smiled, "I can't wait to see it, Noah."

….

A contrite Ed Tucker was led to the Chief's office by a young assistant. Dodds sat behind his desk with the phone wedged between his ear and his shoulder. It was so early, Ed assumed the phone call was all for show, but, nevertheless, the Chief muttered something, said good bye, and peered curiously at his guests.

"Have a seat, Tucker," he instructed and waved off the assistant. "What brings you in?"

Ed inspected his face for marks of yesterday's altercation. Dodds' lower left jaw may have been a tad swollen, but one had to look closely to see anything out of the ordinary.

"I think you know what brings me in," Tucker replied sardonically.

The two men glared at one another for a few moment until, finally, Dodds pressed his lips together and sat back casually in his chair. "Ya got a nice shot on me, Tucker, I'll grant ya that," the Chief said wickedly.

Tucker waited.

"I'm not goin' to IAB," Dodds said, expecting Tucker to appear relieved, but he only more tightly clenched his jaw. "You're welcome." He added pointedly.

Ed was not about to thank him. "Whatever was goin' on…is goin' on," Tucker muttered through clenched teeth, "Is not my business…until I think my daughter is getting hurt."

"She wasn't getting hurt," Dodds protested, "We're both intense people. That's what you saw."

Having no desire to discuss whatever was happening between the Chief and Sarah and also acknowledging that Sarah was an adult and had to handle these things herself, Tucker got up and moved to leave. One thing lingered in his mind, thought, and he spun around just before he stepped out of the office. He had to make sure there was no mess for Olivia to clean up, but he had to make sure without actually being direct.

"Preciate you not makin' a big deal about this," Ed mumbled.

Dodds smirked as if he read between the lines. He'd take the sliver of gratitude. "See ya around, Tucker."

Ed cringed inside as he strode down the hall, thinking, I'll be damned if he sees me around.

…..

The preschool spring concert was held in the chapel of an adjacent church and, at first, Ed felt weird walking into the place. He hadn't set foot in a church since he confronted Eugene last March. The uneasiness didn't last long. He located Olivia and Brooke among the two dozen or so other families and as he shuffled to take his place next to his wife, Noah's voice rang out.

"It my Daddy!"

All heads snapped around. Noah was already on the risers and his teachers were organizing the kids and giving last minute instructions. Every audience member but Ed was seated. Little Noah jabbed the air with his index finger but was careful not to jump on the narrow standing area. Ed waved at him and mouthed, "Hey, bud!"

"We didn't get a greeting like that," Brooke teased.

"Well, I did bring him here," Olivia said.

"I didn't. I came in just like he did," Brooke shot back with mock jealousy.

Ed slung his arm along the back of the pew, and Olivia instinctively inched closer to him. "Everything go okay?" She inquired softly.

"Yep. It's not goin' any further."

She patted his knee. "Good."

The concert lasted less than an hour. The children ended the program with a Jungle Book related song and Noah, with five other boys, rocked the house with their collective roar. When they were dismissed, Noah came bounding over to his spectator triad, "You hear da ROAR?"

"Sure did!"

"It was great!"

"You were loud, No! Great job!"

"We pactis!"

"I can tell!"

"Have my LION shirt!" Noah slapped the screen-printed image on his t-shirt.

"Yep—it's perfect, No!"

The three adults looked over the heads of the other parents and adult guests and collectively wondered how long they had to stick around. As she scanned the crowd, Olivia caught the eye of Amelia and waved her over.

"Hi Olivia!" She said and leaned down to give Noah a squeeze, "Hola, Noah!"

Noah clung to Ed's leg shyly and whispered, "Dis Daddy."

Amelia smiled at Ed and shook his hand before returning her attention to Noah, "And how do we say Daddy en espanol?"

"Papi!"

"That's right!"

"He really loves speaking Spanish," Olivia said, "Thank you so much for all the work you do."

"Oh, it's my pleasure. I can't wait to be a teacher one day. Hopefully, I'll be able to get a job at one of the dual language schools."

"Yeah thanks," Ed added. He introduced Brooke and mentioned she was a teacher, but neither Brooke nor Amelia appeared eager to talk further about the profession. Amelia excused herself when another parent called her over and the Tuckers were once again alone together in their little huddle.

"Liv, you goin' back to work?"

She scanned her phone, "Yeah, I have to, busy day. Lucy's meeting us at home."

"Well, people," Brooke said, "I'm off to shop. I'm on dinner duty tonight, so I figure I'll practice the dish first just in case."

"Good luck," Ed said, clearly not confident in his daughter's culinary skills.

"Thanks Dad," Brooke replied sarcastically.

Olivia put a reassuring hand on Brooke's shoulder, "I'm sure it'll be great."

"I'll keep ya posted." Brooke hugged and kissed Noah and went on her way.

Ed and Olivia each took one of Noah's hands and they meandered down the street. Noah skipped a little and practiced his kicks as they walked. Ed kept sneaking glances at his wife. Soon, Olivia noticed and smiled a little wider each time.

"Busted?" Ed asked shyly.

"Busted." Olivia confirmed.

"Friday," Ed pointed out, "Dinner and a movie?"

This was not a common suggested and Olivia couldn't hide her surprise. "I'd love to…but I'm on duty tonight and tomorrow. Want me to risk it?"

"In your professional opinion, what are the chances of you getting called away?"

Olivia twisted her lip as she did mental calculations, "Let's see…warm spring night. School's out. No holiday. I'd say…high."

"Gimme a number."

"Sixty percent?"

"I'm gonna gamble," Ed proclaimed, "Think Lucy can stay? I'll pay her whatever it costs."

"I'll check."

Ed shot her a satisfied smirk and then nudged Noah, "Hey, bud, you mind if I take Mommy out on a date tonight?"

"Nope!"

"We'll see if Lucy can take you to swimming and you and Lucy can have your own little date," Olivia suggested.

"Date, date, date," Noah chanted as he hopped from foot to foot, "Date, date, date."

Ed took a look around, sizing up the street scene and the pedestrians, "Yep, mommy and I are going on a date…and I'm…I'm pretty sure…city seems safe tonight. No interruptions."

…

The date had to be shelved. As soon as Olivia returned to the precinct, she and the squad were flooded with calls and spend the majority of the evening on three separate investigations. When the Lieutenant determined there was nothing more SVU could do for the night, she sent everyone home and worked a little longer at her desk. It was just after eleven when she arrived home. At first she tiptoed in, thinking Ed was probably dozing on the couch, but when she emerged from the foyer she noticed the shadow of flickering candlelight on the wall. The dining table was set for two. Two glasses of red wine had been poured and soft jazz played in the background. On cue, Ed appeared from the back hallway with a cocky expression on his face. He was deliciously casual in a navy t-shirt and khaki shorts and he stood, arms akimbo, admiring his war-weary wife who still had her purse slung over one shoulder and her cell phone in the other hand.

"What's all this?"

"Our dinner and a movie."

"Oh?"

He stepped forward and looped a finger between the leather purse strap and her arm, "Lemme take this." He grabbed the phone next, "And this. And you can go get changed."

"Thank you."

He kissed her cheek softly. So softly that it was almost more erotic than one of their deep, open-mouthed, aggressive liplocks.

She changed quickly into an outfit similar to Ed's—shorts and a t-shirt—and took her place at the table. He served them—chicken over rice with assorted vegetables—put the serving bowls back in the kitchen, and joined her before immediately popping back up.

"Forgot the extra sauce…for the chicken," he explained. "Want a little more?"

Olivia didn't, but she took some anyway.

Ed raised his wine glass, "To dinner and a movie."

"To dinner and a movie," Olivia repeated, cocking her eyebrow and keeping her eyes locked on him as she sipped. She had no idea where he'd procured the food, but she didn't ask.

"Long day, huh?"

"It was one of those where you keep thinking it's gonna end and then it…never ends."

"Squad still there?"

"No…nothing more we could do tonight."

"Wonder how Brooke's dinner turned out."

Olivia laughed, "She ended up copying our shrimp."

Ed chuckled along with his wife, "You suggest that?"

"I did," Olivia replied, her eyes sparkling. The Tuckers were proud of their lemon-garlic-salt-and-pepper shrimp with olive oil over angel hair pasta.

"Dangerous, though, with the pasta. Ya know, with Carisi."

"Right? Well, I don't know. He'd fake it."

"Yeah…he would." Ed chewed a bite and swallowed, "I like that guy." Olivia simpered back at him but said nothing. "What?"

"Nothing," Olivia said sweetly, "I just never heard you say that about Jeff. Or…anyone for that matter."

"Now that is not true," Ed shot back good-naturedly, "I like a lot of people."

"But you never say it."

"I say I like you." He leaned forward, over their plates for a kiss. "C'mere."

"I like you, too, Captain."

He smirked proudly. "Speaking of liking people, or not, that terrible woman who said that crap about Amelia? She invited Noah over sometime to play. I said you kept our calendar."

"Do we have a calendar?"

"No, I don't like her so I blew her off."

Olivia winked at him, "Good job, now I'll avoid her at all costs and we'll be all set."

"We make a good team, Liv."

"We do."

They continued the small talk for the rest of the meal. Ed filled her in on his evening with Noah and reported he was sniffling a little when they left the park after throwing the football around. Noah had been rolling all around in the grass chasing after the ball, so Ed figured it could possibly be an allergy. He bought Children's Benadryl on the way, but after a bath Noah was fine. Olivia listened to all of this with a silly smile on her face. In fact, she missed several details. Having Ed tell her about these mundane details sent her into a dreamy, pleasant trance.

The next topic was a possible vacation.

"I was thinkin," Ed spoke cautiously as if he were certain his idea would be received with derision, "How 'bout out west? Yellowstone? Tetons? The mountains? I've only been there once and I was just a kid then. Unless…you'd rather do the beach."

Olivia took a few seconds to consider the idea and also to soak up the excitement radiating from Ed's face. "I'd love to go to the mountains with you."

A relieved smile crossed his face, "I'll start lookin' tomorrow."

"Okay."

"Wanna start the movie?"

Olivia hadn't really believed there was a movie in the works. "Um, sure. What are we watching?"

"How 'bout The American President? Oldie but a goodie?"

"I love that movie. Out here or," she jerked her head towards the hallway, "Back there?"

"Out here," Ed suggested, "Got strawberry shortcake for dessert. Want some?"

The hopefulness in Ed's eyes ruled out a "no" and the curiosity in Olivia's expression probably warranted an explanation, but Ed held off. Strawberries? Whipped cream? It sounded like a recipe for messy lovemaking. However, tonight Ed wanted to cuddle on the couch with his wife and watch a move they'd both seen dozens of times. It was something special between them—when they'd first started seeing each other, The American President somehow became a topic of conversation and it was one of the first non-cop things they realized they had in common.

Olivia went along with his plan, and, as she nestled into him and fit her head into the spot on his shoulder that seemed made just for her, Ed knew she understood.

….

#Tuckson