Sorry I'm updating so slowly. Turns out I've had the flu, so I'm updating when I can, I promise. Enjoy this update.


Olivia watched Noah run up the stairs and heard the door slam. She turned and looked at Charles. "I'll be right back," she whispered and gave a small smile. She followed him up the stairs, leaving Charles with his girls. She knocked gently on the door. "Noah, can we talk?" When she didn't get an answer she turned the knob and walked in, seeing him laying on the bed. "Sweet boy," she walked over to the bed and sat on the mattress. "Talk to me," she whispered, and stroked his hair.

"Why were you kissing him?" He didn't make eye contact.

Olivia took a deep breath. "Noah, when you get older, you're going to want to kiss and be close to people you really like, to— to see how it feels. If it feels right, if it feels good," she whispered. "I really like Charles, honey. And he really likes me."

Noah rolled to face her. "What about my dad? Did you love him? Did you like him as much as you like Charles?"

She let out a breath, feeling like the wind was knocked out of her. That was the last question she expected. "I— we… Noah…"

He looked at her. "Don't lie to me mom! Did you love him?"

Olivia closed her eyes. "Noah, honey, I uh… I didn't know your dad very well. I didn't know him at all until after you came into my life." She held his hands. "This isn't how I wanted to tell you, but…" she felt tears well up in her eyes. "I didn't meet him before you were born."

Noah looked up at her, seeing the tears in her eyes. "How is that possible? Don't you need a mom and a dad to make a baby?"

She nodded. "You do. But, not all families are made the same way. Noah, I love you so much, and I loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you. And I haven't told you this because I didn't know how. There are some… big things that are complicated for a kid to understand, and I wanted to protect you."

He looked at her. "I don't understand."

Olivia nodded and bit her bottom lip. "I am your mom, your mommy, but I didn't give birth to you. We don't share the same DNA. Grandma Sheila, she was Ellie's mom. And Ellie is the one who gave birth to you." She picked him up and sat him on her lap. "I've always wanted to be a mom, Noah. And once I was financially stable and out of college, I tried. In so many ways, I tried to have a baby of my own, but it never worked. Then one day, I found this adorable baby boy, and they didn't know who his parents were, or where they were, and after a few months, the judge decided to let me take a shot at being his mommy, and then a year later, that same judge made it permanent." She felt the tears rolling down her face. "I didn't tell you because Ellie, the woman who gave birth to you, she was really sick, and she got hurt by a lot of people, and she died. Your father…" she hated using that word to describe Johnny D. "He wasn't a very nice person, Noah. He hurt Ellie, and a lot of other women, he died too." All for the better. She thought. "You, Noah Porter Benson, are my son. I swore that the day the judge made the adoption legal, and that hasn't changed."

Noah looked up at his mother and wiped her tears. "I'm sorry I got so upset mommy," he whispered and hugged her tight.

She hugged him back. "I'm sorry you had to find out about Charles that way. And I'm sorry I didn't tell you about your birth parents. I didn't know how to tell you, especially about your birth father. I've looked up a lot of ways to talk to your kids about adoption and being adopted and they all said not to speak negatively about the birth parents. They're the reason you have your child. But I can't speak positively of a man who hurt so many people. I don't know how, Noah. But, he is a part of the reason you're sitting here in my arms. And I am so lucky that you're my son."

He looked up at her. "What if… what if I'm like him?"

Olivia took a deep breath, all the things about their pasts were coming out today. "Noah, my dad… he— he hurt a lot of people too, including my mom, and I'm nothing like him. I protect people, and you, sweet Noah, bring joy to so many people's lives, you are nothing like your father, and you don't have to be, okay?" She kissed his forehead.

Noah looked up at his mother. "Is Charles going to be my dad?"

She smiled a bit, opening her mouth to speak. "Uh, I don't know sweetie. It's still so new. Maybe. I guess we'll have to see, huh?"

He hugged his mother. "I like him."

Olivia smiled. "Me, too, love. Me too." She hugged him tight. "How about we go back downstairs and talk to Charles and the girls?" She and Noah got up and walked back downstairs into the kitchen. She walked over to Charles. "Everything good?"

Charles smiled and kissed her cheek. "They were just a little shocked. Noah?"

She smiled and saw the kids talking. "I had to tell him he was adopted." She looked up at him. "He asked if I loved his father, if I liked his father as much as I like you," she felt his arm around her. "Not how I wanted him to find out, but… I told him what I could, skipped all the graphic details," she looked into his eyes. "Wound up telling him a little about my father."

He wrapped her in his arms and held her tight. "You okay?"

Olivia nodded. "I think so. We should probably order dinner," she whispered and looked up at him.

Charles smiled and kissed her lips quickly before calling the kids over. "Okay, kids, we're going to order from Shake Shack, what does everyone want?"

She stayed close to Charles and looked at the menu. "I want a cheeseburger, share some fries?" She asked him in nearly a whisper. "Vanilla milkshake, that's nice and thick," she whispered in his ear, gently biting his ear lobe.

He looked down at her. "Tease," he whispered and kissed her forehead. He got the kids orders and placed the order on the app. The kids ran off to play and he stood behind her, his arms resting on the counter, on either side of her. "I want you," he whispered and kissed her neck.

Olivia gasped and gripped the counter. "I want you, too. But not yet, later. The longer we let this build, the better it will be." She turned in his arms and giggled when he lifted her onto the counter. "We should talk. Really get to know each other. The sex is wonderful, but I want more, Charles. I'm too old for casual sex. I want this… us… I want us, Charles."

Charles ran his hands over her thighs. "So, what do you want to know? I'm an open book."

Olivia took his hands. "Why did your last relationship end? Not your marriage, after."

Charles kissed her knuckles. "I should probably tell you, it was Liza."

She raised an eyebrow. "Liza, from your office Liza?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I was intrigued by her the moment I met her. Then I found out she lied. To a lot of people. I didn't want anything to do with her, and then I saw why she lied. I forgave her, and we gave it a go. In the end, she was always in love with someone else. So I let her go."

Olivia caressed his face. "Lucky for you, you are my only gentleman caller. No competition. But even if there was…" she shrugged and smiled. "I'm sorry you got hurt."

Charles smiled. "I'd do whatever you needed me to do in order to be able to endlessly be the man in your life."

She smiled and bit her bottom lip. "Your turn."

He caressed her face. "What was your longest relationship?"

Olivia thought and laughed, tears in her eyes. She saw a mix of confusion and worry in his eyes. "I'm okay," she wiped her eyes. "My old partner after we'd been working together for eight years, I showed up at his apartment in the middle of the night, we sat on his stoop and we talked. I distinctly remember saying to him, 'You're the longest relationship I've ever had with a man. Who else would put up with me'?" She smiled and looked at him. "Platonically? 12 years with my old partner. Romantically? I had two separate 2 year relationships. And since then I've kind of… given up. Until now. Who wants a 50 something police captain who has seen the worst of what the world has to offer?" She looked into his eyes. "But then… this gorgeous man swept me off my feet, and is helping me publish my memoir," she caressed his face. "And I'm just praying I don't fuck things up with him."

He cradled her face in his hands, caressing her cheek with his thumb. "You won't," he whispered and kissed her softly. He broke the kiss gently and smiled. "I believe it's your turn."

Olivia smiled. "Okay, what is the craziest thing you've ever done?"

Charles pulled her closer, his hands gently squeezing her thighs. "You really want to know? I may have to plead the fifth."

She kissed him gently. "You've got full immunity."

He smirked. "I had sex in the stairwell of the Met."

Olivia let her jaw fall open. "How? That has to be covered in security cameras."

Charles smirked. "We had to get creative, but no one suspected, at least we weren't asked about it, and it was so good, only made better by the thrill of the fact that anyone could walk in at any time."

She ran her hands over his chest. "Public sex, huh?" She smiled and pulled him closer by the loops of his pants. "Anywhere else?"

He smirked. "Not sex, just a really hot make out session in the stairwell at the office. What about you, any public indecency in your past?"

Olivia but her bottom lip. "A few times. Mostly from when I was in college, before I went into the academy, but uh, a few years ago I went to the Bahamas on vacation with an ex and we had sex on the beach a few times. Middle of the night, no one around. I came back with a hellish yeast infection." They shared a laugh. "And for some reason I've always had a fantasy of having sex in the back of one of the crown vics we use. Not the ones the unis ride around in, their back seat is plastic and now I can't imagine car sex in general is comfortable in a car that small, but on hard plastic, no thank you." She smiled.

Charles grinned, feeling her legs wrap around him. "Well, we could always have sex in the back of my Mercedes SUV, nice and spacious, it won't even have to be public. Or we can sneak up to the roof and have sex up there," he whispered. "Or we can stay private and relegate ourselves to the inside of the brownstone or your apartment.

She kissed him gently. "The roof might be romantic. But we'd have to have someone stay with the kids," she whispered and giggled, burying her head in the crook of his neck. "Go up there with a blanket and a bottle of champagne, some strawberries," she whispered in his ear. "Make love under the moon and the stars. Just the two of us and the universe."

He caressed her cheek. "That can definitely be arranged. But before anything, I want to take you on a proper date, dinner, dancing, a walk along the Hudson, anything for you."

Olivia looked at him. "I'd like that," she whispered. "I'd like that a lot." She kissed his knuckles. "We kind of got off track when it came to getting to know each other, didn't we?"

Charles smiled, wanting to go into a grandiose explanation that what they were talking about was right on track, but the doorbell rang and he placed a peck on her lips. "We've got forever to get to know each other. Call the kids down for dinner," he whispered and winked.

She was stunned and watched him walk away, one word playing over and over in her head. Forever. They had forever, if they wanted it. And she did. She wanted it. She gathered herself and walked to the bottom of the staircase. "Bianca, Nicole, Noah, dinner's here!" She heard them come downstairs giggling.


A/N: Alright, leave a review, I'm not sure what update will come up next, it may be the final chapter of 5 stages. I haven't really been able to get it out of my head. And then Pretty Woman. I don't know. Anyway, like I said, leave a review and I'll see you in the next one.