Two updates in two (okay, three) days? Has hell frozen over? No, I just wanted to get this done while it was fresh in my mind. Anyway, enjoy.
Olivia grinned and pulled up her panties. "I'll be here when you get back."
Charles walked over to the door with a smile on his face. In that moment everything was perfect. He opened the door and his face fell. "Pauline?"
Pauline looked at him and nodded. "Charles," her voice was shaky, almost as if she was crying but no tears fell from her eyes.
Olivia heard a voice and picked up his shirt, slipping it on. "Charles, is everything okay?" she asked as she made her way over to him, seeing a blonde woman who looked distressed.
Pauline looked at Olivia and her demeanor changed, suddenly she was no longer looking distressed, but angry. "Who the hell are you?"
Olivia was taken aback. "I could ask the same question to you."
Pauline glared at her. "I'm his ex-wife, the mother of his children. And you?"
Olivia looked up at Charles and smiled. "I'm his girlfriend."
Pauline scowled. "So you're his whore?"
Olivia covered herself, clutching the shirt closed and she sank behind Charles, who spoke up. "I know you didn't just call my girlfriend a whore. Pauline, you need to leave. I don't even know why you're here. The girls are at school."
Olivia left them to fight it out and she got redressed and walked over to the two of them. "Charles I need to get back to the squadroom for a couple of hours before I pick up Noah from school. I'll see you when I get back," she whispered and kissed him softly. "It was nice to meet you Pauline," she said and slipped out, not giving either a chance to respond.
Charles watched her leave and then looked at Pauline. "You see what you did?"
Pauline rolled her eyes. "Is this one at least honest about her age or is she pretending to be in her 20's too?"
Charles glared at her. "Leave, before I call the police."
Pauline scoffed. "Fine, but she's going to be just like the others." She turned and walked away.
Charles massaged his temples and closed the door before picking up his phone and texting Olivia. "I am so incredibly sorry for Pauline. She never should have said those things to you."
Olivia stopped on the way and picked up a salad for lunch and was just sitting down at her desk when she got his text. She read it and let out a sigh and texted him back. "It's fine, I'm okay." She sat down and picked at her salad when Fin walked in. "What's going on?" she asked, looking at her computer screen.
Fin looked at her. "That was not an hour and a half."
Olivia shrugged. "Something came up. So I grabbed lunch on the way back and came back here." She looked at Fin. "What?"
Fin shook his head. "You've got a thing for your editor, don't you?"
Olivia sighed. "Not that it's any of your business, but we're dating." She looked down at her salad. "His ex-wife showed up and called me a whore. I left."
Fin looked at her. "Did he at least defend you."
Olivia nodded. "He did, but I was embarrassed. So I left."
Fin crossed his arms. "Liv, I just want to see you happy, and you've been happier than I've seen you in a long time… until today."
Olivia smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "I love him, Fin. More than I've ever loved another person who wasn't my child. But whenever something like this happens, it's the beginning of the end. I don't want to lose him. I just want to be happy… not for a little while, but forever. Is that too much to ask? To just… be able to be happy?"
Fin looked at her. "It's not too much to ask. And if this guy loves you the way you love him, it won't be the beginning of the end."
Olivia nodded. "Thanks Fin," she replied with a small smirk. "Now, enough about me, get back to work; I have a couple of hours before I leave for the day, Noah has a showcase today at his dance studio, and I promised to pick him up from school."
Fin nodded. "You deserve it, Liv," he stood up and walked out of her office and sat at his desk.
Olivia worked for a couple more hours and then packed everything up, and headed out for the day. "Fin you're in charge, I'll see everyone tomorrow." She walked out of the squadroom and headed to Noah's school, picking him up and heading back to Charles' brownstone. They walked in and she looked at Charles. "Hey," she said gently. She looked at Noah and smiled. "Why don't you go practice for tonight, I need to talk to Charles, okay?"
Noah nodded. "Okay mommy!"
Olivia watched him run off and she leaned against the counter, not making eye contact with him. "I'm sorry I left the way I did earlier," she said gently.
Charles wrapped an arm around her. "Don't apologize, it's absolutely okay. I'm so so sorry."
Olivia shook her head. "You don't need to apologize, Charles." She looked at the floor. "Just promise me this isn't the beginning of the end for us, okay?" She finally made eye contact with him. "Promise you won't start to look at me as a whore."
Charles wrapped her in his arms. "I promise you, I'm not going anywhere, and I will never see you as a whore." He looked down at her and lifted her chin. "I love you," he whispered and kissed her softly.
Olivia smiled and kissed him back. "You know what I told my sergeant? I told him that I just want to be happy, and not for a little while. I want to be happy forever. And I want to be happy with you forever. I don't want your ex to be the reason we break up."
Charles smiled. "I don't want to break up with you, I want to be happy with you forever too. I just want to hold you for as long as you'll let me."
Olivia looked up at him and wrapped her arms around him. "Hold me forever," she whispered.
Charles kissed her and picked her up. "Let's sit in the library for a little bit, I'll hold you on the chair."
Olivia grinned. "I'd like that."
Charles carried her over to the chair and sat down, holding her close. "I'm right here, my love." He kissed her temple and rubbed her back.
Olivia smiled and closed her eyes. "I'm glad that this afternoon isn't the beginning of the end for us. I'd be devastated, and I think I'd give up on love. To go from someone who is so perfect for me to not having that… I'd give up."
Charles stroked her hair. "Tell me about your reaction to Pauline."
Olivia shrugged. "I should be used to it. I've been called a whore for well over forty years. Everyone from my mom, to old boyfriends, to perps have called me a whore. Or worse. It was just… she said in front of the man I love more than I've ever loved a man in my life. I was embarrassed and scared we would be over and I panicked, so I left. Again, I'm so sorry about that."
Charles lifted her chin and kissed her passionately. "Hey, I'm not leaving because of a name. I'm not leaving at all. You're not getting rid of me."
Olivia smiled wide. "I don't want to." She kissed him again for a moment before pulling back. She looked at her watch and gasped. "I need to get ready for the showcase tonight." She kissed him again. "I'll be down in a few minutes."
Charles watched her get up and watched her walk away. He smiled and saw Noah run down the steps and he smiled at him. "Hey kiddo. Ready for tonight?"
Noah nodded. "I am." He thought for a second. "Hey, Charles, are you going to be my daddy? It would be awful nice to have a daddy. I'm the only one in my class who doesn't have one."
Charles smiled. "Well, Noah, I'd like that, but it's really up to your mom. And I don't know if she's ready for me to ask that question yet."
Noah looked at him. "Are you gonna come tonight?"
Charles smiled. "Tonight is just you and your mom, but she promised to record your dances for me."
Olivia walked down in a black dress that fell to her knees, showed a little bit of cleavage and had cap sleeves. She added a little curl to her hair and wore it down and had on a pair of black stilettos along with a necklace that had a diamond pendant hanging just below her clavicle and a pair of diamond studs. "Noah, are you ready, sweet boy?"
Charles stood up and Noah looked at his mother as Charles approached her. "You look stunning," he whispered and brushed her hair behind her ear, looking into her eyes. "Breathtaking. And I already can't wait for you to get home."
Olivia looked up at him and smiled. "Home?"
Charles smiled. "Move in with me? You and Noah? You're here all the time anyway, save money on your electricity bill?"
Olivia chuckled. "Well, I should talk with Noah about it on our way to the studio, but I'll have an answer when we get back h— here." She looked into his eyes and kissed him gently. "See you in a bit."
Noah ran over and took Olivia's hand and looked up at Charles and smiled. "Bye Charles!"
Olivia smiled and the two of them walked to the dance studio. As they walked Olivia looked down at Noah. "Noah, sweetheart, what do you think about moving into Charles' house with Charles and Bianca and Nicole?"
Noah looked up at her. "I think that'd be fun. It'd be like we were all a family." He stopped and looked up at Olivia. "Mommy, is Charles going to be my Daddy?"
Olivia knelt down. "I don't know, Noah. I'd like it, but it's up to him. I'm not sure that he's ready to ask the question yet."
Noah shrugged. "Why don't you ask?"
Olivia smiled. "Well, traditionally the man asks the woman," she said gently. "But I don't want to push him into things too fast. I don't want to scare him away. I like him a lot Noah. I love him. You are the only person I love more," she said gently. "Of course my love for him is different than my love for you. You know what? It's complicated. How about we get to the studio so I can see you dance and record it for Charles."
Noah smiled. "Okay, as long as you don't wait forever for him to ask you."
Olivia stood up and thought to herself. I'd wait forever if it meant I had him, and that he'd be your dad. "Let's go," she smiled and they walked into the dance studio and Olivia took a seat while Noah went to warm up.
Once the showcase started she was glued, only taking her eyes off of the dancing when she needed to record, and to her surprise Noah not only had a duet with a little girl named Sasha, he had a solo. She cried as she watched through her phone screen. He beamed and she clapped as soon as he finished each number. Her boy was happy and that's all she wanted.
After the showcase, they walked back to the house and she saw Charles, knowing the girls were with Pauline she sat on his lap and kissed him gently. "Yes," she whispered.
Charles looked at her. "Yes?"
Olivia grinned. "Yes, we'll move in with you." She kissed him again. "One moment." She looked at Noah. "Sweet boy, why don't you go get ready for bed okay? You must be exhausted."
Noah yawned and nodded. "Okay Mommy." He ran upstairs to get ready for bed.
Olivia turned back to Charles and kissed him passionately. "I love you Charles Brooks. And yes. I can't wait to move in with you. Officially," she shrugged. "Once Noah's in bed, I'll show you his dances. He had a duet and a solo and he's wonderful. Then after, we can pick up where Pauline interrupted us this afternoon?"
Charles smirked. "I love you Olivia Benson. Bianca, Nicole, and I are so excited to have you and Noah move in."
"You know what Noah said on the way to the studio? He said living here, we'd be like a family. I think that's what he… what we want. We both want a family. Outside of my squad, though you, Bianca and Nicole will gain them too. But we want a nuclear family of sorts. Because right now it's just the two of us."
Charles smiled. "We'd happily grow as a family."
Olivia kissed him. "You could talk to me forever and read the phone book and I'd be captivated."
Charles smiled. "How about we cuddle up on the chair and you show me some of those videos of Noah, that way you and I can climb into bed once Noah does."
Olivia smiled. "I'd like that. A lot."
A/N: Thanks for reading, leave a review if you feel like it. Song Beneath the Song is up next. See you soon.
