As always...I love your comments! They motivate me to keep working on these :)

The next week flew by in a crazy whirlwind. Work held her with a death grip, and she didn't have any time to see Elliot. Or Noah really. The school emailed her a list of things Noah needed to bring. She took a quick look and realized she had none of those things. She ended up forwarding the email to Elliot, asking him what things he already had, and what things she needed to go buy. He told her he had everything on the list, but she suspected he went out and bought Noah any of the things he didn't already have on hand. Liv felt tempted to ask him how much he spent so she could pay him back, but she knew he would just insist he had everything in storage or whatever.

To his credit, Noah was serious about being prepared for the trip. He and his friends watched all the safety videos provided by the school, and a few other wildlife information videos so they could start their life science notebooks.

The day arrived too quickly, and Olivia was a bundle of nerves as she drove to the school bright and early on the Saturday morning. Noah buzzed with excitement, and he continued fiddling with his backpack, checking and rechecking the items there.

"Elliot said he'd meet us at the school right?" Noah asked anxiously.

"Yep," she affirmed. To be honest, Elliot would probably beat them there. Hell, he would probably already be best friends with the bus driver.

"I'm glad he could come," Noah's voice bounced with energy. "Colton and Jace's dad couldn't come because of work so I'm glad someone I know is gonna be there."

Olivia was too. The closer this got, the more nervous she got, and the only thing that kept her from changing her mind was the fact that Elliot would be there. If her son insisted on sleeping in the godforsaken woods, at least he had Elliot with him, and she knew Elliot would do everything possible to keep him safe.

She smiled in the rear view, "I'm glad too."

They pulled into the school's auxiliary lot, and parked near the bus where other parents were starting to gather. Before she had a chance to turn the car off, Noah already had his seatbelt off and backpack slung over his shoulder.

She smiled and shook her head at his enthusiasm. She might be nervous, but her boy was more than excited to tackle this adventure.

They hopped out of the car, and of course they saw Elliot standing, arms crossed, near the bus, chatting with the driver and the science teacher.

Noah's eyes lit up when he saw him and he called out, "Hey Elliot!"

Elliot's eyes brightened just as much as her son's had and he stepped away from the group to greet Noah. "Hey dude! Ready for some camping?" He gave Noah a fist bump and a quick hug.

"Yeah!" Noah bounced excitedly. He looked around, and spotted the twins pulling their duffles from their parents' SUV. "Can I go say hi real quick?"

Olivia laughed. He was going to spend the whole weekend with them, but he couldn't wait one more minute to see them. "Of course buddy, but hurry back okay."

"Kay!" He agreed, and dropped his backpack before jogging over to the boys' car.

She and Elliot watched him for a moment, but then he turned towards her, and she could feel his eyes on her. She let out a nervous breath before turning her body towards his. "Thanks for doing this….this is … a lot…"

His eyes smiled, and she knew he was just as excited as her son. He was loving this, and it made it feel her feel like less of a burden. "It's no big deal Liv. I've kinda missed this kind of thing. Ya know. School trips. Camping with the kids." He shrugged. "I might be just as excited as he is."

She laughed again, "I'm not sure about that. It's been like Christmas. He took forever to get to sleep last night."

"It's something new. That makes it fun."

It was the newness and uncertainty that made it fun for her child, but anxiety inducing for her. She must have been spacing out because suddenly his hand was on her elbow. Her eyes lifted to his. "Don't worry. I'll keep him safe and this will be a great experience for him."

"I know I know. I just hate when he is so far away. Even the times he's in Woodstock it's hard. And this…" she blew out another nervous breath. "This is well outside my comfort zone."

His other hand brushed up and down her upper arm and he turned her more towards him. "Look at him. He's not nervous, just excited. You've got a great, well adjusted kid who isn't scared to try new things and experience the unknown." His hands gently gripped her biceps, "that's all you Liv. You've given him everything he needs to succeed, but you gotta let him spread his wings a little."

She glanced over at Noah who was talking animatedly with his friends. Elliot was right of course, but it was hard for her to let her baby boy, the one she found in a drawer, experience the world outside her sphere of influence. It was hard, but necessary. Her eyes flicked back to Elliot. The only reason she allowed Noah this experience was because Elliot agreed to take him. She was so grateful for that. "Thanks." She said again with her voice low and sincere. "Thanks for helping with this. For helping me let him do this."

"Of course, Liv. It's going to be fun. We will take lots of pictures and I'll make him call you in the evenings."

"Kids! Parents! Let's round everyone up for last minute instructions and goodbyes. Make sure to check your email for the pickup instructions for Monday."

Elliot leaned in and gave her a tight hug. "He'll be okay," he promised. To her surprise he dropped a light kiss on her cheek.

Before she could process the feeling of his lips on her skin, he called for Noah. "Noah," he hollered. "Come say bye to your Mom."

Noah ran back over, crashing into her with a tight hug. "Love you Mom!" His bright blue eyes looked up at her, "Thanks for letting me go."

Alls she could do was nod. She was sure she would burst into tears otherwise. She dropped a kiss onto his curls, rubbed his back, and let him go. He gave her a big perfect smile and scooped up his backpack. "Come on Elliot! Let's go! I want to get a good seat on the bus!"

"Alright alright." Elliot chuckled. "You head over. I'll be there in a sec." He reached for Olivia's hand and squeezed it quickly. His blue eyes glowed with quiet reassurance. "Bye Liv." With one more squeeze of her hand, he let it drop, smiled, and hurried over to Noah's side.

-000-

Elliot took one more look back at Olivia as he boarded the school bus. Noah settled into a seat next to a dark haired girl, and his buddies sat together across the aisle. More kids filtered in, finding seats near the back of the bus.

Elliot found a seat a few benches ahead of Noah, enough to give him breathing room, but close enough to keep an eye on the shenanigans that would inevitably occur in a bus full of twelve year olds.

He reached into his bag and pulled a package of plain M&Ms, Noah's favorite. It was probably stupid, but he wanted to continue his good rapport with the boy so he brought a boatload of junk food he knew Liv would have banned. "Noh!" He yelled, and lifted the bag of M&Ms.

"Sweet." He clapped his hands twice and opened his hands so Elliot tossed him the bag. He caught it with ease, and immediately opened it so he could share with his friends. "Thanks," he called over his shoulder with a smile.

Elliot turned back around. While digging through his bags for a healthier option than M&Ms he overheard some of the kids' conversation.

"I thought you didn't have a Dad, Noah." The girl wasn't being malicious, just curious about her friend. "Did he do that deadbeat dad thing where all the sudden they show back up? You look a lot like him…"

Noah laughed at that. "That's weird. He's not my dad. I really don't have one."

"Noah's adopted," one of the twins provided.

"Ohhh. Really?" The girl seemed genuinely surprised.

"Yep." Noah stayed proudly. Elliot loved how proudly that boy claimed his mom, and their unique family unit.

"I never knew. That's pretty cool Noah." She flicked her dark hair over her shoulder.

Jace leaned towards Noah with another question, "So is your mom dating him or what?"

Sheesh. These kids were straight up gossips.

"Nah, they're just friends," he hesitated. "Well at least I think they're just friends. It's always kind of hard to figure out those kinds of things with her."

"Really. That's crazy. I thought he was for sure with your mom." It sounded like Colton offered that observation.

"Well whatever he is, he seems nice." The girl smiled kindly.

"Yeah. He's pretty cool, and you know my mom…"

"Overprotective." The twins said simultaneously. The group laughed.

"Yeah. But she's weirdly comfortable with him. He was her partner, you know, on the job. Like before I was born."

"That's kinda cool," Jace said.

"Yeah. My mom only seems to trust cops.." all the kids laughed at the observation, and the conversation turned to a new coding program the girl and Colton were working with.

Elliot's phone buzzed. He looked at the time. They had only been on the bus for twenty minutes.

O: Make sure he's safe

E: I got him Liv.

O: I don't want him to get eaten by a bear- or a mountain lion. Are there mountain lions there?

E: Have you been googling wildlife predators or something?

O: No

E: Liar.

O: Nat Geo had this documentary…

E: God Liv. He'll be fine.

O: I know. Sorry. Just worried.

E: You're a great mom. I got him okay. I won't let a bear eat him or anything else crazy.

O: I'm not crazy

E: Didn't say that… relax. We'll call ya when we get there.

O: Okay.

E: You're still worried aren't you

O: Yes.

God he loved her.

E: Just a minute.

"Hey Noah!" He called behind him.

A head of bouncing curls popped up above a seat a few rows behind him. "Yeah?"

"Come 'ere for a sec." He waved him over.

Noah glanced at his friends and shrugged his shoulders before joining Elliot on the seat. "Send your mom a quick voice message. She's stressing."

"Ugh." Noah groaned. "She's always stressing."

"I know bud, but this will help her relax." He nudged his shoulder, "then maybe she won't need to call us during the whole trip."

Noah sighed and took Elliot's phone. "Okay." He hit the button to record a voice message. "Hey mom," Elliot almost laughed at the dramatic change in tone. "I'm doin fine. I'm just hanging out with Colton, Jace, and Clem. I promise not to die, okay." Elliot covered his mouth to keep from laughing at the boy's snark. "You know I'll be fine with Elliot." He smiled at his next words, and their loving sincerity. "I love you Mom." He stopped the recording and sent the message.

"That okay?" Noah asked as his eyes darted back to his friends.

"Yeah that was perfect." He gave Noah a quick side hug and tilted his head back towards his friends. "You go on back. I'll try to keep her from smothering you."

That earned him a goofy smile, "She just loves me," he said with exasperation.

"She really does, buddy." Elliot affirmed.

"I know," he grinned, and acted like he was going to say something else, but shook his head instead. He pointed his thumb back towards his friends. "Okay if I go back now?"

"Yeah, yeah. You're good here."

With a grin that reminded Elliot so much of Olivia, Noah settled back with his friends.

Once Noah seemed fine and back into the conversation with the boys behind him, Elliot glanced down at his phone.

O: Thank you El. I needed that.

E: I got him Liv. Really. I won't let a bear eat him or let him stumble across any dead bodies.

O: I know. Thanks El.

E: I got ya Benson.

-000-

DAMNNNNNN it. I can't seem to keep crap short. Ugh. Im trying to keep this to three parts, but I really don't want to cut it short! Too many ideas. I have a problem. Ugh.