Ginny heard her phone buzz on the counter, but her hands were elbow deep in dishwater. "Babe!" She called from the kitchen.
Matt's head popped in through the kitchen's arched entry. "Yeah?"
She tilted her head towards her phone on the counter. "Can you check that message? Olivia mentioned she had a case, and I'm nervous she won't be able to make it."
Matt nodded and entered the kitchen. "Damn. I hope she can make it. Noah's going to be pretty disappointed if she can't get here."
Ginny sighed. She taught Noah and Connor to bake pies, and he was so excited to show his mom the pie he made at dinner. If Olivia canceled, Noah would handle the situation with grace, he always did. She bet he was probably used to it, but that felt sad in its own way.
She had absolute respect for Olivia and her single mother status, but she couldn't imagine raising Connor on her own. She couldn't imagine doing any of this without Matt. It had to be lonely.
She glanced at Matt who had unlocked her phone and opened her messages. "Oh," he said in surprise.
There was something about the way he said it that worried her. "What?" She asked slowly.
"Nothing nothing. Sorry. I was just surprised."
"What's going on Matt," she asked in frustration.
"She wants to know if we would mind if she brought a friend." His curiosity was obviously piqued.
What kind of friend? Olivia never brought anyone up with her when she picked up Noah. With the exception of the hulkish bodyguard of a man she sent after the gang hit, Ginny had never met anyone Olivia considered a friend.
Another buzz caught her attention and Matt quickly pulled up the message. "She says she doesn't want to impose last second so it's fine if he can't come."
He huh? Could be a friend on the force. It wasn't like she met a lot of female friends in her line of work.
"Tell her of course it's fine." Ginny's curiosity was already eating her alive.
Matt punched the text in and sent it as Ginny rinsed the last dish. She reached for a nearby hand towel to dry her hands. After hanging the dish towel to dry she took her phone from Matt.
"I kind of want to pump information from Noah," his Cheshire Cat grin made her roll her eyes.
"Leave the kid alone," she scolded and smacked his arm playfully. "I'm sure we will get some answers soon enough."
Even as she said the words she knew the next few hours would be excruciating. Maybe she would sneak up to the boys' room. A little background information wouldn't hurt.
-000-
Ginny peeked out the front window for the hundredth time. Olivia and her… whatever he was, would be there any minute. Speaking Noah did nothing to quench her curiosity. She tried to be nonchalant in her questioning, but Noah immediately saw through it. In fact, he immediately paused the game he and Connor were playing to give her his full attention.
"Um," he started, "Why do you want to know?" His voice held an air of suspicion with an obviously potent pinch of protectiveness.
She felt her palms sweat a little at the seriousness of his gaze. She nearly backed off then. Noah was always a delightfully happy kid. He was helpful, warm and considerate, but when anyone asked questions about his mother…he was an entirely different kid. He became cautious and alert, almost like a little detective, trying to fish out a person's true motives.
"Just uh," Ginny laughed at herself for being intimidated by a preteen. "She mentioned she might bring someone with her tonight. I was just curious about who she might bring."
He didn't answer immediately. She could feel his blue eyes piercing her soul. It was a little unnerving to say the least.
He casually turned back to his game to resume play. "I don't think my Uncle Fin would want to drive up here. I think Kenny and his husband were bringing his grandson to the city for the holidays. He would want to stay with them." He thought for a moment. "Probably Uncle Nick. He's visiting family right now. Zara probably needed some space or something."
"Oh come on!" Connor interrupted when his character received a fatal blow.
"Here," Noah passed his controller to Connor. "Play for me for a second." Connor nodded eagerly and resumed the game play.
"Elliot's not back from his assignment so it's probably Uncle Nick. He's not here very often, and he would like talking to her and catching up."
Elliot. She didn't have to wrack her brain too hard to remember why she knew that name. The man who picked up Noah nearly a year ago. The hulk of a man that Olivia trusted her son with. His overall presence was so memorable, his name was permanently inked in her mind.
Ginny noticed the slight difference in Noah's voice when he mentioned Elliot. She also noticed that he didn't call him Uncle Elliot, like the other important men in his life. For some reason that felt significant, and she burned with curiosity over the why.
Noah watched her for a moment, seemingly assessing if she had the information she sought. She thanked him quickly before leaving the room.
She meandered down the stairs, lost in thought. She wondered about Uncle Nick, and who he was in the grand scheme of Noah's life. He seemed important, and he obviously had a daughter. Ginny didn't think Olivia had any biological siblings, so maybe Uncle Nick was a coworker, much like his uncle Fin.
She knew it was a little juvenile, her obsession with pulling apart the details of the Benson's lives, but it was just so different from her own, and she wanted to understand how all the pieces of Noah's life fit together.
So now, an hour later, she compulsively walked by the front window, waiting for Olivia to arrive.
-000-
Ginny was putting the finishing touches on the presentation of her carefully prepared dinner when the doorbell rang. She resisted the urge to fly over to the door, especially as she heard the thundering of the boys' steps running down the stairs.
The lock flipped and the door flung open, and the delighted voice of Noah yelling "Mom," broke through the air.
Ginny wiped her hands on her apron front and untied it from her waist before depositing it on the hook near the mud room. She deliberately made her movements slow, not wanting to appear over eager, or over curious on her approach. When she finally rounded the corner she stopped abruptly. She knew the face of the man hanging back behind Olivia, and she could say for certain that it wasn't Uncle Nick. No, this was Elliot.
Noah greeted his mother with his typical enthusiasm so it took a moment for him to notice Elliot standing behind her with his hands tucked into his pockets. When he finally noticed him standing there, Noah's eyes widened, and he flung his arms around the wall of muscle behind his mother. "You're back!" He explained excitedly.
Elliot rubbed Noah's back affectionately. "Sure am," he grinned, and Ginny noted how boyish the man's smile seemed. "Got back yesterday."
"Cool," Noah's eyes soarkled with a sort of admiration for the man standing in front of him. "Wanna see mine and Connor's set up? Matt got us bunk beds and everything!"
Ginny watched Elliot's striking blue eyes check in with Olivia first, and she provided the slightest of nods before the boys basically dragged Elliot up the stairs. The exchange was silent and subtle. It seemed like a well practiced skill that was useful in their line of work. She watched Elliot trot up the stairs behind the boys, and she decided it wasn't fair that someone looked that good over 50.
Olivia's words shook her from her thoughts. "Thanks again. I hated dropping this on you with no notice, but he got home yesterday, and I have worked an three nights in a row. He offered to drive me up so I could close my eyes for a little while." Olivia still sounded exhausted.
"It's no problem at all. I tend to over cook anyway."
"You're saving me from days of leftovers!" Matt's voice called from his office.
She waved him off. "He'll be out in a minute. He needed to get this report in tonight, but I think he's about finished."
Olivia chuckled, and Ginny took her elbow, gently leading her further into the house. Olivia always seemed tense at their home, and Ginny wasn't certain why. She tried to be welcoming as much as possible, but Olivia acted like a cat tiptoeing around water. Ginny wasn't exactly certain why, but she tried to be welcoming regardless.
"How was your drive," Ginny asked in an attempt to make small talk.
"Good. Mostly. The snow wasn't ideal." Olivia glanced out the window, and Ginny wondered if she was considering the repercussions of jumping through it.
"There has been so little of it this year. It seems to want to make up for it one day." Ginny almost laughed. They were literally talking about the weather. Sometimes it was astounding how much they didn't have in common.
"Seems like it," Olivia agreed. The conversation lulled into a sort of awkward silence. Olivia settled into one of the barstools and asked, "can I help with anything?"
Ginny shook her head. "Everything is about done. I'm mostly waiting for Matt to finish up."
She watched Olivia's eyes drift to Matt's office. She was likely wondering how much longer he would take. Matt did a little better conversing with Olivia. Still awkward, but better than the current conversation. She was desperate to say something so she asked the first question that came to her mind, "So, Elliot?" Ginny internally winced. She felt dumb for asking a super personal conversation after lightly discussing the weather. It wasn't like Olivia would answer a question like that. She would graciously deflect and help Ginny save face.
To her surprise a sort of blush rose to her cheeks, and that was definitely interesting. "Uh yeah. He's a close friend. Meet were partners for a long time."
It felt like a rehearsed answer, and Ginny wondered how much she practiced it in her mind in the way to their home. "He seems…" Nice. Intimidating. Big. Good heavens he was big. "He seems like he really cares about Noah." Ginny thought it would be better to move the conversation to a safer subject. Olivia's private feelings were one thing, but discussing Noah was something they could do freely.
A serene smile drifted across her face. "El..Elliot, he has a large family. He's good with kids."
"Really?" Ginny explained, "Sorry, I mean, he's obviously great with kids, but I'm a little surprised about the big family I guess." Maybe it was less about him and more about Olivia. The woman could barely tolerate their home, she couldn't imagine her comfortable with a large family.
Olivia chuckled. "Yeah well, the man has five so…"
"Wow five," Ginny wasn't really sure what to say about that, but luckily the boys saved her from a potentially tactless comment.
Their thundering footsteps announced their presence before anything else. "Can I show my mom my pie?" Noah asked him politely.
"Of course," she said while turning to the pies covered near the refrigerator. She handed the pie to Noah, and as she lifted her eyes she noticed Elliot had followed the kids into the kitchen.
In an instant he was at Olivia's side. Her face immediately turned towards him, and the man shot her that boyish grin. He stepped closer, much closer than what felt appropriate for friends. He was subtle, she'd give him that, but she watched his hand drift over Olivia's upper back, and down her arm. His large hand remained on her forearm as he leaned in close, speaking in her ear. Ginny tried not to gape at the whole scene, but it felt so…foreign.
"Are you okay?" Elliot kept his voice low, but the deep timbre floated across the room.
She lifted her hand briefly to touch his face, but dropped it in an instant. "Fine," she reassured him quietly, but her eyes sparkled in a way Ginny had never seen. This man absolutely had to be more than a friend.
She pretended not to notice the interaction, and Noah barreled in, making Elliot step back with a chuckle. While Noah showed off his pie, Ginny noticed how Elliot's hand remained on the chair back behind Olivia. His generally posturing looked intensely protective, and Ginny wondered if it was a remnant of a habit retained from their years of partnership, or was it something more? She came to the conclusion that t both ideas might be true.
One thing was certain, whatever was going on there, whatever feelings were sloshing about, were clearly deep and intense. As if to prove her point, he whispered something in her ear, and a shudder ran through her. Ginny turned away. She sort of felt like she was watching a private moment, even though it was playing out in front of her.
Thankfully, Matt's entrance broke the whole thing apart. "Sorry about that," he rubbed his hands together, clearly unaware of the strange thickness in the air. "Are we good to go Gin?"
"We are," she affirmed.
"Great!" Matt motioned for their guests to find a place to sit. "Let's get started then."
-000-