AN;
WOW! Thank you everyone for your warm reception. I finished the last thing as a one shot and thought that I might like to continue. So I said I would write when I had finished my other fan fic (I dont know you anymore) but I felt really compelled to write for this during the week. What do you guys think? Shall I continue still after this chapter?
I want to reply to everyones comments as best as I can so here goes;
Thank you Hope03 and BenoightLangson!
Lisepigen83 & Gabi - you guys can thank these two for forcing the hand that convinced me to continue this on hahaha. Love you both.
FayeVDM- Thank for your kind comment, I hope that you love this next chapter as much as you liked the opening.
BJ & RVK0207 - Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment, I appreciate them all! :) It totally makes my day.
NellWill4015 - That's a shame that you cant differentiate characters from real people, I would like to think M&P are totally different to Olivia Benson and Trevor Langan, but thats cool, if its too weird for you, you dont have to read. X
AnnikaJensen - thank you for always commenting so sweetly on my fics :) You are lovely1
SAR2412 thanks for your kind comment for taking the time!
GretechenAverette- dry your eyes, here is a new chapter for you! :) I hope you love it!
To all the guests, thank you for taking the time to comment, it really encourages me to continue!
Saturdays had always been Trevor's sleep-in days but since Ava had moved in, he had new responsibilities. Swim meets; he had been to them all, but usually he made the Friday night ones and his ex attended the Saturday morning ones purely to avoid seeing one-another and making thing tense for their daughter.
He knew his daughter was a great athlete but her times were just getting faster and he watched her with great pride, jumping out of his seat becoming fuelled by his own excitement. He pumped his fist in the air, "Go Ava!," he yelled loudly.
"Yes!," he grinned as he watched her touch the wall. He shook his head in disbelief — she had smashed her personal best by 2 entire seconds and had won by almost two body lengths. He wanted to run over and hug her but he grinned to himself and cheered for her.
She turned around and ripped her goggles off her face and he could see she was heaving for air but she looked around the bleachers for him until she found him - she was smiling but as usual, stifling any excitement that he knew was boiling over inside of her. She was always very non-fuss like that.
He waved at her and gave her a huge grin and a thumbs up before throwing his fist in the air, nodding at her. He watched her smile grow a little knowing that he was there.
He waited for her to go and greet the other girls from her school team but no one came up to her except the coach and she didn't approach anyone either. He thought it was a little weird, but accepted that perhaps she was just in the zone, or maybe her classmates were too.
She wrapped herself in a towel and made her way around the pool until she met with her father. Trevor climbed down the bleacher steps to meet her at the landing. "Congratulations, honey! I'm so proud!" He grinned at her and drew her close to him, giving no attention to the fact that she was still wet from the pool.
"Thanks Dad," she replied, hugging him back.
"Do you want to go celebrate?," he asked, pulling away. "Or do you want to stay and watch the rest of your team?"
Ava looked back at the pool as if she was longing to stay but she peeled her eyes from her classmates and back to her father and shrugged. "Can we just go home?"
He caught it, a little tiny show of despondency and wondered what had happened with her friends. It wasn't the time to extricate the situation from her, it was time to celebrate her win.
"Do you want to stay for presentation at least?"
Ava glanced up at him and she seemed anxious to leave. She shook her head. "No, I told coach that I have to go somewhere," she explained quietly, "we'd have to sit through 4 more heats and 2 finals."
Trevor didn't want to have to sit through a whole bunch of other kids swimming, but he didn't want his daughter to miss out. "Will you still get your certificates and ribbons?," he wanted to make sure.
"Yeah, coach said she will get them for me."
"Okay," he kissed her temple and put an arm around her and gave her a little squeeze. "I'll make you a breakfast for a champ," he promised with a smile. "Do you want to get changed?"
"No, I'm okay, I'll just put my jacket on." She struggled to rifle through her swim bag so Trevor took it for her while she unzipped it and pulled out her flip-flops and her waterproof jacket that she wore before and after meets.
She put it on and wrapped the towel around her waist and dropped her flip-flops to the floor and slipped them on.
"Only in New York is there peak hour traffic on the weekend," he sighed and shook his head. "Do you wanna call Mom and let her know about your meet?" He was trying to rouse a conversation out of her and knew she was dangerously close to putting in her earphones.
"Mom hasn't called me back for two days and when I called on Wednesday she asked what I wanted like I was interrupting her. I don't want to speak to her."
It was news to him and he felt aggravated and angry with Sarah for her sudden lack of interest in their daughter. "I'm sorry, honey. I know for a fact that Mom loves and misses you so much. This is not forever."
Ava shrugged, "How do you know? She doesn't really show that she cares much and she dumped me on you, like you don't have better things to do than come to my swim meets and practices and everything else…" she huffed, crossing her arms and finally putting that damn phone down.
"Are you kidding me?," he smiled, putting his foot on the brake as they stopped for what felt like the 100th time in less than three blocks. "I may be busy with work, sweetheart, but I am not sad about this arrangement. I get to see you every single day and be with you for all the ups and downs and we're getting to know each other better as you get older, I've always wanted that. I know its a little off for you still, but please don't think you've been dumped on me, Ava Langan, you are the most amazing thing that's ever happened to me."
He was surprised to see his normally-stoic and calm daughter letting go of her tears. They fell down her face unbridled and fast. "Hey…" he said softly, reaching for her hand. He gave it a squeeze. "It's okay to be sad about the changes, I'm sad for you because I just want you to be happy, but we'll get there, we're still adjusting, I promise you, sweetie, it'll be okay."
Ava nodded at him and sniffed. She wiped her eyes with her free hand and felt her Dad let go so that he could drive again. "Thanks Daddy," she murmured.
"I love you so much honey, let's go home and maybe we can spend some time together if you want," he suggested.
"Like what?," she asked, unconvinced.
"I don't know, whatever you want, you choose and I promise that unless it's watching that dating show you like, I will agree— within reason," he would have done anything to see the tears dry up; it wasn't because he was scared of them, but it was because he realised how much Ava was holding back and it hurt him to realise that she was clearly trying to hide her emotions from him.
"Okay," she managed a smile and wiped her eyes with the backs of her hands. "Can we put pyjamas on and watch old movies?"
Trevor hated pyjamas but he knew he would endure them just to please her. He chuckled good-naturedly. "Really? Pajamas? Will gym pants be acceptable?"
Ava's smile seemed more genuine now and she shook her head decidedly, "No, has to be pyjamas or else it's not the same. We will start by watching my favourite, Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf."
"What!" Trevor exclaimed, "Why is my 14 year old kid watching that movie?," he asked with a laugh of incredulousness. "That movie is sick, Ava, did your mother let you watch that?"
"It's so good," she replied, "Mom and I used to watch old movies all of the time, it's my favourite."
He was happy that she wanted to recreate the tradition with him. "Okay, okay, you want to see a sick movie? I've got the perfect movie for you… should we get snacks and popcorn?," he asked, figuring that his daughter deserved a little extra TLC.
"Yeah! I'd love that, thanks Dad."
"You got it…" he smiled.
/
"Can I ask a question?" Ava poured two cans of coke in to their respective glasses as Trevor waited for the popcorn to finish popping.
"You just did," Trevor replied, hating redundant statements. He turned to her. "What is it?"
"Are you dating Olivia Benson?," she asked the question carefully, worried that he would tell her to mind her own business.
He knew it would come up eventually, but it had taken almost a week. He and Olivia had texted briefly but also, they just couldn't seem to sync up. She'd been on night shift and was working a particularly rough case that had seen a lot of press coverage. He understood and they had both assured each other they weren't avoiding and were both still keen for another date.
"I don't know, it's still undetermined. I should have warned you before I brought her back here, I'm sorry that I didn't. I also should have talked to you about it."
Her blue eyes burned in to him, he knew that her stare was from his very own DNA and often it came back to bite him in the ass. It wasn't harsh though; it was just Ava trying to discern what to say next. He was grateful that she was a thoughtful kid who didn't generally run her mouth without thinking first. "It's okay, you're allowed to date, Dad. You should see her again if you like her."
"Did you like her?," he was curious.
"I googled her," she stifled a cheeky smile and took a small sip of her drink.
"Ava!," he exclaimed, trying to admonish her but he was also a little impressed.
She laughed, "What!? If she's gonna date my father, I have to know a little about her…" she explained. She grabbed a handful of her hair and tied it up in a top knot. Trevor smiled. For a girl who wanted so quickly to grow up, she had never looked more like his tiny little girl.
She wore cartoon pyjama pants and oversized band t-shirt that she'd bought from some boyband concert she'd recently been to.
"That's fair, so what did you think? Did you find any dirt, Sherlock Holmes?," he teased her as he took the popcorn from the microwave.
"Her son is 9 and she's a year younger than you and she's the captain of sex crimes. That's so bad ass, Dad. And also, she likes you, I could tell."
He grinned to himself as he poured the popcorn out in to a bowl in the opposite side of the kitchen with his back to her. "How can you be sure of that?"
"Because she laughed at your stupid jokes and she was tossing her hair all over the place and also because she came back here with you knowing you had a child in the house and didn't at all seem bothered by me being here, she was nice to me."
Trevor laughed. "Maybe I'll text her."
"Yeah! Text her now!" He was surprised by just how enthusiastic his daughter seemed about her.
"Ava, what else did you read about her online?," he wondered, hoping that her past hadn't come up in too much description. He felt like it was a little too private for his 14 year old daughter to have read in any great detail.
"She's done so much for victims and she is the reason why the law changed around how DNA and rape kits are tested, she is part of a lot of victim advocate groups and instead of being just a face, she gets involved. She's the only Captain in Manhattan who actively involves herself in investigations and she's solved so many cold cases and high profiled case and she never walks away from victims even when they've been hard to try."
Wow, thought Trevor. He hid a smile; he was impressed with the depth and the intensity of his daughter's research.
"Okay calm down, do you want to date her?," he teased.
Ava laughed and he had to admit it was nice to hear her laughing. "C'mon, you should text her, I'm okay with you dating as long as you don't date down or dumb," she informed him.
Trevor laughed too at her bluntness — she really did get her direct approach from him and he was secretly proud of that as it was something that Sarah always called him out for. "Okay, okay, let's text her," he agreed. "Her schedule is crazy at the moment though, so it's been hard to pinpoint a good time."
"Tell her to come to dinner and I'll help you cook. I'll even let you have Casi here if you want to take her somewhere afterwards like —" she thought, "maybe a movie? Or something fun…"
He paused, both of them leaning over the kitchen counter ignoring the popcorn and the drinks and other snacks for the moment. He didn't mind that she could see his previous texts with Olivia, they were clean and PG friendly. The last thing that Olivia had sent him was a pic of Noah giving a thumbs up.
"Oh, is that her son?" She wanted to know. She was curious.
"Yeah, that's Noah," he replied.
"He's so cute!" Ava remarked, "look at those big blue eyes… he's adorable."
Trevor smiled fondly. "He's a really nice kid," he agreed with a nod. His fingers hovered over the keypad, thinking about what he wanted to ask and how to go about it.
He began to type. "Hi Olivia, I would still love to take you on a second date, if you're interested send me a couple of options as to when you're free and I'll make it happen."
"Is that okay?" He felt a little self-conscious asking a teenager for her advice.
"Yeah, if you're a sterile old man," she gave her father an amused look, "put a smiley at least or an x or something that shows you actually like her… I know, put a cute little heart-eyes emoji."
"Isn't that a little childish?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, but it's still cute and I promise she'll like it," Ava insisted.
Drawing in a breath and breathing out a sigh was a little resignation from Trevor. "Okay," he agreed, putting the heart-eyes emoji. He pressed send before he could change his mind.
"Good job, now go put your pyjamas on as you promised, Dad and I'll get the snacks organised in the living room."
He thought he'd got out of it but no, Ava was really holding firm to their deal. She'd already gone straight in the shower when they arrived back home to wash the chlorine out of her hair and immediately got in to her PJs and was waiting for her father to do the same. "Okay, I'll be right back."
He didn't own pyjamas really - just a pair of long black and white striped flannels for when the cold night's called for it during winter. He heard his phone chime from his bed and almost tripped over his own legs trying to pull on his pants. He used the mattress to steady himself and adjusted himself before picking it up feeling a little silly.
"Soooooooo good to hear from you, Trev, having such a bad day. I would love to see you again. What do you have in mind? I'm off for three days as of midnight tonight. I don't have much planned except maybe quality time with Noah." He grinned - at the end of the message was the very same heart eyes he'd sent her along with a cute little face blowing a kiss. Ava was right; he loved it.
He started replying, "I'm so sorry to hear about your day, call me if you need to talk, even if it's to have a quick vent. Ava suggested that she and I make you dinner and then maybe I can take you to see a movie or go for a walk together or something?" He did the kiss emoji too and a smiley.
He felt excited at the idea of seeing her again so soon. His stomach flip-flopped when he could see the animation that allowed him to know she was responding. He waited and was about to make his way downstairs when his phone rang.
He answered it a little uncool, fast and swift to hit the answer button. "Liv?"
"Hi…" her voice trailed almost in a sigh and he realised from her flat tone that she really was having a bad day. "It's nice to hear your voice."
"Yours too, what's going on?," he asked descending the stairs slowly, concentrating on the sound of her voice. "You sound spent."
"I'm tired and got called in early, just a bad case…" she replied, "I won't tell you about it, I'm just tired of hearing the same stories from entitled kids at rich private schools," she sighed, "Sorry Trev, I really would love to see you and have dinner with you and Ava if you feel comfortable with that."
He got to the kitchen and Ava glanced at him expectantly. She grinned at him asking if it was the detective. He smiled and nodded and gave her a thumbs up. "Don't be sorry, I told you to call if you wanted to talk about it, I won't be handling those types of cases anymore and I'm sure we can breathe a sigh of relief about that," he smiled, "it must be exhausting," he replied thoughtfully.
"Exhausting, sickening, disheartening — all of it; they still think they can buy their kid's way out of it. These little pieces of shit have obviously never heard the word no in their entire, small, privileged lives…" she fumed.
"I know…" he listened. "They'll never learn as long as there's no shortage of money to help them out of what they'd call a little bind."
"Do me a favour, Trevor, hold on tightly to Ava, keep her as young as you can for as long you can…" Liv sighed.
"I plan to," he finally smiled hearing the anger fall away. "It really is nice to hear your voice though," he informed her.
Ava winked at her father and gave him a thumbs up with a little smirk on her face. He almost laughed but waved her away instead.
"Yours too," she agreed. "What are you up to?," she wondered.
"I took Ava to a swim meet this morning and she won all of her finals and smashed her personal best so I'm feeling proud-as-punch and we've just made some snacks and we're going to watch old black and white movies. She told me hers is Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf," he chuckled.
"What!" Liv exclaimed and laughed too, "And tell her I said congratulations, I can hear that you're really happy, I love that," Liv tried not to sound too down. She felt sad for the 14 year old victim and tried not to think of his daughter in the same capacity but it was hard not to think of any 14 year old that she knew when a case got close to home. "Isn't that movie a bit grown up?," she asked him.
"Yes! Elizabeth Taylor is an absolute psychopath in it…It's great but wow. I'm gonna show her a better movie, have you ever seen Gaslight?," he wondered.
"No," she laughed, "you'll have to show me sometime."
"With pleasure," he smiled. "So I was thinking — tomorrow night maybe would you like to come? Noah is very welcome but it's whatever you're comfortable with."
"Thanks, tomorrow night sounds good Trev, thanks. I am looking forward to it so much, you have no idea."
"Me too…" he murmured, "I hope the rest of your shift gets better, you sound too sad for my liking."
Olivia smiled on her end of the phone and realised that Amanda was waiting for her to wrap it up. "Trev, I gotta go back to the station," she lowered her voice, "I've been thinking about you a lot and I've missed your company."
A slow bashful smile spread across his mouth and he felt his cheeks heating up. "Me too," he responded again, "a lot. I'll let you go and…. Maybe I'll text you later and check in?"
"I hope you do, have a nice afternoon with Ava."
He said goodbye and ended the call.
"What did she say!" Ava asked, "are you going on a date? Is she gonna come?"
"Yes baby, she's gonna come to dinner so you better get started looking at food you know how to cook because I'm terrible and you know it," he smiled. He paused and stared at her almost panicked, "Ava, you do know how to cook a little bit right?," he asked. His daughter watched the colour-drain from his face and started to laugh.
"Calm down Dad, firstly, I can cook some stuff and we just have to carefully follow a tried and tested recipe from google."
He sighed, "Ok, okay, let's go watch your movie… I shouldn't be talking to you like this about my love life, I know you certainly won't tell me about yours."
"I might if I actually had a love-life," she replied, sinking down on to the large, room-y black couch that he'd bought when he knew she was moving in. He wanted to give her a space where she could hang out with her friends and still have a little privacy.
"You haven't dated yet?," he asked, thinking about what Olivia had said on the phone to him.
She shook her head, "Dad, I'm fourteen, I'm not interested," she replied as if it was crazy that he might think that she was.
"Well, as a father that's a relief," he smiled and sat down too, picking up a bowl of popcorn and putting it between them. "A huge relief actually… you know Olivia was just saying that you need to be extra careful with boys, she's seen a lot of victims your age recently-" he saw her face cloud over with frustration.
"No," she said firmly, "Dad, I'm not interested…" she repeated, sounding frustrated. Ava stared at her father who searched her eyes trying to figure out if she was embarrassed or if she meant that she was uninterested in what Olivia had to say.
"I know," he said carefully, "you're not interested in boys yet."
"Or at all," she added, feeling her hands get a little tingly — afraid of her father's reaction and hoped with all of her might that it would be nothing like her mothers.
"Honey," Trevor tried to hide the strange twist in his stomach, the part of him that wasn't sure if he had discerned what she was saying correctly, "are you trying to tell me something important?," he wondered, speaking slowly.
Ava looked down at the remote that she was holding and shrugged. "I don't want you to hate me," she murmured.
He took a deep breath, "Ava, if you don't like boys but feel attracted to girls — or even both, I don't care and I will never hate you for that. That's your journey and I'm just here to do whatever I can to make it easier."
She breathed out an audible gasp, somewhere between a sigh and a sob of relief. "Really?" She asked him. She dared to look her father in the eyes and saw his sincerity. Trevor watched her eyes film over with water.
"Of course," he replied.
"Mom changed with me after I told her," she admitted, wiping her eyes.
"Wait, your Mom knows?" He was surprised and irate that his ex-wife didn't tell him. It seemed to all add up, her comments about how he thought he knew their daughter and her lifestyle choices. He remembered being confused — lifestyle choices at 14 seemed ridiculous but Sarah was ridiculous.
"Yeah, I told her… I think she hates me or she doesn't love me the same, she changed and then she said she was going to California and let me think I was coming for a little while."
He felt sick in his stomach. "Maybe Mom needs to adjust but I promise that she doesn't hate you."
"Why does she have to adjust?" Ava sobbed, "If it's going to make anyone love me, I just won't ever date, I'll keep it a secret, I don't care…"
Trevor got up and sat next to his daughter and gave her a hug and held her tight. He kissed the top of her head. "I don't ever want you to hide who you are or who you love, sweetheart. I am so proud of you no matter what. When you start dating or when you have a girlfriend, I want you to just have someone who loves you and respects you and who treats you well, that's all I care about."
He rubbed her back soothingly. "It must be really weird and awkward to not have Mom around, I understand, but you can always tell me anything, honey, I will always be here for you. I want us to be really honest and open with each other about everything…"
Ava nodded and pulled away from her father. He gave her a little sympathetic smile. He hated to see her so sad; he felt it in his bones and it in the depth of his soul and it had always been that way when his daughter was sad.
"I like living here with you… I thought you would be super strict and-"
He made a face, feeling a little insulted but he wasn't truly bothered. "And what? Mean? Why do Dads always give the mean vibe?," he asked. "Have I ever been mean on weekends?"
"No, but you can be so serious," she answered. "I didn't think you were fun…"
He smiled, "I'm sorry for that, work stress maybe — but I took you to do fun things on the weekends that you were with me, didn't I?"
"Yeah but… its different even since I've been living here I already know you better."
He smiled. "That makes me really happy, honey, you know that nothing is more important to me than you are… all of this extra stuff, it doesn't matter to me whether or not you want to marry a man or a woman or if you want kids or not, or whether you continue with all of your sports and everything else — I want you to be happy and to do things for your happiness not anyone else's."
A slow smile spread across her thin lips. "Could I drop piano?," she asked, "or band? Or both?"
Trevor managed a laugh. "I mean, at least think about it carefully," he told her. "Figure out the pros and cons. I don't want you to decide something is too hard so it's easier to give it up, but I mean, if something brings you true unhappiness, then yes, maybe it's worth giving your energy to something else that you know you are great at and can only become greater."
"Like swimming," she added.
He smiled and nodded, "yeah, like swimming, but think about it carefully, Ava."
He kissed her on the forehead and got back and gave her a little bit of space.
She seemed lighter and he could tell the difference. She pressed play on the movie and they both settled in to the couch as the old black and white classic began.
/
Olivia dumped her bag on the dining table and kicked off her shoes at the door. She shuck off her blazer and sank down in to the couch. It was after midnight and Lucy was in bed in the guest room and Noah was sleeping soundly in his room. The apartment was silent and serene. Olivia sat for a moment and let her eyes fall shut.
It was so good to be home.
She knew if she didn't get up and have a shower and go to bed she would wake up around three in the morning with a sore neck and a headache from the way she was slumped back, exhausted.
With a soft grunt, she lifted herself back up and made her way down the hall to her bedroom. She closed the door and made her way in to the bathroom. She took off her make up and got in to a boiling hot shower. She let the water run over her face and the heat of it began to relax all of her muscles.
She could hear her phone pinging with messages and she prayed that it wasn't work, she couldn't handle dealing with another case on the eve of a few days off. She didn't mind having to hand over to Fin sometimes, but he still always liked to have her weigh-in and unfortunately she had allowed him to always call regardless of the time.
Still, she needed this. She needed the shower and the peace for even just ten minutes so she ignored it.
Once out of the shower she wrapped her towel around her and picked up the phone. It wasn't Fin, she thought, excited by the name that showed up. It was Trevor. She opened the message and let the grin spread across her face. "I hope if you're home and asleep, this won't wake you, but I just wanted to see how the rest of your night went. I hope you're doing okay. xx"
She went back to her room and wrapped her wet hair in the towel and put a t-shirt and underwear on. She got in to bed and turned off her lamp. It felt so good for her body to hit the mattress and for her head to hit the pillow.
Her phone screen lit the room and she re-read his message and smiled to herself. "Hello, I'm awake and I just got in about 20 minutes ago. Why are you still awake?"
She closed her eyes for a moment until she heard her phone chime again. She looked at the screen, "I can't sleep, Ava and I had a heart-to-heart today and I'm just thinking about how much my little girl has been suffering alone and its killing me to be honest with you."
Olivia could feel his emotions within his message. "Call me if you like… x"
Just a few seconds later her she could see the silent call coming through. "Hey Liv…"
She smiled and reached for her lamp and greeted him softly as she switched it on. She pulled her towel from her hair and hit the face time button, feeling a little confident.
It took him a few seconds but she could only see darkness and then suddenly his face appeared with a smile. He was in bed too, half sitting up with a lamp on. He looked like he hadn't shaved in a couple of days and she thought he looked beautiful. "Wow, you look good with a little bit of a beard," she tried not to grin too hard but she couldn't help herself, he was really just a gorgeous man.
"What about you!," he exclaimed, "you look stunning, Ooft, your smile does me in every time, I hope you know that," he smiled right back at her.
She felt her stomach flip-flop and suddenly didn't mind being awake late. "I am so glad you called… I needed to hear you— and see your face."
"Me too," he agreed.
They looked at each other for a few moments, starry-eyed and just taking each other in. When it started to feel awkward Olivia spoke. "I really wish that—" she stopped herself, "no, never mind."
"No," he shook his head, "please, finish that sentence."
She chuckled and felt very self-conscious all of a sudden. "I guess it's nice to see your face but… it would be nicer if I could be …"
"Face to face?," he wondered, breaking the ice for her.
"Yeah…"
"I know, you look like you need a set of arms around you right now, my arms, strictly speaking," he added with a little laugh.
"I would love that like you wouldn't believe. It feels like the gala was so long ago now," she told him regretfully, "and all I can think about was how nice it was to be that close to you."
He placed his hand on his chest, so happy to hear the words come from her mouth. "Thank goodness, I thought I was the only one who felt that way! I would give anything to just… chill out with you and hold you in my arms, no funny stuff—" he paused, "not unless you wanted," he grinned at her cheekily.
She laughed. "Mmm, honestly, that sounds nice but I think we need to be careful, you have a child in your house and I have one in mine and we need to respect their right to feel comfortable in their own home."
Trevor nodded but couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. "I know you're right. Ava was so excited when I said I wanted to see you again," he informed me, "she was trying to tell me what to write to you in the text. According to her, she's happy for me to date as long as 'don't date down or dumb'," he made air-quotes and Olivia laughed lightly.
"She's funny, I like her already."
"She loves you. She googled you apparently and thinks you're the most bad-ass woman in the world."
"And she's got good taste," Olivia winked jokingly.
"She got it from her Dad," he replied smugly.
They both laughed. "So you mentioned that Ava and you had a heart-to-heart, is she okay?" Olivia wanted to know, changing the subject.
A vague smile crossed his lips and she could see him immediately becoming sentimental. It was the bit about Trevor that she loved most - his poise and how heavily he was impacted by the things that meant the most to him. "Mmmm, my daughter came out to me…"
"Wow…" Olivia's low tone drew out the word slowly, "that's big."
"Yeah," he nodded. "I was not prepared for that, truthfully."
"How do you feel?," she wondered. She didn't think that Trevor was a bigot or a homophobe but she would have understood if he needed time to process the information - he seemed like a very traditional man.
He shrugged, "I mean, I don't care, really about what gender she falls in love with and her sexuality has very little to do with her heart and who she is as a person, but I just worry about how she will be received by others. I have learned more about my baby girl this week than ever and it's just been a lot, you know?," he explained.
"Yeah…" Liv's voice trailed off. "It must feel like a lot of info at once."
"It does," he agreed, "and to top it off, she told her mother before Sarah decided to move to California and so she thinks its the reason she dumped her on me."
"Do you think that's true?" Olivia questioned him.
Trevor shrugged, "I don't know, I'd hope not. It did jog my memories of how Sarah told me that I didn't really know our daughter and her lifestyle choices and I remembered thinking it was a weird comment, but my ex comes out with all kinds of stupid shit to be honest…. Ava told me that she would rather hide her sexuality than be rejected by everyone."
"Poor thing, sorry if it's weird to say so, but it kinda just makes me want to give her a big hug."
"That's sweet Liv," he smiled. "I did give her a big hug and I assured her that all I want is for her to be happy — whether that's with the same or a different gender, it doesn't matter to me."
Olivia returned his smile, "you're a very good Dad. That was probably exactly what she needed to hear."
"Thanks…" he replied. "Anyway, how did the rest of your night go?," he wondered.
"Much the same, I am just so grateful to be in bed. I took a long hot shower and literally climbed right in and it was so good to be off my feet."
"Aww, you poor thing. Well, we are really looking forward to making you dinner tomorrow night and I apologise in advance because it could all turn to shit because I am letting a 14 year old choose to help because she insists she knows how to cook."
Olivia laughed, "are you sure she's okay with me being there?"
"Yes," he nodded, "she was so excited by the idea so I have to be honest, she might be a little overbearing and will grill you with thousands of questions."
She smiled, "I'm actually looking forward to it. As long as she doesn't feel uncomfortable, I don't feel uncomfortable."
"I'm so excited to see you," he said, "I was thinking I might give Ava a little bit of responsibility and if you would like, I might walk over to you and pick you up…" he suggested.
Olivia loved his sense of romance and it wasn't lost on her that he clearly wanted some alone time with her.
"That sounds really nice, Trevor, I'm looking forward to it — and I don't really think I'll bring Noah if it's okay."
"Understood," he smiled.
"Maybe next time…" truthfully she wasn't sure when it was appropriate to drag her son in to a relationship. At what point would she know she wanted to involve Trevor in her son's life? Second date was definitely a no; perhaps when they knew better how they wanted to frame their relationship.
"That's totally fine Liv," he replied, "whenever you're ready, but… I should let you sleep and how about you text me tomorrow and when you have an idea of when you'd like to eat, just message me."
"Okay… I can't wait to see you," she replied. "And it's so good to see your face."
"Thanks, yours too, beautiful Olivia."
She almost giggled but instead she pressed her lips together hard so that she could stifle the stupid grin that threatened to spread across her mouth and burn her cheeks. "Goodnight handsome, Trevor."
"Goodnight lovely," he said softly.
/
Olivia threaded some hoops through her earring hole as Noah sat on her bed and watched her getting ready to go to Trevors house. "Mommy why can't I come?" He asked with a pout.
"Because, honey, you can come another time, but tonight its just for Mommy, okay?," she wasn't sure how to explain, but thankfully Noah accepted her answer. "Lucy should be here any minute sweetie and I'll try not to be too late, okay?"
He sighed and threw himself back on her bed in a huff.
Olivia tried to ignore him. She picked up her phone to see a message from Trevor. "I'm leaving now, see you soon."
She replied with a few smiley faces and a thumbs up."
She finished up with a pair of high waisted black pants and a silk blue t-shirt. She tossed her wavy hair over one shoulder and spritzed some perfume in to her neck.
She was a little bit nervous about the reception she would get at Trevor's home but never-the-less she was looking forward to seeing him.
She went downstairs and Noah trailed behind her. "Mom are you gonna come to school on Monday for my dance show?" He asked.
"Of course love," she smiled at him, "I wouldn't miss it for the world and you know that."
Olivia's phone began to ring. She went back out to the kitchen where she'd left it on the counter and picked it up to see that it was Lucy. "Hey Lucy, how's are you traveling?," she asked.
"Oh Liv, I am so sorry to do this but I've had an emergency back here and I don't think I'll be able to make it, I am so sorry," she said again.
"Oh…." Liv's voice trailed off. "Is everyone okay?" She asked.
"I think so, Mom had a fall so I need to go and make sure she's alright."
"No no, you better go, it's totally fine, wish your Mom the best for me, let me know how she is."
She sighed after she hung up. She knew she needed to cancel on Trevor but wondered how he would take it. He had been so excited and so had Ava; they'd gone shopping together in the morning to buy groceries and asked a lot of questions about her favourite foods.
She knew she would upset Ava horribly if she canceled. "Noah," she called, "I need you to go upstairs and put your nice blue shirt on and a pair of jeans you're going to come with me."
She knew he was excited, he thundered up the stairs without having to be prompted and knew exactly what shirt to wear.
Olivia picked up the phone and messaged Trevor. "I'm really sorry, there's been a change of plans, is it okay if Noah joins us?"
She sighed and hoped that there was enough food for him. She sat at the breakfast bar and waited nervously for his response.
Finally it came just as Noah came down the stairs. Olivia smiled at him. "Is it okay, Mom?" He wondered.
"You look like an angel," she replied with a smile. She opened Trevor's message. "Of course that's okay, I just let Ava know to set another place at the table. I'll be there in 2 minutes."
She smiled. "Noah, you're about to meet Mr. Langan, do you remember him?," she asked, "he's the friend of Mom's that helped with you when you were a little younger."
She knew Noah would remember him. He had seen Trevor many times through the years. "Yeah," he nodded.
"We're gonna eat dinner at his place with his daughter, Ava."
"Oooh is he your boyfriend, Mom?" Noah teased her. Olivia laughed and shook her head.
"No, honey, Trevor is my friend, you know him," she smiled. "Come on, we're gonna go wait downstairs."
Olivia grabbed her bag and guided her son out in to the hallway. She grabbed his hand and together they took the lift down to the street.
/
Trevor wanted to grab for Olivia's hand the whole way back to his apartment but was very aware of Noah and keeping in mind what she had told him about not wanting to make either of their kids feel uncomfortable.
They chatted the whole way back, Trevor engaging Noah about school and other things. When they reached the front door Trevor was impressed with the smell of their dinner.
"Honey, we're back!" Trevor called out.
"Take off your shoes at the door, Noah, remember your manners," she reminded him.
"Its okay," Trevor smiled. "The tiles might be too cold," he added.
"I have socks," Noah shrugged and slipped his shoes off. Olivia helped him with his jacket. Trevor waited for Olivia to shed her own and he took them both letting his fingers innocently brush along hers. They shared a knowing smile with an air of nervousness that spread out between them.
"Thanks…" she murmured letting her stare linger a little.
"Come on, come in to the kitchen and I'll get you and Noah a drink and some snacks."
Noah had become a little shy so Olivia took his hand and followed Trevor who guided the way to the kitchen. She grinned at Ava who was wearing a cute black casual dress with her hair swept up in a top knot upon her head. She looked effortlessly beautiful as she smiled back and waved at Liv and Noah.
"Hi Olivia," she glanced at her son, "you must be Noah, hi Noah!"
"Hello," Noah said shyly.
"Noah, this is Ava," Olivia introduced him before Trevor could get the chance, "she's Trevor's daughter."
Noah smiled politely.
Trevor nervously wandered around the kitchen and got out a few glasses. He needed an alcoholic drink to settle his nerves. "Noah would you like some juice or some soda?," he asked the little boy who stood stiffly.
Noah looked to Olivia as if asking her what he was allowed to have. "If you want a soda, it's okay babe, it's a special occasion," she told him with an encouraging smile.
"Soda please," he smiled happily.
Trevor grinned. "Honey, what would you like?," he asked Ava.
"I'm okay," she shrugged.
Trevor got everyone's drinks and set them down on the counter while Liv made Noah comfortable in a stool at the counter.
"Ava, the food smells great," she complimented her knowing that she'd done more than Trevor had. "I can't wait to eat!"
"Thanks," she smiled back at Olivia, "I am about to start making dessert in a second, Dad thought I was bluffing when I said I could cook."
Trevor laughed, "I will give credit where it's due, Ava definitely knows what she's doing," he replied.
"Noah, would you like to help me make dessert?" The teenager asked Liv's son.
"Okay…" he replied carefully, not wanting to offend anyone or say the wrong thing. Olivia knew her son was pretty shy to start, but she loved Trevor's daughter for making an effort.
"You don't have to, but I thought it might be fun," Ava added while Liv and Trevor shared a smile, both appreciating his daughter in that moment.
"No, I can help, right Mom?" Noah looked to Olivia.
"Of course you can help, you love to help me cook," she smiled. "I am sure Ava is much better at it than I am."
Ava smiled and turned to her Dad. "Dad, I've done everything else now, after Noah and I have prepped and made the dessert, I'll get ready to serve dinner."
Trevor closed the distance between himself and his daughter and put an arm around her. He kissed her forehead, "You're so talented, I love you." He gave her a little squeeze before letting go.
"Speaking of talent, I heard you absolutely smashed it at your swim meet yesterday," Olivia remarked.
Ava ducked her head with bashfulness. "I did okay."
"You're being modest," Olivia countered her. "I heard you won everything and you didn't even bother waiting around for your ribbons," she smiled.
Ava shrugged, "What am I supposed to do with them?," she asked, "it seems dumb, I just like to beat my own record."
"It's still nice to get them, for me to brag to everyone at least," he chuckled. He turned to Noah, "what about you, kiddo? How's baseball going this year?"
"I don't do baseball anymore, I don't like it. I take dance classes now, don't I, Mom?," he replied a little embarrassed because of the light ribbing he'd received from male classmates about him liking to dance and the surprise of other people who found out he dropped one activity for another.
"Sure do and you're very good at it, too," she told him with a smile.
"Guess who else takes dance?" Ava asked Noah. He gave a little shrug, staring at her blankly. "I do!," she said, "I take ballet and modern dance."
"Oooh," Noah was immediately pitched in, "I like ballet and I do modern too!"
Trevor and Olivia grinned at one another knowing that their kids already had found a middle ground and Trevor knew that Ava would adore Noah; a little protege.
"Oh!" Ava grinned at him, "that's so cool, Noah! I would love to see you dance, maybe you can show me some moves later!"
"Okay!," he grinned back, excited, flattered that someone much older than him had taken a genuine interest.
"Daddy can you get Noah a chair that he can stand on so he can help me organise dessert?"
"Sure honey, do you require any help?," he wanted to know.
Ava shook her head and smiled, "you guys should go and relax in the living room and we'll call you when dinner is ready, right Noah?" Ava checked with Olivia's son.
"Yeah Mom, you should relax with Trevor and Ava and I can make the dessert for you for a change," he smiled.
Olivia smiled at her son and Trevor went to retrieve a chair for Noah. "There you go, kiddo, you can stand on this chair and sit on the counter if you like…" he smiled, "just be careful and don't fall, okay? Your mama will arrest me," he joked.
"I will," Olivia said with mock-seriousness.
Noah laughed, "you're silly, Trevor."
"Go on, let Noah and I chat about dance and cook, you guys go and watch TV or whatever it is you do. I'll send you a text when dinner is ready or if we need anything, Dad…" Ava insisted.
"Okay, okay…" he held up his hands, "come on Olivia, we know when we're not wanted," he laughed.
Olivia got up. She kissed Noah's forehead, "be good babe, okay?," she told him.
"Okay Mommy," he replied.
"Grab your drink, let's just go and turn the TV on and see what's on…" Trevor suggested. Olivia was happy to follow him. She was going crazy thinking up scenarios where she could be alone with him. She knew that they were not going to be seeing what was on, she thought. They would be paying attention to one another and not much else.
"This is really nice," Trevor commented as Olivia set her drink down and took a seat, "having the kids hit it off so fast," he smiled, "Ava loves kids."
"I can see that, she was so good with him so quickly, that was so sweet."
He turned his body towards Olivia and took her hand. "You look so beautiful tonight," he murmured. She lifted her hand; the one interlocked with his and kissed the back of it and smiled at him.
She surveyed him in his dress pants and casual blue button-down top that looked light and made of a soft cotton material. The top two buttons were undone and his sleeves were folded up to his elbows. He looked beautiful with a short bit of stubble that covered that beautiful jawline of his. He was so remarkably good looking that she found it hard to believe that it was him making eyes at her.
"You're smoking hot," she blurted out with a little laughter that he found to be so sweet — it was abandon of her vulnerability and he loved it.
"I need to kiss you, is that okay?," he was very conscious of Olivia's concern about the kids being in the same house as them.
She nodded enthusiastically, hiding a smile. "I need that too," she replied.
Trevor moved in closer, letting go of her hand. He slipped an arm around her shoulders and drew her close, he stared at her beautiful pink lips for a brief second before aligning his against hers. He instantly felt the tension drop from her shoulders as she relaxed in his arms. She arched her body against his and it felt so good, he thought.
Olivia moved as close as she could until she felt him pulling her in to his lap and she didn't care for the minute — but that didn't mean she wasn't listening out for footsteps.
She felt his large hand on the back of her head, his other arm wrapped firmly around her waist, pulling her body against his as he kissed her with an open mouth, tasting the gin on her tongue as he massaged his against hers with urgency and the need that they'd both been feeling burning between them since their first date.
Trevor slowed the kisses down a little still holding her firm. They could feel their chests bursting with breathlessness. "I need you," he whispered between kisses, "I really fucking need you…"
"Me too…" she replied, pulling away to catch her breath. She leaned in to kiss him again, pressing her lips softly against his. She made a very soft groan as he followed her mouth, just allowing the tip of her tongue to taste his before she pulled away again. Her eyes searched his for a moment before a soft smile spread across her mouth.
"I like you," she whispered. "A lot."
Trevor grinned back at you, "I like you a lot." He paused, "I really need to spend some time alone with you… without kids," he added.
She nodded in agreement because all she could think about was getting him out of his clothes and in to something comfortable. She thought about being able to lay against him naked, of feeling him inside of her with his large hands wandering all over her body.
She let out a careful, measured sigh. She cupped his cheeks in her hands and smoothed her thumbs over the bristles on his cheeks. It felt nice, he thought, the soft caresses of the most beautiful woman that he knew was entirely welcomed.
The nervousness he'd felt earlier had all but left him now.
She couldn't help but kiss him again and again. His lips were as soft as they looked and he was as gentle as she knew he would be. He felt a little too good to be true and she would try so hard not to fall for him, but he made her absolutely giddy.
Trevor reached up and pushed one of her stray curls from her face. He smiled and continued to stroke her hair. "It's hard to be around you and not want to kiss and hold you and keep my hands off you," he admitted.
She felt the same. She wanted to spend the night with him; to feel that company, that affection and adoration that had been years since she'd experienced. She felt the graze of his soft fingers behind her ears that almost made her shiver. He knew just how to touch her to set her body off and she could only imagine how he'd be when they were entirely in private with the doors closed and no concern for anyone barging on in.
"We need to figure something out," she murmured, "so we can have that…"
He smiled, "Leave it with me, I'll see if I can come up with something special," he kissed her again.
"I was gonna suggest a night when Ava goes on a sleep over or something, but… I think there's been a fall-out with her friend, she hasn't been texting away like a demon for days…"
"That's okay, we just have to be patient," Olivia replied.
Trevor nodded. "I just want to get to know everything about you…" he murmured quietly. "Because I already know that you have the most beautiful heart."
Her stomach fluttered, his deep voice was quiet, sentimental even and it made her feel warm and comfortable with him. She knew though, that sometimes though some men knew how to say and do all the right things until they were bored.
Unfortunately she had learned the hard way.
Trevor's phone chimed as he had passed her the gin. He picked up the phone.
"Dinner is five minutes away, Dad, better stop making out now, gross."
He laughed at his daughter's message. "This kid never stops making fun of me, I am sure she thinks I get embarrassed when she does this," he showed her his phone.
Olivia laughed but he noticed her cheeks flush a little. "She definitely loves to tease you, I can tell that," she chuckled.
"But she's certainly not stupid," Trevor chuckled. He replied to the message; Ha Ha, see you in a moment. He looked at Olivia, "I was gonna suggest we do something after dinner but since Noah is here, why don't we watch a movie with the kids after?"
She loved that he considered Noah; that he didn't expect her to shirk responsibilities for his company. He understood because he was a father too. She had never had a boyfriend that had children so she imagined that the experience could be quite different to what she was used to.
There would always be that common understanding there.
"That sounds like a nice idea, but I am pretty strict about what movies he watches," she replied.
Trevor shrugged, "We'll let him choose something family friendly," he replied, "Ava and I watched a really cute Disney movie the other night, I'm not above Disney," he added with a little smile.
"You are such a good Dad," Olivia told him, "I know I don't know you well in that capacity, but I can just tell."
"Thanks, Liv, that's such a nice compliment, one of the best, actually. I am still navigating it doing my best… we're both learning as we go."
She nodded with encouragement, "That's all it is with parenting, learning as you go." She paused and placed a hand on Trevor's chest and kissed his lips just one more time. "And we better go and eat dinner…"
Trevor laughed, "Cute segue, Benson."
/