Hi everyone, sorry its been a little bit... I got covid and then I got sick again immediately after getting the all clear and now I have pneumonia, lucky me! So anyway, Ive been writing this on and off for a few weeks and I hope there's not a huge amount of mistakes, but if so, feel free to ignore them... :) let me know your thoughts... (I have also almost entirely finished writing the next chapter...)
Olivia texted Tara to ask if it was okay if she arrived a little earlier — she thought it might be nice to talk to her one-on-one, unsure of how well she and Hannah knew one another and how comfortable she'd feel talking about what had happened with her.
She smiled to receive a reply immediately asking her to please come as soon as she was ready. Olivia collected a bag of Lexi's things and went in to the kitchen to find her favourite cosmo mixers so she could make both women a cocktail after boasting about her skills. She could make herself a virgin one. She loaded her bag and set up the pram before scooping Lexi off her mini sofa in the living room and fastened her in. Her daughter work up briefly but seemed sleepy enough to close her eyes again.
Hey baby, I hope you're having a wonderful day. I was a bit queasy this morning but I've taken a anti-nausea pill and it's still early, but I thought I'd go to Tara's a bit earlier just in case I get nauseous again and need to go home a bit earlier. I feel okay now. If you spy Noah in the halls today, let me know how he's doing. I love and miss you. I'll see you when you come to pick Lexi up, the kids are all walking here straight from school. I love you.
She pushed the pram out the hall and locked the door and headed to the lift.
/
"Noah, waiiiiit up," he turned around and glanced over his shoulder and saw Adam who was jogging to catch up. Kaci wasn't far behind. They both made a beeline toward their friend. Adam held up his wrist as he got close, "look! Matchy-matchy," he laughed.
Noah laughed too, feeling a sense of relief that instantly any tenseness that he felt dissipated. "Hiiii Kaci," he grinned, giving her a hug. "I missed you guys so much!"
Adam hugged him too. "We missed you, even Ryan said he missed seeing you around, he's been sitting with us, you know?"
"Really?" Noah laughed, "he's not getting a bracelet though," he chuckled.
"Never," Kaci winked. "You and I have English, what do you have Adz?," she asked their friend.
"Science, blechhh," he rolled his eyes. "I'll catch up with you both at lunch. You're coming to play Fortnite aren't you?"
"Yeah," he smiled.
"Excellent, see you guys at lunch." He waved as he continued on to his own class.
"Soooo," Kaci greeted him, "how are you feeling?."
"I feel good, happy to see you guys and happy to feel kind of normal again," he admitted.
"You know… you can still hold my hand and hug me and stuff, maybe just not the kissing," she told him quietly, glancing at him from the corner of her eye. "I mean, if you want…"
"Good… because I still love you, just not in that way, but I still want to be close to you," he smiled.
He felt happier that she was still open to his affections. She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "I'll always have a crush on you Noah, it might be different to a normal girl crush, but I still think you're gorgeous and I love you too."
He grinned at her. "I think you're gorgeous and I love you too and I have a crush on you too, its just not the kind of crush that I wish it was…. Its the crush where I look at you and think, oooft, she's so pretty, wish she could be mine… and by the way, sometimes I felt things kissing you."
"Me too," she admitted, "but I think its just cos we are teens and our hormones are still figuring it out. I talked to Mom about it and we decided it was normal to love someone and have feelings for them— like butterflies or whatever even if we have non-sexual feelings, does that make sense?"
Noah smiled as they neared their classroom, his cheeks heating a little. "I think so, yeah… I think I can relate to that."
"Good, then nothing has to change…" she told him, simply and he was pretty happy about that. It felt good to have an affectionate friend, someone who wasn't afraid of showing him how much she cared and vice versa. He adored her and really did think she was gorgeous and he liked holding her hand and kissing her cheek or forehead or holding her — he was glad she wasn't uncomfortable with him after what he'd told her.
He felt massive relief as they walked in to the classroom and found two desks side-by-side.
/
"Look how beautiful you are…" Tara gushed at Lexi, "you have the most beautiful eyes!," she held the infant balanced upon her hip as Olivia watched on with pride. Lexi wasn't entirely sure about the stranger holding her, but she was getting better at meeting new people.
"You're so lucky," Tara smiled, "I always wanted another baby…"
"Me too," Olivia replied, "it took a lot of crappy circumstances on my behalf for me to actually be ready to do something like this again…"
"I can imagine… and if I'm honest, if my ex husband had of impregnated me again, it wouldn't have worked out well. It was hard enough trying to look after Kaci."
"But you've done such an amazing job. Trevor and I were marvelling about it a few weeks back — mostly when kids have something going on at home, we see it reflected in their behaviour but not Kaci, she is the sweetest 14 year old girl I've ever met."
"Thank you," she smiled, "I guess I did something right."
"So… how are you feeling?" Olivia asked gently, "I mean, if you don't want to talk about any of it with me, that's totally fine, I respect that."
Tara smiled ruefully and avoided Olivia's eyes as they sat down in the living room. "No, its okay…. I'm feeling a little just like … what next, you know? I was with Kaci's dad since college and I had kind of just resigned this to be my life forever. I never really quite believed it would come to this."
Olivia nodded slow. "But it was escalating, surely you knew that."
"I did," she replied, "I started to worry for Kaci which is why I called out to the police, but I was scared and he was so good at pushing this narrative that if I left with Kaci, he would find me and he would come after us — that I've got no skills, no money, no likeable traits that would ever allow me to find love again, just — he had an answer for everything."
"They usually do…" Olivia's voice trailed off. "I wanted to apologise actually, the day of Kaci's birthday when Noah and I dropped her off, I was a little thrown to realise you were Kaci's Mom and I did see the cameras at the door and all of the things that would normally set off red flags were just brushed aside because of my son and your daughter and I'm so sorry, I could have intervened."
Tara shook her head. "You couldn't have, Olivia, I would have denied it, I would have been petrified and shut you out… before all that happened, things were actually just coming to a head so it wouldn't have mattered what you said, I would have asked you to leave and I would have been panicked and neurotic about it."
"True," Olivia agreed, "but I never take no for an answer," she smiled kindly at the Mom who she guessed was at least ten years younger than her. "I'm just so thankful that you both are okay."
"I know I said a superfluous thank you for looking after Kaci while my parents tried to get back from Norway, but I genuinely mean it from the bottom of my heart, thank you. Kaci told me how both you and Trevor sat with her every day and she just really adores you both."
Olivia smiled. "Its just what I would want someone to do for my son… When Kaci didn't turn up for school, Noah was really worried so I asked one of my detectives to accompany me to your apartment for a welfare check and there'd already been the call out."
Tara's eyes filmed over. "I hope I never have to see him again, I will never forgive what he did to Kaci. She's still struggling with headaches and some aching with her jaw that we have to follow up with a specialist."
"I don't think you'll have to see him again," Olivia replied. "If anything should arise, you need to let me know and I'll walk through it with you."
"Thanks, Liv…you're a very special person for what you do and what you've done for us."
"That's kind of you to say, but … I was just doing what anyone would have done, Trevor too. If your parents weren't able to come back, we would have had Kaci at home with us until you were well enough."
"I don't know that anyone would have done that, but thank you."
"You're welcome… Kaci has been such a good friend to my son, especially recently."
Tara nodded knowingly. "Kaci came home last week in a bit of a mess, we had to talk it through but she's fine. I think her ego was a little bruised to find out Noah wasn't really interested in her in that way…"
"You know, I was a little surprised because I was confident that Noah wanted to ask her to be his girlfriend, he was even planning it out. He wanted to ask her on her birthday, but I think it's important that you don't overshadow an important event with something else, so he decided to wait…"
"Maybe he was just following the idea of what he thinks he was supposed to do or want," Tara suggested.
"Yeah, I think that's what happened. But… I heard from Trevor that they were a little inseparable for awhile, kissing all over the place til we decided to have a conversation with Noah about appropriateness."
Tara laughed, "Shit, Kaci got home and was like, Mom! Noah kissed me! Withhhhh tongue! "
Both Mom's laughed, "Oh man… I bet you were internally panicking, because I was when he told Trevor they'd made out."
"I was a little amused because she had mixed feelings about it, but I guess they practiced a little," she chuckled. "I don't know, in one way its a relief that Noah was honest about his sexuality and was so up front and honest with her. I was impressed that he came to the apartment to meet her and took her for a walk and explained what was in his heart — that takes so much maturity and bravery, you know? We are so blessed with these kids."
"Yeah… he hadn't even told me or Trevor yet; the poor thing had himself so worked up. He thought we wouldn't accept him and he thought Kaci would hate him and from what I understand, this has been on his shoulders for a lot of years."
"Poor kid…" Tara remarked, "I can't imagine… but I'm so happy for him that he has a Mom and a Dad who will always be there for him — and Adam and Kaci are such sweethearts that they will never betray his trust."
"And that's probably the most important thing. I feel a bit shitty as a Mom for not really ever seeing the signs."
"Sometimes the closer we are, the harder it is to see…"
Olivia nodded. "Hey, fussy pants," she spoke to Lexi who wriggled around a little bit in Tara's lap. "Daddy will be here soonish." She looked at Tara, "I'm sorry, I did bring some toys with us, she usually gets a bit antsy this time of day."
Tara just laughed as Olivia got up to get her baby bag that she filled with some toys to keep her quiet and entertained. "We don't mind, do we Lexi?" Tara tickled her, making the toddler laugh, giggling as she squirmed about. Olivia grinned, she absolutely adored the sound of her daughter laughing.
Once she'd had enough, Olivia set her down on her little blanket with some toys and a puzzle game that seemed to entertain her. "Does she like children's shows? I could put something on the TV for her."
"Yeah, she likes Cocomelon which drives us all batty, so we limit it to an hour a day or else I think we'd have it going 24/7."
Tara laughed, "Shall I turn it on for her as a treat?"
"Sure, thank you."
As soon as Tara put on the YouTube stream for Lexi, she was transfixed, smiling happily and clapping along. She looked back at Olivia and pointed at the TV.
"I know, that's so lovely isn't it? Ms Tara said you could watch Cocomelon."
Lexi smiled at Tara too, "Cocomelon!" She mumbled before turning back to the TV.
"We're working on her words, she was almost entirely non-verbal when she came in to our care and she's picked up a lot very quickly. Trevor and Noah play word games with her most nights."
"She's going to catch right up and probably end up lightyears ahead of her age with that kind of support at home," Tara remarked. "I love that you ended up with Trevor, he has always been such an amazing teacher."
Olivia grinned, "Yeah and an incredible lifeline to Noah. I wouldn't have met him if he hadn't taken such a role in making sure he wasn't flunking out for a couple of reasons."
"Noah? Noooo, he's so good! Kaci always tells me about how sweet he is to other kids at school, fighting with some kid who gave her a hard time and then befriending him?"
Olivia laughed and shook her head, "My kid is a lot," she chuckled, "not in a bad way though, he and his friend got in to a lot of trouble for some pranks, he got suspended and then they did something else stupid and were almost expelled, as a Mom you can imagine how furious and disappointed I was — our relationship went downhill because of my own issues and yeah… I guess looking back he was struggling with his sexuality, but also with a relationship breakdown that I had… Noah also has dyslexia and his friend's Mom told me that Noah was just too much of a bad influence that she was changing schools…"
"What!" Tara's jaw was hanging, "not Noah, I can't believe it…"
"Well, Trevor went on a fact-finding mission and we found out that Noah, the loyal little fool took the fall for the second prank when in fact, he had tried to talk his friend out of it, he thought he was kidding around and when it came to the crunch, he let his friend pin it on him… and I think he figured everyone decided he was trouble so he acted out— probably looking for attention from me too."
"Poor kid…" she murmured. "This was obviously before he and Kaci became friends?"
"Yeah, I think so… Trevor just got him some help with some classes, tutored him in English so he didn't fail, made a deal with his math teacher to give him another chance in exchange for a spot on the football team — which now I've come to realise is where Trevor sends all the trouble kids to teach them about discipline, teamwork and to let off steam."
"See? What a great guy!"
Olivia smiled, "he cares. He's been through a lot too."
"Kaci told me his wife passed a few years back."
"Yeah… he used to teach Noah in one of his classes back just before I broke up with my ex-fiance and it was right after his wife passed, he said he used to watch how kind Noah was, how helpful, how compassionate — and it gave him a little bit of hope and a reason to get up every day to make it his mission to get as many kids to have as much heart as Noah did, to help more…"
"So when he saw Noah acting out, I bet he wanted to fix it."
"Yeah… I think so. I think both Trevor and I came together and realised my son had way more going on than I realised and we've worked on it together as a family and Noah just absolutely adores the ground he walks on…"
"If it helps, Kaci feels that way about you both too and I am just eternally grateful that she has at least one strong woman in her life that she can look to for a backbone, strength and empowerment."
"Oh…" Liv's voice trailed, "she has you for that Tara. I know you don't see it right now and I'm sure everything is still raw, but for years you endured this man to protect your daughter. You put yourself at risk to do things for her that she wouldn't have been allowed to do if her father had anything to do with it — your online job that Kaci told me about so that you could save some money for her birthday gifts and to hopefully leave — and sometimes I know that its harder to leave than it is to stay."
"Don't-" Tara laughed, "I don't want to cry, its so pathetic…"
"Its not pathetic. You're only human, you put up with this man for so long, a large chunk of your life and now you're free and you get to live your life for you and for Kaci. You get to have friends, to work, to find love again… you're not controlled by money or beaten in to submission or at the mercy of someone's bad mood, you can live for yourself and I am here to celebrate that ride with you, Tara."
/
"Harvey and Julia, if I look up one more time and see you both making goo-goo eyes at one another, I'm going to separate you both with a crow bar and blow torch," he threatened the two tenth grade students at the back of the classroom. He let them know by his tone that he meant it with humour but it needed to stop.
"Sorry Mr Langan, is it grossing you out?," Harvey asked as his classmates laughed.
"Me? Yes, a little. But, mostly it's getting in the way of my teaching you. There's a time and a place and neither is in my class."
"You're jealous," Julia smirked, jokingly.
"Why would he be jealous?," another student shot back, "his baby mama is super hot," said Dean Nagle, a kid he had been teaching for a year or two. Trevor nearly had whiplash, snapping his head straight to the other student.
The class, getting riled up began to woo at him. He rolled his eyes. "Sounds like you're a bit jealous, Dean," Trevor teased, "okay come on that's enough, you can make eyes at each other all you like outside of my lesson but for now, I need your focus."
"How do you know what his girlfriend looks like?," Harvey wasn't finished, he wanted more details and Trevor was just a little curious how his student knew too.
"It's Noah Benson's Mom, didn't you know? The hot sex crime cop!" Someone else ignored him, pitching in.
"Enough!" Trevor called out firmly, "leave my kids and their mama out of the classroom. If you have any questions, you can stay back after class and we can do a Q&A session," he replied, "the next person who interrupts me can take a walk out the door, or they can deal with me interrupting their time at lunch tomorrow, I'll be sure to make myself comfortable accompanying you to ask lesson-related questions in your time."
"I'd be cool with that," Dean shrugged.
Trevor raised his eyebrow and smiled, "Don't try me, Dean… I can be a very, very petty man."
Dean laughed. "Well, if you bring your girlfriend, I'll do all the learning you want."
Trevor made a grossed-out face, "You know, Dean, maybe I will bring my girlfriend, I'm sure she would love to give you a lecture on sexualising and objectifying females and she might like to have a direct and terrifying chat to you about it, how does that sound?"
The girls in his class woo-ed and clapped. "Do it, Mr Langan, he deserves it."
Trevor folded his arms, "Don't be disrespectful to me or to my girlfriend again and if I ever hear you speak about a girl like that, I really will be bringing in Captain Benson for a talk with not only you but all the other young men in the grade."
"How is saying someone's sexy or hot a bad thing?," the teen insisted, becoming red-faced, embarrassed and also a little indignant.
"Don't push your luck, Dean, and don't play stupid, I know you're not stupid. Another word and you can leave my class and go and have a chat to the principal."
He sucked in a deep breath as his student muttered to himself under his breath. Trevor turned back to the white board he was working on. "Now, as I was saying— we are getting so close to the end of the year and I really don't want to send anyone home with any crazy studying to prepare for an exam, so instead, I am going to spend the next three weeks doing revision in class, so even if you think you know it all, humour me and pay attention."
"Are we not having an exam?," one of the students, Ashley Jensen asked. She was a good, bookish student who always handed in her homework on time, produced all of her assignments early and excelled in most subjects.
"Shut up, Ashley!," another girl remarked, rolling her eyes. Trevor almost smiled before he turned around. When he was a teen he would have hated the kind of kid that asked for more work.
"Stop-" he eyed off the girl, "Ash's question isn't going to suddenly make me draw up an exam and if I had an exam prepared, I wouldn't have forgotten to give it if Ash didn't ask, so chill out." He turned to the student in the front, Ashley, "Ashley, there's no quiz, but feel free to ask and I can find you some extra work if you want to learn more over the summer."
She smiled, a little embarrassed.
Everyone cheered to hear the news that he wasn't going to give them an exam, "but wait a second, guys, I'm not done. There's no exam, but you will be required to fully participate in all of these lessons til summer, so I suggest you pay attention because your grade depends on it. So… let's start with the easy stuff. If you have the answer, keep it to yourself, because I am going to call on you guys at random."
There were some groans, but mostly the kids seemed happy that their teacher hadn't added more work on top of their end of year exams and class projects.
"Let's start with something easy… so, we know or we at least should know that economics is a science, but what type of science is it exactly?" He paused, "actually, this is not quite so easy, it's not the answer you think it might be," he flashed his class a smile. He looked around, "Dean, let's start with you, let's see if your ears were just painted on this semester."
The class laughed good-naturedly at their fellow student.
Dean laughed too, "uhh…" he thought for a moment, "Mathematical science?"
Trevor smiled, "that's a good guess and probably what I expected you might say, maybe make note of this one, I'm going to tell you all that Economics is a social science because it affects us in a societal way and how our society functions, does that make sense?"
The kids nodded, while some just stared blankly at him.
"We know there are different kinds of economies depending on where you live around the world, but all economies need to be able to figure out these three things when it comes to products and service for them— Michela, do you remember what those three things are?"
He watched the girl flick back through her notes and he was glad that they actually had taken them down. "I think it's the what, how and who…"
"Great!" Trevor smiled, "Give me a little bit more than though,"
The student found her notes, "What goods will we produce, who is going to produce them and how should it be produced."
"Terrific, thanks Michela… if you guys get all of these questions right, I will be available to do something embarrassing on your instathings on your tikclocks or whatever you get up to…"
The kids groaned and made disgusted faces at his joking attempts to name their social medias of choice. He started to laugh.
"Will you do a TikTok dance challenge with us?," one of the girls asked.
Trevor began to laugh. "Maybe… I'll negotiate it with you all at the end of the semester, but we still have a few weeks left so let's talk about it then."
The kids began to laugh. It didn't take a lot to excite them especially when it meant putting himself through something embarrassing for their entertainment. He would seek out Noah's approval first before agreeing to anything that could be potentially damaging or hard to live down.
He went through some more questions with them until he gave them links to read for the last half an hour. He knew he had to hot-tail it out to pick up Lexi for Olivia and he was tired and wanted the day done with and perhaps have enough time to check in with Noah about his day, even if it had to be via text.
/
"So, I thought that, just because I can't currently drink, I would make some cocktails for you and Hannah if you would like because it's kind of my specialty," Olivia chuckled.
Tara's mouth fell open, a big grin forming. "Are you serious? Can I be really honest with you, Liv?"
"Of course," she replied.
"I've never had a cocktail before — in fact, I've only had a sip of wine at family stuff because my ex said, and I quote, 'only whores drink alcohol'," Tara laughed in spite of the comment.
"Wow, well, I guess according to your ex, I'm a great big whore and I'm not even sorry about it."
They both laughed together. Olivia shrugged, "but seriously, no pressure, I wouldn't encourage drinking alcohol unless you're feeling safe enough. I don't drink a lot when I leave the house, usually just if Trevor and I have date night because I know he'll take care of me."
"No, I want this experience. How much safer can I feel than in my own home with the Captain of Manhattan SVU?"
Liv smiled. "Okay, well, maybe we'll go easy since we don't want you to get drunk, just enough to feel relaxed."
"Thanks Liv, for all of this, this is so nice of you," she nodded to the liquors on the counter. There was the sound of the doorbell and Olivia saw her new friend visibly jump, as if triggered by it.
She touched her arm, "its okay, I think it's just Trevor to pick up Lex…" she told her gently.
"Force of habit," she murmured, "I'll go and grab the door."
"Okay, call out if you need me, I'll get Lexi's things together."
/
Trevor smiled at the small, waif-like woman that answered the door. She glanced up at Trevor who towered right over her tiny frame. "Hi, Trevor, come on inside-"
"Hi Mrs-" he didn't want to use her married name in case it was too much for her.
"Tara," she quickly stopped him. "Tara Collison now."
He just smiled as she guided him inside what was actually a very nice apartment. He saw Olivia and instantly felt himself relax, her presence just seemed to centre him. She glanced up from stuffing some things in to Lexi's backpack. "Hey sweetheart," she greeted him.
"Hi love, how are you feeling?," he asked, waiting for her to stand up straight so he could kiss her gently. Tara was behind them in the kitchen, putting together some food for the kids and her new friends.
"Much better than this morning, thanks…" he let his hand smooth over her cheek and gave her a smile.
"How was your day?," she asked.
He laughed, he turned to Tara and looked at Olivia, "my tenth grade class nearly had me call you to come down and talk to them about appropriateness and speaking about girls in a really disgusting way."
"Really?," Olivia asked, her interest piqued, "what were they saying? Or do I not want to know?"
"Actually," he hid a smile, "they kept pushing my buttons and then you came up."
Tara laughed, "really? What bad things could they possibly have to say about Olivia?"
"How do they even know about me?" Olivia laughed, her expression was amused but also a little weirded out.
He shrugged and shook his head, "I don't know, they probably stalked me online and saw a picture of us, but they knew you were Noah's Mom and the captain of the police— turns out you have a few 10th grade admirers."
"Ew," Olivia made a face, "Did they roast you about me, Trevor?"
He chuckled, "kind of, one of the kids kept talking about my sexy girlfriend. I ignored it for a bit but that backfired and then I threatened to come and hang out with the kid in question and interrupt his lunch break in retaliation for interrupting my class and somehow a 15 year old managed to make it sleazy, saying if I brought you along, it'd be a deal."
Tara pressed her lips together to keep from laughing.
"Trevor that's disgusting," Olivia's cheeks were a little red. "How am I getting objectified by a 15 yr old brat?"
"Well, that's when I cracked. I told him if I ever heard him speak about you or any other female like that again, I'd have you come and give a talk to the entire 10th grade about objectification and sexualisation of women and that you'd probably be interested in having a direct and terrifying conversation with him that might change his mind about everything he'd just said."
"Good," Olivia replied, "This is why I love you. Hold him to it, I don't have a lot going on at the moment."
She finally smiled, Trevor hoped that she would see the funny side of it just like Tara clearly did. "It's okay Olivia, you are very beautiful," she winked with a laugh.
Olivia laughed too and rolled her eyes. "Honestly, it's a lot with these smart-asses some days," Trevor admitted, "it really makes me want to go back to teaching little kids again."
"Trevor would you like to take a seat and have a drink with us? Olivia is our bartender for the afternoon." He glanced at Liv and gave a chuckle. She smiled at him innocently.
"Nah, I should take little miss and get going and leave you ladies to it."
"She's asleep, love, why don't you stay for one drink? Tara was just telling me she's never really had alcohol before, so we are gonna introduce her slow, I'm thinking maybe a mojito."
Trevor shook his head, "don't let Olivia lead you down a path of drunken destruction," he joked.
Tara laughed, "I have better things in life to spend my money on now that I am finally looking for work."
"Good, okay sure I'll stay for one drink and then get out of your hair so I don't cramp the kid's style when they get back."
"Great, I'll get you a drink love," Olivia told him as he made his way to the kitchen counter where Olivia had clearly been in the middle of making something to drink. She picked up her phone and sent a text, "I just asked Hannah how far off she is and if she wanted a mojito."
"Want me to do anything?" Trevor asked politely.
"No Trevor, you can just take a seat and look pretty," Tara smiled at him kindly, "and while you're here, I wanted to thank you as well for looking out for Kaci and spending all that time with her when she was in the hospital with me."
"Oh," he cocked his head to the side approaching the small woman with empathy, "please, you don't have to thank me for that. Kaci is such an amazing girl. She is so determined and so brave. She really got through her injuries with resilience. She always impresses me."
Tara's smile tightened as she blinked back her tears, "thank you," she said in what sounded to be a gasp, as if she was afraid of sobbing. The front door opened and Olivia could hear the two boys talking loudly before Kaci told them both to shut up.
"Can you both shut up?" Kaci asked over her shoulder, "you're being too loud."
"Kaci!" Tara admonished her as she appeared in the doorway, "don't speak to your friends like that."
Kaci almost stopped in her tracks, surprised to find Olivia and Trevor in the kitchen area with her Mom. "Hi guys,"
"That's okay Mrs. Collison, Kaci always brings us down with her pointed, nasty words," Adam joked.
Kaci slugged him in the arm as Noah greeted Kaci's Mom and glanced at Trevor, "wait, how did you get here so fast?," he wanted to know, "hi by the way," he gave Trevor a half-arm hug.
"Hi Noah, my economics class ended at 2:45, they had a study period. How was your day? I didn't see you."
"It was good," he flashed him a smile. "Hi Mom," he made his way around to give his Mom a hug. She hugged him back and kissed his forehead. "Hi sweetheart," she replied.
Kaci greeted her Mom and gave Olivia a big hug too, "Oooh Liv, look you can see your baby now," she remarked. "Can I touch your belly?"
"Sure babe, go for the gusto," she took a step back from the counter and let the young girl place her hands on Olivia's swollen belly.
She glanced at her Mom and smiled, "can we get one of these?"
"Absolutely not," she laughed with her daughter. Kaci turned back to Olivia, "does the baby kick you yet?"
"No, not yet, but sometimes I get a weird fluttery feeling, its just a little movement. I think maybe in a few weeks he'll begin kicking."
"That's so exciting. I can't wait til I get to meet him, how many weeks left?," she asked as Trevor chatted to the boys.
"I'm on Sunday it'll be 19 weeks," she smiled at the teen. "We can't wait for everyone to meet him too, you'll be welcome to all the precious baby cuddles you want."
"See," Tara told her daughter, "Olivia is doing the handwork for us, we just get to turn up with gifts and get to have cuddles."
"No need to worry about gifts," Olivia replied to Tara.
"Ohhh speaking of babies, where's Lexi?"
"She's asleep on the couch," Tara answered, "try not to wake her up, guys," she told them. "If you're going to play your game, maybe go and play in the other family room, its got the bigger TV anyway."
"Ok Mom," She turned to Liv, "can you let me know when Lexi wakes up so I can say hello?"
"Sure, but Trevor might take her home soonish, but we'll tell you," she smiled.
The kids went off to do their own thing, dropping their school bags where Kaci showed them.
Tara got a glass for Olivia to fill Trevor's drink with a vodka and lime, something simple and easy that she knew he didn't mind. She gave him an extra little bit of the liquor. "Thanks sweetheart," he picked up his drink and took a sip and blinked hard. "Wow, that's enough to wake anyone," he joked.
Olivia snickered. "I'm just giving you my share too."
She lifted her phone, noticing Hannah's response. "Oh my gosh I would love one, do you need me to bring anything? Kyle bailed on me at the last minute, I have to bring Alice, is that gonna be okay?"
Liv glanced at her new friend, "Hannah said she has to bring Alice because her eldest son bailed. Do you think that's okay?"
"Of course," Tara smiled.
"Aww, so much for Mom's afternoon off," Trevor pouted.
"Its okay, Alice is quiet and she'll probably sit in the corner with the rest of the kids playing her game," Olivia replied.
"Actually, I've met Adam's little sister, I saw his older brother once getting caught in the pelting rain on his way home from school carrying his science project, he was on his way to pick up Adam and the little one so I gave them a ride home… poor things."
"You're a good teacher, Trevor," Tara complimented him. "I bet Hannah was appreciative of that."
"I mean, you'd have to be a bit of an ass to just watch a kid walk home if you know them," he laughed, "although, I wouldn't condone kids getting in the car with a stranger," he added.
"If I'm honest, without knowing you and Olivia, I'd be reluctant to let or want Kaci to get in the car with any male teachers-"
Trevor shook his head, "that's entirely fair and I would never offer, but I'd at least allow them to sit in the car with the window open and the door unlocked until someone could pick them up or the rain stopped — that's actually just smart for everyone."
"Sorry, was that rude?" Tara looked suddenly embarrassed.
"No," Trevor said quickly, "not at all, trust me, when Lexi is a teen there is no way I would be okay with her getting in the car with a male teacher or a male anything really…"
"You also have to trust your gut with this type of thing," Olivia interjected, "even with family members, you have to listen to that instinct that tells you if something feels off. Most of us ignore it, but its rarely wrong."
Tara nodded in agreement.
Olivia got the mojitos ready for the girls while Tara finished with her snack plate and placed it down on the dining table. Trevor took a seat and sipped his whisky. "Are you gonna make yourself a non-alcoholic version, love?" Trevor asked.
"No, I was thinking of popping in a double-shot," she winked at him.
Both Tara and Trevor laughed.
"Mommmmmmm!" Kaci called from the other room, forgetting Lexi. She clapped her hand over her mouth when she saw Lexi stir as she appeared in the open family/dining room. "Sorry!"
"Its okay sweetie, she's just stirring," Olivia replied.
"Whats up, kiddo?" Tara asked.
"Is our internet dropping out? We can't connect to our game…" They both turned to look at the modem that was in the corner of the kitchen.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Kace, it looks like the internet is down."
"Oh no," she moaned, "did we pay the bill?"
Tara had immediately realised that she hadn't actually paid the bill. She was still figuring out finances. She had never ever had to pay a single bill and hadn't been allowed to have a bank account or a credit card to quickly get things done. She was relying on her parents for the time being and her father was slowly showing her.
"Yeah… I'm sorry, Kace," she felt incredibly bad; her daughter's first attempt at having company and she'd blown it for her.
"Its okay, Mom, its not your fault," she replied with understanding. She knew that her Mom probably hadn't paid the bill and was saving face in front of their guests. She felt frustrated, but she never wanted to take it out on her.
"What are you guys gonna do instead?" Olivia asked gently.
Kaci looked disappointed and Liv felt bad for Tara who didn't quite know what to do. She just shrugged. Hannah arrived before the Kaci could answer properly. Alice walked in behind her dragging her feet shyly.
She greeted everyone and introduced Alice to Kaci. She disappeared back to the boys to figure out what else they could do.
"So I have an idea," Trevor began, "since the kids don't have internet and Lexi is probably about to wake up any second, why don't I take all the kids to the trampoline park for the afternoon to bounce out their energy and I can get them dinner afterwards and it will give all of you ladies a minute to catch up."
"Oh Trevor, you would have dealt with enough of the kids all day," Hannah smiled. Olivia couldn't help but smile to herself with pride - she could tell that he had charmed both women.
"I actually don't mind, I like hanging out with the kids, that's why I'm a teacher. It'll tire Lexi out as well and that can only be a plus."
"Only if you're sure…" Olivia told him, "you don't have to…"
"I know," he smiled.
"Well let me go see…" Tara made her way down the hall and checked with the kids, relieved that they wouldn't be disappointed about the internet. The three of them followed her back out to the family room, Adam greeting his Mom and sister and Noah doing the same.
"Dad are you serious? We can go to the trampolines?"
"Yes," Trevor smiled, "but I'm tired so you guys can't go too wild. We'll be taking Lexi and Alice too if she would like, so best behaviour…"
"I'll look after Lex and Alice," Kaci opted, "I'll keep them safe from the boys," she told Alice with a smile.
"Afterwards we can get some pizza or Wendys or whatever," he added. "Give your Mom's a much needed break, huh?"
"Sounds good," Adam smiled.
"Let me get you kids some money then," Hannah spoke up.
"No," Trevor held up his hand, "its my treat, you girls just have a nice night and I'll bring the kids back here after dinner. I'll text updates."
"Oh, I have Lexi's pram in the other room," Liv told him, "that way if she goes to sleep she can just sleep in there…"
"Great," Trevor smiled, "let me finish my drink guys, I'll be about five minutes."
/
"Hows that one going down?" Hannah asked Tara, who took a few sips from her mojito.
"Its good, are you sure it's got alcohol in it?," she asked with a little, shy smile.
"I'm sure," Olivia replied, "but I didn't measure the rum with my heart in yours like I did with Hannah, just enjoy it and relax and you'll probably have a wonderful sleep."
"My parents are returning back later tonight from their place outside of the city, are they going to know I'm drunk?"
"No, not unless you drink about five… but if you start to feel tipsy, feel free to stop drinking, neither of us will be offended," Olivia smiled.
"I will be, I don't have a drinking buddy, Olivia got pregnant before we became good enough friends to get wasted."
Olivia and Tara laughed. "I'll have to ease in to it for you and Olivia, how dare you go and get knocked up?"
They laughed. "I know," she placed her hand over her swollen belly, "its so rude of me, I would much rather drink than have a baby," she joked. "So what do we want to do for dinner since my dream boat of a man is babysitting all of our precious offspring."
"He is a dream boat, I'm jealous," Hannah remarked. "I really need to get back in to the dating scene if I could only find the time."
"And I have the opposite problem," Tara pitched in, "I have all of the time but no trust left in the opposite sex."
"It'll come back, honey," Olivia told her, "it'll take time, but one day you'll meet someone and it'll be when you least expect it and you'll have at least two friends who will vet the living shit out of him," she winked.
Hannah laughed, "yeah you have a detective on your side now and I'm just feisty, no one is gonna be messing with you."
Tara's cheeks flushed. "Hopefully you guys won't hate being friends with a codependent. There's just so much distrust in my own thoughts and feelings and choices. At this point, I've got my Mom helping me do the most basic things that I've never been able to do… it's just .. embarrassing."
"How long were you with Kaci's Dad?" Hannah asked gently.
"First year of college, second semester. I was so… shy and sheltered and bookish and a very, very vulnerable target and he saw me coming, I guess. He was a senior and he would angle himself as the big shot that was gonna take care of me, you know? And then the lovebombing and before I knew it, he had me dropped out of college, moving to the city — my parents saw all the red flags but I just didn't want to… when I got pregnant with Kaci, everything changed. I wasn't even quite 20."
"Shit, you're so young!" Hannah remarked, "Tara, this guy stole your fucking years from you and you are going to rebuild your life and gain all that self-esteem and confidence right back. What a piece of shit, they should leave me alone with him for fifteen minutes — can you set that up, Liv?"
Tara laughed and sobbed at the same time as the tears ran down her cheeks, "stop," she chuckled.
"He won't see the light of day again," Liv replied, "I'm keeping my tabs on things. Once his wrap sheet makes his way around jail, he'll have a bit of a hard time, they don't take too well to violent crimes against kids in the slammer."
"I don't want him to get hurt, does that sound dumb?"
"No," Liv said before Hannah said anything, "it's normal to feel that way, Tara. You just want him as far away from your life as possible and we're going to make of that, I promise. And Hannah is right, 33 is so young. I have a entirely different life than I had in my early 30s, you will be able to do this and the good news is, when you have a kid, you do a lot things because you have to figure it out, when we don't have kids, we have time to second guess a lot of stuff."
"That's true… I've had to kind of jump in the deep end with rules for Kaci, its hard because I've never set them or had to enforce them but I want to give her some freedom without going the entire other direction."
"Well, you can always ask us," Hannah smiled, "you don't always have to do the same as what we do, but I think Olivia and I are on a similar page with the rules we have in place for Adam and Noah."
"Like….?"
"Noah isn't allowed to have his phone certain time; my argument is that people in my life do not have 24/7 access to me, I have boundaries and they are healthy and that no one should also ever have 24/7 access to him either. So, meal times there are no phones, after dinner and some couch time he has to hand it over to me. If he wants to text someone about something I will sometimes let him, but not always…"
"I like that one actually, I get worried about the time spent on her phone."
"Kaci won't hate you, Tara, she loves her Mama… I actually find that Noah doesn't mind the rules and it gives us time as a family. When we go to Trevor's parents, he isn't really allowed to pull his phone out unless I say its okay, I think its really rude and I want him to engage with people and not grow up to be scared of making phone calls and having face-to-face interactions."
"Yeah, ok, I'm changing Adam's rules to that too," Hannah laughed.
"I won't let Noah go to those kinda parties where the parents aren't home, I used to go to them as a kid and I know what goes on. That's why I'm always open to him having his friends over whenever he wants within reason…"
"Yeah, Adam is absolutely not allowed, I've seen too many stupid things come through emergency-"
"And I've visited too one too many date rape teenage girls at emergency to take statements," Olivia added.
"Yeah, I'm gonna need both of your help…"
"Thankfully our kids are in love with their stupid Fortnite game and would prefer playing that with each other on a Saturday night than being at a rager where there's drinking and drugs and goodness knows what else," Hannah laughed.
"Don't worry, we got you," Liv smiled at her, "but I'm sure Kaci isn't going to cause you any problems, she's such a nice kid."
/
Trevor scrolled job listings for awhile a little aimlessly as he watched TV beside Noah who was working on some homework.
"Do you think Mom will be home soon?," he asked.
Trevor glanced over and shrugged, "not sure, kiddo, how come? Do you need help?"
He shook his head, "Nah, I'm just tired and want to go to bed soon but I want to say goodnight to her," he explained with a yawn.
"I don't think she will be too late… why don't you go hop in to bed and I'll tell her to come in and say goodnight when she gets in."
"Yeah I guess…" he agreed. "Thanks for tonight, I know Kaci's Mom forgot to pay the internet and poor Kace was so embarrassed and was trying so hard not to be mad at her Mom, you kinda saved the day."
Trevor smiled, "its alright, you guys were all so well behaved and so good with Lexi and Alice, they both had so much fun playing with the big kids."
"And we had fun playing with the big kid too," Noah laughed. They'd managed to get Trevor involved in bouncing with them too.
Trevor laughed with him. "Me too… are you done with your homework for tonight? Is everything finished that needs to be finished?"
Noah nodded, "Yeah… I'm ahead. We can thank Kaci for that."
He smiled. "Okay, goodnight Sunshine, have a good sleep."
"Goodnight…" he leaned over and gave Trevor a hug. Trevor watched him head off to his room, leaving his phone on the coffee table; knowing the rules.
He watched him head down the hall to his room, leaving Trevor to his own devices. He switched the TV off for some silence as he went through a few more jobs. He was starting to get a bit tired of teaching high schoolers and had a few ideas of things he might like to do to transition to a bit of a change.
He wasn't sure enough about it to bring it up with Olivia yet - he didn't want her to feel like his employment wasn't solid— not when she was about to give birth to his child. He wanted her to know that regardless, he had a hold on things.
At around 10pm, Olivia came in the door, closing it quietly behind her. Trevor had only moved from his spot on the couch to have a shower and change in to some sweats. He held on to whisky as he watched Sports Centre. Olivia appeared, smiling at him. "Hi baby," she greeted him. He sat forward and smiled back at her.
"Hi, sweetie…"
"Sorry, I got a little caught up, we didn't realise it was so late-"
"No, no, don't apologise, it's fine. Noah did homework and I watched TV." She set her bag down beside the couch and took a seat beside him on the edge of the couch, pausing to kiss his lips lingeringly. "Did you have a good time?," he asked, lowering his voice.
"Yeah, it was actually kind of…" she paused and then smiled, "kind of wonderful… the three of us, we're so different but I think that we could be really good friends."
The corners of Trevor's eyes crinkled as his lips turned upward in to a smile, sharing in her joy. He kissed her lips again, "Mmmm…" he murmured as he pulled away. "Then I am very happy for you, love."
"Thanks… and thanks for taking those kids tonight."
"Its okay, I figured based on Tara's reaction and Kaci's reaction, the internet issue was a case of figuring out how to pay bills and I was trying to save the kid from being embarrassed."
Olivia smiled, "thank you, that was really kind of you."
"Noah wanted you to go in and say goodnight to him before you went to bed, he was a little reluctant to go to bed before you got home, but he was so tired the poor kid."
"Aww, he's so used to me being home now," she chuckled. "Okay, I'll go say goodnight and I'll go get changed. Are you ready for sleep or do you want to watch TV for awhile?"
"I'll stay up a bit later with you," he replied.
/
"I'll be back in three minutes, do not act up, I have detention cards to fill in and gift to you all if you do," Trevor told his class as he answered his ringing phone. "One moment please," he spoke in to it as he left the room and stood in the corridor.
"Sorry, Trevor Langan speaking?"
"Hi Trevor, it's Sherrilyn Eaves from Hillside Elementary, how are you?"
A smile spread across his lips. "I'm great, Sherrilyn, I was really hoping to hear from you guys."
"Well, that's positive," she replied, sounding vibrant and bubbly, "Trevor, I was wondering if you were still interested in the part time position that starts in the next learning year."
"Yes actually, I would love to hear more about it. At this stage I'd kind of like to keep doing some of my hours here at the high school because I have some responsibilities to the kids, but I'm hoping that I could make things work."
"Well how about we get you in for a sit down, maybe a tour of the school and figure out if our goals and your goals align?"
"Sounds fantastic," he grinned. They agreed on a time and a day and he hung up feeling a strange feeling of exhilaration and renewal. All he had to do was to discuss things with Olivia to figure out how she felt about it all.
He hung up his phone and could hear his class becoming a little rowdy. He would not miss the wise-ass comments from his economics or business classes. He had somehow gotten roped in to taking over one of the teacher's math classes while they were on leave so he was lucky enough to deal with 8th grade math too. The 8th graders were the worst, they were still trying to figure out the pecking order and thought that in order to establish popularity and clout, they needed to be as rude and as disobedient as possible.
Usually he could get away with jokes and good humour layered over a more serious tone to do what they were told, despite some silliness, the students did do what they were told and followed instructions, but the 8th graders were something else.
He had to establish dominance with them and show just how little threshold he had for stupidity and disrespect.
He glanced at his watch as he closed the classroom door. And, those 8th graders were his next class right after lunch break which meant they would be freshly hyped up by their friends.
"Quiet," he told his class, "I told you guys not to fool around and I meant it," he gave them all a serious look. "When that bell rings for lunch, I will be coming around to make sure everyone has got a copy of the notes that I didn't prepare for you in my time for fun. If you haven't copied them down, I suggest you get a rattle on, because you'll be staying back with me until you do."
"Don't threaten me with a good time," one of the girls at the back attempted to tease him.
"Great, so you think a detention will be fun, Kimberly?," he asked her with a raised eyebrow, showing her he was in no mood for her rudeness. "Good, you can stay back for ten minutes, do you want to make it longer?"
She scowled while some of her peers laughed at her. "Charlie Holmes, how are your notes?" He threaded past the desks to the pain in the ass captain of the hockey team that sat in front of her. His notebook was blank save for the heading, "maybe you should give up on the comedy and focus on getting the notes down, or if you like you can save it to do in the ten minutes you're going to be staying back at lunch with Kimberly."
He began to protest but Trevor held up his hand, "save it, I don't want to hear it. I'm in no mood for anyone's garbage behaviour today. I told you guys not to horse around and I meant it. Do your work and if you're finished, let me know with a silent raised hand and I will give you the homework questions to work on now and you won't have much to do tonight. Drag it out, and you'll be taking the worksheet home with you — you have a choice."
He sat down in his chair at the front of the room and picked up his phone, glancing up at the silent room from time-to-time. "Hey baby, I am having the worst fucking day and these kids are driving me up the wall - and this isn't even my worst class. 8th graders after lunch, wish me luck…"
A few moments later he got a response. "Sweetie, you poor thing, want me to come down there and give them an impromptu Olivia Benson treatment? I really hope Noah wasn't like those pesky 8th graders, but I'm sure he was."
He cracked a smile, "love you so much. Wish you could. Xxx"
He put the phone down and picked up the questions sheet for the student's homework and placed them in a pile in the top corner of his desk. He saw a show of patient hands in the air, no one daring to speak.
"Okay, those with your hands raised, you can quietly get up out of your seat and come over here and grab a questions sheet. You can fill out the answers on the back numbered, or paste it in to your notebook and answer in there, either is fine," he instructed them. "If you need any clarification on the questions, you may quietly come up here and talk to me about it or send me an email this afternoon — or if you're keen, ask me after class."
While the kids came to take some sheets, he opened a file of another class and busied himself marking some essays. Once everyone had seated he picked up his phone and scrolled through til he reached Sonny Carisi's number. Hi Sonny, sorry to bother you - I know this is kind of last minute, I was wondering if someone would be available to watch Noah and Lexi for a few hours tonight? If you're both working its okay, I kind of wanted to take Olivia to dinner and discuss a few things with her. No pressure! I really hate that I'm asking, I feel so out of order for it.
The bell rang and as promised Trevor got up and checked everyone's notes before he allowed anyone to even stand up. All in all, he ended up with 7 students that were staying back. It irritated him, he wanted a break too, but he wasn't about let their behaviour slide.
"Write the notes, when you're done, raise your hand and I'll check it over and determine whether or not you can go."
His phone began to ring and he could see that it was Carisi. He picked it up, figuring it was his lunch break and he was allowed his break too. "Hey Sonny, just one second, sorry." The kids all looked up with interest, "I'm taking a personal call on my personal break, so eyes down, focus on your work and the faster you're finished, the faster you can go and take your own break."
He put the phone back against his ear and heard Sonny laugh. "Wow, got a few detentions huh?"
Trevor laughed, "something like that, sorry about my text before, I hope it isn't an out-of-line request."
"No, of course not! Does Liv know? I just wanted to check with you in case I put my foot in my mouth."
"Nah," Trevor replied, "I wanted it to be a pleasant surprise."
"Amanda and I are both off for a few days-"
"Oh, no then please don't worry, you guys deserve time with your family and with one another, I can just organise something at home, it's not a stress."
"Trevor shut up," Sonny laughed, "it's fine, the kids are family. My sister is home too, we'd be happy to have Noah and Lexi. Noah pretty much looks after himself and he and Jesse watch over the little kids so it's totally fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely sure! Just text me when you figure out what time you want to bring them, don't bother giving them dinner, we'll feed them, Mom left us enough food to feed all five boroughs."
They both laughed. "Your Mom can certainly cook, I'll give her that. We had a great time at the last family dinner. Also, I will figure out with Liv a date to celebrate Lexi's second birthday. We kind of want to make it a bit of a thing— we might set a date tonight."
"Oh… that's right, you don't actually have a date."
"No," Trevor shook his head, "we only have an estimation of her age which is a little heart breaking but without-" he paused, he realised he was starting to talk about personal stuff in front of the kids, "anyway," he caught himself, "we'll get in to that later, but thank you guys so much. Thank Amanda for me too… I'm gonna call Liv soon and I'll text you after I work it out with her."
"Sweet, no problem, go easy on those kids, never picked you as a scary, stern teacher," he chuckled. "See ya!"
Trevor said goodbye and hung up, Sonny's words sticking with him. He really wasn't known to be a stern, overly serious teacher. He liked to make his classroom fun, but he realised that he wasn't too happy in his job and as a result, he was taking his frustrations out on the kids.
He felt bad. So what if they talked a little bit when he left the room to take a call. The students would have probably been more receptive to doing the work if he'd come to class with a little more enthusiasm than notes and firing off questions. They responded better to discussion, sometimes dashed with silliness.
Sonny's comment stung even if it hadn't been intended.
"Okay guys, listen up, put your pens down for a second."
The kids did as they were told, "I don't really appreciate rudeness, you guys know this. I don't like back talk either - but actually, I am also a little bit in the wrong here. I came in to class in a grumpy mood and that's not fair of me and I think it's very important to admit mistakes and apologise. So, with that said, I apologise for not coming in here with a good attitude today but I also feel like some of you took a mile and did nothing all lesson." He paused, "I'm going to take that on as my fault, maybe you guys would have done better if I wasn't in such a bad mood."
"Did we put you in a bad mood?," one of the girls asked. It hit him where it hurt.
He smiled gently, "Nope, you guys didn't put me in a bad mood and I genuinely love teaching you all, I'm just having a bad day. No one did anything wrong. So, listen, I'm going to email you guys the notes and a copy of the questions and if you could please get them done by my next class, I'll be happy with that."
"Thanks Mr. Langan," Charlie said a little quietly.
"You're welcome. Go on, guys, pack up your stuff and Kimberly, I'd like to see you at the door for a moment before you go."
She didn't say a word, the kids got their stuff and filed out, saying goodbye as they went. He stood at the doorway waving one-by-one until the tall, 15 year old stood waiting. Trevor motioned for her to step out. Her friends were waiting for her just outside the door. He stepped out too, glancing at her friends, "Kimberly will be with you guys in a moment, you can go and wait down the end of the corridor, you're not supposed to be here."
The girls made their way down the hall giggling.
Trevor turned to Kimberly, "Kim, I sincerely hope that I never hear you make any inappropriate comments toward any of your teacher's like that again. It's not funny, it's not even a bit cute. Do you understand why I'm saying that?"
"Yes," she murmured, her cheeks blooming red.
"Good, I don't think we need to discuss that any further. Go and have your lunch."