Hi everyone. This is a fairly long chapter - please let me know what you think with the way things are headed. I have been back and forth about a couple of different things, but ultimately made a few decisions in this chapter haha. I hope you like it.
Also, Ive had a really bad shoulder injury so my time on the computer is very limited, so it might be a little longer than usual for an update unless I see some immediate improvements... Have a great week 3
"I just really wanted to talk to you about … us…" Noah told Kaci as they stood outside the restaurant. "I just feel like I haven't had the courage to talk about your feelings or my feelings since… you know."
Kaci nodded. "I know, Noah, its okay, I know you don't feel the same way I do. You don't have to explain yourself."
"No, but… I talked to Mom and Dad about this separately and they were worried about me hurting you but I dunno… I feel like I went and made this huge, grand statement based on a stupid crush I had on Adam because … I don't know, he was the first guy who was ever nice to me that I let myself think was cute… and I guess this secret eating me alive, I couldn't fully concentrate on you."
"See Noah, that kind of feels like you were just with me until maybe something better happened with someone you thought was hotter than me-" she admitted, feeling her face getting red with upset.
"No," he said quickly. He paused taking a deep breath, "Kaci, before you came along I had a crush on Adam, I've had a crush on other guys too, Cooper, my friend, thats why I used to take the blame for all his bullshit, because I really liked him. And I think with Adam, it was my realisation that this isn't affinity toward mostly guys isn't a passing thing, its… part of who I am, my identity sexually or romantically."
Kaci listened.
"But… the more I got to know you the deeper my feelings got. When we kissed a few times it didn't feel right but the more I got to know you, the more right it felt and the more …" he paused, looking for the right word, "excited I got, you know, with my body… but that thing that happened at Adams… It wasn't because I didn't like you, its because I was scared that I was only using you to throw everyone off the scent. I wanted to know what it was like to kiss him, because then I thought I'd know…"
"And? Were you using me?"
"No, I've never used you. I love your company. I'm attracted to you, I think you're so pretty and so wonderful and I love that there's no physical expectation between us, everything is at our own pace…"
"You basically broke up with me…"
"Because I needed to be honest," he told her, "I didn't ever want to hurt you. I knew what would happen if I told you I kissed him, how that would make you think the same thing that I did, I'm gay, I only like guys… but I made this huge song and dance about a label on it and I don't think it's that simple for me."
Kaci was trying her best to understand. "Noah, this kind of hurts… and I don't want to have hurt feelings around you."
"I'm sorry," he apologised as she crossed her arms, avoiding his eyes. "I just wanted to say that Dad and I discovered that maybe I'm somewhere more than halfway on the scale of sexual spectrum, does that make sense? Maybe the 50/50 line is bisexual, maybe there's no percentage that makes it so, I don't know, I'm still figuring it out but today, I realised that I've been so stupid and so set on trying to make my sexuality clearer for other people so that they don't think less of me when in fact, it's not an absolute thing…"
"So you don't know if you're gay?," she asked.
"Oh," he smiled, "I like guys, but… I don't actively feel attracted to guys unless I know them very well and for whatever reason I fall in love but I also like girls too, in the same way. I've gotten to know you over the past 8 or so months and I really like you and I get giddy around you, I want to always touch you and hug you and I really like kissing you and maybe that's okay… maybe my sexuality doesn't have to be absolute if that's okay with you."
"But… how do I know you won't fall in love with another guy?"
"Because I am in love with you, you could ask how you can be sure I won't fall in love with another girl — its because I'm with you and you are the person I'm closest to and you are the person who's heart I've fallen for, who makes me want to just grab you and spin you around and piggy back you across the football field — the first person I wanted to run to when we won our game today… the butterflies I got when you winked at me on the field and did your handsprings."
"Oh…" she murmured.
"Is that okay?," he asked. "I mean, we can keep talking about it as much as you want, but… I really, really want you to be my girlfriend and I've been thinking about this so much for the past month and the feelings keep growing now that I've allowed myself to not have to fit in a box of someone else's labels."
He paused realising that she hadn't said a lot. "Do I sound like a selfish jack ass?"
"No," she shook her head. "You sound like you're finding your identity and it might be a slow process but you need to worry about what that is to you, no to everyone else."
"But… how do you feel about what I've just said? How do you feel about being my girlfriend?"
"The idea makes me so happy, Noah, but… I am scared that this is just like, you didn't get what you wanted with Adam so you're back to me…"
He shook his head. "It's not that. I promise. If anything, I owe the apology to Adam, for using him to figure out whether or not you and I had merit…but I apologise that I hurt you in the process too. I guess I wasn't a very good friend to either of you."
"Its okay," she replied. She gave him a smile and grabbed his other hand. "Ask me again… about the girlfriend thing."
Noah grinned at her. "Will you be my girlfriend?"
Kaci giggled, "One more time…"
Noah laughed. Kaci closed her eyes, "Will you be my girlfriend, Kaci?"
She grinned back and opened her eyes and nodded. "Yeah, I would love to be the big Knight's football star's girlfriend." He took a step closer and rested his hands on her tiny hips, towering over her. "I don't think I've ever been in love with anyone before, but I think this is what it should feel like…" he told her softly, "its been really slow to happen, but these past few weeks of the unknown has felt so awful because I have had to hold back and I don't want to hold back with you anymore."
"Me either. I had to lie to make you feel better and tell you that I just went along with the kissing and stuff…"
Noah laughed and breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness, because I really loved kissing you."
"Can you kiss me now?," she asked.
Noah nodded and leaned in to her, slowly aligning his lips with hers as she stretched to meet his height. She circled her arms around his waist and enjoyed the familiar feeling of butterflies filling her tummy as he kissed her softly and slowly.
/
"Noah, Kac-" Trevor stopped, he had been sent out to bring them back in so Kaci could eat her dinner, Tara had been a little worried about them being outside on the street. He saw them kissing each other eagerly. They didn't even hear him. He smiled to himself and returned back inside. He glanced at Tara and Liv, "they won't be a second, I told them they have two minutes."
"Thanks Trevor," Tara smiled at him.
Finally Noah pulled away and gazed at her. "That feels better," he sighed contentedly. "I missed you," he told her. "I missed kissing you…"
"Me too…" she murmured. He pulled her close and hugged her against him. "I have a girlfriend," he chuckled to himself. "My first and best ever girlfriend. I'm gonna get you something special to make it official…"
"You don't have to…" she replied. He kissed her again.
"I know, but I want to…" he smoothed her hair with a smile. "K, we better go inside before your Mom kicks our ass."
"Yeah… well, you can hold my hand, right?"
"Yes," he replied, "I definitely want to hold your hand."
/
Noah couldn't believe just how busy the restaurant was, it was almost hard to hear himself think. He felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. On his way inside, he had given her his jacket to wear- something his Mom had always told him was a romantic gesture once they'd been watching TV. It had never left him and he was always offering others his warmer clothes when he could see they were cold.
The jacket was big on her but she appreciated the gesture. "Thanks, Noah…"
"You're welcome," he replied when he stopped short, doing a double-take. Kaci stopped too, turning back to see what he was looking at. He was staring at someone, his mouth agape, his face ashen as if he'd seen a ghost.
"Noah?" He didn't notice her, he was too busy staring with surprise, horror, a swirling feeling of nausea at the face from his past that he would have been happy to never see again. "Noah, what's wrong?," she glanced to his line of vision. It was a booth full of people, a couple of kids, mostly adults and a much older bald man and a blond that sat by his side.
"Stay here…" he told her firmly. He made his way toward the table and stood for a moment. The people around the table stared at him and Kaci wondered what on earth he was doing.
The man at the head of the booth turned around, suddenly noticing him. His face also sallowing to see the once-little-boy now almost all grown up, towering over his form sitting at the table.
He finally smiled, or perhaps it was more of a grimace. "Hi Noah…"
"Happy family," he remarked, lifting his hand and waved at everyone. "I never thought we'd see your face again and I would have been okay with that-"
"Noah, it's good to see you." He gave him the once over, "school varsity team, huh? Turns out my advice to quit dance wasn't far off-"
Noah's mouth almost fell open in disbelief. "You piece of shit…" his voice trailed off, he turned to Kathy who was flanked by his side, "sorry Kathy, you were always so nice to me, but this jackass…"
"Noah, you should go," Elliot told him, his face turning to stone in an epic reminder of what life had been like with him. The second Noah stepped out of turn, the second he said something Elliot didn't like, he turned to stone - he became mean.
"I was a little kid and you were so cruel to me," he spat the words slowly, full of emotion, trying his best not to become emotional, "you made me think that all of my joy and my happiness and my closeness with my Mom was wrong and that it made me fruity or whatever fucking word you used… you took away all the things that made me me…"
"I didn't-"
"Noah, you should quit ballet, why don't you try tee-ball, the kids at school won't call you names, don't ever hug your male friends, Noah, guys could get the wrong idea. Hey Noah, stop cuddling with your Mom so much, it's weird. Hey Olivia, your son is going to be a little sissy if you don't stop…" he recited all the things that had been burned in to his brain.
Elliot said nothing and drew in a deep breath. "Are you done?"
"No," Noah shot back, "all I wanted from you was for you to keep the promises you made to my Mom. I just wanted you to be happy so she would be happy, but you picked fights with her, you made her cry; I woke up in the middle of the night with you screaming in her face and throwing shit at her for what?"
He turned to Kathy, "Do you know he did that? He did everything but hit my Mom? He was screaming and cursing her out so loud that I had to hide in my closet and call the police? Did he tell you that? Probably not… I lived in fear in my house because I was scared of what mood you'd turn up in, Mom kept telling me it would get better but it never did… and you made all the fucking promises in the world to her and then finally you got her hopes up by being so angelic and sweet to me and to her and then…"
Noah could feel his tears falling down his cheeks, "and then you gave me a letter to give her while you took a cowards way out and left her without facing her like the absolute sack of shit that you are."
He felt someone tugging at his arm. "Noah- come on, let's go…"
"Listen to your little girlfriend, you look like you turned out okay, you have a girl friend and looks like you're playing football so— I wasn't wrong about that."
"Fuck you!" Noah spat at him, "fuck you, you are wrong about that. I knew I had crushes on boys when I was a little kid and you made me think that was wrong until I internalised it so fucking hard that I hated myself for years and it drove a wedge between Mom and I. You are a piece of shit and you still can't even apologise. You're back in my city and you couldn't even pick up the phone to apologise…"
Noah felt a heavier set of hands on him, followed by his Mom calling out to Trevor.
"Noah, come on, it's okay…" Trevor's voice spoke firmly behind him. "Its okay, go back to your friends, Sunshine, I've got you."
"Not until he apologises to my Mom," Noah replied. "He owes her that for everything he did to us."
"I don't need his apology, sweetheart, it's alright," Olivia's voice told him softly. "I don't actually want it." Elliot finally got up and out of his chair, his family looking confused and bewildered by what was going on, Kathy sitting to the side, tearing up. Olivia glanced at her, frustrated and knew deep down that she and Elliot were back together.
Noah was an inch away from losing control of his emotions. "I hate you," he said to Elliot, "you're a dead beat and a fucking loser, I hope I never see you again."
He turned and made his exit, leaving the restaurant the same way he had entered back in with Kaci.
Olivia glared at Elliot for a moment; it was like nothing had changed but everything had changed. There was a smirk on his face, she knew what it was; it was him playing of his embarrassment. She could barely stand to look at him. Trevor's voice cut through her, grounding her, as Elliot's eyes settled upon her pregnant belly and the toddler in her arms.
He was surprised, "I guess congratulations are in order-"
"Don't fuck with me," Olivia replied bluntly. Trevor touched her shoulder. "Honey, go see Noah, I'll be out in a second," he told her gently, "please…its okay."
She desperately didn't want Trevor to do anything stupid - certainly not with his family there and some kids from school. She did as he asked, leaving Elliot behind knowing that whatever he said or did would only serve to infuriate her further.
Outside, she found Sonny, Amanda and Kaci with him. Kaci was clamouring over what to do but Amanda held her son tightly as he cried. "Honey, its okay," Liv told Kaci who was also in tears, "Noah will be fine, I promise. Go back inside and eat your dinner and we'll be right back."
"K…" she murmured, reluctant to leave.
Noah pulled away from Amanda and wiped his face. "Why does he always ruin the best bits of my life? He just has a way of haunting my life and making me feel awful."
"I know, sweetie," Olivia murmured. "He does it to me too." Amanda scooped Lexi from her arms so she could concentrate on Noah.
"We'll give you guys a second…"
"Can you please make sure Trevor doesn't do anything stupid?," she asked softly to her two police officer friends.
"Sure…" they left Noah and Olivia to it. She engulfed him in a warm hug. "I love you so much my baby boy. I'm sorry he shook you up. You didn't deserve this on your big, special night."
"Remember I always wanted to tell him he was a dick," Noah murmured tearfully.
Olivia managed a smile. "Yeah… well you certainly did more than that."
"He has no remorse, Mom, he literally doesn't care what he did to us," Noah remarked, "and I think that's what hurts the most. When I hurt someone the first thing I do is apologise even if I don't realise it straight away."
"Because you're a good and kind person, Noah, you care about other people other than yourself. Not everyone is going to be like you. I'm just so sorry that he did that to you… that he made things so hard for you and if I'd realised how much it was affect-"
"Don't apologise Mom, you didn't do anything wrong. He should apologise. You're as much of a victim of his bullshit and manipulation as I am."
She said nothing and held him in her arms.
/
"Let me guess, Olivia's baby daddy to save the day."
"I'm not saving anything, I am just here to shadow everything Noah said, you really are a piece of shit and you really fumbled an amazing woman," he turned to Kathy, "no disrespect," he glanced back at Elliot, "and one of the most amazing kid's I've ever met… not only did you do that, but you scarred that kid in a way that he won't forget and you need to know that your actions don't come without consequences." He glanced around at his stunned family, "I assume this is your family, and I sure hope that you treat them with love and respect that you didn't treat Olivia or Noah with. I've spent the past year picking up all the pieces you left behind… Maybe think about someone other than yourself."
"Wow, you are some self-righteous-" Elliot began.
"Oh shut up," Trevor snapped, "I know what you did to Liv, what you did to Noah, the stupid manipulative shit you said to her, the way you bailed her against the wall and smashed all of her things and made her think that she was the problem… you're a coward because you're the type of person that never bothers to look inward, too busy blaming everyone else…I'd say to apologise to my wife," he bent the truth, "but I actually think she's past giving a shit. I just hope you treat others better going forward."
Without a word, he left, finding Sonny behind him.
"Come on, Trev. Let's go… Liv and Noah are outside."
"Thanks, is Amanda okay with Lex?"
"Yeah, I'll just let everyone know you guys will be back in a second."
/
"Hey fam," Trevor smiled at Noah and Olivia sitting side-by-side on a retaining brick wall outside, waiting for Noah to calm down. "How are we all?," he was able to joke. "How's my football star son with his sharp tongue and foul mouth?"
Noah stifled a sob and a peel of laughter. Trevor gave him a hug. "I love you, kiddo. I don't care if you trade football for dance, or boys for girls, or girls for boys, or if you turn yourself purple and move to the moon, I'm always going to support you."
"Thanks," Noah replied softly, wiping his eyes. He kissed the top of Noah's head and then gave Olivia a hug too. "I love you too, baby. I'm sorry you both had to come face-to-face with that jackass tonight of all night's."
"Its okay," Liv replied. "We'll be okay, won't we Noah? We have Trevor and Lexi and… whatever your little brother will be named…" Noah finally managed a smile and reached out to touch his Mom's swollen belly.
"I can't wait to meet him…"
"We can't either… maybe you need to help us come up with names."
Noah smiled, "that'd be nice…" he paused, "Mom, I'm sorry Elliot hurt you and I so much that we forgot how to communicate with each other because neither of us wanted to share how much pain we were in because we were protecting each other… we shouldn't have done that."
"I know," Olivia replied. "And just like you said before, sweetie, it's not your place to apologise, you didn't cause it. We just fell for his shit."
"But what we have now has healed us, who we have now, I should say," Noah corrected himself and looked at Trevor. "Ugh, imagine if we stayed with Elliot and we didn't get Trevor? Hideous… what an ugly life for us… and if you'd had a baby with Elliot, what an ugly baby…"
Both Olivia and Trevor were able to laugh. "Aww, no such thing as an ugly baby…" Olivia replied. Noah glanced at her and raised an eyebrow challengingly.
She laughed. "Honey, how do you feel about coming back inside, trying our best to forget that Elliot is there?" Olivia buried her own feelings on the matter. She knew she had to get through the night so she could get home and process slowly. Trevor knew it too. The shock of seeing him would have conjured up some feelings, but she needed to keep a lid on it for Noah's sake.
"K…" he paused, "also, big news… that almost got entirely overshadowed…"
"You kissed Kaci!" Trevor exclaimed as if it were a guess.
"What!?" Noah smirked, "what do you-"
"Ooop, he's stammering, I think that's a yes," Olivia teased.
"Actually we talked and I asked her to be my girlfriend because that's what I want. I don't want a label. I want to fall in love with the person that makes me feel like I belong to the most and she's that person."
Olivia smiled. "So… that's interesting. I asked you if you thought you might be bisexual and you said no."
Noah shrugged, "I don't like the label, I think this past month or so I realised I was quick to label it but it doesn't need to have a label — I just needed something to explain myself so that others understood, but it should only matter to me, I don't need to justify my feelings for anyone to anyone."
Olivia leaned over and kissed his cheek. "I love you, you're growing up sweetheart and I love you figuring your identity out. Just be sure about Kaci, okay?"
"I'm sure. I've been sure for awhile, I just had a lot going on in my head and was second guessing why I had feelings for her when I knew I've never really had any crushes on girls, just guys…"
"Well it is what it is, don't question it, go ahead, fall in love, let it be the best first love you can ever talk about."
"Maybe the only love I'll ever talk about because we'll stay together forever," he smiled and shrugged, "Weirder things have happened, right?"
They laughed and headed inside.
/
"Noah are you okay?" Kaci asked him softly as he came to sit back down. He nodded. He was glad from there area they were seated in, he couldn't see Elliot.
"What happened?" Ryan asked? I saw everyone jump up-"
"Nothing, I just saw someone from my past I didn't think I'd ever see again. Don't worry about it…" Noah replied, picking up a piece of pizza and taking a bite.
"Are you okay, Liv?" Amanda asked, sitting beside her, worried about her friend looking as stoic as she'd ever seen her but she knew the pain that her ex-partner had left her with ran a lot deeper than she was expressing.
"Yeah," Liv replied, "that just wasn't on my bingo card…"
"Do you need to go and have your say?," she asked, "I can come with you."
"No," Olivia said firmly, " I don't have anything to say. I'm past it. I just don't wish to see him and I really hope that Noah doesn't have to either."
"Don't stress," Trevor murmured, wrapping his arms around her, "they're just leaving…"
Amanda placed her hand on Olivia's shoulder. "I'm sorry this happened tonight of all nights."
"Honestly, I'm okay, I feel sad for Noah, but I think he and I might talk about it a bit later, we're both in shock, I guess… I don't want it to ruin his night with his friends though, he deserves this, so maybe we'll talk about it tomorrow?"
Amanda smiled and nodded. "Sure, but you know I'm here…"
"Thanks," Olivia replied.
/
"So, whats happened between the kids?" Tara asked, watching Noah and Kaci share pasta from the same fork, giggling and grinning at one another.
Liv laughed. "Noah asked Kaci to be his girlfriend… I'm sure Kaci will tell you later but they had a talk outside and I think Noah has realised that he needs to only worry about his identity and how it makes sense to him and not others and I think he's just absolutely head-over-heels for your little girl…"
"Oh jeez, do we need to have a stern talk to them both about the birds and the bees?"
"Well… maybe. Its an ongoing repetitive conversation in our house and Trevor made Noah promise he'd talk to him before he ever makes any big decisions."
"This is no offence to Noah, Liv, but this is so scary for me…"
"Me too," Olivia replied. "But Tara, trust them, k? Trust your daughter, Noah knows that he is never to put pressure on anyone for sex, we have been discussing this stuff since he was a kid, I would truly like to believe that he is not that kind of a boy…"
"Oh, Liv, I believe that, I know you are in a unique position and Noah would understand, he's such a good boy, but its still scary."
"I know," Liv replied, "they're growing up, but I'm sincerely happy that he's chosen Kaci who happens to be the sweetest, most innocent little thing I've ever met and I truly believe that Noah is a little bit of a late bloomer too, so he's not ready to go crazy."
"No, I trust Noah, I really do, he's never treated Kaci with anything but honesty and respect and the way he cared about her at school when she returned and in hospital, he's a good kid, Liv and its a testament to you… but my little girl's first boyfriend…"
They both managed a laugh. "We're in this together… two Mom's freaking out over our gorgeous kids…"
/
Olivia smiled as she covered her son over in his bed and kissed his forehead. "You're not my baby anymore, are you?," she asked, a feeling of bittersweetness fell upon her. "You're growing up and I absolutely loathe it…"
Noah smiled. "Nah, I always want you to be my Mommy," he replied, "it makes me feel sad too…"
"Well actually, you'll always be my baby, but now… I have to share you with another girl," she joked.
"With Lexi?" Noah asked with a little smile as if he didn't know what she was talking about.
"Don't be cute," Olivia replied. "Honey, I need you to be really gentle with Kaci, okay? I know you know what I mean, I know when you really like someone things move fast, we already talked about this—"
"I know but… I'm not there and I know Kaci isn't either."
"Yeah but… you might feel ready to first and I don't ever want you to pressure her or make her feel like she has to oblige you, you know what I'm saying, right?"
"Yeah…" Noah nodded. "But Mom, I'm not like that… that's not me. I don't want her to ever feel like she has to do anything she doesn't want to. That would make me so upset to find out she just went along with something."
"Please, please promise me if you ever feel ready to have sex you'll try your best to talk to me our Dad about it, okay? I would rather you talk to one of us first so we can discuss it, and we won't try to talk you out of it, we will only ever want you to be safe."
"Okay. You really wouldn't be mad?"
"No honey, it's a normal part of life and growing up and when you have big feelings for someone, but we want you to be informed and not just ready for the physical act, but also the emotional side of it too— because it can be a lot."
"How old were you?," he asked bluntly, "when you did it?"
Olivia felt her face flush but she chuckled. "Really? You really want to know that?"
"Yeah… why not? You said I can talk to you about it…"
She sighed. "Well… I guess… I was 37."
Noah cracked up, "Oh okay so just a short while ago…"
"Yeah," she grinned and they laughed together. "No I was 15 and I really regret being that young, honey."
"Fifteen, wow that is young… was he a jerk?," he pressed.
"No… it was just… very complicated, actually. He was older than me, a little too much older than me for it to have been a decision I made entirely on my own…"
"Oh… did he push you in to it? Or hurt you?"
"No… I thought it was what I wanted, but… I wanted to please him and I didn't want him to leave me because I thought he was looking out for me and loved me too…"
"Oh," Noah murmured quietly. "I'm sorry Mom, that's really sad."
Olivia smiled at her sweet boy. "Thanks Noah, but its okay, it was a very long time ago and I've healed from it."
"When Kaci is older, I'd hate it if I was the guy that she slept with first and she looked back and had to tell her children that her first time wasn't perfect. I would never want to hurt her."
"I know honey," Olivia appreciated the frank conversation with her son. "You're a very good person, Noah benson, I hope you know that. Kaci is lucky for her first boyfriend to be you and I think you're lucky to have her too."
"Thanks Mom… Hey, are you okay about seeing Elliot?," he asked, "its okay if you're not…" He paused, "I'm not."
"No, I'm not okay about it either," she replied honestly. "I think… it feels a little surreal and hurtful."
Noah nodded with understanding. "I feel angry that he didn't make contact. He could have at least tried to say sorry, even if you didn't want to hear it."
"He should be sorry to you, honey, you were the innocent victim in that relationship that deserved the biggest apology."
He shrugged. "I don't think I'm ready to talk about it yet…" his voice trailed off. "Can we talk about it maybe tomorrow or the next day?"
Olivia nodded. "Yeah, let's not ruin a wonderful night," she smiled, ignoring the feeling of sadness swirling around. She had to hold it together a little longer til she was alone with Trevor, or alone on her own. "Goodnight my love."
"Goodnight Mom, I love you."
"I love you too," she replied. She headed toward the door when he called to her again.
"What's up, sweetie?, she wondered, turning back in the doorway.
"Mom, remember when you told me I shouldn't ask Kaci to be my girlfriend on her birthday and then everything happened with her Mom and her?"
"Uhuh," she replied.
"You said I should buy her some flowers and ask her officially…"
"I did," Olivia remembered.
"Could you help me pick out some flowers for her tomorrow so I can go and take them to make it official? Maybe I'll run them over in the morning before I come back to help organise the rest of Lexi's party…"
"Of course babe, I'll give you some money."
"No, no, I've been saving my allowance for a few weeks because I've been thinking about it," he replied.
"Okay, we'll have to go early, so make sure you're up babe."
"Goodnight," he said again.
She smiled at him and pulled his bedroom door ajar.
/
She went to say goodnight to Trevor's parents, giving each of them a hug, thanking them for helping out with cleaning and prepping for Lexi's party. She made her way to bed, yawning, exhausted from the big day.
She couldn't wait to get in to bed.
Trevor was a little late home, he dropped off Ryan and offered to drive Tara and Kaci home too. He arrived back a little tired from all the excitement and a little worried about both Olivia and Noah. He got inside, saying goodnight to his Mom and Dad. He heard Olivia finishing up in the shower and coming in to the bedroom wrapped in a white towel.
"Hey baby," he greeted her.
"Hey…" she smiled wearily. "Are you gonna have a shower?"
"Yeah, I checked in on Noah but he's asleep and I checked in on Lexi and she's asleep, how about you? How are you doing?"
"I'm okay…" her voice trailed.
"No, but talk to me, baby, tonight was a lot of things going on at once," he told her.
"I just had a really nice conversation with Noah before he went to sleep and we both admitted that we aren't okay about seeing Elliot but we want to leave tonight special as it should be… so we are going to digest it on our own for a few days and maybe talk about it after Lexi's party when we both feel like we've got our thoughts properly filed."
"Wow…" he murmured. "Well… do you want to talk to me about it?"
She thought for a second. "It was just really… surreal and I really just want to enjoy our night for what it was. I am so proud of Noah and even Kaci, she did such an amazing job. We had no idea she was so amazing."
Trevor smiled. "Okay baby, I understand wanting to save tonight. It was an almost perfect evening. Let's talk in the morning okay? Maybe I can take you out to breakfast if you're up early enough."
"Maybe Noah too," Olivia replied, "I think maybe he'll want to talk and also, I don't know if you heard but… he asked Kaci to be his girlfriend."
Trevor laughed, "I didn't know that, but I did walk out to ask them to come in and caught him and Kaci absolutely swallowing each other's mouths."
Olivia managed a laugh, "I know that should gross me out but I really saw it coming… they've been really just all over each other lately and I know it was stressing her out and I think Noah just needed to talk his feelings through with both of us."
Trevor waited for Liv to sit on the edge of the bed and he kissed her lips softly. "Baby, I'm so sorry about you seeing Elliot tonight, but I did have such a wonderful night."
"Me too," she replied. "Honey, I just want to go to sleep, I'm really exhausted and the baby is actually giving me some stomach cramps…"
"Are you alright?," he wondered.
She nodded as she rubbed her tummy over the top of her towel, "Your sister said it's just my body preparing… nothing serious. It just hurts a bit."
"Okay sweetie, let me go rinse off and I'll be back and if you want I can rub some moisturiser over your tummy."
Olivia gave him a smile. "Thanks…"
He kissed her and got up, heading to the bathroom.
/
Noah rolled over with a yawn, it was just after seven. He rubbed his eyes and picked up his phone — an oversight that his Mom had let him go to bed without leaving his phone on charge in the kitchen.
There was a message from Kaci and an immediate smile came to his face. "Good morning," she wrote with a bunch of hearts, "I hope you have a day that is as wonderful as you are! I can't wait to see you later today at Lexi's party. I hope everything from last night between us still stands today, that you weren't just caught up on a high of your game…"
He frowned a little as though she was maybe worried he would change his mind about her. "Hi cutie," he replied, bleary-eyed, "I haven't changed my mind, please don't think anything like that. I had a great night last night, but I would never have said anything that I did without being very sure. I can't wait to see you either and hold your hand and kiss your sweet face. Xxxx"
He got up out of bed and went to the bathroom to shower and brush his teeth.
He found Trevor at the kitchen counter chatting to his Dad, drinking coffee.
"Good morning Sunshine, how are you doing?"
"Hey Dad, hey Grandpa…" he greeted them, lifting his hand with a yawn. "Is Mom up yet?"
"Yeah she's just showering… kiddo, I'm gonna take you and Mom to breakfast, so I'm glad you're up."
"Oooh," Noah smiled, " I love going for breakfast. Thanks Dad! Is anyone else coming?"
"No son, Grandma and I are gonna watch Lexi so you three can enjoy some non-baby time."
Noah loved that, he was happy. "Cool, I'll go put some jeans on. How long until we go?"
"Maybe half an hour, depending on how long Mom takes…" Trevor replied.
"Okay, I won't be long then," he replied, heading back down the hall with Ruby running after him.
/
"Thank you so much!" Noah smiled at the waitress who placed his plate down in front of him; Eggs Atlantis - two poached eggs, salmon, a hash brown and wilted spinach with some hollandaise on the side — the breakfast that Trevor had introduced him to. "Oh, this looks so good, thanks Mom, thanks Dad." Noah smiled, loving the fact that they were taking just him and he didn't have to worry about getting constantly interrupted by Lexi.
"You're welcome, you deserve it," Trevor replied.
"Did Mom tell you about Kaci and I?," Noah asked as they all began eating their breakfast.
"She didn't need to tell me. I figured it out. I saw you both kissing last night," Trevor announced a little smugly. "Really going for it, Noah, tonsil hockey, swapping spit, you know?…" he teased until Noah's face was bright red.
Olivia made a face but laughed too.
"Stop it, you did not…" Noah replied covering his burning face knowing that he probably did see him and Kaci.
"I did," Trevor insisted, "but I'm only teasing. I'm glad. Are you feeling happy about that decision?"
"Very," Noah replied. "Mom said we could get some flowers so I can take them over and make it official."
"Good idea," Trevor replied reaching for Olivia's hand over the table. She ate her plain scrambled eggs and toast, sipping on the fresh squeezed orange juice. "So I wanted to take you and Mom out today to talk about what happened last night…"
"With Elliot?" Noah prompted.
"Yeah… I thought it might be okay to talk about it away from everyone else without interruptions…"
Noah nodded. Olivia turned to her son and gave him a brave smile. "Do you have any feelings about it?"
Noah thought for a moment and shrugged. "I guess… I just want him to acknowledge what he did to us but I don't think he will and that makes me so angry…"
"Honey, I don't think whatever thing he could ever say, whatever reason he could ever give would be valid enough to make both you or I feel better about his actions."
"I know," Noah replied quietly, "but that actually just hurts so much more because it's unfair and its unjust… and was it just me or did it seem like he and Kathy were back together? Because how does he just get to walk back in and not ever take accountability."
"Sometimes things happen, Noah, and it is unfair… we're left with the hurt and the pain and we just have to get through it."
Noah set down his fork and held his face in his hand for a second, thinking about it. "I'm sorry he did that to you Mom, I'm sorry that he made me such a problem that he couldn't love you the way you needed. I think about that all the time and I hate it because you didn't deserve that."
Olivia's eyes began to well up and both Trevor and Noah noticed immediately. She kept eating, sniffing, determined not to cry first thing in the morning.
"Its okay Mom, you're allowed to be upset, I'm not gonna get frustrated with you for getting upset," her son murmured. Trevor inched his chair closer to Olivia and put an arm around her. She cleared her throat.
"I think you both have tried so hard to protect each other from the pain that he caused and are too busy trying to do that that you guys have pushed the pain that you've felt yourself down so deep that you're numb to it and I know I'm just an outsider here, but I love you both and I know you're both feeling angry and sad and frustrated by Elliot for what he did. It was unfair and cruel and his presence is triggering."
Olivia nodded, wiping away a tear.
"I just love my Mom and she's the only person who's always been there when there was no one else who wanted me including Elliot, or friends or even my own biological mother and I won't sit back ever again and let someone hurt her that way… I regret not standing up to Elliot more and I regret letting him boss me around and making me feel ashamed of who I wanted to be instead of letting him shove me in to the mould of what he wanted … and then leaving anyway."
Trevor reached in to his pocket, glad he'd thought to grab a fresh handkerchief, thinking that maybe it would get a little emotional. He passed it to Olivia. She sniffed, still not daring to say a word incase she sobbed aloud.
"Liv, you okay?" Trevor pressed.
She nodded and sniffed, taking a drink of her juice. "Sorry…" she whispered. "It's just a lot to hear."
"I'm sorry," Noah apologised softly.
"No honey, please don't be sorry, you're just such a wonderful kid. I am so lucky to have you… but.." She wiped her eyes, "I need you to know that I'm okay, but I still struggle with feeling like a failure of a Mom to have let you get so hurt and so scarred by that man. I just didn't see it at the time, I just thought if I tried… if he tried that we would eventually get to the right spot where he would accept you and accept me and want us the way we wanted him or wanted him to want us, does that make sense?," she asked, making eye contact with her son.
His eyes glassed over and he nodded. Trevor sat back and let them talk it out. He suspected it was the most honest conversation they'd ever had about Elliot. "I didn't realise I was being a terrible Mom."
"You weren't… you always stood up for me when he was being mean or telling me off. You always-"
"I didn't make him leave. I should have made him leave. No kid should ever have to sneak in to a closet to call the police because they are so frightened, Noah…and that should have been the last straw and I am so sorry that it wasn't. Even Aunt Amanda couldn't sit by and watch it anymore, even she knew I was being a shitty parent."
"You weren't a shit parent," Noah snapped, "you were the best Mom, even when he was being a dick, you still protected me from him and I know that you would never have let him hurt me-"
Olivia's tears were streaming down her face. "But he did hurt you, Noah," her voice cracked. "He did." She told her son emphatically, "he took away your joy and the things you loved because it didn't fall in line with what he wanted in a son," she dabbed at her eyes with Trevor's handkerchief, feeling her man's hand on the back of her neck, affectionately rubbing his hands softly over her, trying to soothe her upset. "Noah, Elliot scarred you so badly that you couldn't even be honest with yourself because he shamed you for what and who you are. You were so scared of telling me and Trevor when you realised what was going on with you that you made yourself sick with worry… it turned your insides rotten when you were alone and you told me how sad you were and how you worried that you were the reason Elliot left."
Noah wiped away his own tears and picked up a napkin. "I don't care. You weren't a shit Mom, you were never a shit Mom. Aunt Amanda was a terrible friend to you, she should never have dumped you for not doing what she wanted you to do, its no different to what Elliot did to us… I just hated Elliot each time he made you cry and each time he fought with you and purposely made you angry…I never thought you were a bad Mom."
He reached over and took his Mom's hand. "I'm sorry," her voice broke. She stifled a sob. "I'm sorry for what Elliot did to you…" she added. Her body shaking a little with the tears that she had taught herself to silently cry so that they didn't cause a scene.
Noah got up and slid in to the booth that Trevor was sitting across from in with his Mom. He slid in next to her and wrapped his arms around her, letting her cry. "I'm sorry too," he whispered, "for what he did to you — to us…" Usually Noah didn't have a lot of time for his mother's emotions, but he knew she would have never made him feel bad if he cried, he needed to begin affording her the same emotional freedom. Asking her to stop crying just perpetuated her urge to build walls between them. "I love you, Mom," he added.
Olivia clung on to her son. "I love you too," she replied. He held her for a few minutes until he could tell that she had collected herself. He pulled away and looked at her. He was a little taller than her now. "Are you okay?"
She nodded. "I'm fine babe."
Noah gave her a weak smile. "We're gonna be fine, Mom, we don't need anything from him. We're doing better without him and we got everything we both wanted without him…"
She agreed and glanced at Trevor. He gave her a smile and kissed her forehead. "I have everything I want right here at this table…" he paused, "Well, and Lexi too."
Noah sat back at his side of the table. "Me too," Liv replied.
"But if I see Elliot again, I may split his ballsack open with my best football kick."
Olivia was shocked by Noah's remark that she was able to let out a peel of laughter that felt good after her tears. Noah was happy to hear her laugh because it took away his own empathetic urge to cry. Trevor laughed too.
He went back to eating his breakfast. "Are we ready to try to talk about something else?" Olivia asked after she had calmed down.
"Definitely," Noah replied. "What do we need to do this morning for Lexi's party?"
"Not a lot, thankfully Mom and Dad have sorted a lot of the hard work out. I suspect we're going to get back home to a bit of a set-up from the weird comment Dad was making. He was trying to figure out in his brain where he should set up the food," Trevor informed them.
Olivia laughed. "Yeah he asked me yesterday where I might do that and I think I was a little too vague for his liking. I was thinking of winging it, but I think your Mom and Dad are planners."
"They are," Trevor agreed, "Actually they even suggested we have Lexi's party at their place because their yard is massive and they have the grill and the pool… but maybe we can save that for Noah's birthday or something."
Olivia smiled at her son, "see, you'll even get birthday party's now with Grandma and Grandpa around — pool parties, even."
Noah grinned, "that would actually be so cool if it weren't so far."
"You'd just invite your friends and sleep in tents, thats what we did when we had parties when we were younger."
"Oh yeah, Mom would love it if I slept out in a tent with Kaci…" Noah chuckled.
"Kaci would be sleeping inside the house in a spare bed and I would be sitting in the hallway with my gun to make sure no one sneaks in and out of any tents or bedrooms, that's for damn certain." Olivia replied.
Trevor laughed. "Well, there would be no co-ed tents, that's for sure," he agreed.
Noah finished off his breakfast and guzzled down his juice.
"You full, sunshine? Do you want something else?" Trevor asked. Noah thought for a second. "Is it okay? If I get something else? Maybe just a bit of toast and another scrambled eggs."
"Of course," Trevor smiled.
/
"She loves pink, so they have to be pink…" Noah told Olivia as the three of them carefully selected a bunch of flowers from a boutique florist.
"What about these beauties?," she asked, pointing to a medium bouquet that had some pink roses, pink dahlias, veronicas, chryanthemums with some other beautiful white flowers and lots of green foliage to fill it out. "It's beautiful honey…"
"Yeah? You think? They are very pink!"
"Yeah, I think these are gorgeous, I think she'd like them," Olivia smiled. She looked around for Trevor but he had disappeared. "Where'd Dad go?"
Noah looked around and could see him buying a small bouquet at the counter. He smiled to himself, "I don't know, probably outside…" he pretended to dilly-dally, comparing the bouquet to the other flowers. "Okay I think I'll get these…"
Olivia reached in to her handbag and pulled out her purse and gave him her card. "You take them and pay and I'll go outside and see where Dad is…"
"Okay," Noah smiled, "thanks Mom, for helping me get these."
"You're welcome… don't forget to get a card for her too, babe. These things matter," she told him.
She left him to go and assert a little independence and made her way outside the florist. She spotted Trevor, making her way over to him. "Hi, what have you got?," she asked him raising her eyebrow, realising he had something behind his back.
"Give me a little kiss first," he told her with a playful grin that was enough to make her knees go a weak. He leaned over kissing her as she reached on her tippy-toes to kiss him.
He pulled his arms from around his back and presented her with a bouquet of an assortment of flowers in bright and vibrant colours. "For you, my greatest love — for all that you do, that you have endured and for how much I love you as my partner and the mother of all of my amazing children and … baby to be."
"Ooooft, Trevor Langan, you are a beautiful, beautiful man…" her voice trailed. "Thank you so much. I love you."
"I love you most," he winked as she took the flowers from him. "I hope you love them."
"I do, they're gorgeous."
"Just like you…" She hugged him and let him hold her close for a quiet minute. She knew that he understood how emotional the morning had been for her and how much she struggled with it all.
Noah came out of the florist and smiled to find his Mom and Trevor in an embrace. "Okay cut the mushy stuff, you guys. I am gonna walk to Kaci's now, is that alright?"
"Yes babe," Olivia replied with a little chuckle. "Don't be late back okay? I don't want you to stay for too long, I might need some help at home."
"I won't be," he promised. "I'll just go and drop off her flowers and then I'll come straight back and help you guys with whatever you need."
They both gave him a hug and let him go and headed home themselves.
/
"Oh my gosh!" Olivia laughed, "you guys! You didn't need to do all of this!," she exclaimed, "are you kidding me! It looks amazing!"
Gavin and Patrick had moved the dining table against the wall and put a pink table cloth over it and bunch of helium balloons that spelled out Lexi and a big pretty pink and white garland across the wall.
"You're welcome, we hope its okay," Raia chipped in, "we thought we'd try to organise a few things for you guys while you were out."
"Thank you, this is so great! It looks better than I could have done," she laughed.
"Oh that's not true," Georgie replied, "we just wanted to take some weight off of you both."
"Thanks Mom, thanks guys…" Trevor smiled, he knew Olivia had to have been happy. She was worried about everything being just right.
"Nice flowers, Liv," Raia smiled, "Did your loverboy get them for you?" Raia teased her as she was momentarily distracted by two tiny pairs of feet running toward them.
"He did," Olivia smiled back and glanced at Trevor with recognition. She watched him scoop up both Chloe and Lexi who were giggling and having a great time together, playing off one another.
"Here sweetheart, why don't you give me those flowers, I can put them in a vase for you."
"Oh, I could do that," Liv replied.
"No, honey, its fine. You have other stuff you want to do, I'm sure. You and Raia could maybe get out all the food that you want to serve and some platters and get started on that. I'm going to begin frosting little miss' cake in a moment and I'll put together some of the food.
"Don't go crazy on the food, Mom-"
"Trevor, if you had your way, you'd eat most of your hor d'oeuvres on your own in one sitting and I might put it to you to tell me just how many parties you have catered for?"
"Yeahhhh, Trevor," Raia added, smirking.
"Oh my gosh you two are like children," Olivia laughed, but really she liked observing the playfulness between Trevor and his older sister.
Before Olivia could say much else, Georgie had removed the flowers from Olivia's hands and Trevor went to get the girls both a snack that they could have together at Lexi's little table in the family room.
/
"Hi Tara," Noah greeted Kaci's Mom. "Sorry to just turn up, but I wanted to surprise Kaci if its okay."
Tara hid a smile at how sweet and nervous Noah looked with his beautiful bouquet. "Of course Noah, can you give me one moment? I'll make sure Kaci is okay with me letting you in, she's had a little sleep-in, so she may need a minute."
"That's okay, tell her I think she's beautiful no matter how she thinks he might look."
Tara grinned at Olivia's sweet son. "I'll just be a moment, Noah." She closed the door and he turned and waited, looking around the hallway of her apartment block. A few moments later, Tara returned and opened the door again. "Come on in, honey, Kaci will just be a few moments…"
"Thanks," he followed Kaci's Mom in and took his sneakers off at the door. "I should have texted first but I wanted it to be a surprise."
"Oh, thats okay. Take a seat," she motioned to the breakfast bar. "Have you eaten? Would you like something?"
"No thank you, I just came from breakfast with Mom and Dad," he replied politely. "How are you? Did you have a nice time last night?"
Tara smiled at him as she poured herself a coffee. "Yeah, we had a wonderful time. We are looking forward to coming to Lexi's party a little later."
"Me too," Noah replied. "She deserves a birthday — a special day to herself. She really doesn't understand the concept of having her own things yet…" he explained. "I don't know if Mom told you but I bought her a Hello Kitty plush and she kept trying to give it back to me when she was done playing, so I hope she understands that all the gifts are for her today."
Tara smiled. "Did you buy her something?"
"Yeah," Noah nodded, "Mom doesn't know, but Grandpa, Dad and I stayed up really late making her a mini kitchen to play in and then I bought her lots of play foods and appliances to put in it, I've been saving my allowance for a little while."
"Oh, that's really sweet of you, Noah, you're so lovely to your little sister, she's lucky to have you."
Noah smiled, "Thanks Tara, but I'm really lucky to have her and also my baby brother. Not long to go now…"
"No, we are all excited to meet your brother."
Noah quickly jumped up off the stool and grabbed his flowers when he heard Kaci coming. "I'll leave you to it, good luck, honey," she told him.
Kaci appeared looking a little tired, he could tell that she'd quickly tried to get ready but he smiled when he saw her adorable Hello Kitty pajama pants and a Taylor Swift T shirt. "Hi, Noah…"
"Good morning," he replied. She smiled coyly as she made her way to him. He held the bouquet in his arms. "I'm sorry I came so early without notice but I really wanted to be a surprise."
"It's a surprise," she grinned at him. He took a few steps toward her, understanding that she was both shy and embarrassed. "I got these flowers for you," he told her, "because… I kind of wanted us to be official."
"Aw, I thought it was official last night…" she replied.
"Well yeah… but awhile back Mom said if I was going to ask you to be my girlfriend, there should be flowers so… Kaci, will you be my girlfriend officially?"
She took the flowers and giggled, "Yes of course… thank you for the beautiful flowers, this is the first time I've ever got them!"
"Aww that makes me so happy," he remarked, "do you like them?"
"Yeah, they're so pretty — my favourite colour too, thank you Noah, this is so thoughtful." She set them down carefully on the countertop and gave him a hug. He closed his eyes and pulled her close. He held on to her for a few moments.
"Well, I can't stay very long, I have to go home and help out but I really just wanted to give you the flowers and make sure everything is as good today as it was last night."
"It is, I am so excited to be your girlfriend."
"I'm excited too. And Kace, thanks for not telling anyone about my seeing Elliot last night…"
"Oh, that's okay," she smiled, "I'm sorry that that happened, I really felt for you and your Mom but I'm glad Trevor was there. Elliot was such an ass."
"Yeah…" Noah's voice trailed off. "I should get going… but I'm happy to see you and I'm looking forward to seeing you later."
"Me too, I'm going to wear a dress," she told him with a shy smile.
"I'm sure you're going to look beautiful," he replied as she walked him to the door. He glanced at Tara who was standing in the kitchen. She hid a smile, hearing Noah's sweet words as they walked past.
"Bye, Tara, I'll see you later today."
"Looking forward to it. Tell your Mom I've made the snickerdoodles that I promised."
"Oooh yum! I'll tell her."
/
"Mom… when it comes time to cut the cake and stuff for Lexi, can I please say something to everyone?," Noah asked.
Olivia was surprised as all the guests stood around, grazing on the endless supply of food that had been provided by just about everyone who turned up. "Sure, what would you like to say?"
"Well… it's kind of a surprise if thats okay, its just about Lexi and becoming her brother…"
Olivia smiled. "Are you gonna get mad if I cry?"
Noah laughed, "No, crying is okay, remember?," he smiled.
They both laughed and Olivia put an arm around her son and kissed his temple. She glanced at Trevor across the room who was staring at his phone, concentrating on something. She let go of Noah so he could go back to his friends.
She was so happy to see all of her friends and family combined, both new and old. "So, how are you doing after last night and running in to the old, bald jerk?" Hannah asked quietly, sidling up to her.
Olivia laughed, "Mmmm its a bit raw and surreal still, but… Noah, Trev and I had a good, open conversation about it this morning and its okay. It's as okay as it will ever be, I think."
"You're a strong, strong woman Olivia, I would have kicked him in his nuts," she informed her with a little laugh.
"I actually believe you," Liv laughed. "I tell you what, this makes up for it though… my best revenge is how happy I am. I haven't ever been in a healthy place in my life, that peacefulness… I feel so lucky for Trevor and the kids. Like, look at these teenagers," she laughed, nodding toward the four teens, Ryan now a part of their group, doing their best to involve him knowing that he had it a bit tough at home. "They're such good kids, even the new one," she smiled.
Hannah laughed, "His Mom though… she's a bit of work, when we picked him up, all I could hear was her yelling at him, the poor kid…"
"My Mom was probably that Mom, I feel for him. There's a thin line between feeling like a charity case and accepting someones kindness…we're dancing that, I think."
"It's hard not to want to help out though, but I get what you mean," she replied.
"Excuse me for a second, Trevor is looking like something's wrong, I better go see what's up."
"Sure, go ahead…" Hannah made her way over to check in on Alice and Amanda's girls who were playing in the living room.
/
"What's up baby?" Olivia asked Trevor, "you look tense, is everything okay?"
Trevor looked up and smiled at her, "Yeah, of course. Sorry, I was just reading a message from a teacher, I was trying to make sense of it, all good. I just want to reply really quick and then I'll put my phone away."
"Okay," Olivia replied, wondering why he was busy doing work stuff at his daughter's party. She didn't say anything though. "Come find me when you're done." He leaned over and kissed her lips and watched her go. He smiled, she was wearing a gorgeous floral blue dress with a medium split up the side and walked barefoot given that she was heavily pregnant and heels hurt too much.
He glanced back down at his phone and looked up to find Sonny. They made eye contact, Trevor smiled and gave him a nod. Sonny disappeared down the hallway and out the door. Trevor put his phone in his pocket and hid a little smile.
A few moments later he heard the door open again and the sound of footsteps coming down in to the kitchen living space where everyone stood and sat around. Olivia was deep in conversation with Amanda and Raia, holding on to a mocktail which Trevor was thankful that she absently set down behind her on to the dining table.
"Hi," Nick smiled at Trevor, "you must be Trevor."
"In the flesh…" he smiled back at the shorter, tanned-skin friend of Olivia's. He was good looking, Trevor hadn't considered that her friend would be as handsome as he was. He was greying around the frame of his face and had a beard similar to his own. He didn't feel jealous though, he knew Nick was very happily married and Olivia's heart was never with her ex partner at any point.
"Think I should go over and scare her?," Nick asked.
"Go for it, she will be so happy to see you." Trevor clocked Amanda's face as she saw him drawing closer behind Olivia. She smiled at her former friend. She and Nick hadn't much kept in contact, not like he and Olivia had, but she was fine with that and so was Nick. Their relationship was tumultuous and sometimes trying at times and he understood that she was happy with Sonny Carisi. There was no bad blood, but neither had upkept contact.
Olivia turned around to see who or what Amanda was looking at when she saw Nick Amaro's face in the flesh. She yelped in shock. "Oh my gosh!," she exclaimed at the man who had filled out a little more than she remembered. Her eyes filled with tears as Nick engulfed her in a warm hug. "How did you-" she began but her question was extinguished by her own hug.
"I missed you so fucking much!," he told her bluntly, "I wouldn't have missed this for the world!"
"Where's Danielle?," she wanted to know.
"She's just dropping off our bags at the hotel and she'll be over. She wanted to get changed but I wanted to get my butt over here."
Olivia was grinning and she knew that mostly everyone had no idea what was going on. "Noah!" Olivia called out, "Noah, come here…"
Noah emerged from the family room and stood- stunned, Nick was the last person he expected to see. "Whoa!" Nick grinned at the teen who had shot up since the last time he had seen him. "You are crazy tall!," he exclaimed, "get over here!"
Noah almost began to cry but he held his tears back. It was a lot; Elliot one day and the man the day after who had all but saved him from entirely believing everything Elliot had ever said to him. He made his way slow toward Nick. Nick could see immediately just how emotional Olivia's son was. "Hi Uncle Nick," he whispered, his throat thick with emotion.
Nick enveloped him in a hug. "Hey big guy, I can't tell you how happy I am to see you!," he told him. He patted his back firmly. "You're almost as tall as me…" he chuckled. He pulled away and smiled at the teen. "14, huh?," he smiled. "And I heard you smashed your game last night…"
Noah nodded, suddenly feeling shy. "It was a good game, I have a good team."
Nick smiled at him, appraising him. "I can't wait to meet your sister and… how good does Mom look with another sibling on the way?"
Finally Noah smiled, glancing at his Mom. Olivia slipped an arm around her son's waist. "It's the best," he admitted, "I'm so happy for Mom and Dad."
Nick almost raised an eyebrow but he said nothing. "Well kiddo, I can't wait to catch up with you, it's been too long and I haven't needed to get on the phone to tell you off for a long time now," he joked.
Noah laughed too. "It's good to see you too Uncle Nick, I'm glad you're here. I'll introduce you to my friends and my girlfriend later."
"Can't wait," he smiled.
He turned to Amanda, "And you… it's good to see you too, sweetheart."
Amanda greeted him happily. "Good to see you, Nick Amaro," she smiled, "I can't wait to meet your wife."
"And our four year old," he added. "Adeline."
"Ohhh nice, she'll be able to play with my kids and Lexi."
"Great…"
"Okay, come with me… I'll introduce you to everyone and I'll get you a drink."
/
Olivia found Trevor and slid her arms around him and gave him a warm hug. She glanced up at him and grinned, "thank you for getting Nick here, I really needed to see my best friend today after last night," she told him quietly.
Trevor wrapped his arms around her waist and looked down in to her beautiful face. "I love you and anyone who is important to you is important to me and I thought that … regardless of what happened last night, you needed to have your friend be a part of this. We actually had this planned a few weeks back, it just worked out so perfectly. He's a really nice guy, I like him."
"Good. I was a little scared you might get jealous or … I don't know, not like him."
"I'm not a jealous person, sweetheart," he replied, smoothing her hair, "he's been around a lot longer than I have and I would never begrudge that. If I had anything to be jealous about, I think you'd actually just be with him and not with me," he replied.
"True, but I have the only man that I want. I'm really happy so thank you."
He leaned over and kissed her lips lingeringly, letting his tongue graze hers. "I love you."
"We'll wait for Nick's wife and little girl to arrive and then we'll cut the cake because if I catch those children circling the cake table like sharks one more time…" she chuckled.
Olivia glanced over to find Nick and saw him with Noah being introduced to his friends and finally. Nick was grinning from ear-to-ear with an arm around Noah chatting away to the teens.
"Who is that!" Hannah asked Olivia, an old colleague?
Olivia felt Trevor's arms wrap around her from behind smiling at Hannah. He placed his hands on his partner's pregnant belly. "That," Olivia replied, "is my bestfriend and ex partner after Elliot. He's one in a million," she added. "He came all the way from California because this one-in-a-million," she looked up and grinned at Trevor, "organised it all…"
Hannah grinned at Olivia's gorgeous boyfriend, "sounds like you got two in a million, how's that fair?"
They laughed. "He's a very, very good looking man," she remarked. "Do you think he wants to become a stepdad to three?," she joked almost making Trevor spit his beer.
"Mmm probably not, well— maybe," Liv replied, "his wife and daughter will be here soon so you could ask?"
Hannah laughed, "typical," they both chuckled
"You guys are wrong…" Trevor laughed too, "Poor Nick… better pick your tongue up, Hannah, he's on his way over…"
"Liv, I just got a text from Zara, she wants to come and see you guys. She and Maria are here visiting with Maria's family— is that okay?"
"Oh my gosh, yes of course!" Olivia exclaimed, "I haven't seen her since her 12th birthday are you kidding?"
"Well, you and Trevor and the family will have to come to her quinceañeras…" Nick clocked Hannah and smiled. He stuck his hand out before Liv could respond, "hi, Nick Amaro."
"Hi Nick, I'm Hannah, my kid is Noah's bestfriend, Adam."
"Oh, he was so polite, Noah has got some really nice friends," he smiled.
They chatted for a short while until there was a knock and Nick alerted Olivia that it was his eldest daughter. She made her way down the hall as Trevor and Nick got acquainted with one another Over a beer.
Gone was the round-faced, sweet cheeked little girl who greeted Liv at the door. She was replaced with a young woman who looked way older than almost 15. "Oh, Zara!," she grinned, "hi sweetheart!"
"Olivia! Hi oh my gosh, you are so pregnant!" She hugged her Dads best friend tightly. "It's so good to see you!"
"You too, honey! Look at your beautiful curls! Oh my gosh. How's Mom?"
"Mom is great, she and Vance are about to go to Europe for his job so I'm gonna go stay with Daddy over the summer."
"Oh, you'll love it! You'll get to spend some time with Adeline and the beach…"
"Yeah," Zara grinned, "where's Dad? I haven't seen him for almost three months," she admitted. "And I have to see Noah and your new boyfriend and the baby!," she gushed.
Olivia grinned and took Nick's eldest daughter's hand. "Dani and Adeline are on their way, I think Dani wanted to get changed first."
"Oh cool," she spotted her Dad and let go of Olivia, making a beeline toward him.
"Ahhh! Speak of the devil," he grinned, engulfing his daughter in a hug. "Every time I see you, you are looking way too grown," he told Zara, kissing her cheeks. Once he let go he introduced her to Trevor. "Sweetheart, this is Trevor, Olivia's partner, "Trevor, this is my eldest daughter, Zara. She lives with her mother in Pennsylvania."
"Wow, you're so tall!" Zara exclaimed with a laugh, looking up at the 6'5ft giant. "Nice to meet you,"
Trevor laughed and shook her hand, "nice to meet you too," Trevor replied. He smiled at Olivia who joined him at his side. He put an arm around her, "I'll go check on Lexi and grab her in a moment to see what kind of a mood she is so we can see how long we can put off the cake," he chuckled.
"Oh, is she ready for her cake so soon?" Nick asked.
"Oh, all the little ones are ready for cake," Olivia shook her head, "I was telling Trev just before, the four little ones were circling like sharks, so I think maybe it'll be sooner rather than later — I also don't really want Lexi to get to the point of being too tired for some photos."
"Okay," Trevor remarked decisively, "I'll go grab Lex and I'll grab Noah to come say hello to Zara and check in on everyone."
"Thanks honey," Olivia replied, smiling up at her man. He leaned over and kissed her temple. He placed his beer down on the kitchen counter and excused himself.
"Okay, what do you think?" Liv asked both Nick and Zara in a whisper.
"He's cute," Zara remarked. Nick rose an eyebrow at his daughter who caught herself and giggled.
"I liked him immediately, Liv, he's really nice and I've never seen a man look at you like that - he adores you and to be honest, the only guy that I've seen you with that I haven't instantly wanted to show my revolt all over my face."
They both laughed. "Good… I'm glad and Noah adores him too. They're really close."
"Good… I'm glad that Noah has him and that after Elliot you're both healing," he smiled. "Love looks good on Olivia, doesn't it, Zar?"
Zara nodded with a grin. "You look really happy, Liv," she agreed.
"Thank you," she replied to them both. She looked over to her friends and family and saw Trevor and his Mom discussing the cakes.
"Oh," Nick broke her attention, "Dani and Adeline will be here in a few moments."
"I'm just going to go help Trev's Mom for a second, help yourselves to whatever you want and let me know when Dani gets here and I'll introduce you guys properly to everyone."
"Thanks, Olivia, you do what you need to do, we can organise ourselves," Nick replied.
/
"Thank you everyone for coming today, new faces, old faces— Lexi's friends and family — we were really excited to have this party today because so many of you were yet to meet her and spend some time with her and some of you haven't seen us neither me or Olivia or Noah for years, so thank you… we'll get on with the cake in a few minutes before the kids stage a mutiny and take possession of the cake…" he added holding Lexi on his hip. She was busy looking over his shoulder at the cake on the table behind him. "Noah really wanted to say something today about his sister, so…" he turned to Noah, "you ready?"
He nodded and smiled. He turned Olivia, "do you want to say anything first Mom?," he asked.
"Just before Noah says anything, I just want to say thank you to Trevor's family, his Mom, Dad, sister and brother-in-law for dropping everything and getting here and basically organising my house this morning, thank you for everything you do for us. And to Amanda for helping me clean up while I was at work this week. We love you guys."
Noah asked for Trevor to pass Lexi over. He pulled out a bit of paper from his pocket and smiled at his sister. "I love you," he told her softly. "MWAHHHH!" Lexi giggled, kissing her brother's cheek. Noah wasn't used to speaking in front of so many, in fact it seemed easier to do at school since he didn't really care what anyone thought - but at home with all the sets of eyes of his loved ones, he suddenly felt a little nervous.
"You can do it, babe," Liv told him with a smile, sensing his nerves. He felt Trevor's hands on his shoulders.
He glanced up at everyone and smiled, "Ok, it'd help if you all didn't stare at me. Maybe if you turned your backs," he joked. Everyone laughed gently, "Okay," he took a deep breath, "I'm at this weird place in my life at 14 where I feel too old to be a kid, but too young to be a grown up and it can make relationships with family feel awkward…and sometimes it is. But, what seems like forever ago, I met Trevor; or, it's no secret, the guy I have started calling my father. I have always been very wary of men who have dated my Mom for a lot of reasons that a lot of you may know about but also, because if you know her, you would know for the love and the warmth and the kindness that she shows others, she deserves someone very, very special…"
"Aww, Noah…" Liv murmured. He turned to his Mom, "don't you dare cry or I'm leaving," he joked.
Olivia laughed too but he could see her eyes were already full of tears.
"I wasn't necessarily happy about Trevor and my Mom dating because I was scared of getting left behind - that maybe because I'm this weird age, I'd just be the annoying teenager who gets in the way, but…Trevor taught me pretty fast that I was as much of a priority as my Mom and he wasn't afraid of telling me and showing me in ways that, if I'm honest, I was still a little wary of at times. I realised my Mom and Trevor were real when my Mom was helping a friend of mine during a hard time - she was exhausted and emotional and we waited at home and Trevor wasn't afraid to pick up Mom's baggage. When she got home from tough jobs and cried with frustration or sadness, Trevor was there and as a result, everyone in our house feels heard, valued and treated with kindness even when we're mad."
He paused to wipe away a tear. "If you saw that, no you didn't," he quickly said.
"Bah bah sad!" Lexi said softly touching her brother's cheek.
Noah smiled at her and kissed her cheek. "No, no… bah bah happy." He turned back to his paper, "The point I want to make is that when I heard about Lexi, I didn't need to know her to know that I had this kinship with her, I felt a pull toward this tiny baby because of what she had been through — I'm adopted and our beginnings were almost exactly the same. Mom saw it too and she followed the case close until Lexi's forever home fell apart… Mom, wanting to make good on all of the promises broken to me by another man as a kid, wanted to give me a sister… and Trevor — my Dad, had an open heart from the beginning and they both included me the entire step of the way…. And now we have her; my sister, Lexi."
"I know it might be a bit weird for a 14 year old to care about being a sibling — but being a sibling is literally all I wanted as a kid. I always had these fantasies of being a big brother with a little brother or a little sister who I could play with or who would want to be my friend and who I'd protect and watch out for and just adore being around and with Trevor and Mom's relationship, they are genuine with one another and really, truly in love with one another that they were at the perfect place to give me a sister — in a true and meaningful way. Lexi can be a monster but she's also my most favourite little monster and it's been so much fun so far learning to be a big brother and I get to relive that again soon with a baby brother…"
He kissed Lexi again on the cheek. "So I want to say happy birthday to my sister Lexi. She won't understand the significance of this special birthday until she's older, but this is her first birthday with us — her family, and I promise Lexi that I'll protect you and be your bestfriend for as long as you'll let me. I love, love, love, love you! Happy special second birthday, Smoosh."
Everyone repeated happy birthday and Olivia urged Lexi to hug her brother as Carisi took a few photos.
"Oh it's time to sing happy birthday, baby!" Olivia told her daughter. Everyone of their guests began the chorus of happy birthday to Lexi who looked around smiling, a little unsure. Noah rocked her from side to side and danced with her until she giggled. She clapped with excitement when they were finished. Trevor had finished lighting the big TWO candle at the front of the rainbow unicorn cake that Georgie had so perfectly crafted.
"Okay, we're gonna blow out the candles," Noah told her, "ready? Big breath," he showed her and then made a blowing motion. Lexi tried but Noah helped, blowing it out for her, "awwww good job!" They praised her.
Lexi clapped happily as Trevor cut her a tiny little bite size bit to tide her over.
"Oooooooh, me me me me!," she shrieked happily.
They laughed as she delightedly took the mouthful of cake.
"Mom, do you want to hand out cupcakes to the kids?," Trevor asked, nodding toward the overflow cupcakes. They were mini - for mini mouths while Trevor portioned out the rest of the cake. Patrick took Lexi from Noah as the parents thanked them and took cupcakes for their little ones.
"Those were such wonderful words, Noah, you're such an amazing kid," Patrick told him with a little hug. "You make us so proud."
"Aww, thank you Grandpa," Noah mumured, turning back to his Mom for a big, long hug that he knew she needed to soothe her wet eyes.
"Thank you for being the kindest most beautiful kid I could have ever, ever have expected, babe. I love you so much. Dad and I, we are so proud of you and how quickly you've taken to being a brother…" Trevor put the knife up high and smiled at the mother and son and wrapped his arms around the both of them, kissing Olivia on the forehead and then Noah too. "Love you guys, thank you Noah, for everything that you said. You can always trust me, I'll never walk away from my family."
"I know that now," Noah replied with a smile. "Okay enough mushy stuff, my friends are watching…"
His parents laughed and released him. He went to find Kaci, grabbing for her hand to pull her close to him, smiling with love for her. He felt Adam and Ryan both give him a pat on the shoulder and he knew that the friends he had were definitely good ones and he was able to be honest and himself with them.