Title: I Promise

Genre: Hurt/comfort/family

Rating: K

Olivia heaves a deep sigh and scrubs her hands over her face as a bright flash of lightning streaks across the sky outside the bedroom window, followed by an ear-shattering crash of thunder that rumbles through the entire apartment. The bed that she is crammed into with the four other occupants of her home shakes with the force of the storm that is raging over New York, a muffled shriek and a long howl immediately sounding right afterwards.

There is a toddler foot nudging into her cheek and another slightly bigger foot digging into her ribs, Olivia caressing one soothing hand over spiky canine fur and the other over tousled blonde hair. The five of them are sprawled across the queen-size bed in various contorted positions, Olivia a bit unsure of where exactly everyone is located in the dark and barely able to move with so many bodies squished into such a small space.

The storm had begun slowly with the slightest flicker of illumination in the clouds and had then morphed into a monstrous beast of non-stop bolts of chain lightning and the deafening answer of thunder that just seemed to roll on and on, resulting in a full bed for the night. Olivia strokes her hand over rumpled golden locks again at the barest hint of a whimper, wondering if every member of the family will be smushed together in a giant lump for the remainder of the night and counting on getting little to no sleep before heading into the precinct in the morning.

The blonde strand of hair that Olivia is twirling gently around her finger in order to induce some semblance of calm does not belong to Jesse but to that of her mother, Amanda huddled between her legs with her back against Olivia's chest and clutching onto her bent knees with shaking hands. Over the course of the time they have known each other, Olivia has become aware of the younger woman's fear of storms, although she has never actually gotten Amanda to admit it; her girlfriend always doing the best she can to act nonchalant in front of her, especially when the kids are present.

Both Noah and Jesse have finally fallen asleep after many tears and stories that Olivia had made up off the top of her head as a distraction from the unfortunate weather, but she has sensed Amanda growing more alarmed as the night has worn on and the storm has shown no signs of abating. Olivia slides one hand from Amanda's hair and the other from Frannie's fur to rest on a shaking set of shoulders, tenderly massaging the tense muscles she finds there and her heart giving a tug when she hears the fearful moan that Amanda tries to cover up with a cough.

"How're you doing there, honey?" she asks in a low voice into the smaller woman's ear, tightening her legs around Amanda's quivering body and maneuvering them both into a sitting position on the mattress.

"Just fine, Liv," Amanda replies in a calm, casual tone that suddenly raises an octave when another flash of lightning streaks across the sky.

"Hmm, well, this seems to be the opposite of fine," Olivia observes lightly, trailing her hands down Amanda's back to wrap around her waist from behind and resting her chin on a trembling shoulder.

"What does?" Amanda asks in confusion as she jumps at the answering roar of thunder.

"The fact that you're clinging onto me like you're never going to let go and you're shaking so much, the entire bed is moving," Olivia responds gently, pressing a comforting kiss to the side of Amanda's neck.

"No, I think you have that all wrong," the younger woman argues, her fingernails digging into Olivia's hands with enough force to make her wince. "You're the one clinging onto me, Liv. Look at you, you're physically attached to me here."

Olivia lets out a quiet, knowing chuckle at her girlfriend's usual stubborn attitude and gives her another kiss. "Uh huh, okay, says the woman who is practically burrowing holes into the back of my hands with those razor sharp claws of hers because she's so scared. I think it's time to trim those nails."

"I didn't say I was scared," Amanda scoffs and then gives another jump, Olivia chuckling again and pulling her impossibly closer.

"I think we have a problem here, Amanda."

"You mean besides the crazy weather that sounds like it's trying to tear the entire building apart?" the other woman says wryly, Olivia giving her a light shake in response.

"You and I both seem to have the same problem," she continues softly, her thumbs tracing patterns along a flannel pajama top.

"You're scared of the storm too?"

"Hah, you just admitted it," Olivia replies with a smile, shushing the younger woman when she instantly begins to protest. "Honey, it's okay to admit it. We both seem to have an issue with letting the other know when we need comfort and I think that has to change. We don't have to be strong with one another all the time. This is our safe place, alright? The place where it's perfectly okay to not be okay. And we need to remember that when things get tough."

"I don't like storms, Liv," Amanda answers in a small, shamed voice after a lengthy pause, as if contemplating what has just been said and how truthful she should be in response. "I try to be brave in front of the kids whenever we get them, but every time there's a flash of lightning or a crack of thunder, I just want to shove Noah and Jesse out of your lap and climb in there myself. There, is that honest enough for you?"

"Oh, honey." Olivia is torn between bursting into laughter and wanting to cradle Amanda in her arms and rock her back and forth until the storm dies down.

She settles for doing both, emitting a short chuckle while swaying the quivering figure of her girlfriend from side to side on the bed, placing one kiss after another on her cheek until Amanda turns her head and their lips meet. "I appreciate you being honest with me, but it's probably best not to shove our children out of the way when they need to be comforted as well."

"Well, I was never actually going to do that," Amanda grumbles into their kiss, pulling away slightly so their foreheads are resting against each other. "But the thought has crossed my mind more times than I can count."

"Well, I'll be happy to hold you whenever it's possible," Olivia soothes gently, brushing an unruly strand of hair back from Amanda's forehead. "But let's promise each other that we'll start being more open when something is wrong and we need some support, okay?"

"Okay, Liv," Amanda whispers in agreement, Olivia pressing her lips to the top of her head in a comforting gesture as the dazzling display of lightning continues just outside the window. "I promise."

*The next chapter is rated M for some sexual content. I'll post chapters 4, 5 and 6 soon!