"Ok, Noah. It's time for you to go to bed." Olivia said as she started to extricate herself from her little boy's bed.

"Just one more story?" Noah asked as he tightened his arms around his mother's waist trying to put off going to bed just a little longer. Olivia smiled at her son. Maybe he was going to be a lawyer or a businessman: negotiating bed time or dinner or school or any other things she asked him to do, seemed to have become one of his favorite pastimes.

"Not tonight, Noah. It's a school night." She stood up and put the book back on his shelf. She waited for him to lay down before she pulled his baseball comforter up over his little body.

"I love you sweet boy." She told him as she tucked the covers tight around him. "I need Eddy!" He said before she kissed his forehead. "Of course," she handed him the stuffed elephant, kissed his head, and whispered, "I love you, Noah. Sweet dreams."

She turned on his night light and shut the door before walking into her kitchen and getting a bottle of red down. She uncorked it and grabbed a stemless glass from the upper cabinets; she poured herself a generous amount before taking a seat on her couch. She pulled her legs up under her as she unlocked her phone, opened her contacts, found Ed, and started to FaceTime him. She took a swig of wine while she waited for him to answer.

This had become their routine since their late lunch. She'd get Noah in bed and then call Ed. There had been a few nights where they had just talked about nothing for two hours until one of them was falling asleep. There had been a couple nights where he'd let her rant about the case she was currently working on. It was nice to have someone to talk to, to connect with. It also reminded her of how things used to be. Before she made him leave that night, it was not uncommon for Ed to be there for Noah's evening routine before the two of them retired to her room for the evening. So the nightly phone call was also making her yearn for Ed to be a more physical presence in their lives. She was ready for Ed to be there when she put Noah to bed. For the two of them to get back to sharing their nightly routine, it wasn't even the sex that she wanted the most. Although that would be nice too. It was the sharing space, sharing life, with someone, with Ed, that she missed the most.

He answered the phone and had the camera facing out, she could see that he was in his sleep pants for the night and had some neon yellow socks on. That was one thing about Ed that only she and Noah knew. He had a collection of obnoxious socks of all colors and patterns, and he only wore them to sleep in when it was winter. Her little boy had added to his collection the one Christmas they had spent together. He spent about 30 minutes looking around Macy's trying to find the perfect pair for Tucker. The memory of the pale blue socks with narwhals on them brought a smile to her face.

When he finally got the camera turned around, he saw the smirk on her face. "Hey, what are you smiling about tonight?" She smiled bigger, "I was just thinking about your narwhal socks," she finished by taking another drink.

"Oh, really?," he asked, now smirking himself.

"Yes, really."

"Noah in bed?" He asked as he brought a beer bottle to his lips. He didn't drink beer all that often but it's what he could pick up from the bodega on the way home.

"Yeah, I doubt he's asleep just yet." He nodded in understanding.

"So Barba got an indictment of Optimum Air?" He asked her, trying to get into their usual effortless flow.

"He did." She nodded, "he also said that he expects their appeal to be successful before the weekend. But even so, maybe something will change over there now…"she sounded distant; like she was thinking about something completely different.

"You don't think it will change anything?" He asked.

"I don't know. I hope so." She took another drink, "Ed, do you want to come to Noah's t-ball game this weekend?"

She could tell from his facial expression that the question caught him off guard, and she panicked when it took him a little too long to respond.

"Yeah, I would love to." He smiled at her and she could see the genuine excitement in his face. She exhaled a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. He noticed her response. "You seem relieved."

She laughed exasperated. "I am."

"Were you worried I wouldn't want to go to Noah's game?"

"No, uh yes." She took another sip of wine and looked away. He gave her a moment to clarify. "You haven't asked to see him since we started doing whatever it is we're doing." She made eye contact with him again. As much eye contact as she could make on the phone.

"Well, I guess I was trying to take your lead. I know with everything that has happened it's different now." He tried to hold her gaze but she looked away, almost allowing the phone to fall forward. "Liv, when our relationship ended, you didn't exactly want me to… you were scared off because I…"

She interrupted him, "Because you were ready for us to take the next step, and I… I wasn't."

He nodded and she stared off past her phone. She felt guilty. She also felt so tired. Tired of being alone. Tired of being worried about Noah, about her squad. Tired of not sleeping through the night; tired of Noah not sleeping through the night. As if on cue, as that thought ran through her head, Noah came out of his room.

"Mommy?" She quickly put down her phone. She didn't hang up, but also didn't want to get Noah excited about Ed while she was trying to get him back in bed.

"Hey sweetheart, what are you doing up?" She asked him as she pulled him to her.

"I couldn't sleep. I heard you talking."

"Mhm," she responded as she placed a kiss on his temple. "Well, sweet boy, let's get you back in bed."

"Mommy, can I sleep with you?" She looked at him hard and long. She should put him back in his bed, but she also wanted to get back to her conversation with Ed as quickly as possible. And she knew this kid wasn't going to get back to sleep without some form of negotiation.

"Ok, baby. You can go lay down in Mommy's bed. And I'll be there in a little while."

"You can't come now?" He whined.

She pulled him close again, "I have to finish something up first, Noah. I'll be there soon."

"Mommy, I don't like it when you work late."

"I know sweet boy." She sighed and stood up to shuffle him into her room. "I'll be in soon," She said as she pulled back the covers on her bed and tucked him back in.

"Eddy!" She took a deep breath starting to feel exasperated. "Why don't you go get him?" Noah popped back out of bed and scurried from the room. "Quickly." Noah appeared back in less than a minute. "Ok, you close your eyes and try to go sleep. I'll be back as soon as I can." She decided to close the door as she left. She didn't want Noah to overhear the rest of her conversation with Ed.

As she sat back down on the couch, she picked up the phone and smiled when she saw that Ed was still there.

"He back in bed," he asked almost in a whisper. As if to not alert the little boy to his presence on the phone.

"Yeah, well my bed anyway."

"He been sleeping there a lot?"

"Yeah, and I know that I shouldn't allow him to… but I know that the days where he wants to sleep with me are limited… And, and I want to keep him close after everything that's happened."

"Liv," he waited for her to look at him, "you're a good mom. He knows he is loved. He's lucky to have you." She smiled at his words, "Thank you." She replied.

"So, you probably need to get in there before he gets up again?"

"Yeah, probably."

"What are you doing for lunch tomorrow?"

She grinned at him. "Having lunch with you?," she asked coyly.

"Yeah, that sounds good."

"Ok, I'll text you about where to meet? Maybe about 1?" she proposed.

"Ok, good night Liv."

"Night." She ended the call. Grabbed the glass of wine, downing the rest of the maroon liquid before placing the glass in the sink, turning off all the lights and heading into her room to snuggle with Noah, hoping that sleep would come for her quickly.