Amanda made her way quickly to her apartment, greeted by an over-excited Frannie before she was even fully through the front door. Pausing to make a fuss of her faithful canine friend, she scratched her behind her ears. "Hey Frannie girl, we are going to see your little friend, Noah." The pit bull cocked her head, she knew that name. "That's right girl, you get to play with your little buddy, and hopefully tire him out so he'll sleep. We need to take you out for a walk first though girl, come on."

Frannie skittered around in excitement at the sound of the 'W' word, her claws tapping out an impatient rhythm on the hardwood floor as Amanda grabbed her leash from the hook by the door. They headed out for a quick twenty-minute run at the small park round the corner, just enough time for Frannie to run off some pent-up energy and to do her business, then headed back to the apartment.

Amanda put down a bowl of kibble for the dog then went about packing herself an overnight bag. She changed into something more casual, but didn't bother with clean work clothes, figuring she would be dropping Frannie back here first thing anyway, so she would shower and change then. In the bathroom, she opened the cabinet over the sink to retrieve her toothbrush and toothpaste when her eye was caught by the blue, flower patterned box on the bottom shelf.

Frowning to herself, she tried to remember the last time she had needed it. Fear flooded her mind, oh shit, she hadn't used any in a while, not since before— shit! Her stomach dropped as she made her calculations over and over, desperately trying to change the result. She stood frozen for what could have been a few seconds, or possibly hours. The next thing she was aware of was when Frannie barged through the open door of the bathroom non too gently, looking where her owner had got to. The door swung wide open and hit the blonde's elbow startling her from her reverie. Closing the mirrored cabinet door she caught sight of her own pale, worried reflection.

Taking a deep breath, she shook herself mentally. "Move your ass Rollins," she berated herself, "you need to get going to make it back to the precinct in time. Benson is counting on you." She grabbed her bag and Frannie, and headed back to the 1-6, making one quick stop along the way.

-x-

Back at the precinct, Olivia was sat on the floor of her office, a huge grin on her face. Lucy had dropped Noah off, and he was busy playing with a few toys she kept there for him, and telling his mommy all about his day. "…an den I pay wid you-see." Liv laughed, "and then you played with Lucy?" She interpreted from his toddler babble. "What did you play?"

Noah picked up a little toy car and toddled over to his mommy. He bent down and used her leg as a road for the car, "I make da car go vroom! Like dis." He guided the car, making little motor noises, over Liv's knee, along her thigh then up her side and shoulder until it hit her in the side of the neck. "CWASH!" Noah shouted, giggling with glee as Liv's eyes went wide and she pretended to be knocked over sideways by the force of the 'crash'. Then he squealed as she pulled him down to the floor with her and tickled him. She was blowing raspberries on his chubby cheeks and they were both giggling away when Amanda came through the door.

"Manna!" Cried the little boy, when he eventually noticed his favourite blonde standing in the doorway. He wriggled out of his mother's grasp, and ran as fast as his little legs would carry him across the room, where Amanda swung him up into her arms and spun him around. "Hey little buddy, I've missed you!" She exclaimed, bringing him down to perch on her hip while he threw his little arms around her neck. "My goodness, you've grown so much," then turning to Liv with wide eyes she added, "seriously, is it really only a couple of months since I saw him?"

Olivia got to her feet, smiling at the interaction between her son and the detective. "Yeah, he's had a bit of a growth spurt lately."

"No kiddin'." Amanda laughed, "Lucy get to her study group okay?"

Liv's face changed, a hint of concern in her expression. When the nanny had dropped Noah off, she had rushed back out the door, apologising for not being able to stay, claiming she needed to leave quickly in order to get to her study group on time.

"Liv?"

"What?" Liv broke out of her thoughts, "uh, I guess so. She left here in plenty of time."

"Everything okay?" Amanda asked, noting the worry in Liv's face.

"Yeah, fine." She shrugged, "Lucy just seemed a little stressed when she left. I think its probably exam nerves. She has midterms next week and it probably hasn't helped that she has worked late all week." Liv added a little guiltily.

Noah wiggled in Amanda's arms, "Manna you pay wid me?" He asked, pointing down at the toys on the floor.

"Actually bud," The blonde explained, "we are gonna go to your house to play so Mommy can get some work done. Is that okay?" he thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "Great! Are you gonna give your mommy a hug and a kiss goodnight? Then we can get goin'."

Liv scooped her son out of Amanda's arms, snuggling him close to her. The blonde tactfully turned away, tidying up the toys from the floor of the office so that her lieutenant could say goodnight to her son without an audience.

"I love you, sweet boy," Liv spoke with her lips pressed against the boy's forehead, inhaling the scent of his brown curly hair, then touching his forehead to her own. "You be a good boy for your Manna, okay?" She looked into his blue eyes, so similar to Amanda's that people might think they were related. "Yes Mommy, I be good." He said solemnly. She smiled and nuzzled her nose one last time into the crook of the little boy's neck, causing him to squirm and giggle deliciously. "Goodnight my little love," she whispered. He put his little hands on his mother's cheeks and planted a sloppy kiss on her mouth, "nigh-night mommy, I wuv you." He patted her cheeks gently, as she turned to hand him back to her blonde detective, her deep brown eyes misty with emotion.

"Ready little man?" Amanda asked the boy in her arms. He nodded and smiled. "Good, 'cause I got a surprise for you in the car. There's someone waiting to see you. Can you guess who?"

"The boy paused, considering, "Unca Fin?" He asked.

Smiling, the blonde shook her head. "I'll give you a clue, she has four paws and a very waggy tail, and she loves to lick your face!"

"FWANNIE!" He yelled and clapped with glee, causing both women to laugh at his excitement.

"That's right little man. Let's go find her, shall we?" Amanda suggested. "Wave bye-bye to Mommy, Noah." She looked over at the brunette who had moved back over to her desk, and was now waving at her son. "See you later, Liv. Or maybe in the mornin'." She smiled.

"Thanks Amanda. I mean it, I owe you." Liv said, and she watched as her friend slung the diaper bag over one shoulder, then carried her little boy across the squad room and out of sight. Sighing to herself, she sat down behind her desk and started pulling various documents towards her.

-x-

It was just after 9pm when Amanda made it through the front door of Liv's apartment. She set Noah on the floor and unclipped Frannie's leash. And the pair immediately took off into the living room where the dog rolled onto her back while Noah tickled her belly. Both dog and boy had been delighted to see one another again after so long, and Frannie had laid across the back seat of Liv's car with her head in Noah's lap the whole ride, while the little boy stroked her ears and babbled away to her.

Aware that it was late for the boy to still be awake, Amanda told him he had 5 more minutes to play then it was time for bed. "If you are a good boy Noah, then Frannie can sleep in your room with you." The blonde bargained with the two-year-old. "Okay Manna!" The little boy got up and trotted off to his room, "come on Fwannie!" He called, and the dog followed him.

Rolling her eyes and smiling at how her dog was around the kid, Amanda followed too. She got Noah snuggled down under the covers, Frannie curled up protectively at the foot of the bed, and read him a bedtime story. Only five minutes into the story she heard tiny snores from the exhausted toddler. Smiling to herself she closed the book and kissed the dark curls on the top of his head, "sleep tight, little one." She whispered. Quietly she got up and crept from the room, leaving the door ajar just in case.

Having helped herself to a glass of water from the kitchen, Amanda now sat on the large, comfortable sofa in the living room. The TV was on low volume in the background, but she had no idea what was playing. The blonde was preoccupied by the shock she had received earlier as she stared at the box of tampons in her bathroom cabinet. She'd had false alarms before, the stress of the job caused her cycle to be a bit erratic, and she had been a few days late on more than one occasion, but this… she had never just completely missed a period before.

She had managed not to raise Olivia's suspicions earlier at the precinct, but she thought that was probably only because the brunette was busy worrying about her nanny's odd behaviour.

She sipped the water, staring at the small white paper bag on the coffee table in front of her. Amanda had picked it up from the pharmacy on the way back to the station earlier in the evening and was now trying to summon the courage to open it. "Get a grip, Rollins" she muttered to herself, slamming the water glass down harder than she intended, she seized the bag from the table and stalked into the guest bathroom.

Five minutes later she sat on the closed lid of the toilet, eyes slightly unfocused as she gazed at the white plastic stick in her hand. More specifically, the two little pink lines next to the word 'pregnant' in the middle of it. Fuck.