Sure enough the following morning, Amanda was awoken early by the pitter-patter of tiny feet, along with the clicking of four clawed paws against the hardwood floor. Smiling to herself, she listened as they got closer, hearing a loud whisper of "Fwannie, no!" She felt the bed shift beneath her as a sudden weight joined her on the mattress. Next thing she knew, she was being licked from chin to hairline by her overexcited pit bull, while a small voice giggled from the side of the bed.
"Urgh, Frannie that's disgusting!" She groaned, throwing her arms up to shield her face from the dog's tongue. "Your breath stinks, girl!"
"Manna, Fwannie did jump on da bed." Finally managing to push the dog away from her face, Amanda turned to smile at the curly haired little boy at the side of the bed. She was about to reply when Liv appeared in the doorway, Dressed in a casual faded blue denim shirt and black jeans, an apologetic look in her deep mocha eyes.
"Noah, I told you Manna was still sleeping, what are you doing in here?" She scolded her son in a low voice, then turned guiltily to the blonde, still wrestling with Frannie on the bed. "Sorry Rollins, I turned my back for a few seconds…"
Amanda's laugh cut her off. "It's fine Liv, I can guarantee Frannie was the ring leader in this little adventure."
"Fwannie push da door, Mommy," Noah tried to explain, "I say 'Fwannie no', but Fwannie jump on da bed. She lick Manna."
Olivia scooped up her boy and sat on the edge of the bed with him on her lap. She nuzzled her nose against his, tickling him as Amanda sat up in the bed and Frannie made herself comfortable next to the blonde.
As Amanda watched the interaction between mother and son, she felt a warmth bloom in her chest, unable to keep the smile from spreading across her face as she saw her normally serious commanding officer clowning around with the toddler on her knee. Her own hand dropped subconsciously to her lower abdomen as she watched, and she absentmindedly stroked Frannie's neck with the other.
"Well," Liv started in her 'mommy voice', "seeing as though we are all awake now, how 'bout we go have breakfast? She smiled over at her detective, waiting for a response to the suggestion. She noticed the placement of the blonde's hand on her stomach, but made no comment. The peaceful look on the younger woman's face made Liv think maybe she was starting to warm to the idea of having a baby.
"Sounds good to me." Amanda replied, secretly hoping she would be able to keep something down and that her morning sickness wouldn't make itself obvious to her extremely observant lieutenant.
The Bensons left the room and Amanda quickly dressed in her blue skinny jeans and a charcoal grey sweater, a pair of purple chucks on her feet. Liv got Noah situated at the table, and when the blonde joined them Liv gave her a sheepish grin. "Sorry, the best I can offer is cereal, at least until I can go grocery shopping."
"Cereal's fine, Liv." Amanda said, pouring herself a small bowl of Cheerios, then tentatively taking the first bite. Olivia had put down two cups of tea on the table then sat and turned her attention to Noah, who was adamant he could feed himself, but was having limited success. Liv didn't notice the small sigh of relief from her detective as her stomach seemed to accept the food without rebelling.
The issue came when she tried to drink the tea. Mere seconds after her first sip, a wave of nausea sent the blonde rushing to the bathroom with a hastily muttered "excuse me." Once in the bathroom she leant over the toilet, waiting for her body to expel what little she had managed to eat. After a couple of minutes of deep breathing however, the sick feeling subsided and she sat back on her heels, relieved she had managed to hold on to her breakfast.
She flushed the toilet and washed her hands, then made her way back to the table muttering some lame excuse about suddenly needing the bathroom, even though Liv hadn't asked for an explanation. She trailed off and went back to quietly eating her Cheerios, while the brunette smiled to herself. Who does she think she's kidding? The guys might fall for that, but does she really think I would?
"So it seems to be a nice day today," the older woman said, changing the subject. "It might be a little cold but I wondered if anybody would like to go to the park today?" She smiled as Noah's eyes lit up. "I go to da pock, Mommy! I pay on da shide?"
"Sure sweetie, you can play on the slide, but only if you finish all your cereal." She laughed as Noah, with renewed determination, guided his spoon towards his mouth. Then she turned to face the blonde. "What do you say Manda, fancy joining us?" She asked hopefully. "Don't feel like you have to if you'd rather just chill out here, or you have something else to do." She added hurriedly, not wanting to pressure the blonde.
"I'd like to come with you if you don't mind?" Amanda replied, "it's been a while since I went to the park with you guys, and Frannie could do with some exercise too."
Olivia took Noah to get him ready while Amanda insisted that she cleared the table. As the younger woman stacked the dishwasher, she found herself enjoying the domesticity of the situation. She had never had a stable or loving family life growing up, her family seeming to just lurch from one drama to the next. Her parents and younger sister all looked after their own self-interests, without any regard for each other or Amanda.
It had been strange for the blonde when she had joined Manhattan SVU and been accepted quickly as part of the family. Fin had immediately taken on the role of protective older brother and Cragen, before he retired, had been like a father to all of them. Olivia herself had taken a little longer to warm up to the blonde, but she was grieving over the loss of her partner of more than 12 years. After a few weeks though, Liv had recovered from the initial shock of Elliot's sudden departure from the squad, and the two women had developed a good working relationship.
Now here she was in Olivia's apartment, not only being welcomed into her home but being asked to take part in a family outing. Her heart swelled with affection for the older woman as she finished wiping down the table, then headed to her room to get herself and Frannie ready to go.
It was still fairly chilly as it was mid-April; so all three of them were bundled up in thick coats and hats as they made their way to the park, Frannie trotting along happily between Amanda and Noah's stroller. The two women chatted happily as they walked, laughing occasionally as Noah gabbled away to the pit bull beside him, who seemingly took in every word the little boy said as she watched him intently.
When they got to the park, they made a beeline for the children's play area, where Noah got his wish of playing on the slide, then the swings. Olivia stayed close to the small boy as he made his way across the Jungle gym. Amanda watched from a distance as she walked around the perimeter fence a few times with Frannie, dogs not being allowed in the play area. After a while, she moved off to an open area of grass nearby and, producing a tennis ball from her pocket, began a game of fetch with her playful pooch.
When Noah spotted what the blonde was up to, he decided he would rather be doing that too, so Liv gathered him and his stroller and made her way over to the blonde. Once they were closer, Olivia let her son down and he ran on his chubby toddler legs to the younger woman, shouting to her, "Manna, Manna, I frow da ball? I frow da ball for Fwannie dog?" When he reached her he threw his little arms around her knees and smiled a toothy grin up at her. She bent down and scooped him up, perching him on her hip. "I frow da ball, Manna?" He asked.
"Sure buddy, here." She handed the tennis ball to him and he threw it, it only went a few feet and Frannie managed to catch it out of mid-air, much to the toddler's glee. Amanda retrieved the ball from the dog's mouth and handed it back to the little boy. He tried again, with the same result, he laughed again. Amanda heard another, deeper chuckle and turned to see Liv stood watching them with a huge smile on her face.
She had her phone out taking pictures of her son with the blonde. They both looked so happy, she couldn't resist. When she captured one of them both looking back at her over their shoulders, both laughing, with those sparkling blue eyes the two of them shared, she made a mental note to get it printed and framed as a gift for Amanda.
"Mommy frow da ball?" Noah asked Amanda.
"I dunno buddy, can mommy throw the ball?" Amanda turned to her lieutenant, holding out the ball with a challenge in her expression. "Do you think mommy can throw the ball as far as you did?"
Liv smirked at the younger woman, just you wait she thought, and took the proffered ball. Frannie barked impatiently, dancing from foot to foot in front of them. The brunette adjusted her grip, centred herself then let the ball fly, easily double the distance Amanda had been throwing it earlier. She turned to look at the blonde, who's teasing grin had been replaced with open mouthed amazement, as she watch Frannie sprint away from them to fetch the ball. Noah clapped his pudgy hands together, "Yay mommy!"
"Wow, Liv," Amanda said in awe, "were you a baseball player in a former life or something?"
The older woman shrugged nonchalantly, "I dabbled in softball in college, but most of my upper body strength comes from swimming. I got into Sienna on an athletic scholarship for swimming, and I've always swum to keep fit, until recently."
Before Amanda could ask a follow up question, Frannie returned with the ball and Noah shouted, "again Mommy, again!"
They continued to throw the ball for Frannie for half an hour or so, until the exhausted pup laid down and refused to move anymore. Amanda put the ball away and started a chasing game with Noah while Liv sat on a nearby bench, a sleeping Frannie at her feet.
After a couple of hours in the park Liv suggested going for a hot chocolate. Which was greeted with a cheer from the other two. They headed off to their favourite dog-friendly café. They decided as it was midday, they may as well have lunch here.
When they sat down after ordering, Olivia said "can you watch him for a few minutes? I'll be right back." When the blonde agreed, she left the café and disappeared from view. Amanda entertained the little boy with some crayons and a colouring book. Just as their order arrived, the brunette returned, slightly out of breath.
"Ev'rythin' okay, Lieu?" Amanda asked, wondering where her boss had suddenly run off to.
"Yeah," Liv smiled brightly, "just had a quick errand to run." She replied, giving nothing more away to the blonde.