Becoming Us

Part 23

Chapter 23

"Olibia, why is yaw tummy so big?" Indigo faintly asked. Before she had a chance to answer however, Olivia was surprised to hear Noah proudly announce to an astounded Indigo.

"Mommy has a baby in there,"

"No way!" He exclaimed.

"Yep, I'm gonna be a big brother- I guess, again?" he asked the question out loud as he thought about it.

"Do you wanna be?" Peter asked, "...a brother to Indigo?"

"Yeah, he's pretty cool," Noah said as he looked at Indigo.

"Yaw cool too!" Indigo uttered as he sat comfortably in Olivia's lap. "I wanna be a big brothaw like Noah..."

The pride Peter felt at watching this kid, this little kid- barely eight years old just being so accepting and so understanding of a situation that he himself had the whole night to...absorb, he guessed was the right word. He'd had since last night to let all of this soak in and he was still wobbly from the shock of it all. Meanwhile, his son wakes up to a stranger in his room and he's just happy to meet him! No thought on how this kid would change his life (for good or bad, the jury was still out on that as far as Peter was concerned), Noah just dove right into being a big brother. He even asked if he could call Kellan and tell him the news when they first explained it all to Noah, the first thing he said after asking if he'd be staying for good was to beg his parents to let Indigo share his room. Then he couldn't help but ask questions. Where was Indigo's mother? His mom was always right here, why wasn't Indigo's mommy in his life? Didn't she care? And was Peter sad when he found out that she died? It was tough to define to a newly eight year old boy the truth about everything, but Peter and Olivia did it in a way that answered his questions without delving into things that they thought he was too young to know. Like how Indigo's mom abused him. But Noah loved having a little brother right from the beginning, and in a week's time, he and Indigo formed a bond that was seemingly unbreakable. Noah felt responsible for Indigo, and promised him that he'd always look out for him. They were all dedicated to making Indigo's transition as smooth as possible.

Day one, they took Indigo shopping. What he had wasn't much and it was certainly not fit for this time of year. Indigo needed clothes, but he desperately needed things for a winter in New York City. Suddenly a day turned into a whole week that they had Indigo so far. There had been bumps, like when Indigo had a crying fit when he bumped the carafe on the table and spilled juice at breakfast. He begged tearfully not to be beaten while apologizing over and over. They'd had a hard time calming him down from that one, but eventually, they got it through to him that accidents are just that: accidents, they can't be controlled and no one ever deserves to be hit or punished because of one. Peter and Olivia had gotten him into counseling right away to help him deal with everything that was going on around him and to deal with his trauma. It was a good thing that Olivia had worked with so many child psychologists and had formed relationships with them over her years in SVU because she knew who to call immediately and didn't have to wait to get Indigo the help he so desperately needed.

He hasn't asked about his mother at all," Olivia said to Peter while they were preparing for bed and they both threw the decorative pillows to the foot of the bed.

"Can you blame him? The hell she put him through..."

"You know, the coroner's office called about Jana's body today. You have to decide what you're gonna do about his mother's burial." He sat on the bed and she joined him, sitting up on her knees and massaging his bare shoulders.

"Honestly, Liv, it's not my problem. They can throw her ass in the city dump for all I care."

"You don't mean that,"