elysian (a.m.)

011. elijah

He arrives on a Friday. His social worker turns up at the door with him in his arms and a smile on his face. "This is Elijah," Simon tells Addison as she opens the door. The small toddler hides his face in his social worker's neck, not wanting to engage with Addison. "He's a bit shy at first, but he'll come around. You wanna hold him?" He asks her and Addison smiles softly, nodding her head. She takes the toddler on her hip, her arms wrapped around him. His tiny hands immediately go to her necklace, the heart one Charlie bought for her years ago, he plays with the heart charm and tucks his head in her neck. Addison melts on the spot.

"Hi Elijah, I'm Addison. I'm gonna be your mom." She says softly and presses a kiss to his head. Red sits on the floor in front of her, staring at the small boy, his head tilting. "Red, this Elijah." The golden retriever sniffs and smells at the small boy and gently licks his arm, the toddler laughs. He gently strokes the dog's fur as Addison and Simon sit and talk about Elijah's case. "My wife should be returning soon, she's with my son. I wanted to be here to meet him."

When Charlie gets back Addison is in the living room walking around with the small toddler on her hip., showing him photos that adorn the walls. "This is me and your mom, she's going to love you so much." She points to the photo of Addison and Charlie at their wedding. "And that is George. He was your mom's friend, we all miss him a lot." Charlie just stands in the hallway, watching her, a smile on her face.

"So, this is Eli?" Charlie smiles and Addison turns to her wife.

"It is," Addison smiles and Charlie walks over to her wife and the toddler.

"Hi Eli, I'm Charlie. You can call me Mama if you want to." She says to the small boy, he has a thumb in his mouth and his head is tucked into Addison's neck.

"He's a bit shy. Is Clark upstairs?"

"Yeah, I told him that Eli would be here when we got back." Charlie shrugs her shoulders. "Can I?" She asks, holding out her hands for Eli. The young doctor takes the small boy in her arms.

"How's he been today?" Addison questions as she enters the kitchen, getting ready to prep dinner.

"Quiet, he spoke a bit in the car but I think this whole thing has just a lot for him." Eli traces the patterns on Charlie's arm and lays his head on Charlie's shoulder.

"I'll go and talk to him, I need help with dinner anyway."

Addison passes her wife to go and talk to Clark, pressing a kiss to her lips as she passes. As she climbs the stairs she can hear the music blasting from his room, his door is open and he's sitting at his desk. "Clark, honey can you turn that down please?" Her son ignores her and instead turns the music up. "Clark, turn the music down." He reads his book, taking down notes everyone in a while. Addison just goes over to his speaker and turns it off, making everything quiet.

"What the fuck, mom?!"

Addison just raises an eyebrow and crosses her arms. Clark just mumbles an apology under his breath.