Everything Changes

In Retrospect

Olivia did get mad when she found out that Amanda's father walked out of the precinct on a technical aspect, although she was mostly frustrated (and totally mystified) by the fact that his attorney was the infamous Lionel Granger. He was number two on her list of defense attorneys that were a total pain in her ass, number one being Marvin Exeley. But they hadn't seen him in three years, and she wanted to keep it that way. Granger was enough.

Olivia quickly apologized to her colleagues for getting angry and then shut herself in her office with her blinds drawn. She wanted to be alone as she sorted out her priorities while she thought of what to do next.

As she sat at her desk, her eyes fell to a series of picture frames on the tabletop. There was a picture of her and Alex, happy together on a date, and another of Alex, although in that one, she was at home on the couch with Noah, looking at a picture book with him. Neither of them had been aware that the picture had been taken.

There were also separate pictures of Alex and Noah, but it was the very last frame that Olivia picked up and looked at for awhile because it was tugging at her heartstrings. It was her, Alex, and Noah, at Audrey Amaro's house, for a get-together one evening before Leon was born, and in addition to them and their host, Amanda, Nick, Bedelia, Maggie Blue, and even Frannie Mae the dog were all in the picture, too.

It was Olivia's first-ever family portrait, and while it needed to be updated to include the newest members of her eclectic, unconventional family, she was very proud of the picture because she'd never had a real family portrait before.

Undisclosed Location

Harlem

10:12 PM

Amanda had been a cop for her entire adult life, and she'd been through more than she'd cared to admit, but bunkering down in a safe-house? That was a first.

This house was technically a brownstone, but it was nondescript and in the heart of Harlem. The 16th Precinct had quite a few safe houses that were spread throughout the city and Amanda knew about most of them, but they'd been sent to this one because it was actually furnished for a whole family.

Speaking of things like families, all of the children in hers, Alex's, and Audrey's care had had such a full day that none of them had trouble falling asleep... save one.

Leon was wide awake and wanting to play and eat; he knew his mother wasn't even in the vicinity, and he missed her terribly, so acting restless and obnoxious was all he knew how to do. It was also pouring buckets of rain outside because they were in the midst of a summer rainstorm, and the tapping of the rain on the windowpanes was capturing the infant's attention. Even the lightning made him gasp and arch his back in excitement.

"Oh, come on, baby boy." Amanda yawned as she half-pleaded with Leon. "Sissy is exhausted and just wants to sleep."

Amanda loved her brother, as quirky as he was, but she really was tired. A comforting thought was that Frannie Mae had been allowed to come to the house. She was now standing beside Amanda and resting her head against her bump, doing her best to comfort her.

"Thank you, puppy." Amanda told her pet. "You're a great help to mama."

Frannie Mae wagged her tail and made a happy noise at the praise.

"Amanda?"

The detective looked up at the sound of her name and smiled when she saw Alex, dressed in lounge clothes and had a freshly made infant-sized bottle of milk formula for Leon in one hand. Frannie Mae made another happy noise at the sight of Alex and curled up on the floor, content that Amanda would be alright.