Simply Sonny: An SVU love story

Chapter 72: Going

That afternoon at work, Lori has me come into her office as soon as I arrive, "how did it go at the courthouse?" She asks, looking up from her computer with concern in her eyes.

I sigh, sitting down in a chair across from her, "it was fine, I guess. Pleaded not guilty and scheduled like three meetings and a future court date in like a week."

"A week? That seems fast, no?" She inquires.

I shrug, "I guess, but just gives Griffin another week to lie about things. I have no idea why he's saying all this."

She sits quietly as she listens to me vent for another 15 minutes, "I mean I've been over every conversation we've ever had and I can't think of anything I could've said or done that would make him hate me like this. I thought we got along really well." I finish with a huff of air.

She nods and returns, "well, he's a kid. A troubled past. Maybe he's scared, maybe he was forced to drink or something. I'm sure Sonny will figure this all out."

"Too bad he's off the case," I inform her.

She pushes her lips together and asks, "oh, right. Conflict of interest. Well, I'm sure his team will sort everything out for you. It'll work out."

"I hope so. Anyway, thanks for letting me vent. I guess I feel just a bit better being able to talk to someone about it besides Sonny and my lawyer." I give her a friendly smile.

"Of course, that's what friends are for." She smiles back, "and I'm sorry I had to take you off from working with kids but it's just temporary and—"

"Hey, I get it. No need to apologize. But you believe me, right? That I didn't do anything?"

"Of course, that's why you still have your job." Her smile is sincere and I feel thankful to have her as a friend.

I thank her and head back to my desk to start working. The week leading up to court dredged on as Olivia and the team haven't been to prove without a reasonable doubt that I wasn't involved. Although their job is to find evidence for the state, I know they're doing everything they can for Sonny and I. The night before court, Sonny and I have dinner with his family. I've been dreading it since he told me the day before he really wanted to get dinner with them. I put on my bravest face and we walk into the restaurant, "Hi ma, hi pop!" Sonny says as we approach the table.

They stand up to greet us and start with hugging him, "Hi Mr. and Mrs. Carisi, thanks for inviting us." I hug his mom first.

"Oh, please. You're about to be family! Call us mom and dad."

I smile but don't say it back, feeling a bit weird about it. It's sweet they want me to do that but Sonny and I aren't even married yet. After we sit a waiter comes and takes our drink order. When he leaves, Dominick Senior asks, "so, you're prepared for tomorrow?"

"Dad, please. Not at dinner." Sonny tries to discourage him from talking about it.

He gives me a sympathetic look but I return to his dad, "as ready as I can be. My lawyer told me they aren't going to put me on the stand so I won't be doing much."

"This is absolutely ludicrous!" Mrs. Carisi comments, picking up her glass of water, "I can't believe they think a good Catholic woman like yourself would do such a thing. These kids nowadays are always causing trouble for everyone else. Dom, tell them what happened just yesterday." She waves her hand to her husband as she takes a swig of water.

He looks to her with squinted eyes, "the doorbell thing?"

"Yes, the doorbell thing!" She sighs heavily and shakes her head at him.

He simply explains, "well, some kids kept ringing our doorbell but anytime we went to answer it, no one was there."

I do my best to stifle my laugh but Sonny lets his out, "it's called ding-dong ditch, dad. How long did you let it go on for before you stopped checking the door."

"an hour and a half!" He replies, "they just didn't stop."

"Well, you gave them reason not to. You're not supposed to answer the door anymore after you answer it once and no ones there." He explains how the childish game works, "they stay and watch and then they keep doing it as you answer each time."

"Well, we couldn't chance someone coming by and us ignoring them." His mom replies, her Italian side taking over.

"She's right, yanno." I defend her, feeling as if I should. The rest of the dinner is a good time and the court case is not brought up again. After we say goodbye to his parents we start walking to the car hand in hand. Once inside, Sonny turns the heat on and we begin our drive back home. I pull my phone out and see 3 missed calls from Mrs. Flynn and 1 voice message. "Huh, my lawyer called," I say out as I work my phone to get to the messages.

Sonny peers over at the phone and comments, "put it on speaker."

"Addison, I need you to come by sooner then we talked about. They added another witness. We need to talk about it." She hangs up without any further information.

"Another witness?" I look over to Sonny, the same confused expression on his face.

He shrugs, "could be nothing." He puts his hand on my knee.

I shake my head, "but if it was nothing then why does she want to meet early?" I question.

"Call her back, see what she says." He suggests. I nod and dial her number. After a few rings, it goes to voicemail and I decide not to leave a message. Sonny must be able to read the worried expression on my face and asks, "do you want me to call Barba, see what he can tell me?"

Although I want to say yes, I don't want him to get in trouble by using his job to get information. I simply say, "no, it's fine. I'll just find out in the morning."

"You sure?" He asks, making sure.

"Yeah, I'll just worry about it all night either way. It's fine." I try and give him an encouraging smile.

He replies, "hey, you know I love you, right?"

"Yeah, of course," I reply, staring out the window.

He pulls me in, "no, look at me." I turn my head to eye him and he says, "Addison, you're the strongest women I know, and I've seen a lot of strong women in my job but there's something about you that no one else has. You have this grace in you, this calmness that.." he pauses to try and figure out what he's saying, "that when I'm around you, engulfs me. It makes me feel safe and loved and I just can't believe how lucky I am that you're in my life. I promise you, you're going to get through this. I'll be by your side the entire time." His hand has found mine now and he squeezes it tightly.

"I love you, Dominick. Thank you." I whisper out to him, wiping a small tear from my eye. He always knows when I'm hiding my feelings. When I'm happy or sad, scared or brave, he can read me like a book.