Chapter Text
It was raining by the time they got to the apartment. Casey and Olivia had shared a taxi, Lexie dozing off between them, while Rita had split with them outside of the precinct, saying she’d meet them at Olivia’s apartment later. She appeared to be on a mission of some sort, so neither of them thought to stop her.
Olivia tipped the cabbie and scooped a half asleep Lexie up into her arms.
“Wet,” Lexie grumbled as they exited the car into the rain. She nuzzled further into Olivia, attempting to hide from the weather.
“Sorry, baby,” Olivia said, meeting with Casey at the door to wave them past the doorman. “Almost inside. How does peanut butter and jelly sound?”
Lexie just sighed.
“Same, kiddo,” Casey muttered.
Eventually Lexie was tucked securely into the corner of the sofa, bundled in a blanket, mostly asleep. She had protested leaving Olivia’s arms until realizing she still had an easy view of Olivia in the kitchen from where she was nestled.
“You have quite the collection,” Casey commented, as Olivia opened up a cabinet of kid’s snacks.
“I watch the Stabler twins on Tuesdays,” Olivia murmured, only half paying attention as she rummaged through, producing a bag of animal crackers.
“I’ll order a pizza,” Casey decided. “Good with you?”
“Fine by me.”
The peanut butter sandwich and animal crackers were ready within a few minutes, so Olivia helped Lexie to the table while Casey called to put in their order.
Olivia stared at the sandwich for a moment. She had no idea how she was supposed to cut it for a four year old. The Stabler twins were older, they were easy, they mostly took care of their own snacks. What was a choking hazard for four—
“One moment,” Casey said from the kitchen, before covering the phone speaker. “Liv, quarters is fine,” she called.
Olivia didn’t have time to ask how on Earth she knew that so confidently before Casey went back to ordering their dinner, so Olivia just cut the sandwich into quarters.
“T’ank you,” Lexie said quietly, rubbing her eyes sleepily.
The buzzer rang, and Olivia went to her door to allow Rita up. The attorney entered much drier than Casey and Olivia had, somehow, and had a tote bag of children’s items.
“The only time I’m ever grateful Cabot is a sentimental sap,” Rita announced, dropping the bag near the door to adjust her already infuriatingly perfect hair. “She kept everything.”
Olivia wasn’t sure how she felt about learning that Rita had a key to Alex’s apartment. She decided not to think about it too hard.
A whimper from the kitchen caught her attention, and she turned to see a distressed Lexie pushing away from the table.
“What’s wrong, babe?” Olivia asked.
“Sticky,” Lexie whined, shaking out her hands frantically. “Sticky, sticky, sticky!”
“Woah, woah, okay, sweetie,” Olivia tried to soothe, darting back to the kitchen to grab and wet a paper towel. “It’s alright, let’s wash the sticky off…”
If she’d had any lingering doubts about this baby being Alex Cabot before, this all but squashed them.
“All done,” Lexie sobbed as Olivia wiped the peanut butter off her fingers. “All done, no more—”
“Shh,” Olivia whispered, as the overtired child pulled free and wrapped her arms around Olivia’s neck, burying her face in her shoulder. “It’s okay, baby, you’re okay…”
“No more!” Lexie repeated insistently, accompanied by a hiccup.
“Deep breath, sweet girl,” Olivia murmured. “Come on, follow my breathing, deep breath…” A few moments got Lexie’s hyperventilating down to shaky breathing. “Ok, Lexie,” she said quietly. “What if I cut up the sandwich a little more, and we could use a fork so it doesn’t get on your fingers?”
“No more,” Lexie said again, shaking her head.
“Hey, darling.” Olivia looked up to see Rita’s reappearance, crouching down behind her. “I brought you a story, what if we have some animal crackers and read your story?”
Lexie shifted her face out of Olivia’s neck, studying Rita for a moment. “Wivia?” She asked, looking back up at her.
“Olivia needs to eat her dinner, but I have a friend for you,” Rita said, reaching into her tote bag to reveal a pink stuffed bunny. It was obviously old, well loved, and Olivia had to wonder how long it had sat in Alex’s closet.
Lexie immediately let go of Olivia to yank the bunny from Rita, cuddling it close. She murmured something incomprehensible, with her face buried in the bunny’s fur.
“So how about we go read Miss Bunny’s story and have some animal crackers together, and Olivia will join us when she’s done with her own dinner?” Rita offered.
Lexie immediately acquiesced, looping her arm around the back of Rita’s neck. Olivia tried not to be offended at how easily she was replaced by a stuffed rabbit.
Olivia joined Casey in the kitchen, who passed her a slice of pizza. “So,” Olivia said. “You and Calhoun.”
Casey blinked, a blush traveling up the back of her neck. “Me and— what about me and Calhoun?”
“How long have you two been…”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Casey insisted, a bit too quickly.
Olivia raised her eyebrows, going to the fridge for a can of coke.
The kitchen was silent for a minute, an interrogation technique that Casey was fully aware of and yet fell for every time with her inability to sit in silence. “Only a few months,” she eventually muttered. “It’s not— it’s still a little new.”
Olivia turned to see Casey gazing out at the sofa, where Rita lay with reading glasses perched on the tip of her nose, Lexie bundled to her chest. Rita had a picture book open with Beatrix Potter-esque illustrations, and she read aloud to the sleepy girl in a low, soothing voice.
“It looks good on her,” Olivia said quietly, with a knowing smirk in Casey’s direction.
Casey looked like she was coming to the same realization.