Just wanted to say thanks for the continued support for this story. I've been writing it for over a year and that's just incredible to me. I don't commit to things that aren't cereal.

Anyway, we're picking up with the Tucker family a few weeks after the end of the last chapter. A time jump made the most sense to me to get them where they needed to be and not make you guys wait any longer.

Excuse any mistakes and I hope you enjoy!

##

"Hey there, Ladybug," Ed cooed, reaching into the pack-and-play to lift the squirming infant into his arms. "What's-a-matter, huh? You hungry?"

He'd heard her cry over the monitor, the sound pulling him out of dead sleep beside his wife, who was similarly conked out. He stepped out of their bedroom to the living room, where Abby was temporarily relegated to a portable crib until they could finish moving to their new place.

The weeks following the wedding could only be described as a whirlwind. Ed and Olivia had been somewhat blindsided by Judge Linden's hunch, but of the hour recess she'd given them in her chambers to talk it over, they'd needed only two minutes to determine that there was nothing to talk about. It wasn't even a question: Abby was coming home with them.

It had been written in the stars the second she and Ed laid eyes on each other outside the brownstone that day. Some part of him had known that, and Olivia would later confess, so had she—but she'd done her best to keep them both from thinking too far down that road in case the universe had laid out a different path for Abby.

Since they were both adoptive parents already, Ed having signed paperwork to adopt Noah immediately following the wedding, the Judge ordered Abby to their care following only one home visit. A mere formality, she'd told them with a smile. It ended up working out for the best, though, as it gave them time to pull Noah's old baby things out of storage. As much as they longed to take her home that first day, right after the hearing, they were ill prepared to have another baby in the house so soon. That, and the fact that Noah had no idea that in the course of an afternoon, they'd made him a big brother.

Ed bounced on his knees as he gingerly side-stepped boxes on the way to the fridge, plugging in the bottle warmer—that and the coffee-maker being the only two appliances deemed too essential to be packed away—and whispering soothing words into Abby's ear. He felt gentle puffs of air against his neck as she settled her head on his shoulder and he smiled, continuing to prepare her bottle.

"That's my baby girl," he whispered.

Abby picked her head up, reaching up to grasp his cheeks and throwing her weight to lean around him. "Hi," she squealed.

Ed chuckled, shushing her. "Hi, 'Bug," he whispered, kissing the side of her head. "Ya gotta be quiet so we don't wake up Mommy and Noah."

"Too late." Ed turned around at the sound of Olivia's tired rasp, finding his wife standing in the kitchen in a thin camisole and a pair of his boxers, a sleepy smile on her face and her arms outstretched to take Abby from his arms.

"Hi," Abby repeated as Olivia settled the girl on her hip. She tapped her index finger on her nose.

"Hi, sweet girl," Olivia murmured.

Ed stepped up to them, running his fingers through Abby's soft curls before leaning in to kiss her head, then Olivia's temple. "Sorry we woke ya."

Olivia shook her head. "I felt you get out of bed," she assured him, leaning her shoulder into his chest. "Thought I'd come out and see if you needed help." She yawned widely, chuckling when Abby tried to stick pudgy fingers into her open mouth. "You want me to eat your fingers, baby girl? How 'bout these cheeks? I could eat these cheeks…" She playfully growled, leaning in and attacking her daughter with kisses, making the girl scrunch up her shoulders and giggle adorably in her attempts to escape the attention.

"Don't get her all riled up, Liv," Ed warned, chuckling as he tested the temperature of the formula before screwing the cap onto the bottle. "We all gotta be awake again in…" he craned his head, squinting to see the clock in the living room, "three hours?" He groaned.

"We'll be fine," Liv said, unfazed, speaking to her husband but nuzzling Abby's nose as she made her way toward the couch, Ed trailing behind her with the bottle. She waited for him to sit down on one end of the couch before she did, nestling into him with her back to his chest as she took the bottle from his hand and brought it to Abby's lips. She smiled when the infant latched on immediately. "There you go, sweet girl," she whispered.

As Abby drank, Olivia watched, enthralled, as her eyelids drooped over crystal blue eyes, fighting sleep to remain in a curious locked gaze with her mother.

Olivia caught a flailing arm and softly rubbed the back of a pudgy fist as she let her head fall back against Ed's shoulder. She released a tired, contented sigh and smiled when she felt the responding grunt against her back.

"Don't fall asleep out here," she cautioned, letting her own eyes fall shut.

"One night on the couch won't kill me," Ed grumbled sleepily.

"Oh yeah?" Olivia teased, "What if I had plans for you once we get this one back down?"

She lifted an eyebrow, though he couldn't see it from his position, biting her lip when he cleared his throat behind her. "I'll be up."

Letting out a quick snort of laughter, she nudged him with an elbow to the stomach. "I'll bet," she quipped suggestively.

As Abby drank diligently from the bottle, Olivia surveyed the carnage of their living room. Boxes in various stages of being packed where strewn randomly, hazardously, in some cases, amongst kids' toys—some Noah's, who despite reprimanding, hadn't put them away, and some new additions for Abby.

It was a mess, but it was their mess.

"Can you believe it's only been a few weeks since the wedding?" Olivia asked wistfully a few moments later, breaking the comfortable silence that had settled around them.

"Sick of me already?" Ed joked behind her, running his fingers up and down her upper arm.

Olivia huffed out a laugh, then turned serious. "Just the opposite, actually." She closed her eyes when she felt a soft kiss on her temple. "I've been waiting for this my whole life. And now it's finally here." She paused. "It hits me in waves sometimes, how lucky we are."

Ed hummed his agreement, pressing his cheek to the top of her head. "I love you," he murmured.

"I love you, too."

She looked down, finding Abby's eyes closed, her mouth no longer working against the nipple of the bottle, and she tapped Ed's thigh as she carefully moved forward to stand.

"Got her?" Ed whispered,

"Yeah." Olivia felt his hand settle warmly on her hip as he came up behind her, watching as she lowered the sleeping infant into the pack-and-play. She delicately lowered a pacifier to the pursed lips of their baby girl, smiling gently when Abby took it without waking.

Ed reached around her, gently pushing blonde wisps of hair off of Abby's forehead.

"Goodnight, my Ladybug. Mommy and Daddy love you."

##

Silently, they navigated the maze of clutter on the way back to their bedroom. They remained silent as they climbed back beneath the comforter on their bed before releasing twin sighs of contentment. Or was it exhaustion? Both?

Olivia watched with a small smile as Ed's eyes fell shut, then sat up slightly, removing her camisole, and turning into Ed's body. She threaded a leg between his and wrapped an arm around his waist beneath the blanket, tucking her face into his neck and teasing the skin there with little nips and sucks.

"The human alarms are going to get us up soon," she whined, "but…I want you," she finished huskily.

Ed's eyes remained closed, but a smirk curled the corner of his lips as he warned her, rasping, "We're gonna be exhausted tomorrow…"

He contradicted his words, though, when he gripped her hips and pulled her body onto his, shapely thighs resting on either side of his hips.

"We're the parents of two kids under the age of five," she deadpanned, running her hands up and down his covered chest as she settled over him. "I think it's safe to say we'll be exhausted for the foreseeable future," she fired back.

"That's a good point," Ed chuckled. He opened his eyes to slits, looking up at her as his hands traversed up her sides to tease her breasts as her hips moved over his slowly. His breathing quickened as his manhood stirred to life under her undulating hips.

And then, she stopped.

"Were you seriously going to say no?" she asked, smiling incredulously down at him as his earlier words registered in her sleep-deprived mind.

Smartly, Ed shook his head, thumbing her nipples and chuckling when the action elicited a muted yelp from his wife. "Nah," he teased. "Just makin' sure you knew what you were gettin' into…"

Olivia smirked devilishly, rolling her hips over his with more force and watching his jaw clench in restraint. "Oh," she said seductively. "I know exactly what I'm getting into…"

Before he could utter another word, Olivia leaned over and covered his lips with hers, letting her hands drift beneath the material of his t-shirt and tugging at it, prompting him to sit up slightly so it could be removed.

Their breathing became labored and Olivia sat back, maneuvering herself out of his boxers that she wore and helping him remove his own shorts before she climbed back on top of him. She paused for a moment then, delighting in feeling him skin-on-skin; a sensation she was sure would never grow old.

Ed ran his hands over every inch of her skin he could reach, blue eyes darkening as he drank her in. "You're gorgeous," he told her, and the honesty in his eyes made her skin prickle with goose bumps.

Olivia smiled, deflecting the compliment, letting her fingers trail lazily down to his lower stomach and lightening her touch until she knew she was driving him crazy. "This might be the last time we're together like this, in this apartment," she reminded him, shifting her hips over his again and feeling him harden even more beneath her.

"Guess we better make it count," he said huskily. He reached up, gripping the back of her neck and pulling her down to meet his lips, smiling against her squeal of surprise when he rolled them over so she was now on her back beneath him. Holding himself up with his hands on either side of her head, his eyes darted between her brown ones, irises almost black with arousal, and he smirked proudly as she worked to catch her breath.

She rested the soles of her feet on the back of his calves, gripping his hips in her hands and pulling his body down until his heated skin was pressed to hers, making them both moan lightly. She clutched his biceps when he lowered himself down onto his forearms, their noses touching as they regarded each other captivatedly.

Despite her attempt to keep her eyes squarely on him, her eyelids fluttered shut of their own accord when he slid inside her moments later, her fingers tightening around his upper arms as her breath got caught in her throat.

He moved over her slowly, his hips swinging like a pendulum, hitting all her spots and making her writhe beneath him as she struggled to stay quiet against the onslaught of pleasure that was threatening to overtake her. Their panting breaths co-mingled in the minimal space between their parted lips, and when he finally pushed her over the edge, she threw her head back into the pillows; his body bending to her will and following her over while she twitched and trembled beneath him, still in the throes of her release.

"Mmm," Olivia hummed, lazily tracing the ridges of his spine with the light touch of her fingertips. She used what minimal strength she could summon to lift her head just far enough to kiss along the line of his shoulder as he breathed into her neck, coming down from his climax. "Big day tomorrow," she mused.

"Today," he quipped, correcting her. He laughed when she groaned tiredly, her body shifting restlessly beneath his and prompting him to flop onto the mattress beside her. They nestled on their sides; bodies pressed close together, legs intertwined. She blinked slowly, her lips stretching into a sleepy smile as he pushed a rogue sweat-dampened lock of brown hair off her forehead and behind her ear.

"That was… a really good way to close this chapter," she said, her voice throaty as sleep filtered in.

Ed hummed his agreement, pressing a quick kiss to her damp forehead. "Onto the next…"

##

When their family unit went from three to four, what had started as a casual house hunt for more space became a necessary one. No longer could their family comfortably live in the retrofitted apartment she'd shared with Brian. Not only was Noah's room almost too small for him, let alone him and a baby sister, they couldn't subject him to late-night bouts of crying and all the joys of having a new infant sister would inevitably bring.

Before they had even officially brought Abby home, they hit the ground running with Draper's sister Yvonne, in a hurry to find something in their price range that would not only accommodate their family, but would give them a little bit of space to grow into as the kids got older.

They'd gotten incredibly lucky.

A few days into their search, Yvonne had heard tell of a townhouse, not yet listed, that the owner was willing to lease with the option to purchase in the future, as they were taking an overseas assignment for work that may or may not turn into something permanent.

It was a few blocks uptown but in a great neighborhood, at a workable price-point and Ed and Olivia didn't hesitate. It was almost too good to be true.

And now, it was moving day, and Olivia hauled the last of the boxes from the back of Ben's truck inside, letting the front door shut behind her.

She made her way through the foyer and down a small hallway before turning left into the kitchen, where Heather was slowly unpacking a box of glassware and putting things away in the cabinets that Olivia had previously designated. Her friend was moving at a snail's pace, constantly distracted by Jackson, Noah and Abby, who were playing in the living room under the watchful eye of Lucy, just on the other side of the island.

Seeing Olivia walk in, Heather jerked her head in the direction of the kids. "Look at them," she grinned.

Noah sat Indian-style in front of his sister, small hands covering his eyes. "Where Abby?" he asked, giggling, before yelling, "Peek'boo!" He uncovered his eyes, laughing when Abby did. "'Dere she is!"

Lucy caught Olivia's eye and winked, and they both turned back to the little boy. "You go now," he told the infant. "Where Noah?" he mimed covering his eyes, and Abby tried to follow suit, putting her hands on her forehead instead, her eyes still on the toddler. "Nooo," he cackled. "'Dat not right."

In the kitchen, Heather put her hand on her heart, shaking her head as she smiled at Olivia. "They are too much. I can't take it."

"We got so lucky," Olivia mused, breaking down an empty box and setting it aside. "They get along like they were meant to be brother and sister."

"Because they were," Heather said confidently, not missing a beat. "Everything happens for a reason, right?" she shrugged, pinching Olivia's side as she walked behind her in search of another kitchen box to unpack. "You finding Noah, you and Ed finally getting your shit together…" Heather rolled her eyes dramatically. "And then Ed finding Abby—" she paused, "Or maybe I should say Abby finding Ed…"

"We all kinda found each other," Olivia said softly, smiling as she watched her babies play in the next room.

They were four puzzle pieces, once broken and lost, who found each other and somehow fit together perfectly; as Heather said, like they were meant to be. With Abby, the puzzle, their family, was now truly complete.

She was so proud of Noah and the grace with which he'd handled all the change that had taken place in their lives of late. Granted, all of it was good change, but she admired the way he just took it in stride. He never questioned Abby's presence in their lives; she was just a part of the family now, just like Mommy and Daddy were—a new stick figure to include on the family portraits he drew that adorned both her and Ed's offices.

And while he could've ignored the baby girl in favor of playing something with his friend, he always seemed to have the presence of mind to include her in whatever he and Jackson did. His baby sister.

Distantly, Olivia could hear laughter and the sounds of tools coming from upstairs, where Ed and Ben were working hard (or, she supposed, hardly working) to get the kid's rooms situated so there was at least a sense of doneness and stability for the little ones. Everything else could wait.

"Hey." Heather sidled up to her friend, noticing her swipe at a lone tear hanging stubbornly on the end of her eyelash. "There's no crying in moving," she quipped lowly, nudging Olivia with her shoulder.

"Yeah, well…" Olivia shrugged with a shy smile, surreptitiously watching the kids as she returned to the task of unpacking with renewed purpose, making light conversation with Heather as they worked.

She was eager to get settled in; eager to dive headfirst into this new phase of life, to help their kids explore the new house and make new memories.

Olivia had lived a lot of life in her years up to this point; she knew Ed could say the same. But as she watched the kids play innocently in the next room, providing a soundtrack of giggles and squeals that paired surprisingly nicely with the music emanating from Heather's phone, something told her that the best years of her life were yet to come.

##

"Is it just me," Olivia began, carrying two glasses filled with wine out of the kitchen and into the living room where Ed waited for her on the couch. "Or does our furniture swim in these rooms?"

Heather, Ben and Jackson had departed shortly after the big stuff was done, giving Ed and Olivia most of the evening to get the kids fed and situated before tucking them in for the first night in the new house. All the excitement of moving had tired them out so much that they were both fast asleep before Olivia was halfway through with the story Noah had chosen, and there hadn't been a peep or movement on the monitors from either child since.

Ed chuckled, taking a glass from her and beckoning her to rest against him. "I know what ya mean," he agreed roughly. "I knew it was bigger… just didn't realize how much bigger it was."

"Good problem to have," she mused, recalling the opposite being true when she and Brian had moved into the apartment together.

Olivia rested her head against Ed's shoulder, leaning back to look at him with sleepy eyes. She smiled softly when he pressed a kiss to her forehead. "We'll fill it up in no time." Her eyes fluttered shut, and Ed nudged her playfully. "Hope you're not too tired," he husked.

She opened one eye. "Oh yeah? Why's that?"

Ed left her in suspense as he put first his, then her wine glass on the coffee table before reaching up to cup her cheeks in both of his hands. He pressed their lips together, his teeth sinking into her plump lower lip and tugging as he slowly pulled away. "'Cause we got a lot of christening to do…"

Olivia hummed, letting her lips rest against his, pecking repeatedly before she gripped the side of his head and trailed kisses along his strong jaw. Ed growled when she pulled the lobe of his ear between her lips.

"Every room," he promised, moving his hands down her body and guiding her backward onto the couch. "Every surface in every room."

He hovered over her, and she raised her eyebrows in surprise as she looked up at him, running her hands up and down his clothed sides. "Every surface?" she grinned. "That's awfully ambitious."

"Eh," Ed dismissed, lowering his lips to her neck and settling between her legs as she parted them for him. "It's the rules."

Olivia laughed breathily. "The rules, huh? Sounds important. When should we start?"

"We can start right now," Ed growled playfully, kissing his way up her neck and along her jaw. "If you'd just," kiss, "stop," kiss, "talkin'…"

His mouth finally claimed hers and she moaned, wrapping her arms around his neck as his tongue slipped between her lips to spar with hers.

Olivia arched her back when his hand landed on her bra-clad breast beneath the old t-shirt she wore, and she broke the kiss with a gasp. She reached down for the hem of his shirt and was halfway through pulling it over his head when they heard Noah call for them through the monitor, his voice thick with unshed tears.

Exasperated, Ed let his head drop to her shoulder with a groan, and she laughed, pulling his shirt back down. "Hold that thought," she whispered huskily, kissing the side of his head before wriggling to get out from under him.

He followed her as she made her way down the hall toward the kids' rooms, squeezing her fingers lightly and smirking. "So it begins…"

"And we're gonna love every second of it," Olivia winked. "Besides…know what the best part is of getting interrupted?" she asked him coyly.

Ed shook his head, "What's that?"

Hovering outside Noah's bedroom door, she put her hand on the knob, looking over her shoulder and giving Ed a suggestive smile. She leaned closer to him, her eyes practically melting him on the spot with her smolder, and whispered, "Starting over."

##

When I started writing this chapter, I planned on this being it for this story… but it doesn't feel like "The End" to me—what do you think?