Welp, I had a bit of fun writing my first Tuckson story so of course a million different story lines have been running through my head. This is one of my takes on the morning after their first night together. Let me know what you think! :)

It was a dream.

Surely.

Those images flashing through her mind, drawing her from her sleep, had to have been from a dream; reality could not possibly be that good, could it?

Olivia opened her eyes slowly, blinking into the darkness until she felt a little more than half awake. A feat considering she'd only been asleep a short while. She glanced at the clock on the bedside table. 6:05. They'd got back to her apartment at 11:30pm…Smiling to herself, she reached a hand under the duvet to where his arm was slung low over her waist, his fingertips just barely touching the skin of her stomach. His chest was pressed close to her back, one of his legs threaded lightly between hers, his face buried at the nape of her neck.

Not a dream, after all.

Minutes passed while she considered how their date had gone; it had started fantastically casual at a quaint little Irish bar she'd never heard of, just two blocks North of her apartment. And the ending…well. They'd certainly finished with a bang.

Still grinning to herself at the thought of what his body had looked and felt like out of that suit, and boy did it live up to her expectations, Olivia became aware of his index finger lightly tracing circles on her stomach. Turning her head slightly, she felt him lift his to meet her.

"Hey." Ed whispered into her hair, his breath causing goosebumps to erupt down Olivia's neck.

"Hi back." Olivia replied softly, suddenly thankful it was dark so he wouldn't see her blushing.

"I uh, wasn't expecting that." Ed murmured, grinning into her hair.

"Me either," Olivia admitted quietly, "but it was..."

"Amazing." Ed finished for her, shifting slightly and nosing her hair out of the way to place a kiss on her jawbone. As he inhaled, he caught the scent of the perfume she'd worn for their date, and he hummed his appreciation just as he had done the first time he had smelt it on her, the first time they'd kissed goodnight just a few weeks ago.

"You smell good."

Olivia brushed her fingers lightly up and down his arm in response, revelling in the effect she knew she had on him. Wriggling slightly, she angled her face towards his and kissed the corner of his mouth. A smirk crossed her face as she felt his arm tighten its grip around her waist, pulling her impossibly closer.

"Is my wriggling bothering you?"

Ed moaned lightly as she shifted against him again, his arm clutching at the softness of her body.

"No, god no…" He lowered his face to her shoulder, gently grazing his teeth across her skin. "I had no idea…no idea-"

"-…how good we could be together?" Olivia finished quietly, brushing her lips against his cheek. "Me either."

Ed lazily brought his hand up along her side, causing her skin to twitch lightly under his touch. His fingers followed the lines of her body, tracing the curves of her abdomen up to her breasts, where he lightly grazed a thumb over a nipple. He smiled into her shoulder as he felt her body tense slightly at his touch, knowing he was having just as much of an effect on her as she had on him.

Olivia breathed heavily as his hand began its journey back down her body. As his fingers came to rest on the skin at the top of her thigh, she brought her hand to rest on his hip, . Ed placed kiss after kiss atop her shoulder, making his way slowly up her neck to her jaw bone, where she met his lips with her own in a light dance of clashing tongues.

A soft groan escaped Olivia as Ed's hand brushed up and down her thigh, until he grasped her knee lightly and lifted her leg back over his own so her toes brushed against his calf. Ed let his fingers play lightly up her body again, while she let hers wander as far down his leg as she could reach. Bringing his hand up to her face, Ed gently tugged on her earlobe, groaning lightly when she gently bit his lower lip in return. Olivia moaned into his mouth as his fingers danced over her breasts, teasing and pulling in such a way that had her arching her back in seconds. Ed grinned, enjoying the reactions he elicited from her.

Pulling away slightly, Olivia could just make out Ed's blue eyes gazing at her in that way that made her feel like she was an ethereal being. She smiled and squeezed her fingers into his thigh.

Ed leaned forward, kissing her on the nose. "What are you thinking about?"

"You." Olivia whispered. "Just you. I'm so glad I get to see you like this."

Ed brushed his hand down to her hip and gripped it tightly. "I'm so glad I get to see you like this. I'm the luckiest guy in the world."

Olivia raised her eyebrow and quirked her lips. "Wanna get luckier?"

"God…you…" Ed laughed quietly, pressing a tender kiss to her lips, letting his hand wander down her leg again, his fingers lighting trails of fire with every trace.

Olivia wriggled her body again, and kissed him back enthusiastically, pushing her hips back into his.

Suddenly, a cry erupted from the baby monitor on the nightstand. "Mommy…"

Olivia broke away from Ed, and glanced toward the monitor, waiting. Ed took heed of her cue, stilling his movements against her, hardly breathing, as though Noah might hear them and wake up properly.

"Mommaaa…"

Olivia sighed gently, looking back at Ed who was smiling at her.

"Duty calls Mommy." Ed said, untangling his leg from hers.

"Perfect timing." Olivia laughed, slipping out of Ed's grasp and rolling to the side of the bed. She retrieved Ed's discarded-earlier-in-the-night shirt from the end of the bed and wrapped it around her, then grabbed a pair of yoga pants from the the bottom drawer of her nightstand, pulling them on over her feet.

"Hey." Ed's voice made her look over her shoulder. He was propped up on his elbow watching her, the duvet having fallen down to his waist, exposing his muscular chest. "You look sexy in my shirt."

Olivia winked, standing to pull her pants up. "You look sexy in my bed." Laughing at the desire etched across his face, she made her way to the door, and the hallway beyond. "I'll be right back."

Ed watched her go, leaning back against the headboard and listening as a door creaked open down the end of the hallway. He closed his eyes, the image of her body against his burning into his mind. She was…incredible. The way their bodies fit together like two puzzle pieces was something he'd never experienced with anyone, not even his ex-wife. It wasn't just the physical attraction that was on fire between them, their intellectual connection was too. He'd never known someone who could go from holding a meaningful conversation to joking to pillow talk as quickly as she had shown hours before. Ed opened his eyes when he heard Noah's bedroom door creak again, grinning to himself at the way she had lightly taken his hand and lead him to her bedroom after their make out session on the couch. Her silhouette in the doorway brought him back to reality, a smaller silhouette held up in her arms.

"Noah had a bad dream and he's wide awake. Right bud?" Olivia spoke to the small figure in her arms, which mumbled a reply in return. "I was gonna make him pancakes…" She paused, unsure of this uncharted territory they were about to enter. Was he going to want to leave? Was he going to want to stay? Both thoughts made her heart beat so loud, she was sure Ed could hear it from across the room.

Ed smiled softly. They hadn't talked about how they would discuss their first "sleepover" with Noah, although the way their last conversation had gone with him, about their dating, eased Ed's mind a little. Noah had been excited that "Cap'n Ed" was going to be visiting more often, and had run off to his room to retrieve his favourite Action Man figure.

"You play wif me." Noah stated, holding the Action Man out to Ed.

Ed laughed, taking the toy Noah offered. "Of course little man, anytime."

Noah grinned at Ed, before picking up his toy plane and running off around the living room.

Olivia watched in wonder from the couch as Ed and Noah set about constructing a tower out of legos for the Action Man to defend from the plane. Was it really that simple?

Noah's shrieks of delight filled the room; a sound Olivia would never tire of hearing. A small smile graced her features as Ed glanced over at her from his cross legged position on the floor. He winked at her and went back to his building duties, Noah crouching beside him.

"Ed?" Olivia spoke into the dim morning light, rousing Ed from the memories.

"Yeah uh," Ed shook himself slightly, "let me get dressed."

Olivia hummed in agreement before continuing on down the hallway to the kitchen and living area.

Ed slid out of the bed, and found his jeans and singlet thrown haphazardly toward the end of the bed. Frowning slightly, he glanced around for his jockeys. They had to be around somewhere…he grinned when he spotted them hanging off the edge of the chair by the window, Olivia's enthusiasm for throwing them evident in their landing. Two minutes later, dressed and presentable, Ed wandered down the hallway toward the muffled voices of Olivia and Noah.

Olivia had seated Noah, in his dinosaur pyjamas, on the counter, letting him hold the bowl of pancake batter. He was watching intently as his mother crafted the pancakes in the pan.

"Choccies!" Noah exclaimed in surprise, as Olivia pulled a container of chocolate chips from the drawer in front of her. Olivia grinned at the excitement on his face. "Chocolate makes bad dreams go away bud." Noah wriggled happily on the counter as Olivia created a smiley face out of chocolate chips on the batter in front of her.

"Cap'n!" Noah squealed, distracted by Ed, who had been standing in the doorway watching the exchange between mother and son. Ed grinned back at Noah, making his way past the small dining table toward the kitchen.

"Hey little man." Ed answered cheerfully, passing between Olivia at the stove and the island behind her. As he passed behind her, Ed let one of his hands brush across her lower back. "Hey."

Olivia looked up from the bubbling pancakes to Ed, now standing on her left, close to where Noah was sitting away from the stovetop. "Hey back. Do you want some? Noah's are just about done."

Noah squealed again at the prospect of having smiley face pancakes. He looked up at Ed, grinning a toothy smile. "You can share wif me."

Ed reached out a hand to ruffle Noah's already messy bed hair and acted shocked. "You mean you don't want a whole smiley face pancake to yourself?"

Noah scrunched his face up, processing the enormous dilemma in his mind. "Okay….I have one."

Olivia laughed at his decision, knowing he could easily eat one whole smiley face pancake by himself.

"Good decision my boy. You wanna ask Ed to lift you down so you can go sit at the table?" Olivia glanced at Ed again, who nodded his reply.

"Absolutely little man, lets get some breakfast into you." Ed suggested, holding out his hands for Noah. Noah shifted, taking great care to place the plastic bowl he was holding onto the bench beside him.

"Please lift me Cap'n?" Noah questioned, reaching his little arms up to Ed.

Ed stepped forward and in one swift movement, swung Noah up onto his shoulders. Noah hollered with delight, peering down at his mother from his new vantage point.

"Momma look! Look!" Noah cried, waving his arms to get her attention.

"I see buddy! You're so high!" Olivia grinned up at him as she slid the cooked pancake onto Noah's Donald Duck plate. Fishing out his plastic cutlery from a drawer in the island, she followed Ed as he headed towards the table and set Noah down in front of his Disney placemat. Noah smacked his lips together and bounced around in his seat as Olivia placed his plate down for him, arranging it so the smiley face was smiling at him in his seat.

"Thanks Momma. Thanks Cap'n." Noah said, before turning his attention to his breakfast.

"Your welcome buddy." Olivia replied, stroking his hair before walking back to the kitchen, Ed trailing behind her.

"Are you okay with me being here? Staying, I mean." Ed asked quietly, stepping up behind her as they reached the bench where Noah had just vacated.

Olivia looked sideways at him, smiling softly. "I want you to stay. Nice shoulders, by the way…"

Ed leaned forward slightly, pecking her on the cheek. "You're wearing my shirt." He murmured, bringing his fingers up to trail up and down her back.

"I haven't talked to Noah yet…" Olivia whispered back, although she couldn't stop herself from leaning into his touch.

Ed grinned before stepping around her to ladle more batter into the pan. "How many pancakes?"

"Two please. Smiley faces on both."

Ed laughed. "Coming right up."

Olivia bit her lip as she watched Ed carefully smooth two circles of batter into the hot pan. She looked down at her hands, twisting together into a knot. Ed glanced sideways, picking up on apprehension in her body language.

"You okay?" Ed asked, looking up at her face briefly before focusing his attention back on placing the chocolate chips into the pancakes.

A sigh escaped Olivia's lips. "I, uh, guess this wasn't the morning after you were picturing…" She trailed off uncertainly, cautious of his response. She watched as he set the last chocolate chip in place, wiped his hands on a tea towel and turned to face her. He reached out and took one of her hands in his, squeezing it gently.

"Are you kidding? Liv, I knew what I was getting into when I first asked you out for that drink. I know we haven't talked about us as such, but I'm not going anywhere." Ed finished, tugging her hand until her body was flush with his. "I'm not going anywhere," he repeated softly, ducking his head slightly to catch her lips in a sweet moment of tenderness. Olivia brought her free hand up to his cheek, running her thumb across his jaw line. Ed wrapped his free arm around her waist, pulling her into him.

"DONE! Momma I'm done!" Noah's yell broke them apart abruptly, both grinning at each other sheepishly.

Ed squeezed her hand once more before dropping it, turning to look at Noah watching them from his seat. "You want another one Noah? I can make a chocolate chip dinosaur."

Noah nodded enthusiastically, kicking his feet up and down in front of him.

"Yours are done, babe." Ed smirked, wondering how she'd take the moniker for the first time. He motioned to Olivia for a plate, which she gave him obligingly. Sliding the two smiley face pancakes on smoothly, he passed the plate back to her with a wink.

"Thanks, babe." Olivia said, quirking an eyebrow at him. She walked over to the table to sit next to Noah, and immediately found herself half a pancake short as Noah dug his fork into the one closest to him and dragged half of it onto his own plate, giggling.

"Noah!" Olivia admonished gently, unable to be serious with those baby brown eyes staring back up at her.

Noah grinned a beaming smile at his mother. "Hungry!"

"You don't have to wait long for your next one, buddy!" Ed called from the kitchen, working his magic on the next batch of pancakes for himself and Noah.

Olivia paused between bites, wondering if now was the right moment to bring up her and Ed's sleepover to Noah. "Noah…you know how Ed sometimes visits us for dinner?"

Noah nodded, already halfway through his stolen piece of pancake.

"And you know how he goes home, to his house, after you go to bed?"

Noah nodded again, smacking his lips with the mass of chocolate and batter that he'd not managed to actually get in his mouth.

"Well…" Olivia paused, looking over to where Ed was piling a plate with the last of the finished pancakes. She could see he was smiling, but she was glad to have this moment just with Noah. "…what would you think about Ed sleeping here sometimes?"

Noah stopped chewing all of a sudden and stared at his mother. Olivia braced herself for a toddler tantrum that, thankfully, she rarely had to deal with. "Cap'n sleep in my room?" Noah asked hopefully, eyeing Olivia with a wonder that only comes from a three year old. Olivia breathed a sigh of relief, smiling at the little boy beside her. Leaning down so she was eye level with him, she said lightly, "How about in pillow fort in the living room?"

Noah's face lit up like a christmas tree. Pillow forts were his favourite thing - well, second favourite, behind Action Man. "Cap'n stay here okay."

Olivia kissed Noah on his forehead, feeling her eyes well up. After the rough start he had had to his short life, he was growing up to be a kind little boy. Breathing in his unique toddler smell, Olivia whispered against his skin, "You're so loved Noah. So so loved."

"I wuv you too Momma." Noah responded, pushing the last of his pancake into his gaping mouth.

Ed, waiting and watching from the kitchen island, let out a breath he hadn't been aware he was holding. He had Noah's acceptance; that was more than he dared to believe he deserved. Picking up the plate of pancakes in front of him, Ed moved towards the table, towards the two of them. He set the plate down in front of Noah's ecstatic face, his little hands already reaching for another pancake. Ed chuckled at Noah's excitement at seeing the chocolate dinosaurs on the pancake he selected, taking one for himself and sitting down opposite Olivia.

Olivia stretched out a foot under the table and touched one of Ed's legs. He looked up and smiled at her genuinely. He hadn't been lying. He wasn't going anywhere.

Family. The though flashed through Olivia's mind so quickly, she barely had time to register it. But, looking at the man sitting opposite her, and to the little boy next to her, she allowed herself to think that maybe, just maybe, this was the beginning of something different.

It was only a smile, but my heart it went wild

I wasn't expecting that

Just a delicate kiss, anyone could've missed

I wasn't expecting that.