[26]

Olivia slowly pushed her cart towards where Cade was holding on tightly to Alex. Olivia was really wishing that she had just ignored the fact that she had spotted Alex, so that Cade and Clayton wouldn't be hurt when Alex wanted nothing to do with them.

"Auntie, I've missed you so much!" Cade exclaimed, as he looked up at Alex and grinned largely.

"Hi, Cadey." Alex replied weakly. She slowly lifted her eyes from her nephew before finding his mother standing a few feet away.

"I-i'm so sorry, Alex. I know that you wanted space and this isn't him giving you space... Cade, love, we need to get home." Olivia spoke, as she stayed behind the cart.

"Mama-" Cade started, and Olivia shook her head. Cade frowned before giving his Aunt's legs one last tight hug before walking back over to the cart and having his mother help him back into it.

Olivia didn't say another thing to Alex as she slowly turned and headed towards the checkout. Olivia was fighting off tears as she tried her hardest to not panic. To turn around and go right back to Alex and hug her. Alex had made up her mind weeks ago, and Olivia didn't want to force her into anything. This had all been her fault anyway, and she didn't want to make things worse.

Once everything was paid for, Olivia and the boys went outside with their bags. Cade was slow and being all whiny, so getting out to the van was much harder than it should have been. But once Olivia had both of her son's buckled into their seats, she shut the door and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw Alex.

"Shit." Olivia swore, as she placed her hand to her chest and took a shaky breath.

"Oh, fuck. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." Alex spoke as her eyes went wide.

"D-don't apologize. You were just the last person I expected to see... uh, I'm going to go home now. This will never happen again. I promise." Olivia breathed, before she quickly turned and tried to walk around to the driver's side of her van.

"Liv, I came out here to find you." Alex spoke quickly, as she followed Olivia. They stopped by the hood, and Olivia eyed her former best friend.

"Huh?"

"I haven't seen you in like, eleven weeks. I think... and I was just trying to get up the nerve to come and see you and the kids. I actually bought an outfit for the baby... that is why I was in that section. I thought that after how I treated you-"

"Alex, you went through so much and were destroyed. How you treated me is the way I deserved to be treated. So don't you dare try and apologize. It's the last thing you need to do." Olivia frowned.

"Liv-"

"I really want you back in my life, Alex. I do. But I don't want you to come back into my life unless you want to be apart of it. Not because you feel bad. Okay?" Olivia breathed.

"Okay." Alex spoke awkwardly. She looked at Olivia for a long moment before waving slowly at her and moving towards her vehicle. Olivia quickly got into her van before letting several silent tears roll down her cheeks.

///

The boys passed out in the van on the drive home, so by the time Rafael arrived home, he found his fiancee carrying Cade towards the house.

"Love, you shouldn't be doing that!" Rafael spoke quickly, as he rushed to her side and traded his briefcase out for their son.

"I'm fine." Olivia replied weakly.

"Go in and sit down." Rafael ordered, and Olivia rolled her eyes before nodding.

Once Rafael had laid Cade down in his bed, he walked out and found Olivia sitting on the sofa with her eyes closed. He went to grab a blanket to cover her up with, but stopped when she started to speak.

"We saw Alex today." Olivia sighed.

"Huh?"

"We saw Alex at the mall today. Cade saw her and I couldn't stop him quick enough. So we saw her, talked, and then left. Then she approached me at the van and tried to apologize or something... but she didn't do a thing wrong. I-"

"You didn't do anything wrong either, Liv. She is like your sister, and seeing her hurt also harmed you."

"I told her that I didn't want her to feel forced into coming back to us just because I saw her. I want her to come back because she wants too." Olivia grumbled.

"Then maybe she will, babe."

///

Olivia dropped Cade off at preschool the next morning, and when she got home Alex was there. Olivia got Clay out of his car seat before moving to the front door. It had been unlocked, and Alex was waiting inside. She stood quickly from where she was sitting on the couch before looking at Olivia and Clay with wide eyes.

"Entering without permission is a new one for you." Olivia breathed, as she sat Clay down and he went running to his toys without even being phased by Alex.

"I have a spare key, I kinda used that as permission." Alex replied.

"Okay, so what's up?" Olivia asked weakly.

"I've missed you, Liv. Like, a lot. All I could think about was you and the boys while I was recovering. The last time you saw me... I was at my all time low. I was depressed, anxious, and so fucking pissed off. And seeing you made me even more angry because you were clearly pregnant, and I wasn't anymore... but I got over that because I can always try again to have a baby, but I can never find another you. You are my best friend and my sister." Alex rambled.

Olivia watched her with wide eyes before nodding slowly.

"I love you." Olivia whispered, and Alex let out a sigh of relief before moving to Olivia and hugging her tightly.

"I love you too, Liv. So much more than I think I have ever told you... Now, can we just put this behind us? I want to be completely involved again, and I need you there when I go through the process of picking out another donor."

"I'll be there with you ever step of the way. I promise."