TITLE: The Week That Everything Fell Together

AUTHOR: DramaLexy

SUMMARY: The third (and probably final) story in my series of AU, E/O future fics

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anyone other than Ben; don't sue, cause I'm broke

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I have returned to the much-loved pastime of fluff for this one. The January 11th episode definitely helped get my muse in gear.

I didn't establish a timeline very well with my other two fics, so I'll attempt to do so here. My first story was spanning pretty much all of the year 2005 (yeah, I know, in the beginning I didn't nail it down, but picking a specific timeline helps for the other two stories, so there it is). The second story was set in spring 2009, and this story is set in summer 2009.

Lastly, I had a few reports of confusion in the last story with who Rick was: he's Elliot's son Dickie, but I thought that by middle school, he would need a different nickname. Sorry if this turns anybody's brains into pretzels while they read; that was not my intent. ;-) And now, on with the story!!

"Lizzie! Rick! If you're not downstairs in three seconds, we're leaving without you!" Elliot yelled up the stairs of his house. "One…two…" Two sets of feet pounded down the steps.

"Let go, people!" Ben cried. Olivia laughed, tickling him.

"It's 'let's go'," she corrected him, "But you've got the basic idea."

"Okay, are you going to dance camp today?" Elliot asked Lizzie. She shook her head. "How about you?" he asked his son. "You skipping soccer camp?"

"Yeah. We want to spend the day together." Elliot smiled. He knew the feeling. Kathleen was coming home that morning, and they were on their way to the airport to pick her up. Her initial month in Canada had been extended when the kids' grandfather had taken a turn for the worst. The last time they'd seen her was for his funeral three weeks earlier. Kathleen had stayed to help Kathy move her mother into an assisted living community, but now she was finally rejoining her family.

"Do you have your bag?" Rick asked his brother. Ben shook his head, and headed into the living room to retrieve his colorful little backpack. It was stuffed to the brim with books and toys. Olivia raised an eyebrow.

"It's not that long of a trip to the airport," she told her stepson.

"Um, yeah, but what if her plane's late or something?" Rick pointed out. "You want him bouncing off the walls?" She gave him a skeptical look, but allowed Ben to keep the bag, and they all headed for the car.

"Smooth," Lizzie whispered to her twin. He grinned.

"Thank you."

Kathleen stepped into the terminal at Kennedy Airport and smiled to herself. She wasn't a fan of the place (or airports in general) but she'd never been happier to be there.

Her gate, of course, was at the opposite end of the concourse from the security checkpoint where she knew her family would be waiting. It took a few minutes to walk down there, but it was well worth the wait.

"Kathleen! Kathleen!" her three younger siblings were yelling as they all crowded around for hugs.

"Good to be home?" Olivia asked as she and Elliot hugged her as well.

"You have no idea. That was the longest flight ever."

They got her bags and headed for the car, but when Elliot opened the trunk to put her suitcase inside, he was surprised to find that it was already full of other bags. "What's going on?" he asked. The kids smiled.

"Surprise?" Elliot raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not a fan of surprises. Somebody start talking." The older three kids all began explaining. "One at a time!" They laughed.

"We planned a surprise trip," Kathleen told him.

"Surprise trip where?" Olivia asked.

"Florida," Lizzie supplied.

"With whose money?" Elliot suspiciously asked.

"Ours," Rick told him. "The money Grandpa left us. We put it all together, and we planned everything ourselves. Come here, little man." Ben scurried over, and Rick pulled six plane tickets out of his little brother's backpack. "See?" Elliot took them.

"These are for today. Guys, we appreciate the idea, but we can't just leave on a moment's notice. I'm supposed to be at work this afternoon."

"No, you're not," Lizzie told him.

"What?"

"We talked to Captain Cragen. Worked everything out. You're off until next Monday."

"Everybody at the one-six knew about this?" Olivia asked. Rick nodded.

"Yeah, some of them even chipped in to the vacation fund. I guess they knew you needed a break."

"Maureen helped us out with the planning," Kathleen told her father. "We think you're really going to like the place where we're staying." Elliot shook his head in disbelief.

"Remind me not to get on you guys' bad sides. You're dangerous working together."

"Can we go to beach now?" Ben asked his mother. Olivia picked him up.

"Did you really keep a secret from me?" she asked, mock stern.

"We had to bribe him with chocolate," Lizzie told her. "Lots of it."

"So what do you say, Dad?" Kathleen asked him. "Our flight leaves in an hour." He laughed.

"Half the fridge is gonna rot while we're gone, but we'll worry about it when we get back. Let's go." The kids instantly began unloading the trunk.

"How did they sneak this one by us?" Olivia asked Elliot.

"I don't know, and I don't think I want to know."

On the plane, they were sitting in two rows with one right in front of the other. Ben had never been on a plane before, so Elliot and Olivia decided to keep him with them until they knew how he would react. The older three whipped out Gameboy Advanceds and CD players, and easily kept themselves amused.

"How it do that?" Ben asked his mother as he watched them take off, fascinated.

"Magic," Elliot told him.

The flight was pretty uneventful; Rick and Lizzie had done a good job of packing things to keep Ben occupied, and nobody got airsick. After they landed, they got a taxi-van to their hotel. The location was great, a small, quieter town just north of Daytona and right on the beach. The place had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living area and kitchen. All the kids were sharing a room to give Elliot and Olivia some much appreciated privacy.

"You guys know what you're ordering?" Olivia asked Rick and Lizzie as they all sat around a table at a local restaurant that evening. They absently nodded, totally enthralled with something on one of their Gameboys.

"Can we give the video games a rest for one night?" Elliot asked them.

"Sorry," Rick said as he put his away. "I just got to the tenth level and I wanted to show her."

"I want a hot dog," Ben told his mother, pointing to the picture on his kiddie menu.

"Okay, you can have one." Their waitress approached with their drinks, and everyone ordered their meals.

"All right, I propose a toast," Elliot said once the waitress had left. Everyone raised their glass. "To the perfect getaway."

"Hear, hear!"

TBC…