Disclaimer: Still not mine...but Elliott's extended family is. Carol, Karen, Rick and the kids all belong to me muwahaha! I've never heard a straight story on Elliott's past, so I'm just going to stick with the idea that he's got a younger sister, and that his father has passed away. If anyone knows otherwise, feel free to let me know and I'll try to make the necessary changes if I can.
A/N: Thank you so much to those of you who reviewed.
svu101: Would you be willing to be a beta of sorts? Give me a few street names for some cases, and let me know timing stuff? It would be great...let me know if you want to okay?
tria246815: Glad to hear from another country lover!
TLWROX: Thanks for the New York info, kinda makes some of the stuff wrong, but maybe if you can tell me where it might take a few hours to get to from NYC I'll be able to change the important stuff okay? Same thing goes for you that went for svu101, would you be willing to beta for me? Let me know kay? Thanks!
bandgeek: Thanks for the info about their partnership...I'll change that first paragraph soon...so just figure they've been partners for almost 8 years now, and she's had feelings for him that long.
Lots of brownies (with M&Ms and everything) to TLWROX and CynthiaB for getting the Pinky and the Brain reference:
"So what are we gonna do today Brain?"
"Same thing we do every night Pinky...Try to take over the world!" (insert evil laugh here)
Chapter 2--Family Fun
It was late when they arrived in Jersey, so they decided to check into their hotel rooms, and turn in for the night.
Elliot came to her door at nine the next morning and was surprised to find her already up and dressed for the day.
"Oh hey, you're up...and ready."
"Yep, I saw a sign for a free continental breakfast when we came in, so I was going to grab a bite to eat and then see what our plan for the day was."
"Oh, sounds good, I'll come with you." He closed her door behind her and they made their way down to the lobby. After they'd gotten their breakfasts they juggled the plates of food and coffee cups back up to his room where they ate and talked about the rest of the day.
"So this thing starts at what time?" Olivia asked from where she sat cross legged on Elliot's bed.
"Uh, they start letting people in about seven I think, check the invitation on the nightstand there." He told her from his seat at the table.
"St. Andrew's Preparatory High School, Class of 1986, yada, yada, ah here. Cocktails begin at six, with dinner and dancing commencing at seven." Olivia read with a smirk.
"Okay, so it starts at six. You wanna shoot for six or somewhere around there?" He asked.
"You mean like 6:15 or 6:30?"
"Yeah."
"Works for me." Olivia shrugged. "I'll need to get started getting ready sometime after four."
"No problem."
"It's 9:30 now though...got any ideas for the next seven hours or so?" Olivia asked with a smile.
"Well I promised my mom and sister I'd drop by at some point, but I can do that while you're getting ready if you want. I could show you around town, maybe you'll see something that strikes you."
"Okay sounds good, but we can see your family first if you want. I really don't mind. That way you won't run out of time getting ready."
"Sure, are you ready to go?"
"Yep, I just need to grab a purse and a jacket, and I'll be ready to go." Olivia stood and gathered their breakfast trash. "If you can figure out what to do with this, I'll grab those things and meet you at the car?"
"Sounds good."
It only took them a half an hour to reach his mother's house, and when they pulled into the driveway, Elliot chuckled.
"What?" Olivia asked. She looked out the window at the picturesque American suburban home. White picket fence, tire swing in the big tree out front, and kids' toys scattering the front lawn. She didn't really see anything funny though.
"Nothing really. I just called her while you were getting your things, to let her know we were coming, and she already called my sister."
"Really? How do you know?" She asked, peering out the front window at the house.
"The minivan's hers. Which also means that all her kids are there too, and probably her husband. You sure you're up to this?" He joked, turning to her with a smile.
"What is there to be up to?"
Elliot chuckled again. "My mom and sister can be overbearing on their own, but factor in Karen's husband and their five kids, and it's asking a lot."
This time Olivia laughed. "It'll be fine Elliot, let's go. Besides, if they're as bad as you say, they've probably already seen us sitting out here." As they both got out of the car, the front door flew open and two little girls with blond curls came flying out.
"Uncle Elliot!" They both screamed as he caught them and swung them up into each arm. Both girls flung their arms around him chattering excitedly and talking over each other so neither Elliot nor Olivia could understand what was actually being said. Elliot laughed when he caught Olivia's amused look.
"Hey girls." He hushed them and they both looked up at him, blue eyes shining with excitement. "I want you to meet Olivia, she's Uncle El's partner at work." They turned their gazes to her, and it became obvious to her that the girls were identical twins.
"Hi, I'm Laci-" One began.
"And I'm Emma-" The other interrupted, "We're four."
The first one, Laci, nodded, "We're twins." She said solemnly.
Olivia smiled, "Well it's nice to meet you both."
Elliot set them both on their feet. "Let's go in and find mommy and Gramma okay?"
"Okay," They agreed, and Laci grabbed his right hand. He extended his left for Emma to grab, but had to hide his laughter at Olivia's surprised look when Emma grabbed Olivia's hand instead.
"My niece likes you," he observed as the two dragged them inside. Olivia started to respond, but was interrupted by a man's booming voice.
"Elliot, my man." He said, and threw his arm around him, slapping him on the back in a friendly hug. "How've you been?"
Elliot laughed, "Good man, good. Hey I want you to meet my partner, Olivia Benson. Liv, this is my brother-in-law, Rick Thompson."
"Nice to meet you Rick," She had to extend her left hand, the one Emma wasn't holding, but instead he wrapped her in a big hug.
"Sorry, Rick hugs." Elliot laughed, once Rick had left to find Karen and her mom.
Any sarcastic comeback she may have had was interrupted by the ladies themselves. The younger one, whom Olivia could only guess to be Karen, hugged Elliot.
"Hey big bro, you finally decided to come visit us. And who's this my angel has already attached herself to?" She laughed. "Go on girls, get your brothers and sister." The twins scampered off to find their siblings, and Elliot introduced Olivia.
"This is Olivia. Liv, this is my sister Karen..."
Olivia smiled, "Nice to meet you Karen." They shook hands and Karen stepped aside to allow her mother into the room.
Elliot left her side quickly to hug his mother. "Hey mom."
"It's about time young man. Your sister is here every other weekend." She looked at him sternly, then cracked a smile and hugged him back. Elliot laughed and assured her, "I'll try to come more often. Mom I'd like you to meet Olivia, she's my partner. Liv, this is my mom."
"It's nice to meet you Mrs. Stabler." Olivia said politely, and extended her hand, hesitating when the woman didn't take it, and then dropped it to her side. Finally the older woman smiled and laughingly hugged Olivia.
"Please, call me Carol. Mrs. Stabler was my mother-in-law." She said with an exaggerated shudder.
Olivia laughed, "Alright then Carol," she conceded, and looked around. "You have a beautiful home."
Carol simply smiled. "Thank you dear, of course it usually looks better when the little ones haven't been here all morning." She laughed. "Come now, we were just getting something to drink. Can I get you something? I've got sodas, lemonade, ice tea...stop me if something strikes you."
"Tea sounds great." Olivia smiled. "Can I help you with something?"
"Goodness no dear, you're a guest here. You and Elliot just have a seat and I'll be right back." She went into the kitchen and Olivia and Elliot made their way to the couch, and Karen excused herself to find the other children.
"Your family's great Elliot." She laughed when she saw him eyeing her. He relaxed against the couch cushion next to her, throwing his arm across the back of it.
"You might want to reserve judgement until after we leave," He said with a wry laugh. "Mom seems to like you -" He started to say, but was interrupted when two boys came tumbling into the living room, their older sister hot on their heels.
"Uncle El help us," they cried, running around to hide by him.
"They were spying on me Uncle El!" The older girl whined.
"And hello to you too guys." He laughed. "Connor, Cody, leave your sister alone. Shana, they're just being kids, ignore them and it will stop being fun to bug you." Shana just crossed her arms and plopped down into the arm chair in a huff.
"Fine. But those brats better stay out of my stuff."
"Uncle El! She called us brats!" The younger boy whined.
"Guys enough." He gestured at Olivia. "We have company. Besides, I get enough of this stuff from my four kids, I'm not here to gain three more." He ruffled their hair.
"Hi, I'm Shana." The girl introduced herself.
"Hi, I'm Olivia." She smiled.
"I'm Cody, I'm eight, and that's Connor, he's ten," the younger boy piped up. "Are you Uncle Elliot's girlfriend?"
Olivia could have sworn Elliot blushed, but didn't have a chance to comment.
"Cody! You're not supposed to ask questions like that." Shana exclaimed. "It's rude!" She scolded him just as Karen and Carol returned with their drinks.
"Mommy Shana yelled at me!" Cody whined to Karen, running over to her.
"He asked if Olivia was Uncle El's girlfriend Mom." Shana said by way of explanation.
Karen laughed. "Sorry guys," she apologized to Olivia and Elliot. "Olivia is Elliot's partner at work boys." She explained.
"Oh." Cody said thoughtfully, then grabbed Connor's sleeve, "Let's go play." Both boys ran outside and Shana disappeared down the hallway.
"Still think my family's great?" He asked under his breath. She just rolled her eyes, and he laughed. Carol and Karen both took seats in the armchair across from the couch where Elliot and Olivia sat.
"So Elliot, are you two planning to got the St. Andrew's reunion tonight? I ran into that nice Anderson boy you used to be friends with. He said a lot of your class had RSVP ed." Carol asked.
"Yeah that's the plan at least." He smiled at Olivia.
"Well that's wonderful," Carol beamed. "I assume you two will be staying for lunch then? I don't think the twins would stand for it if you left before then."
Elliot glanced at Olivia, and she spoke up. "We'd love to. We won't need to get back to the hotel until around four anyway, so that would be great."
Carol was about to respond when Laci and Emma came running back into the room. "Slow down girls," she reprimanded gently.
"Sorry Gramma." They replied in unison, before turning to their mother.
"Mommy, mommy,"
"Can we go swimming?"
"Please?"
"Yeah, please Mommy?" They asked excitedly.
Karen laid a gentle hand on each girl's shoulder to keep them from bouncing, before looking over their heads to her mother. "I don't see why not, but it's Gramma Carol's pool, maybe I'm not the one you should be asking..." She hinted, turning them to face their grandmother.
"Gramma, may we please go swimming?" Laci asked dutifully.
"Please? We'll be extra good, and only stay in the shallow end." Emma added.
"You girls are in luck, the heater's been on all week so it should be perfect. Of course you can swim." Carol smiled. "But make sure there's an adult out there with you, you know the rules." She warned as they raced back down the hall to change.
"I'll go with them," Karen said, standing, "who knows what could happen if Rick watched them." She laughed. The girls came back in, clad in swimsuits, a few minutes later, on their way to the backyard pool. Laci ran straight outside, but Emma stopped in front of Olivia.
"Miss 'Livia?" Emma asked, tugging on her jacket sleeve.
"Yes honey?" She asked, smiling down at the little girl.
"Will you come swimming wif me?" She asked in a small voice.
"Oh now honey, I don't think Olivia has a suit, and she might want to stay in here with Uncle El and Gramma." Karen said gently.
"It's okay Karen," Olivia said, and smiled at Emma. "Of course I'll come with you, you go on out and I'll be right there." Emma smiled happily and ran outside, and Olivia stood and turned, meeting Elliot's puzzled eyes and holding her hand out to him. "Can I have the keys?"
He dug them out of his pocket and handed them to her. "What do you need?"
"I need to get my swimsuit from my bag in the trunk." She said with a smile, and left the house. When Olivia had come back inside and gone down the hall to change, Elliot's mother turned to him with a smile.
"So how long have you two been going out?" She asked with a grin.
"Mom!" Elliot exclaimed. "She's my partner, we aren't going out."
"But you want to be," she said knowingly, and he looked away. "Why aren't you doing anything about it?"
"Mom, there are so many things working against us."
"Name some."
"Mom, come on." She just waited. "Ugh, okay, there's work, we'd get separated if anything happened between us-
"But you'd still have her, better end of the deal if you ask me" She interrupted.
He smiled a little, "And Cragen thinks of her as a daughter, he'd kill me if she ever got hurt."
"But you aren't going to hurt her. If you ever let yourself try, I'm sure this thing would work out for you guys, you're good together. And she feels the same way, if that was your third excuse."
"How would you know?"
"I'm a woman, its obvious. Besides, she came with you this weekend didn't she?" Carol pointed out.
"We're partners, she could have come just-" He started to reason, but cut himself off when he heard footsteps coming down the hall, and looked up to see Olivia, standing there. In a swimsuit. A bikini. His jaw dropped before he could help it, and he heard his mother chuckle behind him. Whoa, he thought, she looks, amazing.
"Carol, do you happen to have an extra pool towel I could use?" She asked. "I was hoping to swim at the hotel, and thought I'd use theirs."
"Oh absolutely dear." She stood and hurried into the other room. "Close your mouth now Elliot." She said in an exaggerated whisper he was pretty sure Olivia heard, as she passed him, returning with an oversized towel. Olivia smiled and thanked her, and went outside to join Karen and the twins.
Soon the whole family ended up outside, and Rick and Elliot started up the barbeque. Throughout the afternoon, Elliot was captivated by the way Olivia seemed to fit perfectly, laughing and chatting with Carol and Karen, and playing with all the kids, especially Emma, who'd attached herself to Olivia. Seeing her in a swimsuit wasn't all that bad either. After eight years of seeing her in work clothes, the sight of Olivia in that bikini was almost more than he could handle. Her body was incredible, and he was amazed at how she carried herself, as comfortable and confident in the scraps of fabric that made up the suit as she was in her slacks and blouses.
When she'd come to sit beside him for lunch, he'd caught himself staring more than once, falling under her spell, just as his family seemingly had. They sat and talked for a lot of the afternoon, gradually getting closer as the day wore on, eventually ending up with Olivia leaning on Elliot's chest sitting on one of the deck chairs with Emma dozing on her lap.
It was almost four when they'd reluctantly pulled themselves off the chair and made their goodbyes, promising another visit before they left to get ready for the reunion.
Please review!
I've got four more chapters already written, its just a matter of finding the time to type them up...so hopefully I'll update soon!
