Stabler Family Vacation
Chapter 3:
A/N: Hey guys, here's another update. I'm going on vacation tomorrow and I'll be gone for two weeks and I won't have internet access so this is my last update of anything for a while. I hope you'll enjoy it.
The house was quiet. Maureen and Noah had crashed soon after the little ones had gone to bed. They had both been exhausted from the long car ride that day. Olivia and Elliot were in the living room. Olivia lay wrapped tightly in Elliot's arms on the couch.
"I wish we could tell all of them at the same time," Olivia murmured. She sighed as she nuzzled even closer to Elliot.
"Maybe we should wait until Thanksgiving?" Elliot suggested, tucking a piece of hair behind Olivia's left ear.
"And what's the guarantee that they'll all be there?" she asked with another sigh "Noah has his own parents you know, they're probably tired of us hogging all the time with their grandson."
Elliot chuckled "Maybe, but we're the fun grandparents."
"I'm too young to be a grandma," Olivia grumbled.
Elliot laughed "You know you love it."
"Yeah," Olivia agreed "I do." She lifted her head and looked at him "Face it El, they'll never all be in the same place at the same time again."
"Sure they will," he reassured her "I'm sure we'll be able to get the whole gang together by Christmas."
"I think that they might notice by then," she laughed a little bit, pointing to her not yet showing stomach.
"You could just tell them you've put on a few…" Elliot trailed off, thinking over his next few words very carefully "Never mind."
Olivia laughed "I'm not gonna do that," she sighed for the umpteenth time that night "I guess I'll just have to tell all the ones that are here tomorrow and give Kathleen a call tomorrow night."
"Now that's a good solution," Elliot said, relieved "Why does it have to be so complicated?"
"Because," Olivia swatted his arm "I'm pregnant, I don't have to be rational." They both laughed. "But really," she continued "Sometimes I feel like our family is drifting apart. I mean," she looked away "It wasn't exactly simple from the beginning."
Elliot guided her face so that she was looking at him again "It wasn't simple," he acknowledged "But I wouldn't trade a moment for anything."
Olivia smiled. It had been a complicated journey to where they were, sometimes it had been tougher than others. There had even been times that she though she wasn't strong enough to deal with the tough times, but they had made it.
"Maureen and Kathleen aren't drifting away from us," Elliot said softly "They're just growing up."
"And drifting away," Olivia reiterated.
"They are not drifting away," Elliot retorted. He paused and added somberly "Maybe a little."
Olivia smiled sadly "I wish Kathleen could have come with us on this trip."
"Me too," Elliot agreed "But she's got different priorities now," Kathleen had started a new job in Rhode Island and couldn't afford to take the time off.
They fell into a comfortable silence. Olivia felt her eyelids getting heavy but they soon snapped open when she heard the pitter patter of small feet on the carpeted floor of the hallway outside the living room. She and Elliot both recognized their daughter's footsteps.
"I don't think we're alone," Olivia smiled. The two of them sat up just in time to see Rachael wander into the room.
The five year old girl dressed in her Disney princess pajamas, holding her teddy bear under one arm, made her way over to the couch and climbed up between her mother and father.
"Aren't all good little girls supposed to be in bed this late at night?" Olivia asked with a smile.
"You aren't in bed Mommy," Rachael replied with an impish grin.
Olivia chuckled "Mommy hasn't been a little girl for a long time sweetheart."
"Why aren't you asleep?" Elliot asked softly as he kissed his daughter's forehead "Did you have a bad dream?"
Rachael shook her head "No," she replied, her earlier grin fading.
"Then why are you up sweetie?" Olivia asked.
"I don't know," Rachael replied honestly, nestling in between her parents.
Elliot and Olivia shared a look before turning back to their little girl "Do you miss Kathleen?" Olivia asked knowingly.
Rachael nodded "Why isn't she here Mommy?"
Kathleen and Rachael shared a special bond. As soon as she could walk, Rachael had spent most of her time following Kathleen, watching her in awe. Without Kathleen there and with so many other young children to be taken care of, Olivia surmised that Rachael might feel a little left out.
"We talked about this sweetie," Elliot said softly "Kathleen couldn't come on vacation with us because she had to work." It had been several months since any of them had seen Kathleen in person.
"Sweetie," Olivia prompted softly "How about you and I do something special tomorrow?"
"Like what?" Rachael looked up at her mother expectantly.
"Why don't we go to the park, just you and me?" Olivia suggested.
Rachael thought about it for a moment "Okay," she agreed.
"Good," Olivia smiled "Now let's get you back into bed, alright?"
"Okay," Rachael allowed her mother to pick her up. She waved a free hand over her shoulder at her father "Night Daddy."