Chapter 8

It wasn't much long after she had laid down, that Eli starting moving around, and couldn't seem to get comfortable in one spot. Not ten seconds later, the toddler began whimpering and crying. Afraid to wake the toddler, she recovered Eli with the blanket and crept out of the room. However, the little boy still seemed rather upset and unable to calm down. So rather this time she walked back in the room, and gently woke up the toddler. His eyes fluttering open upon seeing who it was that was now holding and rocking the toddler.

"What's wrong, Eli?" asked Olivia. Eli just looked at her and rested his toddler head against her as if afraid that she would leave him.

"Don't leave me, Wivvie." Cried the little boy.

"Oh, sweetheart, I would never leave you. And I won't anytime soon. Are you hungry?" said Olivia. Once again, the toddler looked up at her, this time with a smile on his face. If there was one thing she hated, it would be to see Eli upset or crying. Any of them for that matter. But more Eli than any.

Both getting up off the bed, they walked into the small kitchen. Eli sitting at the small table, eagerly anticipating his lunch. The one thing she knew the little boy enjoyed was his bologna and cheese sandwiches. So that's what they had. Eli with his sandwich and his juice and her with her sandwich and tea.

"Momma Wivvie we swim?" asked Eli.

"Yeah buddy, we can go swimming after lunch." Said Olivia. Maybe that would get her thoughts off her mind about earlier that mornings activities. But at the same time she knew it would have to be talked about. Rather she liked or not. It was a conversation that she wasn't looking forward to having. Especially with Eli around.

After finishing lunch and cleaning up, Olivia grabbed Eli's overnight bag and pulled out his swimming shorts and floaties.

After helping change Eli's shorts, it was her turn to change. So as she changed, Eli sat on the bed. Obviously feeling better, Eli smiled and asked her if she was going swimming with him too.

"Wivvie swim wit me?" asked Eli.

"Who else would, Eli? You don't want to swim me?" said Olivia. Eli smiled once more.

"NO! Momma Wivvie, swim with me." Exclaimed the little boy.

"Good. Do you want to carry your floaties or do you want me to." Asked Olivia.

"I carry. Ball?" said Eli. By time all would be said and done, Eli would turn the complex pool into a larger version of his bath tub. And it was cute.

The pool was empty, leaving it to the themselves for at least a little bit.

"Momma Wivvie, I jump?" asked Eli. Was he nuts? Obviously this was something else he got from his stubborn father.

"I don't know Eli. I don't want you to get hurt." Said Olivia. And she didn't.

"PLEASE! Daddy wet me." Pleaded Eli. Great. Only his father would let him do something like this. But then again she wasn't completely surprised either.

"If your daddy was here buddy, I would let you in a heartbeat." Said Olivia. Not knowing those words would come true.

Not minutes of them both playing around in the pool, the two were soon interrupted by that all too familiar voice. Eli being the first to respond to his father's voice.

"Daddy, Momma Wivvie won't let me jump." Whined the two year old. Another trait of his father's. Stubbornness.

He knew more than well why she probably didn't let him jump in. But at the same time, Eli whining to get his way was almost as cute as the look she was shooting him at the moment.

The minute she realized he was just short of being in the pool himself, she changed the look on her face to that of a mischievous one.

"Eli, want to help me with something?" asked Olivia.

"Yeah, me help." Squealed Eli.

When he wasn't looking, they both got out of the pool, snuck up behind him and pushed him right in the pool. Both laughing hysterically. Eli slightly more that she was.

It didn't take him that long to resurface.

"You never said anything about you jumping in?" cracked Olivia.

"I didn't jump. I was pushed. There's a difference." Said Elliot.

"Not much there isn't" laughed Olivia.

"Daddy jump." Laughed Eli.

"I'm glad the two of you are getting so much enjoyment out of this." Answered Elliot, making his way to the stairs to get out of the pool but just as he reached the steps, Eli was standing in front of him, floaties on, and seconds away from jumping in. And that's exactly what Eli did.

Not even letting his father have a shot of getting out of the pool. Eli just laughed even more. And so did she.

"He said you let him jump in. I guess with you here, he finally got to." Laughed Olivia.

"That's because I do. As long as he has his floaties on, he can jump in." said Elliot.

"And you wonder why everyone says he's a miniature version of you. By the way, what are you even doing here? Your suppose to be at the house." Questioned Olivia.

"Play day. The house was dead as a nail so we got kicked out." Said Elliot.

"You were kicked out or told to get out?" asked Olivia.

"Would it really matter if we were kicked out or told to get out?" asked Elliot.

"Not really. Either way, you going to be the cause of the trouble to begin with." Laughed Olivia. And she knew better than anyone else. When it came to causing trouble either out in public or at the station house, he was the one that usually started it.

"Meaning what exactly?" asked Elliot.

"Nothing. By the way, if you plan on going swimming then might I suggest you change your clothes?" laughed Olivia.

"I would have had the two of you not pushed me in to begin with." Said Elliot. The two of them were having too much fun in the pool that they hadn't bothered to pay any attention to him getting out of the pool. Eli was having to much fun splashing and flapping around in the pool to bother pay attention to anything else. Or the fact that she had gotten out to throw the t-shirt she had brought out with them, on. And just like the two of them had done to him, he snuck right up behind her and gently threw her back in the pool. Again, Eli was smiling and laughing.

She resurfaced moments later. Careful of the language she used around in Eli's presence.

"What in h-e- double hockey sticks was that for?" said Olivia. She wasn't sure which one of the two was getting more enjoyment out of this, Eli or his father. At the moment, it was father.

"Payback's a bitch, ain't it?" laughed Elliot.

"You want Eli repeating that? It won't be my fault when he does. I'm not the one that said that kind of language in front of him." Said Olivia.

"He's not going to repeat it." Said Elliot.

"I wouldn't be so sure of yourself there." Said Olivia. She turned her attention back to the toddler who was now playing with the raft they had also brought with him. Not sure what the toddler was trying to do exactly, she sat him on the raft.

"Me jump!" shouted Eli.

"Not off the raft, buddy." Answered Olivia.

"ME JUMP!" whaled the toddler.

"Might as well let him. Unless your asking for a temper tantrum?" said Elliot.

"This coming from the same person who acts like a two year old as well?" cracked Olivia.

Once again, Eli fussed.

"ME JUMPS NOW!" yelled Eli

"Eli, don't you dare yell at me, sir." Said Olivia. She hadn't meant to come across so hard. If anything, she was slightly overprotective of the toddler. If his father was just going to let him jump from anything he asked or said he was going to jump from then that left her as the overprotective one of the two.

Eli stopped and looked at her with tears threaten to fall from his face. She was stuck now. She hadn't meant to yell like that at the toddler. Watching his face, it made her heart break in two. The last thing she wanted to do was upset the child. By now he had join the two of them in the pool only for her to slowly get out of the pool. Her demeanor suddenly changes.

"Liv? Were you going?" asked Elliot.

No answer. She sat on the lounge to distracted about what had just happened, she hadn't heard him.

"Eli, stay where I can see you, ok buddy?" said Elliot, once again getting out of the pool.

"Nowhere alright. Just leave me alone right now. Go play with Eli." Said Olivia.

"I'm not buying any of it. Now stop and tell mw what's wrong." Said Elliot.

"Nothing's wrong, alright." Answered Olivia.

"Bull. You know I'm not going to stop asking until you tell me. So spill it already." Said Elliot.

She really didn't want to tell him anything, let alone how horrible she felt at the moment for yelling at Eli. She already felt bad enough as it was. Trying to get him to drop the subject, she chose to sit back down on the lounge where she had previously been.

Making sure that Eli was whining eye sight, so did he. Damn, the man was stubborn. But she had known that after working with him for the past twelve years. Nothing had changed since then. Okay, so minor things had changed but ones that weren't necessarily important. At least not at the moment. At least not in from her point of view.

"Start talking. Or we're going to be here for awhile." Said Elliot.

"I told it you it's nothing. So just drop it already." Snapped Olivia. Again, she hadn't meant to snap at him either. But she did and it was just out of frustration.

"Like I said, I'm not buying any of it." said Elliot. Eli was still floating and splashing around in the pool. With in eye distance. Exchanging glances with the two of them now and then.

"Eli's waiting for you. You might want to go play with him." Said Olivia. Bingo. That's what it was about. Just by her making the comment of him getting back in the pool and playing with Eli, told him right there and then that this had something to do with her telling Eli not to yell at her.

"So that's what this is all about?" said Elliot.

"What?" asked Olivia.

"Eli yelling at you and you telling him not to yell you. Liv, he's two. He doesn't understand what he was doing. And you had every reason to tell him not to yell at you." Said Elliot

"Really? Then why didn't his father jump in instead of making me feel like the bad guy?" said Olivia.

He had no answer to that. He knew he should have told Eli himself to stop yelling at her. But to be honest, he was too busy caught up in the moment to have done anything.

"You want the honest answer to that? Fine, I was lost in the moment." Said Elliot. That changed the mood. Eli climbed out of the pool and ran right over to the two of them. No longer upset, he climber in her lap and once again, snuggled in her arms.

"See?" said Elliot.

Eli looked up at his godmother. Smiling from hear to toe, the toddler hugged her and kissed her before jumping down once again, and running around the pool.

"He loves you too much to understand what he said and how he said it. He's a toddler." Said Elliot, with one eye on Eli.

"So when he falls from running around the pool, you're going to do something about it?" answered Olivia.

Eli hadn't stopped running. He just kept going. Like the little that could. It was him that corrected the toddler this time.

"ELI JOSEPH, You stop running right now." Said Elliot. Knowing that he had finally stopped to correct his own child, made her feel slightly more reassured. Eli stopped running. And jumped in the pool once more.

He was just about to get back in himself when she made another comment.

"So this is what it feels like?' asked Olivia. She didn't know what having a family felt like. Not having a significant other to wake to, no children to get up in the middle of the night to take care of, no excitement running threw one end of the house to another. The only family that she had known was her work family and that was a different family.

"Is this what feels like?" asked Elliot.

"Being part of a family?' asked Olivia

So I overloaded my week without thinking about everything else I had going on. So as a special gift, I wrote this chapter longer. But am slightly sad that I only got two reviews for the last chapter (u know who you are)- you've the greatest and this Is for the two of you. Let me know what you all think. Chapter 9 is already started.