AN: Sorry for the delay. As always excuse errors. Another chapter to follow tonight.

Chapter 10

"Emma, will you please get back in the bath! Olivia was in the middle of giving the three year old a bath when the doorbell ran and she bolted from the bath naked San plastic bag over her cast. "Emma, don't open that door!" she shouts as Emma reaches for the handle of the door. She kneels before her and wraps her in a towel. "what's the rule about the door, Em?

Emma looks down as she responds. "If you are not as tall as the door knob, you can't answer the door."

"Yeah and are you taller that the knob?" Olivia waits for the toddler to shake her before she continues. "So no more answering the door, okay? And especially not when you have no clothes on." Emma nods and Olivia wraps her in a towel , scoops her up in her arms and stands. "Shall we see who it is?" Emma nods again as she opens the door.

"Daddy!" Emma screams as she jumps from Olivia's arm into Elliot's.

"What's up, munchkin? Getting a bath?" Elliot states as he enters the house and close the door behind him.

"Yeah, that makes two this week! I must be the cleanest kid ever."

Elliot laughs as he walks with Emma perched on his hip to the couch. Olivia leaves the two alone and is busy in the kitchen while Emma, who hates baths recap how horrible each bath was.

"Hey sweetie, how about you find some pjs and a book and I will come read to you, ok?

"Kay."

Elliot watches as his youngest runs up the stairs without regard that she already has one broken extremity. He enters the kitchen where he finds Olivia busy clearing the dishes.

"Hey." He says hesitantly, still unsure of her response to his presence given their encounter at the diner over lunch. His fears are confirmed when she returns his 'hey' without looking back. "I hope you don't mind me stopping by, I just wanted to see the kids."

"So you're here to see the kids?" She still makes no effort to look at him as she moves around the kitchen putting away pots and pans.

"Well yeah but I also feel you and I should talk." She grunts in response to his statement and he feels the anger rising inside him. "Is there a reason why you wouldn't want me here?"

"Well its Monday night, you just saw the kids. Its just harder to keep a routine and get them to bed when you show up unannounced near bedtime!"

"Wait, wait are you saying that I am not allowed to see my chil-"

" I never said that and I would never say that but-"

"No there is no but! They are my fucking kids too and the arrangement was that I could see them whenever I want and have them every weekend! You can't just change that because you are angry at me!" He grabs her by the elbow and forcefully turns her towards him. "You will not keep my children from me!"

Suddenly she just as angry as he was at the insinuation that she is trying to keep him from their kids. "Firstly, they are OUR children not yours!" She pauses as she yanks her arm from his grasp. "And secondly, I never said you couldn't see them whenever you wanted but this is MY home and you can't just show up whenever you want!"

He is shocked. He has never heard her refer to the house as hers before. They bought the house back when they had just gotten married, a year and a half before she became pregnant with Cali. They had been so excited at the prospect of renovating it together, a concept they learnt later had its challenges but they had done it. They had made each bedroom of the five bedroom brownstone as unique as its occupants. They had fought constantly about the three bathrooms but had also enjoyed the make-up sex that followed each of those fights. They had put their blood and sweat into their beautiful home for almost nine years so much that it had become like an extra child to divide during their separation. They had amicably decided that since Olivia had the kids she should have the house but even through it all they had always referred to it as their house, their home.

He is so shock that he doesn't know how to respond. Cali' s entrance into the kitchen saves him from responding. She is dressed in her pajamas and her hair is wet from her shower.

"Oh hey dad." She says as she hugs him. " Didn't know you were coming by."

Elliot tries to calm himself before he answer. "Hey sweetheart."

Unfortunately Cali still picks up on the tension between her parents. "What's going on?"

"Nothing baby" Elliot answers quickly.

Cali is not satisfied with that answer so she looks to her mom.

"Cali, daddy and I were just talking about something and we got a little upset."

"So you were fighting again?" Cali smirks as a look of shame comes across the faces of both her parents. "Isn't that why you moved out so there would be no more fighting? Anyways, mom you forgot to sign my permission slip for that stupid field trip." Cali states as she climbs on the bar stool and hand Olivia a sheet of paper.

Elliot pulls up a stool next to his daughter, "where are you going on this trip?"

"Ellis Island. You took me there last year but mom says I still have to go even though I don't see why?"

"You have to go because you need to participate in school activities that don't involve fights or glue. " Olivia says as she signs the paper.

"Dad?"

Elliot ruffles her damp hair and smile. "You are going." Cali rolls her eyes. "You expected a different answer?"

"You guys fight about everything but the important things!" Callie smiles as she climbs down from the stool. She takes the paper from Olivia and hugs Elliot. "Love you dad."

"Love you more. I will come tuck you in before I leave." Cali nods as she leaves the kitchen and heads for the stairs. When Elliot is sure she is upstairs, he turns to Olivia. " Is it ok with you if I tuck my daughter in?"

"Screw you! I am going to shower. Let yourself out when you are finish with the kids."

Elliot slams his hands against the counter as he watches her walk away. Why does everything have to be hard for them. He is distracted by the sound of Emma calling him from upstairs. "I am coming, Em!"

"... I am your good-night kiss; you are my I love you." Elliot completes Emma's new favorite book 'You are my I love you' with her cuddled up close to him in bed. She had fallen a sleep after the first page but he kept on reading because he misses the opportunity to do this, to be there for bedtime, to tuck his kids in. He pulls the blankets up to her chin and kisses her forehead. "I love you more than anything in the world."

Elliot goes to Cali's room and spend a few minutes reading a chapter of Harry Potter with her. He is surprised when she kiss him and tells him she is glad he came by. He tucks her in before he heads to Noah's room. He finds his son asleep with his head hanging off the foot of the bed and a book clutched tightly in his hand. He lifts him and readjust him in bed. He pulls the blanket over him and kiss him goodnight. He sits in Noah's room and watches him sleep for a few minutes. He thinks of all the things he is missing, all because he and Olivia can't seem to talk without fighting. He needs his life back and he needs to make her understand that.

He walk to her room, what use to be their room and enters without knocking. He finds her sitting on their bed, wrapped in a towel and using another towel to dry her hair. He pauses for a second before he hurriedly approaches her. Before she has time to protest, he grabs her face and kisses her passionately on the lips.

Olivia is shocked at first but before she knows it, she is returning the kiss. Before she knows it she has her hand under his shirt, feeling the thick muscles of his back. Before she knows it she is pulling that shirt over his head, before she knows it his lips are on her neck and his hands are on her thighs. Before she knows it, he is laying her back on the bed and hovering above her.

" I am not sorry I came by." He whispers before his lips meet hers again.