A/N: "Sometimes we worry more about others than we do ourselves. That can cost us more than we're afraid to lose."
DISCLAIMER: SVU and related characters/ideas belong to Dick Wolf. Original plot and dialogue belong to TStabler©
Olivia awoke to the sound of running water. She blinked, confused for a moment, and then she smiled. She tossed the covers off, got out of the bed, and walked softly toward the bathroom. She turned the knob, stepped into the steamy room, and shed her too-large tee-shirt, the only thing she'd worn to bed.
He heard the curtain slide, and he grinned. He chuckled when he felt her hands sprawling over his chest, and he gripped her arms, holding her around him. "Morning," he said over his shoulder.
"Good morning," she purred into his ear, sucking the lobe into her mouth.
He moaned as he turned around, the hot water rolling down his body. "You're in a mood, aren't you?"
"Just making sure you have no reason to take Gaffney up on her offer," she said, her smirk wicked.
He smirked back and narrowed his eyes. "Oh, honey, every day I'm reminded of at least a hundred reasons why I'm the luckiest son of a bitch in the world." He kissed her neck, absently lapping at a rolling drop of water.
She ran her hands down his back again, brushing water off of him in the process, and moaned softly. She felt his lips traveling down her skin, and tried to concentrate on something else before letting things heat up. "Oh, um, I got a call last night. Your son…"
"I know," he mumbled as he kissed her pulse, beating beneath her skin. "I'm gonna talk to him, I promise."
She sighed and her left hand trailed up the length of his spine. "I don't want to make him feel weird, or embarrass him."
"He's a boy, baby." He kissed her lips and reached for the shampoo bottle on the shelf. "This happens, ya know. Men can't control their reactions to women, and we definitely can't help falling in love with them, even if it's wrong. Especially when someone incredible beautiful and smart and strong comes along."
She raised an eyebrow. "We're not still talking about Dickie, are we?"
He chuckled and shook his head as he squirted some of the clean-smelling shampoo into his hand. "Like father like son," he said. "But it's his teacher, so I can't exactly let him get to the point we made it to," he laughed.
She laughed and kissed him, loving the way his hands felt in her hair as he lathered the cream into foam and massaged her scalp. "That would be bad," she whispered.
He hummed in agreement, backed her up under the hot spray, and carefully avoided her eyes as he rinsed her hair. "You know," he said softly, "This is my favorite part of the morning."
"Washing my hair for me?" she joked.
"Yeah," he said seriously. "Our little routine, Liv. You meet me in the shower most days, if one of us doesn't have to leave early. We spend a good hour in here, just being alone with each other, talking, kissing, sometimes more than kissing," he said with a waggling eyebrow. "Baby, it's more romantic and special to me than you know."
She smiled at him, her eyes sparkling. "I think I have an idea." She applied a bit of pressure to his back, urging him closer to her.
He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her, and he laughed when he felt her hand move to the top of his head, returning the favor he had done for her.
After their hot shower, and a slow, quiet, bout of sex against the tiles, they got dressed and ate a quick breakfast, which for Olivia was half of an unbuttered English muffin. She kissed each child on the head, then kissed Elliot on the lips and said, "I'll tell Cragen you're gonna be late."
He nodded at her, and he grabbed his keys. "Mo," he said to his oldest daughter, "I'm gonna drive Dickie to school. Tell the bus driver he won't be there."
Maureen looked at him suspiciously, but then she said, "Okay," shrugged, and walked out with her sisters.
"What's up, Dad?" the only boy asked. His backpack was slung over his shoulder and he looked like a small version of his father.
Elliot smiled at him, and he held the door open. "I just wanna spend a little guy time with you, kid. You guys are gonna be here for a while, you're the only boy in the house, I guess I just figured we should do this once a week. A drive across town, you and me, just talking and…"
"Is this about Miss Watson?" he asked, interrupting Elliot's unplanned and nervous-sounding speech. "Did she call you?"
Elliot sighed, getting into the car. "Yeah," he said. "She told Liv you wrote a couple of poems for class that, uh, may have implied that you had a crush on…"
"Wait," Dickie said, his face paling. "Liv knows?"
Elliot furrowed his brow. "She's your stepmother, kiddo. She understands, and she knows that sometimes kids your age develop crushes on…"
"This is so embarrassing," Dickie complained. "I thought Miss Watson was gonna be cool about it. She said she was just gonna tell you I had a crush on someone older! I never thought that…"
"Dickie, I had the biggest crush on my math teacher when I was your age." Elliot laughed and said, "I brought her an apple every day, and I used to make up these ridiculous algebra problems so that the letters in the answers would spell out 'I love you.' I had it bad."
Dickie looked at his father, not amused, and asked, "What does that have to do with me having a crush on Liv?"
Elliot choked a bit as the car swerved and several people honked at him. "What?"
"You mean…you didn't…you thought the poems were about Miss Watson?" Dickie asked, shrinking into his seat. "Great. Me and my big mouth."
Elliot glanced at him, smirking. He chuckled to himself, and he said, "Your secret's safe with me. Just, uh, try to find someone your own age that you think has the same qualities you like about Liv."
"I seriously doubt I'm gonna find someone my age who can shoot a fly on the wall from fifty feet away," Dickie said, rolling his eyes.
Elliot chuckled, and then he sighed. "Yeah, that's probably one of my favorite things about her, too."
"You're not mad?" Dickie asked, hopeful.
"Of course not," Elliot said, shaking his head. "I understand. I just…she's gonna be your mother…"
"I know," Dickie said. "Believe me, I know."
Elliot laughed again, nudged his son in the arm, and watched as he got out of the car and headed into the school. "Poor kid," he mumbled, pulling away from the curb. "It's impossible to get over Liv." He laughed as he headed for the station, feeling more like a little kid with a crush than his son.
He walked in, and he stopped in his tracks as he saw Olivia on her cell phone, scribbling and doodling on a post-it as she talked.
She looked up at him and held up a finger, and she said, "That sounds great, Ryan. Thank you so much. And if nothing happens, I'll think of something else." She hung up and smirked at Elliot.
"What?" he asked.
"Guess who just agreed to take the defense attorney from hell out to dinner tonight?" she asked, feeling proud of herself.
Elliot laughed. "Poor Ryan," he said, shaking his head. "He must really like you."
"He really likes us, and the fact that we're getting married," she said with a shrug. "He told me he'd do anything he had to do to keep her away from you."
Elliot chuckled. "That's a true friend, right there," he said. "Speaking of friends, uh, have you seen Fin yet?"
Olivia pointed toward Cragen's office. "He's been in there for an hour. I haven't heard any yelling, but it can't be good."
"I'll be right back," Elliot said, rising. He walked over to the office door, knocked, and entered when he heard a mumbled voice tell him to go in. He looked at Cragen, and then at Fin, and he sat. "I have something to say," he said.
Cragen folded his arms, and Fin nodded.
Elliot looked at Fin and said, "Whatever they're offering you in Narcotics, man, it's not worth leaving your friends behind, is it?" He lowered his eyes. "I hope not, anyway. Before you make a final decision, I need to tell you that it wouldn't be the same without you. You're the only one I trust with Liv besides myself, and God forbid I'm not around, I need you there. Munch will flip if you leave him the way his last two partners did, and I think I speak for all of us when I say the way you are, your jokes and your attitude, you break up the monotony around here."
Fin blinked and stared at Elliot. "Elliot, man, I…"
"I'm not done," Elliot said. "I don't know if that has anything to do with money, or if Jeffries really did get to you, but I need you here. I do. You're the best friend I've got, besides Liv, and without you around I'm gonna be in big trouble. I'll start talking to her, the way I would talk to you, and you know how hard she hits."
Fin chuckled. "El, listen to me for a minute." He nodded at Cragen, then looked back at Elliot. "Cap ain't letting me go anywhere. He made me realize I was leavin' for all the wrong reasons. I need to be here. But, uh, what you said…it was pretty cool, man."
Elliot smiled. "That's what friends are for, Fin." He slapped him on the shoulder and got up. "Sorry I interrupted."
"While you're here," Cragen said as he handed him a piece of yellow paper and said, "Take this. Go. Be careful. And don't get personally involved."
Elliot looked down and let out a small gasp. They got a call from Trinity Prep, the school at which he had just dropped his son off, where his other kids were. He left the office, grabbed his keys, and shot Olivia a look.
She rose quickly, not liking the look in his eyes, and followed him.
Their job was about to get harder.
A/N: Oh, my! What happened? Does Ryan really pick up Gaffney? What happens when Casey finds out? Review here, or on Twitter: TMG212