A/N:Listen, boy, I don't want to see you let a good thing slip away. (Tell Her About It- Billy Joel)
DISCLAIMER: I do not own the characters as written on the TV show, but this version of them? All mine.
"Man," Elliot groaned, shaking his head fast as he held one hand over his stomach. "I don't remember last year's coaster being that…" he lurched a bit. "Fast."
Olivia chuckled. "Maybe it was the two hot dogs, bag of popcorn, and half-ton of cotton candy you inhaled before you got on it."
He rolled his eyes at her, but nodded. "Kids are in the bouncy house," he told her, clearing his throat. "What should we adults do?" He grinned at her.
"Not whatever just popped into your head," she teased, wagging a playful finger at him. She looked around and then grabbed his hand, beginning to pull him toward a small booth.
He took one look at the sign and pulled back, yanking on her hand. She was stronger than he gave her credit for and still tugged him along.
"Uh, listen, kid, I don't buy into all of this…" he stopped when the dark-haired, tan-skinned woman stood up. "Um...stuff."
The woman gestured for the pair to sit. "Welcome to Madame Zamora's, I am Madame Zamora." She nodded at the two skeptical detectives. "Relax, let go of any doubt, and each of you...give me your right hand."
Olivia glanced at Elliot, her eyes telling him they were in for a good laugh or two, as she set her hand down into the woman's open palm.
"Now," she turned both hands over and studied them carefully, humming and nodding with an occasional tongue click. "Together, yes?"
"Um," Elliot blinked. "What do you mean."
"You two. Together?" Madame Zamora looked at each of them. "Palms don't lie."
"Well, we're...partners." Elliot shrugged and laughed awkwardly.
"You," she said to Olivia, "Beautiful woman, beautiful." She saw Olivia blush and shot a hard look at Elliot. "You must tell her more often, she should know."
He smiled at Olivia and nodded. "Duly noted," he said with a lick of his lips, and then laughed when Olivia rolled her eyes.
Madame Zamora continued. "Your Love will heighten your consciousness, you connect highly on a mental level and are extremely sexually compatible."
Olivia coughed hard and whipped her hand out of the fortune teller's grip.
Elliot held in a laugh as he leaned forward. "Go on."
Zamora spoke again. "You share a love of art, culture, you both hate to have restrictions and rules, you have incredibly similar needs, and require more from each other than you're ready to give." She eyed Olivia and then Elliot. "Be ready, now." It came like a command. She peered down at Elliot's hand again. "You're both energetic and enthusiastic, your relationship will never become stagnant since you both like to experiment, you're concerned with each other's wants and needs, and your own inner desires. You communicate with each other in deep, profound ways, better than with anyone else."
Olivia looked at Elliot again, catching his eyes. "Yeah," she whispered. She turned her head toward the woman. "But we aren't…"
Zamora cut her off with a harsh grin. "You are both concerned with the betterment of the world, you," she pointed to Olivia, "Always coming up with new ideas and theories, while you," she turned to Elliot, "Tend to do your best to avoid conflict unless necessary. You have a volatile temper and she…" she turned again to Olivia. "You, my dear, are calm and focused. You are born to balance each other out, when he is indecisive you help him figure out which way to turn. And when you are stressed or upset, he knows exactly how to smooth you out. Yes?" She looked from one to the other, smiling.
"Damn," Elliot slapped his left hand on the table. "Dead fucking on, isn't she, kid?"
Olivia nodded dumbly, unable to fathom how all of that could be told by looking at their hands.
Zamora let go of Elliot's hand and leaned back in her chair. "You both should certainly take on other projects together than simply your personal relationship," she grinned. She waved her skeletal hand and said, "You can make great things happen using your hearts, your shared urge for progress and the greater good. You two are an extraordinary duo for standing up for social justice or radical change in the community." She held out both of her hands, palms up, and closed her eyes."I feel that you constantly stimulate one another's ideas, communication styles, skills, and sexual energies. You bring a certain balance to any undertaking that almost no other person is able to achieve. Hold onto each other."
Olivia wiped away a tear, confused as to why she'd started crying. "Wow," she whispered.
Elliot's hand had crept across to hers, and he squeezed it as he swallowed back his own emotion. "We will," he said to the woman. "Thank you for...this."
Zamora opened her eyes and looked at him. "Do you now buy into this bullshit?" She asked the question as she held out her hand expectantly.
He chuckled and gave her an apologetic look, slipping a ten dollar bill into her hand. He stood up first and then looked down at Olivia. He ran a hand down his face as he pulled her out of her chair and led her to the door of the small, wooden booth. "That was…"
"Scary," Olivia nodded, and she slowly pulled her hand out of his. "Everything she said was so…"
"Right," Elliot scoffed. "Except she thought we were married." He laughed softly, reaching for her hand again, but didn't take it. "That stuff about our, uh, sexual compatibility…" he wagged his eyebrows.
She rolled her eye and laughed, slapping him in the chest. "Well, that's one thing we'll never…"
"Hey, kid," he interrupted, "I may be dragging through the tail-end of a marriage, here, but I can admit…" he grabbed her arm and spun her around. "She was right, wasn't she?" He licked his lips again, looked around, and lowered his voice. "I could tell you every sexual fantasy I have and you won't think I'm crazy, guaranteed you've got some of the same ones. She said...well, you heard her, we ever start something like that, it's gonna be fucking incredible."
She couldn't help the smile or the seductive look in her eyes, but she cleared her throat and backed away from him. "Maybe," she tilted her head. "But we aren't starting anything like that now." She blinked away the thoughts and turned to look at the bouncy house. "Let's go get your kids. Your wife is…"
"She's got a lawyer," he heard himself say, and then he felt the weight of the words, for the first time. "This is…" he choked back a small sob. "This is really happening. I mean, it couldn't have come at a better time, but…" he fell into the wooden bench behind him and stared at his kids, laughing as they jumped and flipped on the large, yellow balloon. "What am I gonna do? What if she...if she takes my kids?"
Olivia's heart broke as she rushed to sit beside him. "You know that's not gonna happen." Her left hand ran down his back, then began to rub small circles, calming him. "You know she wouldn't do that to you, and you know that there isn't a single judge…"
"You've told me that already," he laughed. He took a deep breath and looked over his shoulder. "She was fucking right," he spat, and then turned his head toward Olivia. "Look at us. We're exactly who and what that crazy woman said we are, aren't we?"
Olivia bit her lip. "She was right about one thing," she whispered. "The way I am...when I'm with you…" she shook her head. "I've never had someone like you in my life before, someone who just…"
"Gets it," they both said, and their eyes locked for a moment. They felt the pull, then, one they couldn't fight. Closer they moved and both heads tilted slightly. They were so...so close.
"Daddy!" Dickie yelled, breaking them apart. He was running toward his father and Olivia fast, his siblings right behind him. "Dad! That was awesome!"
"Uncle Munch got in with us and he jumped once," Maureen started.
Kathleen laughed and said, "And that was it! He said he broke something and got right out! Spent the rest of the time sitting on a bench, just counting our jumps!"
"I won!" Lizzie squeaked.
Elliot looked at his kids and stood up, then kissed each one of them on the forehead. "Did you guys have fun?"
"Yeah!" They shouted the word together.
Dickie grabbed Olivia's hand and pulled her off of the bench. "We had a great time with you and Dad, Liv!"
"It was awesome," Maureen told her father, wrapping her hand around two of his fingers. "Are we going home now?"
Elliot looked at Olivia and then back down at his daughter. "We're going to dinner and to the movies, remember?"
"Is Liv coming?" Lizzie asked excitedly.
Again, Elliot's eyes shot to Olivia's. They stared at each other, something silent but so clear passed between them. "Yeah, sweetie," he looked down at his youngest girl. "Liv's coming."
A/N: I know this is short, but my home and family are recovering from major flooding. I wanted to get this updated for you. There is more coming this week. Thank you for being patient, and thank you for reading.
