Hey guys!

I am here with a new update and maaaan, I think it's the longest one I've done! It's EMOTIONAL!

Enjoy xoxo

Keeping Promises

Part 13

Sunday passed in a blur; Elliot went to church as he said he would do, then he, the kids, and Olivia spent the rest of the day just hanging out together; playing board games and watching movies, Maureen included as she had come over and spent the day over as well. Any anxiety and worries were washed away as the day went on and for once, Olivia didn't have a moment where she shed some tears. She had actually laughed throughout the course of the day, and for Elliot, her laughter was music to his ears.

But then Monday rolled around, and that brought with it a slew of mixed feelings in the household – excitement because it was Christmas Eve, sadness because it was the first Christmas without the kids mother, sadness because both the Stablers and Olivia would be going to visit the graves of those who meant so much to them.

Elliot took Olivia to her appointment as planned, and after some tests were run, she was glad to be given a clean bill of health; the doctor gave her the all clear and told her that she was free to return to work on her next scheduled day, which was the day after Christmas. She was also given the all clear to drive, which made her feel a lot better as she loved that independence and not having to rely on people for anything. After the doctors visit, she had Elliot drop her off at her apartment, and she promised him that she would call him later and let him know for sure whether or not she was coming over.

Upon returning to Queens, Elliot and the kids got changed and he got Eli dressed, before they then loaded up into the car to go. They stopped at the store to grab some of Kathy's favorite flowers – daisies and roses – before then making their way to the cemetery. Once Elliot arrived, he spotted Maureen in her car as she had met them there, so he parked beside her before getting out. Dickie got Eli's carrier out and handed it to Elliot, who thanked him before walking around to greet Maureen as she got out of her own car. He looked at his older kids; all of them had flowers in their hands and had the most solemn looks on their faces. Despite the emotions of the day, they all insisted on doing this, especially Kathleen as she was sure it would help them in their healing process.

Elliot walked with them over to Kathy's large headstone; there was the most beautiful picture of her smiling, and the engraving read; 'Kathy Stabler; A Loving Wife, Mother, Sister, Daughter, and Nurse. Forever missed and loved. 1966-2007'

The kids all put their flowers down before looking at each other. Elliot could see their hesitation, so he took a breath before speaking;

"We can all just sit down together, and everyone taken their time and say whatever they want…or, we can just come sit here one at a time and talk; whatever you guys want to do." He told them, giving them all supportive smiles. This was difficult for them all, but he knew that they could get through it together as a family.

The children all chose the latter option as they all wanted to be alone when they spoke to their mother. Lizzie decided to go first, so the others went and waited by the cars while she had her turn. Dickie followed up after his twin, then Kathleen and lastly Maureen, who stayed a little longer as she was the eldest and had a lot to say. After Maureen returned, Elliot made his way over with Eli's carrier in tow, and knelt down in front of Kathy's headstone. He arranged the flowers that they'd laid down and put Eli's carrier down as well, lowering the blanket enough so that the little boy would be visible.

He took a breath, then he spoke;

"Hey Kath – it's me…and Eli; look how big he's getting; we're getting close to the six week appointment and I'm sure he's right exactly where he needs to be with the way he eats – he's been such a great little dude, and he's helping us through this. I know you're watching him, and I'm just hoping that you'll continue to be a guiding light for him as he gets older. I promise I'll tell him all about you as he gets older, and I'll bring you him here regularly; he will know you – I promise."

He swallowed a bit and blinked back the tears as he sat down properly. He needed to talk and get all of this out – now.

"I went to church yesterday; I'm sure you saw – but I did, because…Katie said something really important the other night; she mentioned that some of your clothes and other things that we donated could be beneficial to others, to make them happy…our Katie said that, can you believe it? When she said it, it made me think back to the hospital, when the doctors came to me about your choice to be an organ donor – I didn't even know that, but it's just like you; plotting a way to help others even when you're gone. Anyway, it's interesting, you've helped give life and happiness to people even when you're gone; it's just like you, and it's one of the reasons I am forever grateful to know someone like you; you really have changed my life and perspective on a lot of things, and you made me into a much better man. I think…me and you knew what it really was, and we tried so hard for so long, but we were babies raising babies and then we just grew up, and we did the best we could – even this little guy we've got here is great, perfect almost; I can't thank you enough for being the best mother ever to our kids, and for being the best wife; I never deserved you, but I am so grateful to have had you and I'm sorry for taking you for granted."

He sniffled and wiped his eyes, before taking a breath and speaking again;

"I love you; I always have and I always will – and I just…I know that you want us all to move on, and want us all to be happy. It won't happen overnight, but we'll get there; but please, I hope you know how much I loved you, and I hope you know it'll never change because you gave me five beautiful miracles; the reasons that I get up and I carry on….thank you."

He paused for a second as a sensation came over him; a chill ran down his spine and the tears in his eyes seemed to blink away. Kathy could hear him – and he felt it in his soul that she was agreeing with him, and that regardless of the situation, she loved him too and always would. He closed his eyes for a moment to compose himself, before speaking again…

"Olivia's been taking really good care of all of us; she comes over a few times a week and has dinner with us, talks to the kids, helps with Eli. I can tell something's up with her but she won't tell me; maybe nudge her in the right direction and make her talk to me will ya?" he let out a laugh before going serious; "I know a lot of our arguments sometimes centered around her, and I'm sorry for never opening up to you like I did her; I guess because we saw the same thing day in and day out, it was easier to open up to her rather than put the horrors in your head. You gotta know that she always fought for us – sometimes harder than we did, but she did. I know you two were never best friends, but she respected you a lot, and…and I just…I want her to be alright too; I know this is affecting her more than she's letting on, and I just care about her and want her to talk to me."

He didn't want to say how deep the feelings went; complex, intense feelings for his partner that were slowly coming to the surface again. However, it seemed that Kathy knew, because the chill went down his spine again and he swore he heard the softest voice whisper;

"It's okay Elliot; I know."

He knew what that meant; she had known all along. He closed his eyes, and he swore he could see her in his head; smiling, nodding her head, speaking softly; "No guilt…just live."

'No guilt; just live' – Kathy used to say that all the time; usually it was when she was on one of her health kicks and ended up giving into the temptation of carbs and chocolates, or the times when Maureen or Kathleen were having a dilemma and contemplating decisions.

"…no guilt…just live."

And now she was telling him not to feel guilty, and to just live.

He blinked back his tears again, yet a smile was on his face. She approved of him moving on, and that was nice to know. He certainly wasn't going to move on too fast as things were still raw, but Kathy was okay up there, and she was pleased to know that they were all doing alright. He felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, and he made a mental note to thank Olivia for suggesting this and he figured that maybe it could become their yearly tradition – visit Kathy's grave on Christmas Eve.

He smiled softly at the picture on her headstone, nodding his head;

"No guilt; just live – I got the message…" he chuckled a bit and let out a breath; "Merry Christmas Kath; we love you, and we'll see you soon…just, keep looking out for us, and Olivia please."

A cold breeze whipped around him, causing him to shiver slightly; she heard him, and she planned to do exactly what he'd asked – look out for them and Olivia.

He stood up and brushed off his jeans, before grabbing hold of Eli's carrier. He headed back over to the cars and suggested that they go get some pizza, and the kids definitely agreed straight away as they felt like they could use it after the emotional hour they'd just had. They loaded up into the cars before driving off together, all of them feeling like weights had been lifted off of them.

They would be okay; always be okay.

Meanwhile in the uptown Manhattan apartment complex, the brunette detective had just finished getting dressed in warmer clothes for her venture to the cemetery to see her mother. It was getting late into the afternoon and the temperatures were dropping further than they already had dropped, so Olivia knew that she best bundle up to be warm in the cold temperatures. She threw on some jeans and boots, and a long-sleeved thermal top underneath her navy blue NYPD sweatshirt. She clipped her badge and off duty weapon to her belt, before then putting on her long coat. She grabbed the flowers and her keys, before finally heading out of the apartment.

The drive to the cemetery was relatively short; upon arrival, Olivia parked her car before getting out and walking a little ways into the area to find her mother's headstone. There was an overcast accompanying the cold weather, but it was getting a little darker due to the fact that it was close to the time for nightfall to dawn upon them. Olivia didn't particularly want to be in a cemetery in the dark, so she figured she would make this as quick as possible.

She sighed when she came across her mother's headstone; 'Beloved Mother. Serena Benson. February 3 1944 – December 10 2000'

It had been eight years and she still missed her mother. Despite the abuse she'd suffered at the hands of her mother while growing up, they had mended their relationship and worked on it once she became an adult. They had really been in a great place when the inevitable happened, and while Olivia had come to terms with her mother and the alcoholism years ago, this never got any easier.

"Hey Mom, how ya doing?" she whispered as she sat cross legged in front of the headstone. She placed the flowers on top of the stone, before pulling her coat a bit tighter in a bid to shield herself from the bitter December cold that plagued the city this time of year.

"I know I talk to you often, but this always feels a little closer – coming here, seeing your stone; it's reminds me a lot of how we used to hang out on Christmas Eve once things got better…I miss that, and I really miss you; there's so much going on now Mom and I just…I need to get it out."

She took a deep breath and folded her arms across her stomach, before speaking softly;

"Elliot…you know Elliot; I talk to you about him a lot, and I want you to know that this past year, things have been so great between us – they have been great; we're tighter than we've ever been and it's…it's something; he's my best friend in the whole wide world, but somethings lately, I just can't talk to him about because I don't know if I even have the right to do so; he tells me to talk to him but this is too hard."

She paused briefly, taking a moment to compose herself and swallow the lump in her throat. She took a breath;

"I was taking his wife to one of her last doctor's appointments last month and we got into a car accident; hit by a drunk driver that ran a red light. Honestly Mom, those were the scariest moments in my life; and mind you, his wife was a good eight months pregnant with their fifth child; so yeah…pretty scary. Anyway, I wasn't hurt that bad, just some scrapes and bruises and cuts, but the driver hit on her side so she was hurt more. I was so afraid, Mom, but I managed to get a grip and snap into cope mode – I radioed for help, and I helped to keep her stable and I stayed with her until they could get her out of the car; when Elliot called, she…she told him that I was…I was taking really good care of her."

She was getting to a tough moment; one she hadn't really thought about lately as it was almost too painful. She wiped her eyes with her thumb, before composing herself again to continue;

"I knew something wasn't right; her eyes didn't look right, her skin felt weird, but I thought if we could just get to the hospital, everything would be okay. They got her out and we got her into the ambulance, and she was leaning on me for support as she gave birth, right there; a healthy little boy…"

She blinked back the tears;

"But then…she…she didn't feel good so I let her lay down, and then she told me to hold the baby and I did…and…and…then she just started telling me to take care of Elliot and the kids, and told me how grateful she was for how I've always looked out for Elliot…I kept trying to tell her that she would be okay, but she made me promise to take care of them all…and I promised…and then she…she…oh God."

And just like that, she finally started to cry. All of the raw emotion she had been feeling came pouring out yet again, and this time, there was no stopping any of it;

"They took her as soon as we got to the hospital, and I was just there…holding onto this little bundle; the nurses had to help me with him and luckily, he was totally fine, but Kathy…the doctor came out a short while later, and…and he said they did all they could but she was gone. Mom, you have no idea how I felt in that moment – that's when this guilt started to creep over me…and then Elliot came, and the kids came later, and…their worlds completely shattered and I felt so fucking guilty."

She was crying some more now, speaking through the heavy sobs that were escaping her body. It didn't matter that it was freezing, didn't matter that she was sitting here talking to a headstone and had nobody around. All that mattered was this moment; she was letting everything out to the one person she felt she could…her mother.

"I know I did everything I could, used all the training I have ever had, had paramedics talk me through what to do and I did everything, but I couldn't save her and…and I feel like if I had never even volunteered to take her, this wouldn't have happened; Elliot would have his wife, their kids would have their mother, their baby would have the woman that was supposed to nurse him and watch him grow; their world wouldn't be shattered…but…"

She paused, weighing her options of saying this out loud – saying it would make it more real, ignoring it would allow room for her to pretend it wasn't the truth.

But what happens when you ignore something? It just gets bigger and bigger, until it's too big to ignore.

She sniffled a bit as she calmed down, before speaking ever so quietly;

"But…I also felt guilty because I…I used to wish that one day he would come in and tell me he was getting a divorce, because then he'd be free to be with me."

Bullseye.

"I sound pathetic and like an awful person, don't it?" She scoffed; "It was years ago…shit, Mom, you knew I had feelings for him, you knew before I did and that was within the first year of our partnership. Well…I used to just think that maybe if I just ignored them, they'd go away…how stupid was I? Shit like that doesn't go away does it? Over the years, it just got stronger and maybe around the fourth year of our partnership, my stupid selfish mind used to just make up scenarios – maybe he would come in and tell me they were divorcing and maybe, maybe he would look over there and want me? Even when he told me they were divorcing, I felt sad for him because he looked so lost and defeated, but inside, the glimmer of hope got a little brighter…but then things got all complicated with us; shit happened, we said things, we hurt each other, I left for a long time…then I came back and I just figured it was best to let it go…and then, then he went back to her, so there was no point."

She shook her head, a defeated look on her face as tears slipped down her cheeks again;

"But they say when you love someone, all you want is for them to be happy – even if it's not with you? Well, these last few months of her pregnancy, he looked so happy about being home again and having another child, and his happiness means the world to me so I just…I let it all go, and besides, our friendship is back to where always was so it's all good you know; I'd rather have him as my best friend than not have him at all."

She then looked at the ground again; "But I just feel guilty now Mom; is this the punishment for those thoughts and wishes all those years ago? I never wanted things to be like this; why couldn't the car have rammed us on my side? Why is she gone and I'm still here, Mom?"

She closed her eyes as tears continued to fall and drip off of her face. She felt the cold air whip around her, and she shook slightly, but she swore she could hear her mother's voice in her head, speaking in the most soothing voice;

"It was never your fault Olive."

She opened her eyes again and peered at her mother's headstone; "I tried Mom; I really did."

Another gust of wind, and Olivia saw a few flakes of snow start to fall. She shuddered a bit at the cold air and figured that she best get somewhere warm. She did feel a little better with getting everything out and the guilt wasn't as bad, and her mother's voice did help her to feel a little better. She moved the flowers into the little pot beside her mother's stone, before leaning over and kissing the granite, whispering;

"I love you Mom; Merry Christmas…and thank you."

She stood up properly and brushed the grass off of her clothes, before then making her way back to her car. She slipped in and started the engine, before taking some moments to gather her thoughts. She felt extremely emotional and wasn't exactly up for being in her tiny apartment all by herself tonight. But on the flip side of things, she wasn't exactly in the mood for being with Elliot and the kids either. She loved them all dearly like they were her own family, but she just wasn't up for much.

She reached to the passenger seat and rummaged through her bag before pulling out her phone. She scrolled through her contacts, then pressed 'Call' when she reached the person she was looking for;

"Hello to my brunette badass best friend."

"Hey reddie-blondie," Olivia rolled her eyes before continuing; "Uh…are you at home?"

"Yeah, just getting there actually…" Olivia bit back a laugh when she heard Casey curse and groan to herself; "Anyway…you okay?"

"Can I come over?"

"Of course you can, you don't need to ask." Casey replied, causing a small smile to come across Olivia's face. She could always count on Casey, whom would no doubt make everything better.

"I'm on my way." She replied. The two then bid each other farewell before Olivia then hung up. She took one more breath, before then pulling onto the road and heading straight for Casey's place.

She arrived at the Upper East Side apartment complex shortly after hanging up; luckily traffic wasn't too bad and she was able to get there relatively quickly. She dropped Casey a text to let her know that she was parking the car, and just as she'd parked in the spot beside Casey's familiar car, she spotted her good friend waving at her from the stair entrance of the building. She hopped out of the vehicle and pressed the button for it to lock, before rushing up the stairs and straight into the arms of her friend, who squeezed her tightly and pecked her cheek.

"You look cosy." Olivia replied as she let go of her, taking in the ADAs appearance which consisted of leggings, a hoodie, and slipper boots.

"I feel cosy; it was needed after that flight I had," Casey grumbled before scanning over her friend's appearance; "I feel better now that I can lay eyes on you; that son of a bitch got you good didn't he?" She eyed the fading bruises around Olivia's neck and winced slightly.

"Not hard enough; he hit like a girl," Olivia smirked, "Anyway…now that I'm here, you can stop blowing up my phone."

"Well I had to keep calling you to make sure you were okay, and I was wanting to get a read on how your weekend with the Stablers was going." Casey responded with a simple shrug as she led her friend through the open door and into the lobby. As they walked towards the elevator, Olivia whipped out her phone and quickly shot a text to Elliot;

'5:15pm – Hey; I'm feeling a little down, so I think I'll pass on Christmas etc. Thanks for the offer; send my love to the kids'

She put her phone aside as they stepped into the elevator, which they managed to catch before it closed. She leaned against the wall while Casey pressed the button to take them up to the fifth floor, which was where she lived.

"It's been a really long few days," Olivia sighed, looking over at her; "Listen…have you got wine?"

"You know it, I always have wine," the elevator pinged and the two stepped off; "Is this one of those nights where we cry into the wine glass?"

"It might be after I unload on you; consider yourself my shrink."

"I'm gonna need my own shrink after dealing with you," Casey joked as she unlocked the door to her apartment, "Come on; make yourself at home and I'll get the wine." She closed the door once Olivia stepped inside, then made her way over to the kitchen area while Olivia hung her coat up on the rack and left her boots by the door before making her way through the beautiful apartment to the living room area. She placed her badge and off-duty weapon onto the coffee table, then sat down and curled her legs under her.

"Okay; it's wine o'clock." Casey smirked as she returned some moments later. She handed the glass over to her friend before sitting down beside her with her own glass in hand. Olivia thanked her before taking a sip of the liquid, smiling to herself as it immediately helped make her feel a little better. The two of them talked for quite a while; a lengthy discussion about Casey's law school reunion which Olivia was pleased to hear had been a success throughout the weekend, and Olivia filled her in about what happened with the hostage situation and how she ended up spending the weekend with the Stablers, which then led to a whole conversation about her weekend had been which Casey was practically dying to hear about. She had always had a hunch about the underlying feelings between the two long time partners, so the fact that Olivia had just spent the weekend there was something that she liked to hear. She knew things were a little crazy now and that things were still raw, but she was wondering where things would go now between them in the future.

"I'm glad you had a great weekend with them," Casey paused for a second as she refilled their wine glasses as they were now on their third glass each; "But I see your eyes; what else is going on in that pretty head of yours?"

Olivia sighed and took another gulp of her wine before speaking, "Where do I start?"

"Wherever you want."

She nodded. There were a few moments of silence, before she then spoke; "Survivor's guilt."

A perplexed expression came across Casey's face, but before she could ask what Olivia meant by that, Olivia explained;

"You know when you've been through something, and you feel guilty for having survived?"

Casey nodded, then it dawned on her; "You feel guilty for surviving that crash?"

Olivia nodded, sighing; "And no matter how many times I tell myself or even hear that it wasn't my fault and all that, I can't shake it."

"But Olivia, you got her out of that crash – she died after the fact."

"From injuries sustained in a crash that happened when I was driving; the drunk driver hit on her side," Olivia pointed out, tracing her finger around the rim of her glass; "I know I did everything, but…Casey she had a family; a husband and five kids that still need her and-"

"A husband that only went home because she was pregnant."

"They were happy."

"I'd be happy too if I was having another kid, but we all know who he really wanted to have another kid with…" Casey muttered before sighing; "Olivia, have you ever thought for a second that maybe it wasn't your time to go yet?"

Tears filled Olivia's eyes and her bottom lip trembled slightly; "But…but why was it hers?"

"Nobody can answer that."

"But I'm on the front line every single fucking day, Casey; everyday," Olivia burst out, putting her glass down onto the table; "Every morning, I leave my apartment wondering whether or not I'll come home at a decent hour, or if I'll fall in the line of duty; the risk I take every day because I took the oath to protect and serve…" She shook her head as tears ran down her face; "Kathy was safe, she was a nurse; I'm a cop, I've been stabbed in the arm, had my neck slashed, narrowly dodged bullets, been a hostage and had guns pointed directly at my head…the front lines, every single day…"

She sniffled a bit;

"How is it that she's gone and I'm not?"

Casey shuffled closer, placing a hand on her back before speaking quietly;

"Olivia, you did everything you could; think about all the other people that you did everything for but couldn't save-"

"They weren't Kathy!"

Casey paused, before speaking; "You should not feel guilty for being alive; we don't know why Kathy is gone but maybe she was needed for something that we can't understand, but you should not feel guilty when you've done everything you could, Olivia."

"But why wasn't everything enough?"

"Goddammit Olivia," Casey shuffled to the floor, kneeling in front of her friend; "Listen to me Benson, and you listen good."

She grabbed her arms gently, before speaking;

"Your quick thinking kept her alive for way longer than she should have been considering the injuries, your quick thinking allowed for Elliot to speak to his wife one last time. You gave her fluids, you kept her stable, you helped deliver her baby; you did everything until it was out of your hands. The internal bleeding was one thing, they could have fixed that, but the stress of the accident and the stress of her giving birth – she hemorrhaged Olivia, and that was something that wasn't your fault; hell, the hemorrhaging could have happened to anyone, it might have happened anyway. It's heartbreaking that Kathy is gone and I'm sure that he and the kids miss her so much, but you are here. You are the one helping them to pick those pieces up and move on, you have no fucking reason to feel guilty when you – as a police officer – used everything you learned to help her for as long as you could. For once in your life, stop thinking that you can save the world and fix every situation; you of all people should know that we can't control everything, and no matter how much we fight like hell to fix something, sometimes that bad outcome happens and sometimes the good one does. But what we can't do is beat ourselves up for it and take it to heart; else we won't be able to live."

She reached up and stroked away the tears that were falling fast down the bronzed cheeks of her friend; "And Liv, you one hundred percent deserve to live; you've spent your whole life trying to right the wrongs of the past, thinking you don't deserve something over someone else, throwing yourself in danger because you think your life doesn't matter because of the past – dammit Olivia, you fucking matter; so stop beating yourself up about this, and remember that you promised Kathy that you would take care of her family, which you have been doing a damn good job of."

She paused for a second, then spoke again; "And stop feeling guilty for feeling the way you do about him; that wasn't the cause of this – you and I both know that."

And with that, Olivia burst into tears.

Casey wrapped her in her arms and held her tightly, soothingly stroking her arm as she clung to her. She whispered a soft 'shh' sound in her hair as she held her. She knew Olivia needed to get all of this out, and judging by the intensity of the sobs, she had been holding this in for a while.

Casey wasn't at all going to leave her like this. She clutched her tighter as they leaned back on the couch together, and she simply held her as tight as possible and refused to let her go.

It was nearly nine at night by the time the Stabler clan finally made it back to the family home in Queens. Following the visit to Kathy's grave which had lifted some weights from their shoulders, they had all gone for pizza before walking around the malls in Manhattan, shopping for hours and picking up Christmas gifts for each other and a few for Olivia. After shopping, they stopped off at Maureen's apartment so that she could park her car in the parking garage and grab some clothes as she was staying at the family home for a few days while her boyfriend went to see his parents, which she had declined to do. Afterwards, she jumped into Elliot's SUV with the others and finally, they returned to the family home, just in time really as the snow had started to really come down. Eli was already asleep after having had such a full day, and so Elliot immediately went upstairs to put him to bed while the four older kids headed up to get changed as well.

Elliot managed to change Eli's diaper and get him dressed in a Christmas theme onesie, all without waking him up. He then kissed his forehead before tucking him into his blue crib with his little stuffed animal beside him. After making sure the baby monitor was all set, he quickly changed into a pair of sweats and an NYPD t-shirt, before heading back downstairs to help his kids. Visiting Kathy's grave and talking to her had helped him tremendously, and while he knew there was still quite a ways to go before he felt a hundred percent better, this was a good start. Having his kids around was just the push he needed to carry on.

He turned and headed into the lounge; the kids had already returned downstairs and were dressed in their matching Christmas themed pajamas. He chuckled to himself as he took a moment to watch them, and for a moment, he was taken back to when they were young children with the magic of Christmas still in them. He always found it nice that they had made the matching pajamas thing into their little tradition amongst themselves; he even often heard them joking that the tradition would continue even after they were all grown up with children, something that warmed his heart yet freaked him out as he hated that they were all growing up so fast. He had worked so hard over these years to keep the streets safe for them, but in doing so, he had also missed a lot of their lives.

He thought about the little miracle that was upstairs fast asleep in his crib. It wasn't ideal – a newborn at home while he had a twenty-three year old that was already out on her own – but Eli was almost like that second chance; to be a better father than he had been for the first four.

"Hey Dad," Lizzie's voice broke him from his thoughts, and he focused his gaze on his youngest daughter, whom was wrapping a gift that was for Olivia; "What time is Olivia coming over? I just wanna try and get all her presents wrapped before she gets here."

"Shit, I haven't even had a chance to talk to her with us running around for the last few hours, and she did go see her Mom's grave today so I'm not even sure what she's doing," he whipped out his phone and pressed the button, smiling as he saw a message waiting from her; "She text a few hours ago but I'm just seeing it now, let's see what…"

He stopped as his eyes scanned the message. His heart dropped and his eyes took on a sad appearance, one that didn't go unnoticed by the kids.

"Dad, what is it? Is she okay?" Kathleen asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know, I'm gonna go see." He made his way into the foyer and slipped on his shoes, before grabbing his coat; "Maureen, you're in charge; don't open the door and keep an eye on Eli."

Before the kids could even respond, Elliot was rushing out of the house. He knew she said she'd think about it, but he could sense that something was off and he just wanted to see where her head was at.

He hopped into his SUV, then headed back towards the bridge that would take him back into Manhattan.

Another update completed you guys! Please, leave me some feedback and let me know what you all thought about this. Until next time xoxo