So you all reviewed quite a bit, and here is the chapter that you were promised. For those who don't sign in to review, I do answer each and every review. Sometimes I even give subtle hints to upcoming chapters based on the reviews, so its good to sign in. I also want to respond to some of what you all say to clarify things or thank you, but I can't. No pressure, but if you ever feel you want to ask me something in a review, just know that if it is signed I will respond, the site doesn't let me respond to unsigned reviews. So onto the chapter you have all been waiting for. Listen to Already Gone by Kelly Clarkson throughout the chapter. (youtube it. The site won't display the link. The VEVO version is the best)I listened to it while I wrote this chapter , so hopefully it will help you channel some things I was not able to express in my writing. I hope you all enjoy!
Two days later and Elliot hadn't heard a word from Olivia. He returned home to an empty house every day. Lizzie had finished her summer classes and decided to spend the rest of her time in Queens with her mother until school started. Elliot opened the door and disarmed their house alarm. He turned around and was surprised when he heard the squeals of his baby girl as she ran towards him.
"Daddy!" she exclaimed and Elliot swooped her up into his arms.
He hugged her tight and she squeezed him back, and he promised that he would never take her love for granted again. "Where's Mommy?"
"Kitchen!" she exclaimed and pointed towards the kitchen.
Elliot headed into the kitchen and found Olivia at the sink washing dishes. He slipped his free arm around her waist and pulled her into his embrace. He kissed her cheek. "I'm so glad you're home."
Olivia pulled out of his arms. "You're dinner is in the microwave."
"K. I'll eat after I put the munchkin to bed."
Olivia nodded. "We need to talk."
"Sure," Elliot nodded. "Anything you want. Later tonight?"
"Yea."
"Daddy," Kayla said tapping her father's shoulder.
"Yes, Princess?" Elliot replied, giving her his full attention.
"Thursty."
"Ok. Daddy will get you something to drink."
"She has a sippy cup in there with some milk. You can give her that. It's too late for juice."
"Ok," Elliot replied as he headed towards the fridge.
"I'm going to go shower, so…"
"Alright. See you in a bit."
xXx
Elliot tucked Kayla into bed and kissed her cheek good night. "I love you," he whispered over her sleeping form.
He turned off the lights and closed the door behind him. He headed down the hall to his bed room and found Olivia sitting on their bed Indian style. He walked over and sat down beside her.
"El-"
"Liv-"
They started at the same time. Elliot chuckled. "Let me go first."
"Elliot-"
"Please," he said taking her hand in his. "Just let me say what I have to say and then the floor is all yours." Olivia nodded. "I love you. I love you so much and I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry for everything I put you through everything I've done, and I know I've made some mistakes, but I'm so glad that you're here, and that you've given me yet another chance to make things right. And-"
"Elliot. Stop." Elliot froze and looked at her. She pulled her hand away from his and reached under the pillow and pulled out a manila envelope. "I need you to sign these," she placed them in his hand and Elliot stared at them in shock. "I'm going to maintain primary custody of Kayla, but you can come and see her anytime you want. I'm not going to keep her from you or vice versa. You're her father and she…" her voice hitched. "She adores you. I won't make this any harder on her than it has to be. We can switch off on Holidays, and decide amicably who she spends her time with. I just don't want to take this to court. We'll split everything else down the middle. You keep your car I keep mine. We spit what's in the joint account and keep what's in our separate accounts, but I'm taking the house. It's in my name because of your credit and we used the money I had from selling my mother's apartment and what I had from her life insurance policy to buy it. So I think it's only fair that I keep it. You have until the end of August to find a new place. There's still a lease on my old apartment otherwise I would offer you that." She looked at him, and he couldn't stop looking at the envelope that now sat in his lap. "Elliot?"
Elliot had barely heard anything she said after she handed him the papers. He couldn't stop looking at them. He finally looked her in the eye. "How can you be so nonchalant about this? You act like you don't even care!"
"Did you? Did you care about me or your daughter when you were out drinking with the guys? When you were putting your children ahead of us? When you were fucking someone else in our home? Did you fucking care then?"
Elliot felt himself fill with rage. "I'm not signing this! I'm not giving up on this marriage."
"What marriage? You're cheating on me and I've already started seeing other people. This sham of a marriage is over, so please, just… sign the papers."
"No," he replied. He stood and tossed the papers on the floor.
She picked them up and stood toe to toe with him and placed them back in his hand. "Please. Just let me go. So I can find someone who will love me," she said with tears in her eyes. "You can go back to Kathy. Work it out with her."
"I don't want her. I want you Liv. It's always been you."
"Yea, then why have you gone back to her twice now?"
"I never slept with her that night. You have to believe me."
"I do, but I don't believe that if I didn't show up when I did you wouldn't have."
"That's not true. That's not true!" he shook his head. His eyes became bright with unshed tears. "I love you. I love you so much. Please," he begged as his tears flowed from his eyes.
Olivia allowed her tears to fall unchecked from her eyes. "If you love me. If you really truly love me much as you do-"
He took both of her hands in his. "I do. Oh, I do Liv. So, much. So much," he said as he kissed her fingers.
"Then you'll let me go," she finished softly. She pulled both of her hands from his, pulled off her engagement ring and placed it in his palm.
"No. This is your ring. I gave it to you on our wedding day. It's yours."
Tears filled her eyes once again. "I can't take your grandmother's ring."
He held the ring tight in his hand. "Olivia, I love you."
"No. Stop saying that. Just stop!" she exclaimed, frustrated at how carelessly he seemed to use that word. "You don't. You don't love me, because if you did, we wouldn't be here right now." He stared at her, with his own tears in his eyes, heartbroken because his wife didn't understand how much he loved her and he didn't know what to say to make her stay. He had fucked up. He knew that. She had given him chance after chance to make things right, and he had thrown each one back in her face. She swiped away her tears and turned her back on him. "There's some sheets right there and a pillow. You can sleep on the couch or in one of the kids' beds."
He nodded and picked up his sheets and headed out the door.
xXx
It took him four days to sign the papers. It had been the hardest thing he ever had to do. He wanted to hold out longer but he realized that he loved her too much to ask her to stay in a relationship where she wasn't happy, even if it meant that they were no longer together. He was tired of hurting her. Tired of seeing her cry. He knew he had to let her go, for her, not for him. He had left them on her bed that morning along with the ring before he took off for work and called his realtor 15 minutes later. Whether or not she had wanted the ring, it was hers. It was meant to be hers. He'd had it engraved for her, and when he'd slipped it on her perfectly manicured finger on that magical day it became hers. He had no plans to give it to any other woman and he didn't want to carry around another reminder of yet another failed marriage. It meant something to him, when he had made it hers. Now that she no longer wanted it, it meant nothing to him.
He stepped into the quiet brownstone he once called home and headed straight for the kitchen after resetting the alarm. He grabbed a beer and made his way to the living room to watch some TV.
He woke up to some infomercial on the latest kitchen device and was about to turn it off when he heard a strange sound. He turned it down lower and could hear the faint sound of someone crying. He followed the noise to the dining room and watched as his soon to be ex-wife swiped away her tears. Her wedding ring sat on the papers in front of her. She downed the vodka that was left in her cup and used a shaky hand to refill it. After she took another sip she picked up the pen and stared down at the papers in front of her. She let out a ragged sob and Elliot moved closer to her. She pressed down on the paper and her hand shook again. She felt Elliot's warm hand circle around hers and startled.
"Don't do this," He whispered.
"No," she shook her head adamantly and tried again.
"Something is clearly stopping you, Olivia. Listen to it. Listen to your heart."
"But, its broken," her voice cracked on the devastating word.
"Then we'll find a way to fix it. Just don't do it." Elliot slowly removed the pen from her hands and placed it down on the table. She fell into his arms and he embraced her wholly. He held her tight and thanked God for once again answering his prayers. He pulled her into his arms and carried her upstairs and into their bedroom.
xXx
The next morning Elliot woke up to find Olivia wide awake, staring up at the ceiling.
"Liv?" he asked skeptically, afraid that she may have changed her mind.
"If we're going to do this, there are going to have to be some ground rules."
"Such as?"
She finally rolled over to look at him. "I want you to come home after work. No more going out drinking with the guys. I need to know you're committed to me and our family and to making this work."
"Ok, what else?"
"Lizzie. If she is going to live with us, then she is going to have to respect me. School or no school, I'm not going to put up with the same bullshit as before. And I'm going to have to have some authority over her. She needs to listen to me, and if she disobeys me I need to have the right ground her. If she can't deal with that, then she can go back to live with her mother."
"Done. Is there more?"
"We start counseling. And we continue counseling until I say otherwise."
"Why until you say otherwise?"
"Because I know you, and once things start going well-if things start going well- you'll think we don't need it anymore when we really do, and really I'm just trying to avoid the argument we'll end up having then."
"Ok. Anything else?"
"Kathy."
"What about her?"
"She's not allowed here."
"Olivia…she's Lizzie's mother. I can't just…"
"Elliot!" she exclaimed, trying to hold in her anger. "This is our home. You guys already desecrated our couch, so I'm going to have to buy a new one. She came here and disrespected me in my own house. I don't want her near our daughter and this is her home. I got it for her to grow up in. Not to be terrorized in. I don't. Want Kathy. Here."
"I understand, but Olivia-"
"This isn't. Up. For. Discussion! None of this is. If you want a place where she can visit, then you can move out and get a place where she can, but as far as I'm concerned she isn't allowed here and, I swear to God, I will take out a restraining order if I have to."
"Fine, but is this how its going to be? Anytime I disagree with you or do something you don't want me to do are you going to force me to move out or threaten divorce?"
"No. But we've done things your way and look where it's got us? I think we need to try things my way for a change."
"Look, Olivia. I'm going to try to make you happy and I'm going to go along with your new 'rules,'" he air quoted, "but I still have to be true to myself and I have to think about my other four children as well."
"I understand."
"So we have an agreement?"
"Yes, I think we do."
I believe this is what many of you were hoping for, but these two still have quite a ways to go. Let me know your thoughts. PLEASE Review, and as always thank you all for reading.