Illusive Perception

(Chapter Twenty One: Man Of The House)

"El, stop. Than tickles," Olivia laughed half asleep.

Elliot walked his fingers playfully across the bulge of her belly, then smoothed his hand over the surface.

"Daddy loves you," he whispered softly against her skin as he kissed it.

Olivia groaned and pressed her hand against her lower abdomen.

"What is it? A contraction?" Elliot asked worried about his wife and baby girl.

"No, she is kicking under my ribs. And I have to pee again," Olivia said groaning again as she slid to the edge of the bed.

She walked across the room as she smoothed her hands over her belly to try and calm her daughter inside. "I really wish you wouldn't wake her up this early," Olivia said from the bathroom.

"I'm sorry. I always talk to her before I leave for work. I wouldn't want her to think daddy was mad at her or anything."

"El, she isn't even born yet," Olivia said smiling at him from around the door frame, "what could she possibly do to make you mad?"

"Nothing she could ever do could make me mad enough to stop talking to her. She is daddy's little girl."

Olivia smiled. "She is huh?"

"Oh yes, that has already been decided."

"I don't get a vote in this? What if she wants to be mommy's girl?"

"Well, she loves her mommy, too. But she is definitely daddy's girl."

"We can continue this discussion later."

"Okay," Elliot said kissing his wife as he headed down the hall to Preston's room to wake him, "I need to wake our son up anyway if I am going to get him to Kathy's and get to work on time."

"I still think it is silly to take him to a babysitter if I am home anyway. He isn't that much trouble, I could keep him. I'm his mother."

"Absolutely not," Elliot protested as he kissed his wife again. "You heard what your doctor said, she put you on bed rest until delivery to reduce the stress on mommy and baby. You are not even supposed to pick him up right now, Liv. How are you going to chase after him and lug him around all day?"

"I just feel like I am neglecting my son. I am staying home from work and still sending him to a babysitter. It doesn't feel right."

"Sweetheart, I promise you, once our little girl gets here safe and sound everything will return to normal. You will have six to eight weeks off work with two babies. Before you know it you will be begging for a babysitter."

"No, I want to keep Preston while I am home with her."

"Alright, but not until your doctor clears you to pick him up again. Right now holding him and carrying him around puts too much strain on you and her," he said kissing her belly. That reminds me….her, needs a name."

"I know she does, but I am not due for another four weeks. We still have time. I am so afraid that we are going to pick a name she will hate as she is older. She'll have this name her whole life, I just want to take the time to pick a good one."

"Tonight, we are going through the baby books again. There has to be something that we both agree on. Your homework today, check out baby girl names online and make a list of ones you like."

"My mission, should I choose to accept it?" She smiled and folded her arms in front of her as she leaned against the door and watched Elliot change Preston's diaper.

"I'm serious, Liv. We have known for almost four months that we are having a daughter, she should already have a name by now."

"Okay, I will make a list. But right now, I am going to make breakfast. That is one thing I can do even with a big belly. Good morning, Preston." Olivia combed her fingers through her son's sandy colored hair and kissed his forehead as Elliot dressed him for the day.

She headed down the hall and began breakfast as Elliot packed the diaper bag with plenty of diapers, a few toys, a bottle (for naptime), a sippy cup and an extra change of clothes just in case. He carried his son into the kitchen and buckled him in to his booster seat at the table, where mommy waited with his breakfast.

Elliot grabbed a few drinks from his coffee mug and stole another sweet kiss from his wife and headed for the shower. Olivia assisted her little big boy in feeding himself mushy lumps of scrambled egg and tiny bites of toast, with his toddler fork.

Elliot returned a bit later and sat down with them to enjoy the last ten minutes before he had to leave home to start their day. This had become their new morning routine, since Olivia had been put on her restrictions.

In the evenings she and Elliot took turns fixing supper and they would all sit down as a family to have dinner. This was much easier now that Preston had began to eat big boy foods. With the booster seat between them they would share conversation about their day and interesting things Olivia had read about pregnancy.

After supper mommy would load the dishwasher while daddy gave Preston his bath. Preston, enjoyed this much more when mommy did it, but could live with dad taking over as long as there were plenty of toys and bubbles and dad let him splash. After his bath, Elliot would dress his son in his pajamas and carry him into the living room to play in the floor with mommy.

Preston had begun to walk a little and was getting good at walking or running four or five steps before he realized he wasn't holding on to anything and lose his confidence, eventually dropping to his bottom and crawling the rest of the way to his destination. Crawling, for this little man, however could have been an Olympic event. He got around so quickly now that he was across the room and into something else before you could even clean up the first mess he had made. He was curious about everything and loved to explore and learn new things.

Sometimes when he would get in his sweet and loving moods, Preston would crawl over to mommy and place his hands on her big belly like he had seen his daddy do. Mommy and daddy had explained to him that his baby sister now lived inside there and Preston would smile and coo and talk his little baby gibberish, then lean forward and kiss Olivia's belly.

Every now and then Liv would feel the little girl moving inside and hold Preston's little hand over the place so he could feel it too. He was probably too little to understand any of what was going on or about to happen, but it was important to she and Elliot both that their little boy be involved in the pregnancy as much as possible. Elliot had already shot dozens of videos of Preston interacting with the baby in mommy's belly and he knew that his son was going to be a wonderful big brother.

At night to unwind before falling asleep, Olivia would sit in the rocking chair in Preston's room with a book. Elliot would fix the little boy a bottle and sit his son in Olivia's lap to cuddle with mommy a little as she read him a bedtime story. Once he was asleep she would say her goodnights and daddy would tuck him into his crib for the night.

As of right now, this entire household pretty much revolved around the blue eyes little boy and this was the way he liked it. Preston had always been a happy baby, smiling non stop from the moment he figured out how to. He had always kind of been mommy's little man. Giving her his first smiles and kisses and even his first word, "ma." He was definitely mommy's boy.

He loved to sit in the kitchen floor clanking away at pots and pans and watch as she cooked dinner. Or hand her the towels one by one from the laundry basket for her to fold, occasionally chewing or slobbering on one. When Olivia made their bed in the morning she would toss the mound of blankets and pillows into the floor and her son somehow always ended up buried right in the middle of them. He always brought mommy the remote controls one at a time so they wouldn't get lost, even when it wasn't time to watch TV. He was momma's little helper.

Olivia stood at the sink rinsing out the few breakfast dishes as she felt a little hand on her leg. She looked down as two of the most beautiful blue eyes stared up at her.

"Ma," he cooed as he reached for her to hold him.

"Mommy can't pick you up, sweetheart," she said softly as he pulled himself to his feet holding on to her. She patted the top of his head and combed her fingers through his hair as she stared up at her and blinked.

"Mmmaaa," he repeated reaching up for her once more.

"Okay," she said kneeling to cuddle her little boy.

Olivia sat in the floor and hugged Preston as he showed her the little car he had brought in to her. She played with him for a few minutes in the floor of the kitchen until daddy was ready to leave.

"Preston, this is a red car. Can you say red?"

He stared at her and pointed to the car.

"Red," she repeated as he watched the shape her mouth formed as she said it. "Red, car."

Preston raised his little hand and placed it against his mothers mouth as she said it once more.

"Maybe that is a little much," she said aloud to her self. "Car," she said holding the toy up for the baby to focus on. "Car."

Preston smiled and pointed at it as he gave it his best shot, "ca."

Olivia smiled. "Good boy. Car." She closed her hand around the object and smiled at him. "Where's the car?"

Preston pointed to her hand and said, "ca."

Olivia laughed and clapped as Preston clapped.

"Yes, car. Good job. Preston, where is sissy?"

He stared at his mother for a moment and smiled as he crawled toward her and placed his little finger against her belly.

"That's right. Sissy is in mommy's belly. Can you give sissy kisses?"

He smiled and giggled as he kissed Olivia's belly.

"Aww, what a good big brother. Can you give mommy kisses?"

"Ma," he said placing a little hand on each side of Olivia's face to kiss her.

"Thank you buddy. Mommy loves you so much."

"Liv," Elliot called as he came down the hall. "Where did I put the diaper bag?"

"I'm not sure."

"I thought I sat it by the door, but it isn't here. Damn it, son!" Elliot mumbled as he tripped over the empty diaper bag and all of its contents scattered across the floor in the dining room."

Olivia laughed as she crawled around the corner to watch Elliot picking up all of the things from the diaper bag and stuffing them back inside.

"I take it you sat it in the floor, by the door."

"I guess so," Elliot said looking over at his son. "You son, are going to make me later for work."

"He was trying to help, daddy."

"You don't encourage him," he said pointing to her as she laughed. "Watch what he can do. Preston, car."

Preston looked at Olivia and giggled as he took the toy from her hand, "ca."

Olivia grinned the grin of a proud mother. "He is so smart."

"Yeah, he is. I'll give you three guesses where he found that car."

Olivia laughed again as she reached for Elliot's hand. "Help me up."

"What are you doing in the floor in the first place?"

"Compromising. The doctor said I can't pick him up, she didn't say I couldn't sit in the floor and hold him."

Elliot smiled. "You are so stubborn. Now I know where your son gets it."

"My daughter has it too," she remarked smiling at him as Elliot rubbed little circles over her belly to feel his little girl move, "so you had better just get used to it."

"We do have pretty amazing kids, don't we?"

"Yeah, we do. You two are going to be late," she said kissing her husband as she slipped the diaper bag strap over his shoulder. "Bye."

"Bye, baby." Elliot kissed his wife and leaned to kiss her belly as well. "Bye, baby. Preston, tell mommy bye." He picked Preston up on his hip and leaned forward for him to kiss Olivia.

"By Preston," she said with a smile. "Bye, bye," she cooed to her son as he waved and blew mommy kisses and he and daddy got into the elevator.

Olivia exhaled softly and leaned against the door of the apartment. She had only been up for an hour or so, but was already so tired. She grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator to take her prenatal vitamin and headed back to the bedroom to try and rest a little while.

It was around three o'clock that afternoon when the phone rang.

Olivia opened her eyes to stare at the blank computer screen in front of her. She had been trying to make a list of baby girl names and watch a movie at the same time and must have dozed off. She yawned and sat up as she picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Olivia?"

"Kathy, what is going on? Is Preston alright?"

"Calm down, he's fine. He is just running a little fever and has been fussy all afternoon. I just checked him and he is at one hundred. I gave him some Motrin and I'm sure he will be just fine in a little while. I just wanted to let you know what was going on. He has been chewing on his fingers a lot and crying. I'm sure he is just cutting teeth."

As Olivia listened to Kathy talk she could hear her baby crying in the background for his, ma.

"My poor baby, I'm gonna come and get him."

"No, Liv. There is no need for that, he is alright here. You shouldn't be lifting on him and he is wanting to be held a lot right now."

"Kathy, Elliot will be home in a couple of hours. I can take care of my son, that long."

"Liv, it really isn't healthy for the baby. I have Dickie and Elizabeth here to help me, with him and Eli. We will be just fine until Elliot gets here to pick him up. I just wanted to let you know that if you don't have some Tylenol or Motrin there, you might have Elliot pick some up on his way home. I am sure it is just teething, I just wanted to let you know what was going on."

"Yeah, I just hate that he is crying for me and I cant even come and get him. I'm gonna call El and see what he wants to do. I'll call you back, okay."

"Sure."

Olivia hung up the phone and called Elliot on his cell.

"Hey, baby. Is everything alright?"

"The baby and I are fine. But Kathy just called me about Preston. She said he is running a one hundred and one degree fever and has been fussy all afternoon. She said she thinks he is cutting teeth. Elliot he is so upset. I could hear him crying and calling for me the entire time I was on the phone with her. I'm really worried about him."

"You want me to go pick him up?"

"I think you should bring him home. I mean if you can, how busy are you there?"

"Never too busy to take care of my son. If you think I should bring him home, then I'll bring the paperwork I have home with me. I'll pick him up and be on my way."

"Should I call his pediatrician? He doesn't usually run a fever, even when he is getting new teeth."

"It couldn't hurt to have him checked out. Especially with you eight months pregnant. If he is coming down with something we need to know, so you don't get it."

"Elliot, I was kissing on him all morning. If he is sick, I am already exposed."

"True. Okay, what about this…you call the pediatrician and get us an appointment. I'll go get Pres, from Kathy's and stop by there on the way home. At least them we will know what is going on instead of spending the entire night wondering about it. It isn't like our nine month old can tell us why he is sick."

"Okay, thanks El. I just feel so bad. My baby boy is sick and I am not even there to comfort him."

"I know sweetheart."

Olivia called and made the appointment and Elliot headed to Queens to pick up his son.

An hour and a half later Olivia waited nervously by the phone as she heard the apartment door open. Elliot carried Preston into their bedroom and put him in bed with his wife.

"Aww buddy," she whispered kissing the forehead of her now sleeping child. "What did the doctor say?"

"She felt his gums and said he is getting three new teeth. And he has an ear infection."

"Oh, no."

"Pretty painful stuff. She said to keep using the Motrin for the fever and called in a prescription for some antibiotic for the ear infection. Kathy said she couldn't get him to eat anything either. I asked her about that and she said they make supplement drinks for little kids. She said give him that and juice and as long as he doesn't go more than a few days without actually eating, he should be fine. She said it should all pass in a few days. But if the fever lasts more than a day or so or spikes to page her and bring him back in. I needed to go pick up his medicine in about twenty minutes, but he finally crashed in the car and I knew you were worried. So I figured I'd bring him home to rest with his mommy while I run out and get everything."

"Thank you so much."

"No problem, honey. If he is sick I would rather him be with his mommy. He reached for me when I got there to pick him up, as I held him he laid his little head on my shoulder and cried for ma."

Olivia smiled. "That's my boy."

"He will definitely be glad to see you when he wakes up. I'm gonna go and try to get back as soon as I can. I was thinking I could pick something up for dinner or we could order in."

"That is fine."

"Any ideas?"

"Ummm, pizza actually sounds really good. With pepperoni and banana peppers."

"Anything for you, my love." Elliot kissed her tenderly. "Anything else you want while I'm out?"

"Oh, pudding!"

"Pudding?"

"Yes! Chocolate…no, vanilla pudding. And a brownie."

"Vanilla pudding and a brownie, no problem. Anything else?"

"Peanut butter, Captain Crunch."

"Okay, angel. I am leaving the cordless right here by the bed, if he wakes up or you think of anything else you need…or want…while I'm gone, give me a call."

"Thanks, El."

"I love you baby."

"I love you, too."

Elliot returned a while later with the medicine. When Preston woke up, Elliot fixed him a sippy cup with one of the supplement drinks in it and he cuddled with his mommy in the big bed. After he had his medicine and had fallen asleep, Elliot carried him into what had once been the nursery and was now Preston's own bedroom and laid him in his crib.

Since daddy gave up his office to set up a pink butterfly and dragonfly themed nursery for their baby girl, big brother Preston now had his own play space for his trucks and books. This allowed them to decorate for a little girl as well as hopefully make it easier for them to get up several times a night with a newborn without waking Preston.

Around three o'clock in the morning Preston woke up crying. Elliot went to check on him and comfort his son, but it was no use. He bounced and rocked the little boy, but he wanted his mother.

Moments later Olivia appeared in the doorway and talked to her son trying to sooth him. Elliot held his son against his shoulder and rocked him slowly as Olivia rubbed his back and sang to him. She kissed his little fire head and whispered softly how much she loved him, but that just wasn't enough.

Preston raised up and reached out to Olivia for her to hold him.

"Maaa," he whimpered as little tears streamed down his face.

"Let me hold him El," she said with tears in her eyes. "He doesn't understand any of this. He's just a baby."

"Sit in the chair," he said kissing his son on the forehead.

Olivia sat down and placed a pillow against in her lap to help provide support and keep Preston's weight from her belly. Elliot turned the baby boy onto his back and placed him into Olivia's arms. He moved to the crib and pulled out Preston's fire truck blanket and pacifier and handed them to his son as Olivia began to rock him. She picked up the story book she read to him from every night before bed and began to tell him a story.

Preston laid in her lap and stared up at her, content once more as his mommy held him. He sucked on his pacifier and listened to the story until his little eyes just couldn't stay open any longer.

Elliot picked him up and moved to lay him back in the crib. But as he did the baby began to stir and fuss again.

"You can't sit in that chair and hold him all night. Why don't we just put him in our bed tonight?"

"Baby, I'm not sure we'll all fit in our bed."

"We'll fit. We'll make it work. It is the only way any of us are going to get any sleep tonight. He is sick and exhausted and you should be resting. If he wakes up I will get up with him, but you will be right there beside him. He wants his mommy."

Olivia smiled. "Okay, but don't forget his blanket. I'll be in in a minute, I have to pee again."

Elliot kissed his wife and carried Preston to their bed. He laid his son between their pillows and covered him with his blanket as Olivia climbed into bed beside the little boy.

She smiled across the bed at him as Elliot turned off the light.

"See, plenty of room," Elliot said with a smile. "I love you.

"I love you, too. And it is probably a good thing that there is plenty of room because it wont be long and we will have two babies sleeping in the bed with us."

Elliot laughed. "We might need to get a bigger bed."

Olivia smiled as she leaned over Preston and kissed her husband. "I love you."

"And I love you."

"Thank you for giving me this beautiful family. I know it gets crazy sometimes, but I love you all so much and I wouldn't trade a moment of this for anything in the world," she said with a soft smile as she felt her daughter kick inside of her.

"Neither would I," Elliot replied reaching over Preston to place his hand where hers was and feel the baby. "Did you think of any names?"

"Just one."

Elliot smiled. "Progress, what is it?"

"Maci Lynn. Do you like it?"

Elliot smiled as he repeated the name. "Maci Lynn Stabler." He rubbed his hand over her belly and smiled again. "Our daughter, Maci."

"What do you think?"

"I think it's beautiful."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, I do. I really like it. No, I love it. Maci Lynn Stabler. I think it's perfect."

Olivia smiled as Elliot kissed her again. She rolled over and stared up at the ceiling in the dark. "Maci," she said softly with a smile.