Family

"Elliot, do you know where Eli's shoes are?" Kathy called from the living room. Elliot stood at the bottom of the stairs, having just yelled up to the twins that they had exactly three minutes before it was time to leave for Mass.

"No idea," said Elliot, going to the refrigerator for a Sippy cup of juice to put in the diaper bag. He then filled a plastic baggy with Cheerios. "Does he really need them?"

"It's cold out," complained Kathy, opening the closet door and rooting around. "I don't want him to get sick again."

Dickie came thundering down the stairs, his blond hair still damp from the shower. Elliot frowned at his jeans and t-shirt, but decided not to press the issue. "Where's your sister?" he asked, putting the baby's snack items into the diaper bag and zipping it shut.

"She's still blow drying her hair." Dickie sat on the couch to tie his sneakers. "She has to look perfect in case we run into Ethan Macomb."

Elliot turned to look at Kathy, who shrugged. "Elizabeth!" He called from the bottom of the stairs. "We're leaving—NOW!"

Lizzie came down the stairs, grumbling "I'm coming, I'm coming" as she buttoned up her sweater. Unlike her brother, she had taken care with her appearance and wore a skirt and tights. Her long blond hair was carefully straightened and pulled back with a headband.

"Help your mother find the baby's shoes," he told her as he put on his coat and headed for the door. "I'll go start the car."

"They're in his stroller, mom!" Lizzie reminded her mother. "Remember when he kicked them off at the park?"

Kathy groaned and picked up the baby where he sat on the floor, busy trying to remove the plastic penguin zipper pull on his jacket.

"Will you grab them while I put him in his car seat?" She asked and then called to Dickie, who was in the kitchen searching through the cupboards. "Dickie, come on, you know how your father hates to be late."

Dickie grabbed a granola and stuffed it in his pocket as he picked up his coat and headed out the door.

Once they were all in the van, Elliot backed down the driveway and headed toward St. Brendon's.

"I don't know why they had to do away with the 11:30 Mass," he grumbled. "Ten o'clock is just too early."

"Tell me about it!" Dickie agreed, unwrapping the granola bar. Lizzie reached over and snapped off half.

"Thanks, bro," she said cheerfully as she bit off the end. Dickie groaned and slumped back in his seat.

They arrived at church with minutes to spare. Elliot carried the baby up the aisle, and stood aside while first Kathy and then the twins entered the pew. He genuflected and crossed himself, then slipped into sit with his family.

Elliot unzipped Eli's jacket as the baby craned his neck to look at all of the sights around him. He was a mellow baby and usually good during Mass. Elliot thought again about how he and Kathy were starting all over again; just when the kids were all old enough to sit through a service without fidgeting, along came another baby. He looked down the pew to Kathy and gave her a smile. It was always an ordeal to get everyone ready on time for church, but it was one of his favorite times of the week. His family was all together and safe. He wished that Maureen and Kathleen would come to Mass with them, but at least this week, they were meeting them afterwards for a breakfast a restaurant near their apartment. Kathy maintained that the girls would become come back to the church when they were older, but Elliot wasn't so sure. He hoped she was right. Being Catholic was one of the things that defined who he was. The rituals of Mass and the sacraments brought him comfort; it was the one thing that always stayed the same in his life. As difficult as it was at times to reconcile the values of the Church with daily life, he couldn't imagine not having that comfort to fall back on.

The organ began to play the opening hymn and the Stabler's rose with the rest of the congregation to greet the priest.

After the service, Elliot waited while Kathy stopped to speak to some neighbors. Eli was sound asleep on his shoulder. Lizzie and Dickie had already slipped out; probably so Lizzie could get catch a glimpse of Ethan Whoever. Elliot wasn't looking forward to having another daughter in the dating game, but of all of his girls, Lizzie was the most level-headed. If he'd learned anything at all from dealing with her sisters, it was that he had to let her make her own mistakes.

When Kathy finally pulled herself away, they headed outside. Elliot stopped at the font of holy water and dipping his finger in, made a tiny cross on the forehead of his sleeping son. They stopped to say hello to Father Shanahan, who stood inside the door greeting his parishioners as they passed by.

"Father," said Elliot, extending his free hand in a handshake. The priest clasped his hand between his own.

"Elliot, it's good to see you," he said, and reached out to pat Eli on the cheek. "I can see that my sermon put the little one to sleep."

Elliot laughed. "Can we borrow you in the middle of the night, Father?" He asked. The priest laughed as Kathy dug her elbow into Elliot's side.

"Perhaps I can make recordings and sell them as to raise funds for the church," he smiled. "And speaking of fundraisers," he turned to look at Kathy, "will you be at the meeting tonight to plan the fall bazaar?"

"I'm planning on it, Father," she assured him.

They found the twins talking with friends in front of the church. Elliot guessed that the tall boy with dark hair was Ethan by the way that Lizzie was studiously avoiding looking at him as she talked to one of the girls. The twins broke off from the group when they saw their parents approach. Better to come voluntarily than give Elliot the opportunity to embarrass them.

They pulled up to the restaurant as the older girls were walking down the street.

"Perfect timing," said Kathy happily as they parked and got out of the car. She hurried over to meet the girls, leaving Elliot to wrangle the still sleeping baby out of his car seat. He knew how much she missed their older daughters. Although they still had to tread carefully with them both, things were much better than they'd been a few years ago. They tried to see them at least once a week and Kathy talked to them more often on the phone. Usually, the girls came home for Sunday dinner, but this week, Kathleen had to work later in the day. Elliot had offered to pick them up for Mass and when that didn't fly, said he'd buy them breakfast.

"Hey girls," he said when he caught up with the rest of the group. Since the baby was still asleep, he'd decided to bring the whole car seat, and now he set it carefully down on the ground so he could give each of the girls a hug. "Hungry?"

"I am!" growled Dickie. "Can we PLEASE go inside?"

They were seated at a large round table near the window. The restaurant was someplace they'd been visiting since the girls were small. It wasn't fancy, just one step up from a diner but it had good food that was reasonably priced, which made it affordable in the early years when the kids were young and money was tight. Now it was a tradition to go there.

"You missed a good sermon," commented Elliot after the waitress had taken all of their orders. He stirred sugar into his coffee and grinned as Maureen and Kathleen simultaneously rolled their eyes. Kathy poked him in the side again.

"Yeah, it was great," mocked Dickie. "I almost fell asleep with Eli."

"I thought it was interesting," said Lizzie, always the peacemaker in the family.

"So, how's school?" Kathy asked the girls, in an attempt to get the conversation on smoother ground. They chatted until their food was served. The sounds of dishes and silverware woke Eli, who fussed until he saw his sisters. Their presence was enough of a novelty to distract him from his grumpiness. Elliot passed him to Maureen, who held him on her lap and fed him bits of her omelet.

"Make sure he doesn't get any of that bacon," cautioned Kathy, ever watchful.

Elliot finished his toast and eggs and accepted a refill of coffee from the waitress. He sat back and enjoyed having his whole family in one place. He wished he could have a video as a keepsake of this very ordinary meal because it summed up his reason for existence: his family.

The cell phone at his waist vibrated. He picked it up and flipped it open.

"Stabler." His face darkened as he listened to the voice on the other end. He snapped the phone shut and said the words that were all too familiar to his family:

"I've got to go."