Disclaimer: SVU and its characters belong to Dick Wolf. I own nothing

The rest of the week passed by quickly, and tomorrow afternoon, Elliot's children would be arriving after school to spend the weekend with their father. He'd tried repeatedly to reassure Olivia as the day approached that her presence would not be resented or unwelcome, but he could tell her nerves were getting the better of her. She'd only picked at the dinner he'd made tonight, and now she was sitting beside him staring blankly at the television screen.

No matter how close they'd gotten to one another since she'd come to stay with him, Elliot knew it wouldn't be that easy to get her to talk. It didn't matter that they may or may not be considered a couple by now – they hadn't yet had a discussion that put a label on what they were – perhaps it was because neither felt a need to. They were simply letting things progress between them as naturally as Olivia's physical limitations would allow. He wanted to ask her on an official date in the worst way possible, something that was above and beyond the shared meals out in restaurants they were already so accustomed to.

Pushing that thought out of his mind for the time being, Elliot focused on the most important matter at hand – easing Olivia's nerves. Moving his arm from where it rested comfortably around her shoulders, he turned her ever so gently until she was facing him.

"Okay, Liv, talk to me. Don't tell me that you're 'fine', either, because I can clearly see that you're not. What's on your mind?"

Olivia let out a resigned sigh. Elliot had always known when something was bothering her. It seems that instinct had only grown stronger as they'd gotten closer. She could only imagine the effect that would have as their relationship continued to evolve. Trying to find the right way to phrase what she wanted to say to him, she fumbled a little over the words.

"Your kids..."

"Yes, I have four of them. Three of whom will be here tomorrow. You've met them, in fact, several times. Want to tell me again how this poses a problem?"

Despite the situation and her anxieties, Olivia found herself laughing out loud at what Elliot had said. At the same time, she allowed herself to relax somewhat. He made it seem so simple. If only it were that easy.

"They're not babies, Elliot. They're going to have questions. They may even notice things between us have changed. What are we going to tell them if and when they do?"

Pressing a kiss on her forehead, he followed it up by kissing the tip of her nose, and finally her mouth. When he pulled back, he looked into her eyes as he framed her face with his hands.

"I know where you're coming from, Olivia, but I don't want you to worry. Is there a chance they might have questions? Yes. But we'll cross that bridge if and when we get to it. I don't want you sitting here worrying about the 'what-ifs' all night long. You'll drive yourself crazy."

She had to concede that he was right. It was doing her no good worrying about something before it even happened. Nodding her acceptance of the fact, she leaned against him, relishing the moment he enveloped her into an embrace. While she was still in his arms, she asked a question.

"What is the game plan for the weekend?"

"To be honest, I really don't know. It will all depend on the kids, and how much homework they have. We'll most likely order in for dinner tomorrow night, and of course Saturday morning I'll be making waffles."

A smile graced Olivia's lips when she heard that. That was one part of the weekend she was most definitely looking forward to. She thought of the day not that long ago when Elliot first made them for her as a bunch per her request. Hands down, it was still the best thing she'd ever eaten. He noticed the look on her face, and couldn't help but comment.

"If you think the plain ones I made for you the other day were good, just wait until Saturday. My kids like them with chocolate chips mixed in the batter."

He gave her a knowing grin, and watched as the expression on her face transformed yet again. She was completely at ease now, and that did his heart good. There was no telling what state she'd be in come tomorrow, but for now, she was happy and content, and that's all that mattered.

Friday afternoon came around, and whether she was actually feeling it or not, Olivia was doing an amazing job at portraying a sense of calm. It must have been genuine, because Elliot couldn't read any outward signs of anxiety in her body language.

Earlier that morning, she had taken a shower, and then Elliot had washed her hair. Given that they had been taking several steps closer, she had been tempted to ask him to join her in the shower, but decided against it at the last minute. It wasn't that she was ashamed or self conscious for what she wanted, but she knew Elliot's mind was focused on seeing his kids, and didn't want to distract him. Plus, she had her suspicions that he would turn her down. Not because of any lack of desire on his part – her confidence was strong enough in whatever was budding between them to reassure her of that – but because she knew her partner so well. No doubt, Elliot likely felt that he should take her on a 'proper' date before they moved forward with the physical aspect of their relationship.

Currently they were lying together in his bed. Olivia's head was resting against Elliot's chest, and his arm was wrapped around her, his hand rubbing her back. The television in the room was on, but neither of them were really paying much attention to it. They were simply enjoying a few moments of quiet before the children arrived in about an hour. Even though they hadn't discussed it, it was understood that for the duration of the weekend, they wouldn't be as openly affectionate as they had been.

It wasn't that Elliot was ashamed of his feelings for Olivia, nor she her feelings for him, but neither of them wanted to pull the rug out from under his children. She knew he would want to talk to them first. Even though it would break her heart, if his children objected to their seeing one another, she'd go back to the way things were to make them happy. The last thing she wanted was to come between Elliot and his family.

Without realizing it, Olivia had mumbled those last words to herself out loud, and Elliot had heard everything. He held on to the woman in his arms even tighter. He had always known how gracious and loving her heart was, but to hear her say she'd give up her own happiness on his behalf was something else entirely. Knowing that he didn't have much time to get through to her, his words were urgent.

"Liv, stop. Don't be getting ahead of yourself. We won't have to go back to the way we were before. For one thing, I don't want to."

She shifted slightly, and he allowed her the freedom to move, confident that she wasn't trying to pull away. When he looked down again, her brown eyes were looking up at him, bright with unshed tears. Olivia wasn't a person who cried easily, but she'd been opening up her emotions to him more and more.

"I don't want to either, El, but I won't come between you and your kids."

Gently pressing his mouth to hers, he silenced her with a kiss.

"You won't. They are all old enough to realize that their mother and I aren't getting back together. That means they are old enough to understand that even though I'm seeing someone, it's not going to change my relationship with them."

"I know that, but I'm not some woman you just met. We've been partners for eight years. What's going to stop them from being suspicious of us not having had anything going on before now? Or even Kathy for that matter?"

Elliot felt stuck. He couldn't lie, and tell Olivia that her anxieties were unfounded. The very same thoughts had crossed his mind as well. Then there had been those occasions during his marriage, especially toward the end of it, when Kathy had hinted at the fact that his feelings for Olivia were more than what a partner should feel. He had always denied her accusations. He would admit to caring about Olivia as a friend and partner, but not to having any inappropriate feelings.

For the most part, he had been truthful. It wasn't until after he and Kathy had separated and it appeared that a divorce was imminent that he had begun to notice his feelings toward Olivia changing. It had started with the little things, such as if she wore her hair differently or came into work wearing a new blouse. Then there had been her care toward him, even when he acted like an absolute ass. Granted, she'd had her limits some days, and would call him out on his bullshit, but that only made him appreciate her even more.

Then Gitano had happened, and everything had fallen apart. In the aftermath of it all, too frightened and shaken to speak the words on his mind after watching Olivia get her throat slashed and his own near death experience, he'd spoken harshly and without thinking. After taking the night to cool off, he'd planned to apologize to her first thing the next morning. He'd never gotten the chance. He'd arrived to work to find that Lucius Blaine was his partner, and Olivia had requested a transfer. When she'd come to see him in the locker room after a fight he and Blaine had gotten into, he'd barely spoken to her – he'd been intent on punishing her the way he'd viewed she had punished him.

After several weeks apart, Olivia had returned to SVU, but it took them some time to get back to their old dynamic. Just when it seemed like they were getting back to their usual selves, she had disappeared again. This time, it wasn't any place where he could easily find her, though he sure as hell tried. He'd been terrified when the realization dawned on him that his partner was undercover with the FBI. No one was willing to give him any details about her location, and he'd had no idea what kind of danger she could possibly be in.

But, just as before, the concern gave way to anger, and eventually bitterness. Dani Beck was introduced as his new partner, and he'd begun to believe that Olivia wasn't coming back at all. He'd had no choice but to try and get along with the detective who'd been assigned to him.

"Elliot! Elliot? Are you with me?"

Blinking, Elliot felt himself return to the present. He hadn't meant to get so lost inside his own head, but once he'd gotten started thinking, the thoughts had just kept coming. Glancing down, he saw Olivia looking up at him with a worried expression. Knowing he couldn't bluff his way out of this one, he didn't even try.

"I'm sorry, Liv. I was thinking about what you said, and my mind ran away with me."

Rather than overreact and panic, as he'd been worried she might do, Olivia instead responded with calm and concern.

"What's troubling you?"

"Nothing's troubling me, so to speak. I just realized that you had a point about Kathy possibly getting the wrong idea. I don't want you to worry about it. I'll talk to her."

Olivia had more questions, but none that needed answering right here and now. Plus, she had a feeling that thoughts of his ex wife hadn't been the only thing on Elliot's mind. With his kids due to arrive shortly, she knew it was best to table the discussion for now, and ask him about it later. It was a good thing she did, because the next thing they knew, Elliot's phone was ringing. Kathleen was calling, letting him know that Kathy had just turned onto his street, and they would be there soon.

From the moment the Stabler children entered the apartment, it was pure chaos. They were all excited to be there, especially since it had been longer than usual since they'd last seen their father. Much to Olivia's surprise, they were happy to see her, too, and Kathleen and Lizzie both gave her careful hugs. Dickie hung back a little, seemingly too embarrassed to hug her, but he did greet her with a smile. Olivia had to remind herself that he and his sister weren't the same little children that they had been when she and Elliot first became partners. They were thirteen now, and growing up so fast.

After they had all spoken to Olivia, the kids all headed down the hall to their rooms, so they could put their bags away. Elliot was still standing in the kitchen, talking with Kathy. Not wanting to intrude, but at the same time not wanting to be rude, either, Olivia made her way into the room to say hello to the other woman.

"Olivia, it's nice to see you again. How are you feeling?"

Olivia was surprised by Kathy's greeting. The blonde was acting like it had been ages since they'd last spoken, when in fact she'd called the detective at work during the Sennett case. Thinking that Kathy had wanted to reach Elliot, Olivia had tried to take a message, only to be shocked when she requested to see her instead. When they'd met up in the park during her lunch break, she'd been thrown for yet another loop when Kathy had tried to compel her to convince Elliot to sign the divorce papers. It was something she had yet to tell him, she was so unwilling to break his heart.

Wisely deciding to follow Kathy's lead and pretend that nothing out of the ordinary had happened recently, Olivia collected herself enough that she could answer the question.

"It's nice to see you too, Kathy. I'm doing as well as can be expected, I suppose."

Kathy just nodded, and it seemed that the polite but awkward conversation between the two women had come to a halt. Elliot noticed that something was off, but opted not to comment on it. His ex wife and his partner had never been what you would call the best of friends, but they were typically more at ease with one another. Instead of bringing more attention to it, he chose instead to ask what time the children needed to be home on Sunday, knowing that Kathy would want to leave soon, to avoid the rush hour traffic.

He called the children out to say goodbye to their mother, then Kathy left the apartment, and it was just the five of them. Knowing her the way he did, Elliot raised his hands to call for attention before Olivia could excuse herself and retreat to his bedroom, most likely thinking she was imposing in some way.

"Okay, everyone, first things first. You know the drill – what kind of homework do you have this weekend?"

Kathleen spoke up first, though she had to make herself heard over the grumbling of her younger brother.

"I finished most of mine in study hall today, save for my Calculus homework. The only other thing I need to do is get started on some research for a term paper I have due in three weeks."

Elliot nodded his approval, then turned to the twins.

"What about you two? Any big assignments or projects I should be aware of? I don't want you waiting until the last minute."

Even though he addressed them both, he was primarily making a point to get through to Dickie. His son was notorious for procrastinating when it came to things that had a deadline, always waiting until the night before then panicking when he didn't think he'd get it finished in time. It was Lizzie who ultimately answered, speaking for both herself and her twin.

"We have some questions to answer for our history reading, and a small one page report to write for an English assignment. Nothing that should take too long."

That decided it, then. Elliot told his children that since there was still plenty of time until they would order dinner, they should help themselves to a snack, then get started on their homework. By finishing it all up tonight, it would free up the weekend to do as they pleased. Within minutes, he and Olivia were alone in the kitchen. She knew just by looking at him that he had questions about what had happened when she was talking to Kathy earlier. Knowing that the conversation she needed to have with him had to happen sooner rather than later, Olivia suggested they go into the living room.

Once they were seated on the couch facing one another, Elliot gave her a look. Words weren't really necessary, but he had something to say anyway. He knew what Olivia was going to tell him, and he wanted to stop her. The only reason being that he didn't want her blaming herself more than she already was.

"Liv, don't. I know what you're going to say, and I want you to know I already know."

She looked at him with a puzzled expression. How could he have known? Was it possible that she had talked in her sleep one of the times he had been holding her during a nap? She wracked her brain, trying to think if there was some way she could have told him that night on the steps and forgotten about it, but she knows that she hadn't.

"How?"

That's all she could manage. It was a simple enough word, a basic enough question, and yet it conveyed all of the confusion that she was feeling. Beneath it all, she knew he would also be able to hear the guilt in her voice for not having told him sooner. Would this put an end to whatever was blossoming between them? Would he still trust her after this?

When Olivia felt Elliot's arms wrap around her, she let herself relax. His voice was soothing in her ear as he calmed her, letting her know that there was nothing she needed to feel guilty for.

"Kathy told me, Liv. She let it slip the other day when I told her you were going to be staying with me."

As Olivia accepted that truth, she still couldn't help feeling a wave of anger and even resentment wash over her. For the briefest of moments, she was back in that park and being asked to push her best friend into a decision she wasn't even sure he was ready to make. It was one of the reasons she'd never told Elliot to begin with. Given the way things had been between them, she had been concerned that he would interpret her intentions the wrong way, and believe that she actually was pushing him to sign the papers, when all she wanted was for him to be happy, no matter what decision he made.

"I know what she asked of you, Liv, and I also know why you didn't tell me."

As much as there were times when it could be infuriating how well this man knew her mind, this was not one of them. Olivia felt nothing but relief at knowing she wouldn't have to search for the words to explain her actions – or in this case, a lack thereof.

"I don't want you to worry about it any more. For now, I just want to sit here and hold you. I'm going to miss being able to do it later."

Though she tried to tell herself that she should resist, given that his children were in the apartment, and could walk in on them at any given moment, Olivia found herself agreeing to Elliot's request. She even tilted up her face so he could give her a chaste kiss before tucking her head back under his chin. With a soft sigh, she began to let her mind wander into what a weekend with Elliot and the kids was going to be like.

A couple of hours later, Elliot, Olivia, and the Stabler children were all sitting around the living room. An order for pizza had been placed, and they were just waiting for the delivery to arrive. Currently, the kids were arguing about what to do after dinner – if they wanted to watch a movie or a play a game. Fortunately, it was one of their more civil discussions and not a knock-down drag out fight. Nevertheless, Elliot was about to intervene when Olivia offered a suggestion of her own.

"Forgive me if I'm speaking out of turn, but from what I understand, you are all allowed to stay up somewhat late on weekends. Why not do both? You can play a game after you finish your dinner, then find something to watch."

Kathleen scowled slightly at the suggestion, then caught the look her father was giving her and immediately amended her expression. Out of all his children, she was the one who harbored the most bitterness toward him in regards to the divorce, but she had gradually been coming around. It was understandable that maybe she had taken a slight offense at being told what to do – even if it wasn't exactly an order – by someone who wasn't a parent.

However, the twins didn't have any such reservations, and thought the idea was a great one. In fact, it was a plan they'd followed several times in the past, they had just gotten caught up in the excitement at being with their father again.

Before they could discuss any further, and as Elliot figured, get into another argument over who would pick the game and movie, the buzzer to his apartment sounded. Relieved, he hurried to the door to let in the delivery man.

Minutes later, he was bringing three boxes of pizza to the coffee table in the living room. Kathleen and Lizzie followed behind, carrying drinks for everyone, and Dickie came in last, bringing a stack of paper plates and napkins. Only Olivia remained sitting on the couch, wishing there were something she could do to help.

While everyone was getting settled, Elliot checked the boxes. The first one he opened was a medium, which he automatically knew would be Kathleen's. Sure enough, that box contained the veggie pizza his daughter preferred. Ever since she had informed him at the twins confirmation that she was a vegetarian, he had done everything possible to respect her eating choices.

The next box down was one of two large pizzas, and upon inspection, he passed it to Lizzie and Dickie. No matter how alike the two were in so many other things, the one thing they could never agree on was pizza toppings. So, they always got one with half pepperoni for Dickie, and half black olive for Lizzie.

Last but not least, Elliot came to the final box, and he knew this one had to be the pizza he had ordered to share with Olivia. He hadn't even needed to double check with her, they'd been sharing food for so many years now, he knew her orders as well as he knew his own. Her tastes tended to vary as much as his did, so he knew she wouldn't object that tonight he had selected for them a white pizza with spinach and tomatoes. It wasn't always his go-to choice, but he knew how much Olivia loved it.

Once everyone was settled and eating, did Elliot begin to ask some questions. He wanted to get caught up on what was going on in his kids lives. Even though he'd been talking to them on the phone as much as possible, it just wasn't the same as seeing them in person.

As the conversation continued, the topic gradually shifted to Olivia.

Between bites of pizza, the kids began asking a few questions of their father and his partner.

"Mom said you were hurt at work, Liv. Is that true?"

Lizzie asked the question shyly, as though she were afraid her curiosity wouldn't be welcome. Olivia on the other hand, wasn't offended.

"That's right."

"Can I ask what happened, or aren't you allowed to talk about it?"

Olivia exchanged a glance with Elliot. Legally speaking, she was under no obligation to keep quiet. Andrew Parker had already plead guilty and taken a deal, the matter was considered closed. What she didn't know was just how in depth her partner was when it came to sharing details with his family. Giving him a nod, she told him without words that she would go along with whatever he decided to say.

Suddenly having difficulty chewing and swallowing, Elliot took a long drink in an attempt to ease the lump in his throat. When he was feeling marginally better, he faced his children. Even though she was pretending to be disinterested, he could tell even Kathleen was curious with what he had to say.

"Olivia and I were called in to help some other police officers in regards to a hostage situation."

Despite herself, Kathleen was now fully drawn into the story, even though it had barely begun. Even though she wouldn't always admit it, now that she was older, she kept track of the news, and stories of police officers in danger or getting hurt always caught her eye.

"You mean the one at that daycare not that long ago, don't you?"

Elliot, who had been studying his hands, trying to figure out what to say next, turned his head abruptly in the direction of his middle daughter. He kept forgetting that she wasn't a child anymore. She would be graduating high school this year, and heading to college in the fall. It would make sense that she would be aware of things , even without being told.

"Yes, honey. That's the one."

Now, Kathleen's face matched the worried expressions of Dickie and Lizzie. Within a matter of seconds, it quickly morphed to one of horror. Elliot knew then what had happened – realization had sunk in, and he fervently hoped she wouldn't blurt out what he was afraid she might. His wish did not come true.

"I heard about that in the news. They said an officer was shot during the altercation there. Oh my God! Olivia – that was you?"