Chapter 26

"That was amazing. Why don't you cook more?" Elliot asked as they cleaned up the dishes from the kitchen table. The detective was sure that he'd eaten half of the loaf of garlic bread by himself. Olivia had bought a fresh loaf of Italian bread and then made it into cheesy garlic bread. She'd also made a salad to go with their pasta dish.

"When was the last time I was home at a decent hour and it was more than just me? Also, pretty sure you're buttering me up. This had to have been the first time I've cooked since…" she paused.

"Calvin?" He wondered.

"Yeah. Kid loved his baked spaghetti," Olivia gave a tight smile and moved toward the sink, putting the dishes in there. Without another word, she started the water in order to fill the sink and let some of the saucier items soak for a little bit. Elliot was a little upset that he'd managed to ruin what had been a nice moment, but she turned to him with a smile on her face. He wondered if she was just plastering it on.

"So, what about your kids? How are they? I haven't heard from Kathy since the impromptu visit," she said, moving back toward the table to grab her iced tea.

"She's been quiet, too quiet. The kids seem to have already accepted it minus Eli of course. Maybe that will change when I get to see him this weekend," he told her before whipping out his cell phone and showing the message that he'd received from Kathy.

"Planning on having the case wrapped up by then?" Olivia wondered.

"Don't have a choice," Elliot said before quickly bringing her up to speed.

"Geez. I guess that tractor trailer did the world a favor," she shook her head upon hearing what kind of man James Sabatini was.

"Definitely a public service, if we can call it that. Only problem is we'll never know why he killed with a gun. Especially since a car seemed to be his favorite weapon," her partner frowned.

"I bet that the family will be glad to know what happened to their loved one though. I don't envy Agent Schimanski or the poor family who has been living with a graveyard out the back of their house," Olivia shook her head as they made their way to the couch with their drinks.

"Yeah I don't either. So how are you doing? Did you have a good day?" He asked, settling in next to her on the sofa.

"It's too quiet. I'm beginning to realize that I don't have any hobbies, or I've just never had time to develop them. Going to the grocery store in the middle of the day was weird," Olivia admitted.

"Weird, like how?" Elliot was confused.

"Well I usually just swung by a bodega on my way home for anything I needed really quick. Usually, it wasn't a big deal. Actually, stocking up my cupboards at a store, was odd," she explained. Rarely ever had Olivia gone shopping in a large store. Her mother wasn't known to keep the cupboards stocked and the small local little stores were where a young Olivia spent her time. The pattern continued as she got older, mostly because of her job.

"I bet getting the Mustang out felt good though huh? I can't believe you'd been holding out on me," Elliot teased her. The vintage car had been a spur of the moment thing and despite not getting to drive it often, Olivia did enjoy the car.

"It was nice to make sure it was working and I was able to get everything we needed. Speaking of us, you can't exactly claim my place as your address with the department, so I took the liberty of grabbing the housing listing paper while I was at the store," she pointed to the paper on the edge of the coffee table.

"I was wondering what that was for. Want me out so soon huh?" Elliot asked.

"No, but like I said, once the divorce becomes public, you can't use my address. Not unless you want Tucker on your ass faster than Cragen can cover our butts," she pointed out. The Captain had definitely taken the brunt of some of their actions before.

"Yeah, let's not start that, especially since I'll need to be able to pay rent. Kind of hard to do without a job," he nodded.

"Plus you should probably look somewhere that you wouldn't need to move again. I mean let's be honest, the kids will mostly be out on their own, with the exception of Eli, and I'm not sure how you feel about custody sharing but I'm imagining Kathy won't give up without a fight on that. So maybe a two bedroom apartment? Something may be in between work and Eli?" She suggested.

"You do realize that you almost described your own place right? I mean the only difference being the number of bedrooms of course," he pointed out.

"I don't think I'm halfway between work and Queens," Olivia gave him a look. She was right of course, he was just being silly.

"Well any place would really need to be between you, Queens, and work. I mean I can't exactly expect either one of us to trudge halfway across the city to spend the night," Elliot said.

"Thinking that far ahead huh?" She gave him a look.

"I was told halfway wouldn't work so better make sure I can be all in," he winked at her before scooping up the paper from the end of the coffee table.

"What will your kids think?" The question wasn't finished but he knew what she meant.

"Kathleen already told me to get with the program so I don't think you have to worry about her. I haven't had much of a chance to speak to Maureen, just in general. It's all been texting. As for Dickie and Lizzie…" he trailed off.

"What do they actually like to be called now? I mean we should probably get with the program as you say with that," she pointed out.

"Dick and Liz, yes you're right. They seem to be handling the divorce differently than I expected. Being younger, I don't think they really got a chance to see Kathy and me without the whole arguing thing. The older girls can remember a time without it," Elliot said.

"What do you mean differently?" Olivia was confused.

"Well Liz isn't overly upset, possibly because the bulk of her friends' parents are divorced, but Dick, he seems angry. I thought we were in a better place after Shane's death but I guess not. Once he turns eighteen, I can't stop him from joining the Army and he may do it," he told her.

"I wouldn't say that's the worst thing he could do. I mean you joined the Marines when you were young. Maybe the structure and discipline will help. Or maybe he won't join up and he was just doing that because Shane was going to. Dick might need his space and some time to process it all. It's weird for them, they ended up being the middle children, so he might see you two splitting up as another way for you to leave, even though you aren't going that far," Olivia pointed out.

"We miss you at work. We all could use your advice and viewpoint," Elliot admitted. Often Olivia had the cooler head when it came toward dealing with things and she offered different perspectives which had often led to the high solve rate of the unit.

"I miss you guys. Once the office is back in shape, I don't see Doctor Valentino keeping me away. She is using this as a good time to make sure I'm fit," she told him.

"I have to say I was impressed that you bought beer and didn't drink any of it. I also wanted to say, don't think you need to make sure we have some lying around. If you don't feel comfortable, then I drink iced tea from here to eternity," he said.

"I just need to make sure I don't let myself go down the rabbit hole. I know the Captain has had his issues and I think I better understand them now. I'm getting help and I'm feeling better. Besides I have you to watch my six," Olivia smiled.

"And the rest of you," Elliot teased.

To Be Continued…