Chapter 10
The next morning they were woken up by Lola entering their room. Liv moved away from El's chest as quickly as possible because Lola didn't know about their relationship yet and she didn't know how she would react or if it was even okay if she would come to know about it.
"Good morning, sweetie. How did you sleep?" Liv said trying to distract the girl from what she just saw.
"Good morning." she said while crawling in their bed. "Pretty good. Thank you. How did you sleep?"
"Pretty good too, thank you." Liv said smiling.
"I know, dad is a pretty comfy pillow. When I was younger I slept cuddled up to him too."
Liv looked at El shocked.
She mouthed, "I'm sorry." but he didn't seem worried at all.
Sarah came into the room looking stressed.
"Guys, I'm sorry. I totally didn't notice her getting up. Lola, what the heck! You can't just come in here!"
" You can't tell me anything. You're not my mom! And I don't disturb them, right?" Lola said, looking at Olivia.
"No sweetie, you don't. It's really okay, Sarah. You can go back to bed if you want." Olivia said looking at her sympathetically.
"Of course Olivia says that. She is just nice. You woke them up. No one likes this!" Sarah said to Lola. Then she looked at Liv and said, "Thanks, but I think I can't sleep anymore. This lil' nag just ruined my morning."
"Sarah, stop it. I thank you for thinking about us but she is still your little sister. Calm down a bit." El said.
Before Sarah could say anything back, Liv interjected, "What do you think about going for a run at the beach with me?"
This made Sarah forget her anger and she started to smile brightly.
"I would love to. Give me 5 minutes." She ran out of the room excitedly.
"Relax. I need to get ready too." Liv said laughing. "Are you fine with it? I just thought a short run could help her forget the stressful start into the day."
"Are you kidding? Of course I am. Thank you." he almost leaned forward to kiss her but Lola still lay between them.
"Dad, what are we going to do while they are gone? I don't wanna go for a run."
He laughed.
"No, me neither. But we could go to the beach too. You want?"
"I do." she got up to get dressed too.
An hour and a half later they sat at the breakfast table together. Sarah couldn't stop talking about how good she felt and that she would like to go running with Liv back in New York too.
Lola met a girl her age at the beach and wanted to spend the day with her. They planned to go to the pool later, so she could meet up with Rosie.
Liv and El didn't have any alone time this morning and both kinda missed it. Over the last few days, they didn't see the kids before breakfast but not today. Liv realized that she didn't even wish him a good morning.
"Liv? Are you listening?" Sarah asked.
"Sorry, sweetie. What did you say?"
"I asked you if you wanna go for a run tomorrow morning too?"
"If it's okay for your dad, then sure."
"Dad, it's okay for you, right?" she asked.
"I guess."
"Cool." she said smiling brightly.
After breakfast, they all got ready for the pool, the kids in their room, so Liv and El had some alone time. El hugged her from behind and said, "Finally I get to hold you. This morning kinda sucked. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids, but I like to wake up with you in my arms. Waking up together, slowly. But Lola is as sensitive as a building worker."
Liv started to laugh. "She is cute and really uncomplicated. And Sarah is just the sweetest. She got so mad at Lola for waking us. But yes, I really missed this too this morning. I didn't even say 'Good morning' to you." She turned around to face him.
"Good morning." she said while moving closer to kiss him gently. When she tried to move away, El hugged her even closer.
"I don't want to let go of you. Can't we just stay here?"
She laughed. "You know we can't."
There was a knock on the door and Liv jumped away from him.
"Can I come in?" Lola asked.
"Of course you can." El said still looking at Liv who looked kinda guilty.
"I am ready. Are you too?" Lola asked.
"We are." Liv said while grabbing her bag.
Lola ran back to her room to get Sarah. El used the time and to turn to Liv and said, "Don't stress yourself so much because of Lola. I am sure she will be okay with it. She loves you."
"I don't think she has a problem with me but she is young and, I don't know, kids want their parents to be together. I don't wanna ruin it for her."
He moved closer but Liv stopped him.
"She could be back any second. It would be even worse if she saw us kissing."
"Please, stop feeling guilty. We don't do anything wrong. Kathy and I, we are over. There's no chance we will get back together. The kids have to accept that." he said caringly.
"I never said I felt guilty."
"I can see it all over your face. Don't forget that I know you, partner." She smiled.
"There are lots of things you don't know about me. Believe me!" she said with a wink and walked pass him. He smiled and followed her.
Lola went to play with her new friend Rosie and the others lay down on beach chairs and relaxed. After a while Lola came to introduce them to Rosie.
"Rosie, this is my sister Sarah." Lola said with a huge smile. Sarah waved at them listlessly.
"She is really cool most of the time but sometimes she is weird." Lola continued. Liv tried not to laugh and Sarah looked at her annoyed.
"You already know my dad from the beach earlier and this is Olivia, his girlfriend. She is sooo cool. Guys, this is Rosie!"
Rosie said hi and looked at them shyly.
Liv looked at them shocked but managed to mumble a "Hi" back.
"Okay, we will go to the pool now. Bye." Lola said and ran off.
Liv turned to face El. "Did she just say I am your girlfriend?"
He smiled. "She did."
"What does this mean? Did she mean girlfriend like she would call Rosie her girlfriend or does she really know what's going on?" Liv asked confused.
"I don't know. Sarah, did you talk to her?" El asked.
"I am as surprised and confused as you guys are. She didn't mention anything to me. This girl manages to surprise me again and again. She really is annoying but shit, she's clever."
"Your language is so bad. Who taught you that?" Elliot asked her.
"Dad, I am not a baby anymore. Nobody taught me to talk like this. Everybody talks like this." she said annoyed.
Liv wasn't able to follow the conversation. She still thought about what Lola had just said. Was it really this easy to be accepted by his kids? How could children not have a problem with the new woman in their dad's life? She was amazed but also freaked out as hell.
"Liv, are you alright?" Sarah asked.
"Yes, I just try to process this." she said.
"You know what, I am going to ask her now, what she meant with it. I wanna know!" Sarah said while getting up.
"No, what if she didn't mean it like that and you tell her now. Just let her play with Rosie." Liv said stressed.
"Trust me. I can handle it." Sarah said and walked towards the young girls.
"I don't know if that's a good idea."
"Relax. Everything's gonna be okay." El said while grabbing her hand to comfort her.
Liv watched the girls talk. God, she was so nervous.
When Sarah came back, Liv pulled her hand away from Elliot and looked at her eagerly.
"Well, she knows that you two are a couple."
"What? Seriously?" Liv asked surprised. El smiled at her.
"What did she say, like, just tell me everything." Liv said nervously.
Sarah laughed. "Relax Liv. Everything's fine." She sat down next to her and said, "I asked her why she introduced you like this and she looked at me like I am an idiot and said, because that's what you are. Then I asked her what she meant with it. That was the moment when she got annoyed with my questions. She said that you two like each other, like mom and dad did and before two people get married they are boyfriend and girlfriend. She really thought I was the dumbest person on earth." She laughed. "Then I asked her if she is okay with it and her face lit up like a christmas tree, like for real, and then she said it's so cool to have you as a stepmom. I didn't tell her that you probably think differently about it because who wants her as a stepchild but whatever. She is clearly in love with you."
Liv didn't know what to say. This was overwhelming for her.
"I can tell her that you don't want to be her stepmom, no problem." Sarah said grinning.
"Thank you. I think it's not necessary but really, thanks a lot." Liv said, smiling at her.
"I am here if you change your mind." Sarah said with a wink and put her earphones back in.
Liv looked at El nervously. She knew he would be happy about it but this was a lot. Lola said things that were, maybe too much to handle. That they liked each other like he and Kathy did and the stepmother thing. Liv couldn't handle it herself but it had to be weird for El to hear his daughter saying stuff like this. I mean they were a thing for a few days now and oh god, everything was going way too fast.
"El, I.." she stopped. What should she say now? Everything she could think of sounded dumb. He just smiled at her.
"Can't you just enjoy it for once, without overthinking everything again? Isn't that what you were worried about? My kids love you and don't have a problem with us being together at all. So, what are you worried about now?"
He moved his thumb in soothing circles over the back of her hand.
"Well. I guess" she stopped again and studied his face. "You really don't think all of this is going way too fast?" she turned around to look at Sarah to check if she could hear them. "I mean" she continued whispering "You and I didn't even know about us a few days ago and now your kids know and I am just... Isn't it too rushed? We didn't even have the time to figure it out ourselves and we don't know how it will work out back in New York and now your kids are involved too and I.. Well, I am overwhelmed. I didn't have anyone in my life before, every decision I made, affected myself only and now there's you and your kids and oh god, they will tell Kathy and then.. Fuck no.. She will get so mad at me and at you. And then the kids are in between all these dumb grown ups and.. ". Elliot interrupted her.
"Liv, relax. For real. Slow down a bit." he sat up and moved closer but Liv moved away.
"Not here. I know they know but that doesn't mean they can handle us being touchy or something."
"Okay. I don't think it would be a problem but I want you to feel comfortable. Please listen to me. I understand that it's a big change for you and that everything is overwhelming but sometimes things don't go like we want them to go and it's not like we just got to know each other. There was something between us since the first day we met. I think that if I wasn't married this would've happened sooner. I will talk to the kids and tell them that I wanna tell Kathy about us myself. She will have to accept it because I won't drop you for anything. And stop worrying about the kids, I mean no wonder that Lola sees you as her stepmother, you act like one. They are always a top priority for you and you don't know how much that means to me but I don't want you to feel pressured. You should do what is good for yourself. Just be honest with me and I am sure we can handle everything that's coming our way." He wanted to touch her so bad but he knew that it wouldn't comfort her, rather the opposite. So he just sat there looking at her with an encouraging smile.
"I wish I could be as positive and relaxed as you are but this just freaks me out. Everything has changed. And I really mean everything. My job, my relationship with the only person I really care about and now there are your kids too. It's just… can you give me some time to process everything? I don't want to be like this but I can't help it." she said looking down on her knees.
He touched her chin, so she was looking at him again.
"Take yourself as much time as you need but please don't shut me out. Tell me what you are thinking and what worries you, okay?" She nodded slightly, packed her stuff and got up.
"Where are you going?" Sarah asked confused.
"I am going back to the hotel room. I'll be back in a while." Liv said.
"Are you okay?"
"I am. Just need a little bit of peace." She smiled at the girl to show her that everything was okay.