Chapter 45. Home to New York
Olivia gazed out the plane window, watching the white fluffy clouds and ground move by. She was thinking about the time she'd spent back with her father and friends. She was thinking about how much she'd enjoyed the time there and everything she'd done but she was ready to get back to New York. She had things that she had to get back to and there was the court date with Dani coming up. Whilst she'd been home for thanksgiving, Elliot had told her that the court date with Dani had been set for the 12th of December. That really wasn't that far away and whilst Olivia was glad she'd get everything over with before Christmas and the New Year, she was nervous. She was nervous as to what the fallout would be from this case and if that would have real consequences for her or worse, for Elliot. She couldn't bear the thought that something would happen for Elliot, or that his business would suffer because of this case. Elliot had tried to comfort her worries, with the fact that his legal team were on top of the case and there wouldn't be any fallout but yet, Olivia still felt guilty that this could go badly and there would be fallout for his business.
Both Alex and Don had told Olivia that they were going to come out to New York for the case and then both were going to stay for the holiday season. Micah, Alex's partner was also going to fly out to New York for the holidays but not till closer to the time. Olivia was really glad that everyone would be here for the holidays, New York had a new feeling to it for the holidays this year, considering how happy she was being with Elliot – but what would Christmas/New Year really look like for them? She would have to get through the court date with Dani first, then they could take things from there. But she really couldn't wait to get back to New York, get back to Elliot.
Elliot was counting down the minutes till he would see her again. A week away had been long enough to him and Elliot simply couldn't wait for Olivia and Chloe to be back in town. He had been very busy the past couple of days with work as the holiday season meant the hotels were in high demand. It was one of their most successful times within the year. However, he was taking this weekend off, he had delegated most of the important work that needed to be reviewed to a junior and the only thing Elliot was going to be doing this weekend, was spending time with the kids and Olivia. Bernie hadn't come back to town with them, instead opting to spend more time out at the beach house, and then going to visit other family members before the holidays. Elliot had to admit, he was grateful for the absence from his mother, he was grateful to have a little bit of distance and to have the space to be able to do whatever he wanted with whomever he wanted whenever he wanted, without the worry of his mother always being over his shoulder.
Elliot sat on a chair by the arrival gate of the plan that Olivia and Chloe were returning on, watching as different people started to disembark the plane. The twins had wanted to come with him, to pick Olivia and Chloe up from the airport but Elliot had simply refused, instead keeping them at the hotel with his new nanny Annie watching over them. He had arranged and was trialing this new nanny, with the watchful eye of Bertie, who would be on hand. Elliot did promise that if Olivia and Chloe were up for it, he would bring them back to the hotel for the afternoon and dinner which the twins loved. It was clear to Elliot that they had missed Olivia and Chloe as much as he had. But it wouldn't be long now and they would be back, they would all be back together and things could go back to normal.
Elliot stood up the minute that he saw them, walking over towards the entrance, ready to help Olivia in anyway that he could. She looked like she could use a hand between juggling a couple of bags and a very energetic looking toddler.
"EEELLOT" Chloe squealed as Olivia spotted him standing up. She let Chloe go, knowing that she was running to Elliot and that he would have her in a minute. She watched every step the little girl took though towards him just in case.
"Hey monkey! Welcome back!" Elliot replied as he caught Chloe in a hug when she reached him and picked her up in his arms.
"I catch you" Chloe replied with a smile.
"You definitely did, very well done. But were you being tricky for mommy?" Elliot asked, wanting to talk to the little girl about her dangerous behaviour in such a busy place.
"No…I wan run b mommy asdhjasd no" Chloe replied, talking almost a proper sentence but still getting some word inaudibly jumbled.
"Your mommy just wants to keep you safe, she's a very smart lady as this airport is very busy. I know you were excited to see me and I was excited to see you but what if I hadn't spotted you and you got lost? Mommy and I can't keep you safe if you don't stay close" Elliot warned the little girl as Olivia approached them. She had to admit, she enjoyed the view of Elliot taking on the father role with her daughter and warning her in dangerous situations, the same way he would warn his own children.
"What do you need to say to mommy?" Elliot asked Chloe.
"Sowwwy mommy" Chloe apologised and Olivia smiled at the little girl, knowing she meant it.
"It's ok sweetie, I know you were excited to see Elliot but I just wanted to keep you safe" Olivia replied to Chloe as Elliot reached out an arm to take a bag from Olivia and gave her a kiss in the process.
"Yucky mommy" Chloe remarked whilst scrunching up her face and pressing her hand against both the adults chests, trying to push them apart causing both Elliot and Olivia to just laugh.
"Welcome home" Elliot greeted Olivia as he smiled at her.
"It feels good to be back" Olivia smiled at him, she really was glad to be back.
"I missed you" Elliot confided.
"I missed you too" Olivia replied as the trio started to walk down to the baggage claim area. They just needed to get the bags and then they could get out of here and go home. Olivia was more than ready to just be at home again, travelling with a toddler was a lot of hard work, especially on her own. Elliot was just ready to have them home again, and take it easy for a little while.
A couple of hours later and everyone was around at Elliot's apartment. Olivia had requested that they went to her apartment first, so she could put the bags down and freshen up a little before they went to Elliot's. Elliot, being ever the gentleman that he is, insisted that rather than have them taking public transport or a taxi to his place, he would simply send the car back for them. Despite being in a relationship with Elliot the past couple of months, Olivia still didn't understand what Elliot had against taking the subway. Olivia had taken it all the time since she moved to New York before she knew Elliot, and she found it alright. She had even taken his twins on the subway once and they actually found it kind of fun. Olivia knew that one day, she was going to get Elliot on the subway, and get him off his high horse that no one can travel by subway when he's around.
The twins were playing on the floor with Chloe, a new game she had been give from Olivia's father. It was a simple memory game but all the kids were enjoying it. It gave Olivia and Elliot a chance to talk and relax whilst watching the children. Both were lying on the couch, Olivia lying with her head against Elliot's chest and Elliot had his arm draped around her waist, holding her safe.
"So, where's your mom? I haven't seen her today? Is she out for the afternoon?" Olivia asked, knowing they would not be able to relax like this if Bernie was around.
"No, she didn't actually come home with us from the beach house. She's spending extra time at the house and then going elsewhere for a while. She said she didn't see me needing her now and wanted to go and help my sister for a while" Elliot explained.
"Wow, what drama did you not tell me about whilst you were away that caused that?" Olivia teased as she looked up at Elliot, he just raised an eyebrow slightly, prompting Olivia to want to know more.
"So there is drama?" Olivia asked sitting up a bit straighter.
"I never said that" Elliot replied.
"You didn't have to. I can tell with a look" Olivia continued, interested in hearing about what else had happened whilst she was gone. Elliot took a deep breath and knew he would have to tell her about Edward's conversation with his mother, the fallout and the fact that Edward is coming to town and wants to meet her.
"So, there was one evening. I was missing you a little more than usual in the time that we were apart. It was the day before thanksgiving and I hadn't spoken to you because you were busy…Anyway, my brother Edward, had a discussion with me, about you surprisingly enough. We had a discussion about my mother and her treatment of you" Elliot explained.
"You really don't have to-" Olivia tried to stop him.
"No, let me finish. We'd been talking and he wanted to know where you were and why you weren't there with us. I'd explained the whole situation and later that day, he basically interrogated my mother over it. He told me he asked her why she couldn't' stand you and again her answers were pretty pathetic. But basically…to cut a long story short, after the interrogation my mother had kind of been distant and has taken the initiative to arrange to go somewhere else. She thinks that I'm going to see her at Christmas but everyone knows that unless she allows you to come and is more welcoming of you, I'm not going wherever she is for Christmas"
"El-"
"No, I mean it. I missed you over this past week and holiday season is supposed to be spent with your loved ones, that includes you and Chloe. So, if she wont welcome you then I won't go. She needs to get the message that you and Chloe are in our lives now and you're not going anywhere" Elliot put his foot down.
Olivia didn't like that she was coming between Elliot and his mother but she also felt incredibly loved by the fact that he was so willing to go and fight for her like this.
"Well, that's very sweet, but even if your mother was on board with it all, we couldn't go as Alex, Micah and Dad are coming out here for Christmas. Dad and Alex are going to come out for the case with Dani but stay on for the holidays. Micah is going to fly out at a later date to be here for the holidays" Olivia explained the plans that had been decided whilst she was away.
"That settles it then, Christmas will be here in New York and they can all stay here" Elliot replied.
"You don't have to-"
"Baby, I love you but I know how small your apartment is. There is no way that you are going to be able to fit everyone in there in addition to yourself and Chloe. So, if your father wants to stay with you then that's fine but Alex and her partner…" Elliot hesitated as he had forgotten Alex's partners name.
"Micah" Olivia assisted.
"Micah, can stay here either in my spare room as I assume my mother will still be moved out, or in a nice suite downstairs, completely free of charge" Elliot finished.
"well that is a very nice offer, thank you" Olivia smiled.
"Anytime, you know that" Elliot remarked before stealing a proper kiss. Part of him hoped that if he could get Olivia's family and friends staying here, maybe just maybe he could convince her to stay the night Christmas Eve at his place. But he wasn't entirely sure whether that was going too far just yet as she'd never stayed over before.
Olivia was happy to be back in the classroom on Monday morning, it would be a very busy couple of weeks, with all the things she needed to get done before Christmas break. But she was really happy to see her kids again. She also felt like they really needed consistency in terms of the teacher now, with end of year coming up and the students starting to lose focus. She still had to take the day of the court case off from teaching, but she wasn't planning anymore after that. Olivia had a meeting with Elliot and his legal team this afternoon to go over the case for next week. She couldn't hide the fact that she would be so much happier when everything was over and they could just get on with their lives.
"How was your week away?" Clara asked as sat next to Olivia's desk at the front of the room, marking the spelling tests from Friday.
"It was really nice thank you, very nice to see my dad and everyone. Chloe definitely enjoyed being back with her grandfather and on the farm. How was your thanksgiving?" Olivia asked, curious to hear what Clara had got up to.
"Really good thank you, enjoyed spending time with all the family and remembering everything that we have to be grateful for. Did you spend any time with the Stabler's over the break?" Clara asked, being one of the only people whom knew that Olivia and Elliot were in a relationship, she was very interested to hear if they got together at all over the break.
"Not really as I was away, but there have been moments over the weekend where we were together. Not that I should really be talking to you about it" Olivia replied as the pair continued to discussed what they had both been up to over the break and any plans for the Christmas/New Year. Olivia knew that Clara wouldn't share any news about her relationship with Elliot but still felt like there was some privacy rule she was breaking by discussing her relationship with Elliot at school. Clara was going to be away next week with some final year university course assignments to submit but she would be back before end of term. Olivia had already told her that she would be taking the 12th off, so the class wouldn't have either of them in the classroom. But hopefully, the school had organised one of the reputable substitute teachers to cover her class rather than one they didn't like. Olivia was sure that despite not being at school that day, she would hear all about it from Elizabeth later.
After recess, Clara took the mathematics session for the day and Olivia had time to get some testing on her students done. She particularly wanted to test a few students in their reading and basic mathematics knowledge to make sure they were progressing. Whilst there had been numerous students who had made significant improvements with their reading this year, she needed to re-test a few to check their progress for reports and other things she needed to write up, as well as to check if they needed further assistance. Testing today was especially important as she had to give a presentation to senior members of staff about support programs for different students tomorrow and she had been away when the students were back from thanksgiving, so she had yet to actually test them for evidence for her presentations. She slowly worked her way through her list of students and most of them had made significant progress, there were a few who were still going to need that extra intervention with their reading but she was proud of them all. The last student she had to test was Elizabeth. She knew how hard this little girl had been working on her reading and she knew that Elizabeth's father was on board 100%, she just needed that data to prove it.
"Alright, now we need to do some reading and make sure everything is continuing to improve with your reading. Don't worry about what I'm doing, I want to see your best reading and that is all. I want to make sure that you and daddy have been continuing to do it at home, as you're not going to get any better at it otherwise" Olivia explained to Elizabeth who just nodded.
"Daddy and me read every night before bed, and daddy always says that we can't skip it when I don't want to do it as he doesn't want you to be mad at us" Elizabeth remarked and Olivia knew she was telling the truth. She knew how passionate Elliot was now about helping both the twins to succeed. Even this past weekend, when she and Chloe had been over, Elliot made sure to take time to work with both the twins on their reading and spelling. He had taken a complete 180 turn on things when it came to being involved with the twins and Olivia had to admit, she was very proud of him for that.
Olivia listenedas Elizabeth read through the required text and whilst she still made a couple of errors on words, she demonstrated the correct skills in correcting her reading herself and was demonstrating quite the improvement.
"You did so well! I think I can put you up another level" Olivia encouraged.
"Really?" Elizabeth asked, excited but kind of nervous at the same time.
"Mmmhmm and I'm very proud of all the hard work that you and daddy have been putting in to help you improve your reading" Olivia replied as she gave Elizabeth a high five and sent her back into the classroom with the rest of her peers.
O: Elizabeth has really improved with her reading - I'm very impressed by both her and you xx Olivia texted Elliot quickly. She knew it wasn't the formal way to notify parents but she was very proud of Elliot's work with Elizabeth and she wanted him to know.
Elliot was standing by the gate of the school when Olivia appeared out the entrance of the building. He had come to pick her up for their meeting with his legal team, just like he said he would. He really wasn't comfortable with the idea of her travelling on different public transport to get to him when it wouldn't take him anywhere near as long with a chauffeur to get to her. Besides, picking her up meant that he had more time with her alone before their meeting than he would if he met her there.
"There's my superstar reading dad" Olivia greeted as she approached Elliot.
"Not the greeting I was going for but I'll take it" Elliot remarked to which Olivia just smiled, she knew what he was hoping she'd say but she wanted to make a mention to him in person about how impressed she was by the work he'd been doing with Elizabeth.
"Well, he's also my handsome lover but, I wanted to try something else first" Olivia teased.
"And you, are my gorgeous lady" Elliot replied as he took her bag and gave it to the chauffer before holding the door to allow her to get in the car first. Once they were both in the car and the door was closed, Olivia pulled him closer for a kiss.
"Now is that the greeting you were really after?" Olivia teased as they pulled apart.
"What can I say? You know me so well and happen to be the best kisser on the planet" Elliot replied as Olivia settled back in the car.
"Flattery will get you anywhere" Olivia remarked before the conversation turned to the topic of the day and what Elliot had been up to at work. Olivia had a genuine interest in the things that Elliot did with running his company, which Elliot enjoyed talking about but he also loved to hear about her day just as much.
When they pulled up at the law firm, Elliot helped Olivia out of the car and into the building, knowing exactly where they were going to meet his team. He could tell that Olivia was feeling a little nervous about everything but he was confident that there was nothing to be worried about. Lewis was great in his case against Brian but this legal team would be even better in the case with Dani as they had more resources and experience.
"Mr Stabler, Miss Benson, so glad you could join us" A man greeted the pair at the door to the office.
"Please, call me Olivia" Olivia greeted as Elliot took her coat for her and hung it up by the door, with his.
"Olivia, I'm Tony and I'm the head of this legal firm overseeing your case. Now, I'm not sure what Mr Stabler has been telling you but we are highly qualified and have been spending hours looking over every detail in your case against Miss Dani Beck, we can assure you the case is strong in your favour" Tony explained to which Olivia just nodded, this was what she liked to hear.
"Come, sit down and we can discuss how it's all going to work in the court room" Tony ushered the pair over to the desk and opened the file he had sitting on his desk.
Olivia, Elliot and Tony spent the next hour and a half discussing everything to do with the case. Tony had explained to the couple that there was a high chance that Dani's legal team could bring up the fact they are together now and use it to her advantage. He also explained that Dani's legal team could also take the approach to try and play the angle that there was something going on between her and Elliot, which Olivia was interrupting, even though Elliot had expressed numerous times they weren't the case. Olivia believed Elliot too when he'd told her this. They were confident that they could get the charges of assault 2, public defamation and intention to cause serious assault, stuck on Dani. That would mean that best case scenario, she would have a protection order from being anywhere near Olivia and could not speak about the case or the people involved in any manner. Then she would either be sentenced with community service or be sent to jail. This would be placed on her permanent record too. Both Elliot and Olivia liked those odds and had high hopes that this would be over soon.
A/N: Well, things are really starting to tense up for this story. Elliot and Olivia are back in the same city but Dani's court date is just around the corner. I wonder how that will go? Are they going to be successful or is Dani going to get away with what she did? Guess you'll have to wait and see.
Next chapter: Alex and Don come to town, Elliot meets Olivia's father for the first time and they all go to court. Leave me a review and let me know what you thought of this chapter? I love to read them all and see what everyone thinks. Some of you have been very close with ideas to what happens next. I'll try and get another chapter up within a week but no promises as life gets busy.
Until next time ;)
