Two

Soon after Olivia had left the park, Lizzie took Rosie back to the apartment that she shared with her two best friends, Maisie and Becca. Both girls were out, which for once Lizzie was grateful for. There were two other women that she needed to talk to right now.

As soon as she'd put Rosie down for a nap, Lizzie texted Kathleen to come over in an hour, which was when Maureen was due to come pick up her daughter. Thankfully, Kathleen had responded in the affirmative.

Both women arrived within minutes of each other. Lizzie let them in with a finger to her lips – Rosie was still sleeping – and brought them into her bedroom so that they could speak normally.

"Lizzie, what's going on?" asked Maureen once the door was shut behind them. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, Mo, I promise," Lizzie reassured her sister.

"But something happened," said Kathleen, ever perceptive. Her mind immediately went to the worst-case scenario. "Is it about your play? They didn't change their minds, did they?"

"No, no, nothing like that, and it's nothing wrong," said Lizzie, sitting down on her bed. She took a breath before spilling the beans. "I took Rosie to that playground she loves today, and we ran into Olivia."

Two sets of blue eyes looking down at her widened in shock. Each took a seat beside Lizzie as she told them the whole story and everything that she'd learned. When she was finished, it was Kathleen who spoke first.

"I'm so relieved," she said. "And so happy for her."

"Yeah," said Maureen. "She's really built a new life for herself."

"I hate how Dad cut her out of his life like that, even after he and Mom split," said Kathleen.

"Do you know anything about that?" asked Lizzie curiously. "It's just…I could feel the tension rolling off Olivia the few times I mentioned Dad."

Kathleen huffed out a sigh and rolled her eyes. "I tried to ask about Olivia right after Dad left SVU, but it was like talking to a brick wall. I've been meaning to talk to him about reconnecting with her ever since he moved back, but I haven't known how to bring it up without him shutting it down."

"Well, perhaps this is it," said Maureen. "Hearing that one of us has seen her again – that's not something he can just brush aside. I want them to reconnect, too. Mom's found her happiness, but Dad…he's lonely."

"And Olivia's done so much for us," said Kathleen. "She's the reason I got the help I needed when I got diagnosed bipolar. Hell, she's the reason Mom and Eli are still alive!"

"What about Olivia?" asked Maureen to Lizzie. "Did you get the impression she would want to reconnect with Dad?"

Lizzie scrunched up her face. "I honestly don't know. I got the feeling that talking about Dad any more than was necessary would be too much for her. But when I told her I couldn't keep this from my Dad, she didn't object."

"She would never do that," said Kathleen. "So…when are you going to tell Dad about this?"

"I'm going to go over there tonight," said Lizzie. "The sooner, the better. I thought about asking one or both of you to come, but that might be a bit too much."

"I agree," said Maureen. "Neither of us were with you." Just then, the sound of Rosie's cries interrupted the conversation. Maureen immediately got up and left the room to take care of her daughter.

"I just don't know why I feel nervous about this," groaned Lizzie, resting her head on Kathleen's shoulder.

Kathleen wrapped an arm around her. "Don't be. I think this is the opportunity that Dad needs to reach out to her. Just tell him exactly what happened."

Lizzie nodded, reassured, and lifted her head. "I'm getting together with Olivia again soon. I want to talk to her about the play; I think she could really help me."

"Tell me more about the role again?"

"It's Isabella from Measure for Measure. A Shakespeare play, one of the lesser known but better written plays. It's not done too much because it's classified as a comedy but lots of it is anything but. For example, my character is a postulant in a nunnery whose brother is condemned to death for having sex out of wedlock. When she goes to plead for his life, she's given the choice of sleeping with the judge to get her brother off or remain chaste and watch her brother die."

Kathleen's eyes widened and she let out a long whistle. "Wow, Lizzie…I can see why you'd want Liv's help."

"It crossed my mind to ask Dad," said Lizzie. "But he was always so careful to keep that world away from us, and he walked away from it, so it didn't feel right."

Kathleen nodded. "Well, keep me posted on how everything is going. Tonight, just tell him firmly and calmly everything that happened and everything you intend to do. I agree with Maureen: the fact that you've already seen her will make a difference in his potential reaction for the better. This could be exactly the opening that Dad needs."

That evening, Lizzie arrived at her father's building with a bag of Chinese takeout. He buzzed her up and let her in with a grin and a hug. Her text offering to come by and bring dinner had been a pleasant surprise.

As they dug into their dinner, Lizzie took the opportunity to study her father. If he'd had a bad or stressful day, she knew she wouldn't be able to tell him about Olivia tonight. But she saw no signs of tension or stress on him. To be sure, Lizzie asked, "You have a good Sunday?"

Elliot nodded. "Spent it at the shelter with the boys. Must have played half a dozen games of basketball. Feel like an old man keeping up with them."

On days when he wasn't working private security or with his family, Elliot volunteered at a youth shelter for young men who'd been through the school of hard knocks. It warmed Lizzie's heart that her father took so much joy out of it.

Seeing the grin on his face, Lizzie teased, "Well, you are a grandfather now."

Elliot chuckled. Then his eyes lit up as he asked, "Speaking of, didn't you babysit Rosie today?"

Lizzie took a deep breath and nodded. Showtime, she thought.

Oblivious to any shift in Lizzie's mood, Elliot the grandfather grinned and asked, "Any new pictures you need to send?"

Lizzie had to laugh at that. "Dad, you already have about a thousand photos and almost that many videos on your phone."

Elliot shrugged nonchalantly. "So? Neither your mother nor I could ever have enough. Are you telling me you have a limit?"

"Ok, fair enough," said Lizzie with a smile, but then she sobered herself. "Actually, Dad, I didn't really have a chance to take any new photos. I took Rosie to the playground, and I wound up talking to a woman who was there."

Elliot looked only slightly put out and casually asked, "Oh, who was it? A friend of yours?"

Lizzie slowly nodded and waited until she was sure he'd swallowed his latest bite of food to drop the bombshell.

"Dad…it was Olivia."

Lizzie kept her expression neutral and her demeanor calm as she watched her father react. He went still, dropping his chopsticks onto his plate, and his eyes widened ever so slightly as a storm of emotions passed over them. It took him at least a full minute to be able to speak in a low voice.

"You…you saw Olivia…at the playground?" A slight panic came into his eyes. "Was she working a case there?"

"No, no, nothing like that, Dad," said Lizzie, realizing just how much she had to tell her father. "She was there with her son."

Again, shock washed over his face and he leaned back in his chair. His gaze shifted to his now-empty plate, and he looked like a single touch could knock him off the chair.

"Dad?" asked Lizzie quietly, instinctually knowing to keep any worry off her face or voice. "Do you need a minute before I tell you the rest?"

Her father ran a hand over his face, folded his lips, and tightly nodded to his lap.

"Ok," said Lizzie.

She got up from the table and took their places and empty containers into his kitchen. After taking her time cleaning up, Lizzie slowly walked back to the living room. Her father was still sitting at the dining table, but now he held his face in his hands. Compassion filling her heart, Lizzie walked to her father and stood behind him, placing her hands on his shoulders.

"Come on, Dad, let's sit on the sofa," said Lizzie calmly. She had no idea how she knew what to do; perhaps she had taken Kathleen's advice to heart and was trying to do what the future therapist would be doing right now.

Thankfully, it was working. Elliot scrubbed his face with his hands and got up from his chair. They walked over to his leather sofa and sat down beside each other. After a minute, Elliot took a deep breath, looked at Lizzie and asked, "So?"

Lizzie nodded and said, "I was taking Rosie to the swings and she was already there, putting her little boy in one. We were both surprised, safe to say, and we hugged. Then I introduced her to Rosie and she introduced me to Noah." She smiled at the way her father's eyes lit up upon learning his name. "Yeah, his name is Noah. He's three months older than Rosie and absolutely adorable. As we swung them, I caught her up on what we've all been doing and where we are now as people. Then, while the kids were having a snack, I asked about her. Turns out she got Noah on her own; she'd fostered him and then adopted him. And she's still at SVU. More than that, she's a lieutenant now and the commanding officer there. Then she got a text about a new case and had to leave, so we said goodbye."

Lizzie conveyed the concise facts clearly and calmly, and not in any rush. She paused here and there so that her father could absorb each new fact, because she knew it would be a lot for him to take in. When she was finished, she sat back on the sofa and watched her father.

Minutes passed before Elliot finally sat back on the sofa like her. His expression was a stew of emotions as he let out a long breath. Finally, he murmured more to himself than to Lizzie: "A son…good for her." A small, soft smile was on his lips.

Relief poured over Lizzie as she smiled, too. "Yeah. She's a great mom."

"I always knew she would be," murmured Elliot, his eyes far away.

Lizzie bit her lip before laying her final bombshell on her father. "Dad…I'm going to see her again. I think she could really help me with my play. Maureen and Kathleen want to reconnect with her, too."

The finality in her tone caused Elliot to look at her again. "Honey, you don't need to ask my permission."

"I know," said Lizzie. "I'm telling you because…if there's anything you'd like me to pass on to her for you…just let me know, ok?"

For a moment, Lizzie thought that tears were in her father's eyes. But then he blinked and nodded, rubbing a hand over his face again.

Feeling the shift in the atmosphere, Lizzie stood up and said, "I'm going to head home."

"Alright," said Elliot, getting up and walking with her to the door.

Before she left, he pulled Lizzie into a very tight hug, and Lizzie hugged him just as tightly back. "I love you," he murmured.

"Love you too, Dad," said Lizzie, pulling back to look at him. "It's going to be ok."

Elliot almost laughed but looked at her gratefully. He then kissed her forehead and opened the door with a "Text me when you get home."

An hour later found Elliot walking the streets of Manhattan like a haunted man. That is what he had been since he'd walked away from SVU, from her, but ever since he'd moved back to the city, he felt it like a presence beside him all the time. Nearly everywhere he went, he could see her. So many places were places they'd been together on the job. Memories, so many of them insignificant, would hit him like a strong breeze.

He and Olivia had gone into that bodega after a stakeout across the street…he and Olivia had chased a suspect down that block…he and Olivia had gotten hot dogs and laughed under that streetlight…

But tonight, it wasn't only memories in his mind as he walked the streets. Lizzie's revelations also played in his mind like a broken record.

"I saw Olivia…she was there with her son…his name is Noah…eighteen months old and adorable…she adopted him on her own…she's still at SVU…the lieutenant and commanding officer…she's a great mom…"

How could his heart feel so warm and so cold at the same time? Warm because this knowledge had been music to his ears; Olivia had not only risen in the ranks at work but had achieved her dream of being a mother. Cold because Elliot knew that it was a very real possibility that Olivia did not have any place for him in this new life that she'd made for herself – and that she wouldn't be willing to make one for him.

Thinking back to Lizzie's words again, Elliot had the smallest hope that Olivia didn't hate him by the fact that Lizzie offered to pass along any message from him to her. Surely she wouldn't have offered that if Olivia had given the impression she wanted nothing to do with him? Still, Olivia had always loved his kids, and would never give them any reason to be angry at him.

More than any fear, though, Elliot finally felt free to hope. Ever since moving back to the city, he knew that he had to make things right with Olivia. But the thought of reaching out to her out of the blue after four years daunted him. The best idea he'd had so far was to get in touch with Fin or Munch or Cragen first, as a way to test the waters. Now, though, a door had opened for him in a way he hadn't expected: this chance meeting of Lizzie and Olivia.

He wasn't going to let this opportunity slip by, and he had to start now. And that meant finding the nearest store that sold paper and pens still open at this hour.