Chapter 5 – Communication is Key

Elliot knew that today was going to be a bigger day than usual, before he even got out of bed. There was so much that he needed to get done today and so many issues he needed to resolve. Firstly, he needed to talk to Kathy and hear about what her plans were with being back. He also needed to put the first few steps in place for getting divorced from Kathy. He wanted to do what he was under the impression that he'd already done, divorce Kathy and have the ability to move forward with his life and relationship with the woman he wanted to be with, Olivia. After he'd spoken with Kathy and started the divorce, he would try to talk with Olivia. If nothing else, he wanted to arrange a time where they could properly talk and he could explain everything that was going on right now. She'd never texted him back or spoken to him last night and that wasn't ok with Elliot. He had to make this right.

Finally, when Elliot had made things right with both Kathy and Olivia, or at least attempted to, he was going to attempt to talk to his mother, work out what role she had in this whole situation. Why had she brought Kathy back to New York and what was she planning on happening next? He still had to work out the best step forward to resolve the issue between his children and Kathy, but he was hoping that if he could at least be there for pick up this afternoon, get them all together then maybe there would be some resolution to the problem. He didn't want his children to completely shut their mother out of their lives or hate her, but he understood why they weren't the warmest to her or most welcoming right now. He was also aware that they hardly understood what was going on now really, as their mother had been away and now, she was back. Elliot wasn't sure how he would make this all right again, but he wasn't prepared to give up till it was. His first priority for today though, was his children and making sure that they got to school for the day.

He wasn't going to pressure Olivia into talking at school, he would wait until she was ready. He told her he would give her time and space, he was going to keep his word in that. He never broke a promise to her, and he wasn't prepared to start now. He would stop off on the way to school, if the twins were organised early enough, to grab a coffee for her as a kind of peace offering, before asking her if there was a time they could talk. He didn't blame her for her actions yesterday, he didn't blame her for how she was taking this all as he understood this was quite a shock, it was for him. But they could work it out together and if they talked it through, he hoped she understood where he was coming from. But he didn't want to ruin her daily preparation though, or her day teaching when there were other things that he wanted to get done before he talked to her, too.

Olivia couldn't hide her yawn as she walked around the classroom, setting out everything she required for the morning on class. Olivia knew that if she had everything laid out for the students then they would have no reason to mess around and they could get started the minute they came in. There were a couple of students in her class who really needed that structure right now, Olivia was trying her best to give them that structure and support whilst placing more responsibility on the students as they were ready for it. But she had to admit, her brain was not in teaching today, she was tired and hadn't had a chance to grab a coffee yet. This in addition to not sleeping well last night, was all taking a toll on her. Olivia just wanted to curl up and take a nap, however she didn't have the time or ability to do that.

Olivia had been awake for hours last night, think about Elliot. She had thought about what she had said after finding out the information about Elliot still being married. She had thought everything through and knew her main priority right now should be to support Elliot and support him through all of this. She did believe him when he said that he thought he was divorced and didn't know about his wife still being married to him. She had come to believe him also about what he said in regard to wanting a divorce, because she didn't want to lose him. She didn't want to lose the best thing that had happened to her in a very long time. She had thought about how much Chloe loved Elliot too and how she didn't want to cause her daughter any pain either. In fact, Olivia didn't want anyone else to be Chloe's father, she only thought of Elliot when she thought of a father for her daughter. Even though it was highly likely the papers would now take longer to be processed and for it to become official, Chloe was adjusting to calling Elliot 'daddy' and Olivia couldn't change that. She and Elliot just needed to talk this all through, they would fix this together.

Olivia heard a noise from the doorway to her classroom and looked up to find Elliot standing there. She had been so lost in her own little world, she had no idea how long he had been standing there. But she was glad that he'd decided to pay her a visit this morning as she felt bad for not calling him last night and didn't have time this morning. She ran her eyes over him briefly and smiled at how handsome he looked right now, in his suit and ready for another day in the business world.

"Special delivery" Elliot remarked, drawing Olivia's eyes back to him before holding out a coffee cup out to her.
"You are amazing" Olivia replied with a smile as she walked over and graciously accepted the cup.
"I'm glad you think so" Elliot teased in reply.
"Absolute heaven…Thank you" Olivia remarked after taking a sip of the hot beverage and savouring the taste for a minute.

"I'm sorry I didn't call you last night" Olivia continued.
"I understand, you said you needed space" Elliot replied, watching her and admiring how beautiful she was.
"I'm also sorry for the way that I reacted yesterday. That wasn't fair on you but I do think we need to talk this over"
"You read my mind. I wanted to come in here and ask you that same exact thing"
"Except you brought me coffee too!"
"I did. But I do want to talk this over with you, I always want to talk everything over with you. I don't want to take you out of your day though"
"Well, I have a meeting this afternoon straight after school but, how about we meet up after that? I have Lucy with Chloe this afternoon, so I don't need to rush off" Olivia suggested.
"I think I need to be around the twins this afternoon, after the events of last night, which I can fill you in on later. Would you mind coming to mine?" Elliot tried to ask, he didn't want to make Olivia uncomfortable but he did really need to be around the twins today after how yesterday afternoon went.
"If you need to be around your kids then yes, I will come to yours. I'll send you a message when I get out of the meeting" Olivia agreed.
"Thank you. Now, I better go and let you get back to work as I know you probably have more to do before the kids come in. I love you and I'll see you later" Elliot turned to leave with a quick smile.
"You too" Olivia replied. She appreciated that Elliot had come in to school especially to talk to her and ask to arrange a time for them to properly talk. She also appreciated that he was prepared to be open to her about how he felt, at school. Olivia just couldn't risk not being cryptic in her response to him when at school. She hoped he understood what she meant but she knew in the context it was all said, he would. Olivia was glad that they had worked out the best option to be able to talk and she knew that taking the chance to talk it all through with Elliot would help them move forward again.

Elliot had already checked the hotel logs and knew that Kathy was staying at the hotel, he knew her exact room that she was staying in too and organised for a note to be delivered with her room service this morning, to meet him. He was going to get everything with her out in the open as soon as possible, to work out how to move forward with this and his life. He didn't want to get back with her and he wasn't going to let her try and delay a divorce or anything. He wouldn't stop her from seeing the children or getting to know them, but he definitely wasn't interested in pursuing anything with her. He wanted to also discuss the best steps she could take forward to getting to know the twins again, as they weren't instantly going to just accept her. She'd been gone for many years and that will take them a little bit of time to process and then begin to connect with her again as this was a big change in their lives. Kathy needed to be cautious about that and work with him if she really wanted to build that strong bond with her children back again. Olivia had been the one to teach him that, in her work turning him into the good father that he was now and Elliot was already sure that Olivia would be able to give ideas about how he can reintroduce Kathy to the twins.

"Mr Stabler, Mrs Stabler is waiting for you in the meeting room, 2B" Parker informed Elliot as he walked into the hotel lobby and past reception. So, she wants to talk Elliot thought to himself, as he hadn't been expecting Kathy to actually show up to his proposed meeting. This had to be a good sign, he was sure.
"Kathy, Thanks for coming in" Elliot greeted as he walked into the meeting room, Kathy had a look on her face like she was glad she was here, but she was on a mission.
"Well, when the head of the hotel requests a meeting, you don't really have the option to turn him down, so in some ways you might say, I didn't have a choice" Kathy replied as Elliot took a seat across from her at the conference table.
"I still appreciate you coming to meet with me" Elliot focused on maintaining his temper and being civil with Kathy as they were here for the children.
"You said we needed to talk and I didn't want to put it off" Kathy remarked.
"What are you doing back?" Elliot asked, avoiding any further small talk and getting right to the point.
"Well, I wanted to come back and see you, see the kids. I spent all the time away that I needed and I'm ready to be back now, I'm ready to fix the mess you've got yourself into in my absence"
"Excuse me?"
C'mon Elliot, I know about your affair with that school teacher and supposed adoption. You've lost your way in my absence and I apologise for that, but I'm back now. We can fix this and get back to what we were" Kathy explained, standing up from her seat and moving towards Elliot.
"Back on track? You walked out on me and the kids over 4 years ago now, without a word or an address to contact you at. I only found out your most recent address yesterday when I met with my lawyer because of what you did" Elliot questioned.
"I'm not going to support another child who isn't my own and she's not yours either, so you don't have any obligation to that kid" Kathy explained, in her mind she had done the right thing but it appeared that Elliot didn't agree.

"How do you know she's not mine? You've been gone long enough for her to be mine. You don't know that she's not mine" Elliot stated, he couldn't quite believe the lengths Kathy was prepared to go to right now when she had no right.
"She doesn't look anything like you and if she really was yours, she would have been born right here in New York like the twins were. I know for a fact she wasn't born here and she's not biologically yours" Kathy defended herself. Elliot didn't know how Kathy had found all of this out but as there was no way it would have been in the court papers she was sent. She must have had Olivia and Chloe properly investigated. Although, the thought of that made Elliot question whether Olivia and Chloe were in any other danger.
"You had them investigated? Why? Do you really care that much about what I do?" Elliot asked.
"Yes, because you're my husband, not hers and I have a right to know"
"How do you have a right when you were the one who left? You walked away and never contacted us again! I didn't even know where you were until my lawyer gave me your past address yesterday"
"So, that gives you the right to shack up with another woman and cheat on me like that? I leave and you don't care but you get into an affair behind my back as a form of revenge?"
"Firstly, it's not an affair or revenge! I love Olivia and Chloe and I want to be with them. Secondly, you're wrong, I was an absolute mess when you left and it took me a decent while to properly recover but you wouldn't know as you were here! Finally, I thought we were divorced! I was under the impression that we got divorced when you left so I moved on with my life and I will not tolerate you badmouthing the woman whom I love like that!" Elliot defended Olivia and the love he had for her, like he always would.
"Wow, your mother was actually right, you are completely lost. You may think you're in love with this woman but I'm back now and you really don't need her anymore, we can fix this between us and make everything go back to normal" Kathy retaliated.
"I don't want to go back to what we had. I don't want to 'fix' this between us. I want to get a divorce and I want to move on with my life" Elliot ran a hand down his face, this was not working.
"Well, you're not taking my kids from me, I'm not going to let you just throw me out again!" Kathy yelled as Elliot just shook his head and walked out the door. This talk had not gone the way he had been hoping but he was going to go get the divorce proceedings started before attending to the rest of his day.

A/N: Well...
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