A/N: I just want you to remember, EO is end game. But those of you who already hate Kathy or want me to kill her, you're not going to like her any more when you read the next couple of chapters. I mean I wrote her in this story and even I'm frustrated by her – EO is end game, but that doesn't come without challenges. *Goes to hide for safety*

15. What a mess: Part 1

Elliot looked over at Olivia, who had gone as white as a sheet. She wanted to board a plane to the end of the earth right now and never come back. She wanted to run and she wanted to forget this day had ever happened.
"Right well Chloe, I think our guests have to leave us here, so can you say bye bye to Elliot, Dickie and Lizzie as well as our new guest Kathy?" Olivia asked as she approached Chloe, who instantly reached out for her. Elliot was hurt, referring to him as 'Elliot' and not 'daddy' but he knew that had to do with Kathy being here.
"What? I don't want to go" Elizabeth refused.
"Awww, why are we ending so soon? I just got here" Kathy complained but Olivia was running in autopilot mode and working out how to get herself out of this situation. She wouldn't even look at Elliot right now, instead just focused on carrying her daughter onwards towards the next exhibit and letting Don grab the stroller before following suit. Elliot wanted to follow her, talk it out with her but he knew if he did then Kathy and the twins would follow and right now Olivia didn't want to be anywhere near Kathy.
"Can you all just wait here for a minute please? I'll be right back" Elliot insisted to the group and ran off towards where Olivia was currently walking away.

"This is all your fault!" Elizabeth argued, looking her mother directly in the eye, if it weren't for her appearance then nothing would be wrong, they wouldn't have to leave the aquarium now.
"No Lizzie, this is your father's fault, he shouldn't have gotten involved with a teacher" Kathy refused.
"I wish Livvie was my mom and not you. I HATE YOU!" Lizzie shouted at her mother, to which Kathy just raised an eyebrow at this behaviour.
"If you keep that attitude up young lady, you won't be coming home with us, you'll stay here all alone. You will apologise to me for that behaviour this instant!" Kathy leant down, closer to Elizabeth, trying to reprimand her behaviour and establish some control.
"No! Livvie says that you only apologise when you have or think you have done something wrong, or said something mean...I haven't done anything like that to you so I don't have to apologise" Elizabeth refused, standing her ground with being made to apologise.

"Enough about that precious Olivia Benson! I hear it from your father non-stop and I won't tolerate it from you! If you keep up this behaviour then we really will leave you behind and never see you again, you'll be living on the streets and no-ones going to love you!" Kathy warned, sick and tired of Elizabeth's tantrum like behaviour right now. Elizabeth didn't reply, she just walked off to the bench near where they were sitting and sat down. She really didn't want to be around her mother right now.
"Mommy, that was really mean" Richard commented, unsure what was really going on but not liking the way that his mother was speaking to his sister.
"It's true though honey, she is such a spoilt little brat and simply obsessed with Olivia, makes me wonder what that woman has done to torment my little girl. Elizabeth has no respect for me as her mother and I'm not going to take it" Kathy tried to explain to her son, her perfect little boy. She had so much difficulty with Elizabeth and couldn't believe the attitude her daughter had created but she admired the bright boy that her son was.

Meanwhile, Elliot had caught up to Olivia and eventually managed to get her to stop. Don figured that the two of them needed a moment and offered to take Chloe to see the turtles. Olivia thanked him and promised that she'd be along in just a moment.
"I didn't invite her" Elliot started before he gave Olivia a chance to talk.
"But she's here and she's just told my father several things that even I hadn't told him, about us" Olivia replied, pain from today clear in her tone of voice. She hadn't mentioned to Don about the problem with the adoption or the fact that Elliot is still married, yet in one breath Kathy had done both of those and left a minefield for Olivia to navigate through.
"I know, I'm sorry, I don't know what she's playing at" Elliot apologised, trying to reach for Olivia's hand, seeking some kind of physical touch with her but she just pulled away.
"I do and I'm starting to think it might be working...I'm sorry but I will not have her around my daughter right now, and especially not on her birthday. The only way I am going to get her to leave us, is if you leave to" Olivia explained, she really didn't want to ask Elliot leave as she knew that in addition to herself, Chloe would want him around but she simply couldn't risk Kathy being around and doing anything else.

"I will leave but did you really have to address me as 'Elliot' to Chloe? I thought I was more than that and we were acknowledging that?" Elliot asked and Olivia knew that statement had struck a nerve.
"You are and you know that but I can't have my child calling you daddy around Kathy, as who knows what she'll do with that information" Olivia tried to defend her actions.
"I won't let her hurt either of you in anyway, you mean far too much to me for anything to happen" Elliot tried to comfort Olivia's obvious fears.
"Look, I need to go and try calm my daughter down to bring back her birthday cheer. I think its best if you don't come round alter, just let us celebrate as a family" Olivia deflected, she was barely staying strong enough to do this right now and she just really needed to get back to her father and to Chloe.
"Olivia..." Elliot tried to stop her, he couldn't believe the words she had just said and clearly, she didn't think of him as family.
"Not today Elliot, I need to put Chloe first and we can't handle all the extra baggage today. Tell the twins goodbye for me" Olivia concluded the conversation before moving away in the direction her father had gone not long before, leaving Elliot standing and watching her go. There was so much she had just said to him so few words but they were ringing loud and clear in his ears, they were not ok.

Elliot didn't say a word as he re-joined Kathy and the twins, he had no words to express the kind of feelings he was going through right now. He had raised his children under the saying 'if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all' and at the moment he didn't think he could say anything nice if anyone spoke to him, so he wouldn't. His blood was boiling over Kathy and her actions today, he didn't know what was really going on with his relationship with Olivia right now, except that it was probably in shreds right now. Finally, his daughter seemed to be upset over something that had happened in the couple of minutes he was gone and Elliot didn't know why.

Elliot led the group towards the exit with Elizabeth at his side, Kathy and Richard followed close behind. He called for the car and told the driver where to meet them, he was going to get everyone home and then he was going to the gym, he really needed to hit something right now and the gym was the only appropriate place for that.
"Elliot" Kathy started
"Don't talk to me" Elliot quickly replied, he did not want to talk to her.
"But I jus-" Kathy tried again.
"You do not get to talk to me right now, we are in a public place, so I am restraining myself right now. But if you talk to me, you can walk back. When we get home, you can stay in the penthouse or you can go back to your suite, I don't care just stay away from me" Elliot warned in a completely monotone voice, letting everybody know that he wasn't in the mood. The twins had very rarely heard him talk like that and never at them, but they knew when Elliot spoke like that, he wasn't to be pushed.

The car ride back to the hotel was silent, Elizabeth sat next to Elliot and wouldn't even look at Kathy. Elliot knew he had to deal with that issue but he just could not face that on top of his own problems right now. The minute the car pulled up outside the hotel and everyone was out, Elliot told the driver not to go anywhere as he was just going to change and then he would be down again. The driver explained he would do a lap of the block and come right back.

"Lizzie, Dickie…I am going out for a little while, Bertie is here and will stay for the whole afternoon so you can stay in the apartment and do whatever you like. You can ask her if you get hungry and you know Gusto will make whatever you want, just like always. I am going to change and then will be going out for a little while, but you know how to contact me if you need to" Elliot explained to the twins as they all rode the elevator up.
"Where are you going?" Dickie asked, curiously.
"Out, I have a few things I need to deal with" Elliot explained.
"Are you going back to see Livvie?" Elizabeth asked, desperate to go too if that was where her father was going.
"No, thanks to your mother, we will not be seeing Olivia or Chloe or anyone again today" Elliot explained with a straight tone.
"You can't blame that on me! I simply came to join the party and then it was over, if you're having problems with your mistress about me being around, you can't blame that on me" Kathy defended herself, she wouldn't have Elliot blame today on her.
"SHE IS NOT MY MISTRESS" Elliot yelled, clenching his hands into fists and making everyone in the elevator flinch over his raised voice, he was struggling to maintain his composure in front of the kids right now.
"Sorry Dickie and Lizzie for raising my voice" Elliot quickly apologised but the twins just nodded, they knew that when their father raised his voice like that, he was really angry. Thankfully they arrived at their penthouse floor before anymore comments were made and everyone went their separate ways, Elliot headed straight upstairs to change for the gym and Lizzie went to her room.

Olivia, Don and Chloe loved the remainder of the time they spent at the aquarium, exploring all the different animals. Shortly after they left Elliot and the twins, Chloe did manage to settle down and became mesmerised by everything exhibit they saw in the aquarium. She especially loved the big fish tank which had everything in it and they stayed watching for a long time. As a special birthday treat and because he hadn't been able to spoil her for a while, Don let Chloe pick out her favourite toy in the entire gift shop and bought it for her. But Chloe couldn't choose between two and because of the way this morning had been and the fact that he could, Don bought her both toys. So now she had a soft toy otter and turtle to add to the collection of other soft toy's Chloe already had. It brough a smile to her face and that was all anyone really cared about now.

Don had noticed how, after the events of earlier, Olivia's sole focus became Chloe and making sure that her little girl was happy. Olivia had made the decision after they'd finished at the aquarium, not to go straight home but rather visit that park with the ducks that Chloe liked. She didn't have any bread or food to feed them but they could still watch the ducks for a while and play on the playground like Chloe liked. By the time they made it back to her apartment, Chloe was more than ready for naptime. She had thrown a tantrum at the park when they didn't have anything to feed the ducks and then she'd thrown another one when it was time to leave the playground, both were signs she was very tired after a big morning.

Olivia put Chloe down for her nap with her two new toys either side of her, whilst Don made them both a drink. Whilst Chloe was taking a nap, they were going to talk as clearly there was lots that he had missed and wanted to get to the bottom of. He didn't know whether they would see more of Elliot today or not but Don completely intended to speak with him as well, about the claims made today and his intentions with Olivia as they were clearly different to what they'd been last time Don had seen them.

"Alright, she is out. Celebrating turning 2 is very hard work" Olivia half joked as she walked back into the living room and took a seat on the chair across from the couch. She knew that her father would have lots of questions after this morning and she was dreading having to explain it all.
"I think she had a good morning, she certainly loved the aquarium" Don replied.
"Once she actually settled again she did, though I could of really done without the extra events of this morning" Olivia remarked as she stared into her cup of tea.
"I can imagine you could of, who was that lady again that interrupted us?" Don asked, wanting to get further clarification on who Kathy really was before going any further.
"Kathy, is the biological mother of Elliot's twins and his ex-wife, well technically she is still his wife but he refers to her as his 'ex-wife"
"Why have I not seen her before?"
"Because, up until a couple of months ago she wasn't on the scene. She walked out when the twins were 4 and they never her from her again. That is, until I started the process of Elliot adopting Chloe and the legal office got in touch with her. Due to her still being his legal wife, the adoption papers needed her approval too, which she obviously didn't give and then she just walked into their lives again earlier this year" Olivia explained, trying to bring her father up to speed about how messy this all got.
"How old are the twins now?" Don asked, clearly trying to work out how long Kathy had been gone.
"They are 8 years old now, they turned 8 in February" Olivia clarified.
"So, she was gone from their lives for 4 years without a word, Elliot didn't know where she was or that they were even still married?" Don asked.
"Nope, I was with him in the lawyers office when he found out and Kathy made an appearance on the scene again shortly after. Elliot and I don't keep secrets from each other and I really do believe him when he says he genuinely didn't know where she was or the fact they were still married. He's never worn his wedding ring in the time I've known him and the 7 months we were together" Olivia explained, thinking about that first time she met Elliot and he told her there wasn't a 'Mrs Stabler'.

"Were? Did you break up today?" Don asked, confused over what Olivia was saying.
"Not exactly, but I don't know if we're going to last" Olivia sighed as she looked into her mug again, wishing to avoid this.
"What makes you say that? I've seen the way that man looks at you, he is completely obsessed with you. I saw the way you two were this morning before she turned up" Don stated, anger towards Kathy clear in his tone of voice.
"I just don't know how much more of Kathy's antics I can take. She already made me transfer schools after I almost lost my job because of a complaint she made. Then, she just appears with us today because Dickie happened to mention where they were going today. I really don't know what else she's got up her sleeve and what else I can take. Elliot tells me that he's working on getting a divorce but these things take time and with most of Elliot's family hating me, I don't know if I can handle that" Olivia confessed.

"So, you would give up the man I know you love because of his family? Do you really know they hate you?" Don asked, really making Olivia question things and think about it.
"His mother does, I've not met many of his brothers or sisters apart from one who, thankfully does like me and his wife is absolutely lovely, they've also got a son a little bit older than Chloe" Olivia clarified.
"Honey, I've never seen you as happy as you are with him and from the way you talk about him, he's really everything for you and I know Chloe adores him. I'm willing to bet that if he was asked, he would go to war for you and that's really not something you just 'walk away' from. But I think you need to express these concerns to him and you need to work together to fix anything that 'broke' today. The look in that man's eyes when he was looking at you today, tells me he's completely committed to you and he will fight for you no matter what. If you walk away from that like I know you're thinking about, you may not get that again" Don concluded to which Olivia just nodded. She knew that she needed to have a big conversation with Elliot. But that was hard when Kathy seemed to place herself in the middle of everything. But she was really going to have to try or it was time to walk away.

A/N: I think this chapter gives you more of an insight into the kind of headspace which Kathy has placed Olivia in with everything. But the question is, will she fight for Elliot or will she walk away?
Up Next: More fallout from the aquarium but Elliot's side of things and what will Don do next? How far is he prepared to go for Olivia's happiness?

I know lots of you are telling me to 'get rid of Kathy' and believe me when i say, her time will come...there just might be some more bumps along the way ;)
Let me know your thoughts in a review. I'm hopefully out of isolation this week and back at school, so next update will probably be next weekend as long as I get time to edit and write.
Until Next Time ;)