I'VE NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE: CH 6 / KIN
Elliot opens the door to his family's loft expecting the usual loud chaos that comes with Stabler gatherings, but instead is met with near silence. He's juggling 2 boxes of pizza with a half tray of penne vodka on top as he kicks the door open further, holding it with his back before turning inside. He manages to hang his keys on the hook in the hallway and then pads over to the kitchen island, setting the food down and then scanning the apartment.
"Hello—" he starts to question, but then he stops and quiets down.
Elliot's heart nearly bursts out of his chest when he spots Olivia nodded out on his couch, her feet up on the ottoman and a throw blanket draped across her legs. She's sitting up with one arm bent at the elbow, resting on the edge of the sofa and holding her head, while the other gently cradles the back of Kathleen's new baby girl, Nora, who is perched up over her breasts, face turned as she sleeps on Liv's shoulder.
He watches the tender rise and fall of Nora's back, moving in tandem with Olivia's own even breaths, taking a minute to admire them. His eyes are soft, a smile that he can't contain creeping across his face as he brushes his fingers against his chin, a little unsure what to do next. He doesn't want to disturb them, but he's genuinely curious where the rest of the family is. He moves in closer, but just as his shoes thump across the hardwood floor, Olivia stirs and lifts her head, instinctually palming her now free hand over Nora's scalp and looking up to find the source of the footsteps.
Her eyes meet Elliot's sleepily, lips curling up into a smile as she blinks at him, "Hey! Wasn't expecting you home this early." Her voice is raspy and soft. "Did ya grab something for dinner later?"
"Hi." He leans down to peck her lips, lingering briefly, hand gliding over her hair before standing and crossing over to the other side of the couch to sit next to her. "Yup, just a coupla pizzas, some pasta." Elliot plops down on the middle cushion and loops his arm around Olivia's shoulders, clunking their heads together lightly as he looks down at a still sleeping Nora. "You two look cozy, where's everyone else?"
Liv rests a hand on his thigh, rubbing up and down his leg, reveling in his comfort, happy that he's home now and here next to her. Her fingers slide against his jeans, sneaking intimately to the inside of his knee and up higher before following the plane of his muscle out to his hip. "Bernie and Maureen took the boys across the street to the park for a little while. Noah's somehow turned Eli into his own personal frisbee coach and recruited Kieran and Seamus as his teammates. Your poor mom gets to be their referee." She chuckles before continuing with her explanations of the family's whereabouts. "Kathleen's inside," Liv's head tips toward one of the guest rooms, "I told her she could go take a nice shower, maybe a nap, have a couple of hours to herself while I watched this little one."
Elliot smirks, his face gleaming, tone buoyant, "Yeah, and you get to snuggle with a fresh baby, I see your ulterior motive here." He moves to cover the hand Liv has on Nora's back with his own.
"There's no ulterior motive," Liv laughs, only half joking. She leans over and plants a couple of sweet kisses on the top of Nora's head, clearly basking in her soft skin and powdery scent. Her voice sobers briefly then, "These early months are hard, especially when you're doing it alone. She was telling me Tom still has five months left of his deployment? I'm glad she took me up on the offer."
Elliot's face frowns a little as he thinks of Kathleen's fiancé. The two first met over a decade ago when she was undergoing her treatment and had rekindled a couple of years back. He was in the Navy, which Elliot objectively could respect, but he hated that it meant Kathleen had to be by herself for extended periods of time. He thinks of Liv being alone when she first adopted Noah. Her unwavering empathy is part of her character, but he knows her particular consideration for Kathleen's situation is coming from pure experience.
"Yeah, he only had four weeks home when the baby was first born, and then he was routed back overseas. He's stationed in South America though, so at least the time difference isn't terrible."
Olivia hums, but is quickly distracted by Nora starting to stir and letting out a few whimpers. "Oh, sweet girl, hi baby, hiiiii," Liv coos at her, lifting her and changing positions so that Nora rests on her back against her legs, which are now bent up in front of her. "Did you have a good nap? Yeah, we were comfy, weren't we?"
Nora squirms, but is content again as she gazes up and her eyes catch Elliot, who can't seem to look away. He holds a finger out to Nora and she grasps it immediately, haphazardly jerking it around as her legs kick against Liv's lower belly. Olivia's insides are fluttery, watching Elliot with her. She'd admired his sweet relationship with Maureen's boys over the last year, but something about seeing him head over heels for this little baby girl tugs at every single one of her heart strings.
"She loves her Grandpa Elliot, doesn't she? Don't you, Nora girl? He's a good one, yeah, I know. I love him too." Her voice breaks slightly, her eyes getting teary. She's a bit overwhelmed that this is her life now. Holding Elliot Stabler's granddaughter and openly saying that she loves him. She's full of gratitude in these moments, but they truly take her breath away sometimes. Elliot senses Liv getting emotional and nudges his shoulder into hers, grabbing the side of her face to pull her closer and kiss her cheek.
It's then that the guest door opens down the hallway and Kathleen comes padding out, dressed in leggings and a sweater, her hair still damp hanging down her shoulders. "Hey, Dad!" She greets Elliot with a peck on the side of his face, before looking to Olivia.
"Olivia, thank you so much. I didn't know how much I needed that break. Was she okay for you?" She reaches out for Nora, lifting her from Liv's arms and settling her up on her shoulder.
"She was perfect," Liv replies, smiling at Kathleen, "we took a nap, read a book, played with Grandpa for a while, right Nora?" She locks her hands with Elliot's on her lap, idly toying with his fingers as she reconfigures her body against his now that it's just the two of them on the couch. "I hope you recharged yourself a little, do you feel slightly more human now?"
Kathleen's standing, bouncing Nora gently, "I do! And I did, it was lovely. I can't remember the last time I did the long shower."
Olivia's eyes light up as she nods in understanding, "Ah, yes, I don't think I did the long shower for the entire first year I had Noah."
Elliot's eyes are skipping between the two women in front of him, his eyebrows furrowed, "the long sh—"
"It's impossible!" Kathleen exclaims. She walks across the living room to put Nora down in her swing so she can continue the conversation with more animation, moving her arms. "I get up 20 minutes early to take a quick one before Nora wakes up most mornings, but even though I know she's sleeping, I obsessively check the baby monitor from the shower. I'm lucky if I remember to wash my conditioner out."
"Oh yes," Liv is leaning forward now, closer to Kathleen as they commiserate together about what it's like showering as a new mom, "at one point I got rid of my shower curtain and only kept the clear liner up so I could see through it and watch Noah. I'd put him in his bouncy seat while he was still small enough and plant him in the middle of the bathroom."
"That's an amazing idea! I'll have to try that one." Kathleen ponders, but then she's laughing again, "I bet you still rushed through it though, right?"
"Yeah, yeah, of course. There was no way I could focus on shaving a leg when my baby was right in front of me. He was too cute!" Olivia's laugh is approaching a shriek now.
"And you can't even entertain the idea of exfoliating—"
"—a total foreign concept the second you have a kid!"
They're fully cracking up, breaths short and loud cackles coming deep from their bellies. Elliot sits back, making a show of dramatically crossing his legs and folding his hands over his knee as he waits for someone to explain to him what the hell a long shower is. His genuine confusion only makes them laugh harder. Now Olivia is literally batting at her knee with her and Elliot's entwined hands, as Kathleen doubles over bracing against her thighs for support.
The laughter is interrupted then by the apartment door opening, all four boys scampering down the hallway ahead of Bernie and Maureen.
"Hi Mom!"
"Hi Liv!"
"Hi Grampa!"
"Hi Auntie!"
A chorus of greetings from the boys fills the loft, and then they're gone into Eli's room just as quickly as they came, leaving Bernie and Maureen standing in the center of the living room to decipher what they've walked in on.
"What's going on here, ladies and dad?" Maureen questions, remembering the shrills of laughter she'd heard from outside the door even as they approached the residence.
"Dad doesn't know what the long shower is." Kathleen blurts as Olivia's shoulders start shrugging again with small giggles, her lips pursed as she tries to contain another full blown outburst. She bites her lips inward, eyes squinting with a smile and runs a hand over Elliot's bald head. Poor guy did not sign up for this, but it's hysterical now.
Maureen chuckles, before matter-of-factly stating, "Oh, like the big shower when you commit to the shaving, the exfoliating, the deep conditioning—"
At the same time, Bernie chimes in, "Oh, Elliot, don't be so naïve. It's the one where us ladies take down the shower head and—"
"GRANDMA!" Kathleen shouts, interrupting, her jaw dropping in full disbelief, eyes wide.
Maureen and Olivia are blushing and suddenly very, very warm. They weren't even really discussing that part, but there's a unanimous understanding between all the women in the room that Bernie isn't wrong.
Elliot is completely dumbfounded, fingers pressed against his forehead with his eyes closed. He can't help the smile that's creeping over him, but he's decided that in this moment, he is surrounded by way, way, way too much estrogen.
He throws his hands up in defeat, "I swear I never even actually asked the question!"
Later that evening, while the rest of the family is gathered around the kitchen table playing a post-dinner game of Apples to Apples, Olivia and Elliot find themselves in the kitchen on dishes duty. She's washing, he's drying, except the pile of plates in need of Elliot's services is growing next to her and he isn't keeping up. Instead, he's lingering at Liv's side, towel be damned, forgotten and thrown over his shoulder, as one hand toys with her hip and the other rests on the counter in front her. His face is hovering precariously close to hers and she knows he's relishing in the scent of her hair because she can hear his longer than normal inhales and the rubs at her hip are getting a little eager.
"These plates aren't drying themselves, Detective." She spins in his direction briefly to stare him down, but quickly turns her attention back to the faucet in front of her and the sponge in her hand. She will kiss this man on the mouth in front of everyone if he doesn't stop touching her and, she leaves herself a mental note, staring into his eyes certainly does not help.
"Mmmm," he purrs, disguising it with a low laugh, "just one."
She holds back her smile, rolling her eyes, but fully prepared to give in. How did he know?
"No one's looking." He urges.
"It's not—" she's searching for an excuse, for no good reason, and they both know it.
"Kiss me, Captain." He leans closer and dares to push his fingertips under the hem of her shirt at her hip, just an inch.
That does her in, and she closes her eyes to capture his lips. They're soft and familiar and gosh, she hasn't done this all day and now it's all over. She breathes him in, kissing him, then suckling his bottom lip for a second. He digs his fingers in a little harder, and she has to actively suppress the moan at the back of her throat, so she pulls away, reluctantly.
"Mm, fine, that was nice." She smiles at him, her voice lax. "Now get to it, towel boy, I'm all done here."
She taps his ass for good measure, then saunters back over to the table to join everyone else. The board game looks to be wrapped up, and the younger boys have migrated to the living room for a round of Mario Party. Bernie and Maureen are chatting about some upcoming local election, while Kathleen sits contentedly with a freshly bathed Nora.
"Gimme that baby!" Olivia says loudly as she reaches out, taking the seat next to Kathleen and lifting Nora above her face. "You smell delicious! Yes, come here, sweet girl." She peppers her face with tiny kisses before propping her up on her shoulder and getting comfortable.
"How was the game? Noah loves Apples to Apples. Was hoping to catch the last round, but someone is a slowpoke at drying dishes." Liv says loudly in Elliot's direction, but keeps her focus on Kathleen, who looks amused.
"Yes! He won! He's hysterical. Kieran and Seamus got a kick out of it too, I'm sure they'll learn from his ways soon enough." Kathleen chuckles.
Nora fusses slightly and Olivia smiles down at her, taking her hand and kissing all the way up her arm. She makes a performance of smacking her lips each time until she reaches the baby's face, where she lets them linger before resting her chin against her.
"She really is perfect, Kathleen—" Olivia muses, but is distracted then by Elliot finally meandering in from the kitchen.
"Oh, sure, she gets a million kisses, and I barely get one." Elliot joins them, finally, flipping his hand up in protest and pouting as he slips in next to Liv.
"Poor, poor you." She brushes the back of her hand over his chest, pretending to soothe. "Here, grandpa, your turn, she'll make you feel better." Liv coos, passing Nora over to Elliot and watching as he scoops her in his arms, securely holding her against the expanse of his body. At the change in position, Nora adorably stretches her feet out and then curls into Elliot, eyes fluttering a bit now. Olivia scoots closer to Elliot, resting her cheek against his shoulder to keep her view of the baby unobstructed, her knee absentmindedly knocking his and pressing them together.
There's a comfortable silence then, the usual one that occurs when adults sit enamored by a baby in between them. Olivia's mind wanders, thinking about this family that she's surrounded by. It's still overwhelming, and there are so many layers in her psyche; on bad days she can really get in her own head wondering if maybe she doesn't belong here at all. The circumstances that brought them here are, in parts, extremely dark and difficult. But she'd be remiss to not consider the very divine intervention she feels sometimes when she thinks about Elliot and this life they've gone through together. The deep, gravitational, other-worldly pull between them that has lasted far longer than any of the more recent tangible manifestations.
"Hey, ah, Olivia, I've been meaning to ask you." Kathleen breaks the quiet, pulling Olivia out of her thoughts by the sound of her name. Kathleen's eyes meet Elliot's momentarily, before reaching around the table, busying her hand with Nora's onesie covered foot. Elliot leans back, his free arm looping around Olivia's shoulder as he glances at her with a satisfied grin before ducking his head back down, eyes lifting back towards Kathleen.
Olivia shifts curiously, tilting her head, waiting.
"I'd, um, I'd love for Nora to know you as her grandma—or—whatever you'd want to be called, if you've ever thought about what your grandkids would call you." Kathleen asks, her voice is sweet and hopeful, and it knocks the wind out of Olivia. "It could be anything you're comfortable with, if you are—"
"—my vote was Grammy Liv." Elliot interrupts, a wide, toothy grin on his face, his eyes fully beaming.
Olivia's eyes are welling already, her hand sitting across her heart, truly touched and unsure of how to speak a single word. Her reflexes take over, grasping for Elliot's hand to ground herself. She curls her lips in and shakes her head, pulling it together.
"Kathleen, I would love nothing more."