"Mo, why are you so mad at Olivia?" Maureen looked up from her book to see her younger sister standing in the door way of her bedroom.

"It's hard to explain," She sighed. "You won't understand until you are older," she added before turning her attention back to her book. Kathleen could hear the annoyance and lack of interest in her voice. She dismissed her sisters disinterest in the conversation before walking further into her bedroom.

"I don't think I could ever understand being as mean to Liv as you have been. You're going to scare her away, Mo. None of us could handle it if we lost another mom. Is not going to the party really worth breaking up our family?" Maureen rolled her eyes at her sisters dramatic antics. Olivia wouldn't leave them, she loved them.

"She is legally binded to dad she isn't going anywhere." Maureen tossed out before turning the page of her book.

"Can you look away from your stupid book for five seconds?" Maureen grabbed the book mark off of her side table and shoved it in the book before tossing it. She made it a point to do everything with a bit on an exaggeration to let her sister know she was over her presence.

"What do you want from me?" She huffed.

"I want you to stop being selfish."

"I'm not being selfish. She is the one that is being a tyrant and won't let me go to Janet's party."

"You know that neither mom nor dad would have let you go. So why are you being so hard on Olivia?" Maureen folded her arms in front of her chest and looked away from her sister. "You know I'm right." Kathleen waited for her sister to respond, but once the older teen picked up her book she decided to give it up. Once she reached the doorway she turned around and said, "You're not angry at her, you're angry at yourself. You're embarrassed because of what you said to her."

"How did it go?" Elliot asked his middle daughter as she made her way into the living room. He watched as she shrugged before plopping down beside her father. It had been a few days since the fight and the two females did their best to avoid each other. Olivia did it to give Maureen her space, Maureen did it because she didn't know how to face the brunette after everything she had said to her.

"I pulled out all the stops like you told me to. I still don't get why you had me do it instead of doing it yourself."

"Because you are her younger sister. A part of Maureen feels responsible in protecting you." Kathleen nodded as she pretended she understood.

"Oh and Dad don't forget you owe me twenty bucks." Elliot shook his head and watched as the long haired blonde made her way to her bedroom. He turned the tv on and waited for his wife to get home. He looked at his watch and decided to give her a call to see where she was at. She said she was on her way home about an hour ago.

"Hey, Liv. I was just calling to see where you are at. You said you were on your way home an hour ago. Just give me a call and let me know that you are safe," he stated into the phone as he left a voicemail. Just as He was about to end the call he heard keys jingling and the front door opened. "Liv, is that you?"

"Yeah, I'm so sorry I'm late. I was going to call, but my phone died." Olivia made her way to the couch and plopped down beside him.

"You look tired," Olivia nodded.

"I'm exhausted and my body hurts. Some ass hat Fin and I were chasing down shoved me into a dumpster. Jokes on him though I still got the tackle," Olivia triumphed and then groaned.

"That's my girl," Elliot said with pride. "Do you want me to give you a message?" Olivia shook her head.

"No, because that always ends up leading to something else, and I don't think I am physically capable right now," she laughed. "What I do want is a nice long hot bath."

Elliot kissed her temple, "Yeah, you do kind of smell." She playfully slapped him.

"Just for that comment I'm not going to let you join."

"I thought you weren't capable of that," Elliot laughed.

"We wouldn't be having sex, but you would have at least gotten to see me naked," she playfully jabbed. Elliot smiled at her before changing the subject.

"Have you eaten yet?"

"No, but I'm not all that hungry."

"You and Fin had a rough few days, huh." She nodded again.

"You aren't kidding," she scrunched up her nose at all the hours they picked up being on call and then working on their case. They had been so busy Olivia didn't get a chance to eat half of the time. Just the thought of the past few days had her feeling more exhausted than she already was.

"Alright, lets get you upstairs, draw up a nice warm bath, and just relax."

"That sounds heavenly."

Olivia leaned back into Elliot's strong form and sighed in the serenity of the moment. She felt his arms wrap around her torso and allowed herself to fully relax into him. She could feel his body do the same. There wasn't anything provocative about the moment, it was just them enjoying each others company.

"How is Maureen doing?" Olivia asked. She hadn't really had the opportunity to speak to the teen since their argument. She knew she was still mad at her, but a part of her didn't care. The other part felt terrible. All she wanted was for things to go back to the way things were, but things were different between them now. Olivia was no longer just her friend. She was her step mom and that meant looking after her as if she were her own.

"She seems to be doing okay. I had Kathleen talk to her a little bit," he stated. The circles he had been absently rubbing against Olivia's abdomen stilled as he mused, "She upped her prices though. It's twenty-bucks now. It used to be five." Olivia couldn't help but laugh.

"You shouldn't have involved her, but I get why you did." Olivia began playing with his hands. It was something she had found herself doing when they were in the middle of a deep conversation. It grounded her somehow. "Maureen thinks she is mad at me, but she isn't actually mad at me. I think she just needs time to process everything." Olivia saw the confusion on Elliot's features and decided to elaborate, "She's mad that her mom isn't here to tell her no. She is also mad that she let herself say the hurtful things she said to me. But most of all she is mad because a part of her knows that the party isn't a good idea, but she already made her bed in wanting to go and now she has to lay in it."

"How do you know that?"

"It's a girl thing. You wouldn't understand." Olivia felt his lips trace the curve of her neck. "Hey mister, what did I say?"

"I can't help it you are just so irresistible." She shook her head, but Elliot knew that she was smiling. She was going to give into him because she found him just as irresistible as he found her.

Not feeling the warmth nor the weight of Elliot's body Olivia began blindly searching his side of the bed. Confirming he wasn't there Olivia willed her eyes to open. She was sure she got more than enough sleep to recover from the case she and Fin had finished, but her body was still drained. She sat up in the bed and smiled once she saw his chicken scratch scrawled onto a piece of paper.

Cragen gave you and Fin the day off to recover. Have a nice day.

I love you,

-Elliot

Olivia sighed in contentment as she let herself fall back into her pillow. She grabbed Elliot's pillow and snuggled it close to her body. It smelled like him and brought her comfort. She bit her bottom lip because as much as she would enjoy a lazy day in bed, a part of her couldn't fathom the idea. She was the type of person who liked to get things done and thanks to having 5 kids there was a lot to do around the house.

Once she let herself settle back into the comfort of her and Elliot's bed she heard Hashbrown's demanding bark. She sighed as she knew that the relationship she had with her bed was about to end. She threw the covers off, made the bed look decent, and then grabbed one of Elliot's shirts. She threw it on and then made her way down the stairs and over to the small caged off area they kept Hashbrown in. Once he exited his pen she opened the back door so he could run freely in the fenced off area. She grabbed a few toys and some treats so she could tire the retriever out.

Once she made sure he was content in the yard she made her way into the house to get some cleaning done. Eli was still young and his toys tended to find their way to any place they weren't supposed to be. She basically cleaned until there was nothing else that needed done besides the kids' bedrooms. Everyone but Eli was responsible for their own. Though she was working on pickup with the 1 1/2 year old it was still a work in process that he wasn't going to grasp anytime soon.

"Maureen, are you coming to the party on Saturday?" Maureen looked up at Janet. Her auburn hair fell just a few inches shy of her shoulders.

"No, I can't. Sorry."

"Why did mommy and daddy say you couldn't." The older teen rolled her eyes and laughed. Maureen wanted to fold into herself, but she didn't. She mentally puffed out her chest and decided to go against her senses.

"You know what. I will be there. Count me in."

"Good. I'm sure it's going to be a night you will never forget." Janet gave her a small smile before making her way down the hall to her friend group. Maureen sighed and shut her locker and made her way to her next class.

"Hey, honey how is your day off?" Olivia cocked her eyebrows.

"Honey? What do you want Stabler?" The pet name felt foreign coming from his lips so it caught her off guard. Olivia was in the process of shoving a spoon full of ice cream into her mouth. She hadn't had time alone in such a long time she wasn't sure what to do with it.

"Nothing. Can't a man call his wife to see how her day is going?"

"A man can. You can't," she tossed out playfully.

"I thought I proved I was a man last night," he mumbled underneath his breath.

"Elliot, get your head out of the gutter," she laughed out. "But seriously. What's up?" She questioned him. She heard his sigh through the line and placed her spoon down into the container. She was half impressed with herself that it was almost gone.

"The court date got set for the custody of the kids." Olivia felt her breath hitch. They had been working on this battle for a while now and the prospect of it being over soon seemed promising. It was exhausting hearing Eli cry out for them every other weekend when Tracey came to pick them up.

"When is it?" Olivia finally pushed out. He could hear the uneasiness of her tone.

"Next week," he stated. Olivia closed her eyes and took in a deep breath.

"El, I'm so ready for it to be over."

"Me too," he relayed.