Please review!

Olivia pulled her hair up and clipped it as she emerged from her room. When she saw Gemma on the couch with Noah ordering takeout on her phone, she smiled and moved to take sodas out of the fridge. "What are we having tonight?"

"Noah and I ordered a pizza." Gemma stated before standing up. She kept her eyes trained on the TV as she played against Noah in his video game. Using her fingers to manipulate the controller, she managed to pick up Elliot's keys with a spare finger and tossed them onto the counter in front of Olivia. "You and Elliot are going out."

"I've already resigned myself to a sports bra. I'm not changing again." Olivia stated, pushing the keys away from her slightly. She looked back towards the bathroom door when Elliot walked out in sweats and a t-shirt. "Even your father has those stained sweats on. We can't go out."

Gemma rolled her eyes. "Go to a diner or something. You two need to get out away from kids and talk." She used her elbow to nudge the keys back towards them. "If you don't go, Noah and I will go find something to do in the city."

Elliot frowned. "You can't take him to one of the parties you go to. Child protective services would be called."

"Ha ha. Funny." Gemma fake laughed, sarcasm dripping from her words. She used the controller to pause the game and turned to them both. "Noah and I have both decided we can't stand the tension anymore. You two need to talk through your stuff so you can get together. We both think we deserve a Mommy and Daddy who are together and married."

"Or at least dating." Noah added in, jumping up slightly on the couch.

"Noah!" Olivia gasped, eyes wide with shock.

Noah shrugged his shoulders. "We just want you to be happy, Mommy." He crawled over the sofa and onto Gemma's back, clinging onto her like a monkey. "We have food coming. We've got this."

Elliot chuckled at the seriousness in the child's tone. "You've got this, huh? What kind of pizza did you two get?"

"Hawaiian." Noah smirked.

Elliot snatched his keys from the counter and made a bee-line for the door. "Liv, let's get some burgers. There is no way I'm going to stay in an apartment that allows fruit on pizza." He opened the front door and looked back at her, making a gesture for her to follow him. "You can even have food off my plate."

Olivia rolled her eyes as she complied. "We'll probably get the same thing anyway." She grabbed her wallet out of her purse and slipped it inside her sweatshirt pocket. "He better be in bed by eight if we're not back."

"He will." Gemma called as she and Noah started the game back up. "Have fun."

Elliot pulled a twenty out of his pocket and slapped it down on the coffee table. "I might not agree with your food choices, but I'm a father first and foremost." He kissed Gemma's forehead and ruffled Noah's hair. "We'll bring back dessert if we get any. No scary movies or inviting boys over."

Gemma smirked. "Oh, you ruined my whole night." She pushed on his chest, shoving him towards the door. "Go before sound anymore cliche."

"Thank you." Elliot smiled as the waitress set down his and Olivia's burgers. Although they had spent the entire car ride debating on where to go, they ended up passing their old diner and decided it was casual enough for the clothes they were wearing.

When the waitress walked away, Olivia snatched the ketchup bottle and started coating her burger and fries. She glanced up at Elliot as he reached for the mustard. "Never thought I'd be kicked out of my own apartment by my kids."

"I'm just glad they didn't pound down the door to the bathroom. It's funny the first time, but it gets annoying after it happens four or five times." Elliot stated before biting into his burger. He quickly reached for his soda and took a sip of it before noticing Olivia barely eating. She had a fry in between her fingers, twirling it in the pool of ketchup. "What's wrong? I know you're hungry. I thought your stomach was going to eat me on the way over here."

Olivia sighed and leaned back against the leather booth seat. "Our child who should hate us wants us to be together. She literally forced us out together to talk about our relationship. I'm not even sure where we are at this point. I don't know whether I should hate you or love you. I'm pretty sure it's both at this point. How are we supposed to figure out nearly twenty years of partnership, friendship, betrayal, skating around the truth in one conversation over burgers?"

Elliot grinned, resting his elbows on the table as she continued to play with her fries. "Do you want to be with me?"

"It's not that simple." Olivia whispered, tossing her food onto her plate and wiping her fingers off on her napkin.

"It's a yes or no question." Elliot retorted, trying to make some sort of eye contact with her. "Do you want to be with me?"

Olivia sighed, crossing her arms over her chest and sliding down slightly in the booth. She was trying to look anywhere but at him, but he was seeking her out. It felt like a ton of bricks were weighing down on her chest just knowing the truth. "Yes." She breathed. "But, we can't just say let's be together and jump in. Life isn't that simple, Elliot."

Elliot shrugged his shoulders. "Why can't it be?" She finally met his eyes, making him smirk. "The only reason it's complicated is because you make it that way. If we want to be together, what's stopping us?"

"How about the fact that we have a daughter who barely knows us? If we break up, she's the one who gets hurt the most. How about your kids? They despise me after we told them about Gemma. How about the fact that we've loved each other for nearly twenty years, and we've been perfectly fine with and without each other?" Olivia demanded to know. "There are too many reasons why we shouldn't be together."

Elliot shook his head, smiling at her comfortingly. "First of all, we are getting to know our daughter. She's the one who practically begged us to go out to dinner tonight. Who says we break up anyway? And, if we do, which I highly doubt, it won't be the end of the world for her. I think we've learned by now that she's an extremely strong girl. Second of all, yes, my kids despise you. They despise me. Hell, they probably hold resentment against Gemma. They will get over it. Kids are resilient that way. Once they come around, it won't be a problem." He reached out, moving her plate aside and motioning for her to take his hand. She rolled her eyes but complied, taking both his hands into hers and staring at them. "As for loving you for twenty years, that is all the more reason for us to get together, and I think we can both agree we can live without each other. Anybody can live on their own, Liv."

He leaned forward, resting his forehead against hers. "The big question is whether or not you were happy without me. My life without you led me down to become an alcoholic and divorcing my high school sweetheart. Without you, Liv, I'll never be happy."

Olivia scoffed with a smile. "Someone accused me of not letting myself be happy." She squeezed Elliot's hands, exhaling sharply. "This scares the shit out of me."

"I know. It scares me too." Elliot agreed before caressing her cheek. "But, it scares me more to not be with you."

"We're back." Elliot called out into the apartment. He frowned when the TV was off and neither kid was in sight. "Well, where are they?"

"The light is on in Noah's room." Olivia breathed as she walked over to his bedroom with Elliot following. She smiled and leaned against the doorway when she saw Gemma and Noah fast asleep on his bed, a children's book laying open on top of them. "I think the day finally caught up with both of them."

Elliot's smile mirrored hers. "Good. She needs her sleep." When Olivia turned out the light, he reached to close the door when Gemma's phone went off on Noah's nightstand. Quietly moving around the sleeping pair, he snatched up Gemma's phone and returned to Olivia's side before closing the door behind him. "She'll probably want this charged up for tomorrow."

"I think her charger is on the kitchen counter." Olivia stated before the phone went off again. "Who is messaging her?"

Elliot plugged in the phone and swiped the screen to see six missed calls and fifteen unread text messages. "They're from Jimmy." He dragged down the top screen to see what the messages said without opening them. "He wants to see her again."

Olivia crossed her arms over her chest, shaking her head. "She's not going near him."

"He knows she's here." Elliot whispered before turning the phone to Olivia. Taken only a day earlier, the screen was covered with a photo of Gemma sleeping on Elliot's lap in the recliner. "He knows how to get to her."

Please review! I know it's been a few weeks, but thanks so much for being patient. I actually had college graduation this past Friday, so I've been preparing for that and finishing up my classes for the month. Love you guys and Merry Christmas!