Chapter 26: Us
The usual Monday afternoon routine had actually gone way better than usual, considering they had an extra guest with them today. Olivia had been really touched that the twins were so excited to see her there this afternoon and she was glad she'd agreed to this with Elliot. Olivia knew that Chloe was perfectly fine with Alex and she had called her friend just to check if everything was ok for her to stay out just a little bit longer than she had originally said. It had been Elliot's idea for Olivia to come with him and surprise the twins at the afternoon pick up. They would simply disguise it as checking in on Elizabeth, which wasn't entirely a lie as she did want to see how the little girl's day went. Of course, Elizabeth was ecstatic to see Olivia in the back of the car which touched Olivia and she listened closely as both the twins took turns telling her all about their day.
Olivia directed the driver to her favourite bakery, where they could all get a snack before going to basketball and then dance. Elliot had barely managed to get a word in when the kids had been around but he was glad to see them so excited. Not to mention that he'd had plenty of time to talk with her when they had lunch, so it was the kids turns now. Olivia could see that there were times Elliot wanted to speak up this afternoon when she was with them, but he had simply let the focus be on the twins and she found that really special. But the time to head home came around sooner than anyone had expected, and Olivia refused to let Elliot have the driver take them all to her place first on the journey home from dance. Instead, she insisted that she would take the subway just fine. Elliot wouldn't fight her on this again this time, but he made a mental note that he was going to question her straight up about this and why she wouldn't let him take her home and make sure she got their safely with his own eyes.
Elliot was honestly surprised that he was able to get the twins in bed at their actual bedtime that night. They had been so excited from seeing Olivia and having her with them all afternoon. Elliot was glad that Olivia had agreed to come with them as well, but he knew it meant the world to Elizabeth. Olivia hadn't hesitated in agreeing to come though, and Elliot really enjoyed seeing her connection with Elizabeth up close and personal. Elizabeth had done all her homework with Olivia, which for once hadn't actually been set by herself for that week. Richard also got his homework done with Olivia when Elizabeth was at dance. This meant when they got home, it was the perfect time for dinner and then baths and bed.
"Daddy" Elizabeth spoke up as Elliot was tucking her in for the night.
"Yes honey?" Elliot replied, wondering what type of question the little girl was going to ask.
"Are you and Miss Benson friends?"
"Of course honey, why do you ask that?"
"Well…we've never been to things with my other teachers before, but we've seen Miss Benson lots" Elizabeth explained.
"Don't you like spending time with Miss Benson? I thought you liked it when we went to the zoo with her yesterday?" Elliot enquired, he didn't know where this was all coming from right now.
"I did…I really like seeing Miss Benson heaps. But you only spend lots of time with your friends" Elizabeth continued to explain and the girl had a point but Elliot just wasn't sure how he would explain everything and avoid the topic of relationships.
"Well yes sweetheart, Miss Benson and I are friends and I really like spending time with her too. Would you be ok if we got to spend more time with her?'
"And Chloe?"
"Of course!"
"I think Chloe's really cute and she's lucky to have a mommy like Miss Benson. I think she really looks like Miss Benson would if Miss Benson was a baby" Elizabeth concluded and Elliot just laughed with the little girl's explanation of things. He had to agree though Chloe really did look like Olivia and she was a very cute little girl.
"I agree. I also think we are going to be seeing more of them outside of school now to. But it's time for you to go to bed night as we've got a big day again tomorrow"
"Daddy your silly…I'm in bed"
"Well it's time to go to sleep" Elliot corrected himself as the little girl snuggled down in her bed and Elliot tucked the covers in tight around her. He placed a kiss on her forehead and made his way out of the bedroom, leaving the door slightly ajar, just how Lizzie liked it.
The conversation with Elizabeth just now had really sparked a thought process for Elliot now though, because the little girl had a point. They had spent a bit of time with Olivia and Chloe recently, more time than he had spent with any of her other teachers in the previous years but he hadn't got to know her other teachers like he was getting to know Olivia. There was also something distinctly different about Olivia to any of the other teacher's that the twins had and he'd known about. However, this change in relationship status between him and Olivia would eventually mean changes for the children. He didn't exactly know how the twins were going to take their father being romantically involved with someone else? What about Chloe? Elliot knew she was only little but he didn't know what the true story of her father was or how she would take to being around Elliot more.
There was suddenly so much more to this relationship than maybe they had even thought about, especially moving forward. It was making Elliot feel like he suddenly had numerous other things to talk about with Olivia. It was a good thing that there was going to be plenty of time now tomorrow with it just being him and Olivia where they could possibly discuss this further. Whatever happened, it didn't change the way he felt about her or his want to pursue a relationship together In fact, he could see it all working out really well for the children, but he just wasn't sure if there were going to be issues getting to that point first.
Elliot sent the car for Olivia after the morning school drop off, and he told the driver to come back to the hotel to pick him up before they set off as he wanted to collect a few things from his penthouse office. Elliot also knew that if he sent the car for Olivia first, she wouldn't be able to refuse it and then they could leave from the hotel. He'd called last night to ensure she got home safely and told her that he was sending the car in the morning. Of course, Olivia had agreed to this and thanked him for it, which took him a little by surprise.
When the car pulled up again outside the hotel, Elliot climbed into the back and he could instantly sense something was up with Olivia. He could tell she wasn't completely right and just by looking at her he could see that she was nervous. After seeing this, Elliot was glad that he had pushed so hard to come with her today and that he could be here for her both before and after she'd spoken with Dani. He knew that she would never let him come in with her and he wouldn't try to, but if she looked uneasy like this now, who knew what she was going to be like afterwards.
What Elliot didn't know, was that Olivia was feeling completely out of sorts today. She'd had several nightmares last night with flashbacks to Brian and she couldn't help to feel like this was a sign. She had honestly never been so glad that Elliot was going to be there today both before and after she spoke with Dani. But she could sense that Elliot could tell something else was going on with her today and she didn't know how to tell him. Elliot knew nothing about Brian and today was not the day that Olivia wanted to tell him about Brian. She wanted to tell Elliot and she knew she really should, but she didn't want to tell him just because of a horrible time like seeing Dani. However, she could tell from the way he was looking at her now, as they drove through the streets of New York, that he was worried about her. He didn't say anything though, he simply took her hand in his and gave it a soft squeeze. It was to let her know that he was here, and that he would be here if she waned to talk about anything.
"Thank you for coming with me" Olivia spoke up, figuring she needed to be the one to start a conversation rather than let Elliot continue to worry.
"Of course, thank you for letting me come" Elliot replied. Olivia still felt a little surprised that this man had completely cleared his busy schedule for her today.
"I just want today to go well and Dani to finally leave us alone"
"Us? I like the sound of that" Elliot remarked, trying to lighten this mood which resulted in a small smile from Olivia.
"Well it's true. I like what we've got started here, especially the way we all were these past couple of days and Dani could ruin that. I just want to get this over with and she can leave us alone" Olivia remarked, looking out the window briefly.
"Hey, hey. Don't worry, she can't hurt us" Elliot tried to encourage, getting Olivia to look him straight in the eye but she still wished she could believe him.
There are parts of me you don't know, parts which she could very easily use to ruin this if she wanted to Olivia thought. Dani had mentioned things about her past before, she could bring it up again and she could taunt Olivia with it. Olivia remained quiet though and focused on Elliot's hold on her hand, she really hoped that everything would indeed be ok.
Dani was actually excited for once, she had managed to get Olivia to come and visit her in prison by stating she wouldn't cooperate otherwise. Dani had a plan for the meeting, she was going to make Olivia think that everything between them was fine and that she was really sorry for what she had done. She would get Olivia to think that there was no point in pressing charges against her as Dani was so sorry, so then Dani would be let go and then she'd have her chance to be with Elliot. Dani really only had one intention with this whole thing, she knew Elizabeth and Richard were in desperate need of a mother figure and she knew Elliot needed her. So, if she could show that she was in fact a decent person and sorry for her actions that she had done in the hotel, Elliot would surely fall in love with her. Dani would simply be the perfect mother to Richard, she'd get Elliot to send Elizabeth away to boarding school and they'd never have to see that wicked Olivia Benson ever again.
The minute that Olivia had spoken to Dani for the first time, was the first mistake she'd made. Dani now knew her secrets, she'd made connections to people in Olivia's past and she knew the world that this seemingly perfect teacher came from was not so perfect. She would get Elliot and the twins to see that this was not a woman to be involved with. Dani was going to open their eyes to the manipulative bitch that Olivia was and when she did, Elliot would simply have to take her back. Dani knew that Elizabeth would surely be heartbroken not to see her precious Miss Benson again but boarding school would help her get over that. Dani smirked to herself as she was led into the meeting cells, Olivia would be here soon. Dani would get the world to see that whilst Olivia might have been the one to play the victim, she was manipulative and frankly the biggest liar Dani had ever met. Especially with this story that Dani had learnt about Chloe's father. Oh how Dani would enjoy spreading this information, there was no way that anyone could respect her when she had a man's kid and never told him or anyone outside of her friends or family about it. It's funny how the world makes things right when Dani needs it to. She was going to enjoy this!
A/N: Next chapter – Dani and Olivia talk, what are they going to say? Will they reach a compromise? How are they both going to react? You'll simply have to wait and see.
Until Next Time ;)
