"It'll be ok" Elliot smiled at Liv
"This isn't like any other interrogation I've dealt with"
"It's not an interrogation" he grinned, "It's a couple of six year olds. You'll be fine"
They rang the doorbell.
When an attractive African American woman opened the door, Elliot extended his hand, "Hi" he began
Before he could finish, she extended her own hand and shook Liv's, "I'm so glad you're here" she smiled, "and this must be Dad" she looked at Elliot
"Well, actually" he started
Just then, Jeremy and Noah ran into the front hallway
"Bang, I got you!" Jeremy shouted, waving a plastic rifle
"Pow, I got you, too!" Noah cheered, brandishing a neon colored pistol. The boys ran around Elliot, as the toy guns made electronic sound effects.
"Oh good, I made sure to wear my anti-ray gun repellent" Elliot joked
"Your dad is really weird" Jeremy raised his eyebrows
Olivia looked nervously from one child to the next, and then to Elliot. She steeled herself and spoke to her son, "Noah, you know how I feel about guns, even toy guns"
"But Jeremy's mom said it was alright" he whined
"We can talk about that later on, but I need to talk about something important with you"
"How come you came over to Jeremy's house? Are you ok? Did you get hurt at work?"
"No" she smiled, "and thanks for thinking about me" she went on, "but I want to talk with you about what you told Jeremy. Elliot wants to say a couple of things, too" she glanced back at Elliot.
"I'll give you some privacy" Jeremy's mother nodded, and took her son by the hand, "let's go make some snacks for Noah's parents" she told Jeremy and ushered him into the kitchen.
Olivia knelt down so she was at eye level with her son, "Noah, you can't just go around telling people that Elliot is your father"
"But why not? You like him, don't you?"
Olivia frowned in confusion, "Why do you think that I like him?" she didn't dare let on that her son was absolutely right.
"You didn't want anyone to see the picture, and you kept it really safe" he explained with little boy logic, "and I really love Eddie and don't want anything to happen to him" he referred to his stuffed animal toy, "so I keep him in my bed, and don't let anyone else see him"
"I see" Olivia nodded, understanding her son's point of view
"And he's got hair like me, but a lot less hair" Noah went on, "and you looked really happy in that picture, Mommy. How come you don't look happy anymore?" he continued, "was I bad, and that's why you're sad and mad all the time?"
Olivia hugged her son, "Noah, I know you want Elliot to be your dad, but he's already a dad to five other kids, and – well, he and I were friends, but that's it"
"You said was" Noah realized, "that's not now. That's a long time ago" he sighed
Elliot squatted on the floor so he was eye level with Noah. Olivia looked over to him and then back to Noah, "Before you were born, Elliot and I used to work together, like how I work with uncle Fin and uncle Carisi"
"But you don't look happy with them"
"Maybe that's because she's their boss" Elliot grinned
"So what?" Noah balked, "she's late at work all the time and we never get to play together. It's always homework and vegetables and bedtime. It's not fair!"
"No, it's not" Olivia agreed, "but life isn't always fair, either. I know you want a dad, but that's not something I can provide, and it's not something that I can ask Elliot to do"
"If you won't do it, I will" Noah was stubborn, "Will you be my Daddy, Elliot?"
"I – uh" Elliot was a loss for words; he had a feeling this might've come, but now that it was here, what could he say? "Your mom's got a point" he began
Noah interrupted him, "It's not fair!" the plastic toy gun was thrown to the ground and clattered on the hardwood floor, "Everyone's got a Dad except me! Some of my school friends even have two of them and nobody's too busy to play with them!"
"It's difficult" Olivia sighed, "it's hard for me, and I know you're having a hard time. I want to be able to say that I can give you the kind of father you want, but that's more than I can do now"
"I can't be your dad" Elliot offered, "but I can be your mom's friend. I can be your friend" he extended his hand, "if you're ok with that"
"A dad would be way better" he pouted, "are you good at playing baseball?"
"I think Casey would be better at teaching him sports" Elliot laughed
"Can Casey be my daddy?" Noah inquired
"Casey is a girl" Olivia explained, "and we haven't talked in a very long time" she sighed, "maybe that should change. I can't really keep being so wrapped up with what's going on that I forget all my friends who helped get me here, to where I am"
"I told you you were too busy" Noah sounded oversmart
"Maybe" Olivia didn't like him talking to her that way, "but I'm still your mother, and you can't go around talking to me like that, and you can't go around telling everyone things like Elliot is your dad jut because you want it to be true. It's not right for him, or me, and its certainly not right for you"
"Am I in trouble?" Noah stared at his sneakers.
"No, not now" Olivia softened, "but I do want you to understand that telling people something that's not true, even if you want it to be that way, is still lying, and you know how I feel about telling lies"
"Not to do that" Noah already knew what the answer would be.
"Exactly"
"Do I have to go home right now?" he asked, "as punishment?"
"No" Olivia shook her head, "you can stay at Jeremy's, but you've got to explain what happened. Otherwise, I'll do it for you"
Noah understood that he could get in more trouble if Olivia handled things in front of Jeremy and Jeremy's mother, so Olivia wasn't surprised when he said, "No no, Mommy. I'll do it. I'll be good"
"That's my sweet boy" she hugged him. "but I think I will talk with Jeremy's mom, just to be safe"
"Are you really going to be my friend?" Noah asked Elliot
"Sure, if that's ok with your mom, here" Elliot glanced from Noah to Olivia
"Sure" Olivia smiled, and Noah and Elliot could see her eyes misting up a bit, "I think Elliot and I are going to be friends again, too"
"Good" Noah cheered, "then we can all play together!"
"But right now" Olivia stood up, "I've got to talk to Jeremy's mother before this rumor goes any farther"
Noah grinned, "farther sounds like father" he laughed, "and farter"
"I think we're alright here" Olivia gave a wry smile, "I'll be right back" she left and headed for the kitchen.
"When you were friends with Mommy at work, did you shoot guns like she does?" Noah picked up the fallen plastic toy
"I did" Elliot slowly replied. He was already remembering Jenna Fox
"Did you kill any bad guys?"
"You know, maybe we can talk about that later on"
"When Mommy doesn't want to talk about stuff, it means she did it" he realized, "you did shoot bad guys"
"Maybe when you're older, she'll tell you about what happened, but right now, it's not something that little boys should know about"
"I'm not that little"
"Ok, you're not that little" Elliot smiled to placate the boy, "I wonder how your mom's doing in there?"