"You can't stay mad at me forever," Elliot held the front door to Maureen's house open, so she couldn't close it in his face like she wanted to. From where he was standing, he could see the rest of his children sitting around the dining table. They got together for a Sunday brunch without inviting or even telling him. The only reason why he even knew about it was because of Bernie, who was invited but preferred to avoid being there since she knew her son was going to crash the party. He was hurt, but he tried to put that feeling aside by reminding himself that it was his fault they were like that with him. Nevertheless, it was painful.

"Says who?" his daughter replied angrily.

"I'm your father, for God's sake. Can't you find it in your hearts to forgive me?" Elliot walked inside, moving his daughter as gently as he could out of his way. Everyone watched him, including his grandchildren, as he walked toward the dining table.

"What's there to forgive you for? You're not even sorry!" Maureen followed him.

"I am sorry," he said to her and then looked around the table at the rest of his children. They all looked surprised, since up until then he had refused to apologize, and it made him realize that he had to explain himself. "I'm sorry that I hurt you all with what I did. I'm NOT sorry for having Noah."

Some of them sighed, others rolled their eyes. Someone muttered, 'whatever', loud enough so he could hear.

"Do you guys really expect me to regret having one of my kids?" he couldn't believe their continuous reaction to Noah being their half brother. "What if I regretted having you, Maureen?" He turned to look at her stunned face.

"What?!" she asked in indignation.

"You came as a surprise to your mother and me, and we never even once had such a horrible thought," he said angrily. "But you expect me to feel that way about Noah?" It was true that he never regretted having her after she was born, but when Elliot first learned that Kathy was pregnant, he didn't want to have the baby. It wasn't until after she came into the world and he looked at her, that he felt that he could never give her up.

Maureen looked at her feet. Her father had put her in her place and she seemed to be feeling bad about her unrealistic demands of him. He wasn't going to turn his back on his son, just like he didn't turn his back on her.

"This is ridiculous," Dickie got up. "Dad is right. We can't expect him to be sorry for that."

Elliot frowned in confused surprise at his son defending him. Dickie usually stayed neutral in family situations, at least for a while, and let others run the argument before he intervened, if at all. This time, though, he seemed to be over it pretty quickly. Maybe he was just tired of all the drama and wanted them all to be okay with each other again.

Silence fell as everyone was contemplating whether they agreed with him or not.

"Look," Elliot said eventually. "I am sorry for keeping it a secret from your mother. That is my regret, and I'll be carrying it with me for the rest of my life. But don't expect me to say that I'm sorry about anything else, because it all led to the birth of your brother."

Another moment of silence passed by before Kathleen finally broke it.

"Well, what do you want us to do? We can't just go back to being how we were before," she looked at her father with anticipation, hoping for some magic solution.

"That's not what I'm asking. I don't think that we can do that, because our family has changed. We all need to readjust, but in the meantime, I just don't want you all to push me out of your lives. I get that it might take a while before you stop being angry at me, but don't stay away from me for so long. I honestly don't think I can take it." Elliot examined his children's faces to see if it was working on them.

Everyone looked at him with guilty looking faces. Their father wasn't old, but he wasn't getting any younger, either, and here they were, wasting time avoiding contact with him.

"Fine," Lizzie said quietly and Sharon nodded, encouraging her. Elliot had a feeling that his daughter's wife had urged her to forgive him when they talked about it in private and he felt new appreciation for her.

"Next week we're throwing a birthday party for Eli at my place," Kathleen said. "You can come."

Elliot smiled and nodded, trying to hold back the tears of relief.

"Why don't we invite Olivia and Noah, too?" Dickie suggested, but his sisters immediately looked at him with anger and he leaned back in his chair, trying to put as much distance between him and them as possible.

"That would be a great opportunity for you all to welcome them into the family," Elliot said quickly, before they could protest their brother's suggestion.

"I'm NOT welcoming HER into the family," Maureen said immediately. "Noah is one thing, but her?"

"Yeah, maybe you shouldn't invite her too, dad," Lizzie said, casting worried looks at her sister. Maureen looked like she was about to explode whenever Olivia was mentioned, and none of them knew what to expect if the two were in the same room together.

"I'm not inviting just Noah," Elliot became angry, but tried not to show it. His children were expecting him to divide Noah and Olivia and to make a statement about who is and who isn't a part of the family, and it infuriated him. Especially since Olivia had always been like family to him, and he wasn't going to let them make her feel otherwise.

"Why not?" Maureen asked in anger.

"Because." Elliot looked at her and immediately knew that she could see the fury in his eyes, because she took a step back. "Olivia is a part of this family now just like Noah, whether you like it or not. I'm not leaving her out while her son is invited."

"Oh, wow. Are you two together?" Maureen asked in disgust. The mere thought of her father being with another woman was unbearable to her, let alone with Olivia, who was her mother's biggest fear.

"Oh, my God," Eli got on his feet all of a sudden and everyone looked at him. It was the first thing that he had said since his father arrived. "Can we just stop? Bring whoever you want, or you know what, let's just cancel the whole thing. I don't even care." He pushed his chair back and walked away angrily.

"Great. Look what you did," Maureen muttered, folding her arms and looking away from her father.

"Me…?" Elliot stopped himself before he said something he would have regretted. Maureen was driving him crazy and, at times, reminding him of her mother. He turned and followed Eli to the guest room, where he had been staying since they all found out the truth the previous weekend.

"Hey," he said gently as he opened the door. Eli was lying on the bed with his face down. He didn't move or react. "I know we're going through a hard time now as a family, but I don't want you to cancel your birthday party." Elliot sat down next to him and placed his hand on his son's shoulder. The latter lifted his face and laid his cheek on the bed instead, so he could talk.

At first he just stared at Elliot and didn't say anything, but then he found the words. "Are you with Olivia now? Is she, like… your girlfriend?"

Elliot inhaled sharply and let the air out before talking. "We're just… trying to figure things out with Noah and… other things." He felt bad for not being completely truthful with his son, but Eli didn't have to know everything at the moment. None of his children had to know it all at once. They needed time to recover from their first discovery.

"Whatever."

"Eli –"

"Were you in love with her while mom was still alive?"

"I loved your mother."

"You're not answering my question."

Elliot looked at him. Up until not so long ago, he thought that Eli was his youngest son, his baby. Now that role had been taken from him, and Elliot thought he seemed older all of a sudden. The way he knew exactly what to ask didn't help either. Elliot had to see him for what he was - a mature, young man.

"No, I wasn't in love with her," he lied, barely capable of looking into his son's eyes. Knowing that he was lying to him to spare him pain, helped a little, but he still hated lying. It hurt his bones. "Those feelings started developing after your mom had passed away."

Eli examined his father's face for a moment. "You're lying."

Elliot wished he was a better actor. "Son… let's just have your party next Friday and try to make things good again. I miss my children. Especially you." He placed his hand on Eli's shoulder and squeezed it gently.

"Fine, but I don't think Olivia should come."

Elliot froze for a moment. He wasn't expecting to hear that from Eli. "Why not?" He tried to remain calm and keep his voice even.

"Because it'll be awkward for everyone."

"In the first few minutes, sure," Elliot shrugged, trying to make it seem like he didn't think it was a big deal. "But after that, it'll be fine," he added, not sure that he actually believed his words. Truth was, he was terrified of what might happen when Maureen saw Olivia.

"You know what, dad? Bring whoever you want." Eli turned his head to the other side, leaving Elliot to stare sadly at the back of his head.

The sixteenth precinct was as busy as usual. There was a lot of movement outside of Olivia's office as officers were going about their work, but she wasn't paying attention to it. She was used to it. The case files she was reading took all of her concentration. That was why she didn't notice when Elliot arrived at the threshold of her office. He was about to knock on the open door to announce himself, but instead he stopped with his hand in mid air and stared at her. She was so impressively beautiful in her black suit with the white blouse and her loose, wavy hair. The few opened buttons at the top of her blouse caught his eyes for a moment, but it was her overall appearance that took his breath away. She radiated so much power and authority and he couldn't help but feel proud of her for everything that she had achieved in her career. And a little turned on.

Olivia suddenly looked up and saw him standing there. Her eyes opened wide in surprise and she froze for a moment.

"Hey," he smiled at her.

"What are you doing here?" was all she could think of to say. Suddenly, she noticed that it was a sunny day. His smile made her feel warm inside.

"I was in the area and thought I'd bring you lunch," he lifted a paper bag from a diner they used to go to together all the time when they were partners. "I had no idea this place still existed, but it made me nostalgic when I saw it."

Olivia didn't have to ask what was in the bag. She knew it was her favorite sandwich from that place because she was sure he remembered. Those were the kind of little things one remembered about a person they loved so deeply, even after so many years. His gesture moved her.

"Thank you. That's so nice of you," she smiled at him. "Why aren't you coming in?"

"Oh, I… I guess I was staring at you a little. Is that creepy?" He smiled awkwardly. "You look great."

Olivia chuckled. She got up and walked around her desk. "Come with me for a moment."

She started towards the side room that was only accessible from her office. The blinds there had already been closed earlier that day for a chat she had with a victim's mother. Elliot followed her and realized that that room was blocked from view from the squad room. There they could have privacy to greet each other properly.

Olivia turned around, waiting for him to walk into the room, and watched him as he stopped a few steps from her and looked around him.

"Nice digs," he said. "What is it used for?"

"It's a break room that I use for talks with victims or witnesses in a less office-like environment," she responded. There wasn't a desk in the room, only some furniture and appliances that gave a more homey feeling, like a couch and a coffee machine on a counter next to the wall. "Sometimes I talk with survivors or their family members about how to begin or continue the healing process, and I bring them here for that."

Elliot nodded, looking impressed. "You're pretty amazing, you know that, right?"

Olivia smiled as she came closer to him and grabbed the rims of his open jacket with both hands. "I guess sometimes I'll be doing this here from now on too," she said in a low voice and pulled him in for a kiss.

Elliot placed his free hand on her back, holding her tight against him, while the other still held the paper bag. It was a long, slow kiss that sent shivers up and down his spine and made him wish they were somewhere else. Alone.

"Hey," he whispered as if they were just now greeting each other when she broke off the kiss, unable to suppress the smug smile that appeared on his face.

Olivia kept her face a few inches from his and couldn't help but smile back at his stupid grin. He was so pleased with himself for earning that kiss, that it was actually adorable.

"Thank you for thinking of me," she said as she slid her hand down his arm all the way to his hand and took the paper bag from him before placing it next to the coffee machine.

Elliot laughed. "I can't take credit for something that didn't take any special effort. I'm always thinking of you."

Olivia looked at him for a moment and then wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face in his neck. Elliot reacted by immediately wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight again. She loved the feeling of safety that he brought with him every time he was around, but especially when he held her like that.

"So what's going on with your kids? Are they talking to you yet?" she asked, her voice coming out somewhat muffled.

"Uh, well… I kinda made them. I crashed their Sunday brunch."

Olivia lifted her head and looked at him with worry. "What happened?"

Elliot smiled. "I practically begged them to not give me the silent treatment and they felt sorry for me."

Olivia shook her head slightly, still looking worried. Elliot hated making her feel like this, but there was nothing he could do about it. He had always thought that she cared about him way too much. He never thought he deserved it.

"Actually," he said, hoping to make her feel better, "you and Noah are invited to Eli's birthday party on Saturday." He watched the look on her eyes change from worry to dread and started to feel anxious.

"Oh, um…" Olivia let go of him and scratched her head uncomfortably. "I'm not sure it's such a good idea."

"Why not?"

"Noah should definitely go, if that's what he wants. But I think it would be better if I skipped this one." Truth was, she was terrified of facing his entire family at once, now that they knew the truth about Noah. In the past, everyone but Maureen had made her feel welcome, even if at first she felt uncomfortable around them. But now, she expected them all to be like Maureen - hostile, resentful, maybe even hateful towards her - and she didn't know if she could face the effect it might have on her relationship with Elliot.

"I mean, it'll be awkward at first, sure, but we're gonna have to deal with it at some point so why not now?"

Olivia opened her mouth to say something to contradict him, but she didn't know what to say. He was right.

"I… I guess that's true, but isn't it too early?" she couldn't come up with anything else.

"I think it's best not to wait for too long. But if you really think it's better for you to stay this one out, I get it." Elliot did get it, of course he did, but he needed her to be the brave, fearless woman that he knew she could be, because he was sure that letting his children stew in their anger would be much worse.

Olivia sighed. "I don't know, El. I'll drop him off, but I don't think I'll stay."

Elliot nodded. "I understand, it's okay."

It was hard for Olivia to see the disappointment on his face. She leaned forward and kissed his cheek before hugging him. "It's gonna be okay. We just all need time." She didn't really know if time was going to help in their case, but she had to stay hopeful. It was something she had to do on a daily basis in order not to let her job get the best of her, so she was used to it.

"Yeah, okay. Don't worry about it," Elliot tried to sound and look cheerful, but he knew that she could read him like an open book as her deep, brown eyes looked into his. "Now, eat your sandwich, woman," he gave her a little tap on the ass to lighten the mood and she smiled at him, pleasantly surprised.

"Yes, Sir," she said in a low tone that sent a heat wave through his body before turning toward the paper bag to her left. As she started opening it to see if she was indeed right about its content, she felt Elliot approaching her and then sliding his hands around her waist, hugging her from behind with his chin perched on her shoulder.

"I hope it's still your favorite," he said quietly.

"It is," she smiled as she finally saw what was inside and he kissed her cheek. "Would you like a cup of coffee before I sit down?"

"If it means I get to keep standing like this with you for another moment, sure," he said and thought how great it was to be able to say to her everything he wanted because there was no reason why he couldn't anymore.

Olivia chuckled and closed her eyes for a moment, leaning back against him. She wanted to remember that moment and how it felt, because she had a feeling she was going to need the strength from that memory later on, when she'd finally face his children.

It was a cool autumn day and Olivia went home directly after work. She had some more work to do from home, but she first changed into more comfortable clothes and made herself tea to relax after the hard day she had had. Noah was at dance, accompanied by Bernie. She wanted to watch him in class and then take him to dinner, so Olivia didn't have to see anyone else for the rest of the day, and it made her happy. Usually she didn't have a problem being around people all day. In fact, in the past she used to like it, since at home she was all alone. Back then, she had spent as much time as she could at work, mostly with Elliot, because the alternative was an empty apartment away from him. She had become used to being surrounded by people during work hours, but since having Noah, she wasn't completely alone anymore, and she had also learned to appreciate her quiet time at home.

It was just as she sat down with her cup of tea and her laptop in the living room, that the doorbell rang. It alarmed her, as she wasn't expecting anyone. Walking to the door, she thought for a second that it might be Elliot surprising her with a visit, but he never did that, except for when she didn't answer his texts and calls and made him worried.

She looked through the peephole and saw that it was indeed a Stabler, but not the one she wanted to see. Actually, it was two Stablers. Kathleen and Lizzie. They exchanged unsure looks as they waited and Olivia considered for a second not opening the door, but she was pretty sure that they heard her footsteps as she approached them. Eventually she unlocked the door and opened it carefully, as if she was afraid of what the two women would do the moment they saw her.

"Hey, Olivia," Kathleen said hesitantly. She wasn't as cordial with her as she used to be before discovering she had another brother, but it also didn't seem like she was in fight mode.

"Hi, Kathleen, Lizzie. Is everything okay?"

"Yes, sorry for dropping by without notice," Lizzie looked embarrassed. "We just thought you might not want to meet if we asked… and we wanted to talk to you."

"Of course. Come in," Olivia opened the door wide to allow them to enter. "I would have met you if you asked."

"I knew it," Kathleen looked at her sister scoldingly.

"Well, I wasn't sure and I didn't want to take the risk," Lizzie admitted. "It's important to us to have this talk."

Olivia led them to the living room and offered them something to drink. They both opted for water out of politeness and after she placed the glasses on the table in front of them, she sat down on the armchair next to the couch that they were sitting on and looked at them nervously.

"So…" she said as they just stared at her.

"Oh, God, sorry for being so awkward," Kathleen pulled herself together. "It's just… a strange situation."

"Yeah, we're not sure what to say… we've never had to face something like this," Lizzie added apologetically.

"Why don't you tell me what you came here for exactly and we'll go from there?" Olivia said carefully. "I'm sure you have something you wanted to say or ask."

"Well… okay, I'll just go ahead and say it," Kathleen took a moment and then continued. "I guess I'm just confused, because I've always liked you, Olivia, and I never thought you would do something like that to my mom. Both you and my dad," she didn't sound angry, but more sad or disappointed.

"I know… we should have done things differently. I should have done things differently," Olivia looked down at her hands, feeling guilty. "I shouldn't have involved your father in it."

Kathleen and Lizzie remained quiet for a while and Olivia looked at them, waiting for them to be ready to talk again.

"Why did you get him involved?" Lizzie asked.

Olivia phrased the answer to the question in her head for before speaking. It was a sensitive matter and she didn't want to make any mistakes. "I wanted the father of my child to be someone I knew and trusted." She knew that it wasn't the whole true, but she couldn't tell them that she wanted the father of her child to be the man she loved.

"Were you ever going to tell my mom?" Lizzie continued her inquiry.

"Back then I wasn't even sure if I was actually going to move forward with the whole thing. It was an emotionally confusing time. I should have asked your mother first, probably, or not asked at all, but…"

"What made you decide to have Noah, then?"

Kathleen placed her hand on her sister's arm to signal to her to lower her voice. Lizzie's emotions were obviously running high.

"Um…" Olivia was afraid to say something she shouldn't, but she had to give them some sort of explanation if she wanted them to understand where she was coming from. "After your father left, I felt very… I was alone, there was no one solid in my life the way he was for me for twelve years. He was like family to me. I wanted to have something solid again."

The two stared at her and Olivia wondered what they were thinking about what she said. She didn't want to give them the wrong impression about what kind of relationship she had with their father back then.

"Are you in love with him?" Lizzie asked suddenly. She didn't look pleased.

Olivia's mouth opened in shock but no words came out. She didn't expect such directness, and judging by how uncomfortable both Lizzie and Kathleen looked, neither did they.

"Of course she is, she always has been," Kathleen said after a moment, breaking the silence.

"Kathleen –"

"No, I do believe you and dad when you say that nothing ever happened between you two, but I'm not stupid. Your feelings for each other have always been visible all over your faces."

Olivia felt like she was being punched in the face over and over again, every time one of them spoke.

"Dad said that his feelings for her developed after mom died," Lizzie looked at her sister with a frown.

"Of course he would say that, he wasn't going to admit to us that he had feelings for another woman while he was still married."

"What the hell are you saying?" Lizzie looked like she was about to cry.

"Dad loved mom, but he also loved Olivia. I'm sure of it."

Lizzie turned to look at Olivia with a hurt expression and waited for her to confirm or deny Kathleen's words.

"He didn't love me the way he loved your mom," Olivia said immediately. She didn't care if they believed her or not, she was never going to admit the truth to them. Some things were better left a secret, and there was no point in them knowing that their mother was never the love of their father's life. "We both loved each other as… family. We were family." It wasn't a lie, which made it much easier to say while looking into their eyes. "That was why I needed to replace that void when he left."

Lizzie and Kathleen seemed to believe her. What she said now correlated with what she had said before and made total sense, even if she left out the important fact of them being in love.

Kathleen sighed. "I think we all need time to move on from this, but I also feel sorry for Noah. He's just a kid, he shouldn't suffer from his parents' mistakes."

"I agree," Lizzie said, though her voice sounded shaky. "But Eli's birthday party might not be the right occasion for everyone to get together."

"I disagree, but it should be up to Eli anyway."

"I appreciate that you're thinking of including me," Olivia said quickly before the two had the chance to continue debating it, "but I wasn't going to go. I'll drop Noah off and pick him up after."

"Okay, but I'm still going to talk to Eli about it," Kathleen insisted.

"I'll talk to Dickie, but he's already over the whole thing anyway," Lizzie said.

Olivia nodded. She figured Kathleen and Lizzie didn't see the point in talking with Maureen about it, since she pretty much hated Olivia and had already formed her opinion on her, but then Kathleen surprised her.

"I'll talk with Mo too," she said determinedly.

"You'll be wasting your time," Lizzie said immediately. It was exactly what Olivia was thinking.

"Maybe… but maybe she just needs to be reminded of everything Olivia has done for our family over the years." Kathleen saw her sister's questioning look and added, "she's helped me, Dickie, Eli… more than once."

"Oh, right. And mom's accident, Eli's birth," Lizzie said.

"And she tried to help mom and dad when they were getting a divorce."

Olivia looked from Kathleen to Lizzie as they talked, as if she was witnessing something she wasn't a part of. It was nice to know that they had never forgotten what she did for them, even though she never did it for any other reason than her love for Elliot.

"Maybe we should talk to Mo together," Kathleen suggested and Lizzie nodded hesitantly. They both got up without a warning before they remembered that Olivia was still there.

"Oh! Thank you for the talk, Olivia," Lizzie said.

"Yeah, we'll be in touch about Saturday," Kathleen added as Olivia got on her feet too.

"It's really okay, girls, I don't have to come to Eli's party. He should be able to celebrate his day without stress," Olivia said, hoping they would let her off the hook.

Kathleen and Lizzie couldn't promise anything either way. It was possible that Olivia would end up being invited to the party, or she'd be able to stay out of it like she preferred.

After they left, Olivia had to sit down and think about what had just happened. It was the last thing she had expected, but two of Elliot's daughters came to make peace with her. She wasn't exactly in a fight with any of them, but Olivia definitely didn't think they would reach out, especially not so soon. She didn't know what to make of it, or how it made her feel. She was both anxious and relieved, and it was a strange sensation.