Prompt #90: It's the school's Fall Father-Son Kickball Tournament. Noah is being bullied about not having a dad — Eliott steps up
A Saturday with You
~oOo~
Elliot placed his phone back in his pocket as the school bell rang and the children came filing out. He scanned the crowd and smiled as he spotted Noah. He stood up taller, prouder as Noah made his way toward him.
"Hey, Kiddo." He stuck his hand out to take Noah's backpack, releasing the kid of the weight he carried.
"Thanks." Noah smiled, handing his backpack over like he always does before his gaze fell, sadness etched into his features.
Elliot shifted the weight of the backpack on his shoulders. "What are you carrying these days? Bricks?"
Noah looked up. "Homework."
"Hmm—need any help?"
Noah shook his head, but didn't fully lift his gaze to meet Elliot's. Elliot looked down at the young boy walking alongside him, noticing the way his shoulders were slumped as if he carried the weight of the world. He knew something had to have happened at school today because Noah had been fine when they dropped him off this morning, and he was usually a chatterbox telling Elliot all about his day.
"Everything okay, Bud?"
Noah shrugged his shoulders. "Made a B on my math test." He didn't mind the B honestly, but he wasn't sure how to start the conversation he actually wanted to have.
"Oh." Elliot looked down, not sure how to respond. He knew Noah had been struggling in math lately, but Katie had been working with him to help him improve, so a B was really good. He noticed a park bench coming up. "Hey, let's sit down here for a bit."
Noah sighed and sat down on the bench and then started swinging his feet back and forth still avoiding Elliot's questioning eyes.
Elliot sat the backpack down at his feet and lay his hand on Noah's shoulder. "I know the B on your math test isn't what's really bothering you. You have worked really hard for that B, and I am so proud of you."
Noah finally looked up at Elliot with a small smile on his face. "Thanks." Over Elliot's shoulder, Noah saw the group of boys from his class standing at the end of the sidewalk. He watched as Xander pointed him out to the other boys, and they all grinned as their gazes landed on him and Elliot. He groaned and tried to divert his attention, thinking of how he could get Elliot to move without drawing more attention to himself.
"Elliot," he looked around nervously, deciding whether he wanted to fight or flight, "can we—" But it was too late as Xander, Mason, and Haden started making their way toward them.
Elliot noticed the panicked look on Noah's face and wondered what was going on, but he didn't have a chance to ask any further questions as a group of boys approached them. He looked up at them, and felt the way Noah moved slightly closer to his side and started to sink into his seat, almost as if he wished he could melt into it. Elliot took his hand and squeezed Noah's shoulder before dropping the hand to his side.
"Hey, Benson!" the taller of the boys yelled out as they got closer. "We noticed you dropped this."
Noah glared as the kid held out the neon orange flyer that had been given out in homeroom earlier in the morning.
Elliot, sensing something was amiss, reached up and took the orange flyer from the kid, glaring as he took hold of the orange paper.
The shorter kid turned to look at Elliot. "Who's this Noah?" The kid's eyes ran up and down Elliot's torso. "This your grandpa?"
"No."
"Hmm—" Mason looked up at Noah and then back at Elliot. "Must be your new nanny."
"Or his, oh never mind." Haden laughed, and the other boys started to snicker.
"No, he's my—" Noah froze as he looked up between the three boys, confused at who Elliot really was to him. He wasn't his uncle like Sonny and Fin, and definitely not his grandpa like Cragen, but he wasn't just a friend either. He was more like a da— The word caught in his throat, and he really just wished the boys would go away.
Elliot waited, continuing to glare at the three boys. He wanted to step in, but he also didn't want to define his relationship with Noah in a way that Noah didn't want. He felt Noah squeeze his thumb, the same way Olivia does when she wants someone else to take the lead. Elliot looked at the boys, all three of them sneering at Noah waiting for him to finish his sentence. "I'm Detective Stabler. Is there something else I can help you with?"
The boys didn't get a chance to answer as a voice called out behind them. "Xander, Mason, Haden! It's time to go. My shift starts at 4!"
Elliot looked up to see an older woman standing on the other side of the street. "Looks like your ride is here." He paused for a second, grinning. "Need me to walk you across?"
The three boys turned to glare at Elliot. Xander glanced over at Noah. "Nah, we got it; we don't need someone to walk us."
"Boys! Let's go!"
"Coming, Gran!" Xander looked back at Noah and pointed to the flyer in Elliot's hand. "Maybe Detective Stabler here can join you." The three boys snickered as they ran off across the street and climbed into the waiting car.
Elliot watched the car drive away not completely sure what to make of the entire conversation. What he did know was that those boys were trouble, and they clearly made Noah uncomfortable. He looked down at the boy who was staring at the orange flyer, tears in his eyes. "Noah, do you want to talk about it?"
Noah quickly stood up from the bench. "Can we just go home?"
"Sure." Elliot picked up the boy's backpack and noticed Noah had left the orange flyer behind on the bench. He picked it up and stuffed it in the side pocket of Noah's backpack, fully intending to find out why the orange flyer was such a big deal.
~oOo~
Elliot looked up from his phone as Noah sat down next to him on the couch. "Hey."
"Can you help me?"
"Sure," Elliot put his phone down on the coffee table, "what are you working on?"
"A story about fall." He held out his notebook. "I'm supposed to have my parents, my grownups, read my rough draft and sign off on my proofreading sheet."
Elliot didn't miss the way Noah rolled his eyes as he said parents. "Of course." Elliot took hold of the notebook. "I always loved reading the things my kids used to write for school. They used to always leave their writing out on the counter for me so I could read it even when I came in late."
"Mom likes to read my work too." Noah smiled. "She's actually really good at English and writing. Did you know her mom was an English professor?"
"I did," Elliot took his glasses off his shirt and put them on, "she used to spend hours on stakeouts telling me all about the classic novels she read as a kid because her mom always had them lying around." Elliot looked over at Noah. "Before I forget, your mom said to clean out your dance bag from the weekend because she wants to wash your competition uniform."
Noah nodded and moved off the couch and left Elliot to read his story. Elliot was signing his name when Noah returned. "Hey, that was really good!"
"Thanks," Noah grinned, "it's my own personal story told through picking the perfect pumpkin."
"I noticed." Elliot ruffled Noah's hair. "That was clever. Oh, and the bald, blue-eyed farmer was a personal favorite."
Noah grinned as he took the notebook and put it back in his backpack. "Mine too."
Elliot watched Noah quickly grab the orange flyer from earlier and crumble it into a paper wad. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Noah shrugged his shoulders. "It's stupid really."
"It's not if it makes you upset."
"Ms. Garcia handed these out during homeroom this morning." Noah sighed. "I've been trying to avoid it all day, but Xander and the boys keep finding ways to sneak a copy into my stuff."
"Why?"
Noah tossed the paper to Elliot who caught it and unfurled it. The large, bolded Fall Father-Son or Someone Special Kickball Game stuck out against the neon orange paper. "Oh."
"I know they added the "someone special" part, but everyone knows what they really mean. Xander, Mason, and Haden decided to use the kickball game as the new reason to bully me today."
"Today?" Elliot felt the heat rise up the back of his neck knowing other kids were picking on Noah.
"They pick on everyone, but lately they've chosen to focus on me and my friend Nolan because we don't have Dads."
"Have you told your mom?"
"No," Noah shifted in his seat, "It's not the first time, and I think they have some stuff going on at home."
"It doesn't give them an excuse to be bullies." Elliot tapped Noah's knee. "You need to tell your mom and your teacher."
Noah bit the inside of his lip. "I told you."
"True," Elliot smiled, "and I'm glad you trust me with this, but I still think you should tell your mom."
"Fine," Noah shrugged, "can we just forget about the kickball game though?"
Elliot picked the flyer up again. "Do you want to go?"
"What?"
"The kickball game," Elliott playfully tossed the paper wad back at Noah, "do you want to go?"
Noah bit the inside of his lip and whispered, "yes."
"Good because I want to play kickball." Elliot waited for Noah to pick up on what he said.
"Wait," Noah looked over, grinning, "you actually want to spend your Saturday playing kickball?"
"If it means I get to hang out with you—" Elliot let out an oomph as Noah's body crashed into his in a bone-crushing hug. Elliot hugged him back. "You know I'm always here for you Noah."
Noah pulled back, his expression looking lighter than it had when Elliot had first picked him up at school. "I can't wait to tell my friends!"
As Noah ran off to his room for his phone, Elliot called behind him, "you still have to ask your mom!"
~oOo~
Thursday afternoon Elliot stood against the fence waiting for Noah as the bell rang to dismiss the kids from school. As Noah walked toward him, he stuck his hand out to take Noah's backpack from him to carry like he always does.
"Hey, Noah!" Elliot noticed the saddened look on Noah's face. "Uh-oh, what's that look for? Are those boys still bullying you?"
"No—I mean yes. They always do, but that's not it." Noah fell in step beside Elliot. "It's Nolan. His uncle had agreed to be his partner for the kickball game, but he fell and broke his ankle yesterday and can't play, which also means we're a player short."
"Hmm," Elliot thought about it for a second and slowed their walking pace, "give me a minute or two." Elliot pulled his phone out of his pocket and called his eldest son. "Hey Dickie, what do you think about playing kickball next Saturday? It's for Noah. One of his friend's uncles can't play due to an injury, and we need another adult player for our team. I just so happened to remember how good you used to be in all those games you would start between your siblings and cousins." Elliot winked at Noah as he waited on Dickie's answer. "Great, I'll text you the details! Thanks, Son!"
"So?" Noah waited, fingers hovering over his phone screen.
"If Nolan's mom is okay with it, Dickie has agreed to play kickball next Saturday."
"Yes!" Noah started jumping up and down with excitement. "You're the best!"
"Pretty sure that's you, Kiddo." Elliot wrapped his arm around Noah's shoulders and pulled him in close to ruffle his hair.
~oOo~
By Saturday, Noah was about to burst from the excitement of participating in a father-son event with Elliot. "Mom, is he going to be here soon?"
Olivia laughed. "Yes, Noah. He will be here in five minutes. Calm down."
"I can't! I'm too excited!" Noah ran around the coffee table to prove his point. "Do you think we'll win?"
"I think you have a very good chance. I've seen a Stabler Sibling kickball game before, and Dickie is a really good pitcher. Plus, you, Nolan, and Nathan all used to play baseball together; that will help." She grinned. "I think I may have even played in a game before."
Noah stopped his jumping around, looking at her with disbelief. "You played kickball with Elliot and his kids?"
"Don't look so shocked. Uncle Fin played too." She laughed at her son's expression just as Elliot knocked on the door.
"Elliot!" Noah ran straight to the door and flung it open. "I didn't think you would ever get here! Can we go now?"
"Slow down, Bud." Elliot grinned at the boy's excitement. "Can I say hi to your mom first?"
"I guess," Noah dramatically sighed and then narrowed his eyes "no kissing though. Don't think I didn't see you two kissing the other night. We don't have time for that right now."
"Noah!"
Noah looked at his mom. "I'm just saying." He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't care if you two like each other, and want to kiss at other times, but today we have a game to play!"
Olivia turned to Elliot and gave him a quick kiss just to annoy her son, and she laughed as Noah reacted with an overdramatic sigh. "Can you please take this sass bucket off to play kickball before he explodes?"
"Gladly," Elliot turned to Noah, picked him up, and tossed him over his shoulder, "come on sass bucket."
Noah squealed with laughter as he was tossed over Elliot's shoulder. "Bye Mom! I love you!"
Olivia pulled her phone out of her pocket to snap a quick photo of her partner and her son. "Love you too and good luck!"
~oOo~
"Hey, Benson!" Noah rolled his eyes as Xander, Mason, and Haden walked up to him. "I see you brought your mom's boyfriend with you to play kickball. He here to fill in as your dad?"
"Leave me alone." Noah went to shove past them, but Xander stepped closer to him. "I asked you a question."
"What does it matter to you anyway?" Noah turned to see Nolan walking up beside him.
"Look who it is," Xander turned to sneer at Nolan, "it's another no-no, as in no dad."
Mason and Haden started singing, "no-nos, no-nos," but quickly stopped when they noticed Dickie walking over.
"What's going on over here?"
"Nothing." The three boys looked up at Dickie and then walked off, singing no-nos under their breath.
Noah looked up at Dickie, grateful that for once he had a pseudo big brother to step in for him. "Thanks."
"That's what big brothers are for." he smiled and tossed two shirts at the boys. "Here put your team shirts on, the first game is about to start."
Noah's excitement for playing the game faltered a little as his team was paired up with Xander, Mason, and Haden's team. "Out of all the teams here, why them?" He was sitting next to Elliot in the chairs they had brought, head in his hands.
Elliot looked over at the boy, the boy who reminded him so much of himself as a young kid now that he thought about it and spent more time with him. "So we can kick their butts obviously."
Noah roared with laughter as his teammates gathered around to discuss their strategy before the coin toss to start the game.
~oOo~
"Alright Noah, you're up." Elliot stood behind Noah and gave him a gentle squeeze on the shoulders before he stepped up to kick the ball. They were on their first inning and they were already two out. "You got this. Remember what we said, make contact with the ball, run to first, and then keep your eyes on Dickie. He will signal if it's a good run. Nathan is already on third and his dad is on second."
Noah nodded his head and then stepped up to kick; he saw the ball coming and missed. He heard the ref call strike and saw the grin Mason gave him from behind the pitcher's mound. Noah shook the nerves out of his shoulders and then smiled back at Mason, using his sneering as motivation to do better with the next kick. He took in a deep breath as the ball came rolling toward him, and he kicked. He felt the second his foot came in contact with the ball, and he could hear Elliot behind him cheering him on, so he ran quickly to first base and then saw Dickie quickly motioning him forward to keep running. He made it to second before Dickie signaled for him to stop. He looked up to see that Nathan had made it to home and Nathan's dad, Pete, had made it to third base.
He looked over at Elliot who was kicking next. "You got this!" Elliot threw him a thumbs up right as the ball connected with Elliot's foot and the game quickly resumed motion. Noah was in the process of running to third when he felt the ball connect with his leg, and the ref called out!
The team quickly changed positions, and Dickie was up to pitch with Xander the first up to kick. Noah watched from his position on first base, ready to catch the ball when needed. He watched as Dickie took a second to calculate his best roll before releasing the ball, and to everyone's surprise, including Xander's, Xander missed the first kick with the ref quickly calling strike! The ball was quickly returned to Dickie, and Dickie calculated once again the best roll; the ball released from his hand, and this time Xander's foot connected with the ball and it went flying through the air back to left field.
"Noah!"
Noah quickly turned to see Nathan catching the ball and tossing it in his direction. He caught the ball and tossed it over to Corey who was on third. Corey caught the ball right as Xander was making his way to third base, and the ref quickly called the out!
Noah cheered with his teammates, and then returned his focus back to Hudson who was kicking. Unfortunately for them, Hudson was quicker and more calculated with his kicks, and he connected on the first turn and very quickly made it to third base before anyone could tag him out.
The inning continued before Dickie finally managed to strike out one of the adults, which was the third out for the opposing team. The refs called for a five-minute break to fix some of the bases and to allow the teams to get a drink of water and regroup.
Elliot took a long drink from his water bottle. "Hey, look at the score." The team looked up at the board. "We're doing pretty good. We're only down by one, and we still have 15 minutes of gameplay left."
"Alright, Dad," Dickie looked over, "you pitch the next round."
Noah looked up at his friends and put his hand out in the middle of their huddle. "Go team on three!"
"1 – 2– 3 – Go team!"
"Alright, let's go boys!" Elliot led the team back out onto the field. "Alright Nolan, you kick first!"
The inning continued with both Nathan and Dickie scoring points for their team. Once again the game was set up with two players already out and Noah up to bat.
"You've got this bud," Elliot squeezed his shoulders again as Noah stepped up to kick. Noah closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He opened his eyes and focused quickly just as Xander released the ball. He could hear the ball coming as it whistled as it rolled across the floor, he waited and then kicked as hard as he could. He heard the screams before he realized he had kicked the ball almost to the edge of the boundary line.
"Go, Noah!" Dickie yelled as Noah took off running.
"Go home, run to home!" Nolan's voice cut through the air, and Noah ran as fast as he could.
He kept running until he slammed hard into Elliot who was still waiting for his turn to kick. He felt Elliot lift him off his feet and spin him around. "That's my boy! You did it, Noah!"
Noah hugged him tight and finally caught his breath as Elliot set him back down on the ground. "I did it!" Noah cheered and caught his breath. He patted Elliot on the arm. "Okay, your turn! Good luck, Da—" Noah caught himself and stopped the words from tumbling from his mouth. "Go, Elliot!"
Noah caught his breath as he watched Elliot step up to the plate. He saw Elliot shake out the nerves in his shoulders in the same way he had done previously. He smiled as he watched Elliot, easily realizing who Elliot was to him in that moment. He didn't have long to think as the ball came rolling and Elliot's foot caught the ball on the first swing and it went flying. He heard the cheers from his teammates as Elliot ran around the bases, making it to third before quickly checking to see if he could continue.
"You got it! Go!" Noah heard himself yell, as Elliot decided to try running for home. Noah held his breath as Haden tossed the ball at Elliot trying to tag him out, but the ball missed and Elliot made it all the way to home.
As Elliot came to a stop, Noah quickly jumped up and threw his arms around him. "You did it, Dad!" He heard the large intake of breath Elliot let out as he hugged him tighter.
Elliot whispered into his ear before sitting him back on the ground. "We did it together. All of us."
The last inning went by quickly with Elliot striking out one player from the batting box and the other two tagging out in the middle of the inning.
As the timer sounded to indicate the end of the game, Noah looked up at the scoreboard. "We won!"
As the teams lined up to show their sportsmanship, Noah stood proud in between Elliot and Dickie who both had one of their hands on his shoulder. As he passed Xander in the lineup, he looked at him, shook his hand, and added, "good game."
When the teams dispersed, Noah called for Xander, Mason, and Haden's attention. "Hey! You asked who he is," he pointed to Elliot who was still standing near him, "that's my dad." He smiled, and then added, "Oh, and the pitcher, he's my big brother. Family isn't all about DNA you know."
Noah turned and smiled at Elliot, who he knew overheard him. "Thank you for choosing to spend your Saturday with me."
"Anytime kid, anytime." Elliot picked him up and threw him over his shoulder once more. "What do you say we take everyone out for pizza and ice cream for a game well played?"
"I'd like that."
Note: The author of this SVU: Fall in Love story will be revealed in November
