Dickey and Lizzie were so busy talking during the drive to Elliot's apartment that they didn't notice the grave looks on their fathers and his partners face. They just jabbered about Dickey's crazy football coach and Lizzie's upcoming chorus recital. The two adults, however, barely said a word or even made a move to acknowledge the fact that they were paying attention, save for the occasional nod of their heads.
When they got to Elliot's apartment Kathleen's car was in it's normal parking space. 'Good.' Olivia thought, 'We can get this over with right now.'
Elliot and Olivia were still silent as they walked up the stairs and Dickey and Lizzie continued to talk. They were walking up the second flight (Elliot's apartment was on the 4th floor) when it finally registered in Lizzie's mind that Olivia was still with them.
"Olivia, why are you going to my fathers apartment?"
Olivia's heart stopped, "Uh…just to talk Lizzie."
Lizzie's 12 year old mind must have been buzzing with possibilities because she didn't seem to believe her, "Talk about what?"
"Just let it drop Lizzie." Dickey said, "Obviously its too important for us youngin's to know."
Elliot sighed, "That's not it, Dickey, let's just wait a few minutes, alright?"
They walked the other two flights in silence, Dickey and Lizzie kept stealing glances between each other. When they entered the door of Elliot's apartment Kathleen was talking on the phone. She took one look at the four of them and told whoever it was on the other end that she'd call him/her back.
"What's going on?" She asked as soon as she hung up the phone.
Dickey shrugged, "Ask them." He said pointing at the two adults.
"Liv? Dad?" Kathleen asked switching position on the couch, pulling her legs underneath her. "Again I ask, what's going on?"
"Dickey, Elizabeth. Go sit down next to your sister." Elliot instructed the twins. They nodded and sat down. Lizzie snuggling up close to her elder sibling.
Elliot sat down on the love seat and Olivia sat next to him. "This first part is going to be a shock to Dickey and Lizzie, but Kathleen already knows."
"Spit it out, dad." Dickey said.
"What your father means to say is that we've been…seeing each other."
There was a bit of silence from the two before Lizzie finally spoke, "For how long?"
"A little over 3 months now." Elliot replied.
"Oh." Dickey said a little stunned, "Does mom know?"
"She does now." Olivia muttered.
"Since when?" Kathleen inquired.
"Yesterday. That's the second thing we wanted to talk to you about." Olivia looked at Elliot hopefully, her gaze asking him to tell them.
"You're mom's kind of in jail."
"Kind of?"
"Well, until tomorrow morning."
"Why?"
"She hit Olivia."
"What?"
"Yeah. That's the third thing we wanted to talk about. As Kathleen knows your father and I have been…together. And, um, your mother came over my house this morning, she'd figured us out. She got mad and slapped me. Your father had been hiding in the bathroom at the time, she didn't know if he was there for sure. I…ah…punched her. She got really pissed and pushed me up against a wall…so, I arrested her for striking an officer. I really wasn't going to bring her in but Fin and Munch came and your father and I were a little busy so they took her to the station. But, that's not all we wanted to talk about."
"There's more?" Kathleen asked.
"Oh yeah. You've not even heard the big stuff."
"I'd say finding out that you and my dad are dating is big. And even more so that you've been…ahem…together."
"Well. Like I said, there's a lot more."
"Alright. What is it?"
"Well, first of all let me say that Olivia and I are getting married."
Kathleen's eyes grew wide. "Since when and how come I don't know about this?"
"Since early this morning and because we had to go to the doctor."
"Why did you need to go to the doctor?"
"That's the last thing. I'm…er…pregnant."
"You're what?!?"
"Somewhere between 6 and 7 weeks."
"When did you find out?"
"Well I took my first test the other day. Then I took two more, and the all three said positive. And, we went to the doctor today who confirmed it."
"Wait. You said my mom pushed up against a wall, right? It didn't do anything to the baby, did it?"
Olivia shook her head, "No. Your mom's not that strong. But, I did get a lecture about being careful and the hazards of being a police officer while being pregnant and how I should stick to desk duty. And of course the Captain said the same thing. You know what, I'm babbling. I should stop, shouldn't I?"
Elliot put an arm around her shoulders, "You're just nervous."
"You're not mad at us, are you?" Olivia asked Dickey and Lizzie.
"Of course not!" Lizzie proclaimed rather loudly, "It's exactly the opposite. We've been hinting at dad for forever to go out with you. I'm just upset that you didn't tell me sooner."
"Well, Liz, you do have a bad habit of letting secrets slip to the one person who should never find out." Kathleen pointed out.
"Thank you, O perfect one. Unlike you I am not without fault. Although I've known you to tell secrets before."
"Well, I didn't tell mom about dad and Olivia!"
"How long have you known anyway? And how did you find out?"
"Well, I've known for about 2 months. And remember when I stayed with mom and HIM around 2 months ago and Maureen came and picked me up? Well, we kind of found daddy and Liv asleep in his room. It was kind of easy to figure out then."
Lizzie laughed.
"What?"
"I'm just trying to picture mom in jail. Serves her right, for all she's done. You sure you have to let her out tomorrow?"
"Elizabeth." Elliot warned.
"Just thinking."
"Yeah, well. Don't. No matter what she has done she's still your mother."
"Yeah. Whatever. Hey, does this mean you guys are moving in together? Are you going to buy like…a house? Can we live with you?"
"Whoa, calm down there. We haven't had those kinds of discussions yet. Most of this just took place in the last 24-48 hours. Where we're going to live has been the last thing on our minds."
"But, I'd rather like to have a house together." Olivia mused.
Elliot looked at her, "Really?"
"Of course. And I would love to have Kathleen, Dickey, and Lizzie live with us fulltime. With me and you getting married it wouldn't be as hard, and Kathleen does have a car, if they really need to do something she can always help out. And, they're old enough to be at home alone when she's working. They are almost 13."
Dickey smiled, "And we really hate Steven."
"That depends on your mother guys. The only reason Kathleen got to live with me is because she's old enough to where the law sees her as being capable of making such a decision. You two aren't old enough yet."
Lizzie sighed, "I don't really think mom wants us living with her anyway, it just hinders her relationship with Steven. I think we're more of a burden than her children."
Elliot shook his head, "Your mother loves you. She's just in a new relationship with Steven--"
Kathleen seemed frustrated, "Oh, come on dad, cut the bull. She's been seeing him for way longer than you and her have been divorced, and you and Olivia have only been seeing each other for 3 months and she already wants us to live with her. New relationship my foot. She just doesn't want us in the way, and you know that. You're too nice to her, dad."
"She's your mother."
"That only goes so far, dad." Dickey stated.
He sighed, "Let's not get into this just now. We should be happy and celebrating, right? Not thinking about your mother and how she's screwed up everybody's lives. How about we go out for dinner, huh? Some place nice, and see a movie after that?"
"Alright, dad. But, we do need to talk about this, don't think bribing us with dinner and a movie is going to make us forget." Kathleen warned.
"I wouldn't expect anything less."
When they got to Elliot's apartment Kathleen's car was in it's normal parking space. 'Good.' Olivia thought, 'We can get this over with right now.'
Elliot and Olivia were still silent as they walked up the stairs and Dickey and Lizzie continued to talk. They were walking up the second flight (Elliot's apartment was on the 4th floor) when it finally registered in Lizzie's mind that Olivia was still with them.
"Olivia, why are you going to my fathers apartment?"
Olivia's heart stopped, "Uh…just to talk Lizzie."
Lizzie's 12 year old mind must have been buzzing with possibilities because she didn't seem to believe her, "Talk about what?"
"Just let it drop Lizzie." Dickey said, "Obviously its too important for us youngin's to know."
Elliot sighed, "That's not it, Dickey, let's just wait a few minutes, alright?"
They walked the other two flights in silence, Dickey and Lizzie kept stealing glances between each other. When they entered the door of Elliot's apartment Kathleen was talking on the phone. She took one look at the four of them and told whoever it was on the other end that she'd call him/her back.
"What's going on?" She asked as soon as she hung up the phone.
Dickey shrugged, "Ask them." He said pointing at the two adults.
"Liv? Dad?" Kathleen asked switching position on the couch, pulling her legs underneath her. "Again I ask, what's going on?"
"Dickey, Elizabeth. Go sit down next to your sister." Elliot instructed the twins. They nodded and sat down. Lizzie snuggling up close to her elder sibling.
Elliot sat down on the love seat and Olivia sat next to him. "This first part is going to be a shock to Dickey and Lizzie, but Kathleen already knows."
"Spit it out, dad." Dickey said.
"What your father means to say is that we've been…seeing each other."
There was a bit of silence from the two before Lizzie finally spoke, "For how long?"
"A little over 3 months now." Elliot replied.
"Oh." Dickey said a little stunned, "Does mom know?"
"She does now." Olivia muttered.
"Since when?" Kathleen inquired.
"Yesterday. That's the second thing we wanted to talk to you about." Olivia looked at Elliot hopefully, her gaze asking him to tell them.
"You're mom's kind of in jail."
"Kind of?"
"Well, until tomorrow morning."
"Why?"
"She hit Olivia."
"What?"
"Yeah. That's the third thing we wanted to talk about. As Kathleen knows your father and I have been…together. And, um, your mother came over my house this morning, she'd figured us out. She got mad and slapped me. Your father had been hiding in the bathroom at the time, she didn't know if he was there for sure. I…ah…punched her. She got really pissed and pushed me up against a wall…so, I arrested her for striking an officer. I really wasn't going to bring her in but Fin and Munch came and your father and I were a little busy so they took her to the station. But, that's not all we wanted to talk about."
"There's more?" Kathleen asked.
"Oh yeah. You've not even heard the big stuff."
"I'd say finding out that you and my dad are dating is big. And even more so that you've been…ahem…together."
"Well. Like I said, there's a lot more."
"Alright. What is it?"
"Well, first of all let me say that Olivia and I are getting married."
Kathleen's eyes grew wide. "Since when and how come I don't know about this?"
"Since early this morning and because we had to go to the doctor."
"Why did you need to go to the doctor?"
"That's the last thing. I'm…er…pregnant."
"You're what?!?"
"Somewhere between 6 and 7 weeks."
"When did you find out?"
"Well I took my first test the other day. Then I took two more, and the all three said positive. And, we went to the doctor today who confirmed it."
"Wait. You said my mom pushed up against a wall, right? It didn't do anything to the baby, did it?"
Olivia shook her head, "No. Your mom's not that strong. But, I did get a lecture about being careful and the hazards of being a police officer while being pregnant and how I should stick to desk duty. And of course the Captain said the same thing. You know what, I'm babbling. I should stop, shouldn't I?"
Elliot put an arm around her shoulders, "You're just nervous."
"You're not mad at us, are you?" Olivia asked Dickey and Lizzie.
"Of course not!" Lizzie proclaimed rather loudly, "It's exactly the opposite. We've been hinting at dad for forever to go out with you. I'm just upset that you didn't tell me sooner."
"Well, Liz, you do have a bad habit of letting secrets slip to the one person who should never find out." Kathleen pointed out.
"Thank you, O perfect one. Unlike you I am not without fault. Although I've known you to tell secrets before."
"Well, I didn't tell mom about dad and Olivia!"
"How long have you known anyway? And how did you find out?"
"Well, I've known for about 2 months. And remember when I stayed with mom and HIM around 2 months ago and Maureen came and picked me up? Well, we kind of found daddy and Liv asleep in his room. It was kind of easy to figure out then."
Lizzie laughed.
"What?"
"I'm just trying to picture mom in jail. Serves her right, for all she's done. You sure you have to let her out tomorrow?"
"Elizabeth." Elliot warned.
"Just thinking."
"Yeah, well. Don't. No matter what she has done she's still your mother."
"Yeah. Whatever. Hey, does this mean you guys are moving in together? Are you going to buy like…a house? Can we live with you?"
"Whoa, calm down there. We haven't had those kinds of discussions yet. Most of this just took place in the last 24-48 hours. Where we're going to live has been the last thing on our minds."
"But, I'd rather like to have a house together." Olivia mused.
Elliot looked at her, "Really?"
"Of course. And I would love to have Kathleen, Dickey, and Lizzie live with us fulltime. With me and you getting married it wouldn't be as hard, and Kathleen does have a car, if they really need to do something she can always help out. And, they're old enough to be at home alone when she's working. They are almost 13."
Dickey smiled, "And we really hate Steven."
"That depends on your mother guys. The only reason Kathleen got to live with me is because she's old enough to where the law sees her as being capable of making such a decision. You two aren't old enough yet."
Lizzie sighed, "I don't really think mom wants us living with her anyway, it just hinders her relationship with Steven. I think we're more of a burden than her children."
Elliot shook his head, "Your mother loves you. She's just in a new relationship with Steven--"
Kathleen seemed frustrated, "Oh, come on dad, cut the bull. She's been seeing him for way longer than you and her have been divorced, and you and Olivia have only been seeing each other for 3 months and she already wants us to live with her. New relationship my foot. She just doesn't want us in the way, and you know that. You're too nice to her, dad."
"She's your mother."
"That only goes so far, dad." Dickey stated.
He sighed, "Let's not get into this just now. We should be happy and celebrating, right? Not thinking about your mother and how she's screwed up everybody's lives. How about we go out for dinner, huh? Some place nice, and see a movie after that?"
"Alright, dad. But, we do need to talk about this, don't think bribing us with dinner and a movie is going to make us forget." Kathleen warned.
"I wouldn't expect anything less."