Part 7

As Friday dawned bright and early, Olivia got up with a feeling of dread. She had always known that at some point in their lives, she would have to tell the twins who their daddy was. Of course, she'd never expected Elliot to return and enter the equation. Nor had she ever thought that the twins would become attached to him, especially Andrew. But then again, why WAS she surprised? Andrew was his son. Why shouldn't they like each other? Perhaps there was some unseen connection between a father and son. The little man in question toddled into her room.

"Cawo poo-poo face."

Olivia raised an eyebrow.

"That's not very nice to call your sister names."

Caroline soon appeared around the door. "Andy poo-poo face."

"Okay, what did I miss?"

The twins were silent and Olivia narrowed her eyes. She did a spot-check. All limbs intact. No scrapes, burns or gashes. She looked lower...and saw water dripping.

"What did you guys do?"

They both looked at her, shameful grins on their faces.

Then she heard the running water. She jumped out of bed, racing into the bathroom, almost slipping over all the water on the floor. Andrew's boats were sliding all across the floor, and going through the door. She finally turned the faucet off and then faced the twins.

"What on earth were you doing?"

"Boats!" Andrew replied helpfully.

Olivia frowned. "Andrew, Caroline, what have I told you about turning on the water?"

The twins looked to the ground, knowing they were in for it now.

"Bedrooms! March!"

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Elliot stared at his face in the mirror. Tonight was the night. In less than an hour, he would be at Olivia's and they would be telling the twins that he was their father. On one hand it was a terrifying prospect, and he was nervous about their reaction. But on the other, he hoped this would mend another bridge in his relationship with Olivia and maybe he could get closer to her and the twins as a family.

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Maureen opened the door and smiled at her father. "Hey dad." "Hey. I didn't know you were going to be here." Elliot smiled and hugged his daughter. "Olivia's gone nuts. She's cleaning the house frantically. The twins flooded the bathroom this morning and have been banished to their rooms. I think she's working off nervous energy or something." Elliot looked worried. "Where is she?" "Last I checked she was in the kitchen." Maureen glanced at her watch. "Now you're here, I should be okay to go, yeah?" Elliot nodded. "How much?" "How much what?" "Money. For sitting." Maureen grinned and kissed him on the cheek. "Don't worry about it, dad. Trust me, you'll need to keep your wits about you. She's scary when she's nervous." Elliot grinned back. "You should see her when she's intimidating perps." Maureen patted him on the shoulder. "I think I'll leave that honor to you. Say bye to Olivia and the twins for me." Elliot nodded. "Bye." After seeing his daughter out, Elliot walked into the kitchen. He saw Olivia on her hands and knees, head inside the stove. "Hey, Liv."

In surprise, Olivia lifted her head, banging it on the oven and swore.

"Geez, Liv, I'm sorry," Elliot said, sliding across the floor to her. He pulled her out of the oven and into his arms.

"I'm fine," she grumbled, trying to wriggle out of his arms.

"Sit still," he growled, forcing her to look at him. His finger brushed over the lump that was starting to form on her head. "Does that hurt?"

"If you touch it, then yeah it does," she complained. "I'm fine, Elliot!" She stood up. "So, when did you get here?"

"Not long. Maureen let me in."

"Has she gone? I didn't pay her." "All taken care of." Olivia frowned and went to her wallet. Grabbing some bills, she handed them over. "That should cover it." "I'm not taking your money." "You paid Maureen." "First of all, I didn't. She said not to worry. And secondly, they're my kids too. I should help with some of the bills."

"You're still paying Kathy. Don't worry about it." She rubbed her forehead. "Did Maureen tell you what the twins did this morning?"

Elliot noted her change of subject, but knew that the night was going to be stressful enough without him pushing her. "Yeah. Flooding the bathroom, huh?" Olivia rolled her eyes and wandered to Andrew's bedroom. She poked her head around the door, where he was silently coloring his book. "Andrew?" The little boy looked up. "Andwew bad?" "Well, I'm not very happy with you for flooding the bathroom. But Elliot is here and you can come out and see him now." Andrew got up and walked over to where his mother had knelt down. He wrapped his arms around her. "Sowwy, Mommy." Olivia kissed him on the cheek. "I know. And now you know not to do it again, okay?" "I pwomise." She kissed him and swatted him lightly on the butt. "Good boy. Go say hi to Elliot while I get your sister, okay?" Andrew gave a whoop of delight and raced out to see Elliot. Olivia went into Caroline's room. "Hey, little girl." Caroline looked up. "'Kay now?" Olivia nodded and knelt down, crooking her finger at her daughter. Caroline walked over. "Now, what have we learnt?" "Not turn water on."

Olivia kissed her forehead. "Good girl. Guess who's here?"

"Ewiot?" Olivia nodded. "Yeah. Wanna come with me to say hi?" Caroline nodded and took her mother's hand, walking out to the living room. "Hi Ewiot!" Elliot looked down from where he was cuddling Andrew. "Hey, Caroline. How are you?" "Good now," she smiled. "That's great." "Hey, guys, can we sit on the couch for a minute?" Olivia asked. Elliot glanced at her. He hadn't realized she was going to do this so early, but then again, it made sense. They might as well get it over with. "Here, Ewiot!" Andrew demanded, patting the seat next to him. Elliot sat next to the little boy and Caroline sat on her mother's lap, in a different chair. "I need you guys to listen really carefully, okay?" Olivia asked. "Kay, Mommy," Caroline murmured, snuggling closer. Olivia took a deep breath. She was terrified about how the kids would take the news. Or was she more terrified about what she felt for Elliot? She almost laughed at the absurdity of the situation. Why couldn't she just forgive him? What the hell was the matter with her that she didn't just kick his ass into the bedroom and have at him? Because she was afraid. Goddammit, she was terrified. "Remember when you guys asked where your Daddy was, and I said that he had to go away for awhile?" "Back?" Andrew asked excitedly. Olivia nodded. "Yeah, your Daddy is back." "Where?" Caroline asked, sitting up. "Well…how would you guys like it if Elliot was your Daddy?" Andrew's eyes widened. "Weally?" "Is that okay?" Olivia asked, trying to prepare for any reaction. Andrew nodded emphatically. He launched himself into Elliot's lap. "DADDY!" "Caroline?" Olivia said, glancing at her little girl. "Ewiot Daddy?" Caroline asked, just to check. Olivia nodded. "That's right, baby. Is that okay?" Caroline smiled. "Kay." She slid off Olivia's lap and, with a little help from Elliot, climbed onto the couch. She climbed up him and gave him a sloppy kiss on the cheek. "Wove you, Daddy." "I love you guys, too, very much," Elliot said, hugging them. Olivia watched them, plastering a smile on her face for her two children. She was happy that they seemed happy at the moment. Now she had only three concerns. One, was would this happiness change as they thought about the situation for awhile? Two, was when the questions were going to start about why Mommy and Daddy weren't living together. And the third…was her relationship with Elliot going to change…again?

It wasn't that she didn't want it to change…she did. But Elliot was so forgiving…perhaps too forgiving. There were times she used to lie awake at night agonizing over the fact that Elliot didn't know about his children. She bit her lip.

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Olivia watched with amusement as Andrew, Caroline and Elliot built Lego towers on the floor. She knew she was going to have two extremely tired and cranky children tomorrow, but she loved watching them with their father. Of course, it could also be that she was gutless and afraid of the questions the twins would ask when it was time for Daddy to leave. "Liv?" Elliot asked, trying to get her attention again. "Why you call Mommy Yiv?" Andrew asked.

"It's her nickname," Elliot explained. "Just like you call Caroline, Caro, and we call you Andy." He turned his attention back to Olivia.

"You're looking kind of tired."

"A little," she replied. "But I'm more worried about my two little monsters." "Bed aweady?" Andrew pouted. "What do you mean already? Your bedtime has already past. Mommy let you stay up a little later tonight." "I should probably get going anyway," Elliot said, standing up, not really wanting to leave. "Go where?" Caroline asked. "Back to my place," Elliot replied. "Why not here?" Andrew demanded. "Andy, your Daddy and I don't live together," Olivia explained. "You guys live here with me, and Daddy lives at his place." "NOOOO!!!!" Andrew screamed, wrapping an arm around Elliot' leg and attaching himself. Olivia sighed. She'd been afraid of this. She walked over and put her arms around Andrew's waist. "Come on, Andy, let go." Caroline started to cry, and Andrew started to scream even more. When she finally extricated her son, she and Elliot exchanged glances. "You better go," she murmured. "You sure?" Olivia nodded. "It'll be easier." "See you later guys," Elliot said, waving to the twins, who screamed even more.

When he heard the door shut, Andrew wiggled down from his mother's grasp and hit the door with his fists. As he realised Elliot wasn't coming back he turned to his mother. "HATE YOU!!!" he screamed, running as fast as his little legs would take him.

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"Hey," Olivia said shyly, standing on the other side of the door. Elliot widened his eyes and opened the door a little wider. "Hi. Are you…is everything okay? The twins okay?" Olivia nodded. "They're fine. Maureen's with them. I…can I talk to you for a second?" He opened the door a little wider and Olivia walked into his apartment. "Nice place," she murmured. "Thanks," he replied, turning to face her. "But I know you didn't come to comment on my décor." Olivia smiled slightly and nodded. "You're right. I came here to apologise." "Apologise? What for?" Olivia looked about her and finally sat on the couch. "Andrew told me he hated me tonight. He's never said that before." "He shouldn't have said that." "Yes he should have. He has every right to hate me." She mentally shook her head. "But that's not the point. I came here to apologise to you for keeping your kids from you." "Liv…" "Let me get this out. I don't know why you haven't yelled at me or screamed at me, but you should have. I kept your kids from you for two years. You missed out the first two years and nine months of their lives. I can't turn back the clock and I'm sorry for that. But I just wanted you to know I'm sorry…and that I regret not telling you." Olivia stood up. "Anyway, that's it. I better get home…" "You can't just say that and walk out, Liv." She turned to him, fresh tears in her eyes. "What do you want me to do, Elliot? I can't give you those two years back, although god knows I want to. And I'm sorry I put you through all that hell when you
came back…but I was scared. I didn't know what to do." "Stop pushing me away." "What?" "You can't make me hate you, Olivia. I tried that already. Didn't work." He walked over and stood next to her. But stop pushing me away. You've got all these walls built about and I can't get past them. But I want to. I really want to." She hadn't come over here to kiss him, but she did, briefly, on the mouth. "You're getting through them one by one, Stabler. But just let it happen. And let it happen slowly. Your kids are the most important things now." She pressed her finger to his lips lightly, smiled softly and was gone.

TBC