Part 9
Everyone in the dining room was silent, having heard the entire exchange.
Caroline, who had a particular dislike for yelling, whimpered and tried to climb in her mother's lap.
"It's okay, sweetheart," Olivia assured her. "You know what, how about we start serving you two guys dinner?"
"That's a good idea," Maureen said, passing some of the food. "Here we go."
Elliot came back in and everyone looked up at him.
"Let's get started on dinner then," he suggested.
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Most of dinner was spent with the kids eyeing each other off. Andrew and Caroline were fascinated with Lizzie and Dickie. Olivia helped the twins with their meals, hoping that more food was going to get in the mouth than on the child.
When dinner was finished Dickie pushed his plate away. He glanced at the twins. "Um, do you guys wanna watch some TV?"
"Kay," Andrew nodded, sliding off his chair. He followed Dickie into the living room.
Lizzie and Caroline stared at each other for a moment. Finally, Lizzie stood up and extended her hand to Caroline.
"You want to come too?"
Caroline hesitated and glanced at Olivia, who nodded encouragingly to her daughter.
Finally the little girl stood up and took Lizzie's hand with her small one and they followed the boys into the other room.
Olivia smiled to herself and began gathering up the plates and taking them into the kitchen. Elliot soon followed her in.
"That went well," Elliot said, setting the dishes by the sink.
"For the most part," Olivia agreed. She turned around and faced him. "You know, now that you've told the twins, you can't leave. You can't break their hearts."
"You mean like I broke yours?" he asked.
She smiled slightly. "I'm not two."
"You've still got a heart." When he realized no answer was coming, he continued. "I'm not going to leave, Liv. Especially not now."
"Good. Because the twins need you."
"What about you? What about us?"
"What about us?"
"You kissed me."
"That was before."
"Before what? Before everything went right for a change?"
"Are you forgetting about your daughter who has stayed in the room the entire night?"
"So you're stopping this because Kathleen is mad at me?"
"Stopping what? Nothing ever got started, Elliot."
"You kissed me."
"I shouldn't have done that."
"Liv." He cupped her face with his hands. "Stop running away from me. Stop making this harder than it has to be."
Before Olivia could reply, they heard an exasperated growl and a few minutes later, the door to Kathleen's room slam again. Olivia pulled away.
"Dad?" Dickie stood in the doorway.
"Yeah?" Elliot asked, turning around.
"I think Kathleen just blew another gasket. What were you guys doing in here?"
"Nothing," Olivia replied. "I'll just go check on the twins. It's getting late."
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After putting the twins to bed, Olivia collapsed on her couch. She was so exhausted, but she had laundry to do, dishes to wash.
She cursed as the doorbell rang, and glanced down the hallway, hoping it hadn't woken the twins up. Her eyes widened. "Did you follow me home?"
"We're not finished our discussion," Elliot said, coming in.
"Can't it wait? I'm tired."
"Being tired doesn't cut it anymore, Liv. I want to know what's going on between us."
"We can't do anything. Not now."
"Kathleen will come around. Just give her time."
"You didn't make me any promises that night," Olivia replied, turning away. "And god knows I still hated myself the next morning for helping you cheat on your wife."
"Liv," he said, not knowing how to continue. The truth was he had cheated on Kathy that night. But no matter what the complications had been, he didn't regret it. Not for one second. "I don't know how to fix this."
"Fix what? There's nothing to fix! I'm not going to fight you so that you can see your kids. They're just as much yours as they are mine."
"It's not just them I want to see."
Olivia sighed. "This," she said, gesturing between them, 'is not going to work. I already made you betray your wife and get her on the wrong side. There is no way in hell that I'm going to let you throw your relationship with your kids away just to be with me."
"So you're putting a halt to this because Kathleen isn't taking to it well?"
Olivia laughed bitterly. "She's not just not taking to it well, Elliot, she hates it. She hates that you and I slept together while you were still married, and she hates that you had kids with someone who's not Kathy Stabler. And I am not going to hurt her even more."
"Olivia."
"For god's sakes, Elliot, she lives in Miami! She's lost her father except for a few weekends and holidays. I'm not going to have her upset when she is here. Just leave it, okay? Forget it. Andrew and Caroline know you're their father, and you can spend as much time with them as you want. But I'm not coming between you and Kathleen. I came between you and your wife. I won't do it to your daughter."
"You think that you're the reason Kathy and I broke up?"
Olivia sent him a look. "I know that I certainly didn't help." She sighed. "Elliot, please. Just forget it, okay? Go home to your kids. They're waiting for you. Andrew and Caroline are asleep anyway."
Elliot stared at her for a moment, and his hand ran down her cheek. He felt a pain in his gut when he saw her flinch and turn away. "I'm not going to forget this, Liv."
Olivia watched him leave and winced as the door slammed. "Neither am I," she murmured to herself.
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Kathleen crawled out of bed and headed to the kitchen. She opened the fridge and pulled out the leftovers.
"Hungry?"
She almost dropped the plate but managed to get it onto the shelf in time. "Jeez dad, give me a heart attack."
"Sorry," he apologized. "I was worried and I wanted to make sure you were okay."
"Do you THINK I'm okay?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Do I LOOK okay in any shape or form?"
"Kathleen."
"Does mom know?"
His silence answered her question.
"I didn't think so," Kathleen finally replied. The microwave finally buzzed and she pulled out her dinner. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."
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"You look like hell," Munch commented, as Olivia wandered into the precinct the next morning.
"Thanks so much," Olivia glared at him.
"How did last night go?"
"Fine," she gritted out.
"You and Elliot have a fight?"
"It seems to be what we do best at the moment," she answered, rifling around in her desk.
"One phone call could have fixed this."
"Thank you, John, I'm aware of that."
John nodded. "You know, any time you need to talk."
Olivia looked up at him and smiled slightly when she saw the sincerity in his eyes. "Thanks."
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Dickie sat down next to Elliot at the dining table. "Can I talk to you for a second?"
Elliot nodded and closed the file. "Sure."
"I was thinking, maybe later, or whenever, we could go to the zoo? Maybe take the twins?"
Elliot leant back in his chair. "You sure?"
Dickie nodded. "We're related to them. They don't understand about all the other stuff."
"Yeah, they don't," Elliot agreed. "They really like you guys though."
"I know." Dickie sighed. "It's just all so weird."
"I'm sorry that you guys have had to go through this," Elliot murmured.
"Do you love her?"
"I will always love your mother. I'm not in love with her anymore, but I will always love her."
Dickie sent him a look. "I meant Olivia."
Elliot paused. He wasn't quite sure how he should answer that question. He was sure that everyone suspected, including Olivia herself, about his feelings for her. But he had never vocalized it. At least, not since the night the twins were conceived.
"You can tell me the truth, Dad. I won't be angry," Dickie said.
Elliot sighed. "Yes, I love her. But I haven't exactly told her yet and I don't think the girls would be very happy to hear it so…"
"No one will hear it from me," Dickie replied. "Sometime I might talk to you about this stuff."
Elliot perked up. "Really?"
Dickie grinned. "Don't get so excited, dad."
Elliot grinned back. "Right. Sorry."