Elliot took Kathleen to Kennedy Airport on Monday morning. For the time being, she'd be spending three weeks with her mother and grandparents, and then they'd see how things were going. Elliot knew his daughter wasn't fighting him anymore about going away, he just didn't know why.

"Your mom said she'd be waiting for you when you got there," Elliot said as they stopped by the security line to say good-bye.

"I know."

"Okay…This isn't a banishment, Kathleen, or even your punishment. It's just…" She nodded.

"I know. I've got to figure stuff out. 'Cause I guess I don't know how we got to this point any more than you do. So I'm going. But I want to come back."

"We want you back. We do." He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. "Olivia said to give this to you before you left."

"Thanks…Tell Lizzie and Rick that I love them and I'll miss them?"

"I will."

"And give Ben a hug for me…or whatever."

"I'll do it. He's going to miss you, too."

"You're never going to trust me with him again, though, right?"

"Never is a long time. And trust is gonna take some work all around, but it'll happen." She slowly nodded.

"Kyle Reddon." Elliot frowned. "My friend. Or, I guess he wasn't, really. But you wanted a name, so…"

"Thank you." Kathleen glanced at her watch.

"I should probably get going. Don't want to miss my flight." Elliot nodded, and pulled her into his arms.

"I love you, Kathleen," he whispered into her hair. She held him tighter.

"I love you, too, Daddy."

Once she'd gotten through security and found her gate, Kathleen pulled out the note that her father had given her. She found a seat by the window and sat down to read.

Lizzie asked me the other day what makes it okay to tell a secret. And we came to the general consensus that secrets shouldn't be kept if keeping them does more harm than telling them. I'm not exactly sure when or why this became a secret, but it seems like it has, and I thought I needed to share it with you: somewhere along the line, the 'step' got dropped when I think of you and your brother and sister. You're not my step-kids; you are my kids. And maybe I don't have the right to feel that way, but I do. I love you guys the same as Ben, and that's not going to change no matter how often or badly you screw up. We're going to get angry with each other, because that's what people do, but I think I've come to see that as a good thing. Because you couldn't get angry with someone if you didn't care about them. So keep everyone's love with you, have a safe trip, and we'll talk when you get home.

Ben came home from the hospital that afternoon. He wasn't quite up to a hundred percent yet, but he was doing pretty well. That evening, everyone could be found in Elliot and Olivia's room, sitting together on their bed while Lizzie and Rick finished reading/acting out Peter Pan. Lizzie and Rick volunteered to put Ben to bed after the story, giving their parents some time alone.

"Cut it out, Stabler," Olivia told Elliot when she saw the faraway look he was getting in his eyes.

"What?"

"I know what you're thinking, and you need to cut it out. There's no such thing as Neverland, all kids unfortunately do grow up, and you can't stop them any more than you can stop them from making mistakes along the way." Elliot smirked.

"Since when are you the logical one?"

"I've always been the logical one. We'd be in trouble if you were supposed to be the logical one." He leaned over and kissed her.

"I don't know what I would do without you."

"You say that a lot, you know."

"That's because it's the truth."

"Well, I'm not planning on leaving you…I don't think." They both smiled.

"That's good to know."

"I'm only keeping you for your body, though."

"That's it?"

"Mmm, and maybe for your cooking skills. You've learned well over the years."

"Well, I had a good teacher." Elliot wrapped an arm around Olivia's shoulders, and she curled up next to him as he gently played with her hair. "So do you know what we're supposed to do now?" he asked after a long minute of silence.

"Take it one day at a time? Isn't that what you told me when we got together? Stay one day ahead of yesterday, and look forward to tomorrow." Elliot nodded.

"One day at a time."

Finis

Well, maybe. This isn't the REAL end (unless people think it should be). I'll get around to a third story soon, hopefully, but class starts tomorrow, so that stuff's gotta come first. Thanks to all those who are still following along and have left reviews.