Pure and Simple
Chapter Three
Olivia Benson's Apartment
10:30 AM Sunday
Olivia sat on her couch, eating a few bagels with plenty of blueberry cream cheese while watching the Leave it to Beaver marathon on TVLand. She had a whole day to kill before going over to Elliot's house for dinner later in the evening. For some reason, she felt strange about dinner. Elliot's whole family was going to be there, and no matter how much they insisted that she was like family-that all the members of the SVU team were family-she just somehow felt out of place. Family meals were not her thing.
She sighed as she felt the unwanted carbohydrates collect in all of the wrong places and decided that she didn't care because it was good, filling and she'll work it off on Monday…or Tuesday.
She decided that she may as well spend the day resting.
She wondered what exactly Maureen was cooking. Olivia got picky when it came to things she ate. Mexican food was absolutely out of the question. It affected her stomach like coffee did. She didn't like spaghetti.
Olivia hoped that Maureen was a damn good cook.
She sat back and sighed.
This is perfect, she thought contentedly to herself. I get to relax and spend time with good friends. What better way to spend a Sunday?
Full of bagels and cream cheese and her thirst quenched by a tall glass of apple juice, Olivia felt herself dozing off again. That is, until the phone rang.
She leaned over to the end table and answered.
"Olivia Benson," she answered.
"Hey Liv," Elliot greeted her, sounding stressed.
"Hey Elliot," she said, sitting up and becoming a little more alert at the tone of his voice. "You sound like something's wrong."
She heard him sigh.
"Tell me, why am I just now finding out that my eldest daughter is getting married in a month?" He asked, his voice now full of tension, and Olivia knew that he was popping a vein right about now.
"What?" She asked.
"Did you know about this?" He inquired. "Did Kathy tell you and then tell you not to tell me?"
"Hey, hey, don't interrogate me," she said defensively. "Kathy didn't tell me anything I swear. And neither did your kids, so lay off them too."
"Okay, at least I don't feel completely betrayed," he sighed. "Well, for one thing, Maureen is going to have a Catholic wedding. I mean, she wasn't in the mass choir and in the academy for nothing."
Olivia couldn't help but chuckle.
"Look, even though your daughter didn't tell you, she has a right to choose what kind of wedding she wants," Olivia said. "Don't make this about you El."
"Liv, why am I getting that betrayed feeling?" He asked.
"Okay, if you don't stop acting like an asshole, I'm going to hang up the phone," she threatened.
"Alright," Elliot backed off. "Maureen is bringing him home to meet the family."
"Oh," she sighed. "Have you ever considered that there might be a reason that Maureen didn't want to tell you?"
"As long as he's not a registered sex offender I think dinner tonight will go smoothly," he said tensely. "I won't keep the grip around his neck too tight."
Olivia couldn't help but chuckle.
"Typical dad," she smiled. "He's probably a nice guy, El."
"Still, she should have told me," he sighed.
"She's so young," he said. "Maureen's still growing. She's still my little girl."
She smiled into the phone at how affectionate Elliot really could be sometimes. She knew that he cared about his girls deeply, and he probably would want to wring any guy's neck who tried to even get within a molecule of his girls.
"You'll be fine Elliot," Olivia assured him. "I'll see you later okay?"
"Yeah," he said, cheering up a little. "By the way, Maureen's not cooking Mexican food, in case you were worried. That was not a pretty sight the last time we took you to that place on Broadway for your birthday."
Olivia grimaced at the memory of that entire weekend. About two hours after eating at Vallejo Mexican Cantina, her stomach revolted against her in the worst of ways, and she spent the weekend alternating between projectile vomiting and explosive diarrhea. It took her a week to get back to the swing of things, and even longer before she trusted the guys with culinary choices.
"Ugh," she shuddered just thinking about it. "That was really gross."
"Yeah, that was pretty nasty," Elliot chuckled. "You threw up all over my car."
"Give it a rest alright?" She growled.
"Sorry," he laughed. "I'll see you later alright?
"Okay," Olivia said cheerfully. "Bye."
"Bye."
Elliot Stabler's Home
Queens
12:30 PM
Elliot felt like he'd been left out of the loop in the family. It hurt his heart that his firstborn, Maureen, his golden child, the smart overachiever who'd never really had boyfriends in the first place didn't tell him about her getting married…or even getting engaged…or even having met someone in the first place.
He felt the beginnings of a tension headache as he mulled over the issue. Maureen retreated to the grocery store before he could really begin to tear into her about hiding something as important as an engagement from him. And she was still so young. She had just turned nineteen, she was barely old enough to drink and she wants to get married. Elliot hoped that she would wait until she finished school before plans to get married ever entered her mind.
Olivia's words echoed in his head: "Don't make this about you, El."
He sighed deeply as he began to decompress. Why in the hell did Olivia have to be right all the time? Why was she always the voice of reason? This wasn't about him, and he wasn't trying to make it about him. He was only concerned for his daughter's welfare. He didn't even know who she was planning on marrying or what kind of family he comes from. Maureen didn't even have an engagement ring on her finger.
That raised some red flags in Elliot's mind.
It seemed like his family was changing on all fronts: his separation from Kathy, the twins and Kathleen getting older every day, and Maureen getting married…about to have a family of her own. It was all so overwhelming for Elliot, and he didn't know if he would be able to survive this.
Kathy seemed a bit more calm. She assured him that the young man was just that: young, for starters, educated, mature, and he simply adored Maureen.
Even with a divorce looming over their heads, Elliot and Kathy managed to maintain an amiable relationship and while they still loved each other deeply, they couldn't be married anymore, and that was fine, as long as they remained friends and took active roles in their children's lives. Still, the pain and emotion of going through a separation and a divorce proved to be too much at times for Elliot.
He didn't even want to mention the bills. He and Kathy both grimaced at the bill Maureen handed them for the current semester, and they decided that before the start of the next year, they'd put the house up for sale. Elliot didn't mind because he'd already been looking at new houses with Kathy for him and the kids when they visited on weekends.
Elliot shook his head of all of that as Maureen entered the house this time with groceries in her arms, and the ring was on her finger this time. He decided that now would be a great opportunity to have a little heart-to-heart with her.
"Hey dad," she said sweetly. "Come help me out will ya?"
"Sure," he said.
She put the bags on the counter and began to take out the groceries. Elliot inspected the things she bought.
"What exactly are you cooking?" He asked when he saw ground chicken and a container of what looked like fish eggs.
"Chicken burgers," she said casually. "Don't judge it yet. It's better than all that junk I know you eat on a daily basis."
"Chicken burgers," Elliot nodded. "Alright, that sounds okay. As long as its not Mexican food."
"I know, you told me over the phone," Maureen said, looking perplexed. "I thought Olivia had an iron stomach like the rest of you guys."
"Well, I used to think that too until that weekend," Elliot said, furrowing his eyebrows. "That was really disgusting."
"I know and remember Kathleen wouldn't come near you for almost a month because she thought Olivia had Asian flu?" Maureen reminded him good naturedly.
They both chuckled for a bit as they put away the food for later. Elliot looked at his daughter and he began to remember when she was just a baby. It all went by so fast and now he was here at this point, about to discuss marriage with his daughter.
"Maureen," he began softly. "Don't you think you're a little too young to be making a big decision like this?"
Maureen poured them a glass of lemonade that she made before she went to the grocery store.
"Well dad," she began, handing him a glass and sitting across from him at the table. "What can I say? I love him very much. And I've given this a lot of thought. You and mom weren't much older, remember?"
Elliot couldn't argue with her on that one. He and Kathy were both very young when they made the decision to get married and on top of that, Kathy was already pregnant with Maureen.
"You aren't pregnant, are you?" Elliot blurted without forethought.
"God no, dad," Maureen said. "Chris and I haven't even touched each other yet."
"That's his name?" Elliot asked. "What's his last name so I can run him at the department."
"Dad," Maureen warned. "Don't get all psycho ex-Marine detective on him," she pleaded. "He's a really sweet guy. We've been dating since my freshmen year and he's serious about this. And I'm serious dad."
Elliot sighed and nodded.
"I'm happy for you sweetheart, I really am," he said, staring into his glass. "I guess it's just kind of hard letting you go."
"Dad, we're not going anywhere," Maureen assured him. "I'm going to finish school, and he's going to start his career soon. Don't worry, we've got everything covered."
"What does he do?" Elliot asked.
"He's a business consultant," Maureen said.
"Sounds good," he nodded. "Is he Catholic?"
Maureen looked away.
"Well dad," she began. "God, I hope you don't have a heart attack…listen, there's a new church that opened downtown, and we're both really involved. Chris is a Christian, and I've decided to become a Christian too."
Maureen could see the look on her father's face.
She'd been dreading this moment since the day she said 'yes' to Chris Johnson's proposal for marriage. Her father's wishes for her to grow up to be a good, devout Catholic had always been looming over her head. She'd been in the mass choir since she was twelve, she'd gone to the academy until she reached high school, and she made sure not to miss service.
All that changed when she met Chris, and deep down in her heart, she knew that her change was for the better.
That was just one sore spot for her dad. The other was that she lied about Chris's career. Chris Johnson was a cop.
One thing at a time, Maureen, she thought to herself. Don't give dad a heart attack.
"Is that okay?" She asked.
"Yeah honey," Elliot said, sitting back in the chair. "As long as you remain faithful, I'm all for it."
Maureen sighed in relief that her father didn't completely go off the deep end.
"Well, its obvious that I won't be having a Catholic wedding," she said. "We're getting married at our new church, and we're writing our own vows."
Elliot nodded. He was okay with his daughter becoming a Christian. Perhaps it was long overdue for Maureen. Even though she had been exposed to Catholic teachings all her life, Maureen still questioned some aspects, and she was very intuitive and intelligent. He wondered for a second if Maureen had divulged all of this to Kathy yet.
Maureen got up and hugged him. He hugged her back tightly and kissed her cheek.
"I love you sweetheart," he whispered. "I'm proud of you, I just want you to know that."
"I love you too daddy," she whispered back. "I promise you, I'll be okay. I've prayed about it so much, and I really think that now is the time."
Elliot felt his heart beating fast in his chest with all the new information that swirled in his head. It was going to take him all he had not to subject this Chris character to a lie detector test to see what his intentions were for his daughter. Like Olivia said, this wasn't about him, or how he felt, or what he felt Maureen ought to do because he said it. All he could do was support his daughter, and just be there when she needed him.
They pulled away, and Maureen looked at her watch.
"Oh, listen, I've got to go meet Chris at his job," she said. "We're going to stop by his apartment for him to freshen up, then we're going to the school so I can make sure everything's straight with the dorm, and I'll be back. Chris is coming with us to mass."
"Alright," Elliot said.
Maureen grabbed her purse and hurried out the door.
Elliot hoped that there would be no more surprises in his family for a while.
6:30 PM
Elliot made sure to roll up his sleeves on his dress shirt. When Kathy dropped off the kids later that afternoon, they had to run upstairs and change so that they could go to five o'clock mass.
Everything felt like it was back to normal as they went to service: Kathy was standing by him, Kathleen was reciting the protocol, Dickie was sitting in the pews with the other altar boys, and Liz was in the choir. Maureen sat next to her fiancee, Chris, and Elliot had his jaw clenched and his eye on him the whole service. Kathy had to give him a pensive look every couple of glances.
He thought he would implode when he saw Chris caress his hand up and down Maureen's arm as they paid attention to service.
So help me God, I want to hurt him, he thought as he stared at the young man sitting in his living room, in his house, about to marry his daughter without even asking permission.
All the kids were bantering and clamoring about in the kitchen with Kathy, wanting to leave Elliot and Chris alone to talk in peace.
Chris gulped nervously when he saw the well muscled, protective father who was also a no nonsense detective who remained in a constant state of tension. Maureen told him what the rolling up of the sleeves meant, and he felt the fear creeping up his spine. He saw the tattoo of Elliot's platoon in the Marines.
Elliot could sense the man's discomfort.
"Hey, relax, I'm not going to threaten you or anything," Elliot sighed.
He shoved his hands into his pocket and paced in front of Chris.
"Mr. Stabler, believe me when I say that we had every intention of asking for your blessings," Chris began to explain. "Maureen insisted that we wait a little longer until we told you. I'm sorry for not asking your permission."
Elliot sat down in the arm chair across from the couch.
Kathy and Maureen looked at each other as they strained to listen to the conversation from the kitchen.
Kathy smiled.
"I think things will work out just fine," she chuckled.
7:30 PM
Just as Maureen was finishing up cooking the food, the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it," Elliot said as he put the plates on the counter to be taken out to the backyard.
He went to the front door and opened it.
Olivia was standing on the porch. Their eyes met and she grinned.
"Hi," she said.
"Hey," Elliot said, giving her a once over. "You look nice."
"Thank you," she said as she came in.
Elliot couldn't hide his obvious attraction as he took her in. Olivia had on a form fitting satin turquoise tunic top outlined in elegant lace with tight low-rise dark blue jeans and with turquoise sequined heels. Her hair was down and lightly curled and she had a turquoise wrap with the rest of the fabric resting on her shoulder.
"Hey Olivia," Kathleen said. "You look so hot! Where did you get that outfit?"
"Thanks," Olivia smiled as the young teen girl hugged her. "Uh, your dad might kill me if I tell you where I got this."
The twins came and hugged Olivia tightly and she smiled.
"You two are getting so big," she commented.
Maureen came and hugged Olivia.
"Hey, congratulations," Olivia said as she looked at Maureen's engagement ring. "Wow, this is beautiful."
"Thank you," Maureen said with a bright smile as Chris stepped forward. "This is Chris Johnson, my fiancee."
"Nice to meet you," Olivia said as she shook his hand. "I'm Olivia Benson."
"Good to meet you Olivia," he said.
After everyone bantered for a few minutes, Maureen announced that dinner was ready.
Olivia looked at the food strangely.
"Elliot, what is this?" She asked quietly as she accompanied him outside to the patio table.
"Um, chicken burgers," he whispered back and Olivia nodded as they sat.
"Hm, it's pretty good," Olivia commented after she took a small bite.
"Yeah it is," Elliot said as he made room for his platoon.
"Hey dad," Kathleen began, full of prowess. "Mom said I can get another piercing."
"No, I said I'd talk to your father and we'll think about it," Kathy said as she took a seat between Olivia and Maureen.
"And I have thought about it," he said. "The answer is no."
"Dad!" Kathleen said. "That's not fair! How come Maureen gets off with keeping a huge secret, but I come out with something and the answer's always no?"
"Because you always ask for things that are way beyond your yearly income," Kathy chuckled.
"I don't have one," Kathleen growled.
"My point exactly," Elliot said. "And wipe that look off your face."
Liz and Dickie made it a point to annoy each other by eating at the same time.
Olivia laughed at the family.
"So Chris, how did you and Maureen meet?" Elliot asked, hugging a pouting Kathleen tightly and giving her a kiss on the forehead.
"Well, we met at a community center," he began, giving a loving look to Maureen who was blushing. "She and her friends were there for a fundraiser and I happened by. They were hosting a dance off, and I don't know what made me go in there, but I did, and I met her at the greeting table."
"I wouldn't give him a ticket because I couldn't break anything bigger than a fifty," Maureen giggled. "So Chris is just standing there, trying to convince me that it was okay to break a fifty while he's holding up the line. Then, he started to flirt a little."
"We ended up exchanging phone numbers-"
"And we've been dating ever since," Maureen finished.
"Sounds very sweet," Olivia smiled. "When did he propose?"
"Actually, last Christmas," Maureen said. "We've been engaged for a year now, and we've just been learning a little more about each other and planning for our wedding."
Elliot smiled, looking a bit saddened that his firstborn was flying the coop for good.
Later after dinner, the kids were in the living room, fighting over which combinations of buttons to use for their X-Box game and the adults were in the kitchen cleaning up after the tornado that was teen and preteen kids.
"It's good to be cleaning up after someone," Elliot commented as Olivia and Kathy brought in more cups and eating utensils.
"Yeah, 'cause you're such a neat freak yourself," Kathy said sarcastically, handing him two cups to put in the sink.
"Yeah, you should see his locker at the station," Olivia added, feeding off of Kathy.
"I have," Kathy laughed.
"You two are so hilarious," Elliot grumbled. "Couple of comediennes you two."
Olivia waved him off as she put dishes in the dishwasher.
"DAD!" Dickie shouted. "HELP! Chris and I are being outnumbered by a bunch of girls!"
"I sympathize with you son," Elliot called as he walked into the living room.
Kathy and Olivia stayed in the kitchen to finish cleaning up the last few dishes.
"God, I would kill to get out more," Kathy sighed. "I'm so glad that Elliot has the kids this week."
"How are the kids handling the separation?" Olivia asked.
"They're okay," Kathy said as she closed the dishwasher and took the towel Olivia offered to dry her hands. "They're handling it well. Kids are much more intuitive and understanding than we give them credit for."
"Yeah," Olivia sighed, leaning against the counter. "What about you and Elliot?"
Kathy smiled slightly.
"We're fine," she sighed. "I mean, we've worked out a lot of the reasons why our marriage fell apart, and we've accepted them."
Olivia nodded.
"Liv," Kathy began, coming closer. "How do you get to him?"
"What do you mean?" Olivia asked.
"I mean, how do you get him to open up? Why did he only talk to you and not to me?"
Olivia looked into the woman's eyes then she looked away.
"I don't know," Olivia answered honestly. She really didn't know why Elliot preferred sharing his deepest thoughts with her and not his wife. "Maybe it's just that we both see the same things everyday. I mean, we've been partners for seven years."
"We were married for twenty years," Kathy sighed. "Please, tell me. Was there anything going on before we separated?"
"No," Olivia said honestly. "I swear to you nothing happened."
"Okay," Kathy nodded. "I'm sorry."
Olivia just sighed and nodded her understanding.
10:30 PM
After Kathy, Maureen, and Chris left, and the kids went upstairs to their rooms, Olivia and Elliot sat on the couch in the living room sipping at cups of coffee. They sat in comfortable silence for a long while.
Elliot sensed that something was bothering Olivia from the look on her face. She looked deep in thought, and she had that guilty look on her face.
"Liv, what's the matter?" He asked.
She turned to him.
"Was I the reason you and Kathy separated?" She asked.
Elliot ran a hand over his face.
"No," he said. "I don't want you to ever think that."
She swallowed hard.
"She asked me if we had an affair while you were still married," she confessed quietly.
"I knew she'd get around to asking you that," Elliot said, sighing. "Kathy's not mad at you, Liv. We're just trying to figure things out. Kathy's probably had that on her heart for a long time. Don't think this is your fault."
Olivia sighed.
Elliot shook his head as he put his cup on the coffee table.
"No matter how much we talk about it," he began. "Still, how in the hell does someone just drop things and leave after twenty years? Kathy keeps telling me that I'm in denial and I'm wondering what about. What is she seeing that I'm not?"
Olivia didn't know what to say to her partner and friend. He'd been candid about his marriage, so Olivia didn't know how to respond to his anger and his hurt. The best she could do was be there for him, and she was. She couldn't offer him any encouragements. She knew that his marriage was done and over for good. Even though she didn't want to admit it, Olivia felt deep down in her heart that she was the cause of his family being broken apart.
Seeing Elliot hurt pained her as well because it was bad enough that they had to deal with what they saw on the job; but to come home to no wife, to an empty house every other week was something that would push anybody over the edge.
But at least we still have each other to lean on, Olivia thought to herself. If all else fails, we know we can count on each other to get through and deal.
They were in the age of 'deal.' So your wife left you? Deal. So you're the child of rape and you think you have the same evil, perverted impulses as your father? Deal. So you work in the most pressured and underpaid unit in the police? Deal. There was no compassion anymore, and people just went on about their lives, aware but unaware at the same time because they rely on people like Olivia and Elliot to keep the peace and keep it from happening to them and their families.
Where did that leave Elliot and Olivia?
Their eyes met, and in an instant, they both saw things in their eyes that they shouldn't have seen, and they looked away awkwardly.