Chapter 10

Olivia woke up slowly. She looked to her sides and saw that the twins weren't there. She sat up quickly- when she heard a man's voice.

"It's ok" Elliot told her. She looked over at the chair she had near her closet and saw Elliot sitting in it watching her.

"How long have you been here?" She asked pulling the covers up over her chest."Well, I got the kids up, I got them changed. Lets see, I made them breakfast, and as we speak their watching cartoons on TV. So I say about, five minutes" he joked as got up out of the chair.

"You could have woken me up" she told him as he walked around her small room.

"Well… yeah. But you looked peaceful" he told her.

"How did things go with Kathy?" she asked.

"…it's over" he told her as he leaned against her closed door. Olivia let out a deep breath, she hoped they could have worked things out.

"Can I ask you a question?" she asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Yeah. Anything" he told her pushing off the door and taking a step forward.

"Did I… did I cause your breakup?" she asked as she watched him carefully. He kept a straight face until he finally took in a deep breath and looked down. She looked away. She started to feel awful.

"You did for me…" he started.

"But not for Kathy" he said as she looked up frowning.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Kathy has been seeing another man" he told her as he tried not to get upset.

"I didn't even suspect it" he told her shaking his head.

"You know it's not your fault" she said as he sat on the end of her bed, his back facing her.

"Not my fault? I'm never home, I left her with four kids to raise, I never went to functions, award ceremonies, or plays. I was never there" he put his head in his hands. Olivia got up and sat at the end of her bed next to him, still in her pajamas.

"Elliot you have a job that requires you all the time. It's not an excuse, but it's not like your not going home on purpose" she told him.

"You still have three children in your home- you still have a chance. And I know Maureen loves you- she understands well"

"Me and Kathy'smarriage was over two years ago" Elliot told her.

"We both knew it, but we didn't want to face it. And here we are- both of us in love with other people" Elliot shook his head. Olivia frowned. Did she hear what she thought she heard- and was he talking about her?

"Liv…" Elliot turned to her and she looked back at him like a child would- curious and innocent.

"Two years ago I changed" he told her as he put his hand on her knee lightly.

"Two years ago, Kathy met Jim" he sighed, she figured out who Jim was easily.

"Two years ago… everything changed" he looked into her eyes deeply. She couldn't fight this feeling in her heart. She felt herself starting to lean in. Every thing told her to stop, every muscle tried to hold her back- but her heart prevailed. He kissed her deeply and she suddenly wanted more. He kept his hand on her knee and she moved one of her hands against his cheek. She couldn't help but let out a little moan. Though she thought about this moment- she never thought it would be as great as it was. He wanted to hold her closer, to feel her deeper, and touch her all over. He slid his hand up on her inner thigh and she tried to sit closer to him. They didn't last long when Lizzie walked in.

"'Livia" she said quietly. Elliot and Olivia quickly separated and she wiped her lips offwith her fingertips.

"What is it Lizzie?" she asked a little out of breath.

"Me and Dickie want to play basketball" she asked quieter, feeling scared she interrupted.

"You do?" Olivia smiled as Lizzie looked up at her a little.

"Yeah" She said.

"Well let's go play basketball then" Olivia smiled as she got up and grabbed Lizzie into her arms like nothing had happened. She rested the girl on her hip and carried her out to the living room. Elliot followed soon after. After Olivia dressed and ate a little something, the four of them headed to the park.

"I want to be on 'Livia's team!" Lizzie shouted as they stepped onto the basketball court.

"No I do!" Dickie shouted back pouting.

"Hey you got to be on my team!" Elliot told Dickie.

"We can't let them beat us again!" He told Dickie and he smirked.

"You guys are going down" Dickie smirked.

"I can see it already, the Elliot Stabler genes have been passed down" Olivia smirked at Elliot. It was nice to just go to the park. They didn't have to think about all the things going on, they could just hang out and have a good time. And they did. Elliot found himself flirting with Olivia more and she couldn't help but flirt back.

"Pass to me! Pass to me!" Dickie shouted at his dad as Elliot tried to dodge Olivia. He put his back to her and tried to get around when Lizzie came up in front of him and stole the ball.

"Great job Liz!" Olivia shouted as Lizzie shot and barely missed. Dickie caught it but Olivia took it right from his hands. He started to pout but she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him before he could say a word. Lizzie shot and made it this time.

"No! Interference!" Elliot called out. Olivia set the smiling Dickie down and faced Elliot.

"Unless you got black and white stripped boxers on, you don't look like the referee. You don't seem like the referee, in which case- you aren't the referee" He glared at her and she smirked. She was walking by him when he grabbed her from behind. She dropped the basketball and started laughing as he held her close and started to mess around with her.

"Interference!" She shouted as he playfully mocked her and let his lips play against her neck. They were all laughing, like they had the time before, until Elliot and Olivia looked up to see Kathy standing at the sideline. Elliot let go of Olivia and she straightened out her clothes.

"What are you doing here?" Elliot asked as Lizzie grabbed on to Olivia's hand and Dickie stood halfway behind her, holding on to her leg. Kathy leaned down to talk to the kids.

"Why don't you two go over there, let the adults talk" she said as she watched Lizzie look up at Olivia. Olivia nodded and Lizzie got her brother to go too. Kathy didn't like her kids didn't listen to her, but to Olivia.

"Elliot, Olivia- this is Jim" Kathy introduced them. Olivia saw Elliot's muscles contract, he was getting upset and angry. She lightly put her hand on his back, just for reassurance that she was there for him and he held his hand out to shake with Jim.

"I'm Elliot" he said as Jim and him shook hands sternly.

"Elliot can I talk to you for a minute?" Kathy asked as she started to walk away from Jim and Olivia. Elliot followed her after he glanced back at Olivia worried. She wished she could help him. After he started to talk to Kathy, Olivia looked up and down at Jim disgusted, then went over to the bleachers. The kids shot around the basketball, as she packed up some thing's and Jim went over to the kids.

"Hey guys" He said as they ignored him.

"I said hey guys" he repeated. Dickie pushed him a little and Jim pushed him back roughly. Dickie passed the ball to Lizzie and as she went up to shoot Jim knocked the ball back down hard. It came right back at her and hit her in the head, knocking her to the ground. Jim grew wide-eyed and tried to get her to keep quiet and get her to stand back up as Dickie tried to push the man away. Olivia heard Dickie struggling and turned to see Jim pushing Dickie. She started to walk over to the basketball court, but it soon turned into a run. Jim had pushed Dickie to thegroundnow and Olivia was mad. She grabbed Jim's collar and pulled him up. She glared at him then pushed him away roughly. Dickie got up and came over as Olivia helped Lizzie up.

"I was just trying to help" Jim said.

"Move out of our way!" She snapped back, while holding Lizzie up in her arm, and holding Dickey's hand.

"I was just trying to help!" Jim shouted.

"I said move out of our way" she glared at him and Elliot came over worried.

"What's going on?" he asked. Olivia glared at Jim with anger in her eyes.

"Lets go" Kathy interrupted and they left.

"You ok Lizzie?" Olivia asked and the strong-willed girl nodded.

"Ok, why don't you two go over to the bleachers ok?" she made sure they were ok. They nodded and went off.

"What'd she say?" Olivia asked him folding her arms across her chest.

"It will be final as soon as I go over and sign the papers." He told her.

"What about the kids?" she wondered.

"You'll have them right?" she made sure. He took in another deep breath. She knew it meant trouble. He handed her a blue folded paper from his back pocket then went to gohelp his kids. She read it. She couldn't believe it. In the paper it said that Elliot wasn't qualified because of his long hours. That he couldn't take care of even himself, and just as a note, that he was sleeping with his partner- which made himirresponsibleand unable towithhold a regularrelationship. Olivia thought they couldn't write that on an official document. This could cost Elliot, or herself their jobs. It also said that Elliot had anger issues, and she kept reading to find that Kathy was going for full custody. She was sure to get it by what the paper said. Especially when she saw that Kathy was now engaged. Olivia hated Jim.