A/N: We're back to winging it... so sorry if this isn't as good. I wanted some different character interactions


The last few months had been hard on Olivia. Her mother's death. A case with a little girl who became too attached to her and put her job in jeopardy. Plus, tensions had been running high at home.

She couldn't quite put a finger on what was wrong. Chelsea had been… not acting out per say, but needing more attention since her mother's funeral. The girl who used to love school would cry before it was time to leave the house in the morning and Mark said most days she refused to get out of the car and go into the building.

Olivia had been wondering if she should sign them up for family therapy, all three of them, but she just hadn't had the time to do her research.

Mark, too, had been acting strange since the funeral. He was even more schedule-oriented than usual. He started snapping at Chelsea for little things, which was causing even more tears, something Mark hated. They'd been short staffed at work too. A stomach bug had been going around and Elliot had been out for a few days. She was pretty sure some of the kids had it, not him, but it meant everyone had to pull longer shifts, which Mark had comments about too.

"Don't they understand you have a family to come home to?" Mark asked her one night when she didn't get home until after 1 a.m.

"Look, I'm sorry," Olivia said, changing for bed, considering she had to be up in four hours to go back for another long day. "I know you've had to handle things here with Chelsea, take time off work and adjust your routine and that's hard for you. But I can't just tell the families of kidnap victims that I hope the killers wait a few hours to make their move because I have to come home and make lasagna."

Mark didn't speak to her for the rest of the night and turned away from her in bed.

"Typical," she thought, as she stared at his back, hunched over into his pillow like a child pouting in time out. His behavior these last few weeks was extra annoying because they discussed all of these possible scenarios after Chelsea was born, before she ever entered the police academy. He knew someday he may have to pick up some extra slack and now that the time had come he wanted to be a petulant four year old about it.

Olivia was dead on her feet by Friday when, right before the end of shift, she got a call from Elliot.

"El?" Olivia said as she answered the phone. "Everything okay?"

"Sort of," he said into the phone. It sounded like chaos wherever he was with crying in the background. "Do you think you'd have time to swing by my house after work? I just… I could really use a little bit of help."

Olivia checked her watch and did some math in her head. She had time to go meet Elliot but it would be like pulling another late shift and she told Mark she'd try to be home at a reasonable hour tonight. But then the crying in the background got louder, followed by shouting and some kind of crash. And Elliot sighed right into the mouthpiece.

"I'm leaving the station now," she said. "I'll see you in half an hour."

And that's how Olivia found herself walking up the Stabler steps and knocking on the door.

"Who are you?" the girl who answered the door asked. She was maybe about 11, tall for her age and looked just like her mother.

"Hi, I'm Olivia Benson, your dad's partner at work," she said. "He called me and asked me to stop by. Are you Maureen?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?" she asked.

"Your Dad has a picture of all you guys on his desk," Olivia said. "Talks about you all the time."

"Come in," Maureen said, letting Olivia into the entry hall. She peaked around the corner into the living room where it looked like a tornado had blown through. Blankets and bowls and tissues were everywhere and the TV was blaring Tom and Jerry and top volume.

"DAD, OLIVIA IS HERE," Maureen yelled up the stairs.

"What did I tell you about yelling?" Elliot said as he took the stairs down two at a time. "And turn that TV off, people can probably hear it in Jersey."

Maureen rolled her eyes but did as he said.

"Hey Liv," he greeted her, looking like he'd just run a 10k up the side of a mountain. He had dark circles under his eyes and was slightly out of breath.

"You okay?" she asked, genuinely concerned.

"For the most part," he said.

"What did you need from me?" Olivia asked and Elliot began to wring his hands, a nervous habit she noticed and also one that Chelsea had as well.

"So Kathy had to go out of town this weekend for some bachelorette thing for her sister's wedding," Elliot said. "Maureen and Kathy were the first of us to get the stomach flu and they're better now, but the other three all have it, and there's only one of me and too many things to get done."

"So what can I do?" Olivia asked.

"Can you just stay here while I run to the grocery store?" Elliot asked. "We ran out of Gatorade like two hours ago, and we don't have nearly enough bread for toast or chicken noodle soup and crackers for calming little stomachs. Plus we don't have any Lysol or anything and everybody's touching the same remote and door handles."

Olivia reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Go," she said. "Take your time and don't think about it again. I can rally the troops for a little bit."

"Let me just take you up and introduce you to them so they know who you are," Elliot said. "Then I'll go."

She followed him up the stairs to the bedrooms.

"You already met Maureen, but also in this room is Kathleen," Elliot said, knocking lightly on the door and poking his head in.

"You okay sweetheart," he asked the girl inside before opening the door fully and stepping inside.

"I'm really thirsty, Daddy," she said. "And tired."

"I know hon," he said. "I'm going to the grocery store to get more Gatorade. This is my friend Olivia, she's going to stay with you guys until I get back."

Kathleen squinted at Olivia for a minute before yawning.

"Okay," Kathleen said. "But is it okay if I just nap?"

"Sure," Olivia said. "But if you need me just call out."

Elliot kissed Kathleen on the top of the head and then led Olivia to the next room.

"And in here we have our sickest patients, Lizzie and Dickie," he said. "They've been the last two to get it, can't keep anything down."

Olivia followed him into the room and her heart clenched. Lizzie was drenched in sweat and Dickie was shivering. Both had trash cans next to their bedsides and both were clutching stuffed animals for dear life.

"Feeling any better guys?" Elliot asked.

"No," Dickie huffed through chattering teeth and Lizzie didn't respond except for a whimper.

"I have to go to the grocery store, but this is my friend Olivia," Elliot said pointing to her. "She's going to stay with you until I get back. Anything you need you can ask her."

"When's Mommy coming home?" Lizzie finally managed to say in barely a whisper.

"Sunday night," Elliot said. "You know she had to go to the party for Aunt Sarah."

"I want Mommy," Lizzie said, starting to cry a little, and Olivia could tell it hurt Elliot.

"She'll be back before you know it, Liz," he said. "And so will I."

He kissed both of them on the top of the head and Olivia followed him out of the room.

"So it looks like they might all sleep while I'm out," Elliot said, going down the stairs. "I'm sorry to bother you on a Friday. I just didn't want to bring our usual sitter over. She's older, I didn't really want her to have to keep going up and down the stairs."

"El, stop apologizing," Olivia said when they got to the bottom of the stairs. "I get it. It's hard to leave your kids when they're sick. I've got it covered."

"Kathy didn't seem to have a problem doing it," he muttered.

"You told me weeks ago this was some obligation her mother and sister dreamed up," Olivia said, though she didn't quite know why she was defending a woman she'd only met once. "She didn't have a choice."

"I guess," Elliot said, reaching for his keys. "I'll be back in hopefully half an hour. Mo, be good for Olivia, okay?"

"I'm always good, Dad," she said from her position at the computer.

"Thanks again," Elliot said before heading for the kitchen and slipping out the back door.

Olivia felt out of place in the Stabler home. It was starting to feel less strange picturing Elliot in her apartment since he'd been there a few times, but she felt acutely aware that she didn't belong in this house. The existential dread of realizing she had been the "other woman" even for just one night came back full force looking around at their lived-in space, the family photos on the wall.

She wondered for a minute what life would have been like if they hadn't met on that rainy night. Would they have still become partners? Would she and Mark have actually gotten married if it wasn't for the pregnancy, or would they have broken the engagement? Would she be better friends with Elliot's wife and more like an aunt to these children instead of a stranger?

She tried to shake the thoughts from her head because there was no use pondering over something that would never be.

"So Maureen," Olivia started. "What grade are you in?"

"Fifth," she said, turning around in the computer chair to talk to Olivia.

"What's your favorite subject?" Olivia asked, perching on the arm of the couch.

"I used to really like math until last year when we started long division," Maureen said. "But now I kind of like science."

"That's pretty fun," Olivia said. "Science is really important. Your dad and I work with a lot of scientists."

"Really?" Maureen asked.

"Sure. The crime scene technicians, the medical examiner, doctors, people in the labs," Olivia said. "We couldn't do our jobs without them."

"That is really cool," Maureen said. "I haven't told Mom and Dad yet, but I might want to be a scientist when I grow up. I really like the experiments we get to do in class."

"I'm sure they'd love to hear that's what you're thinking about doing," Olivia said. "Your dad might be able to tell you more about what scientists do for us. Then you could see if it's something you'd want to do for work."

"Dad doesn't really talk about work when he's home," Maureen said, looking down at her hands. "He and mom fight about it. After we all go to bed. But I can still hear them sometimes."

Olivia wasn't quite sure how to address that, considering it wasn't her place. But Maureen was looking at her expectantly.

"What your dad and I do for work is very hard," she said. "We see things every day that make us sad, and angry, and sometimes even scared. He just doesn't want you guys to have to feel that too. I don't always tell my husband and daughter about things at work for the same reason."

"You have a daughter?" Maureen asked.

"Yeah, she's about your sister Kathleen's age," Olivia said,

Maureen let out a pensive "hmm".

"Do you and dad at least talk about work when you're not at work?" Maureen asked. "Because you both see the same things. I don't think it's fair that you can't talk to anybody about it. If I couldn't come home and tell Mom and Kathleen about the stuff that happens at school I'd be sad."

Olivia couldn't help but smile a little. She recognized that care for others in Maureen the way she sees it in Chelsea, and Elliot.

"We talk about it enough," Olivia said. "Sometimes it's nicer to talk about other things. Like what you guys are doing in school. You know, the good stuff."

Maureen nodded and Olivia looked around the room.

"You know, if you'd really like to help your dad feel a little better, I think there's something we can do."

"What?" Maureen asked.

"I bet we could straighten up the living room and the kitchen," she said. "So that's one less thing he has to do tonight."

Maureen bit her lip. Olivia assumed she probably didn't want to clean up the mess, and truthfully who did? Olivia could almost see the thoughts rolling through her head, weighing the options.

"Okay," Maureen said. "Let's do it."

So together they started picking up toys, folding blankets, throwing away garbage. They were about halfway done when Olivia heard someone yelling "Mommy!" from upstairs. Maureen and Olivia looked at each other.

"Do you think you can keep going down here and I'll go check on the patients?" Olivia asked.

"Sure," Maureen said. "And I can help dad bring in the groceries if he gets back too."

Olivia smiled at Maureen.

"You're a good daughter and sister," she said. "Your family is lucky to have you."

Maureen blushed a little and looked away from Olivia, like she wasn't sure if she believed the compliment. Olivia took that as her cue to head upstairs. She peeked her head into Kathleen's room, but she wasn't the one who called because she was, thankfully, sound asleep.

Next she went for the twins. Though it'd only been about 20 minutes, it looked like Lizzie was now freezing and Dickie was sweating.

"Mommy?" she heard Dicke call from the far side of the room.

"No, honey. It's Olivia," she said, crossing to his bed. "Do you need something?"

"I'm so hot," he said. "Please make it stop."

"I'm cold," Lizzie whined from her side of the room. And no wonder, she was in a nightgown and had pushed all her blankets to the floor.

Crossing to Lizzie, Olivia pulled her covers off the ground and tucked them around her.

"This might help," she said. "I'll go look for an extra blanket for you in just a few minutes after I help your brother."

"Thank you, Livia," Lizzie said in a small, tired voice.

She went back over to Dickie's bedside and put a hand on his forehead. He was definitely warm and sweaty. The poor kid had soaked through his entire t-shirt.

"Oh buddy, we gotta get you another shirt," she said.

"No," Dickie pouted. "It's too hot, I just want to take it off."

"Okay," Olivia said. "Raise your arms. We'll get it off and then I'll go get you a cool washcloth for your forehead."

They got him out of the soaked shirt and Olivia wandered out into the bathroom in the hall. She felt like she was intruding, poking around for washcloths and the thermometer. She found the latter in the medicine cabinet but she couldn't find the washcloths. She wandered back into the hallway and found a linen closet, which had all the towels and extra blankets. She grabbed one of each, went back to wet the washcloth and returned to the twins' room.

Lizzie had fallen asleep, but Olivia tucked the blanket around her just in case she was still cold. She could tell how uncomfortable Dickie was, just by looking at him. He was squirming in bed, his poor little face all red, skin clammy.

"I'm going to take your temperature, buddy, okay?" Olivia asked, holding out the ear thermometer. "Do you know when the last time Daddy gave you medicine was?"

"No," he said. "I don't remember."

Olivia sighed.

"Ok, well we'll still take your temperature to see," she said, inserting it in his ear. The display beeped and the screen read 100.1.

"We're going to get this cool washcloth on your head," Olivia said, laying it so it covered his eyebrows to his scalp. "This should help a little bit. It always helps my daughter when she has a fever."

Dickie made a contented sigh when the cool water touched his skin. Olivia realized she was just as worried for the Stabler children as she was when Chelsea got sick. She'd known them less than an hour, even if she'd been hearing stories about them for the last year or so, but they were already important to her because they were Elliot's.

And her daughter's siblings, she gently reminded herself.

When Olivia was satisfied that Dickie was at least a little more comfortable, she was going to go back down and help Maureen with the cleaning. She stood from Dicke's bedside and was just about to turn around when a little hand shot out and grabbed hers.

"Livia," he said. "Will you stay with me?"

"Sure buddy," she said.

"When I'm sick, Mommy sits in bed with me and plays with my hair," he said. "Can you do that? It makes me fall asleep."

Olivia wasn't sure if it was the best idea. Dickie wasn't her son. And this wasn't her family. She felt like she'd been overstepping all day, even though she'd been invited. But looking at him she knew sleep would do him good, so she agreed.

She slid onto the bed next to him, scooching back against the headboard. Before she was even fully settled, Dickie put his head in her lap and threw his arm over her knees, so she started to run her hands through his hair in what she hoped was a calming motion. Chelsea wasn't a big fan of having her hair and head touched because her curls often tangled and she associated touching her head with the pulling it takes to get her knots out. But in a few minutes, she heard soft snores coming out of the little boy in her lap and she smiled. Leaning her head back against the wall, Olivia closed her eyes, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Pst, Olivia," she heard from the doorway as she startled awake. She looked around the room, not realizing she had fallen asleep, let alone how long she'd been out. Lizzie was still asleep in her bed, Dickie still asleep on her lap, and Maureen was the one beckoning her from the doorway.

She slowly slid Dickie off her lap and onto his pillow, pulled his blanket over him and slipped out into the hallway to talk to Maureen.

"What's up, honey?" she said once she'd shut the twins' door. "I'm sorry I didn't come back down. Dickie asked me to stay with him and I guess I fell asleep."

"It's okay," Maureen said. "I finished cleaning and helped dad put away the groceries, but I think he's sick now too."

"Oh," Olivia said. "Where is he?"

"After we put the groceries away he said he was going to go change his clothes but then he never came back down. That was about a half an hour ago," she said. "I tried to call mom at the hotel to get her to come home, but the guy at the desk said she wasn't there. I'm worried."

Olivia looked down into the little girl's blue eyes. She remembered the feeling of being just a child and having to run the house and take care of a parent. But for Olivia at least, it was just her mother and not three sick siblings too.

"I'll go find your dad," she said. "Why don't you go downstairs and watch TV for a little bit while I handle that and then we'll figure out dinner?"

"Thank you," Maureen said, giving her a weak smile and going back downstairs.

Olivia knocked on the door Maureen had gestured to when she said Elliot had come up to change.

"Hey El," she whispered through the door so she wouldn't wake any of the kids. "Maureen said you came up to change but never came back down. You okay?"

She waited a few moments but didn't get a response, so she knocked again, a little louder this time. When she still didn't get an answer she tried the knob. The door was open.

Taking a deep breath because she didn't know what she was going to find on the other side she pushed in. The room was dark, save for the one bedside lamp. It was like nobody was even in here. Then she noticed another ajar door with light filtering out and what sounded like someone puking their guts out.

She walked to the door and the retching got louder.

"El," she said, knocking on the bathroom door. "It's Liv."

"Stay out there Liv, I'm…" he started but was cut off by another heave.

She wasn't just going to stay outside so she gently slipped into the bathroom. He was shirtless, in sweatpants and doubled over the toilet. Finally, the last of them to get the dreaded stomach bug. She didn't say anything but perched herself on the edge of the tub and rubbed his bare shoulder as he puked. She knew it was probably crossing another line, but her motherly instincts had been up all afternoon.

Eventually he finished and collapsed back against the wall.

"How you feeling?" she asked.

"How do I look?" he asked.

"No comment," she said and he tried to muster up a smile but it was weak.

"You didn't have to come in here," he said.

"Maureen was worried that you never came back down. Asked me to check on you," she said.

"Yeah, but puke isn't any fun," he said.

"I got used to it when I was pregnant," she said. "Every day for the whole first trimester. 8:22 a.m. like clockwork. And anytime I smelled coffee."

"I'm sorry," he said. "Guess that was partly my fault."

"It was, but you're so sick that I'll let it slide," she said and he tried to smile again.

"I just want to sleep forever," he said. "How are the kids?"

"All asleep, except for Maureen," Olivia said. "We're going to figure out dinner in a little bit. When was the last time you gave any of them medicine?"

He thought for a minute, like he couldn't actually remember.

"I gave both the twins Motrin around 4," he said. "Their fevers were both 101. Kathleen hasn't had any medicine today."

"Okay," she said. "Dickie's fever is down to 100, but I didn't want to give him anything until I knew how long it'd been."

"You really don't have to do all this," Elliot said. "I'll be fine."

He tried to stand but wobbled a little bit getting up.

"Yeah," Olivia said, rolling her eyes. "You're totally fine. You need to lay down."

"And you need to get home," he said. "We'll be fine."

"I'm not leaving your 11 year old to care for her entire family all night," Liv said, harsher than she anticipated. "You have to take care of yourself so you can take care of them."

Elliot pouted, much like Dickie had earlier, but started into the bedroom and she helped him get situated under the covers. She brought the bathroom garbage can to his bedside and told him she'd bring up a Gatorade in a bit.

"Need anything else before I go help Maureen?" she asked.

"No, just sleep, but thanks," he said.

"Sweet dreams, El," she said, closing the door behind her.

When she got back to the living room, Maureen was reading a chapter book on the couch.

"Are you hungry?" Olivia asked her.

"Starving," Maureen said. "I was sick first so I haven't eaten much in a few days but now I'm so hungry."

"What are you in the mood for?" Olivia asked.

"Do you know how to make mac and cheese?" Maureen asked.

"Sure do," Olivia said. "Can you help me?"

"Sure," Maureen said. "Is Dad okay?"

"I'm sorry to tell you that he's the latest victim of the stomach flu," Olivia said.

"Oh," Maureen answered, and Olivia could see it again. The fear that she was now in charge.

"I'm not going anywhere, Maureen," Olivia said. "You don't have to take care of everybody by yourself."

"But it's my job," she said. "When Mom isn't here. I'm the oldest."

"Neither you Mom nor your Dad expect you to take care of an entire house of sick people by yourself," Olivia said. "You're not even old enough to use the stove by yourself."

"Are you sure?" Maureen asked.

"I'm positive," Olivia said. "Now let's get us some mac and cheese and we'll make cinnamon sugar toast for your siblings, sound good?"

"Sounds great," Maureen said.

Olivia was surprised by how much she enjoyed cooking and talking with Maureen. The girl told her about some of her friends from school and her favorite books, and even about the one boy in class she thought was cute. Olivia was excited that someday her relationship with Chelsea could be like this, where they were friends in addition to being mother and daughter.

Olivia had taken toast and gatorade up to the other kids and gave the twins more Motrin. They finished in about 15 minutes and all of them had fallen back asleep for the night soon after. She dropped a Gatorade off in Elliot's room and he was snoring like a buzzsaw, which made her chuckle.

After eating with Maureen and cleaning up the kitchen she checked the time. 8 p.m. She knew she wasn't going to be heading home tonight.

"Do you think I should call Mom one more time," Maureen said. "Just in case?"

"I have to call my family and tell them I'm staying here tonight," Olivia said. "I can call your mom after if you have the hotel number."

"You're really going to stay?" Maureen asked.

"Pinky swear, kid," she said. "You're not doing this alone."

Maureen relaxed and went to find the number for the hotel while Olivia called Mark from her cell phone.

"Livvy it's almost Chelsea's bedtime," he said, foregoing a regular greeting. "I thought you said you'd be home early tonight."

"We caught another case," she said, not feeling too bad about lying. Someone did indeed "catch a case," it was just a case of the stomach flu.

"Maybe it's time to start thinking about a new career," Mark said.

"I'm not having this conversation with you right now," Olivia said. "Please put Chelsea on the phone so I can say goodnight."

"If you were here where you were supposed to be, you could tell her in person," he said.

"Are you seriously not going to let me say goodnight to my daughter?" she said, daring him to say yes. There was some grumbling on the other side of the phone and then she heard Chelsea's voice.

"Mommy are you really not going to be home tonight?" Chelsea asked, and Olivia could hear the tears forming in her eyes and it broke her heart.

"I'm sorry baby, I have to stay here tonight. But I love you more than anything, you know that. And I'll see you tomorrow?" Olivia said.

"Okay Mommy, I love you a lot, but please come home soon," Chelsea said.

"Hopefully tomorrow, baby," Olivia said.

She thought Mark was going to get back on but the line went dead. It was just as well because Maureen reappeared with the hotel phone number in hand.

Olivia called and got the same runaround from the manager that Maureen had. The party wasn't in their room and he didn't know when they'd be back. She'd left a message with him that it was urgent to get to Kathy as soon as they got back. That her husband was sick now and Olivia was staying with them until she got back. She hoped the slight warning from an NYPD detective and the small threat of another woman staying in her house would be enough to get Kathy back early from her New England getaway.

After watching a few reruns of Laverne & Shirley with Olivia, Maureen went to bed, and Olivia figured it was a good time to turn in herself. She checked in on all the kids again, who seemed to be over the worst hump and were sleeping soundly now.

She checked on Elliot last to find that his sleep seemed a little more restless than the kids. He was now sweating and tossing and turning like he was having a nightmare.

"El," she said, nudging him until he snorted awake. "I'm staying the night in the guest room. I tried to get ahold of Kathy again but she still wasn't there."

"Sweats and t-shirts are in the top drawer," Elliot mumbled. "For PJs."

Olivia crossed to the dresser and pulled out some of his clothes, thankful he hadn't suggested she wear something of Kathy's because that woman was model thin and Olivia just wasn't built that way.

"If you need anything in the middle of the night just come get me," Olivia said, turning to leave because Elliott was already halfway back into his restless sleep.

"Okay Liv, thanks babe. I love you," Elliott mumbled as he rolled over and Olivia felt like she'd been shot in the chest.

Surely he hadn't meant anything by that. Yeah, he called her by name, but he probably thought he was talking to Kathy. Simple slip of the tongue. An I-Ross-Take-Thee-Rachel moment. Nothing more.

It was about 7 a.m. when Liv awoke with a start in the guest room at the Stabler house. She heard commotion downstairs and groped for her weapon at her bedside and snuck downstairs.

"NYPD, show me your hands," she said, stepping around the side wall into the kitchen where she came face-to-face with Kathy.

"Kathy, you scared me," Olivia said, lowering her weapon. "You never called back. I thought you hadn't gotten the messages."

"I just started driving back as soon as I got them, rather than calling," she said. "I knew I shouldn't have gone but Elliot said he was fine and my mother was making such a big deal out of it."

"Everybody's okay," Olivia said. "Elliot has the worst of it now. The kids seem to be on the other side. Maureen was a huge help."

"How'd you know to come over, Olivia," Kathy asked suspiciously, eying her clothes, knowing they were Elliot's.

"El called yesterday," she said. "They ran out of Gatorade and he had to run to the store. Said he didn't want to bring your usual sitter over because she's a little old to be going up and down the stairs all day."

"Hmm," Kathy hummed.

"Well, since you're back," Olivia said, feeling very out of place, "I guess I'll change and head out."

"Thank you for coming," Kathy said. "I'll tell the kids and Elliot you said goodbye."

Olivia couldn't mistake the icy chill in Kathy's voice. She wanted to tell her nothing had happened. Which wasn't a lie, at least not last night. But more importantly, she just wanted to get out of there.

She changed quickly and made the guest bed. She solved Elliot's sweats in her bag, figuring she'd wash them and return them at work. She was trying to scamper down the hall and out the door but Lizzie caught her in the hallway.

"Livia, you're still here," Lizzie said.

"I'm leaving right now, sweetie," she said. "I hope you feel better."

"Thank you for taking care of me yesterday," Lizzie said, hugging Olivia's knees.

"You're welcome," Olivia said. "Now go ahead and go back to sleep. Your Daddy's sick now but Mommy's home."

Lizzie trotted off to her room, and Olivia went downstairs and let herself out without any other goodbyes. She felt bad, not getting to say goodbye to everyone else, but she did need to get home to Mark and Chelsea. Plus, the Stablers didn't need her anymore now that Kathy was back. Or so she tried to tell herself.

Luckily, she was able to make it home fairly quickly, because she was starting not to feel so good. She tried to convince herself it was just aches from sleeping on the uncomfortable guest room mattress.

"When she got in the door, Chelsea was at the breakfast bar eating cereal and Mark was dressed up like he was going to work.

"Oh good," Mark said. "You actually made it home."

"Of course I did," she said. "Why do you look like you're going to work?"

"Because I am," he said. "I'm so behind. I have to go in and catch up on those days I missed being a single parent for our daughter."

Olivia wasn't in the mood and the smell of his coffee was making her queasy. Before she could even go give Chelsea a good morning hug, she knew something was wrong.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Olivia said, running for the bathroom.

"I'm off to work," Mark called down the hall to her. "Let's have those salmon burgers for dinner tonight."

But she didn't hear him, she was already doubled over the toilet and she didn't know who to curse more right now, Mark, for being an insensitive jerk, or Elliot for getting her sick.


A/N: You know the drill. I'm so happy people are liking this. I must agree with Elliot, it's more fun to play in a parallel universe, isn't it?