A/N: Bit of a filler, but another POV. So initially, I wanted to do this party scene for a while and it was going to be the grand climax of the story. That's not happening now, but we're going to be here for a bit. There are quite a few perspectives we need to see now that everyone is in the same place.
Olivia could not believe they were doing this. Each step she took behind Chelsea leading up the walk to the backyard gate with Mark behind her just made her feel more like she was walking to her impending doom.
She couldn't believe last week when Elliot told her Kathy wanted them all to come to Kathleen's party. The family party as he'd called it. She didn't really want Mark to come but she'd told Elliot she'd ask, and if Kathy was willing to apologize to her and welcome her and her family into their home, the least Olivia could do was give her husband and Elliot the benefit of the doubt of being in the same space and not killing each other the way they seemed to want to on the front steps of Chelsea's school.
"So how was everybody's day?" Olivia asked as they sat down for spaghetti night at the kitchen table.
"Annabelle got sick during recess and had to go home," Chelsea said. "She threw up her stuffed breadsticks everywhere."
"That's not dinner conversation, Chelsea," Mark said.
"Daddy's right baby," Olivia said. "Not the most fun thing to talk about while we're eating. Did anything good happen today?"
"Um, Mrs. Brady the librarian let me take two books out this week because I read so fast, so I got the third and fourth Molly books," Chelsea said.
"That's great," Olivia said. "You're probably going to finish the whole series in just a few weeks. Mark, anything new happen at work today?"
"Just the usual," he said. "What about you? Anything new?"
"Actually yes," she said, and Mark looked surprised that she was going to talk about work. "We were all actually invited to a party next Saturday."
"A party for your work?" Mark said, trying to cut his spaghetti.
"Not exactly for work," Olivia said. "Elliot's daughter, the one who's about Chelsea's age, they're having her birthday party at their house and his wife invited all of us to come. I didn't agree yet or anything because I wanted to see if you two would be interested first."
"Yes," Chelsea shouted and then put her hands over her mouth. "Oops, sorry. But I really want to go."
"Okay, honey," Olivia said. "We can go. Mark, do you want to come too?"
He pushed his meatballs around on his plate for a second before looking up with a grin she wasn't entirely sure she liked.
"Absolutely, I'd love to go," Mark said.
It should have made her feel good. It should have made her happy that her family and Elliot's family were going to be able to meet and co-exist. Their kids would be friends, she'd make up with Kathy. Mark and Elliot would probably still hate each other, but if they could at least be in the same room without playing "mine's bigger than yours" that would at least be a step in the right direction.
As expected, Chelsea had the best time picking out a present for Kathleen. They wandered through the Wal-Mart in Jersey for over an hour and ended up getting a Lizzie McGuire t-shirt, and the CD, and two of the books from the adapted series because Chelsea just couldn't decide which one Kathleen might like more.
She hadn't gotten to talk to Elliot any more about the party yesterday since they were running on fumes from the case. The only thing she got was a text from him telling them to come around to the back gate for the party instead of going to the front door.
As Olivia reached over Chelsea's head to release the gate door from the lock, she looked down at what she was wearing again. She dressed up for the occasion, even though she knew she shouldn't. A sundress that hugged her in all the right places that she never got to wear, extra time on her hair (which was finally starting to grow in more) and makeup, her nice jewelery and fancy sandals. She tried to tell herself she didn't dress up so Elliot could see her like a woman and not a cop, and that she didn't dress up because Kathy always looked gorgeous even when she was dressed down, but she knew both of those reasons were exactly why she did it.
Having Mark around unnerved her too. He wasn't exactly a confrontational man, but anytime he'd ever been around Elliot this possessive ridiculous side of him came out. Even when other men hit on her in public, it never seemed to phase Mark, but with Elliot something was different.
Olivia scanned the backyard like she'd assess a crime scene. She was thankful she dressed up because the other women were wearing similar outfits. Though this was a family party, not one of these people looked like they could be related to Elliot. The women were lounging on lawn chairs sipping wine coolers, and most of the men seemed to be playing catch with Dickie and a few other young boys over in the grass. It looked like most of the girls were playing on the swingset. But she didn't see Elliot anywhere.
Until she turned her attention to the patio. He was behind the grill in jeans and a t-shirt, a spatula in one hand, beer in the other. The picture of the All-American dad. She felt herself smile when their eyes met and he smiled too.
"Hey, Chelsea," Olivia said. "Look who's behind the grill on the patio."
She saw her daughter's eyes light up when she saw her favorite man. Olivia knew Elliot had been Chelsea's favorite man for a while now, but she had confirmed it on the drive home from her spring concert.
"Can you believe Elliot came to see me sing?" Chelsea said.
"I know," Olivia said. "Pretty great of him right."
"We took pictures for you on the camera," Chelsea said. "Because we didn't think you'd be outside when we got out there and we wanted you to know that he came."
"If I didn't know any better I'd say you're trying to replace me as his partner," Olivia said in a teasing tone.
"No Mommy, you're silly," Chelsea said with a giggle. "But I do like him a lot. He makes me feel happy and important."
"I know, baby," Olivia said. "He makes me feel that way too."
Olivia came back to reality when Chelsea grabbed her hand and started pulling her toward Elliot, but they got intercepted.
"Oh, Olivia," Bernie Stabler said, stepping into their path. "My goodness, don't you look beautiful today. How have you been?"
This was hurdle number one that Olivia had been afraid of. What would Bernie say or do that could blow their secret right out of the water.
"Oh thank you, Bernie," Olivia responded. "I've been well. How are you? Elliot told me your treatment is almost up. Are you sticking to it?"
"Two more weeks until my status check," she said. "I've been following Warden one and two's orders, but they could stand to lighten up a little."
"Well, you just keep hanging in there," Olivia said.
"And who did you bring with you today?" Bernie asked, playing dumb, and Olivia was grateful for it.
"Bernie, this is my husband, Mark," she said, gesturing, and Mark extended his hand to shake. "Mark, this is Elliot's mother Bernie."
"And how do you two know each other?" Mark asked.
"Oh, we're old gal pals," Bernie said, putting her arm around Olivia's shoulder. "We got back what now, six months?"
"Yes, we do," Olivia laughed.
"And is this that lovely daughter you showed me a picture of the first time we met?" Bernie asked.
Olivia took a deep breath as Chelsea squeezed her hand a little tighter, always a bit wary of strangers.
"This is my daughter, Chelsea," Olivia said. "Chels, this is Elliot's Mom, Mrs. Stabler."
"Oh, call me Grandma B," she said, and Olivia nearly choked on her own spit. "All the kids here do, even Kathy's cousins."
"Hi, Mrs. Grandma B," Chelsea said shyly.
"Aren't you just gorgeous, and the spitting image of your mother," Bernie said, and Olivia couldn't be sure but she thought she saw Bernie wink at her. "Well, I was supposed to go in the house and get more bottles of soda like 15 minutes ago. I should probably go and do that or Kathy will be wondering what happened. Maybe we can all sit down and talk later?"
"That would be great," Olivia said, as Bernie headed for the back door of the house.
"She's something," Mark muttered under his breath but Olivia chose to ignore him.
Mark didn't like anything that didn't fit into a perfect little box on a calendar, and Bernie Stabler would never be one to fit into anyone's box.
Chelsea was once again pulling her closer to Elliot and the patio when they were interrupted for the second time.
"Oh Olivia, I'm glad you could come," Kathy said, reaching out and touching her elbow.
"Well, thank you for inviting us, Kathy," Olivia said. "Everybody looks like they're having fun."
"Oh, my family could have fun anywhere as long as there's wine coolers and a place for them to sit and talk," Kathy said. "Nice to see you again Mark, for better circumstances."
"Yes, definitely better than a funeral home," Mark said, shoving his hands in his pockets.
Kathy exchanged a glance with Olivia that she couldn't quite place.
"So is this your daughter I've heard so much about?" Kathy asked. "Elliot's been insistent for months that she'd get along well with the girls, so I'm glad they can finally meet."
"Me too," Olivia said. "Chelsea, this is Elliot's wife, Mrs. Stabler."
"Hi," Chelsea said, not really looking up, the shyness coming through again.
"It's nice to meet you, honey," Kathy said. "Most of the girls are playing on the swingset right now but we're going to have games and even a pinata later so hopefully you'll have a lot of fun."
"This was really nice of you, Kathy," Olivia said. "I'm glad you asked us to come."
"Elliot doesn't really have much family besides me, the kids, and his mom," Kathy said. "I know these parties can sometimes be a little much for him without anybody of his own around."
"Well, I'm very glad we could make it then," Olivia said, meaning it.
"Well, stay, enjoy," Kathy said. "I have to go get the cold stuff out before Elliot's done with the food. But maybe we can talk later?"
"I'd like that," Olivia said as Kathy disappeared into the house.
"Mommy can we please go see Elliott now?" Chelsea asked.
"Go ahead if you're so anxious, don't wait for us," Olivia said.
That was all it took for Chelsea to take off running across the patio, right to Elliot's side.
"Hey peanut," Olivia heard him say as they walked over. "I'm glad you could come."
"Me too," Chelsea said. "We brought Doritos, and a present for Kathleen. I think she's really going to like it."
"Doritos?" he said, looking at Olivia with a goofy grin.
"Well, we couldn't just show up with nothing," she said, placing the chips on the picnic table behind Elliot and the present on the patio wall along with the others.
"Mark," Elliot said in a tense voice as he flipped a burger.
"Stabler," Mark said in reply, further shoving his hands in his pockets.
"Hey Dave, can you come here?" Elliot yelled to one of the guys playing ball with the boys. "And Dickie you too."
The man tossed Dickie over his shoulder and ran over like a linebacker before plopping him in the grass right next to the patio.
"Hey, can you watch the grill for a few minutes," Elliot said to the man.
"Sure," Dave said. "Oh, hey, who's this?"
He motioned to Olivia and got a smile on his face.
"That's my partner from work, Olivia Benson," Elliot said. "Olivia, meet Dave. Kathy's family's resident idiot."
"By idiot he means just the last good looking single cousin they all try to set up at weddings," Dave said, shaking her hand. "Or family birthday parties."
"She's married, bonehead," Elliot said. "Do you not see the man and child standing around her? Look burgers have 10 more minutes, just don't set anything on fire I'll be right back."
Elliot passed the spatula to Dave and then hoisted Dickie up from where he still laid in the grass.
"Bud, do you remember Olivia?" Elliot said.
"Yeah, I do," he said, looking up at her and shielding his eyes from the sun. "Thanks for making me feel better when I was sick."
Olivia hoped he didn't go into too much more detail because Mark still didn't know she'd spent the night at the Stabler house when they all had the stomach flu.
"I'm glad buddy," she said.
"This is her daughter, Chelsea," Elliot said to Dickie.
The two kids looked at each other funny before Dickie finally said "Hi," and Chelsea answered him.
"Dad, can I go back and play catch with the boys now?" he said.
"Sure pal," Elliot said, scrubbing a hand over his face.
Olivia knew he had a lot riding on what his kids would think of their new sister, even if they didn't know she was their sister. She kind of felt the same way, but over protective, like she had to shield Chelsea from the fact that her siblings might not take to her the way she hoped. Olivia rationalized Dickie probably would have been more interested if Chelsea was a boy.
"I'm not really up for any more introductions," Mark said.
"Well, I'd at least like to get Chelsea settled with the other kids," Olivia said, turning around but not really looking at him. "You don't have to come. Why don't you get a beer and go make some friends."
"Cooler is over by the shed," Elliot said, gesturing to the back corner of the lawn near where everyone was playing catch.
Mark didn't say anything else, just went to retrieve a drink.
"Chels, do you want to go play with the girls?" Elliot asked.
She bit her lip in the way she sometimes did when she was nervous, so Olivia bent down to her level.
"What's wrong, sweetheart?" Olivia said.
"What if they don't want to play with me?" Chelsea asked. "They're all related and I'm not."
Olivia and Elliot looked over her head at each other.
"Listen peanut, you know your mom is my best friend, right?" Elliot said.
"Yeah," Chelsea said.
"So when somebody is your best friend, they're pretty much your family," Elliot said. "So you and mom fit right in. And the girls are going to want to play with you, just like their cousins."
"Are you sure?" Chelsea asked.
"Have I ever lied to you?" Elliot said, and Olivia wished he had chosen a different set of words.
"I don't think so," Chelsea said.
"Then let's go over there so you can meet them and start having some fun," he said, taking Chelsea's hand, which she accepted.
"Smooth," Olivia muttered under her breath so only Elliot could hear.
"Like you had a better comeback," Elliot hissed back.
"Have I ever lied to you?" Olivia whispered back.
"Omission," he said. "Not the same thing."
When they approached the swing set, one of the little girls Olivia didn't know was giving a detailed list of instructions about how they were going to play house and who would be allowed to play which roles.
"Hey Ashley, you don't always have to be in charge," Elliot said to the girl. "Why don't you give someone else a turn."
The little girl's eyes went wide after she'd been caught and Olivia assumed that wasn't the first time she'd been told about her bossy behavior.
"Hey Olivia," Maureen said from her swing with a quick wave.
"Hi sweetheart, how are you?" Olivia asked.
"I'm good," Maureen said. "Glad you guys came."
"They came for me," Kathleen said, jumping out from behind the slide.
"We did come for your birthday Kathleen, but I'm glad to see all of you," Olivia said.
"Girls, this is Olivia's daughter, Chelsea," Elliot said, putting his hands behind Chelsea's shoulders and pushing her forward a little. Nobody said anything, so eventually Maureen, as the oldest, spoke up.
"Chelsea, do you like to play house?" Maureen said.
"Yeah, we play it at recess all the time," she said.
"So we were going to play house where everybody gets to be a character from their favorite TV show," Maureen said. "Who do you want to be?"
Chelsea bit her lip again before saying, "Miranda from Lizzie McGuire."
"I'm going to be Lizzie because it's my birthday," Kathleen said, excitedly. "That means we have to be in the same house because we're best friends, and we even look like Lizzie and Miranda, don't we Dad?"
"Uh," Elliot said, completely confused about the show in general.
"You definitely do," Olivia said, covering for him.
"Yeah, exactly what I was going to say," Elliot said.
"C'mon," Kathleen said, grabbing Chelsea's hand. "I'm Kathleen and our house is going to be here under the slide."
And that was that. The girls were off playing pretend and paying no attention to Elliot and Olivia anymore. She glanced over at him out of the corner of her eye and he looked misty, so she stepped a little closer so only he could hear her.
"You okay, partner?" she asked.
"All my girls are finally together," he said. "I'm happy."
"I'm glad," she said.
They turned to walk back to the patio, and Olivia did a quick scan of the party for Mark. She found him sitting in one of the lawn chairs, with Bernie Stabler perched right next to him on her own chair. Elliot must have seen it too because she heard him mutter "Oh Christ."
"I'll take care of it," she said.
"I swear if she said something," Elliot mumbled, his fists clenching.
"We've only been gone for like 10 minutes," Olivia said. "With the way she tells a story, it's not likely."
"True," Elliot said. "Go, please. Send her to her room if you have to."
"She's not a child, Elliot," Olivia said.
"Well, sometimes she acts like one," he said.
Elliot made a beeline back to the grill and Olivia went to do damage control.
"Oh, I've always been so worried about him doing this job," Bernie was saying to Mark as Olivia walked up. "Sometimes I have dreams that he gets shot and I'm at the hospital running from nurses' station to nurses' station yelling for A-positive blood because he's bleeding out."
"Well, you never have to worry about that Bernie," Olivia said. "I'm A-positive too, so anything dumb he does, they can stick a needle in me and fix it."
"You're too kind dear," Bernie said, patting her hand. "I was just asking your husband how he felt about having a loved one on the force. Told him how hard it was to have a husband and now a son doing such a dangerous job."
"Yeah," Olivia said. "And what did you say, Mark?"
"That I don't worry about you because you can take care of yourself," Mark said, sipping on a Miller Lite. "You rarely let anyone help you anyway."
Coming from somebody else Olivia might have taken that as a compliment to her strength and tenacity, but coming from Mark it sounded more like an insult.
"Food's ready," Elliot yelled out into the yard. "Grab your children and line up."
The men and boys went dashing for the line and the girls from the swingset started to wander over.
"Do you want to help Chelsea get hers or do you want me to do it?" Olivia asked, trying to show Mark that she could ask for help from time to time.
"I'm sure you've got it covered," he said. "I'm not very hungry anyway. How much longer do you think we're going to be here?"
"Mark, we've only been here 20 minutes," Olivia said.
"Well, we made an appearance," he said. "Can't we leave now."
"No," Olivia said. "The whole point of this was to give Chelsea some time to play with kids her age. She doesn't get much of that outside of school with us too busy to take her on playdates."
"Fine," Mark said, leaning back into the chair. "Go get your food."
She felt like she'd been dismissed from the Captain's office, like she was being given permission to stay at a party he was just an afterthought invitation to, and she didn't like it. She was about to say something else, but Bernie stood up out of her seat.
"Oh, it looks like Maureen's helping Chelsea get her lunch," Bernie said. "But maybe you can help me. I'm prone to knocking things over and dropping stuff."
Bernie took Olivia by the hand and led her away from Mark, and Olivia was grateful for the woman stopping her from saying something she might regret. Just a few more hours and her home life could go back to being mundane, and Mark would be far away from her partner and his family, and she could go back to pretending she didn't feel like she and Chelsea belonged more here with them than at home with Mark.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who has followed, favorited, and reviewed this story. I'm a little stalled on where exactly I want to take things, which is why this chapter is more filler and it took a bit longer to get an update. I have an idea, just not the grand spark for it all yet. Thank you for your patience!
