A/N: This, my friends, is what we call the other shoe. It has dropped. It's a long one. Hope you're ready!


Elliot's left arm was completely numb, and his neck hurt from staying stationary all night long. But when the sun started to stream in the window and he woke to Olivia holding on to his ribcage, her head cradled in the crook of his neck, her soft breaths hitting him with each rise and fall of her chest, none of it mattered.

She'd always been beautiful, but sleepy morning Liv, unburdened by nightmares and responsibility, well she was downright gorgeous. He'd missed waking up to this the last time they'd slept in the same room, on the same piece of furniture, because she snuck out of the motel. And he was damn glad he didn't miss it this time. Elliot hated to wake her, but his bladder was protesting, and he knew he needed to get home and bite the bullet.

Slowly, he tried to lift his numb arm, bringing the pins and needles to life as he gently stroked her back. She began to stir, tilting her head so her lips were somewhere near his cheek.

"Morning babe," he whispered, turning to kiss her softly.

"No pet names," she mumbled, readjusting, trying to burrow herself further into his body.

"Whatever you say, sweetie," he teased back, knowing the annoyance would get her up faster.

"Time is it?" she said with a yawn.

"About 8:30," he said. "And I really gotta pee so can I slide out of here?"

She made a few unintelligible mumblings, but eventually sat up and back on her calves so he could pull his legs from around her and head for the bathroom. When he came back out she was making coffee. He came up behind her, wrapped an arm around her stomach, and rested his chin on her shoulder.

"I like Saturday morning Liv," he said.

"You like Saturday morning coffee," she said, placing her hand over his.

"That too," he said, kissing her neck.

He felt her stiffen under his touch.

"I do something wrong?" he asked, confused?

Olivia sighed.

"No," she said, turning to face him. "I'm just being me. I'm not divorced yet, Elliot, and you still haven't told the kids, figured out plans with Kathy. It's not that I don't want this. In fact, I've been dreaming about this particular type of scenario since the day the stick turned pink, but we still have a long way to go before this is all okay. I don't want to be a cheater again and there's always a chance that…"

Elliot pulled back and spun her around so they were facing each other.

"Always a chance, what?" he asked.

"That you and Kathy could make up," Olivia said. "I told her when we talked at the precinct that she should forgive you. To not let one night ruin a 20 year relationship."

"And did she tell you that she's felt our relationship has been over for a while now?" Elliot asked.

"Yes," Olivia said. "But it isn't over until the judge declares you divorced. And even then you might change your mind."

"I'm not changing my mind," Elliot said. "I haven't been able to get you out of my head for 9 years. But if you want me to go back to partner Elliot instead of crushing like a teenager Elliot until the papers are done, I can respect that."

"Please don't take that the wrong way," Olivia said, trying to backtrack. "There's just so many…"

Elliot put a finger to her lips to stop her from talking.

"You don't have to explain yourself," Elliot said. "No offense taken. Still just as crazy about you as I was five minutes ago. You don't have to overthink things with me, okay?"

She nodded and he removed his finger.

"Where did all my wet clothes end up last night?" he asked. "Thought I'd wear those back to the house, maybe leave the sweats here. Just in case I'd ever need them again?"

"In the laundry closet," Olivia said. "Days like yesterday I'm really glad my controlling ex insisted on an in-unit washer and dryer."

"Is that what we're calling him now?" Elliot asked. "Because I've got a whole slew of better nicknames."

"Laundry closet is next to the bathroom," Olivia said, digging through the freezer.

He found it easily. Their stuff was still in the dryer, a little wrinkled after being forgotten amid tacos and TV last night. He pulled her work pants and shirt out and hung them on hangers in the closet then took his stuff into the bathroom to change. He found an unopened toothbrush in the medicine cabinet for himself and instead of throwing it away, he put it in the holder next to Olivia's and Chelsea's. He knew she said she wanted to take it slow, and it was wishful thinking, but he hoped he'd be back to use it again someday.

When he left the bathroom he dropped the sweats in the clothes hamper and came out to find Chelsea sitting at the breakfast bar, talking to Olivia while she put frozen waffles in the toaster oven. There were two mugs on the counter and a glass of orange juice. He knew which mug was meant for him since one of them was black, no cream, no sugar.

"Daddy, you're still here," Chelsea said, sliding off her stool and coming over to hug him. Though she'd be nine in just a little over a month, he still scooped her up in his arms. Sometimes he felt like he had years of catching up to do and he could fix them just by holding her close, as if somehow it would make him feel less like he missed the late night feedings and rocking her to sleep while reading story books.

"I have to go take care of some things today so I'll have to leave soon," Elliot said. "But I hope I can start coming over and seeing you and Mom more often now, if that's okay?"

"Okay with me," Chelsea said, squirming out of his arms to go back to the breakfast bar. "Can you have waffles with us before you go?"

"If there's enough to share," Elliot said.

"Plenty," Olivia said. "Eggo always keeps us in stock."

"Not real waffles, Liv?" Elliot asked. "It's a Saturday morning celebration."

"You want to have a Saturday morning celebration, you mix up the batter and clean up the mess," Olivia said.

"Gonna hold you to that," he said, taking a sip of his coffee.

The three of them ate their Eggos and then Elliot said goodbye to his girls before heading out of the frying pan and into the fire.

"Promise you'll come back and see us more?" Chelsea asked Elliot as he was putting on his shoes.

"Super promise," Elliot said. "Mom and I will start figuring out a schedule so we can do stuff more regularly."

He kissed Chelsea goodbye and almost did the same to Liv, but she stopped him and settled for a hug.

"You know you can call me after, right?" she whispered in his ear before pulling back. "You need to talk, just say the word. You don't have to keep it all bottled up. No matter what they say. No matter who gets mad. Team El and Liv."

"I hear you, partner," he whispered back. "I'll do my best."

"Good luck," she said.

Then he was out the door.

The ride to Queens was faster than normal, traffic flowing him upstream like a dead fish. He maybe would have liked more time to stall, but he was in the driveway before he knew it. He sat in the car for a few minutes, looking up at the house they chose together right before Kathleen was born. They'd signed the papers just 24 hours before Kathy went into labor. The nursery wasn't ready. Poor thing had to sleep in a bassinet in their bedroom for three months.

But he knew this was likely the last time he'd set foot here where it would be his house. He knew he'd be the one to move out and find an apartment. He'd never take the home away from Kathy because she needed the space. Even if they agreed to 50/50 custody, this would still be their children's primary home. He'd have to figure out where to put his mother, too. He didn't really want her to go back to Jersey, but it's not like she could continue living with his ex wife, when it came to that.

He knew sitting outside and staring at the building was just stalling, so he pulled the keys from the ignition and entered through the back door. The house was quiet, with the kids probably still asleep or just getting ready upstairs for their lazy Saturday. His mother was in the kitchen making eggs.

"Hi, honey," Bernie said when he came in the door.

"Hi, Mama," he answered.

He felt ashamed. He knew his mother knew about the night with Olivia, and Chelsea, and what happened yesterday, but he still couldn't help but feel like she'd reprimand him like a child for it all. Lord knows he felt like he deserved it.

"Big day yesterday," Bernie said, sliding the eggs out of the pan.

"And today," Elliot said, leaning against the counter.

"Kathy told me," Bernie said. "Honey, you knew it was going to come out eventually."

"Doesn't mean I was ready," Elliot said.

Bernie turned off the burners and rinsed the skillet in the sink.

"You're starting to live your own life, Elliot," Bernie said. "You made choices and you're owning up to them and you're taking the consequences, however they fall. You are brave. You've taught me to be brave. If you hadn't picked me up from that police station, introduced me to your partner, taken me in when I told the court you would, who knows where'd I be right now? It wasn't easy but we worked through it together. And that's what you're going to start to do, today, and for however long it takes to make things right."

In her lucid moments, Bernie was much wiser than Elliot gave her credit for.

"Now, eat your eggs and go do what needs to be done," Bernie said.

"I already ate," Elliot said. "Waffles."

"And where'd you get those?" she asked, smirking like she already knew.

"I know you know where I spent the night," Elliot said. "So wipe that look off your face. Nothing happened."

"But it will, again, someday," Bernie said. "You two are inevitable."

Just then, Kathy came into the kitchen.

"Oh, you're back," she said, not startled, but not exactly expecting him to be there yet.

"Thought we should do it sooner rather than later," he said.

"Sure, sure," Kathy said. "Your mom is making breakfast and they're slowly getting ready to straggle downstairs. Should we talk a little bit, just to make sure we're on the same page?"

"Sure," he said.

They stood in silence for a few minutes.

"Well, do you have a plan?" Kathy asked.

"Uh, not really," Elliot said.

"Did you tell Chelsea last night?" Kathy asked.

Of course, he figured, she knew where he spent the night too and what they'd done.

"Olivia handled it," he said. "Told her about the divorce and everything too. I was just kind of there to confirm what she said."

"Well, I'll back what you tell them today," Kathy said. "But you have to be the quarterback. This is your story to tell."

"Do we tell them about the divorce too?" Elliot asked.

"Let's not," Kathy said. "Kathleen and Maureen might figure it out and if they bring it up we can address it. But maybe we just tell them you're moving out for now."

"I, uh, what about my Mom?" Elliot asked. "I'm fine with moving out but I don't want to send her back to Jersey. She's been doing so well."

"She can stay here until you find a place for you or for her, whichever comes first," Kathy said.

"Thank you," Elliot said. "That'll make things easier."

"So, we're in agreement," Kathy said. "You tell them and I'm the support?"

"Sure," Elliot said.

Then he heard the bounding footsteps of four children trying to beat each other to the remote to get their pick of the cartoons.

"Yes, I win!" he heard Dickie yell from the living room. "Rugrats it is."

"You ready?" Kathy asked him.

"No," Elliot said. "But I'm not going to be any more ready later."

Kathy put a hand on his shoulder and motioned for him to enter the living room. Lizzie noticed him first.

"Hi Daddy, how was work?" she asked.

"Fine Lizzie Bean," he said. "Hey, Dickie, can you turn that off for a little bit."

"But Daddy this is the first day in forever that I got to pick cartoons," Dickie whined.

"I know but I want to talk to you about some stuff," Elliot said.

"Is everything okay?" Kathleen asked. "Is somebody sick or dying?"

"No," Elliot said. "Nothing like that."

"You have on your serious face," Kathleen said. "The kind you have when you ground us or have bad news."

Elliot sat down on the edge of his recliner and Kathy stood behind the chair. He was glad to have her so near, just to have the little bit of extra support to tell his tale.

"I didn't actually work late last night," Elliot said. "Your Mom and I needed to spend the night apart."

"Why?" Lizzie asked. "Do you have the stomach flu again?"

"No," Elliot said. "A few things happened yesterday that are going to lead to some changes around here. Not bad changes, nobody is sick and nobody is hurt. Just changes."

"Like what?" Dickie asked.

Elliot took another deep breath. He felt a little dizzy. He remembered Olivia's anxiety attack on the roof and wondered if he was about to have one himself. Kathy put her hand on his shoulder again and it grounded him enough to continue.

"A few years ago, before Kathleen was born, Mommy and I got into an argument," Elliot said. "You know how we sometimes argue over things?"

All four kids nodded.

"That night was another night we decided to spend apart," Elliot said. "And I met a nice lady who ended up becoming an important person in my life."

"Who?" Kathleen asked.

"Olivia," Elliot said. "I met her before we worked together."

"That's kind of cool," Maureen said. "That you met before and then ended up becoming partners."

"Yeah," Elliot said. "We spent that night getting to know each other. But what I didn't know at the time was that not too long after that, Olivia had a baby."

"Well, I mean, duh," Kathleen said. "She has Chelsea."

"Right," Elliot said, not really knowing where to take it from there without getting graphic or having them ask too many questions. "But I didn't know then that her baby, that Chelsea, was my daughter too. Your sister."

He looked across all the kids' faces. Dickie and Lizzie didn't seem to get it. Kathleen looked like she wasn't sure if he was playing a trick on her, and Maureen had gone pale.

"So Chelsea is our sister even though Livia is her Mommy?" Dickie asked.

"Yeah buddy, she is," Elliot said.

"That's cool," Lizzie said. "I like her. She can share my room when she moves in."

"She's not moving in," Maureen said, attitude in her voice. "He's probably moving out."

"Your mom and I think that might be best, yes," Elliot said.

"Wait, why do you have to move out?" Dickie asked.

"Because he's a lying cheater and he doesn't belong here anymore," Maureen said, her voice jumping an octave as she spoke.

"What's a cheater?" Lizzie asked.

"Maureen, if you can just stay calm we can talk about this," he said.

"No," Maureen said, springing up off the couch. "Go get a divorce and move in with your new family because I never want to see you or talk to you again. I hate you."

And with that she spun on her heel, ran up the stairs, and slammed her bedroom door shut. The other five people in the room sat in silence.

"Daddy, do I have time to go eat my eggs before you move out?" Dickie asked. "I don't want to miss saying goodbye."

"You have plenty of time to go eat your eggs, buddy," Elliot said. "And just because I'm moving out doesn't mean I still won't see you guys all the time and come to your games and plays, and be around for birthdays and holidays."

"Of course not silly," Lizzie said, like it made complete sense. "You're our Daddy."

"That's right baby girl," Elliot said. "Go into the kitchen and get Grandma to make you both breakfast."

Lizzie and Dickie both popped up from the couch and hugged Elliot before running off to find Bernie.

Then there were three, and Kathleen just sat watching them.

"Do you have any questions Kathleen?" Elliot asked.

She looked at him with those piercing blue eyes that mirrored his own and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Kathleen asked. "I mean Chelsea and I could have been friends for a long time by now."

"It's complicated, sweetheart," Elliot said.

She looked at him with her skeptical face again before she spoke.

"You two are happier today," she said, pointing a finger between Kathy and Elliot. "It's less tense here. This is probably a good thing."

Kathleen had always been the one, out of all of them, to read a room. She felt emotions pretty intensely and could usually spot them in others.

"Up there though," she said, pointing towards the stairs. "That's a bit of a mess. But she'll figure out this is good eventually. I'm going to get Grandma to make me eggs too."

Then Kathleen got off the couch, kissed Elliot on the cheek, hugged Kathy, and disappeared into the kitchen.

"I think they say three out of four ain't bad," Kathy said, coming to sit on the couch.

"I kind of figured the twins wouldn't get it," Elliot said. "And I should have known Kathleen would be able to feel the mood shift."

"It does feel a little lighter around here today, doesn't it," Kathy said. "I guess we didn't realize how much tension we were harboring, huh?"

"I guess not," he said. "But I just want you to know, when we go to draw up the papers…"

"We don't have to talk about this now," Kathy said.

"But we do," Elliot said. "I want to do whatever's best for the kids. Whatever's going to make them happiest and make the transition easier."

"Elliot, you're a good father," Kathy said. "I don't want to screw with you about custody or payments or agreements. I know that our marital status and living situations may change, but what isn't going to change is how involved you are and how much you do for the kids. So that's why I said we don't need to talk about it today. We'll go together to draw up the paperwork, and get advice together. I don't want to play games with this."

Elliot breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good, because I don't want to either," he said.

They both sat in silence for a few minutes before he stood from the chair.

"I guess I should go talk to her," Elliot said.

"Let me do it," Kathy said. "Maybe you can go pack some of your things. I mean don't feel like you have to get everything out of here in one day. You can get more after you find a new place. Or if you end up not being able to find anything you can stay on the couch. I just don't think sharing a bed anymore is the right move."

"It's not," he said. "And thank you for not kicking me out completely."

"I'm hurt," Kathy said. "I'm not cruel."

"No, you're definitely not," Elliot said.

He watched Kathy disappear upstairs. He heard his mother and the other kids chattering excitedly in the kitchen and he knew if he joined them it might brighten his mood. But he wouldn't be happy until he could get Maureen, his first baby, his beautiful little girl, to forgive him. So, he snuck upstairs to listen at the door to her conversation with her mother.

He heard some light sobbing as he approached the door. It was ajar just enough that he could hear what was happening inside without straining, and he could stay out of sight, pretending to be just passing through from his mother's room if he got caught.

"I hate him," Maureen said through tears.

"No, you don't," Kathy said. "You're angry with him, but I know you don't hate your father."

"I do," Maureen said. "He lied to us. He lied to you. How are you not mad? How do you not hate him too?"

"I'm hurt," Kathy said. "But honey, your Dad and I were so young when we started dating, so very young when we got engaged and got married. Maybe we weren't supposed to be together forever and we just weren't old enough to know it yet."

"Well, that's my fault, too," Maureen said. "If I'd never been born you and Dad wouldn't have had to get married."

"Don't ever say that again," Kathy said. "I don't regret getting married to your dad or having you for a second. And I bet he feels the same way."

"No he doesn't," Maureen said. "He really wants Olivia and to go be a family with her and Chelsea. I hate them too. I wish they never would have come to our house. I wish I was never nice to them."

"Now, I don't think that's true either," Kathy said. "You think Olivia is very cool, and she's your role model. I can tell."

"No she's not," Maureen said. "Well not anymore."

"What happened between Olivia and your dad has nothing to do with how she feels about you," Kathy said. "And it shouldn't affect how you feel about her."

"But Dad cheated on you with her," Maureen said. "And I'm always going to pick you. Always. She made Dad leave you. She made him cheat."

"No, Dad decided to do that on his own," Kathy said. "And she didn't know that Dad was engaged when it happened."

"How do you know that?" Maureen asked.

"Because I talked to her about it yesterday," Kathy said.

"You talked to her even after you knew she cheated with Dad?" Maureen asked.

"I did," Kathy said.

"Do you hate her now too?" Maureen asked.

"I don't," Kathy said. "I think she's a very nice person who made a mistake, or wasn't thinking clearly. And I think she cares about your Dad a lot. And I think she cares about you and your brother and sisters a lot, too."

"She lied to us," Kathy said.

"It wasn't her place to tell you," Kathy said. "It was Dad's."

The girls were quiet for a few minutes and Elliot was wondering if he should knock on the door, but then they started talking again.

"You can be hurt or mad at Olivia, but because she's your sister's mother, she's going to be in your life for a long time," Kathy said. "Maybe someday you can talk with her too and ask her questions."

"Did it make you feel better?" Maureen asked.

"A little," Kathy said. "It helped me understand her better."

"I don't think I want to be friends with Chelsea anymore," Maureen said. "She's the reason you and Dad have to get divorced. Just like I'm the reason you and Dad had to get married."

"That's not true either, and you know it," Kathy said, a little more stern this time. "It is not Chelsea's fault that your Dad and Olivia did what they did. They made a grown up choice that didn't have anything to do with her. Just like your Dad and I made the grown up choice to get married. We didn't have to. I could have lived with Gramma and Poppy and raised you myself, but Dad and I chose to get married. You didn't make us do anything."

"I don't want things to change," Maureen said. "I like my life and our family."

"Honey, just because things are going to change doesn't mean we're not a family anymore," Kathy said. "Dad and I are going to get divorced, and he's going to move out if he can find a place. But if not, he's going to sleep on the couch until he does. And Grandma is going to stay until she finds her own place nearby too."

"I like that, at least," Maureen said.

"And Dad is serious about not missing holidays, birthdays, and activities," Kathy said. "No more than he already does, anyway."

"That's good too," Maureen said.

"And your family is getting bigger," Kathy said. "Love is infinite, honey. You can love me and love Olivia too. You can love your siblings downstairs and also love Chelsea. There's enough room in your heart for everybody."

"I'm still mad at Dad," Maureen said. "I don't know if I can forgive him."

"I think you can if you really try," Kathy said. "And it might help to talk to him and listen to him too."

Elliot took that as his cue to knock on the door.

"Come in," Maureen said and he stuck his head inside.

"Can I talk to you?" Elliot asked.

Maureen folded her arms and wouldn't look at him.

"I was just going to go down and see what I could round up for breakfast," Kathy said. "You two talk."

Kathy slipped out of the room and he slid in, sitting on Kathleen's bed. The silence was awkward and Elliot knew he'd have to make the first move.

"I know you're upset with me," Elliot said.

"Of course I am," she yelled. "You cheated on Mom. And then you brought Olivia and Chelsea here and made us like them but it was all a lie."

"Do you know what the worst part of making a mistake is?" Elliot asked.

"No, what?" Maureen asked.

"Hurting the people you love," Elliot said. "Maureen, I didn't do what I did to hurt you. I would do anything for you and your brother and sisters, your mom, Grandma, and Olivia."

"But why do you have to get divorced from Mom and leave us?" Maureen asked. "Chelsea and Olivia have been fine without you all this time. We need you here. They don't."

"I might be leaving the house," Elliot said. "But I'm never leaving you. Never ever. Even when you're 90 and you're sitting in your little old lady rocking chair at some retirement home, I'm going to be right there all the time."

"Dad, when I'm 90 you'll be 109," Maureen said.

"And you said you didn't like math anymore," Elliot joked, but Maureen didn't laugh.

"Honey, I know this is a lot of change," Elliot said. "But I promise you things will be okay."

"I don't know if I trust you anymore," Maureen said. "You cheated on Mom and you lied to her. And you didn't tell us the truth either. So how do I know you won't do it again?"

Her words hurt, because this is what Elliot had been afraid of all along.

"When somebody breaks your trust it can take a lot of time to earn it back," Elliot said. "Because the only way to do it is to give me opportunities to tell you the truth or prove to you that you can trust me, and I have to take them."

"I don't know if I can do that," Maureen said.

"If you can't, I understand," Elliot said. He felt gutted, knowing his baby was hurt and it was his fault. "But I love you so much and it's killing me to know that I hurt you. Would it make you feel better if I asked for a new partner at work? If I didn't see Olivia anymore?"

"Yes," Maureen said in a small voice.

"If you're sure, and that will really fix things between us, I'll go do it right now," Elliot said.

He, of course, did not want a new partner. And he knew he'd never be able to stop seeing Chelsea now. But if not dating Olivia, not spending time with her at work, would soften the blow for Maureen, well, he'd do it immediately.

She didn't answer him, so he stood from Kathleen's bed, intending to go call Olivia and then Cragen to make the switch. He was reaching for the doorknob when he heard a noise.

"Wait," Maureen said. "You're really going to get a new partner and stop seeing them just like that if I say so?"

"If that's what it takes to make it up to you, then I'll do it," he said.

"But that's not fair to Chelsea," Maureen said. "Does she know you're her real dad?"

"She does now," Elliot said. "Olivia told her yesterday."

"So if I say so, she'll have to keep that miserable guy from the birthday party as her dad and never get to know you?" Maureen asked.

"Well, he broke the law and he's probably going to jail," Elliot said. "But if you say so, I won't spend as much time with her, no."

Maureen rubbed her lips together, a nervous habit she picked up from her mother, and ran her hands through her hair.

"I don't want her to not have a real dad just because I'm being selfish," Maureen said. "But you're going to date Olivia and live in the city with them and we'll never see you. And I want to hate you, but if I never saw you again, I'd miss you too much."

Elliot moved to sit on the bed with Maureen and she didn't recoil.

"I told you, I could never stay away from you guys," Elliot said. "I know it hurts that I had a relationship with another woman and it was someone you know…"

"You didn't have a relationship with Olivia," Maureen said. "You had sex with her. And you're only supposed to have sex with someone you're married to or someone you love. And if you did that with Olivia while you were supposed to be with Mom, well that's a sin and it's wrong."

"You're right," Elliot said. "You are only supposed to do that with people you love, and you're always supposed to ask permission and respect what the other person says. And believe me, I went to confession after it happened because I knew what I did was wrong."

"Do you love Mom?" Maureen asked.

It was a loaded question, and one that seemed to be coming up repeatedly over the last two days. Did he love Kathy? He knew the answer was yes, but just like they had discussed in the cribs, love and being in love were two different things.

"I do love your Mom," Elliot said. "But she explained something to me yesterday that I never realized. Loving someone and being in love with someone are different."

"How?" Maureen asked.

"You love your brother, right?" Elliot said. "But you're not going to marry him."

"Ew, gross, no!" Maureen squealed.

"And you love spending time with your friend Tyler from down the street," Elliot said. "But you don't want to kiss him, right?"

"Um, no thank you," Maureen said. "I'd rather kiss… you know what, never mind, not important."

Elliot couldn't help but chuckle.

"That's how Mom explained it to me," Elliot said. "You can care about someone and love them, but you don't have to be in love with them. You might not want to kiss them all the time, or wake up next to them every morning, or spend every second of the day with them."

"So you love Mom, but you're not in love with her?" Maureen asked.

"We both kind of realized we still love each other, but we were staying married for you guys," Elliot said. "And that might not actually be fair to you. If we fight a lot or if we're unhappy, that doesn't make for a very good home life for you guys."

"But you're in love with Olivia," Maureen said.

"I think I might be," Elliot said. "But I don't know yet. But the offer still stands. If you don't like it I won't even think about asking her on a date."

"I really liked Olivia," Maureen said. "And Chelsea. But I'm mad because they're taking you away."

"I promise you they are not taking me away," Elliot said. "We're just adding to the family. The same way we sometimes add in all of Mom's cousins and stuff when we do family things, we're just adding two more people."

"How long do you think it'll be before I'm not mad at you guys anymore?" Maureen asked.

"I think only you can figure that out," Elliot said. "But you can have as long as you need. Remember, even if you don't like me, I'm always in your corner. And so is Mom. And maybe you don't want to hear it right now, but so is Olivia."

"She wouldn't like me very much if she knew I was mad at you," Maureen said. "Or at her and Chelsea."

"Olivia already loves you, Mo," Elliot said. "For weeks after she stayed here with you guys when we had the stomach flu, she kept telling me how nice, sweet, smart, and helpful you were. And after the party? She talked nonstop about what a great big sister you are. She just wants you to be happy too. We all do."

"I'm still mad at you," Maureen said. "But can I have a hug, Daddy?"

Maureen hadn't called him Daddy in a few years. She said she'd grown out of it. So when he heard that, he didn't wait to scoop her into his arms. She clung to him like she was afraid he'd vanish.

"I know change is hard," Elliot said. "But whether I live in this house or in California. You can call me day or night and if you need me, I'll come running."

"It's like that song you used to play for us," Maureen said. "The James Taylor one."

"Exactly like that," Elliot said.

He thought about that song. How he used to play it softly for the kids when he'd rock them to sleep at night. He wasn't the best singer, so he'd always put on the radio or hum instead of singing to them. When they got a little older and couldn't sleep, he'd bring a boom box into their room and play those same songs on low to lull them to sleep. Then he thought about how he gave that same song to Liv after her run in with Burton. It was like his own personal promise. They could count on him for anything. And he was going to spend the rest of his life trying to prove it.

"Do you think you're good enough to go back downstairs and eat something," Elliot asked, stroking her hair.

"Yeah, I think so," Maureen said, sitting up. "You don't have to go right away do you?"

"Mom said there's no rush," Elliot said. "I'm going to start calling around about apartments, but Mom said I can stay on the couch for as long as I need to."

"Okay," Maureen said, climbing off the bed and taking Elliot's hand so he'd stand up too.

She didn't let go as they walked down the stairs, not until they got to the living room and she took her breakfast plat from Bernie.

Elliot went and sat on the couch next to Kathleen. Lizzie and Dickie were eating on their laps in front of the TV, and Maureen snuggled in on his other side to eat too. Things were far from perfect, but they'd get there. He looked over at Kathy who was sitting in the recliner looking over at him and she smiled. He owed a lot to her. Maybe everything. And he sure hoped whatever she wanted out of this divorce, or this life after him, that she got it all.

As for Elliot, he already knew what he wanted out of life after the divorce. Something just like this, only with two more beautiful brown-haired, big-hearted women in the same picture.


A/N: Don't worry, with 3 left you know we're just tying up the loose ends and pushing everyone toward the happy ending they deserve since a television drama won't give us that in real life. Reviews are always loved.