A/n: Thank you all for your favs, follows and supportive reviews, they mean a lot.
"Where baby? Where did mommy fall?" Elliot asked trying to remain calm in front of his daughter.
T-The kitchen," Izzabella said as Elliot nodded and jumped up from the chair he was sitting in "did she say anything when she fell?" he asked as he walked.
Izzabella shook her head through tears "nnhnn it was like she couldn't hear me."
He nodded slightly "t-thanks for telling me baby," he said as his fast walk turned into more of a run as he ran into the kitchen "Liv! Liv honey can you hear me? I-If you can hear me I need you to say something or move a part of your body for me please..."
There was no response at all as he was now kneeling beside her as he saw the incomplete cucumber salad on the counter above her "please be okay baby, please be okay I'm sorry I wasn't with you, god I'm sorry," he murmured in a panic as he checked her pulse with trembling fingers and was extremely relieved when he found one "what's going on dad?" Maureen asked walking through.
"L-Liv's unresponsive I-I need a rag with cool water please, cool not cold I-I'm gonna try to rouse her with it."
Maureen nodded and quickly did what he said "should I call an ambulance?"
"Only if this doesn't work," Elliot said as once he had it he gently dabbed at her face with it "Liv baby please wake up for me, please please please I-I'm sorry I didn't check on you more, I-I should have never let this happen today c-coming here was a terrible idea..." he rambled.
There was no response to his words as all the older kids circled around him and were talking over each other trying to ask questions "g-girls! Girls give us a little space please... Lizzie go help Carl, Kathleen take Izzabella down to the beach or something, distract her for me please, Maureen get the phone ready, I'm giving her 2 more minutes to wake up before I have you call an ambulance."
The 3 girls quickly nodded their heads and did as asked as the doorbell rang, Bernadette's friends finally having arrived "I've got it Elliot!" Bernadette called.
"Good! Your finally doing something to help out this morning! took you long enough!" he said as he went back to dabbing at Olivia's face "Liv baby you've gotta wake up for me love, I know you hate hospitals but if you don't show me your okay soon I'll have to get you to one," he said, his voice soft.
There was no response again as he sighed heavily "Maureen call the ambulance," he said as just then Olivia woke and moved her head slightly "w-where am I? W-What happened?"
"Never mind on the ambulance," Elliot said to Maureen in relief as he turned back to Olivia "your on the floor at mom's in the kitchen you passed out can you tell me the last thing you remember?"
She slightly nodded through a grimace "I-I was putting together the cucumber salad, every thing went fuzzy then I woke up here."
Elliot nodded his head slightly "does anything hurt? Do you think you hit your head?"
She shook her head slightly "I-I don't think I hit my head no b-but my body hurts all over, I-I feel like I might throw up," she said as she tried to sit up quickly and aim her head at the garbage can "easy baby take it slow... Take it slow and steady if there's a mess I'll clean it up, it won't be a problem."
Olivia nodded slightly but did her best to make it into the can anyway but sadly luck wasn't in her favor as the vomit landed just shy of it ,as Elliot remained behind her rubbing her back in comfort "good god really..." Gladys mumbled under her breath.
"I-I'm sorry..." Olivia said while trying to catch her breath having heard her utterance.
"Yeah well you look to be 40 not 5, there's food being prepared in here if you need to vomit go to the restroom don't do it in here on the floor, it's disgusting, I'm gonna go get Bernadette."
Elliot glared "ma'am I don't know who you are or anything about you but don't you ever speak to my wife that way again she couldn't help it. None of this would have happened if it wasn't for her having to work herself to hard because you guys weren't helping out."
"Last I heard this party was for your little girl you should be grateful."
Elliot just glared harshly as Carl ran inside "Elliot! Elliot I need you outside the vegetables are burning."
"Let them burn for all I care, I wanted nothing to do with this today and Olivia's sick because of it."
"E-El I-it's okay I-I'll clean this up, finish making the salad t-then lie down for a few minutes Izzabella shouldn't not get her party because of me."
"Baby it's not okay, n-none of this is okay," he said adamantly as Carl still stood there "Elliot please."
"No," Elliot said firmly "either stir it yourself until I'm through here or turn the grill off and call little Seazers, they sell pepperoni pizzas for 5 dollars a piece, 3 pizzas would feed every one just fine."
Carl just sighed slightly, unsure what to do as Gladys looked to Olivia "you said you'd clean the floor up so clean it, it's disgusting."
Olivia nodded slightly and tried to pull herself off the floor as Elliot helped her up "here sit," he said softly guiding her around her vomit and into a chair.
Olivia shook her head slightly "I-I have to clean the floor."
Elliot shook his head "I'll do that baby, don't worry about a thing," he said as he gently kissed the side of her head then turned on Gladys "I want you to leave right now."
Gladys shook her head and squared her shoulders "you can't make me go anywhere this isn't your home."
"You wanna bet?" Elliot asked as his facial expression was daring.
She nodded "I'll bet with you, Bernadette!" she called.
Elliot glared harshly as he grabbed the mop then saw Carl still standing there "what are you doing Carl?"
"You haven't told me what to do yet," he said.
Elliot sighed heavily "decide your damn self Carl I really don't care about the fucking party right now!" he said as he cleaned the vomit off of the floor and Bernadette walked into the kitchen "can all of you stop yelling? It's making my headache worse, what did you need Gladys?"
Gladys looked over at her "your son is trying to make me leave."
Bernadette glared at Elliot "Gladys is my friend Elliot you can't tell my friends they aren't welcome here, I wouldn't do that to your friends."
Elliot glared "well your friend disrespected my wife and talked to her like she was a fucking toddler and I'm not gonna tolerate that!"
Bernadette sighed "Gladys just really likes cleanliness she's not a bad person Elliot she just gets upset when people make messes, it's how she's wired."
Elliot glared "Olivia didn't purposely make a mess! She passed out from overexerting herself because nobody was helping her which I am VERY upset about by the way! Then she threw up from the pain she's in and couldn't scoot forward in time! That's not her fault mama, it was an accident, a fucking accident which she feels terrible about and I'm not gonna have people trying to make her feel worse."
Bernadette nodded "okay then, lets just call this what it is, a misunderstanding and get back to our day, our fun. This day is gonna be so much fun, the fun hasn't even begun yet."
Elliot glared "I can't forgive her for what she said and I want her out of my sight and off this property."
Bernadette shook her head "I'm not making her leave Elliot."
Elliot nodded "okay fine, I can't make you make her leave but let me tell you this, when you and her spend another 5 grand on purses and you can't pay your rent next month don't call me and ask me to help you out again, I still haven't forgotten about the 2 grand you owe me now," he said as he put the mop away and walked over to Olivia who was leaning forward heavily against the table, her forehead laying on the table cloth as Bernadette just stood there open mouthd.
"Hey sweetheart why don't we get you somewhere more comfortable hmm?" he whispered softly.
She nodded slightly "o-Okay b-but not for long El I don't wanna miss her blowing out her candles or opening presents."
He nodded slightly "you won't miss it baby I promise," he said as he lifted her into his arms.
Olivia frowned "El I should walk I'm to heavy for you to carry."
He shook his head "your not to heavy sweetheart I've picked up a perp before I can carry you no problem," he said as he walked passed Gladys who glared at him as he glared right back "whatever your thinking don't even think about saying it," he said as he walked by.
Gladys just rolled her eyes and went back to decorating the dining room as Olivia nodded, chuckled slightly and stayed in his arms allowing him to carry her just this once since her pain was so terribly bad "you know I don't think I've ever seen you glare from up that close before," she said once they were in the guest room.
Elliot frowned slightly and rubbed her back "I'm sorry if I scared you sweetheart I wasn't glaring at you."
She nodded slightly "I know that El," she said softly while looking into his eyes "I think you got your point across though."
He nodded "god I hope so she has no right to judge us or talk to you that way and I won't stand for it."
Olivia nodded slightly and sighed "I feel like I've caused to much trouble and conflict here lately. The last thing I wanna be the cause of is trouble between you and your mother."
Elliot nodded and looked directly into her eyes "baby it's not you that's causing the trouble between us I promise you that... It's her behavior, hers not yours or anything you've done."
She nodded slightly and sighed "I just feel like if I was doing more on my own and wasn't needing your help so much right now maybe there wouldn't be such a big problem."
He nodded "that might be true," he said as he noticed her shoulders sag slightly "but... but me helping you, supporting you through this? It's my choice, I'm choosing to do it and make it my number one priority. Believe me honey if I didn't wanna be doing this I wouldn't be doing it."
She nodded slightly as a small smile broke through "ohh don't I know that, I think Cragen knows that about you more than anyone," she said trying to lighten the mood.
He nodded and smiled "he definitely does but did you hear me though? I need you to have heard me, none of this conflict is your fault baby and I need you to believe me."
She nodded slightly "I-I heard you El a-and I'll work on believing it."
He nodded slightly and gently kissed the top of her head then slowly laid her down on the bed as he sat on the edge of it "what time did you take your morphine this morning honey?"
"I-I didn't," she said through a pained grimace.
"Why not?" Elliot asked, making great effort to keep his voice soft.
"I-I couldn't find it, I looked around in here for it but couldn't find the bottle and I had food cooking in the kitchen s-so."
"So you felt like you needed to watch it," he said knowingly as he sighed and pulled the bottle out of the drawer on the nightstand he had put it in the night before "honey you should have called or texted me, I would have dropped what I was doing, came in and gave it to you."
She sighed slightly t-that's exactly why I didn't call, I knew you and Carl were busy with several things outside a-and I didn't wanna burden you with anything else."
Elliot shook his head adamantly "Olivia you are not a burden to me do you hear me? Me making sure you get every thing you need is not a burden to me," he sighed "it's the only thing I truly care about right now a-and you suffering like you have all day? Honey that makes me feel like I've failed at that, it makes me feel like I put this stupid party mama planned before you."
Olivia shook her head "that's not true."
Elliot nodded "yes it is, I shouldn't have left you alone this morning, I knew I shouldn't have done it the second I got out of the damn bed but I did, nightmare be dammed I did because there was so much that had to be done in a short amount of time, I should have left it to somebody else, I should have told mom no."
Olivia shook her head slightly "Izzabella is gonna have a great time today and that's worth it to me El."
He sighed slightly "Izzabella could have had a bigger and better party a couple weeks down the road that would have been a lot more fun for her and that wouldn't have caused these health consequences for you."
She nodded slightly and sighed "I won't disagree with that," she said as she looked to the still capped bottle of morphine which was in his hand "El please?"
He nodded quickly "sorry honey m-my thoughts got away from me," he said as he uncapped it then handed it to her.
She shook her head slightly "it's alright really," she said as she took the pill out then handed the bottle back as he handed her her water and she swallowed the pill with out issue.
Elliot slightly smiled as once she was through with her water he sat it on the nightstand "are you still feeling nauseous?"
She nodded slightly "a little."
He nodded a bit "why don't I go get you a wet rag and bucket then?"
Olivia nodded slightly "s-sounds good," she said as he nodded, kissed her head then left the room.
"Is she okay dad?" Maureen asked.
Elliot sighed "yeah she will be she's just in a lot of pain right now and is nauseated because of it, once her medicine kicks in she should feel better."
She nodded slightly "please don't snap at me... But what do you want done about this party in progress?"
Elliot sighed slightly "I'm not gonna snap at you honey, thank you for buying all those decorations and the piñata it means a lot to us."
She nodded slightly "it wasn't a problem dad if I had a kid and you were in the position to help I know you would."
Elliot nodded in agreement as he then sighed thinking of her previous question "did you guys stop the stew or keep fixing it?"
She sighed "Carl stopped it said he couldn't make it as good as you could and some of the vegetables looked overcooked anyways, he called Little Siezers."
Elliot nodded slightly "okay," he said as he sighed "your in charge of running things I trust that you can do it well you helped your mom do it enough," he said in a chuckle.
Maureen chuckled and nodded "true."
He smiled and nodded "mmhmm, just stall it, maybe find a game to play, something to do, keep Izzabella entertained until Liv feels better in a little while, once she's feeling up to it we'll come out for birthday cake and presents she doesn't wanna miss that."
Maureen nodded slightly "I understand can we eat the pizza once it gets here?"
Elliot shrugged "doesn't matter to me whatever the majority wants to do."
She nodded "Alright, can I find you if I have any questions?"
He nodded "text me my phone'll be on vibrate but close."
She nodded "alright dad love you," she said as she headed off and he washed his hands with soap and water then got a bucket and wet rag and went back to Olivia's side.
When he walked into the room he noticed Liv sleeping lightly as he smiled some and slowly eased onto the bed as once he was on it he gently went about placing the cold rag around her neck as she jumped and startled awake "shhh it's just me baby go back to sleep," he whispered softly as he strummed his fingers through her hair.
She nodded slightly as her heart rate calmed and so did her fight or flight response "s-sorry I startled El," she said regretfully.
He shook his head slightly "no need to apologize baby I should have warned you."
She shook her head slightly "y-you shouldn't have to, El your helping me a lot trust me you are b-but I feel like I should see somebody sooner rather than later."
He nodded slightly "you still keep your trauma therapist referral cards in your desk at the precinct right?"
Olivia nodded her head slightly as she yawned.
Elliot nodded slightly "why don't we go by there on Tuesday and look through them together then, we can pick one together."
She nodded slightly t-that works, oh no!" she said as she quickly scanned the room looking for her phone "I was supposed to look up that rage room for you this morning..."
Elliot shook his head slightly "it's alright sweetheart don't stress on that right now we can worry about that later, right now all I want you to worry about is closing your beautiful eyes and letting your meds work so we can hang out with the kids and you can take a hundred pictures when she blows out her candles," he said softly as he steadily stroked her hair while he spoke and she drifted back off.
Once she was back asleep he smiled slightly and scrolled through facebook with his free hand as he put hearts on all of the well wishes posts on his and Liv's timelines then went to his text messages as there was one from Cragen.
Don: Did you and Olivia talk to the news last night?
El: I would say they ambushed us is more like it. Cornered us at the Red Lobster in Jersey.
Don: Well whatever the case the press is looking at you both right now in not the best light. Tucker might decide to reinterview liv and ask her more in depth questions about her use of excessive force.
El: Tucker isn't getting anywhere near her not if I have anything to say about it! He's an insensitive asshole and she's dealt with enough people like that today.
Don: it's not a sure thing right now Elliot just a possibility but if you don't want it happening you need to make better impressions with the media.
El: I'll talk to Olivia about it later, see if she wants to make a statement in a few days, we'll be stopping by the precinct on Tuesday anyways so if she wants to you can set up a press conference then.
Don: Okay let me know what she says please, the sooner I know the better. Why do you need to stop by the station house? Olivia is on leave until July, 24th.
El: Will do; it's a personal matter.
Don: regarding?
El: A personal matter.
Don: Don't give me that crap.
El: We need to go through some things in her desk, that's all I'm giving you the only other thing you need to know is it's a personal matter.
Don: Fine, talk to you soon.
Elliot sighed and closed his messaging app and made himself comfortable on the bed as he smiled watching Olivia sleep as after a few minutes Bernadette walked into the guest room "she looks really peaceful," she whispered.
Elliot smiled slightly and gave a nod as Bernadette smiled "you know I wish your father did for me what your doing for her when we were married, I would have loved for him to have held me close sometimes or stroked my hair like your doing for her."
Elliot nodded slightly "I'm sorry he didn't," he whispered as his expression was sympathetic.
Bernadette nodded slightly "I am too, why don't you come out and join every one Elliot? She's sleeping so soundly I doubt she'll notice."
He shook his head slightly "I need to be right here I don't want her to wake up, need me and me not be here."
Bernadette just nodded slightly "you know I'm still upset at you for how you treated Gladys."
He nodded "I know, and I'm still upset at you for not helping Liv out this morning but we all need to just get along for the rest of the day can we do that?" he whispered.
She nodded slightly "I can if you and Olivia can."
Elliot sighed "mama get over it, Olivia got a little upset with you it's life I'm sure I would have said much worse."
She sighed "I'm used to you yelling at me but Olivia... She's just such a sweet woman normally and it shocked me."
Elliot nodded slightly as as much as he wanted to be angry with her still it was starting to melt away as he couldn't help but notice her fragility "come here," he said softly through a sigh.
Bernadette walked over to the bed and Elliot pulled her into his free side as he rubbed her back as she cried "every one has their breaking point mama, every one has their breaking point and she hit hers," he whispered in a gentle tone.
"B-But I-I didn't feel like I did anything wrong... I-I didn't feel well s-so I stayed out of every one's way and let them work, a-and Olivia didn't ask me to help her."
He sighed slightly "she didn't ask you for help because she always tries to do every thing herself even when she's not physically able to because she feels like she needs to prove to people that she can do it. You should have asked her if she needed help," he said softly.
"But why would I Elliot? She's not a child."
He sighed and took a deep breath "she's not a child no but mama take a minute, turn away from me and look at her, really look at her."
Bernadette nodded slightly and did so "her nails are beautiful, so is her hair."
He nodded "yes they are but look at her left hand, what do you see?"
Bernadette frowned "it looks swollen and it has a cast on it."
He nodded "yes that's right, while she was being held captive her wrist was broken, she's got a broken rib or 2 also, don't you think you would be more likely to yell at someone if you were in as much pain as she was in?"
She nodded slightly "maybe so yes."
Elliot nodded slightly "maybe later when she's awake and feeling better you should apologize to her for not helping her and she might apologize for getting so upset at you."
Bernadette nodded slightly "I will," she said.
Elliot nodded slightly "your on the right track towards forgiveness then," he said softly as he kissed her head.
She nodded slightly "I'll forgive you too if you apologize to Gladys."
Elliot sighed "if Gladys apologizes to Olivia and means it then I'll think about it, and she has to decide to do it on her own if you make her do it it won't mean anything to us, it has to come from her heart."
Bernadette nodded her head slightly "would you like a piece of pizza Elliot?"
He shook his head "not right now mama thank you though."
Bernadette nodded her head slightly and left the bedroom as Elliot sighed heavily, rubbed his temples for a minute then started rummaging around for some Aleve.
"Every thing okay?" Liv asked groggily waking to the noise of him searching.
"Yeah sweetheart it is I promise I'm just looking for something to take for my headache."
She nodded slightly "you can have 1 of my pills if you can't find anything else to take I don't want you to suffer."
He shook his head slightly "that morphine is to strong for me and you need it more than I do."
"A-Are you sure?" she asked groggily.
He nodded "I'm sure I promise."
Olivia nodded and rolled over slightly falling back asleep as when she rolled over the burn she had gotten from the grease earlier that morning could be seen as Elliot frowned slightly, having given up looking for something to take for his headache as he leaned to whisper in her ear "Liv baby I'm gonna take your wrist into my hand and pull it forward so I can look at this burn okay? I don't wanna scare you."
Olivia nodded slightly in her sleep as Elliot gently grasped it and rubbed her hand slightly to hopefully prevent nerves as he pulled it closer to him and got a better look at it "damn..." he whispered softly to himself as he gently moved it back to her side not wanting to disturb her sleep as he sighed and googled what to do.
It didn't take him long to find a reliable website as he took a screenshot of it, deciding he'd treat the burn once she woke up as he then turned the light off in the bedroom figuring that would help his headache as he put his phone to the side then pulled her into his arms so he'd have room to lay down too as he covered them up and fell asleep right along with her.
An hour and a half passed by with both of them asleep as it was now around 3:30 and Izzabella was getting anxious and tired of waiting on her parents as Maureen had texted Elliot several times and even called him once but there had been no answer any of those times as she finally decided she'd go check on them as she knocked on the bedroom door slightly.
There was no response to her knocking as she started to grow worried as she knocked a bit louder.
Maureen was met with complete silence again as she knitted her brow and opened the door in worry as she sighed in relief when she registered the sight in front of her.
Elliot was snoring softly and Olivia looked like she was in a peaceful sleep, her head was laying on Elliot's chest and they were holding hands, his other hand was also woven into her hair as she smiled and snapped a picture sending it to her family group chat.
Maureen: They're not dead thank god, I was worried at first when they didn't hear the door.
Kathleen: Awww how cute...
Kathy: Can they be any closer?
Lizzie: I don't think so mom lol.
Maureen: should I wake them up Kathleen? or can Izzabella wait it out a little while longer.
Kathleen: wake them up Mo please!
Lizzie: I second that!
Kathy: Idk how I ended up in this group chat but I wouldn't bother them.
Carl: Right? That'd be like poking a bear, if your gonna wake anyone up wake up Olivia, let her wake up Elliot herself.
Maureen: Copy. she sent as she then put her phone back in her pocket and walked over to the bed "Liv, Liv," she whispered softly as she tapped her arm lightly.
"H-Hmmm?" she murmured groggily as she stirred slightly causing Elliot to stroke her hair again in his half asleep state.
"Liv it's 3:30, Izzabella's getting really impatient can you wake dad up and come outside?"
Olivia yawned groggily as a result of Elliot's soothing motions as Maureen sighed "Liv..."
Olivia tried hard to focus her gaze on Maureen but she was to relaxed as she fell back asleep just as Elliot's hand stopped moving as Maureen sighed and texted the siblings chat this time, forgetting they had added the significant others too.
Maureen: no luck, had her awake and she was asleep again with in 30 seconds, it was like dad sensed she was awake. It was weird, he stroked her hair and it knocked her out.
Kathleen: that's probably what he does for her when she has nightmares, she had them after Sealview too, was he fully awake?
Maureen: no his eyes were closed.
Kathleen: try waking him instead.
Carl: that's a bad idea love.
Brad: why are y'all so scared of that guy?
Carl: Because he still has his police issued gun somewhere and he has the strength to hurt somebody if he really wanted too.
Lizzie: daddy would never hurt a fly. Why do people keep saying he's this angry awful person?
Maureen: I have no idea but I'm tired of it too, Carl's not afraid of him he's just intimidated right?
Carl: Right.
Maureen: smiling face emoji.
Brad: well I'm not afraid of that dude one bit, I'll date Kath no matter what he says.
Kathleen: don't let him hear that.. Love and miss you xxxx.
Brad: Well I'll see you next week, a promise is a promise.
Kathleen: I'll try my best.
Maureen put her phone in her pocket since the conversation had went off topic and she had been given advice as she shook Elliot's shoulder lightly "dad?" she whispered.
"Hmmm what is it..?" he groaned groggily knowing it wasn't Olivia who had woken him up as he moved his hand from her hair to wipe the sleep out of his eyes.
Maureen smiled slightly "dad it's 3:30 can you guys come outside soon? I don't think Izzabella's gonna be willing to wait much longer for cake and presents.
Elliot nodded slightly and stretched out the best he could with out causing Olivia's body to move "give us till 4 o'clock honey there's something we have to take care of before we go out there."
She nodded slightly "alright, love you dad," she said as she left the room and Elliot sighed, every thing in him wanting to let Olivia keep sleeping but knowing that the party couldn't be stalled for much longer and that she'd be pissed if he let her sleep through the celebrations and with that resolve he sifted his fingers back into her hair and leaned to whisper in her ear "Liv, Liv honey?" he said softly.
Olivia's eyes fluttered open and her head moved slightly "h-hmmm?"
"How are you feeling love?" he asked softly.
"Mmm relaxed and safe," she murmured.
He smiled some and nodded "I'm glad to hear that baby, I meant physically though."
She nodded slightly and smiled "I feel much better."
Elliot nodded and smiled in relief "you think you might feel like going outside for a while then? Apparently Izzabella's driving Kathleen nuts out there with her impatience."
Olivia chuckled and smiled "I think I'm up to it yeah, did you ever find anything for your headache El?"
"No I didn't but I slept it off," he said with a slight smile.
She smiled slightly and nodded "good, what's mine is yours though El so I meant what I said if you ever need"-
Elliot shook his head "no honey I won't ever do that it isn't right Olivia."
She nodded slightly and let the subject drop as she stretched a bit then raised off his chest "you ready to head out?" she asked.
"Almost I just need to treat your burn first."
"El we don't have time to treat them all right now honey we can just do it tonight."
He shook his head slightly "the 1 on your wrist is new it doesn't need to wait any longer."
"Ohh that one..." she said through a sigh "it isn't that bad really it barely even hurt compared to the other ones."
Elliot frowned as her statement broke his heart "it might not hurt as bad as some of the other ones but a couple small blisters formed on it so I need to treat it," he said softly.
Olivia just nodded slightly and sighed "how do you want me?"
"Google says I need to soak it in cool water so the bathroom is probably the best place."
Olivia nodded slightly and sighed as she stood up as Elliot sighed "baby I'm sorry, I know you don't wanna do this right now and I feel horrible pushing it I just don't want it getting infected you understand that right?"
She nodded slightly "I do El and I'm not trying to be difficult it's just... It's just I wanna forget, I was in such a good mood when I woke up and the wound care just puts my mind back into bad places that I don't want it to be in right now, today is about Izzabella not my trauma."
Elliot nodded sympathetically "you know I won't make you let me I can't... I don't have the heart to do that, your caregiver or not but we could always try talking about happy things while I'm doing it, good memories."
She smiled slightly and nodded "we can try it," she said as he nodded and they walked side by side into the bathroom.
Olivia sat on the toilet lid and they talked about their trip to the Bahama's, particularly the sites they saw while they were there as Elliot followed the directions from the website: soaking her wrist in cool water for 15 minutes, drying the burn gently, applying burn cream to it since he didn't have any honey and bandaging it gently with some gauze as before she knew it he was through and he had caused very little discomfort "I'm through sweetheart," he said after applying the gauze "did talking about happy memories help?"
Olivia nodded and smiled "it did a lot."
Elliot smiled and nodded "good I'm glad, we'll do that from now on then," he said giving her a tender kiss as she smiled, nodded and returned it in kind "you ready to head outside now?" she asked.
"I am," Elliot said with a smile as she nodded and they walked out "have we got any food left? I'm starving," Olivia said to Maureen.
Maureen smiled "you look much better Liv."
Olivia smiled "I feel a lot better."
She smiled "I'm glad, we have 1 slice of pizza left you and dad'll have to decide who gets it."
Olivia nodded "you can have it," they both said to each other in unison.
"Really guys?" Maureen said through a sigh.
"Liv needs it more than I do."
"El needs it more than I do," they both said again in unison.
Maureen sighed slightly but chuckled despite herself as she took a knife and cut the slice of pizza right down the middle "here now you can both have some," she said as she handed the food to them on napkins.
"Thanks honey," they both said to her as Elliot then put his half on Liv's napkin "you need it more than I do."
Olivia sighed "Elliot..."
Elliot smiled "I had a bacon egg biscuit for breakfast what did you have?"
She sighed "a Granny Smith apple."
Elliot smiled and nodded "I win, it's yours," he said as he walked off with a smile and Olivia sighed, chuckled then ate the pizza.
Not long after she finished eating the cake was brought out as it had been decorated nicely as the icing had been spread out in flower designs as Izzabella smiled at the cake in awe "see honey? I told you she wouldn't notice the difference," Olivia whispered to Elliot with a smile.
Elliot smiled and nodded "yeah yeah your right, your always right," he whispered playfully as his face then grew serious "but I'm so, so glad you were right."
Olivia smiled and kissed his cheek as Maureen lit the candle and Kathleen started the countdown "happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Izzabella... Happy birthday to you," every one sang as Olivia took video and pictures.
"It's eight days late but it still counts!" Bernadette said loudly with a smile as every one chuckled and Izzabella blew out her candle first try.
"Okay birthday girl gets her piece first!" Elliot called with a smile taking charge of the activities again "big or small piece Liv?" he asked.
"Medium please," she said with a smile as she made herself comfortable in a chair as not long later every one had eaten their share of cake as there was only a couple pieces left.
"Lets put the rest of this cake in the refrigerator Liv and Izzabella can finish it off tomorrow," Elliot said to his older girls with a smile as he then looked to Izzabella "you ready to crack the piñata?" he asked with excitement in his voice.
Izzabella nodded with a bright smile as once every one was settled in a seat Elliot handed her a bat "whoa what's this?" she asked having never seen 1 before.
Elliot smiled "this is called a bat you hit stuff with it."
Izzabella looked at him skeptically "but daddy you said hitting stuff wasn't nice."
He smiled "I said hitting me wasn't nice, your supposed to hit the piñata, just the piñata though nothing else."
She nodded slightly and walked up to it, lightly tapping it with the bat as she frowned slightly when nothing happened "it didn't work daddy..."
Elliot nodded and tried not to chuckle "you have to hit it harder than that kiddo, use your muscles," Olivia said with a smile as she couldn't stay seated any longer, desperately wanting to be a part of it as she stood beside Elliot.
Izzabella nodded slightly and hit it a little harder but not by much as she frowned slightly "nothing's happening.."
"You have to hit it harder honey," Olivia said encouraging her to try again.
Izzabella frowned "but daddy says hitting things hurts them and I don't wanna hurt it..."
The older girls chuckled "but don't you want the candy that's inside it?" Kathleen asked.
Izzabella's face lit up "there's candy?!"
Olivia smiled "yes there's candy in there and you wanna know why this piñata was made?"
She smiled brightly "why?" she asked giving Olivia a look of pure intrigue.
Olivia smiled "this piñata was made only so you can break it and get the candy out. Isn't that cool?"
She smiled brightly and nodded hitting the piñata with a little more force.
"There we go kiddo that's more like it!" Elliot said with a smile cheering her on.
Izzabella smiled brightly and hit it a few more times using all her strength but sadly she just wasn't strong enough to break it herself as right when she looked like she was getting discouraged again Elliot stepped forward "you want me to help you kiddo?" he asked.
Izzabella nodded with a smile as Olivia stepped back and decided to record them as Elliot put his hand overtop of hers and helped her strike it a couple times as it still didn't break "damn I think this one was made for a ten year old," Elliot said.
Bernadette nodded "I've never seen one this tough either son," she said as Elliot nodded and switched the position of there hands, putting Izzabella's hand on top of his while he used his strength to break the piñata as it broke on Elliot's first strike "your strong daddy..." Izzabella said in awe as she bent down and picked up the candy.
Elliot smiled slightly "thanks sweetheart, I couldn't have done it with out your help though."
"Really?!" she asked excitedly.
Elliot smiled "yes really, why don't we put this candy in a bag and see what you got for your birthday hmm?"
Izzabella smiled and nodded eagerly as 15 minutes later all her presents that were there were opened as she got a birthday card and 5 dollars from Gladys, 20 dollars and the little mermaid DVD from Bernadette, a box set of doctor Jean learning CD's from Kathleen and a cute outfit from Lizzie. These aren't all your presents sweetheart these are just the ones that are here," Elliot told her with a smile.
Izzabella smiled brightly and nodded as Olivia was steadily taking pictures "this has been the best birthday ever daddy..."
Elliot smiled slightly and kissed her head "I'm glad it has been honey," he said as he held her in his arms and part of the stress fell off his shoulders as before much longer Bernadette's elderly friends left, the tables were took down and every one headed into the house to have a fun and carefree night.
A/n2: credit for how to treat the burn Olivia got from cooking goes to consumerreports. org.