AN: Hey ladies, thanks for all of the wonderful comments and lines. I have to admit this has been my favorite chapter to write so far. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. Jenne sorry it took so frigg'n long. You can all blame my husband. He just talks to damn much sometimes. I can't concentrate when he's at home. It's like having a constant two year old, only he knows when I'm not paying attention to him. BAH! LOL!
Mashed
Three days after the accident.
Stable Residence.
Dickie pressed the zigzagged potato masher into a large green bowl over and over again. His head was turned towards the mirror that reflected the Knick's game into the kitchen and every few seconds the mashing would stop so that he could yell at the basketball game.
"NO! Crawford you suck! What are you- Gah! OH….OH yeah- yeah that's the-"
"Dickie! Dickie, you're doing that so half assed. Give it to me," Kathleen bossed as she took the masher from his hands and began grinding at the large bowl of potatoes.
"Soooorry," he snapped back at her. "Since when did mashing potatoes become so precise? Jesus, Kathleen, you're such a freak."
"It's not about precision it's about getting it done this century, worm. God, when are you going to grow up!"
"When are you gonna get laid!"
"Oh, real low. What are you twelve? Please, my date life is driven by choice not circumstance."
"Last I checked Jimmy Alistor doesn't date rejects," he mocked while shoving a handful of pretzels into his mouth.
"You think you're such a big shot with you're little slut girlfriend? You're gonna end up like Dad one day and I'm gonna sit back and laugh at your miserable life."
Dickie dropped the bag of pretzels onto the kitchen counter and froze in disgusted anger.
"You selfish bitch. I can't believe you just said that."
Kathleen held the bowl of mashed potatoes close to her chest. She was practically squeezing its' sides and her eyes were darting and filled with rage. "Truth hurts, doesn't it, Dickie? Do the world a favor, wear a fucking condom."
Elliot walked into the kitchen in his comfortable pair of jeans and an NYPD sweatshirt. He held little EJ with pride and commanded attention with a fatherly strut. "What's going on in here? "
He looked at Kathleen's defensive posture and then to Dickie, who waited for Kathleen to answer. After an awkward pause of silence Kathleen turned her back on them and Dickie mumbled a ", Nothing" towards his father.
"Dinner will be ready in ten minutes," Kathleen grumbled.
"Mmmm great," Kathy said from behind them. She kissed baby EJ on the head and walked towards the roasted chicken in the oven. "It smells wonderful, Kathleen."
Kathleen ignored her father's eyes and kissed her mom on the cheek. "Thanks mom."
Before Dickie could make a lazy disappearance towards the basketball game in the living room, Kathleen handed him a stack of plates and then began setting the table for the four of them, plus baby.
After a quick silent fifteen minutes of eating and plate scrapping Kathy looked around at her present family.
"Is Lizzy sleeping over at Bethany's, because somebody's going to need to pick her up if she's not."
Kathleen pushed at the food on her plate. "Yeah, she called an hour ago. She's staying."
"I wonder if Maur made it back to school alright."
Everybody seemed to be in his or her own world. Nobody jumped to answer her. "Elliot?"
He looked away from the television. "Oh you know, she probably just forgot."
After several attempts of conversation and the last bit of her meal, Kathy lifted EJ from his baby seat and began to prepare him for a feeding. "Kathleen, can you put the leftovers away?"
She nodded towards her mother and took one last bite of her dinner roll.
"Oh, and, make up a plate and set it to the side for me."
Kathleen swallowed the bit of bread and looked up from the table. "A plate?"
"Yeah," she replied while fixing EJ to her breast. " For Olivia."
Kathleen's eyes fell from her face. Elliot, who was sitting fixed towards the Knicks game, glanced at Kathleen's fork drop. She couldn't even control the fact that she'd just given her father the look of death, but she wasn't about to start fighting with him in front of her mother.
"What do you mean Olivia?," she said to her mother, in hopes that this was not her father's idea.
"Your father's gonna take some dinner over to her after the game."
"Really," she questioned bitterly.
"She's still recovering."
"I thought she just got a new family. What happened to Simon?"
Kathy looked up at her daughter with a creased brow. "Kathleen, that was rude. If it wasn't for Olivia, I may not even be sitting at this table right now."
Elliot remained absently silent, and when Kathleen realized that he wasn't going to say anything, she averted her eyes and began cleaning up the dishes. "Sorry."
Elliot followed her into the kitchen. "Hey, I got it. Why don't you go relax."
The tension could have cut steel. Kathleen dropped her plate into the sink and turned to her father.
"Kathleen it was your mother's idea. Not mine. And there is nothing going on between Olivia and I. I would not lie to you about that."
"No, but you would lie to yourself."
"When I told you that kiss was out of love for a friend, I meant it. And your mother is right. Olivia was there for both of us in a time of need. The least we can do is check up on her. Family or not, we owe it to her."
"You know, it's one thing to tell me that kiss was friendly loving support, but to then allow mom to blindingly dig a grave for her future broken heart, is not only deceitful but it really makes me want to hate you."
She turned to leave and he grabbed her arm.
"Kathleen, don't do this. I ...it's not like that."
"Then what is it?"
Elliot blinked in thought. The only answer his mind would give him was one that he couldn't say out loud. "…it's complicated."
"Complicated?"
She waited for him to continue, but when he didn't…or couldn't, she shook her head stiffly and ran towards her bedroom.
In confusion he slammed the counter and bent over with his hands gripping the edge of the Kitchen island. "God damnit."
"Elliot, sweetheart?"
Kathy called to him from the dinning room.
He lifted his head to the ceiling weakly. "Yeah."
"Is everything okay?"
He paused and thought to himself. "Say, no. Say, no. This is your chance. Just say it…..Everything is fine, honey."
Her voice sweetly chimed from the other room. "Okay. You should probably leave before it gets too late. She's gonna need that food to take with her meds."
Elliot looked at the leftover food and started scooping it into a Tupperware bowl as his mind made it's own conversation. "Kathy, I love you, but this isn't working."
"Maybe I'll call her? See if she needs anything from the store."
"Stop being so nice. I can't leave you when you're being so fucking nice."
"Oh, you should take over that movie Elizabeth just bought. What is it called?"
Elliot was so far into his thoughts that he wasn't even paying attention anymore. Slowly he placed some green beans on top of the chicken.
" I could just call Don over. Leave them alone long enough to catch them in an uncompromising position and…and then…."
"It had Julia Roberts in it and that blonde actress. You know the one I like. They sing that song."
"What the hell am I doing? I can't be with Olivia. I'd have to transfer or…or quit."
Dickie shouted from the living room. "My Best Friend's Wedding."
"That's it!," Kathy laughed.
"No, I couldn't quit my job. I can't even stop going to work to take care of the wife that I have."
"Oh, wait," Kathy continued from the dinning room. "That movie has a terribly sad ending. What about 'Pride and Prejudice', El? Do you think she'd like that? Or is that too girly for her. Gosh, I really know nothing about her."
"But why is that? Maybe I wouldn't need my work if I was happy outside of my work?...No that's ridiculous, of course I love my work. Or do I love my work because of Olivia?"
"Elliot?"
"God, this insufferable. I would just have to transfer. Or she could retire. No, I can't ask her to do that. I could retire."
In a trance his mind raced throughout the scooping and dropping of mashed potatoes into the 1970's orange Tupperware bowl.
"Elliot, what are you doing!"
Elliot snapped out of his thoughts
"Huh?"
Kathy stood in the kitchen doorway with that cross look on her face. "There's enough food in that bowl for an army. I think a few scoops will be fine. Are you okay?"
He looked down at the mountain of potato on top of the can of green beans that hid all of the chicken except for the one boney wing. "Yeah…"
"I'm gonna go with you."
He dropped the wooden spoon onto the floor and then quickly picked it up before Kathy began to think he was drunk.
"You know, I've known Olivia for eight years and I've never seen her apartment. I bet it's very modern…and clean."
Elliot could barely function. He stood at the sink pretending to wash a few of the plates and allowing his mind to refrain itself from speaking irrationally.
Kathy just kept on talking. "That and I'm feeling really good today. I think a drive will be nice."
"Really?"
"What you think it's too soon?"
"Ah…I don't know."
"Well, I can't let this one little incident ruin my life," She smiled as she grabbed him by the hips.
"Oh god, she knows. Incident," he repeated nervously.
"Fear of getting into the car."
"Oh…right the car."
His heart thumped to a semi- normal beat and he wiped his brow with a soapy hand.
She laughed at the bubbles on his head and poked him in the stomach. "Besides you're acting funny. I don't trust you to go alone."
An hour passed of Elliot standing in the doorway waiting for Kathy to finally be ready. The car ride to Manhattan was painful to say the least. Kathy was not only oblivious, but she was obsessed with the well being of Olivia. His guess was that she was making up for years of faulty accusations. If only she knew how accurate she actually was, Elliot might be able to get out of this before the end of the night.
SCENE
Benson Residence.
"Kathy, what a surprise," Olivia smiled. Kathy walked through the door and gave Olivia a long hug and rubbed her back
"You're not supposed to be out of bed. We could have opened the door."
Olivia held onto Kathy's hug while staring at Elliot in confusion. "Well, you're not supposed to be taking joy rides, but I wasn't going to tell anybody."
Elliot gave Olivia a whipped glance in return and walked to her kitchen where he placed several bags of food, an armful of movies, and EJ's car seat on the counter.
"How's your head," he asked.
"Drugged. Is that the big boy," Olivia smiled as she inched her way to the sleeping baby.
Kathy lifted him from the car seat and nodded for Olivia to sit with her on the couch. "We weren't going to bring him, but then before we left, Elliot brought up Bible class and that got me thinking of other things and well I couldn't ask you without him being present…El, can you warm up the food? And so, Olivia we thought, now would be as fine a time as any…"
Kathy forced the child into Olivia's arms. She tensed up immediately. "To ask, if you'd be his godmother?"
Olivia's back was faced away from Elliot, but she could feel his guilt from across the room. Lightly she bounced the sleeping fussy baby, and searched for the intent behind all of this. Not two days ago, Elliot had physically professed his love to her. He even said that he wasn't married. Now they were making friendly visits and asking her to be the child's godmother. Was this the Catholic's sick way of sharing 'Big Love'? Olivia was confused, and starting to think that that kiss was just a hallucination from all of the hospital drugs. On the other hand, when she looked down at the little sleeping face in her arms, she started to feel the comfort of it all. Who was she trying to fool? She would do anything for this kid.
Kathy's wayward eyes and intense happiness were waiting for a response. With EJ pressed to her chest, Olivia forced a smile and replied ", Yes. That…that's…It would be a privilege…a…I'm flattered…I don't' know what to say. Yes. "
She quickly turned to Elliot, who now had his back to her. His worn face watched the plate spin in the microwave. "I mean, are you sure you don't want to ask your brothers or sisters. I don't want to take that job away from a blood relative."
Kathy touched her leg, and the sway that she'd eased into became tense again.
"Olivia, there is not a person in this world that could take better care of any of my children, than you."
Elliot shook his head shamefully. If death were an option he'd of taken it, after that line. Not wanting to leave Olivia in the brink too long, he familiarly grabbed a fork from the right hand drawer and crossed over to them.
Olivia now sat between the two fair-faced Stablers like an out of place foster child from the ghetto. The three of them fidgeted on her slightly claustrophobic couch. EJ slept peacefully in her arms.
"Look at you, God Mommy Olivia. He only sleeps that soundly for us. It was meant to be."
"Ha…I guess so," she smiled uncomfortably.
So there they sat, thigh to thigh, in a thick of silence. Elliot stiffly sat to Olivia's left side with the hot plate in his lap. Kathy leaned in towards her son and held her hand over one of Olivia's hands. "That's it. A light bounce will always do the trick. You should eat something," Kathy whispered. "Elliot, feed her some of that chicken."
"What?" Olivia sat up in alarm. "No," she whispered. "That's not necessary."
"Kath, why don't you take EJ, so Liv can eat."
"Because he's so peaceful. If you move him he'll only fuss. Olivia, relax. Let us take care of you. Elliot, hold out the plate."
Her genuine smile and his pressing guilt forced the plate from his lap and she grabbed the fork from the side of it.
Olivia could feel herself squirm. "No, Kathy please, I'm not one to be fed."
"I know that's why it needs to be done. Sit back and let me take care of you."
"Kathy, I appreciate all that you're-"
She ignored Olivia completely and pushed the fork towards her mouth. "Mashed potatoes?"
"Kathy, she doesn't want to be fed," Elliot interrupted as he grabbed Kathy's arm.
"Elliot, stop telling her what she wants."
"Kathy really," Olivia pressed as the fork came closer and closer. But Kathy wasn't listening and Elliot's grip was causing the full fork to swerve.
"You always do this. Push me away."
"Kathy, I'm not pushing you away. Olivia's arms would work fine if you'd just take the baby."
"Kathy, Elliot- stop-," Olivia said as she dodged the utensil.
Then Elliot let go of Kathy's arm and the potatoes backed away from Olivia's face with the swing of Kathy's emotional hand. "You just don't respect my opinions."
"No, I can't, because the only reason why you came over here-"
"Elliot," Olivia nudged as she balanced the baby away from falling dinner debris and did her best to prevent an all out Stabler explosion.
"-make up to her for all of the things you used to think."
"Elliot!," Olivia gasped.
And there it went, the fork, the plate, the chicken, Kathy's tears, EJ's slumber, and Elliot's gravy stained pants. By the time Olivia could figure out what was going on Kathy and Elliot were in the hallway screaming at each other, EJ was crying in her lap, and she was still sitting in the center on the couch covered in potato and wondering where it all went wrong.
Lightly she bounced EJ. His sleepy eyes blinked and fixed on hers.
"Well…this has been a lovely visit. Are you the door prize," Olivia she jested to his glazed over stare.
When he didn't answer her, she lifted her arm and licked some mashed potato from the back of her hand.
"Mmm…not bad. Shall we watch some television? Yeah?"
EJ blinked and grunted.
"I'll take that as a yes."
She clicked the television on and held EJ to her shoulder in an almost natural manner. As she held EJ's attention, Olivia's nightly routine reruns played in the background. "Ow, this is a good one. A classic. You got Alan Alda, Loretta Swit, Jamie Farr, William Christopher. God, I could go on. See it's the Korean war and Hawkeye, that's Alan Alda, see he was in love with Hot Lips, well in my opinion. He made the passes. She didn't object…."
The evening faded out as Olivia lalled both herself and little EJ into a deep sleep with the only bedtime stories she knew. When Elliot finally gave into Kathy's need for his attention they made their peace and found the two passed out on the couch.
Elliot watched Olivia lightly breathe under his son's tiny body and couldn't help but want to have this moment to himself.
AN: Okay who know's what Sitcom Drama I'm refrencing? Drop me some lines and check out Mrslee's "Senses" it's getting good.