Chapter Six

Thanksgiving came and went. Elliot had invited Olivia to spend the day with them, but she wasn't sure if she was ready to have Elliot meet Noah yet. She was still processing his return and everything else that had happened in the last few months. So instead, they went over to Amanda's for Thanksgiving with Carisi and the girls.

"Thank you so much for inviting us," Liv said, walking into Amanda's apartment.

"Of course," Amanda replied.

"We made a pie!" Noah said handing the plate to Amanda.

"It smells delicious," she said taking it from him.

Noah ran off to go play with Jesse and Billy and Amanda turned to Liv. "I'm really surprised you didn't spend today with Stabler."

"Ya, well you know, I wasn't sure if I want Noah to meet him quite yet. And he has his undercover thing now, it's just all too risky."

"Oh, that's right. Who's with Eli and Aaliyah?"

"Kathleen," Liv explained, getting comfortable on the couch. "Carisi, it smells good," she complements the cook.

"Grazie," he said.

"Prego!" Liv said.

"Here, have a drink." Carisi handed them two glasses of wine before he disappeared into the kitchen again.

"I'm taking things with you and Carisi is going well," Liv asked her detective.

"They are. The girls really love him. And Frannie… Frannie just can't get enough of him."

"That's great, Amanda. I'm happy for you two."

"And you and Stabler?"

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing," Amanda quickly said, taking a sip of wine.

Not long after, they all gathered around the table for dinner. Jesse and Noah sat next to each other, across from Olivia. Noah had requested to not sit next to his mom this Thanksgiving.

"So Noah, what are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?" Carisi asked.

"My family," he replied, sending his mom his biggest smile.

After they finished eating, Olivia helped Carisi with dishes, while Amanda played Candy Land with the kids.

"So your old partner Stabler, how's he doing?"

"He's doing ok."

"Have you heard anything since he went UC?"

"No, not really. But he's being safe."

"How did Noah and Aaliyah take the news he was going to be gone for a while?"

"Noah actually doesn't know about Elliot yet. And we just told Aaliyah that he was going on a business trip."

"Oh sorry. I just thought…"

"No, it's ok."

Olivia and Noah left Amanda's around 10 pm which was way past Noah's bedtime. He was still very much on a sugar high, but once they got back to their place, he brushed his teeth and passed out in bed.

As Olivia was getting ready for bed herself, she heard a knock on her door. She put her toothbrush back in the holder and made her way through the apartment. Who would come by at this hour? Pulling the door open, she was confronted with Elliot.

He was unsteady on his feet, loopy, and slurring his words. "I— I— need you… to let me in…" he said.

"You need to go to the hospital," Liv tried to reason with him.

"No. I… need… you…" he replied.

Not wanting to cause even more commotion in the hallway, Olivia let Elliot in. She helped him sit down in a chair and got him a glass of water.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I was… drugged… someone… drugged me.." he replied. He took a sip of water and tried to put the glass on the coffee table but struggled to do so, Liv helped him with it. He then fell on the floor onto his knees, struggling to find his balance.

Olivia decided he wasn't well enough to go back undercover for the night so she made him spend the night. He slept the night in her bed and she spent it on the couch.

Noah woke up before Olivia did so he made his way to her bedroom. On the way there, he saw a pair of men's shoes in the hallway and a man's coat on the coat rack by the door.

He walked into his mom's room and when he didn't find her in the bed, he checked the bathroom. Opening the door a crack, he saw a shirtless man with a towel tied around his waist. Elliot didn't see Noah and Noah didn't make a sound.

He finally found his mom in the kitchen making coffee.

"Morning, Mom," Noah said.

Wanting Noah out of the house before they ran into each other, she had called for help earlier.

"Hey Noah, how would you feel if Auntie Amanda took you to breakfast?" she asked.

"Sure."

~oOo~

"So Noah, what are you in the mood for?" Amanda asked after checking he was buckled up.

"Pancakes?" Noah replied.

"Great idea."

Amanda made her way to a small pancake house in the area.

"I saw a man in mom's room today," Noah suddenly dropped the bomb.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I saw his shoes in the hallway and his coat on the rack," he explained.

"Oh."

"Yeah, then I went into my mom's room. She wasn't there, so I looked in the bathroom and there was a man in a towel in there."

"Wow, did you talk to him?"

"No, I'm not allowed to talk to strangers."

"Well, I'm glad you were careful then."

After breakfast, Amanda dropped Noah off with Lucy and she went straight to the precinct and into Liv's office.

"Amanda, thank you so much for taking Noah this morning."

"Of course. Hey look, Noah mentioned something about a man being in your apartment this morning. Anyone, I need to know about?"

"No Amanda, it's alright. It was just Elliot."

"So you and Elliot?"

"It wasn't like that. He was having issues with his UC job and he came to me for help. I let him spend the night."

"Alright."

~oOo~

After Liv was done with work, she and Noah went out for dinner. She wasn't going to say anything about this morning, but had decided that she would explain the situation should Noah bring up Elliot.

"How was your day with Lucy?" Liv asked.

"It was good," he replied, taking a bite of his pasta. "Mom, there's a guy over there staring at us." He gave a nod towards a corner.

Liv turned around and saw Richard Wheatley starring at the two of them before coming over.

"Captain Benson," he said. "This must be your son. Nice to meet you." He said putting his hand out. Noah shook it. "I'll see you two later." And he walked away.

"Who was that?" Noah asked.

"If you see this man again, let me, Lucy, or Auntie Amanda know immediately, okay?"

~oOo~

"Mom?" Noah asked when they were back in the car.

"Yes?"

"Who was that man in your bathroom this morning?"

"Oh, uh, that was my friend Elliot."

"Oh. Why was he naked though? Is he your boyfriend?"

"What?" Liv asked in shock.

"Well, Derek said when unmarried grownups share a bed, they are boyfriend and girlfriend."

"No, we were not. He was just taking a shower."

"But who was he?" Noah asked curiously.

"He's just a friend."

By the time Liv had arrived at their place, Noah was already asleep in the backseat. She carried him up the stairs and tucked him into bed.

The next morning, Olivia made her way over to Elliot's. She had offered to take Aaliyah to school that day.

"Hey so the night you stayed over, Noah seemed to have seen you."

"Oh—"

"Yeah, he was just curious as to who you were, but I didn't really say anything. Didn't want to make it a bigger deal than needed."

"I understand. You are gonna tell him at some point though, aren't you?"

"Tell him what?"

"About us. I mean whatever this is, and Aaliyah. Liv, you've been a huge help lately and it would be great for her to have more kids her age around."

Liv smiled in response.

"How's Eli doing with all of this?"

"He's doing ok. You know he got a job at a restaurant nearby."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah as a busboy."

"Does he like it?"

"I think he enjoys the money," Elliot said with a smile. "Why don't I take us all out to dinner tonight? We can go visit Eli while he's working."

"All of us? Including Noah?"

"I mean only if you're comfortable with it."

"Sure, I think he'd love that."

"Alright, I'll text you the address? Meet you there?"

"Looking forward to it."