Summary: Elliot watches Maureen's twins and invites Liv and Noah over for the evening. Maureen and Carl watch a sweet, sleepy moment between Olivia and Elliot. Also, Bernie's not in the chapter and I don't state a reason, so let your imagination run wild.
Author's note: Like the other chapters, this is a stand-alone chapter so you don't have to read the others. But it does follow in the same timeline/universe so you can enjoy them all. No beta, all mistakes are mine.
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"Maureen and Carl's anniversary is next weekend." Elliot announces as he places an iced latte in front of Olivia, "I invited the twins over for the evening while they go out to dinner and a movie." He takes the seat across from her.
When they could, Elliot and Olivia liked to meet for an early-afternoon coffee during the week to cement their plans for the upcoming weekend. Both prefer to see each other in-person rather than making plans over the phone or via text.
"That sounds like a great time, El. I know the boys love their Grandpa." Olivia teases before wrapping her lips around the paper straw.
"Yea, yea, I know. But in all fairness, I had Maureen early."
She chuckles, waits for him to take his own sip, "You know, you never wanted to brag about your teenage pregnancy before."
He coughs, "Fine," wiping his chin, "You're right, I'm an old man and grandpa." He leans back in his seat crossing his arms over his chest. "I was going to invite you and Noah over, so we could have a game night, but now I'm not so sure."
"El," she starts, "I'm not sure…" She's only spent time with Maureen and Carl once before, though they had Noah over for a play-date-turned-sleepover a couple weeks ago. She wasn't sure if Maureen wanted her watching her children or interrupting their time with Elliot.
"Stop Liv," he interrupts, "Mo asked me to invite you and Noah along. I'll show you the text." He leans forward, resting one elbow on the table and reaching for his phone in his back pocket. "Mo told me that the boys haven't stopped asking about Noah."
"I believe you, but…" she's playing with the straw wrapper, twisting it over and over. He puts his phone down and covers her hands with his larger one.
"I swear, they are okay with you and Noah, they are okay with us." She meets his eyes, she could read his entire life story through them if she wanted, but for now, she accepts the truth that she sees.
After a moment, he leans back again and breaks apart the cookie he snagged with their coffees, "Plus, I want to kick your butt at Yahtzee."
"Yahtzee? You are an old man," she adds laughing.
–
Two weeks later Olivia and Noah arrive at Elliot's apartment about half an hour before Maureen and Carl are due to drop off the boys. She's loaded with bags of all the goodies necessary to make ice cream sundaes - she's willing to buy the twin's love with sugar if need be. Noah takes off to Eli's room immediately upon arrival ignoring his mom's instructions not to annoy the poor guy if he's studying.
After putting the cold items away, Olivia is still fluttering around anxiously; sorting the non-refrigerated items on the counter; putting her and Noah's coats on the rack; fluffing a couch pillow; and folding the throw blanket.
Elliot's got his head in the fridge, asking "Do you want beer…water…juice box?"
"Not now, El. Maybe in a few." She's standing in the kitchen, tapping obnoxiously on the counter.
Annoyed with her anxious energy and refusal to relax, he guides onto the couch, "Here," he unlocks and passes her his phone, "I have photos of us all from the Christmas get-together, take a look."
She takes his phone and starts swiping through the photos. "Hand me my purse, I need my readers." She holds her hand out, waiting for Elliot to grab her small bag from the end table closest to him. She glances up from the phone with a questioning look when the bag never comes.
His eyes are narrowed, brows crooked in, and he shakes his head playfully. He finally pulls the glasses case from her purse, plucking the glasses out before snapping it shut. As he hands them to her, he leans in and whispers, "If you are going to wear these, I am going to check on the boys. You know what they do to me."
She bites her bottom lip, a warm blush creeping up her cheeks, "Stay here, put these backs, I'll just zoom in." He huffs out a quick laughing "damn," and returns the glasses to her bag.
His plan worked, Olivia was distracted by the happy photos - photos that showed her and Noah integrated with his family, each one full of smiles. By the time Maureen and Carl knocked on the door Olivia was in good spirits.
The evening went off without a hitch like Elliot knew it would. Noah left Eli alone to play with the twins; dinner was a taco bar followed by an ice cream sundae buffet; and even though Yahtzee was an "old person game" according to the boys and Olivia, they all played.
Elliot told Maureen and Carl to stay out as late as they wanted, the twins would be fine. But by 10:30, they were fading fast, the massive quantities of sugar in their system dissipating. Elliot decided that the best way to counter their tired attitudes was story time in the Big Bed.
Seamus and Kieran ran into Elliot's room and hopped on the bed, but Noah returned to his mom's side, giving her a questioning look.
Olivia knelt down next to him to ask, "Do you want to join them?"
Noah shrugged his shoulders. She couldn't tell if he didn't actually want to participate because he was too old or if he was just too embarrassed to ask to join the twins in Elliot's bed for story time.
"Noah, you don't have to, I'm sure Eli would let you play a game on his iPad," he shrugged again, "but, I know the boys would love it if you joined them and Elliot does pretty great voices." She added with a happy, overly convincing tone and a little nudge.
When he still doesn't answer her, she leans in and asks quietly, "Do you want me to ask Elliot if he wants you to join?" Noah nods shyly, whispering "yea." But before she can stand, Elliot leans out the bedroom door "Liv, where's Noah? The boys are …Noah! Get in here!" He's waving him in.
Liv leans back in, "See, I told you. They want you in there. Go on," she pats his back and tilts her head towards the bedroom.
She hears El tell the boys that he'll be right back and sees him head their way. He ruffles Noah's hair as he passes him, "there's plenty of room, I'll be right back." Noah grins and speeds up towards the room.
"Everything okay," he asks in a hushed voice.
"Yea, I think he was just a little embarrassed about wanting to join in on something a little childish or private, I'm not completely sure."
"Ahhh, yea, he's of that age and he's not really used to this place yet."
"Exactly."
"Well," he grabs his glass and walks backwards towards the room, "all the more reason for you and Noah to come over more," he flashes her his cocky grin before leaving her alone.
Olivia spends the next twenty minutes cleaning up the messes they've made throughout the night - putting all the dishes in the sink and finding room in the cupboards for the leftover snacks.
She's wiping the sticky caramel and fudge sauces off the counter when Eli walks into the kitchen.
"Hey Eli, did you have a good evening?"
He takes a sports drink from the fridge, "Yea, not too bad. I enjoyed the dice game" and gulps down half the bottle.
Pointing to the table where the box is still sitting, "Wanna play a couple more rounds?"
He shrugs, "Sure," he'd actually rather go back to his room and watch another episode of his show, but his dad asked him to get to know Olivia more tonight. Every other time when Olivia had visited, Eli spent most the evening with his friends only to shut himself in his room when he got home. It's not that he doesn't like Olivia, he really does like her and Noah, and is alright with his dad dating. But, it's just…weird. All his siblings talk about Olivia like she walks on water, but also like they all suspected their dad had an affair. He doesn't think it went that far, but he can tell that she's always held a unique place in his dad's heart. He's just tried to avoid being alone with her until he can sort all his thoughts.
Olivia smiles and drops the kitchen towel to the counter before she sits down at the table.
That's where Maureen and Carl find them when they show up about an hour later. They are laughing as Eli dives to keep the final dice on the table, "No, No, No, I just needed another five!"
After a quick "how was dinner?" and "did you enjoy the movie?" It's clear that Maureen and Carl are ready to go. Olivia gets it, she has a 20-minute drive and putting a sleepy child to bed ahead of her as well.
Olivia heads Elliot's room to let the boys know that their parents were here, telling Maureen that even though the boys were "perfect angels," Elliot decided that story time in the Big Bed was needed.
Her heart flutters when she sees it. All the boys, Elliot included, are asleep. Elliot's on the far side of the bed, one arm holding the book to his stomach and the other laying across the pillows. The twins, who are just small enough, manage to both be cuddled into his side. Noah is on the other side of the twins, curled up in a ball with his head on the pillow - her pillow - and she sees that Elliot's fingers are resting on Noah's arm.
She stands at the door for a moment, just talking it all in, and then snapping a photo when she realizes that she had her phone in her pocket. After returning her phone to her pocket, she makes her way around the bed to wake Elliot.
She sits on the edge of the bed, next to him, "El," she whispers in his ear, holding his cheek with one hand and rubbing his chest with her other, "Maureen and Carl are back for the boys, you need to get up."
"Mmmmm," he blinks his eyes open, and smiles. Her head is blocking out the light from his lamp in the corner behind her, giving her the appearance of a halo. Leaving the book on his belly, he brings his hand to the back of her head, pulling her in for a brief kiss, mumbling "Hellllllo, beautiful," against her lips.
Her cheeks warm, "El, come on, they are tired and want to go home," she reminds him when he pulls away.
He sits up, moves his other hand to her shirt. "Shhh, kiss me," he whispers, tugging her to him again. It's still chaste and sweet, but her heart pounds.
"That's better, now I can carry them to the car."
They both stand and see Maureen and Carl at the door. Maureen witnessed the entire exchange, having come to the room just as Olivia walked to bed. She had stopped to greet Eli and ask Carl to gather all the boys' stuff and take it to the car. She hushed Carl as he walked up behind her to let her know everything was in the car, so they wouldn't interrupt the moment.
Olivia ducks her head, embarrassed to have witnesses to the quiet moment with Elliot, walks around the bed to wake Noah.
'Liv, wait," Elliot stops her, "leave him for a second, let's get the twins first."
"Yea, okay," she steps out into the hallway, out of the way and watches Elliot and Karl each grab one of the sleeping boys.
She waits in the bedroom to let Elliot have a moment with Maureen while he carries one of her kids to the car. It's about 10 minutes later when Elliot returns to his room. Olivia is watching Noah sleep, running her hands through his curls.
"Hey," Elliot announces his presence.
She meets him at the door.
"They get everything?"
"Yup," he pecks her lips, "and Mo says you are too sweet," he kisses her again, this time opening his mouth and running his tongue over her bottom lip. "Hmmm, she's right, you are so sweet," he leans back down, keeping their kisses kid-in-the-room appropriate, even though Noah is out like a light.
This time when he pulls away he says "Stay, please," he continues before she can reject him, "Noah's already asleep, and I'll take us all out to breakfast in the morning."
"Not tonight El. It's too soon." Her hands on his chest, running her fingers over the collar to his shirt.
" 'S not too soon, 's late," he holds her more tightly, smashing her arms between them, and kisses her neck, hoping that he can change her mind "we can get coffee," kiss, "crepes," kiss, "cuh...crrr" he lifts his head up and chuckles "I ran out of breakfast foods that start with the letter C," kiss.
"So, you did," she's laughing too and gently pushes against his chest and pulls his arms down, "but we do need to…"
"Chicken and waffles!" he grins triumphantly and pecks her lips. "I know, you're right."
He eases Noah from the bed, "He's getting so big. I'm not sure I'll be able to do this much longer."
"You don't need to carry him now, he's old enough he can walk to the car." She says as she gathers their stuff and opens the front door. "Besides, I can't lift him anymore, so he'll have to wake up when we get home."
"No, no, let him enjoy being a little kid for a while longer and that includes being carried to the car." Smirks at her and offers to go with her, "You know…just to carry him in."
"Not tonight El," she waits while he's putting Noah in the backseat and buckles him in, starting again when he stands up straight, head out of the car, "but soon, I promise."
"I know, I just miss you, that's all," He walks her around the car and presses her into the driver's door with his body, "I'm so glad we are here, doing this, and I miss you every second we are apart."
"Me too."
"I meant it," he brushes her hair back over her ear, "when I said that I love and care about you."
"I know," she tips her head to kiss him, this one slow and deep. If they'd been inside, it's the type of kiss where he'd run his hands all over her body and tug at her clothes. But tonight, it's a good-bye kiss so he keeps one hand at the dip of her waist and the other on the top of the car.
"Mmmmm," their lips separate, and he rests his forehead against hers. Her eyes are still closed, and it's quiet, but he hears her clear as day, "I love and care about you, too."
She ducks her head to the crook of his neck, as she reaches behind to grab the door handle. He's stunned. She didn't say it back that morning, he knew she wouldn't, but he couldn't help but be a little disappointed. He wanted to wait to say it again, afraid that he might upset her with the pressure. But looking at her tonight, he changed his mind. He's going to tell her every day, so she knows that she's loved, cared for, wanted.
"I really have to go now."
He pushes off the car with one hand, giving her space to get into the car. Before she closes the door, he steps in the way, "Let me know when you get home, I'll still awake," he uses a bent finger to tip her chin up and presses one last kiss to her lips, "Good night."
