So that last chapter got a lot of your attention. Something tells me this one will too…
Chapter 9- Truth
Elliot enters his house and finds Kathy at the kitchen sink, washing the last of the dishes. He slides his arms around her waist and kisses her neck.
"Hey," she greets as she places a dish on the drying rack. She quickly dries her hands and turns in his arms to kiss him on the mouth. "How was work?"
"Work was good. Caught our perp. Should be arraigned in the morning."
"That's great. The kids wanted Chinese so we ordered in tonight. Saved you some moo shu if you're hungry."
"Nah, I had a late lunch."
"Alright," she stares at him and can tell something is off. "Everything ok?"
"Yea. Why don't I finish up here and I'll meet you upstairs in a bit."
"You want to do dishes?" she asks and stares at him as if he's grown a second head. "You sure everything is alright with you?"
"Fine."
He takes his time doing the rest of the dishes and cleaning up the kitchen, wanting to give her time to get comfortable and relax. He checks on each of his children before heading for his bedroom. He enters the room just as Kathy slips her nightgown over her head and sits on the bed. "Kath, can I talk to you?" he asks.
"Oh no. What is it now? Did you beat up another suspect? How long are you suspended for this time?"
He smiles. "No, Kath, it's nothing like that."
"Then what is it?"
"Kathy, I want you to know how much I love you and how much being with you means to me."
"Elliot, you're scaring me," Kathy says and places her hand on his thigh.
He sighs and drags his hands over his face before taking her hand in his. He turns to her. "Kathy, I slept with Olivia." Kathy snatches her hand back and scooches away from him. "It was one time and we both agreed it was a mistake and that it would never happen again."
That's a lie, but there is no reason to dig the knife in any deeper than it has to go.
"When?"
"A little over a year ago."
"So why are you telling me this now?"
"Because she got pregnant and-"
"Oh my God. Oh my God. Jacob is yours?!"
He reaches for her, but she shuns his touch. "I never meant for this to happen."
She stands. "Of course not! You didn't want your dirty secret to get out." He reaches for her again. "Don't touch me! How could you do this to me, Elliot?"
"I'm sorry Kathy."
"Don't. Don't apologize. Don't pretend like this isn't something you've always wanted."
"It's not!"
"LIAR! You've always had a thing for her and now this just proves it." tears fill her eyes.
"I never meant to hurt you Kathy. If anything, I did everything I could not to."
"Yea, except keep your dick in your pants. So, what now? Am I supposed help you raise your little bastard baby? Your little love child. Because I won't. I won't do it."
"I can't not be in his life anymore. I tried to stay away for you-"
"No you didn't! You just didn't want your dirty little secret getting out!"
"He's my son Kathy, and I need to be his father, but I don't want to lose you."
She wraps her arms around herself and swipes away her tears. "I want you to leave. Get out!"
"Kathy, please," he begs.
"I can't sit here and watch you raise a child with another woman."
"Kathy-"
"Get out! Go! LEAVE! Now, Elliot!"
He stands and moves to walk past her. "I love you, Kathy. Please just…think about it. I really don't want to lose you."
She says nothing in return, and he turns and walks away.
xXx
Elliot knocks on the door to Olivia's apartment. After a few moments the door opens to reveal a man he's never met before. "Hi, Is Olivia home?" Elliot asks.
"Yea, one second. Olivia!" he calls down the hall.
"Yea?" Olivia calls back.
"Door."
"Who is it?"
"Some guy."
"Coming."
"Michael," he extends his hand and introduces himself.
"Elliot," Elliot replies and shakes the other man's hand.
"Oh. Jacob's father. Nice to meet you."
"Same."
Olivia emerges carrying Jacob in her arms and Elliot's eyes brighten at the sight of his son. "Elliot? What are you doing here?"
"I was hoping we could talk."
She passes Jacob to Michael. "Can you read to him and get him settled down a bit?"
"Sure," Michael says and walks towards Jacob's room.
Olivia turns her attention to Elliot. "What did you want to talk about?"
"Can I come in?"
She folds her arms over her chest. "I don't think that would be a good idea. What do you want?"
"I want visitation with my son."
"Excuse me?"
"I'm planning to counter sue, but I was hoping we could settle this out of court."
"Now you want to be his father? What changed?"
"I saw the light."
"No really. What changed? Did Kathy find out?"
"I told her."
"Oh, so because you have nothing left to lose, now you want to be in his life."
"I told her because I want to be in his life."
"Right."
"I'm serious about this, Liv."
"Elliot, I want to believe you. Believe me I do, but you've been all over the place with this and Jacob is a child. A baby. He's not some toy you can toss to the side whenever you decide you're not interested anymore."
"I know that, Olivia."
"You do? Because that's how you've treated him since the day I told you I was pregnant with him. You're there and then you're not and everything is always at your convenience."
"I understand what you're saying, but that's why I'm here right now. I'm telling you that things are going to be different from now on. I'm going to be involved and I'm going to be responsible."
"I need to think about this, Elliot."
"Don't take too long Olivia, because I'm not going to wait on you forever."
"Don't threaten me! After everything you've done, you have no right!"
"You're right. I'm sorry. I should have never said that."
"Goodnight. Elliot," she says tersely.
"Wait, can I hold him? Just for a minute?"
"You're kidding right?"
"Olivia-"
"Goodnight!" she says then slams the door in his face.
She marches down the hall and slams her bedroom door closed. She lies in bed and wills herself to calm down. To not feel the mix of emotions that are swirling inside her. Michael enters with Jacob in his arms. He hands him to her then lays down beside her.
"He wants visitation rights."
"I heard."
"I mean, who does he think he is? He abandons him and now that things aren't working out with his wife he suddenly wants to be his father. Well, no. It doesn't work like that. He doesn't get to pick and choose when to be Jacob's father."
"Olivia, I don't think that's a good idea."
"Whose side are you on?"
"Yours. Olivia, you're an SVU detective. You've had to have seen the way this situation is going to play out. No judge is going to deny him visitation, no matter what he's done. There are convicts in Rikers that have visitation rights. I've testified in abuse cases just for a judge to turn around and give supervised visits. The judge is going to rule in the best interest of the child, and it's the court's belief that children need their parents no matter how detrimental they may be to their overall wellbeing. Elliot is a cop. A family man with kids of his own. A judge isn't going to care what he's done in the past. He's going to see a man that's come to his senses and changed his ways and wants to be a father to his son. He's going to see siblings that need to get to know their brother. Family that Jacob has every right to be a part of. There's no way he's walking out of that courtroom without mandated visitation of at least every other weekend and you know it."
She sighs and her eyes fill with tears of frustration. "So what should I do? I don't trust him with him. He doesn't know my son."
"Call him tomorrow and work something out. Right now you have the power to control what happens. Don't let a judge take that control from you."
She holds her son up and falls in love with his chubby cheeks and blue eyes. "He doesn't deserve him."
"I know, but whether either of us like it or not, he's his father and he has rights."
Olivia kisses her baby's cheek and lays him back against her chest. She caresses the silky wisps of his dark hair. "He has rights, but he doesn't deserve them."
"So I packed three bottles, which should more than enough to cover the time I'll be gone," Olivia explains to Elliot.
"Where are you going?"
"Michael booked us a day at the spa so I can relax while you spend some time with Jacob."
"You have nothing to worry about, Olivia. This isn't my first time taking care of a baby."
"Yea, but this is your first time taking care of my baby."
"Our baby is going to be fine. Besides I have back up," he thumbs backwards at the twins, who sit with eyes glued to the television. "You guys say hi?"
"Hi, Olivia!" Lizzie waves.
"Hi, Liv," Dickie says.
"No Kathleen?"
"She's at home with Kathy. I'm not exactly her favorite person right now and I'm trying not to force it."
"So, how did you get the twins to come?"
"They're a little bit more forgiving and they wanted to meet Jacob, so they're here."
"That's nice. So his blanket is in there-"
"Olivia, I got it. I got it," he says as he ushers her towards the door.
"Yea, but-"
"There's no need to worry. Everything is going to be fine and I will call you if I have any problems, which there won't be."
"Can I at least say goodbye?"
"Sure," He grabs the car seat and raises it so that it's level with Olivia's face.
"Be good," she tells him and kisses his cheek causing him to smile. "Mommy loves you! Bye," she waves.
"Bye," Elliot raises Jacob's little hand and waves back. Once Olivia steps through the door, he closes then locks it behind her. He places the car seat on the table and unbuckles then lifts Jacob into his arms. "It's been awhile," he says as he holds him close. Jacob frowns and begins to fuss. "Uh oh. What's the matter? You want your dog?" Elliot asks and lifts the stuff animal from the seat. Jacob 's fussiness continues to intensify. "No. Ummm…" He looks in the baby bag "Pacifier?" He places it in the baby's mouth to which Jacob spits out and begins to cry.
xXx
Three hours later and Jacob's cries have evolved into a shrill ear-piercing scream. Tears pour from his eyes and snot runs from his nose. Nothing Elliot has tried has calmed the babe and no matter what he does to soothe the child he only seems to antagonize him more.
"I think you should call Olivia," Lizzie says to her father.
"No. I got this. We just have to figure out why he's crying. Once we figure that out it will be smooth sailing from there." He paces back and forth. Jiggling and rocking Jacob. Trying every trick he knows to calm him.
"Dad, something's wrong with him. He's not wet or anything. We've changed him twice. I don't think he likes us or something because we've tried everything."
"When did we feed him? Maybe he's hungry again."
"We fed him an hour ago and as soon as he finished his bottle he puked it up and started crying again. I really think you should call Liv."
"Babies puke Liz, you used to puke on me all the time. Do you remember what Olivia said he likes? She said something, but I can't remember."
"Dad," Lizzie waves her hand in front of her father's face to gain his attention. "Call. Liv."
"I will, I just want to try one more thing…"
In the living room there's a knock on the door and Dickie goes to answer it. He checks the peephole before opening it. "Finally!" he sighs, exasperated. "Your baby hasn't stopped crying since you left."
"What?" Olivia asks, concerned. She quickly pushes past him and makes her way towards Elliot's room, her son's incessant cries registering in her ears. "What the hell is going on?!" she says as she pushes into Elliot's bedroom.
"Liv!" Elliot jumps. "When did you get here?"
She ignores his question and reaches for her son and Elliot passes him willingly. "How long has been like this?" she asks as she tries to calm her son.
"Couple hours."
"Couple hours? Dickie just told me he's been crying since I left. Why didn't you call me?!"
"I figured I could handle it. It's not my first time dealing with a fussy baby."
"Fussy baby?! Elliot, he was eleven weeks premature! He has health issues! If he's crying like this something must be wrong."
"Well, then let me help."
"No! You've done enough," she says sternly. "I knew this was a bad idea," she mutters to herself. "Where's his stuff?" she questions.
"Bag's right there," he says and holds up the diaper bag.
"Is everything in there?" She looks around the room to make sure. "There's his bottle, and his pacifier on the bed." Jacob's cries have subsided since being placed in his mother's arms, but he continues to fuss and grip his mother's shirt firmly in his tiny hands.
Elliot moves around the room collecting the various items then tosses them into the baby bag and zips it closed. "Here," he says as he hands her the bag.
"Put it in his car seat," she instructs as she puts Jacob's coat on. Elliot follows her instructions and she picks up the seat once the bag is placed inside then turns and walks out of his bedroom.
"Olivia, wait," Elliot calls to her retreating form.
Olivia ignores Elliot's calls as she bypasses the twins in the living room. She carefully finagles the front door open and slips through slamming it closed behind her.
Elliot sighs.
This can't be good.
xXx
Olivia groans as her phone begins to buzz for the millionth time. She doesn't need to check the caller ID to know who it is. It's Elliot. It's always Elliot. She slips from the warmth of her bed, placing a pillow in her place to keep Jacob from rolling off the bed. She kisses his cheek and looks longingly at Michael on the other side of him as he rests peacefully. She wishes she could stay in bed, but this is a conversation she and Elliot need to have and she doesn't anticipate it being a quiet one. They're exhausted from the past few days and she would prefer to sleep, but being a parent requires sacrifice, sleep being the main one, though she figured it would be sacrificing sleep to care for her son. Not to deal with her baby daddy issues.
"What?" she answers the phone.
"What? What? Olivia, I've been calling you all week and you're just now answering me. Look, I know you're mad, but I'm his father so you're going to have to deal with me whether you like it or not."
"Yea, some father you are."
"I tried to take care of my son on my own. How does that make me a bad father?"
"He was sick! And you had him there, suffering for hours, for what?"
"Sick? What do you mean?"
"He has RSV."
"RSV? What's that?"
"It's a respiratory infection. Yet another complication from him being premature. We've been in the hospital since Sunday. Just got home this afternoon and we're exhausted. So, if we can continue this conversation at another time."
"No, my son was in the hospital and you didn't tell me? Olivia, you need to include me in on these things."
"Why? Because you just decided you want to be involved? You don't get to come in at the last minute and demand things. I took care of my son the way I've been taking care of him since the day he was conceived: alone."
"And I'm saying you don't have to do that anymore. I'm here."
"No, you're not. You're just trying to prove something by putting your needs ahead of his."
"No, I'm not."
"Then why didn't you call me?! He was screaming his lungs out and you never called me!"
He sighs. "I'm sorry. I've dealt with a fussy baby before. I do have four kids-"
"And my son isn't one of them. You don't know him, and I tried to explain his needs to you and you brushed me off like I was being over protective or something. I was being his mother."
"I've had babies before."
"But not a preemie born at 29 weeks. He has quirks, and needs, and therapies and things you know nothing about and need to look out for. But you're so hellbent on proving that you don't need to catch up that you you're putting our son's life at risk."
"I'm sorry, Liv. I didn't mean to."
"I'm sure you didn't. Look, I'm really tired. Can we talk about this some other time?"
"Sure. But I want to see him. Can I stop by tomorrow or something?"
"Let's just play it by ear. Night, Elliot," she says then ends the call without a response.
xXx
Olivia stands from her desk and shrugs on her coat. "Night, Finn."
"Night, partner. See you tomorrow."
She takes her purse and heads for the elevators and is surprised when they open and Elliot steps through. "Hey," he smiles.
"Hey," she replies and steps past him to get on the elevator. He follows her on. "What are you doing?"
"I actually came back to talk to you."
"Now isn't a good time, Elliot. I'm tired and I need to get home and relieve the nanny."
"I know, but this is important. Can you come with me to my place?"
"Elliot…"
"Please?"
Olivia sighs.
xXx
"What do you need to talk about that's so imperative that I come here?" Olivia asks as she walks in behind Elliot.
"Follow me," he says and walks down the hallway to his bedroom. "I wanted to show you this," he gestures to the wall and she has to admit she is surprised. Against his wall is a crib, and above it are wooden letters painted in baby blue that spell out "Jacob". The letters are surrounded by stars. Beside the crib is a changing table stocked with diapers, wipes, baby lotion and powder.
"You did this by yourself?"
"Yea. I spent a lot of time on Pin-trest? Gave me some ideas." He takes her hand and walks her to the changing table and opens the drawers to show her onesies, socks, shoes, and outfits. "The drawer below has some more outfits and a few toys. Maureen helped me with the sizes, but that's it. This is all me."
"What is all this?"
"I wanted to show you I'm taking my role as Jacob's father seriously. You can bring him here without worrying about him. I even bought a car seat and it's all set up. I've been reading up on premature infants and what to expect. Oh and-" he walks over to his dresser and picks up a notebook. "I want you to write down everything I should know about Jacob. All his health issues. What I should do. His doctors' numbers. The number for the nanny. His quirks. His schedule. Everything. Also, can you get a copy of his chart? Melinda agreed to go over it with me so I can understand everything that he went through. I need to play catch up. Oh, and I want to come to all his doctor's appointments from now on. I don't care when they are, I'm going to be there."
"Why now?"
"After we talked the other day, I really thought about what you said and you were right. I was making this about me, and not about him and I realized that I have a lot of work to do when it comes to earning your trust and his. But I want you to feel comfortable with letting me spend time with him here. Maybe this weekend?"
"Sure. You can come pick him up for a few hours this Saturday and I'll give you a copy of his therapy schedule when you do. You need to go to a few of his sessions so you can help him on the days that you have him."
"Yea?"
"Yea. I always wanted him to have a father, Elliot. I just wanted his father to want him."
"I do Liv, and I'm sorry about before. I messed up."
"I know."
"I didn't think you'd be so forgiving."
She shrugs. "I'm not. I just want what's best for my son. Sometimes that means putting my feelings to side. But you screw this up, Elliot, and so help me God-"
He puts his arms up defensively. "I know. I know."
"Now, can I go?"
"Sure. Here let me walk you out."
"So crib in the bedroom. Kind of a mood killer huh?" Olivia says as they head towards the door.
"Well, I'm currently going through a divorce so…"
"Kathy's really not budging on the whole divorce thing?"
"No."
"I'm sorry, Elliot. I never wanted to ruin your marriage."
"Olivia, we both are equally responsible for that night."
"Yea, but you were married and I should have never-"
"And I was the one that was married. I should have never, but I don't regret that night. Look at how great it turned out. We have Jacob now."
She smiles at the thought of their son. "Yea, we do."
"Olivia, I was wondering…I-I know I'm kind of late to the game, but I'm his father and I feel like it should be official, so I was wondering if you would put my name on his birth certificate."
She stares at him in shock. "You think a changing table and a few letters on your wall makes you worthy of having your name on his birth certificate?"
"No, I deserve to be on his birth certificate because I'm his father. Biologically I'm his father. That should be enough."
"Well, it's not. You've spent more time pretending not to be his father than you have being his father. And what if Kathy changes her mind? Are you going to abandon him?"
"No, I would never-"
"But you already did. You chose her over your son. What if she wants you to give him up again?"
"That's not going to happen."
"How do I know?"
"Because the reason we're getting a divorce right now is because of him. Because I chose to be his father."
Olivia sighs. "Elliot, this is new. To both of us. Co-parenting, raising a child together. You've been MIA for most of it. Let's just take this slow-" he opens his mouth to protest and she holds up a hand to silence him. "I'm not saying no. I'm saying not right now. I need to know that putting you on his certificate isn't going to bite me in the ass later on, but most importantly I need to know that it's in his best interest and right now it's not."
"What do I have to do to show you that I'm serious about this? How do I prove to you that I'm going to be his father and that I'm not going anywhere?"
"Be there. That's all I need you to do."
"Ok then. I'll be there."
xXx
"Hey!" Olivia greets Maureen with Jacob in her arms. "You brought a guest," she smiles at the young blonde teenager behind her. "Kathleen, it's nice to see you."
Kathleen smiles shyly and steps in behind her sister. "Hi."
Olivia closes the door behind her then passes Jacob to Maureen. "So you know where everything is and you know all the numbers."
"Yea, we'll be fine."
"Michael's on call, but if for some reason you can't reach me for something just go ahead and page him."
"We'll be fine. Go."
"Thanks so much for doing this last minute. I've been dying to get my hair done for months now," Olivia says as she slips into her leather jacket.
"It's not a problem. We weren't doing anything anyway."
"We were supposed to go to the movies," Kathleen grumbles and rolls her eyes before plopping down onto the couch and immediately zoning into her phone.
"We can go later. It's not a big deal."
Olivia eyes them hesitantly. "Maybe this isn't a good idea. If you had plans-"
"We didn't. I was thinking of going out for lunch. Is it ok if I take him out?"
"Of course. He could use the fresh air. The stroller is in the closet and his baby bag should already have most of the essentials. Just check it before you go.."
"Will do. Have fun!"
Olivia kisses Jacob's cheek then waves as she exits her apartment. "Bye, Bye!"
Maureen closes the door behind her then turns to her sister. "So where do you want to go for lunch?"
xXx
Maureen looks up from her paperwork and glances at Jacob, who sits contentedly beside her in his swing. His pacifier bobs in his mouth as he watches her. Maureen smiles at him, causing him to smile back. She looks up just above him at Kathleen who sits curled in one end of the couch, her phone in her hand. She hasn't glanced twice at Jacob and spent all of lunch completely ignoring him. Kathleen pauses from her scrolling and reaches into the pocket of her jeans jacket and pulls out her phone charger. Maureen sighs as she watches her plug her phone into the wall to charge. She was hoping Kathleen would finally take an interest in their littlest brother, but she's barely put her phone down to look at him. So apparently drastic measures must be taken. Maureen stands and heads to the kitchen.
"Shit," she says moments later.
"What?" Kathleen asks.
"I'm such a clutz. I just dropped all his formula."
"Well, doesn't Olivia have more?"
Maureen looks through the cupboards. "Doesn't look like it. I'm going to run to the CVS down the street and pick some up. Stay here with Jake."
"Whoa! Why can't you take him with you?"
"I'm just going to be gone for like 20 minutes. It will take me longer if I take him with me."
"What if he cries or something?"
"Look at him," Maureen motions to the baby, who is the perfect picture of innocence. "He hasn't made a peep all afternoon."
"What if he's hungry?"
"Distract him," Maureen says as she pulls on her coat. "I'll be right back," she says and slips out the door before her sister can protest anymore.
Kathleen looks at Jacob and Jacob looks back at her. She turns back to scrolling on her phone. The silence lasts only seconds before Jacob, unsatisfied with the lack of attention, lets his displeasure be known. Kathleen groans and rolls her eyes. She picks up Jacob's discarded pacifier and places it back in his mouth. He promptly spits it out and continues to wail.
xXx
Maureen's phone buzzes on the table beside her and she puts her book down to answer it. "Hello?" she greets. She can hear Jacob crying in the background.
"What's taking you so long?"
"They were out of his formula. I had to go to another store."
"Well, how long is it going to take?"
"I don't know Katie. I just got here and the checkout line is super long. Looks like they only have one register open."
Kathleen growls. "Well, hurry up!" she says and disconnects the call.
Maureen smiles to herself then places the phone back on the table.
"Can I get you anything else?" A waitress asks her.
"Yea, can I have another skim latte?"
"Coming right up!"
"Thanks," Maureen smiles then picks up her book as the waitress heads on her way.
xXx
"What do you want?" Kathleen sighs exasperated. She waves a toy in front of Jacob, but his cries continue. She sighs and lifts him out of the swing. His cries immediately cease and he smiles as his older sister. "So that's what you wanted? To be held." Jacob giggles. Kathleen can't help but to smile back. "You're kind of cute, you know." She sits with Jacob on the couch and reaches for her phone and surprised when Jacob sits quietly in her lap, mesmerized by the glow of her phone. "I guess you're not so bad."
xXx
Maureen's phone lights up beside her and she sees that she has an Facebook notification. She unlocks her phone and opens the app to see Kathleen has tagged her and their other siblings in a selfie with Jacob. He smiles brightly at the camera and his blue eyes match Kathleen's. The caption reads, "Big Sister Duties," and Maureen smiles, happy her plan worked out. She pulls out her purse and puts down enough cash to cover her lattes and a generous tip. She puts on her coat and heads on her way.
xXx
Olivia enters her apartment with her dark tresses now mixed with caramel highlights. She's surprised to find Kathleen sprawled on the floor, playing with Jacob. His laughter echoes throughout the apartment. Maureen comes to stand beside her and smiles.
"How did you do that?" She nods towards the pair of siblings.
"I knew that if Kathleen spent some time with him, she'd come to love him just like the rest of us. I mean, how could she not?"
"How'd you get her to spend time with him?"
"I asked her to watch him while I went to pick up some formula."
"But Jacob isn't on formula."
"You know that and I know that, but she doesn't. They've been like that since I got back. I was even going to make him a bottle, but I didn't want to disturb them."
"He hasn't eaten?"
"He had a bottle when we were at lunch, but he's been fine ever since. I guess he's having too much fun to realize that he's hungry."
"Wow. Good job, Maur. You're going to make a great social worker."
"Thanks."
xXx
Michael enters Olivia's bedroom and finds her already in bed with her phone in hand. "Hey," he greets and kisses her hello.
"Hey, how was work."
"Pretty slow. It was my clinic day so I mostly had follow-up post ops and a couple consultations," he answers as he begins to unbutton his shirt. "Got paged for an emergency appendectomy just as I was about to leave for the day and another to repair a liver laceration."
"You call that slow?"
"Well, I could have been in surgery all day," he says as he discards his shirt into the hamper.
"I guess."
Michael smiles. "So…have you talked to Elliot about moving with me to Baltimore?"
Olivia stares at him confusedly. "No, I thought you understood when Elliot decided to be more involved with Jacob that us moving was off the table."
"I thought you wanted to be with me."
"Of course I do."
"Well?" he asks expectantly. "Did you even ask him?"
"Why would I ask him something I know he's going to say no to?"
"How do you know he's going to say no?"
"Because I know Elliot, and there's nothing that means more to him than his children. There's no way he's going to agree to me moving that far away with Jacob. He even asked me to put his name on Jacob's birth certificate. He's finally starting to take this seriously."
"I don't understand why you even need his permission if he's not even on the birth certificate."
"He's Jacob's father. Of course he would get a say."
"Since when? I've been more of a father to Jacob than he has."
"You're right, but Elliot is his father, and I won't deny Jacob a relationship with him. I told you I grew up without a father. I won't do that to my son. Not when his father is here and wanting a relationship with him."
Michael rolls his eyes. "Some father."
"Hey, I'm not excusing his actions, but he's here now and I'm not doing this for him. I'm doing this for Jacob. Elliot's a great father to his other kids and Jacob deserves that and he has siblings. He has a whole family here. I won't take him away from that. Not even for you."
"So then what are we doing?"
"What do you mean?"
"I'm moving!" he says as it were obvious. "I gave them a start date and everything. So how are we supposed to work if I'm there, and you're here."
"We can do long distance. I can come up when Elliot has Jacob."
"With your job? I barely see you as it is."
"We can make this work."
"How?"
Olivia searches for answers but comes up empty. "We'll figure it out."
"Olivia, I love you and I want to be with you, but we have to be realistic here. How long are we going to do long distance?"
"Michael, I don't know. You come to me with this now and you expect me to have all these answers and I don't, but we can talk about it and we can work something out."
"Olivia, I brought this to you weeks ago. Before Elliot decided that he wanted to be involved. You mean to tell me you've never thought about this once since then?"
"Of course I have, I just thought we had more time to figure things out."
"Well, we don't. I'm leaving, Olivia, and I want you to come with me. And if you can't, then I think it's best that we just end it now."
Olivia's eyes well with tears. "So you're ending this? That's your solution to this?"
"I don't see any other way."
"Michael, we can figure this out."
"I think… we just did."