AN: Alright, so here we go with Chapter 2. This chapter gives a little more background on Olivia and Jonathan's relationship, but it's not extremely direct. Of course, eventually we'll hear about their relationship from Olivia herself, but until then I hope you all enjoy the chapters leading up to that. That's really all I have to say, enjoy and review please!
Chapter 2 – Spaghetti Dinner
The next day is a bit of a whirlwind for Olivia. She's able to slip out of work a few minutes early and makes it to Luke's school right on time. When she'd told Elliot that she could handle three kids, she hadn't thought twice about it. However, as they pile into her car, giving her excited hellos, Olivia realizes that she still needs to go to the grocery store if she was going to make the spaghetti Dickie had told his dad he liked. She glances back, looking at the twins and Luke whispering excitedly to each other about their plans for the night, and wonders for just a moment if she'd bitten off more than she could chew. However, she quickly pushes this worry away and assures herself that this evening will be fine.
Even still, Olivia is surprised that things go as well as they do at the grocery store. The Stabler children are talkative, but very well-behaved and helpful, asking Olivia if she needs them to grab anything and cheering when she suggests ice cream for dessert. They make it out of the grocery store in an hour, and when they pull up at her apartment, 4 o'clock is just approaching.
"Alright, guys," Olivia says, as they walk in the front door. Luke had insisted on carrying the groceries up for her, and he sets them on the kitchen table with a dramatic sigh, making Olivia smile a little. "Get your homework done first, please. Luke, when you finish, bring your math in and I'll check it for you, alright? Go back to your room, it's clean isn't it?"
"Yes, mom," Luke, his cheeks red. He nods at Liz and Dickie. "Come on guys."
Olivia chuckles, smiling at her daughter as she totters from the living room into the kitchen, Amy walking behind her.
"Hi, Angel, I'm so sorry I'm a little late," Olivia says, ducking down to pick up Grace. She peppers her face with a few kisses, making the 14-month-old giggle. Olivia sets her on her hip before smiling apologetically at Amy and going to grab her wallet.
"Sorry, I just got caught up with the kids at the grocery store," she says, taking out the bills she needs to pay her sitter, adding in a little extra for her tardiness. "You're free to go."
"Grace has already eaten her snack, but she hasn't fallen asleep yet. I think she was waiting for you." Amy says, glancing back in the direction of Luke's room, where loud and excited speech is coming from. She takes the money Olivia hands her. "You know, I can stay if you need me to."
"No, no, that's alright. I can handle them," Olivia says, a small smile on her face. "Thank you, we'll see you on Monday."
Amy smiles back and says a quick goodbye, grabbing her bag and leaving. Olivia presses one more kiss to Grace's forehead before setting her down in her high chair. She then begins to remove the groceries from bags, setting everything she needs on the counter and sticking the ice cream in the freezer, then grabbing the homemade meatballs she'd left to thaw last night from the fridge and setting them on the counter as well. She turns the oven on to preheat before humming and running her eyes over the counter.
There's a knock at the front door. She checks her watch quickly before heading to the door, surprised when she looks through the peephole and sees Elliot. She unlocks the door and opens it, smiling at her friend.
"I didn't expect you to get here so early," she says, stepping to the side to allow him to come inside before closing the door behind him.
"I sweet-talked my captain," Elliot says, grinning and looking around. "I didn't come too early, did I?" Olivia offers to take his jacket, and he shrugs it off. She places it on the coat rack, turning back to him afterward.
"No, of course not," Olivia says. "The kids are doing their homework back in Luke's room. I was just getting ready to cook dinner."
"Do you want some help?"
"Sure," Olivia says with a small smile, leading Elliot back into the kitchen. Grace lets out a welcoming coo. "We can work on the agenda after we eat."
"You know, I don't think I've ever been in this apartment before."
"I guess that's true," Olivia says, taking out the remaining pots she'd need. "We moved about a year ago, but Kathy usually picks Dickie up."
"It's nice," Elliot says, waving a little at Grace, who has been watching him with tired eyes since he entered the room. This statement is true. The apartment is decorated in light colors with large windows, and so it seems a little larger than it actually is. It's full of light and warmth, opposed to the sleek modern design that had been present in the townhouse Olivia had lived in with her husband.
"Thank you," Olivia says, watching as her daughter's head drops slightly. She chuckles softly, picking her up again and rubbing her back gently. "I'll be right back, but I think that Grace needs to go down for a nap. You offered to help?"
"As much as I can," Elliot says, examining the ingredients Olivia had put out. Olivia laughs and walks Grace back to her bedroom.
When she returns, Elliot is at the sink, washing his hands. Olivia smiles a bit, stepping up next to him.
"See, you know what you're doing," she says. After Elliot steps away from the sink, Olivia starts to wash her own hands.
"Barely," Elliot says with a short chuckle, drying his hands. "So, am I going to learn tonight what makes your pasta so amazing?
Olivia chuckles and shrugs her shoulders slightly. She dries her hands before leaning down to take out a sheet pan, which she sprays with cooking spray before opening the bag of meatballs and starting to place them on the tray.
"The only things I make on my own are the meatballs and the pasta sauce," Olivia says, and Elliot clucks his tongue. "And I made these a few weeks ago."
"You say that like it's not a big deal," Elliot says, shaking his head slightly. "What do you want me to do?"
Olivia nods at the medium-sized pot on the stove.
"Add some of the olive oil, then put it on medium heat," she says. "That'll be for the sauce." Elliot follows her instructions, carefully. Olivia smiles slightly when she glances over at him and notices that his tongue is poking between his bottom and top lip. Dickie makes the same face when he's focusing on something. "Okay, now you can cut those onions. I'll handle the garlic. Hold on…"
She sticks the tray of meatballs into the stove and set the timer, rewashes her hands quickly, then grabs a cutting board and knife for Elliot, and one of each for herself. They each begin to prep, and Olivia quickly realizes that she should have warned Elliot about the onion.
"Jesus," Elliot mutters, his eyes watering. Olivia lets out a small laugh.
"I'm so sorry," she says, quickly mincing a couple of cloves of garlic. Elliot rubs her eyes with his sleeve and continues, sniffling as he adds them to the pot. "I should have told you to put a match between your teeth."
"How on earth would that help?" Elliot says. Olivia chuckles softly and adds the garlic to the pan, shrugging a little as she puts the cutting boards in the dishwasher.
"I'm not quite sure how it works," she admits. "But it helps with the tears." Elliot, still wiping at his eyes, heads to the sink to wash his hands again.
"And you cook every night?" he asks. Olivia nods slightly.
"I try my hardest to," she says, watching the pot on the stove. "My mom didn't really cook much growing up. So, when I got engaged, I decided I was going to learn how to cook before I had kids."
"Oh," Elliot says, glancing at Olivia. "My mom didn't really cook much either. And Kathy used to do the cooking, so my skills never really, ah, developed, I guess."
"I see," Olivia says, smiling gently at Elliot. She starts to open the cans of tomatoes. She pauses for a second before continuing. "When did you get married?"
"When we were seventeen," Elliot says. "You know, this has been the first time I've been single since junior high." Olivia chuckles softly, adding the tomatoes to the pot. Elliot watches as she begins to season the sauce after, adding basil, oregano, salt and pepper, and a few things he doesn't know the name of. He's about to ask what the extra ingredients are, but then Olivia speaks up again, her voice soft.
"I got engaged when I was 16," she says, not making eye contact. She turns the heat on the stove up. "Married when I was 18. I was with Jonathan for what feels like my whole life." Elliot watches her for a moment before nodding slowly
"I got married so early because Kathy was pregnant," he admits. He doesn't quite know why he's divulging so much information. "Why did you get married?" Olivia lets out a short laugh, flicking her eyes at Elliot.
"Because I was in love."
•
After this conversation, the kitchen is quiet. Olivia gives Elliot a few gentle instructions, but it seems to him that her mind is now somewhere other than her airy apartment.
By the time Luke walks back into the kitchen to show Olivia his math, the meatballs are out of the oven, the sauce is ready, and the noodles have been cooked in it. Olivia is currently adding the meatballs to the pasta. When Luke calls her name, she sets the dish down in the center of the table and looks up.
"Here's my math," he says, holding out his paper. As she takes it, he looks at Elliot and smiles. "Hey, Mr. Stabler."
"Hey, Luke," Elliot says, smiling. "Dickie told me that you guys are going to enter the science fair together this year. Think you'll need any help?"
"Yes!" Luke says excitedly. "He told me about the Mentos trick, but you can't show me now because mom doesn't buy soda."
"Hey," Olivia protests, glancing up. "You couldn't set up an explosion in the middle of my kitchen even if I did buy Coke."
"I guess," Luke says, sounding glum. "I didn't think about that."
"It's alright," Elliot says. "The next time you come over, we'll head to the park or something and try it there."
"Cool," Luke says, his smile returning. Olivia glances at her son, watching as he gives Elliot a fist bump. She smiles softly before clearing her throat.
"Good job on your math, bud, these all look right," she says, handing Luke back his homework.
"Dickie helped me," Luke says, taking the sheet of paper. "He's good at multiplication and division already, even though we just started learning them in class."
"Ah," Olivia says, smiling a little at Elliot as Luke heads back to his room. "Hey, I'll let you play for a little while, but I need you to come back in 10 minutes, okay? Dinner's about to be ready."
"Okay, mom," Luke says, disappearing into the back of the apartment. Olivia looks over at Elliot, smiling as she grabs a salad bowl from the cabinet.
"I didn't know Dickie was so good at math," she says. "He'll have to come over more often."
"Please," Elliot says with a chuckle, watching as Olivia adds lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, and cheese to the salad bowl and then tosses it. "He's already over here three out of the seven days in a week."
"Well, to be fair, Luke is at you or Kathy's house the other four nights," Olivia says, grinning and setting the salad on the table, then taking out the dressing and placing it on the table as well.
"We both love having him," Elliot says. He grabs what he recognizes as salad tongs and hands them to Olivia. "He's a good influence on Dickie. He's polite. Nice. Always tells him to let Liz play with them. Dickie has the tendency to be a little…more difficult."
"No," Olivia says, raising her eyebrows. Elliot raises his eyebrows back. "He's the sweetest kid I've ever met. Always asking if I need help clearing the table. And he's nice to Grace, too; he doesn't mind her tagging along at all."
"I knew it," Elliot says, shaking his head and leaning against the counter. "I knew he was holding out on us." Olivia laughs softly.
"We'll just say they're a good influence on each other," Olivia says, relaxing next to Elliot.
"You do have great kids, though," Elliot says after a moment. "They both look just like you. And Grace is one of the cutest babies I've ever seen."
"Does that make me cute?" Olivia quips. Elliot looks at her, his eyebrows raised, and she shakes her head to let him know she'd been joking. "When Luke was born, Jonathan didn't think he looked anything like him. And maybe, he didn't at first. But the older he gets, the more I see Jonathan in his face. I mean, his eyes, those hazel eyes are just like his Dad's and…"
Her voice trails off, and when Elliot looks over, she's wiping at her eyes. His face folds in concern.
"It must be hard not to have him here to see them grow up."
Olivia looks back at Elliot, and his concerned blue eyes, so different from the hazel ones that she was used to seeing. She nods slightly.
But that was not what she had been thinking. She'd been thinking that sometimes when she looked right at Luke, when the sun on his hair made it look almost blond and those hazel eyes lit up, she sometimes felt an inexplicable chill run down her spine and it would take her a moment to catch her breath and remember where she was.
Elliot, watching Olivia, think that she must be missing her husband. This is perfectly understandable. He wraps an arm around Olivia's shoulder and pulls her into a gentle, casual hug. Olivia tenses under his touch at first, but after a second, her body relaxes. They should break apart really, but for some reason, they remain frozen, Olivia's head on Elliot's chest, his arm around her. Eventually, Olivia finds words.
"Grace never met him," she says slowly. She feels like she's about to burst. She hadn't talked to anyone about Jonathan since he died. She hadn't even had a reason to say his name out loud so many times in the past year. But now, for some reason, she feels like she can talk. Open up. Maybe it's their proximity or the friendly arm around her shoulder, but for the first time in a long time, she wants to talk to someone. Elliot looks down at her, watches her chew on her bottom lip slightly. "But Luke remembers everything."
It seems like she has more to say, but right then Luke and the twins come barreling into the kitchen, full speed. Olivia and Elliot break away immediately, trying not to look too guilty. Dickie and Liz don't seem to notice, but Luke's eyes linger on Elliot for just a second.
"We're all gonna set the table, mom," Luke says, opening the silverware drawer. "You can sit down now."
Olivia raises her eyebrows, her moment of weakness passing quickly. She nods at Elliot.
"We can sit down now," she says, repeating her son. She laughs and sits, and Elliot does as well, but his eyes are still on her, his mind reeling and wondering what it was that she'd been about to say.
•
Dinner goes smoothly. Olivia has to wake Grace up, and so she's a little cranky when she's brought to the table but comes around quickly, playing with her pasta as she feeds herself.
Elliot is surprised by his children's bubbliness. They don't usually warm up to people so quickly, but they chat with Olivia like she is an old friend. To be fair, he guessed they had known her since kindergarten, but he is still a bit taken aback with how easily they joke with her and how much she seems to like talking to them.
The largest surprise takes place when Dickie reaches for the salad. Elliot's eyebrows raise immediately, and he watches in amazement as his son heaps salad on his plate, adds dressing, and then starts munching happily.
"Hey," he says. "I thought you didn't like anything green."
"Mom doesn't let us eat dessert if we don't eat a vegetable," Luke explains, cutting into a meatball.
"And she buys the good dressing," Dickie says through a mouthful of salad.
"It's really good, Dad," Lizzie adds. Elliot looks at Olivia, who's smiling sheepishly.
"It's a raspberry vinaigrette," she says. "You can take the bottle home."
To Dickie's credit, Olivia's spaghetti is the best Elliot's ever had. He eats so many servings that when Olivia pulls out ice cream, he's too full to have any. Olivia passes as well, but the kids all take large portions happily. Even Grace is allowed to have a small amount, which ends up mostly on her tray instead of her mouth.
When they finish eating, the kids clear the table (without being asked, which also shocks Elliot) and go back to Dickie's room to watch a movie. Olivia, Elliot, and Grace move into the living room to work on the meeting agenda.
They've only been working for about 30 minutes, having decided on the agenda and now talking about fundraising ideas when Grace starts to get cranky. Olivia picks her daughter up and places her in her lap, rocking her gently. As she does so, she notices Elliot yawning.
"Are you getting tired, too?" she asks, smiling a little as Elliot shakes his head, even as he yawns again.
"No, no," he says, looking back down at the list of ideas they'd been working on. "Alright, so far we have a bake sale, a car wash, a Halloween haunted house, and a field day at one of the local parks."
When he looks up, Olivia is just smiling at him gently. He raises his eyebrows.
"We've done enough for today," Olivia says. "And you are tired. You can head back. Or you can stay here and spend the night if you want. You know, if you're too tired to drive" She adds in the last part, a bit hastily, her cheeks red. Elliot just shakes his head slightly.
"We haven't finished," he says. "I don't want you to think I just came for the free meal. Which was fantastic by the way." Olivia smiles a bit wider.
"I don't, I promise," she says. "I'm sure you've had a long day. Come on, say goodbye to Dickie and Liz. They can both sleep over tonight."
After only a little more protesting from Elliot, they walk back to Luke's room, Grace fast asleep on Olivia's chest. Olivia knocks lightly on the door and pokes her head in, chuckling as she sees all the kids huddled up at the foot of Luke's bed, watching Scooby Doo on the TV as if it's a horror film.
"Hey guys," she says, getting the kids to look her way. Dickie jumps a little, but she acts as if she didn't notice. "Mr. Stabler just wanted to say goodnight. Liz, did you want to spend the night too?"
"Yes, please," Lizzie says, hopping up with her brother. They give their Dad a quick hug, before returning to their movie.
Olivia walks Elliot to the front door after, shifting arms to support her daughter.
"Thank you for coming over," she says, smiling. "I appreciate your help. And it was nice to have another adult to talk to."
"Yeah," Elliot says, chuckling. His eyes run over Olivia's face quickly before he turns to pick up his jacket. He pulls it on slowly, speaking up again. "You know, my birthday's coming up on the 20th. I'm having a little birthday day party that Sunday after mass. You can bring the kids over, and they can play, and we can talk some more about the PTA meeting."
"Are you sure?" Olivia asks, her eyebrows knitting. "We wouldn't want to impose, it's definitely okay if we meet another time."
"No, I'd planned on inviting you all anyways. And the kids will be excited to see each other," Elliot says, smiling. "Think you can make it?"
"I'll have to check my calendar, but that sounds good," Olivia says, smiling back at Elliot, a little shyly.
"Okay," Elliot says, grinning now, in spite of himself. He rubs the back of his neck, which is a little red. "Okay, good. That's great. I'll uh…I'll be here in the morning to pick up the kids, and then I'll see you on the 20th."
"Right," Olivia says, chuckling. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Bye," Elliot says, still smiling as he steps out.
•
Olivia lets the kids stay up for a little while longer after Elliot leaves. She puts Grace down and then makes sure the kitchen is cleaned and the dishwasher is loaded before she gets ready for bed herself. Then, around 11, after giving them a warning 30 minutes prior, she pokes her head into Luke's room again. She'd given Lizzie an extra sleeping bag, and the girl was already fast asleep. Olivia nods at Luke and Dickie, who are still sitting on the bed.
"Hey guys, time to go to sleep," she says. "You can finish the movie in the morning." Dickie nudges Luke, who sighs and looks at his mom.
"Do you think you could make chocolate chip pancakes in the morning?" he asks. Olivia smiles a little and raises her eyebrows.
"I thought you liked blueberry better?" she asks, leaning in the doorframe. Luke rolls his eyes a little, looking back at his friend.
"Well, Dickie-ouch!-I mean, Lizzie, likes chocolate chip pancakes."
"Oh," Olivia says. "Well, I'll make them special for her then."
"Thanks, mom," Luke says, smiling as he grabs the remote and turns the TV off. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight," Olivia says, flicking the light off. "Love you, bud."
She closes the door when she leaves and Luke rolls over to click his night light on. He climbs under the covers and Dickie slides off of the bed and into his sleeping bag. They both lie still for a moment before Luke whispers, deciding to get his friend's opinion on something that had been on his mind for a few hours.
"Hey, Dickie?"
"Yeah?" Dickie answers, his voice tired.
"Do you think my mom and your dad like each other?"
There's a pause. Dickie coughs.
"What do you mean?" he asks.
"Like…" Luke says, searching for an example. "Like Daphne and Fred. Like like each other."
Another pause.
"Nah," Dickie says. "My dad still loves my mom. Kathleen said she's just mad at him right now, but they're going to get married again."
"Oh," Luke says, sounding a little letdown. He thinks about how he'd seen his mom and Dickie's dad hugging. Then thinks about his own dad. "I don't know if my mom still loves my dad."
"Your dad isn't alive anymore, though," Dickie says. He doesn't say this to be mean, it's simply a fact.
"I know," Luke says, understanding. "But you can still love someone after they die. That's what mom said when my grandma died."
"Oh," Dickie says, trying to understand. "Well, why don't you know if your mom loves your dad then?"
"He was kind of a jerk when he was alive," Luke says, his voice dropping. He doesn't want his mom to hear him say something mean about his dad. She doesn't talk about him often, but when she does, she definitely doesn't say anything bad about him. "He yelled a lot, and they fought, even though my mom doesn't like arguing. I think he made her cry sometimes."
"My dad yells sometimes too," Dickie says. "But he always says sorry after."
"My dad said sorry," Luke says, reserved. "And he would buy presents. But, I don't think you're supposed to be mean to the people you love."
"Hm," Dickie says. He's falling asleep.
"If our parents got married, you know we'd be brothers," Luke says.
"That'd be cool," Dickie says sleepily. He turns over in his sleeping bag, and soon his breathing evens out.
Luke continues to look at the ceiling, and at the light cast by his night light. He thinks about his dad and how his big smile could disappear in a second. How sometimes he came home with red eyes and how on those nights, his mom would make him go to bed even though the arguing and the bumping would make it hard for him to sleep. He had never seen Mr. Stabler – Elliot, his mom called him – with red eyes.
Eventually, he falls asleep, too.