At nine thirty-six the next morning, soccer was in full swing. Noah's game had started while Elliot and Olivia cheered from the sidelines. When there was a lull in the action, Elliot wrapped his arm around Olivia's waist and pulled her closer.

"Mmm, you're a lot warmer than this trench coat," she sighed as she rested her head on his shoulder. His leather jacket felt smooth against her cheek.

A smile formed on his lips. Words were on the tip of his tongue when Grant's mom climbed up the bleachers and chimed in.

"Hey Olivia! Who's this stud muffin?" Laura asked with all of her usual enthusiasm, her eyes falling on Elliot. His arm stayed around Olivia's waist, and she sat up straight.

"Laura, this is my friend Elliot. Elliot, this is Grant's mom Laura," Olivia explained, motioning between the two adults.

Elliot removed his hand from the soft, wooly fabric of Olivia's trench coat and returned Laura's handshake. They exchanged "nice to meet yous."

The trio made small talk for a bit, before Laura headed for concessions.

"You'll have to give me the details later," Laura whispered in Olivia's ear as she walked away. A few steps later, the woman turned and winked at the former partners, who couldn't help but laugh.

Fifty minutes later, Olivia and Elliot settled onto the bleachers to watch Eli's game. Noah sat next to them enjoying a cup of hot cocoa.

"Great win, bud," Elliot complimented Noah.

After Noah had thanked him, Olivia turned to Elliot.

"Are you sure it's not too late for me to take Noah home?" she asked him. Elliot sighed and placed his hand on top of hers that rested on her thigh.

"Liv, I know you're nervous to see Kathy, but she's a lot calmer now. Plus I told her that you'll be here and she wants to see you," he reasoned.

She flipped her hand over to grab his and took a deep breath.

"Okay. But if it gets awkward you can find me at concessions," she half-joked.

After a few more minutes of chatting, Olivia spotted Kathy with Eli, who was jogging to the field. She dropped Elliot's hand as Kathy approached them and nervously waved to her.

By the time Kathy could wave back, she was a few steps away from the bleachers.

"Hi, Olivia," she called out with a small smile. After setting her purse down, she leaned in for a hug, which Olivia returned.

"How are you?" Olivia asked her.

"I'm doing well, thanks. You?" Kathy replied.

"I really can't complain."

EOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO

After Eli's soccer game, the boy jogged off the field. Kathy and Noah were engaged in a deep discussion about Transformers; Kathy listening intently as Noah told her everything he knew about the toys. Elliot waved Eli over and introduced him to Noah. The boys began to chat and Kathy turned toward Elliot.

"By the way, Eli has a birthday party to go to this evening. It's close to the house, so if you want to spend the day with him and drop him off later, he can stay overnight. That would be easier than you having to pick him up tonight," the blonde mentioned.

"That's fine." he responded before looking at the boys, who were discussing soccer like they were the best of pals.

"Hey Eli, come meet Olivia."

"Hi Olivia," Eli exclaimed. "Thanks for saving me when I was born."

Olivia chuckled. "You're welcome bud. It's nice to see you. I see that you've met Noah," she added, motioning toward her chocolate-haired son.

"Yeah. He's pretty cool. And he can't boss me around like Dickie does."

EOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO

At four o'clock that afternoon, Olivia walked into a bowling alley with Elliot by her side. After a pleasant lunch with Eli, Noah, and Elliot, Laura had called to see if Noah wanted to have a playdate. Eli was off to his friend's birthday party, leaving the two of them to themselves for a few hours.

They took their time putting on shoes and getting the game set up. Olivia went first, scoring a spare on her first turn. Elliot managed to get eight points, and the competition was on. They bowled for an hour before deciding they were hungry.

"Does pizza souls good? With a side of mozzarella sticks?" Elliot asked.

"It's sounds like straight cholesterol," she joked, "but it also sounds delicious."

As Elliot went up to order the food, Olivia couldn't help but admire his stature. His broad shoulders, strong arms, and confident stride left her staring. She hadn't been allowed to look at him- really look at him- for their entire partnership, and god damn her if she didn't do it now.

Once he came back from ordering, he sat down next to her and she grabbed his hand.

"El?"

"Yeah Liv?"

"You make ordering pizza look really sexy," she complimented him, turning toward him and running her thumb along the inside of his palm. In response, he pulled her hand up to his mouth and kissed the back of it several times. He leaned in until his lips brushed her ear.

"Liv, I can't think of anything you do that isn't sexy. Do you know how hard it was to contain myself when we worked together? When you would bend over the desk, I would always force myself to think about baseball stats. And now that I have kissed you, I pretty much think about baseball twenty four seven, or at least I try. You always come back into my head, babe. And those jeans you're wearing? They should be illegal."

She shivered slightly at his words and whispered back to him.

"El, how about we leave the pizza and go home?"

Oooo things are heating up! Thank you all for sticking with this story even though the updates are sporadic. Stay tuned!