Wow! I can't believe the feedback I got from last chapter. Thank you so so much for the reviews! As you see, it motivates both me and my beta to give you an update sooner rather than later. ;)

Thank you especially to the couple of people who said this fic wasn't just a regular kid!fic... Thank you so much because that is exactly what I was hoping to accomplish.

And to all the EO shippers who keep asking for some lovin'... I can only hope this chapter will please you. :)

Once again, thousand thanks to Mariah, my beta!

Now, on with the show!

In the morning, Olivia had ordered up breakfast from room service and had gone to the bathroom to get ready for the day. Still in her robe, she went to answer the knock on the door and was stunned to see Kathy Stabler looking back at her.

"I'm sorry, I know it's early. I was just… in the city, and…" the woman started to explain, staring at her with wide eyes.

"Please, come on in Kathy," Olivia finally said.

She almost felt wrong just saying Elliot's ex-wife's name.

She hadn't closed the door when the bellboy showed up with the breakfast cart. She tipped him and walked back into the room. Kathy was standing in the middle of the room, looking around. Her hands were closed firmly on the handle of her purse.

She looked up at Olivia.

"Kathleen told me where you were. She doesn't think it's a good idea for me to be here, but…" Kathy told her.

"I'm sorry, Kathy," Olivia breathed out.

"Don't. Don't, Olivia," her voice was low and her glare angry. "I'm not here for an apology. I don't want an apology. I trusted you with my husband's life for twelve years. At times I resented you because he could share so much with you that he couldn't with me. But I trusted you, the both of you."

"Elliot loved you. Loves you."

"Yes, I know. He loves me because I'm the mother of his children. However, he's been in love with you for years, just because you're you. You're… Olivia," she said and her name was almost a whisper, like a dirty word that shouldn't be uttered. "And now you're also the mother of his child. And that's why I'm here."

Olivia frowned but kept quiet, still looking at Kathy.

"Elliot's life has always been all about his children, Olivia," the woman carried on. "I'm here to ask you not to keep him away from his daughter, and to not keep my children from their sister. I don't care if it's hard for you. But you slept with my husband and you had his child. Now you face the consequences and you raise her where her family can know her."

She didn't say a word. She kept her eyes set on the woman.

"Mommy?"

She turned to the sleepy voice and went to pick up her daughter. She turned back to Kathy who was staring at the little girl.

"Hey, baby. This is Kathy," she explained to the little girl.

"Hi," Ella greeted shyly.

"Hi," Kathy answered quietly. "I should go," she added.

Olivia nodded and left the woman leave without another word.

"What she wanted?" Ella asked.

"She just wanted to say hi, baby"

Mother and daughter had breakfast and got ready for their day, which consisted in a picnic on Liberty Island before a movie with her brother and sister for Ella and dinner with Gavin for Olivia.

oooooooooo

They were back in their hotel by four. She put Ella down for a short nap and curled up in a chair to read. An hour later, she went to answer the knocking on the door and was surprised to see Elliot standing behind Liz and Eli. She greeted them and let them in. She went to wake up Ella and came back a couple of minutes after. The little girl followed her, rubbing her eyes.

"Hi Ella," Liz told the girl. "I hope you're not too tired for the movies."

"Huh huh," Ella answered, shaking her head vigorously.

Olivia squatted down before her daughter and took her head between her hands.

"You have fun, Ella, and you be good okay?" she told the girl. "And I'll pick you up from Elliot's later tonight. I love you, baby," she said, hugging her daughter.

Ella returned the love and went over to her sister and brother. Liz, Eli and Ella left the room and Elliot stayed after them.

"Well, have fun on your date. And Ella can always spend the night at my place if the date gets really fun, you know," he told her with sarcasm.

"Screw you, Elliot."

She closed the door in his face and leaned against it. She closed her eyes and sighed. One step forward, twelve steps back, she thought. She felt torn between being sad or angry at Elliot. He had no right on her. He'd never had any right on her but it had never stopped him from acting possessive over the years. It had always pissed her off. But she had also felt amused or even flattered at times. Not this time.

She thought about calling off her dinner with Gavin. She wasn't sure what she expected from him anyway, what she wanted. She still wasn't sure whether or not she was coming back to New York. But she had to admit she was thinking more and more about that possibility. Kathy's words were still ringing in her ears. But even if she did move back, it didn't mean she was going to fall back into Gavin's arms. A lot had happened since they had broken up. Elliot being the main one.

Having Elliot back in her life had her confused about what she wanted. She had come to New York in order for Ella to meet her family. She should have expected that her feelings for Elliot would flare back up. They had never really gone away in the first place.

Elliot had been under her skin for years, long before Ella, long even before they had first slept together. Gitano had been when she had first realized how much they were really intertwined. How deep he was already in her.

Her life had never been defined by stability. But that was what she'd had for the past years with Ella. Now she was back on unsteady grounds. Being a parent with Elliot was new and had her more shaky than ever.

She finally pulled away from the door, went to the bathroom and started the shower. She would keep her date with Gavin, she decided. She would also make clear to him that it was nothing more than a friendly dinner. Then she would try and find a way to be friends with Elliot.

oooooooooo

The car pulled up in front of the house and she undid her seat belt. She turned to Gavin with a smile.

"I had a great time, Gav," she told him.

"Me too, Olivia. And don't wait too long before changing your mind about me. I won't be single forever, you know," he replied teasingly.

She laughed and shook her head lightly.

"Thank you, Gavin," she said when she leaned to kiss him on the cheek.

He returned the thanks and they both knew it didn't have anything to do with dinner, but more to do with what they had done for each other. She had helped him get over his late wife. He had cared for her and her daughter when there had been no man in their lives. She gave him one last smile before getting out of the car.

She watched him drive away before walking to the house. She knocked at the door and Elliot opened it. He nodded at her and let her in. He eyed her up and down briefly. She then saw him glance outside and she rolled her eyes.

"Gavin dropped me off, ok. I'll take a cab back," she told him. "Look, maybe it is your business now, so I'm going to make it very clear. I'm not getting back together with Gavin. But he is a friend, okay? So drop it now. I get enough crap from your son without having to take it from you too."

"What? What did Dick say?" he asked furrowing his brow while closing the door behind them.

"Nothing. Forget it. How did it go tonight?"

"Great. How was your evening?" he asked her, causing her to arch an eyebrow at him.

"It was nice," she told him carefully.

"You look… you look nice, Liv," he complimented and slipped his hands in his pockets.

The ghost of a smile flowed on her face and she crossed her arms, her silver wrap falling in the crook of her elbows. She saw his eyes drop to the draped neckline of her burgundy dress and she bit down on her lip.

"Is that an actual compliment, or is that you being a prick again?" she asked.

"I mean it, Liv. Come on, have a beer with me," he jerked his chin to the end of the hallway.

She glanced upwards.

"Ella's asleep?" she checked.

"Yes, I set up a bed for her in the guest room upstairs. Eli's in bed too. I have him for the weekend."

He left for the kitchen and she hesitated for a few seconds. Even a simple beer seemed a loaded option with Elliot. She accepted anyway and followed him. She found him already on the couch, his legs crossed at the ankles. He handed her a beer and she went to grab it. She sat down next to him, carefully leaving enough room between the two of them. They both drank their beer in silence for a few minutes.

"I never took you out on a date," he finally said, his voice low and soft.

"That's because we never dated, Elliot. I guess we jumped through a few hoops, huh?" she breathed out in a laugh.

"I want to go out on a date with you, Liv," he told her. "I want to wine and dine you and I want to kiss you goodnight. I want you to put on a sexy dress and think of me when you do."

"Elliot…" she whispered.

Her heart was so far up in her throat she was surprised she had even managed to say his name. Her grip tightened on her beer bottle.

"I'm not asking, Olivia. I'm just telling you what I want."

"We don't work, Elliot. We're dysfunctional, co-dependent and unhealthy," she answered.

"You're wrong. You're wrong, Olivia," he replied. "We're screwed up, you and me, we're screwed up people. But you and me together… I don't know, we just… we fit, Olivia."

She slipped off her heels and he looked at her legs as she tucked them under her. She pulled her dress down on her thighs. She set an arm on the back of the couch and rested her head in her hand, looking at Elliot.

"You're the best friend and the best partner I've ever had, Liv," he said.

"Well you're not my partner anymore, El. You're…"

"The father of your child," he answered, squaring his shoulders and puffing out his chest.

Her chin fell on her chest in a breathy laugh. When she looked up, he was watching her with curiosity.

"What?" he asked her.

"Why do you look like you get a kick out of saying that?"

"Because I do get a kick out of it, it makes me proud. Sue me," he told her, a bit defensive.

She laughed again and slipped closer to Elliot until her bent knees were almost in his lap. She nudged his shoulder with hers and folded her hands in her lap.

"We're also not really friends anymore, are we?" she said sadly after a silence. "I'm glad Kathleen found me, though."

"Would you have ever told me about her if she hadn't?"

"Probably not until she'd have asked."

She felt the tension in his shoulders but it went away as soon as it appeared. He rested his hand on her thigh and her leg twitched slightly at the contact. His thumb brushed against her and she wished she wasn't wearing nylons. He played with the hem of her dress.

"Are you ever going to get past it?" she asked and it was more out of concern than annoyance.

"Are you going to let me be in her life?"

"Yes of course, Elliot. I didn't just come here for a quick hello," she assured him.

"I mean, are you going to take her back to the other side of the country?" he asked more forcefully.

She straightened a bit and his hand left her thigh. She gripped at the hem of her dress and lowered her head.

"Kathy came to see me this morning," she told him.

"What?" he exclaimed.

He stood straighter and looked down at her.

"Kathy came to see you?" he asked again.

"Relax, there was no hair pulling or eye clawing," her answer made him chuckle. "She told me that she didn't care how I felt about it but that I had to move back to New York."

"They're treating like crap, aren't they," he told her softly.

"You know I'll take everything they throw at me as long as they keep Ella out of it."

"You always think you deserve every crap that comes your way. Why is that?"

She sighed and grabbed a cushion to hug against her stomach.

"What did Richard say to you?" he asked again.

"He called me a whore, isn't that enough?"

"And he won't do that again. Are you protecting him from me?"

"Look, I'm already the bad guy here. I'm not going to rat out on him to his father too."

"Liv… No matter what you think, you're still owed some respect," he insisted.

"Drop it, El," she told him.

"I don't know if it's because of your mother, of your childhood, but you never think you're owed anything, you never want to ask for anything…"

"Elliot, stop it," she almost begged.

"You always think you're to blame for all the shit that happens around you. You're scared of change because you always see how bad things could turn out and you refuse to see the good. You think you're never worth more than what you have. Well, you're wrong, Liv. You're worth much more than you want to believe. And screw your mother for never realizing that."

"Elliot," she whispered.

"And screw me for forgetting you were worth a goodbye, at the very least, when I lost my shit."

She curled further against him and briefly leaned her head on his shoulder. Her empty beer bottle fell on the floor and rolled away. She closed her eyes against the tears. She breathed out and straightened up again. She brushed a hand on her dress and his eyes followed the movement.

"Your family has the right to blame me, Elliot. But you and I… we should try and be friends," she said softly.

"I've spent the last few years," he started after a moment of silence, "looking for you in every crowd, comparing every woman with you. Every day I would wonder where you were, whether I should try and find you, whether you missed me as much as I missed you. Some days I would beat me over the head for leaving you in the first place. Other days I would get so… furious… at you for running away. Again."

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"You have got to stop running away. It's been your MO for too long. It ends now, Olivia," he told her.

She didn't answer and stayed silent for a while.

"We were in Central Park the other day," she finally spoke up, "Ella and me, and she was playing around the jungle gym with other kids. I looked down for one second, to put my phone back in my purse, and when I looked up I couldn't see her anymore. I freaked out. I completely panicked. I thought about all the statements we took, the mothers we interviewed, the kids we lost… Turned out she was just down in the bushes getting a soccer ball back."

She waited in silence for a second and listened to Elliot's breathing.

"I'm not saying San Francisco doesn't have a dark side," she continued, "but I don't know it. New York on the other hand, I know New York's dark side way too much. Every street, every alley is tainted with blood and tears and fluids that shouldn't be there. And I… I don't know how you did it Elliot, raising your kids here, seeing what you see every day. I don't know if I can do it."

"Olivia…"

The way he spoke her name, soft and affected, made her shiver.

"Let me finish Elliot," she asked him. "It's not about running away anymore, or about me being afraid of change," she said harshly. "I just want safety and stability for Ella. I just want what's best for her."

"You can find that right here, Olivia," he said and got up. "San Francisco is safer for you, not for Ella."

He stood with his back to her and she saw him rub his forehead.

"You're here because you don't have a choice," he told her without looking at her. "But every time Ella gets closer to me, you pull her back in and away from me. I mean, she calls me Elliot because that's the only way you ever refer to me," he said harshly.

She hesitated. She knew he had a point and would not do him the insult of denying it.

"I'm sorry. It's just… It's been just me and Ella for over three years and… Yeah maybe I panic when I see her already so willing to forget about San Francisco to get closer to you," she admitted.

"That's not something to panic about, Olivia," he said, turning to face her. "That's a good thing." He lowered his voice and stepped closer to her. Her focus shifted briefly to his mouth. "But you think it's easier to be alone because that's all you've ever known. Except you're not alone now, and you'll never be alone again. That's something you're going to get used to. And then you'll see how much of a good thing it really is."

He gave her a hard look and turned away. He picked up her beer bottle from the floor and left for the kitchen. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear with a shaky hand. She looked around the room briefly before following him.

The alarm bells went off in her head. She ignored them.

When she got to the kitchen, she walked up to him and stopped right behind him. She brushed her hand lightly over his back and pressed her mouth to his shoulder. He turned to her with a startled look. She gazed at him through her lashes and rose on her toes. She hesitated briefly before urging her lips against his. He froze for a fraction of a second before returning the kiss. Her lips parted in a moan and he slipped his tongue in her mouth. She sneaked a hand in the waistband of his jeans while the other grabbed a fistful of his shirt in the back.

He turned her and pressed her against the counter. He grabbed a handful of her hair and attacked her mouth urgently. His hand moved down her spine until he was cupping her ass.

"God, Liv," he muttered.

She whimpered in his mouth. He drew his hand down her leg until he grabbed her thigh and pushed her up on the counter. He spread her legs to get between hers, not letting go of her lips. He moved a hand far up under her dress until his thumb was brushing at her inner thigh.

"Elliot," his name came out in a gasp.

She slipped her hand out of his pants and gripped the edge of the counter. Her other hand grabbed his on her thigh. She broke the kiss and let her forehead fall on his shoulder. She breathed heavily and tried to ignore the urgent need to put her hand down between her own legs and find some release to the throbbing there. Instead she wrapped her legs around him and brought him closer to her center.

"Elliot… God I shouldn't have done that."

He brushed his thumb on her skin again and he was so, so close to her panties. She whimpered again at the contact and she wished she didn't sound so needy. She wished she wasn't already so wet. Then again, she also could feel his erection against her thigh and there was no doubt he wanted her just as badly.

"I shouldn't have done that, Elliot."

"Is that what you meant when you said we should try and be friends? Not that I'm complaining," he said softly. "Do you want… do you want to move?" he then asked.

"Not right now," she answered in his shoulder.

"Don't trust your legs?" he joked lightly.

She laughed against him and kicked the heel of her foot against his thigh. It only brought him closer and she breathed out.

"God I've missed you, Liv."

"Why, none of your hot dates measured up?" she asked him.

He dropped a light kiss behind her ear and she raised her hips the slightest bit so that she rubbed against him. She closed her eyes.

"No, no they didn't."

"And just how many women did you date Elliot?"

She tried to ignore his hot kisses in her neck but her head rolled slightly to give him better access.

"Is it your turn to get jealous?" he teased her.

"Oh please. I'm not jealous, just curious."

"Did you ever wonder… did you ever wonder what would have happened if I hadn't been married when we met?" he asked instead.

She sighed and turned her head into his neck, kissing his skin lightly.

"Maybe I wouldn't be 63 at my kid's high school graduation," she joked half-heartedly.

She raised her head enough to kiss his jaw up to his mouth.

"Come on, move now. I think I've got the use of my legs back," she told him with a smirk.

She pushed him away and jumped down on the floor. He stopped her with a hand around her arm.

"Stay here tonight. You can take the other spare bed in the guest room if you want. Just… stay here tonight."

She agreed softly and they both went upstairs. She followed him to his bedroom and watched him as he rummaged through a drawer, thinking back on their conversation.

"Why did you?" she asked to his back. "Why did you leave without a word?"

"I killed a child, Olivia," he answered, still not looking at her. "I killed a child because she pulled a gun on you and I was terrified I was finally going to lose you."

She had asked the question. She hadn't been quite prepared for the answer.

"Elliot," she started in a whisper. "Jenna… she had shot Sister Peg, she would have shot down the whole precinct if someone hadn't stopped her. I'm sorry it had to be you."

He walked up to her with clothes in his arms.

"In my mind, I had chosen you over a civilian again, Olivia. Over a child. I had to… get away. I didn't want to think about the job for a while, or about you. I thought… I wasn't sure if I could separate the job from you anymore, if I could see you without feeling Jenna's blood seep through my fingers… But I dealt with it. And when I came back, I had decided I didn't want you as a partner anymore, Liv. I wanted to finally legally end a marriage that had been over for a long time. And I wanted to ask you out," he explained.

"You talk a lot…"

"What do you mean?"

"You… communicate. More than you used to."

"Well, I've had time to think about these words."

She swallowed the lump in her throat. He walked up closer to her and she took the clothes from him. She started to turn away but he grabbed her by the elbow. She looked at him.

"I'll get over your running away, Olivia," he told her softly. "I want you in my life. I want you here in New York. But I'm not sure I can… I'm not sure I want to be friends, Liv. I mean, just…"

"I know," she answered.

She held his eyes for a surprisingly comfortable silence. She wasn't sure she wanted to be friends either. She wasn't sure she should want to be more. She saw his eyes drop to her mouth and she looked down. She nodded slightly and left the room.

Sleep would not come easy tonight…

Don't worry there's more EO coming up! In the meantime, let me know what you think! I live for your reviews. ;)