Only one more chapter before the epilogue! Hope you're still enjoying.

Her packed suitcase was already in the trunk of the cab waiting on the side of the road. She squatted down on the sidewalk in front of her daughter.

"You be good for your dad, okay? And don't bite anyone," she told Ella with a hard look. "I'll call you every day and I'll see you in just five days, okay?"

The girl nodded and Olivia pulled her into a hug.

"I love you, baby."

"I love you too mommy."

She kissed her daughter's forehead and got up. She leaned down to give Eli a quick hug. She walked to the cab and Elliot held the door open for her as she slid into the back seat. He leaned into the car and looked at her with a grin and a glint in his eyes before he kissed her goodbye. Then he closed the door and the cab drove off. She looked back at the three of them standing in front of the gate and smiled.

oooooooooo

It was almost seven pm when she crossed the threshold of her house. The place that had been home for the last couple of years felt now too empty and too foreign. She already missed her little girl and even her mutt. Shannon had agreed to have drinks with her the next day after work. She would pick up Barney on her way back.

She missed Elliot.

This used to feel like a punch in the gut. Now it made her smile.

She took the suitcase up the stairs and into her room. She took a quick shower and was changing into a t-shirt and sweatpants when her cell phone rang. She saw Elliot's name on the screen and picked up.

"Hey, miss me already?" she joked.

"Not as much as Ella does," he said with a sigh.

"Oh… already?"

"She wouldn't go to bed before she talked to you."

"Okay, well put her on."

Olivia walked into her daughter's bedroom and picked up a book. She curled up in a chair and read the girl a story over the phone.

"I miss you, mommy," Ella said in a sleepy voice once Olivia was done reading.

"I miss you too…" she answered. "I love you, baby."

She heard silence and then chuckling on the other side of the line.

"Is that my pet name, now?" Elliot asked and she heard the smile in his voice.

She breathed out a nervous laugh.

"I was talking to Ella."

"I know," he said softly.

The phone still at her ear, she got up and went downstairs to the kitchen. There was a long silence but she knew he hadn't hung up. She rummaged through her cupboards to find something to eat.

"What are you doing?" he asked after a while.

"Preparing dinner."

"Yeah? What can are you heating up tonight?"

"Shut up," she retorted in a laugh.

She put her cell on speaker and placed it on the kitchen table.

"So, what are you wearing?" he asked.

"T-shirt and sweatpants."

"Liiiiv…" he whined.

She laughed.

"You're supposed to say you're wearing some kind of flimsy negligee," he said.

"Here's two words I never thought I'd hear you say. And I'm not having phone sex with you, Elliot," she told him.

"You don't know what you're missing," he teased. "Good night, Liv."

"Night Elliot."

He hung up and she stared at the phone, smiling softly. And for the first time in her life, she considered sending a sexy picture of herself to a man. She didn't though. She shook her head and huffed out a small laugh at herself before going back to her quiet evening.

oooooooooo

The next day, she went to work like any other day. She knew Mondays were busy for Shannon and the woman didn't find the time to grill her. On her lunch break, she typed her letter of resignation. She printed it, re-read it and stared at the letter. She didn't have any second thought about her decision; she was even somewhat excited about moving back to New York. It didn't mean she didn't feel some sadness at the idea of leaving her life here.

At six sharp, Shannon walked into the bar and spotted Olivia already sitting at a table. She was just getting off a call with her daughter and Elliot. She stood up to hug the woman and poured wine into the empty glasses. The woman smiled and took a sip. She saw the white envelope on the table and slid it towards her.

"I'm not going to find my paycheck for dog sitting in this, am I?" she asked with a small smile.

"We're moving back to New York, Shannon," Olivia told her.

"No kidding," she said. "Am I at least going to meet your stud?"

"Who? Elliot?" she asked, laughing.

"Hey, you said it, not me."

"Actually yes, he and Ella are coming to San Francisco this weekend. We'll have a small going away party," Olivia explained.

Shannon nodded and reached for something in her purse. Sipping her wine, she handed Olivia a card between two fingers. Olivia frowned and picked it up.

"Daniel Lloyd?" she asked.

"I went to college with him. He's head of the PR department of a firm called Vinci Security in New York. They oversee the security of a couple of big firms in the City."

"Okay…" Olivia hesitated.

"Their head of Employment Screening is about to retire and they're looking for a replacement."

"Shannon…"

"Basically you'd do the same thing you do here except with more work, more people working under you, and more money. I already talked to Daniel who talked to their head of security. You just have to call to set up a meeting."

The woman served herself another glass of wine. Olivia's drink was long forgotten.

"Shannon, I… I don't know what to say. You never had any doubt that I would go back to New York, did you?"

The brunette just smiled and reached for a few peanuts.

"This is incredibly nice of you, Shannon. I just don't know…"

"You wanna go back to being a cop?"

"No, no… I don't know …" Olivia furrowed her brow at her own hesitation.

"Well I told Daniel you'd call. It's just a meeting, Olivia. Think about it."

oooooooooo

The next few days went by rather quickly. She talked to Ella and Elliot every day after work. He was on light duty for the week. He was reluctant to leave Ella with someone she didn't know, so he worked around Liz and Kathleen's schedule. The girls had agreed to babysit on their free time for the week. Ella had asked for Eli and hadn't quite understood why he only lived with his father two weekends a month. Elliot and Olivia hadn't talked about bringing Ella by Kathy's. They just knew they wouldn't.

Wednesday night, her phone rang again when she was already in bed. Ella had woken up crying from a nightmare and had cried for her mother. Olivia heard Elliot's frustration at the fact that it took her voice to soothe the little girl back to sleep. They just said good night before hanging up.

During the week, she put the house up for sale and started packing up suitcases and cardboard boxes. She put stickers on the furniture she wanted to take back to New York and would let the Salvation Army handle the rest. She asked Casey to check out a couple of places in the city but when she looked at the wooden chest in her bedroom, she couldn't help but think that it would go nice in Elliot's living-room.

Olivia called Daniel Lloyd and set up a meeting for the following Thursday. She put her files, her work and her desk in order. She had lunch with her replacement. They didn't have a big party at work, just a toast at the coffee machine with friendly goodbyes and good lucks.

She was set to leave.

She had come back from her last day of work an hour ago and was now pushing boxes against the hallway wall. The living-room was still clear enough that she could welcome her few guests the following afternoon.

There was a single knock at the door before it flung open and Ella came running in.

"Mommyyy!" the girl yelled out.

Olivia turned to her as her daughter ran and jumped in her arms.

"Hey baby!" Olivia hugged her.

Barney had also come running as soon as he had heard the door open and was now jumping on Olivia's leg. Ella wriggled out of her mother's embrace and slung her arms over her dog. While she played with the puppy, Olivia stepped closer to Elliot. He had just closed the door and set his duffel bag and Ella's backpack on the floor.

"Hi," she told him with a hesitant smile.

He grabbed her chin and brought his lips down on hers.

"Hi Liv," he breathed out against her mouth.

She felt the familiar warmth in her belly and stepped away from him.

"How was the flight?" she asked.

"Tiring," he answered throwing a glance at Ella.

She laughed softly.

"Have you eaten anything?" she inquired.

"Not much. Plane food is almost as bad as hospital food."

She smiled and went to the kitchen. Elliot followed her as Ella ran around the house racing her puppy. Olivia picked up vegetarian lasagna from the freezer and put it in the oven. When she turned to Elliot, he was looking at her with a slight smirk.

"Don't worry, it's good frozen food," she told him as she rolled her eyes.

He leaned against the table and looked around.

"Nice house," he said.

"Yeah it is. Which reminds me…"

She turned to him with a hand on her hip.

"I asked Casey to check out a few places for me in New York."

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said with a glare. "Funnily enough… One place was apparently a dump, another one was already off the market and the last house was surrounded by crime scene tape."

"Really? Not much luck then?"

"Come on Elliot, like you didn't have anything to do with my misfortune? How did you manage to convince Casey that it would be a good idea for me to move in with you?"

"Didn't take a lot actually," he smirked. "She said she'd love to be a fly on the wall to watch that show."

"That show?" she glared. "You mean you and me living together?"

"Her words, not mine," he said.

"You know, for someone who's supposedly afraid of pushing, you're certainly doing your share."

"Can you blame me?" He narrowed his eyes at her. "Come on, give me a tour."

She sighed but nodded. She checked the timer on the oven and followed him out of the room. They walked upstairs with Ella on their trail. The girl took her father's hand and dragged him to her bedroom. She stopped when she saw that most of her things were already packed up. She did find her guitar and started playing it. Olivia winced at the not-so-in-tune melody.

Elliot hesitated at the entrance of Olivia's bedroom. She looked at him with a slight smirk and arched an eyebrow.

"What? Don't like my comforter? It's either that or the couch, you know."

"No, it's just…" he started.

"Oh god…" she groaned. "Please, don't tell me it's a Gavin thing again."

He walked to her with a dangerous look in his eyes. She glanced at the half-closed door over his shoulder. She looked back at him and her eyes were drawn to his lips. He set his hands on her hips and kissed her. He opened her mouth with his tongue and slipped it between her lips. He sunk his fingers in her flesh and she grabbed his belt. She returned the kiss and moaned in his mouth.

He sucked on her lower lip and then it wasn't a tender, gentle kiss. It was tongues fighting and teeth clashing. It was possessive and hungry. It reminded her of a time when he was still married and she was occasionally dating and he would get her in the locker room and kiss the taste of her date away. He was reclaiming her and she moaned thinking of how he would take her on her bed tonight.

She pulled away with a gasp when one of his hands moved up to grab her breast tightly. She lowered her head and caught her breath. She looked at him and he was smirking. She bit down a grin and pushed him on the shoulder as she walked out of the room.

She called Ella and went down to the kitchen. She took the lasagna out from the oven and set the table.

"No need for a third plate, Liv. Ella's already asleep," Elliot said when he walked in.

"Oh… Hum… Give me a minute? I'll just check on her and change her."

"I took her shoes and jeans off and put her under the covers. She'll be fine."

She glanced at the ceiling and back at him. He crossed his arms on his chest and watched her with a slight frown. She nodded, sat down and served the two plates.

"So," she asked after a minute of silence. "How did you pull off taping off that house as a crime scene?"

She arched an eyebrow and he smirked slightly.

"Don't ask," he answered. "Ella missed you a lot," he added.

There was an edge to his voice and she heard the underlying accusation. She could have believed she was just being paranoid though, if it wasn't for his hard stare.

"Every kid misses their mother, Elliot."

He slouched in his seat and rubbed his forehead.

"It's more than that, Liv. It's just… she was so looking forward to coming back here. She talked more during the flight than in the whole week."

"Of course she was excited. She missed me and Barney. She missed her friends and her home."

"Damnit Liv."

"Damn you!" she spat back.

She stood up behind her seat and gripped its back.

"Why do you have to take this so personally? She's not rejecting you, Elliot. You're her father and she loves you. But San Francisco is all she's ever known. That's where her home is, her daycare, her friends."

"And her family is in New York," he said, standing up too. "But then again, she has known her friends longer, hasn't she?"

She shook her head lightly and sat back down. She put an elbow on the table and brushed a finger on the rim of her glass.

"You know..." she started. "When I left... I regret having had to make that decision, by myself nonetheless," she added with a dark look. "It was hard then and it is hard now. But I still stand by it."

She glanced up briefly at him. He had leaned against the counter of the kitchen and had crossed his arms on his chest. His face was set in an angry scowl.

"Ella is going to be happy," she continued. "We'll get her settled in her new home, in a new daycare before she starts preschool. She'll make new friends and her siblings will get to know and love her. She'll forget all about San Francisco."

She fell silent for a minute. Elliot sat back down next to her and he rubbed his jaw before setting his eyes on her again.

"But Elliot… if I had told people about her when I found out, when you were still married, not to mention away… Your family would have turned against you, me and Ella. We would have turned against each other. It would have hurt Ella and we… Elliot, it would have destroyed us."

She looked at him and his face had softened.

"Now your family has already dealt with your divorce and we're not so much the family wreckers we would have been four years ago."

She cupped his cheek with her hand and smiled sadly at him.

"You hate it when I make sense, don't you?"

"I still wished I'd been there though," he said.

"I know," she breathed out before she kissed him.

"I'm sorry," he added, looking down.

"I know."

She stood up and looked around the kitchen.

"Hum…" she hesitated. "Would you mind…?"

"Cleaning up? Aren't I a guest here?" he raised his eyebrows at her.

She bit down on her lip and looked up at him behind her eyelashes.

"I'll make it worth your while," she told him.

And she knew she had him with the pouty lips, the hooded eyes and the husky voice. He wasn't used to her being a tease. He didn't know she was nervous as hell, though. He swallowed and nodded. He stared at her until she was out of the room.

Once upstairs, she checked on her sleeping daughter and closed her door all the way. She went to her bedroom and picked up a few items that hadn't been packed. She was finishing up in the bathroom when she heard him walk up the stairs. She waited a few seconds and peaked at the hallway. Satisfied, she went back to her bedroom.

He was standing in the middle of the room and turned to her when she stepped in. She closed the door behind her and leaned against it, one hand still resting on the door handle. She watched his eyes widen.

"You said something about a flimsy negligee?" she asked almost shyly.

She felt clumsy and awkward but he didn't seem to notice. Her skin flushed when his eyes roamed over her body, barely covered by the short blood red sheer lingerie. He was standing still, his mouth half-open as he kept staring at her with eyes dark with arousal. She was regaining her confidence by the second.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and the movement seemed to bring him back to reality.

"Fuck, Liv," he muttered and she thought it was possibly the most erotic sound she had ever heard.

She grinned and took the few steps to press up against him. She felt his hard-on when she slid a leg between his and she bit back a sound.

"Just so you know," she told him softly. "I bought it only for you."

She wasn't against inflating his ego when it could serve her.

She kissed him and he cupped her face with his hand. The other slipped under the gown and gripped at her hip. She was already reaching for his belt and unbuttoning his pants. He slid them off and she took off his t-shirt. When he was down to his briefs, he kneeled before her. He placed a kiss to her stomach over the material before sliding his hands under it. He cursed when he grabbed her already bare ass.

He stood up again and put his hands on her waist as she let him lead her to the bed. When her knees hit the mattress, she lay down and moved further up. He crawled up to her and she raised her legs. Her feet came to slide his briefs down his ass and he moved to take them off. Then he laid a trail of kisses from her ankle up to her thigh and down the other leg. She tensed in anticipation when his lips brushed at her inner thigh.

When his tongue darted out between her wet folds she hissed and gripped at the sheets. She arched into him and he sucked lightly at her clit. She bit down on her lip and withered under his touch. He held her knees down on the mattress to keep her legs wide open to his mouth.

She came quickly under his ministrations.

"God, Elliot," she breathed out when he kissed the sensitive skin.

He grabbed the hem of the negligee and raised it up. She sat up so he could take it off. He kissed her and she tasted herself on his tongue. He breathed her name on her lips and she whimpered. He grabbed her breast before lowering his head to take the nipple in his mouth.

"Elliot…" she moaned.

She arched her back and reached down for his length to guide him to her. She whispered his name again and his mouth came back on hers. He watched her when he slid into her, his lips hovering above hers.

oooooooooo

She was already half awake when she felt him move next to her. He pressed himself against her and kissed her back. He put a hand on her hip and brought her on her side to spoon her. She hooked a leg over his and backed down against him. He hissed when she pressed herself again his hard-on.

"God, 'Livia," he muttered.

She laughed softly.

"You know, you got some stamina for a man your age," she told him.

"You calling me old, Benson?"

"God, I've really got to start taking the pill again," she answered instead.

"Why?"

"Because we have a tendency to forgo condoms, like last night," she said.

"Did I ever mention that seven is my lucky number?" he told her.

"Haha, you're funny," she replied sarcastically. "I'm not having another child Elliot. Find yourself another baby mama."

"I only want you," he said in her ear before kissing her temple.

She took his hand and wrapped his arm around her waist. She hummed and closed her eyes.

"What time is it?" she asked after a while.

"Almost nine."

"Really?"

"Well old people need their beauty rest," he said.

"Yeah?" she laughed. "No, actually I'm just surprised Ella's not here yet. I'm just going to check on her," she said and slipped out from under the covers.

"Liv, she's fine. Come back here."

"I'll just be a minute."

She stood up and slipped on the negligee from the night before. She went to the bathroom to brush her teeth before going to Ella's bedroom. The girl was on her bed with her dog.

"Hey baby, you're okay?" Olivia asked.

"Yeah, I'm brushing Barney's hair."

"You mean your dog, who's not supposed to be on your bed?" she asked and raised an eyebrow.

The girl sighed and lightly shooed the dog away. She stayed sitting on the bed with her head down. Olivia sat next to her and brushed a hand in her daughter's hair.

"What's going on, baby?"

"I wanted to sleep in your bed this morning, but there was daddy."

"So? It's a big bed, we can share," she said softly. "It's not just you and me anymore, baby. It's you, me and your daddy."

"We share each other?"

Olivia nodded with a smile. The girl reached her arms out to her mother. She picked her up and took her to her bedroom. Ella went to hug her father who was now wearing his briefs and a t-shirt. She sat on the bed facing her parents while Olivia slipped back under the covers and against the headboard.

"No, Barney," the girl said when her dog try to jump up. "Not on the bed. Stay!" she said with an authoritative finger.

The girl started telling her father about her training of Barney. Olivia watched the scene with a smile, an arm slung over her head, the other lying across her stomach. Ella asked her about the party taking place that afternoon before she moved to lie on her middle between her parents. She played with the lace cleavage of Olivia's negligee.

"It's a pretty dress, mommy," the girl said.

"Tell me about it," Elliot replied with a chuckle.

Olivia grabbed a pillow and slung it over his face.

"Yay, pillow fight!" Ella exclaimed.

She sat up and lightly hit her parents with a pillow. Olivia threw herself over the girl and tickled her. She screamed for her daddy between giggles. After a few minutes, Elliot grabbed the girl by the waist and slung her over his shoulder.

"Come on, let's go make your mommy breakfast," he said.

Olivia watched them leave. She sat on the edge of the bed and ran a hand in her hair.

Five years ago she would have been waiting for the other shoe to drop. It had seemed her whole life had been about good things going wrong. Now, when her gut sometimes twisted with the thought of losing everything, she looked at her daughter's smile. She focused on what was right in her life rather than obsess about dark possibilities.

So she breathed out slowly and smiled. She got up to change into a t-shirt and yoga pants and went downstairs to her family.