A/N: Wow! What an awesome response to chapter one! You guys rock my socks! Keep it up! R&R! XO, Kinsey

Disclaimer: Only my overactive imagination is mine!

--

The sleep I thought I got last night wasn't quality, apparently. It's only ten a.m. and I'm already wiped out. Caffeine. Must get coffee.

"Hey, Dana?" I say, sticking my head in my boss's office. She looks up and smiles her sweet southern grin. "I'm going to grab a coffee. Do you want anything?" I ask.

"Well hold up for a sec, Liv, and I'll go with you," she says. She grabs her purse out of her desk and we walk out of the office. "You look exhausted, darlin'. What's up? Kelli okay?" she asks in one breath.

I smile tiredly at her. "Yeah. I just didn't sleep all that great last night."

"Want to talk about it?" she asks gently. By this time, we're in line to order our coffee at this cute little shop called Muds and Suds. There's a Laundromat on the other side. I love my tiny Montana town. So many cool things that you just wouldn't see in the city.

I sigh heavily and turn to Dana. "Elliot?" she asks. I nod, on the verge of tears.

"What happened?" she asks, placing a gentle hand on my arm.

"Well," I pause and turn to the young girl behind the counter and order my coffee. While she's making it, I turn back to Dana. "Kelli and I were in the bank yesterday and I heard a song that made me think of him. And then last night, Kelli wanted the 'tell me about dad' story as a bedtime story."

"Oh, honey. That is rough. Which is why I know you're not going to want to hear this…" she trails off and I know exactly what she's going to say. We've had variations of this conversation a million times.

"Dana, I can't."

"Don't you think he wonders, Liv? Don't you think he would want to know? Don't you think Mr. Dad wants to meet his fourth little princess?" she asks. That's what I love about her. She delivers an ass-chewing like most people would hold polite conversation.

I take my coffee and we grab a table in the corner. "I don't think I can! I'm in too deep, Dana. It'd be different if Kelli was a baby, but she's SIX. Never mind the fact that he hasn't exactly busted his ass to see me!" I whisper fiercely.

"Liv. Honey. I think you made it pretty clear to him when he left that it was over."

"That's because he left me pregnant with his baby and went running back to New York."

"Olivia. Now don't you dare make this all his fault." I open my mouth to speak but she holds up her hand to stop me. "It would be different if he had KNOWN you were pregnant."

I start to speak and she holds up her hand again, but I bust right on through this time. "You're right, Dana. He would have done the honorable thing. Stayed. Married me. Had a couple more kids. THEN RESENTED ME FOR THE NEXT TWENTY YEARS LIKE HE DID KATHY!" I shout. Which makes people stare. Whoops. I blush and Dana clears her throat quietly. "Sorry," I say.

"Olivia, I can't tell you what Elliot would have done. Not even he can – you didn't give him the chance. But I think… you need to fix this. You need to make it right for Kelli. And you, Liv."

"I can't, Dana. Not yet."

"Liv, I think you've waited too long as it is."

"Dana, I really appreciate your concern. Honest I do. I just… I need… I don't know what I need. I don't know what to do. I really screwed this up."

"Olivia, he's going to be mad. I'm not going to lie to you. You know Elliot has a short fuse. But he loved you once. He'll understand that you thought you were doing what was best for you and Kelli."

"But that's the thing, Dana. I'm not so sure he loved me. If he loved me, he wouldn't have left me. Like everyone else."

Dana rolls her eyes at this. "Dramatic much, Benson? He did too love you. Remember the first time I met you two? I knew you loved each other back then. Never mind before I left after that case John and Fin let me in on the pool."

"What pool?" I ask, suspicious of my two former colleagues.

"The 'when are Olivia and Elliot going to get together' pool. I made a hundred bucks," Dana smirked.

I laugh. Go figure. The boys had a bet. I'm sure John lost and complained it was all a conspiracy.

"The point is, honey, you don't know how he feels until you talk to him. Like I said, I'm sure he'll be mad as a wet hen. But you need to make this right. Better now than when Kelli needs someone to walk her down the aisle," she says gently.

"Well… there's that other problem…" I say.

"The fact that you told Kelli her dad was dead?"

"Yeah. That one."

"I know," she sighs. "I didn't think that was a good idea when you did it, but you can't take it back now. She's six. If you're lucky she'll just be so tickled to get a daddy that she won't be too concerned that her mommy lied to her. If you want… Liv, our caseload is light, you're not actively undercover… I could approve you some time off to go to New York."

"I'll think about it, Dana, okay? No promises. We better get back to work."

"Let's go. I've got a stack of paperwork with your name on it," she teases me.

--

Sitting on the couch in my sweats and FBI tee shirt, I'm combing Kelli's hair after her shower. "Kellibean… we need to have a grown up talk."

"Okay, Mommy," she says, completely trusting of whatever I'm about to tell her.

"Kellibean… Mommy made a mistake."

"What did you do? Did you make Miss Dana mad?" she asks innocently.

More times than I can count, honey.

"Well, yeah, sort of. But this is about me and you, Bean. Remember how we talked about how Daddy is in Heaven?" I say. How in the hell do you explain to your six year old that you lied to her when you told her her father was dead?

"Mhm. My daddy is an angel," she says proudly.

Oh boy.

"Remember how we talked about lying? And how it's very naughty and you should never tell Mommy anything that isn't true? I lied to you Kelli. And I'm very very sorry," she's just staring at me, waiting. "Your daddy isn't an angel. He's a police officer. He's a detective, like Mommy. He doesn't live in Heaven. He lives in New York."

"That's where you used to live, Mom."

"I know. Your daddy and I used to work together. A long time ago."

"So, what does that mean?"

"Kelli, would you like to meet your daddy?" I ask, biting my lip, praying she'll say 'no, Mommy. Having you is enough. Besides you told me he was dead and I'm okay with that. I don't need a daddy.' Instead, she made my decision for me with one little word screeched at the top of her tiny lungs.

"YEAH!"

Great.

"Okay, baby. I have to call Miss Dana to tell her we're going to go to New York. Do you want to go next week?"

"Let's go TOMORROW, Mommy!"

"I don't know if I can get us plane tickets to New York that soon, Bean. But we'll go as soon as we can, I promise, okay?"

"Okay Mommy! Yay! I get to see my daddy!"

Crap.

--

After I have Kelli tucked in for the night, I go into the kitchen to call Dana.

"Lewis," she answered.

"Dane… we're going."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I let Kelli make the decision. Note to self, don't let your six-year-old make decisions anymore."

She laughs lightly. "When are you going?"

"Well, Kelli would like to go tomorrow. But I told her we had to get plane tickets and I didn't know if we could leave that soon."

"Sure you can. I'll pull some strings. We'll make it happen."

"Dana…"

"Olivia. Your daughter wants to meet her daddy. You're going. And I'm not taking no for an answer."

"Fine," I sigh, dread sitting in my stomach like a lead balloon.

--

Dana calls me back a little while later that night and tells me we're leaving the next day at noon. We'll have to drive all the way to Missoula to get to an actual airport, which is a several hour drive, but we'll be in New York by dark.

Have I mentioned how excited I am? No? Good. I'm not.

--

A/N: THERE! He's not dead. Happy: ) Now don't hate me for making Olivia not tell him she was preggo. You know how I feel about angst (right Shari?)!! R&R! XO, KiNsEy