Author's Note: Okay, let's back into it. Sorry about the wait. I had a bit of a stomach bug a couple of days ago and that completely screwed me over when it came to doing much. And, I had to do a bit of emergency housekeeping on here. Due to the beginnings of a knockdown, drag out fight with one of the Anonymous Reviewers on this story, I had to disable them, which sucked but at least I won't have to worry about belligerent people clogging up my inbox.

As for this chapter, I'm going to get Lizzie and Dickie's perspective on the whole mess and it'll be a bit angsty, not angry angsty but sad angsty. After all, they're the youngest kids and big changes (like divorce) are always hard on the little ones. El's talk with Maureen will be in the next chapter, along with a confrontation with Kathy. I'll bring in Kathleen later on and the anger will be with her.

Disclaimer: "Honestly, it's not mine!"

"Daddy!"

Watching his twin nearly knock their father over in a hug, Richard Stabler could feel the first smile in a long time curve his lips. It was nice to see her happy again, even if it was for a short period of time. At the age of 14, he didn't get much credit for being perceptive but even a complete idiot could see how badly Liz was depressed. Rich shared the depression but internalized it, not letting it slow him down. Other than isolating himself, he seemed to be fine and stoic when in reality, he was dying inside.

He missed his father and his family but he knew that he being here now was a good sign, a sign of much needed change.

Joining them, he put their backpacks in the sedan before giving him a hug of his own.

"Hey, dad. It's good to see you."

"I'm happy to see you too, son. Listen, I need to talk to the both of you."

Looking at his sister, she nodded and he said, "Come on. The bleachers should be clear."

////////////

"I talked to Kathleen a couple of days ago. Well, actually, she tore me a new one."

Liz sighed deeply and offered, "Don't worry, daddy. She does that to everyone these days."

It was one of the numerous reasons why she hated being at home. Kathleen was so angry about everything and mom was just…useless. Oh, she went to work and she cooked but she never really talked to them or parented them. Basically, they had free run of their lives. They could miss school when they wanted, wear what they wanted, and even say what they wanted. Also, there wasn't much of a curfew anymore because it was just so easy to sneak out. When Liz did so, she never went far or did anything bad. She left that to Kathleen. She just sat in the porch or in the huge oak tree and thought about when life was easier, when dad was home and they were a happy family.

Now, everything was just so messed up and it hurt so damn much.

When she wasn't crying, she was studying or playing her guitar, finding solace in numbers and music.

"Yeah, but she told me some stuff. Stuff that's been worrying me. Lizzie, she said that you cry yourself to sleep and that your brother barely comes out of his room. Is that true?"

Bowing her head shamefully, she nodded, making him swear under his breath.

"Sweetheart, look at me."

"No. You're mad.", she protested.

"I'm mad at me, not you."

That made her look up and she could see the same sadness she felt reflected in his gaze.

"You see, I've been so focused on me, I forgot how badly you and Dickie must be hurting."

"And Mo.", Richard tacked on.

"Yeah, I'm going to talk to her next. Listen, this last case…I saw some things and it made me realize just how much of a screw up I've been and I want to fix it."

////////////

"You're not… going to get back together with mom, are you?"

The very idea made him fill with dread and Lizzie looked worried too. Them getting back together would not be a good idea. Mom had changed and for the worst. As the divorce dragged on, she got angrier and was always accusing dad of having an affair and ruining their marriage for his career. Rich knew that their relationship wouldn't last a day without a huge blowup and more problems.

"No, son. I'm not."

Both of them sighed with relief and Elliot looked at them quizzically.

"Look, daddy. We love you and mom but not when you're together." Liz said bluntly.

"Yeah, it's too much drama. What we're going through now would ten times worse if you guys gave it another go." Rich tacked on.

"Plus, I think mom's got a …dude. I'm not sure but I think it's some RN at the hospital." Lizzie confessed.

Rich looked at his father for a reaction but instead of a blowup, he just sighed deeply.

"That doesn't really surprise me. She still think I'm having an affair?"

"Yeah. She thinks you're with Olivia, which wouldn't be so bad. I mean, she's a good person and she 's been around for years without killing you so that's a plus." Rich replied with a wry smile.

"Funny… I'm not with Liv.", he protested.

/////////////////

"But, you want to be." she surmised.

It was nice to be able to make someone other than Richard blush.

"Well, I…um…"

"Yes."

"Lizzie…"

"Dad, don't bother. She's a human lie detector. You might as well just fess up ", Richard groaned.

Liz smirked at her twin and looked at her dad expectantly.

"Okay, yeah, I do. But, it's complicated. Technically, I'm still married and I don't… well, she…"

"Daddy, she feels the same way." she assured him.

Either that or she was a serious masochist for putting up with the "Un-Stabler element" for almost a decade…

"How do you know?"

"I'm a girl. I know these things. But, you're right. You got to fix some stuff before you can be with her. No girl likes being the other woman." she advised sagely.

Both of them looked at her suspiciously and she rolled her eyes.

"I have no use for men right now but my friends do. They come to me for advice all the time and their boyfriends are jerks. I'm like the Dear Abby of the group only I'm from Queens instead of Iowa." she explained.

"Maybe we could send you to Iowa. Getting eaten by cows would be just the thing to cheer you up.", Richard suggested with a shit eating grin.

As she chased him down to the football field, she smiled for the first time in a long time.

This was progress.

A little seed of hope took root in her heart and she prayed that it wouldn't die before it had a chance to grow.