Chapter Thirteen: Eyes Wide Open
488 Amsterdam Ave
Residence of Detective Olivia Benson
Friday September 4th, 12:30
Everyone congregated on the street outside Olivia and Jess's apartment building. The Stabler's had come in their minivan and car, packed to the hilt, not only with their gear but with all of their kids and Maureen's boyfriend. Alex looked at Elliot as he got out of the car and walked over to her and her SUV. "You had to bring two cars, El?"
He smiled and shrugged. "What can I say, there are too many of us to fit in the van."
Alex looked back at his car. "Who's in the car?"
"Kathy and Eli. Plus some luggage that wouldn't fit in the van," he said once he reached her.
Jess and Olivia came out of the building with the last bit of gear. The A.D.A. looked from the car to Elliot. "Why don't you, Kathy and Eli ride with us? There is enough room for your stuff too."
The shorter blonde's eyes lit up and she grinned. "If we take two vehicles I'm riding in the van with the kids." She looked from Alex to Olivia, they both nodded. She turned to Elliot. "Well old man, you leaving your car here or what?"
He nodded his head. "Yeah, it's staying here. Come help me with the stuff though."
Olivia, Elliot and Jess moved the contents of the car to the SUV, including Eli and his car seat. Jess hopped into the front seat of the minivan, Richard was driving. Alex drove her BMW, with Kathy riding shot-gun and Eli, Olivia and Elliot in the back seat.
The ride in the minivan was loud. They listened to music, had the windows open and yelled at each other all the way to the pit stop, a greasy spoon just over half way to the lake. Jess, Olivia, Elliot and Richard stood in line with everyone's order, Kathy and Alex went to change Eli and Maureen, her boyfriend, Kathleen and Elizabeth found three picnic tables together for everyone to sit at.
Kathy laid Eli down and started to change him. She looked at Alex quickly. "You didn't have to come with me."
"I know. I actually wanted to talk to you…alone." Alex said.
The shorter blonde changed Eli but looked at the A.D.A. "What's wrong?"
Alex sighed. "In spite of everything that has happened in the last three weeks it's really not that bad. I just…need some advice." She looked away and then back at Kathy. "Olivia is filing adoption papers for Jess when we get back to the city next week."
"I know, Jess told me on Wednesday night. Are you and Olivia doing a joint adoption?" Kathy asked.
The A.D.A. shook her head. "No, Liv and I aren't married; it's impossible for us both to adopt her. Plus, Jess is Olivia's. She always has been. I am just lucky to be in her life. Did she tell you what happened between us?"
Kathy nodded. "The lying, the fight…yeah she told me."
"This is really hard for me. I don't want to tell Olivia how I feel but I need to tell someone," Alex said, her tone slightly deeper than normal.
The shorter blonde's face became softer. "Look, Alex, you can tell me. You and I both know how it feels to be in a relationship with the detectives of the SVU."
Alex closed her eyes, opened them and started, "I love Jess very much. Loosing her the way that I did after our fight was one of the most painful things I have ever had to deal with. I never want to go through that again. I'm really scared that once Olivia adopts Jess they will be tied together forever, they will be family and I…" she couldn't finish.
"Won't be?" Kathy said and Alex nodded. "Alex, that's not true. I mean yes, Liv and Jess will be forever linked by law but that doesn't make you or your role in Jess's life any less significant."
"I don't want to lose her again."
Kathy shook her head. "Being a parent, a good one anyway, is making difficult decisions; most of the time they are very unpopular with your kids. Elliot wasn't around a lot while the older kids were growing up. I fought with the girls all the time. They slammed bedroom doors, threw things, called me all kinds of names, and told me they hated me. One time Kathleen didn't talk to me for two weeks." She gave a half smile. "But in the end they came around. You have to do what is in their best interest…even if it means they don't like you."
The A.D.A. looked at Kathy with sadness in her eyes. "What if Jess decides not to come around? Your children are legally yours, blood related. If Jess decides not to see me or that she doesn't want me in her life I can't be."
"After you apologized to her you left her alone right?"
"Yes, I had to. She told me she hated me and wanted me to stay away from her."
"She came to you right?" Kathy picked up Eli, who was now dressed again.
"Yes. She showed up at my office one evening."
Kathy smiled slightly. "She didn't say very much did she? Didn't apologize, didn't ask you for one either. She just stayed quiet but hung around you right?"
The taller blonde nodded and her eyes widened slightly. "Yes. Did she tell you that, too?"
"No…it's just a very teenage girl thing to do. Lizzie does that a lot. She rarely wants to talk about what happened. Once enough time passes for her, the anger goes away and she just wants things to go back to the way they were before we started arguing."
They walked out of the bathroom and out into the warm September sunlight. Alex looked at Kathy. "That's pretty much verbatim what Jess said to me the third time we got together. She even acted as if nothing had happened between us."
Kathy stopped walking and turned to Alex. "Jess loves you very much. It's obvious she wants you in her life, needs you in her life. She is going to throw fits, say things she doesn't mean even do things completely out of character for herself. She's 16 years old. If you hold your ground and love her she will come back, Al. You don't need a legal document tying her to you to see that."
The A.D.A. looked down and then back at Kathy. "How can you be so sure?"
"Honestly…it's the way she always holds your hand. Jess doesn't do that with Liv, she does other things to be close to her. She holds your hand though. Pulls you places or puts your arm around her and holds it…she does it a lot. The day she stops taking your hand is the day I would be concerned."
Alex smiled at her. "Thanks, Kath."
They smiled at each other and walked over to the picnic tables to join everyone else. As they sat down Jess took Eli from Kathy and Maureen addressed everyone. "Sooo…we were talking in the van on the way here and we wanted to run something past you guys," she looked at Olivia, Elliot, Kathy and Alex who were all seated at one table.
"This should be good." Elliot said, leveling a look around his table. He looked back at his daughter. "Who are you representing in 'we'?"
Maureen smiled. "The kids. We were wondering if the kids could have the big cabin and the adults could have the smaller one?"
The table of adults was quiet for a full five seconds as they looked at each other. Then they burst out laughing. Kathy looked at her Maureen and spoke through her laugher. "As if you guys really thought you were going to get your own cabin."
Richard looked around. "Told you they wouldn't go for it!"
Everyone got back into the vehicles and drove the rest of the way to the lake. They arrived just before 4:00PM, unpacked and met on the deck of the bigger cabin, the one the Stabler's had rented to accommodate their family. It was decided that Elliot, Richard and Maureen's boyfriend Ben would go into the small town near the cabins and get groceries while the girls went down to the dock and soaked up the last bit of sun.
Kathleen, Maureen, Lizzie and Jess set their towels on the dock and laid on them. Olivia pulled three deck chairs out to the dock for herself, Alex and Kathy. She sat in one, laid her head back and listened to the water and the girls discussing whose iPod they were going to listen to first in the portable dock Jess had brought.
Alex caught Kathy and Eli on their way down to the dock from the cabin. "Hey, can I run something by you?"
"Sure," Kathy said holding the little boy's hand as he toddled down the narrow path.
"At the rest stop the kids had asked about having the bigger cabin to themselves and the adults having the smaller one. Why was that such a bad idea?"
Kathy looked up at Alex. "I know that Maureen and Ben live together, they are 27 and 30 though. Richard and Jess don't live together. Even if we tell them they can't sleep in the same bed don't you think they will?"
"They might try, but I have an idea. If the kids get a cabin to themselves then all the kids have to be in that cabin, including Eli. Which means that Olivia and I and you and your husband have a three bedroom cabin to ourselves. I'm not sure about you but that is pretty appealing to me," Alex grinned.
"You do have a good point. I can't remember the last time El and I were alone, without our kids. Do you really think Eli will be enough of a deterrent to keep Jess and Richard in separate rooms?"
Alex shrugged. "A screaming two year old with a loaded diaper…it's a start."
Kathy smiled. "I'm willing to give it a shot. We'll talk to El and Liv later about it."
Once they reached the dock Kathy sat down in one of the chairs. Maureen took Eli and played with him. Alex set her beach towel on the dock and laid down with the other girls. Olivia smiled; she knew her A.D.A. would regret that later. Jess and Lizzie caught the detective's gaze. They were sitting on the end of the dock, with their legs over the edge talking.
The younger of the two, Jess, had come down to the dock in surfboard shorts and a bikini top and had never taken the shorts off. The other girls lying on the dock, including Alex were all in just their bikinis. Even she and Kathy were sitting in the chairs in bikinis. The more Olivia thought about it she came to realize she had never seen Jess wear anything on her bottom half but shorts, skirts or pants. Even when they suntanned on Alex's boat a few weeks earlier she had never shed her board shorts. The detective realized that her little girl was still self-conscious when it came to revealing herself. It had been almost four months since her attack but she still had a long way to go. Olivia could feel someone's eyes on her. She turned and saw Kathy. Their eyes met and went back to their daughters, sitting on the end of the dock. Lizzie put her arm around Jess and the shorter blonde put her head on the shoulder of the taller one. They let go and crawled across the dock to their towels, which were side-by-side. Jess untied the laces in the front of her board shorts and shimmied out them. The young women laid there and said nothing more to one another. Jess started reading a book and Lizzie listened to the music.
Olivia turned to Kathy and they exchanged nods. Their daughters were getting close and it was nice to see. Time passed but the women barely noticed until they were interrupted by the guys. Ben and Richard ran across the dock to just before the girls and cannonballed off the side, sending water over all the girls lying on the dock. Elliot sidled up between his wife and Olivia. He was sweating like crazy and panting slightly. Kathy looked up at him. "Where have you been?"
"We played some basketball on the courts just down the road," Elliot said as he stood in shorts with no shirt on.
"Let me guess…they kicked your ass," Olivia grinned up at him. There was something about her partner standing there sweaty and out of breath…he was still very good looking.
Elliot rolled his eyes. "I taught them a thing or two."
Kathy and Olivia threw their heads back in laughter. "They are 30 and 17. Those boys ran circles around you, El, and you know it!" His wife said, still laughing.
Ben had gotten out of the lake. He had pick up Maureen like a baby and jumped in with her. Richard was talking to Jess at the end of the dock then he pulled her in to the drink as well. Lizzie put water wings on Eli; he was also wearing a little outfit that would keep him afloat. She jumped in and held her arms out for Eli to jump to her. He did. Kathleen jumped in after that. Alex stood up and winced slightly as she walked towards the end of the dock. She was getting too old to lay on docks. Olivia giggled slightly, stood and walked over to her girlfriend. She leaned in and whispered coyly in the blonde's ear. "Think you're 22 years old again?"
Alex smiled surreptitiously. "No…but I'm younger than you." She grabbed her detective and jumped off the end of the dock, sending both of them into the water. Jess was on Richard's back, her arms around his neck and her legs wrapped around his torso. She smiled at the sight of Olivia and Alex being together. All she could hope was that it lasted this time.
Elliot grinned at his partner, who was now in the lake. "Cold enough for you, Liv?"
She flipped him the bird. He turned to his wife. "You think they'll last this time?"
Kathy smiled as she watched Jess taking in the sight of the two women in the water. They had taken Eli from Lizzie and were playing with him in the water. "I hope so. Jess needs them too. Look at how happy she is."
The detective looked at the blonde wrapped around his son. "She's a good kid. You're okay with Jess being around more?"
"Yeah, I really like having her at the house. She and Lizzie are getting very close, too," Kathy said.
"You okay with Richard and Jess dating?" Elliot asked
His wife snickered. "I think it's a little late to ask that." She raised her right eyebrow but continued to look at her son and his girlfriend. "Are they having sex?"
Elliot shrugged. "Probably. I told him to wear a condom."
She shook her head. "They are sooo young."
"Richard is going to be 18 in a few weeks. How old was I when we had Maureen again?" He asked with a grin on his face.
She turned to her husband. "That's exactly what I mean! We shouldn't have been doing it at their age!"
"Calm down. They are a lot smarter than we are. They'll be fine."
Kathy looked at her husband. "Getting optimistic in your old age?"
Elliot grinned like the Cheshire cat. He picked his wife up like a firefighter would a victim and walked to the end of the dock. "Old age huh?" He jumped in the water with Kathy over his shoulder.
Richard and Elliot barbequed chicken and potatoes for dinner while Alex and Olivia made the salad. The adults discussed the cabin situation and decided the kids were old enough to have one to themselves. While everyone ate dinner the adults announced that the kids would be able to have their own cabin.
The kids cleared and washed the dished from dinner. Almost everyone went down to the fire pit near the dock to start the bonfire. Alex stood at the railing of the deck of the bigger cabin and looked out across the lake as the sun set. Jess went over to her and took her right hand in her left. The taller blonde closed her eyes and smiled. She squeezed the younger woman's hand slightly and Jess leaned against Alex. They stood there for a minute, completely silent. Jess pushed off the A.D.A. gently, turned and looked at her. "Can I ask you something?"
Alex, opened her eyes, turned to look at the young woman when something caught her eyes. She focused her gaze quickly and saw Kathy holding Eli and walking towards the stairs to go down to the dock. The mother smiled and nodded at Alex and she nodded slightly back to her. Kathy had been right about Jess taking her hand. The taller blonde looked down at the shorter one, still holding her hand. "Sure."
"Will you lay in the hammock with me tomorrow? Just the two of us." She blushed slightly as she asked.
The older blonde smiled softly. "Yes, of course. Jessie, there is no reason to be embarrassed about asking that. I like when we do things like that. I've missed you so much. Between me moving out of Olivia's apartment, you and me fighting…I just…"
Jess let go of the A.D.A.'s hand and hugged her. "I know, Ally, it's really hard now that you don't live with us; we use to spend all this time together and now I hardly see you. I don't want you to watch me all of the time, but I would like to see you sometimes."
Alex stroked the teen's hair. "Maybe next weekend you could come over to my place? We could play Dance, Dance, Revolution, watch movies and eat popcorn."
The young woman smiled. "I'd like that."
After the bonfire everyone marched up to the larger cabin. They stood on the deck. Elliot gave Eli, who was sleeping, to Richard. "Take him and put him to bed. I don't care who takes care of him tonight…but someone better get up with him if he cries."
Richard took his little brother from his father. "Don't worry Dad; we'll take care of him."
Kathy looked at all of the kids. "Jess and Lizzie share a room. Richard and Kathleen each get their own rooms and Maureen and Ben get their own room."
Elliot pointed his finger at all the kids, but it was clear the warning was for his oldest son and his girlfriend. "No swapping rooms and no sharing beds…"
Lizzie looked at her father. "Dad, stop peddling that after-school-special garbage. Jess and Rich won't be sleeping together."
Richard pushed his sister with his free hand. Elliot and Olivia looked at each and grinned slightly. Lizzie and Jess were getting very close. They were saying the same things.
Kathy shook her head. "Fine. Good night everyone."
The kids went inside their cabin and the adults made the short walk to theirs. Once inside Elliot grinned at his partner and A.D.A. "Goodnight ladies."
The pair looked at each other and then back at him. "Goodnight," they said in unison. Alex and Olivia went to their room and the Stabler's went to the other side of the cabin to their bedroom.
Elliot looked at his wife as she lay naked on their bed. "You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen."
She blushed slightly. "Shut up and get in here."
He did what he was told and hopped into bed, also devoid of any clothing. He leaned in and kissed Kathy. He ran his right hand down her neck, breast and torso. They broke their kiss and stared at each other for a minute. "You okay, El?"
"Yeah," he nodded. "Sorry…can I ask you something?"
Kathy raised her brow and nodded.
"Are you okay with how close I am to Jess?"
The right side of her mouth tugged up in a smirk. "You mean how close you are getting to Olivia's daughter?"
Elliot sighed. "Yeah."
"Look, El, you and I have been thought a lot. There will always be a part of me that is envious of Olivia because she knows parts of you that I don't; that I never will. How I feel about you and Liv has nothing to do with Jess. I think it's great that the two of you get along the way that you do." She put her left hand on the side of Elliot's face. "You are a good father. Jess needs that in her life and I'm glad she has found that in you." Kathy kissed her husband.
Alex straddled Olivia's torso. She looked down and lost herself in the deep brown eyes of her detective. "You are unequivocally the most gorgeous woman I have ever met."
Olivia smiled and ran her hands along the smooth alabaster thighs of the woman she loved. Her eyes sparkled. "I love you, Alexandra."
The blonde smiled back. "I love you, too." She bent down and kissed her detective. The women ravish each other for the next hour and a half. Olivia untangled herself from the A.D.A's arms. Alex's breathing had gotten deeper and slower as they laid in each other's arms. The detective got up, put a robe on and tiptoed out of the bedroom. She closed the door behind herself and padded out to the kitchen to make herself a sandwich. She was starving. The detective was surprised to find the light on over the stove and her partner standing, hunched over the island in the kitchen, eating a sandwich.
She sidled up to him and put her elbows on the countertop. "Soooo…" she began.
Elliot shot her a half-smile. "Soooo…"
Their eyes met and they laughed quietly at each other. She stood there only in a robe, while he was only clad in boxer-briefs. Olivia grabbed the half of her partner's sandwich that was still on the plate. She took a bite. He grinned at her. "Where's Alex?"
Olivia swallowed. "Sleeping. Where's Kathy?"
He smirked. "Sleeping. I guess we still got it, huh?" Elliot took a bite of the sandwich in his hand.
She giggled slightly, took another bite and nodded. Olivia swallowed. "I get the distinct impression that all the effort we made trying to keep our private and work lives separate was in vain."
Elliot raised his right eyebrow and smirked. "Yah think? Look at us…we're eating a sandwich together in a cabin where we just nailed the women we love. Our kids are picking up each other's lingo. Your daughter and my son are dating and my wife and your girlfriend team up against us…"
"Alright, alright…so our lives are inextricably linked." Olivia said smiling. "You okay with it?" She shifted slightly.
He smiled as his eye-line dipped. The way she had just moved gave him an unobstructed view of most of her breasts. They were beautiful. He looked back up at his partner's eyes and nodded at her. "Yeah…are you?"
Olivia smirked and shrugged. "Well I said it before…you're the longest relationship I've ever had with a man. I'm good with it."
"You think Richard and Jess are sleeping in the same bed?" Elliot asked.
His partner snickered as she swallowed a mouth full of the sandwich. "Probably…you think their doing it?"
Elliot shrugged. "Probably." He nodded towards her. "What's Alex like in bed?"
She shook her head and rolled her eyes. "State secret El, sorry."
He swallowed the last bite of his half of the sandwich and grinned at her. "I'll bet she's an animal once she takes her glasses off."
Olivia smiled her trademark crooked smile at him. "Alex is amazing. What happens between us in the bedroom stays there. I will say this…Her glasses stay on, if I have anything to say about it and I have sex with my eyes wide open because I don't wanna miss watching her doing anything to me."
Elliot grinned as he shook his head. "I'll bet."
Epilogue:
Same As It Ever Was
The weekend at the lake was incredible. It solidified Alex and Jess's relationship. The two spent some quality time together and became just as comfortable with one another as they had been before their fight. When everyone was back in the city things continued on as they had been. Olivia and the A.D.A. went on several more dates. University started for Lizzie and Richard and baseball wrapped up for Jess. Olivia and Jess filed adoption papers with the State of New York. A hearing was scheduled for early January of the following year.
Olivia and Alex found a new groove. Without having to juggle Jess they were finally allowed to concentrate on their relationship. The pair still wished they had more time for each other but at least they could say they were happy.
About four weeks after that, in mid-October during dinner Alex asked Olivia and Jess to move in with her. The pair looked at each other and smiled. It was time and the young woman was ready. Much to the A.D.A.'s surprise they agreed. Olivia gave her 60 days notice to the superintendent the next day…meaning her and Jess would have to be out of the apartment by mid-December.
Jess continued to spend time at the Stablers' house. She spent some time alone at both Olivia's and Alex's places…although she normally snuck Richard into the buildings so they could be together. They carried on with going out to clubs as well. The pair enjoyed two specific clubs, paid off the bouncers to let them in and had a blast on Friday and Saturday nights when they could get away.
The teen maintained her grades, meaning she prolonged her stay in Computer Crimes. It was grunt work all the way for Jess now, but at least she was still working with computers. She missed baseball and as busy as school, work, therapy and her boyfriend kept her, she took on an urban dance class. If nothing else she was picking up moves to out-do her boyfriend on the dance floor.
The End
Author's Note
Stay tuned for the third and final novel in my 'S' series. 'Sins' is more than half written and will pick up pretty much where the epilogue ended. As with any good trilogy, Sins will not only have new storylines, carry forward with existing ones but will also take us right back to the beginning of the series in order to clear up old ones. Many thanks for coming this far with me and these stories.