Note To Readers:
I am sorry it has taken me so long to update this story and I know this is really short. Honestly, I need to go back and re-read it again and try to remember where this one was headed. I will try to get it going in some direction again soon. But now that I have a little bit of a break before the next semester of school starts, I hope to get the time to get caught up on updating some of my stories. Thank you all for being so patient!
~Detective Olivia Stabler ~
Pretty Poison
(Chapter Twenty Three: Someday Soon)
"I don't know about this," Olivia said holding a stack of shirts in her hand as she stared over at little Noah standing at the coffee table playing with a stack of blocks.
"Liv, it is two days."
"Two days and two nights. We have never left him over night before."
"Baby," Elliot said slipping his arms around her waist and kissing the side of her neck, "Kathy has raised five children from start to finish, I think she can handle this little guy for a couple of days. And we are only going to be two hours away. We can call a hundred times to check on him if you want, I have already warned Kathy we will. And if for some reason we feel the need to come back and pick him up, it is just a couple hour drive."
"I know I am the lame mommy who is afraid to let her little boy grow up, Elliot. But he is my baby, our baby. He is barely seven months old."
"Seven months old, Liv. He isn't a little baby anymore, but he will never become a big boy if we don't give him a little breathing room."
"Seven months old, Elliot. He has mastered crawling, he is starting to form single syllable words and he pulls himself up to the table and stands there all by himself to play. Like you said, he isn't a little baby anymore. And any day now he could take his first steps and if we are off on some stupid romantic getaway, I will never forget myself!"
"Stupid? We have been planning this trip since the day we were married. This is supposed to be practice for our real honeymoon. Mexico in three months. Remember? The one we already booked….and paid for?"
"I remember. And I really want to go. But I hate feeling like I have to choose between neglecting my baby and neglecting my husband. I am either a bad wife or a bad mother, or maybe I'm both."
"You're not either! You are an excellent mother and a great wife. I understand what you are trying to say, Liv. But you need a break. Just a few days away for yourself, for us. Some grown up time for mommy and daddy."
"And you would be alright if we missed his first steps?"
"Honey, Kathleen walked at nine months. The twins didn't walk until they were almost a year old and Eli was eleven months old."
Olivia looked confused.
"My point is that he is barely seven months old. Most babies don't take their first unassisted steps until they are between nine and twelve months old."
"He got his first tooth when he was four months old. He said his first word when he was five months old. He seems to do everything ahead of schedule and this just isn't something I want to miss out on. You have been here before. Five times, before and this is nothing new to you. But it is all new to me. He is the only baby I have. He is my world, my life and I cannot, not be there for him during the biggest moments of his life."
"I understand."
"What about Maureen?"
"Huh?" he asked looking up at her.
"Kathleen was nine months, the twins were almost a year, Eli walked at eleven months, what about Maureen?"
"Maureen was…." he stopped and looked at her, "seven months old when she started walking."
"Elliot…."
"He may not be my first baby, Olivia, but he has been the first one I have actually been there with. I wasn't there when the other kids got their first tooth or said first words or….took their first steps. I was working, always working. And that is something I have regretted that every day sense."
Elliot looked over at Noah with his sandy blonde hair and the pacifier in his mouth as the stood next to the coffee table and played with his blocks.
"Maybe we should postpone the trip for a little while," Olivia suggested as she smoothed her hand over his shoulder.
"No way. I promised my wife a romantic weekend away and she is going to get one," he said as he picked up his cell phone and dialed a number.
"Elliot, what are you doing?" she asked as he held up his palm to her.
"Maureen, it's dad. Hey, what are you doing this weekend?"
Olivia watched confused.
"How would you like to make a hundred bucks?" Elliot asked his oldest daughter. "Liv and I are going away this weekend and I want you to come along to help out with your brother. You can? Great honey, thank you."
"Elliot?" Olivia laughed. "How romantic is this trip going to be if we have two of the kids with us?"
"Maureen can stay in her own room, down the hall, with the baby. If she needs us we will be just a few feet away….if he needs us we will be just a few feet away. And we won't miss a moment of his important life."
Olivia smiled and laughed as she kissed her husband.
"You are the most remarkable man I have ever known. And I hope that our son grows up to be just like his daddy," she said with a smile.
Elliot hugged her and kissed her tenderly.
"Now, go get packed. We leave out first thing in the morning. I'm gonna call Kathy and let her know that we will not be needing her services. Then I will start packing a bag for the baby."
"Thank you," she said with a smile.
"And you sir," Elliot said picking up his youngest child, "you have three months to start walking. Mommy can't miss that or the big honeymoon or she will never forgive me. So get to stepping, little man."
Noah giggled and smiled at his father.
"Daa," he squealed pulling his pacifier from his mouth to kiss his father.
"Let's get you changed," he said carrying Noah to the nursery.
"Are you ready for this?" Elliot asked as he climbed into bed beside his wife.
Olivia looked over at him and smiled.
"Yup, we're all packed and ready to go."
"That isn't what I meant. Are you ready for this little getaway?"
"Of course. It will be nice to get away from work for a few days."
"We should try to take a little time away from Noah, too."
"You want to spend the entire weekend down the hall from our son and not even see him?"
"Not the entire weekend. But I do think it is important for us to schedule time for you and I, maybe even spend the day alone together. Maureen can handle things with him and he will have tons of toys and cartoons to keep him occupied."
"I know what you are saying. And while I completely understand and even agree to a certain degree, I am pretty sure you are going to have to remind me every second of the day."
Elliot laughed.
"I can do that," Elliot agreed with a kiss. "Goodnight, my love."
"Goodnight, El."
The next morning Elliot got them all checked into their hotel.
"Our room is about five rooms down from yours if you need anything," he told Maureen as he finished setting up the playpen for his son and handed her the room key.
"Okay, dad. I am sure we will be fine in here," she said smiling at Olivia. "And any time you guys want to check up on him, just come on over. I am going to spend a little bonding time with my baby brother. You guys go have a good vacation."
"We will baby, thanks," Elliot said pulling his wife from the room before she broke into tears.
"Bye sweetheart," Olivia cooed waving to her baby. "Bye bye, Noah."
Noah stood at the edge of his playpen and cooed as he waved to his mother.
"He is fine," Elliot said pushing the button to the elevator as she began to sniffle.
"I know he is. And he couldn't be in better hands. But I can't help it."
"Don't cry. It is like the first time you dropped him off with Kathy, it was hard to leave him, but it worked out fine and you will see him again in a few hours for dinner."
"Elliot, the first day I dropped him off with Kathy….I didn't even make it all the way back to the car before I broke into tears. And I don't know if it makes it better or worse that he doesn't cry for me when I leave him every day. He never has."
"That is a good thing. It means he is happy where you are leaving him and he feels safe. He doesn't know to cry for you, because he isn't afraid to be there without you. It may hurt a little that he doesn't cry out for you, but trust me it is much harder when they do."
"Really?"
"Try leaving for work at six o'clock in the morning dragging a kid on each leg and a crying toddler on your hip. All because they want daddy to stay home with them and play all day. Knowing there is nothing you would rather do in the world than to call in sick to play princess tea party."
Olivia smiled.
"And this will make it easier on him when he actually starts school. We had to bribe Kathleen to go to kindergarten for the first few weeks."
Olivia laughed.
"How did you do that?"
"We let her pick what she got to wear. She had this little pink dress with flowers on it and I swear she would have slept in it if Kathy would have let her. It was her favorite. She used to lay in the floor in front of the washing machine and cry the whole time it was washing."
"You let her wear the same dress every day?"
"When she came home from school she would put the dress on and play around the house in it. And every evening when daddy got home from work it was time for the princess tea party. Maureen would stand on a little stool to get water from the bathroom sink for tea and Kathleen would always spill it all over the table trying to pour it. They had these little plastic plates and little plastic scones. Sometimes Kathy would bring out cookies from the cookie jar….and I had a tea party with my two little princesses."
Olivia giggled.
"That is the sweetest thing I have ever heard."
"My point is, that once Kathleen got used to going to school, it wasn't so scary anymore. She didn't cry when she had to go and I didn't have to feel horrible for making her."
"I could just imagine you sitting at a tiny table drinking water from little pink tea cups," Olivia said with a smile.
"Hey, that was a lot easier than when they were about five and seven and wanted to play beauty shop."
"Beauty shop?" Olivia asked.
"Ironically one Saturday afternoon while I babysat and mommy went to the beauty shop. Maureen begged me to let her paint my nails."
"You didn't!"
"I did. Hot pink. And for a seven year old she did a pretty good job. Unfortunately, the nail polish wouldn't come completely off."
"Oh, no!"
"Yeah, I went to work with pink stained fingernails for about a week. After that they were only allowed to use the clear kind."
"You are such a great dad. And I can't wait until you have can make some of these memories with Noah."
"Noah isn't going to be playing tea party, Liv."
"No, but he can play catch with you. And you can teach him how to ride a bike."
"I plan to," Elliot said staring into her eyes as he kissed her. "But this is mommy's weekend. And I have an entire day planned out for us."
"You do?"
"Yes. First, breakfast by a waterfall," he said pointing across the indoor pool to one of the dining areas in the resort.
"That sounds nice."
"Then an entire day of his and hers spa treatments."
Olivia smiled.
"They have a spa?"
"Yes and we are going to spend the entire afternoon getting couples massages, manicures and pedicures, relaxing in the sauna and soaking in the hot tub. This is a vacation, after all."
"I don't even remember the last time I went on a real vacation."
"After today, you wont be able to say that anymore."
After Elliot treated his wife to a relaxing day at the spa, they called Maureen who came down and met them for dinner. When she arrived, Olivia scooped up Noah and kissed his chubby little cheeks like she hadn't seen him in weeks.
"Mommy missed you, baby."
Noah giggled as she raised his shirt to blow raspberries on his belly.
"Did we miss anything exciting today?" she asked Maureen.
"He had strained squash for lunch. But that was a little more gross than exciting."
Olivia laughed.
"He is waiting to walk until mommy and daddy are there. Aren't you buddy?" Elliot asked as Noah smiled at his father.
That evening Olivia sat in a chair in Maureen's room and read a story to her baby boy as he took his night time bottle. After he had fallen asleep she kissed him gently and tucked him into the little bed Elliot had mad him in the play pen.
"Good night my little prince," she whispered watching him suck on his pacifier as he slept.
They said their goodnights to their daughter and made their way back to their room for some much over due romantic time. That evening as she laid curled up in Elliot's arms she thought out loud.
"Our baby is growing up so fast. It seems like just last week you were taking me to the hospital to have him."
"I'm proud of you. I know how hard it was for you to stay in here with me while he is asleep in another hotel room, but you are doing it. And hopefully in a few months you will feel secure enough to leave him for a week and take this trip."
"I'm not going to cancel our honeymoon, I promise."
"That's good, because I have a few moves I have been saving up…."
Olivia laughed.
"But he is my only baby El and if I miss something big, I will never get that chance again."
"He doesn't have to be your only baby."
Olivia raised up and pulled the sheet against her body as she looked over at him.
"What do you mean? Do you want to have another baby?"
"Well, not right this moment. But someday soon, when he is a little bit older….if you would like to have another baby…."
"I would," she said with tears in her eyes. "I want to have another baby with you. I want him to have a sibling who is closer to his age. Eli is five….he'll be six this summer and by the time Noah is big enough to play with him, Eli probably wont really be that interested. He needs someone closer to his age. A brother."
"Or a sister," Elliot added.
"Or a sister," she said with a smile.
"You wanted another baby and didn't say anything to me about it?"
"I had never really thought about it until the last couple of days when we were talking about him walking and all of his firsts and I realized how much I wanted to do this all again."
"Well, this is our little mini honeymoon."
"Not right now. But soon. Maybe when he is about a year old, we could start trying for another baby. He would be almost two when the baby came and hopefully potty trained. And they will be close and always have each other to depend on. We never really talked about it, I guess I figured six kids was your limit."
"Liv, we already have six children. What is one more?"
She smiled and laughed as she laid back down in his arms and kissed him again.
"So we are going to have another baby?" she asked with a sparkle in her eyes.
"We are going to have another baby," Elliot repeated with a smile.