The Sweetest Gift

(Chapter Six: Everything Changes)

"There," Olivia said dabbing her paint brush over the last little bit of the nursery wall.

"You know, you're right," Elliot said stepping back to look at their finished product, "that color is going to match the furniture nicely."

"I still can't believe you already moved in the furniture. This is the first nursery I have ever put together, but I am pretty sure that you aren't supposed to do that until after you do the paining," she replied pointing to the sheet covered furniture around the room.

"It came already assembled, everything but the crib. I figured we might as well bring it on in and figure out where everything was going to set."

"How long do you think it will take for this to dry?"

"I would wait a day or two before you uncover anything, just to be on the safe side."

"A couple more days and we can finish the nursery," she said in excitement. "Thank you so much for helping me with this. If I had done this on my own it would have taken forever."

"I can come by Tuesday evening after work and we can get this crib put together."

"That would be great. I cannot wait to see the finished project. It is hard to believe that in just a few weeks my daughter will be sleeping in this room."

Elliot smiled watching the excitement in her eyes as she looked around the room.

"You know, for the first few weeks she is home you will probably want to keep her in the bassinette in your room. Babies don't usually sleep in the crib until they are a little older."

"Oh," she said folding her arms in front of her. "Then I might need your help putting that together, too."

"Where's it at?" Elliot asked with a laugh.

Olivia laughed and Elliot followed her down the hall to her bedroom.

"The box was so big I just assumed it was already assembled," she confessed as she pulled the large package from the closet and pushed it across the room to him.

"Usually it is just the basket part and you have to assemble the frame."

"I'll get a screwdriver," Olivia said as Elliot opened the large box.

An hour later Elliot had the bassinette assembled.

"There you go. All that is missing is little Tessa."

He watched as she pulled the decorative lace ruffled skirt from the bassinette and folded it up.

"It is a lot prettier with that on there."

"I want to wash it first in her special baby soap."

"Right. Baby proof it. I remember those days."

"After five kids, I would hope so. And your experience in daddy hood has really helped me out."

"Yeah, well, I like to help when I can."

Olivia laughed.

"I'm sure I will be asking you for your help or advice all of the time once she comes home. I don't know much about babies."

"It won't be long and you will have it all figured out. I have seen you with her and you are a natural."

"I hope you're right."

Elliot laughed.

"I am always right! Besides, you can call me anytime you need me. I will be glad to help out."

"Thanks."

"I'd better get going. I'm supposed to have dinner with the kids tonight and we have to be in court first thing in the morning."

"Yeah," Olivia said rubbing the back of her neck. "I think I'm gonna drop by the hospital for a few minutes and tell Tessa goodnight. Then grab a shower and go to bed early."

"Liv, you might want to grab that shower before you go visit Tessa."

"Why do you say that?"

"You've got a bit of paint here," he said brushing the tip of her nose with his thumb. "And here," he replied holding up a strand of her hair.

Olivia laughed.

Elliot stared into her eyes and could see the joy this little girl had brought into her life. This baby was Olivia's dream come true and happiness looked really good on her.

"Sand pebble is a really good color on you," he replied twisting the strand of painted hair in his fingertips.

Olivia smiled again.

"I guess I should take a shower before I go visit Tessa later, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"I wouldn't want to scare her. Some scary looking crazy woman comes to visit her at the hospital, she would be afraid of me for the rest of her life."

"You're not scary looking," Elliot said still staring at her.

"Oh, no?"

He shook his head slowly unable to take his eyes off of her.

"You're beautiful," he said softly.

Olivia smiled as she raised her dark eyes to meet his once more.

"Thanks El," she said as that perfect smile crossed her lips.

Olivia raised her shoulder and used the sleeve of her tee shirt to wipe her face.

"Better?" she asked.

"It's still there."

Elliot watched her struggle with it for a moment.

"Now?"

"Here," he said innocently raising his hand to brush the bit of paint from the tip of her nose.

Olivia blinked and smiled again as their eyes locked. Without thinking Elliot traced his fingertips over the curve of her jaw and pulled her mouth to hers. Although they had been fighting it and ignoring these feelings for years, every single romantic feeling they had ever felt for each other came crashing down on them as Elliot picked her up and carried her into the bedroom.

She was already gone when Elliot woke up early the next morning. He took a shower and fixed himself a cup of coffee as he wandered around her apartment. He stared at her pile of clothes still in the floor beside the bed from the night before and exhaled, praying he hadn't just screwed things up between them.

He looked down at his watch noticing he still had nearly two hours before he had to be at work. Olivia often woke up early to get in a run and visit Tessa before work, Elliot was sure this was the case today. He made his way down the hall and leaned against the door frame as he looked around the empty nursery.

Two hours later Elliot walked into work to find Olivia's desk empty, just the way she had left it the day before. He stared at it for a moment feeling a knot in his stomach as a bit of worry came over him. Somehow, he had expected to see her smiling face here to assure him that things were alright between them.

The truth was, he loved her. He had been in love with her for years, though his relationship with Kathy and his pride hadn't really allowed him to properly express his feelings for her. And thinking back on it now, the way he handled things last night may not have been the most appropriate way to show her just how he felt. He sat down at his desk for a few minutes, sipping his cup of coffee. But he couldn't take this anymore.

Olivia was sitting in a chair beside Tessa's little bed when Elliot entered the room.

"How's she doing?" he asked as she raised her head and turned to face him.

Olivia looked at him with tears streaming down her face as she held her daughter for the first time.

"She is amazing," she said softly.

"This is great," Elliot whispered as he knelt beside her to get a better look at the baby girl. "Hello, Tessa."

"The doctor said she is taking the bottle really well. She is putting on weight and as long as her progress continues, she can come home on Friday."

"This Friday?"

Olivia smiled and nodded. Elliot watched as she raised the sleeping baby and gently kissed her forehead.

"She will be exactly two months old and she weighs five and a half pounds. She will have to keep coming in to see the doctors and they want to monitor her growth and development. They said she will have lower immunities than other babies her age and we have to be very careful with her, because something as simple as a cold can put her back in the hospital again. We have a long road ahead of us."

"This is wonderful news," Elliot said brushing his fingertip over Tessa's baby soft hair. "She's a red head," he noted.

"Strawberry blonde," Olivia corrected him. "And she is perfect."

"She is. She's a tough little thing."

"Would you like to hold her?" she asked with a proud smile.

"I would love to," Elliot said as Olivia placed Tessa into his arms. "There we go big girl," Elliot whispered as Tessa whimpered a bit and opened her dark eyes to look at him. "Hello beautiful. You woke up to see uncle Elliot, didn't you? Her hair is getting thick," he said looking at Olivia.

"It is starting to cover the surgical scars."

"She is getting so big. It's a good thing she gets to go home this soon, at the rate she is growing it wont be long before she is too big to sleep in the bassinette," he joked.

"I am so proud of her. I have been waiting what seems like forever for this day and it seemed like it would never come."

"Liv, I also wanted to talk to you…."

Olivia raised her head to look at him.

"about last night."

"This isn't the place, El. Can we talk about this later?" she asked looking once more down at Tessa.

"Of course," he said kissing the baby and handing her back to her mother.

"I'm scheduled to be in court this afternoon. I am going to take the morning off and spend some more time here with her. This is a big day for us."

"Yeah, it is," he agreed.

"Maybe you could come by for dinner tonight," she suggested.

"That would be great."

"Seven thirty, my place?"

"Sounds good."

"Elliot, thank you….for being here today. It really means a lot to me."

"I'm honored that you allow me to share in all of this. I'm always going to be here, you know?"

Olivia stared into his eyes.

"For you and for Tessa. No matter what. We are family, Olivia. And families are there for each other."

"I'll see you tonight," she said softly.

That evening Olivia unlocked the front door of her apartment. She tossed her keys on the coffee table and kicked off her high heeled shoes. She pulled off her suit jacked and untucked her blouse as she began to unbutton it. Making her way down the hall she dropped her clothes into the floor and stepped into a hot shower to wash away the stressful day she'd had.

Afterward, Olivia wrapped herself in an oversized towel and made her way into the bedroom to put on more comfortable clothes. There in the floor beside the bed was the pile of her clothing, evidence that the events of the night before had infact taken place between them.

She picked up the pile of dirty clothes and tossed them into the hamper, then pulled her favorite jeans and a blouse from her closet. After she dressed she put dinner into the oven and turned on a little music as she began to cut up vegetables for a salad.

Half an hour later Elliot arrived. Olivia opened the door with a smile.

"You brought flowers?"

"And wine," he said holding up the bottle as he handed her a dozen white roses.

"Thank you, Elliot. But don't you think maybe we should talk about this first?"

"Well, I just want to be clear on my intentions. The roses are for a beautiful woman I am very attracted to."

Olivia smiled.

"And the wine?"

"To celebrate with my best friend that her little girl will be coming home at the end of the week."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. What ever that is smells wonderful."

"Lemon pepper chicken."

"Sounds wonderful, as well."

Elliot followed her into the kitchen. Olivia checked on the chicken while he poured them each a glass of wine. She exhaled as she turned around and took a sip of the wine.

"Elliot, I'm not so sure that this….whatever it is between us is such a good idea."

"Why do you say that?"

"Just, all of the things that are going on right now. I am not going to try and pretend that last night wasn't…."

"Remarkable."

Olivia smiled a shy smile.

"Even so, I don't think this is a good time for me to be starting a new relationship."

"How do you know I even wanted to date you?"

She looked up at him with a bit of sadness in her eyes.

"I was joking, Liv."

Elliot sat his glass down on the counter and moved around behind her. He slipped his arms around her waist and hugged her as he laid his chin against her shoulder.

"I have been crazy about you for years. Of course I want to date you. I am fully aware of all of the things that are going on in your life right now and I know that I am not going to be the most important person in your life."

"But you should be," she said turning to look him in the eye. "If we are going to be in a relationship, you should be the most important person in my life."

"Normally, that would be true. But you are a parent now. When you are a parent, your kids come first. That is the way it always goes. Liv, it's okay. If you don't want to do this, I understand."

"I do," she said softly. "I have wanted this for as long as I can remember. For years, I haven't been able to find the right guy….because every guy I met I compared to you. But you were taken. You were married."

"And now that's over."

Elliot said placing a hand on each side of her face and kissing her tenderly.

"Aren't you scared?" she whispered as she opened her eyes to look into his.

"Of being with you? Not at all."

"What if it doesn't work out? What if it ends badly and…."

"Shhh," Elliot said placing his thumb against her lips. "You don't have to be afraid. Liv, you are my best friend and I would never do anything I thought was going to jeopardize that. But we will never know what this could be if we don't even give it a shot."

"I can't lose you."

"And you won't. Look, I'll make you a promise right now, that you and I will always be best friends. Above everything else. And we will communicate with each other and be completely honest."

"And the minute we thing that our romantic relationship is compromising our friendship….it's over. That's the way it has to be. Agreed?" she asked offering him her hand as if it were a business deal.

"Agreed," Elliot said closing her hand in his as he leaned forward and kissed her again.

Olivia laughed a bit as their kiss broke and she stared into his eyes.

"Oh, dinner!" she said returning her attention to the chicken beginning to burn in the oven across the room.

Elliot put the roses in a vase and sat them in the center of the table as he lit a couple of candles. They sat and had a nice romantic dinner together as they shared a bottle of wine. Later Elliot held her close to him as they slow danced in her living room to the sexy saxophone music of a Kenny G CD Olivia had put in.

That night, they made love for the first time as a couple. Belonging only to each other. Taking a chance at romance and for the first time living the dream they both had shared for years. When you take a chance on love, everything changes. And sometimes that change is for the better.