A/N: Since my last chapter was just a "tease".
Olivia leaned back in the café booth that she was currently occupying, chewing on the inside of her cheek as she waited for Elliot to arrive. The sound of a bell clinging against the door caused her to look up and smile at her partner. "Mornin'," He grumbled as he slid into the booth across from her, rubbing his eyes a few times before smiling at her.
"Morning to you too, El. You look like hell. Kids keeping you up at night?" She questioned as she watched her partner signal for a waitress.
"Yeah, thanks for the excuse to get out of the house. Kathy has been riding me about cutting down on my hours and being around the kids more often. I think she just needed a moment to think without me around." He smiled as the waitress came up and introduced herself. "Two coffees, two Early Riser Breakfast Platters and a side of fruit."
"Ordering for me now?" Olivia teased as she smiled at the waitress before the woman left. "Maybe instead of running from Kathy you should try taking through it with her. Isn't that a grand idea?"
"Yeah, yeah, like you're suddenly the relationship expert."
Olivia rolled her eyes as she leaned forward. "I know enough to know that talking is what solves these problems, El. You do remember that I had them with Alex, right?"
"Yeah but you're not having sex with her…actually does that even make a difference? Kathy and I haven't since…"
"I do not want you to finish that sentence," Olivia interjected as she raised an eyebrow at him. "Alex and I may not be sleeping together but we're still raising two children together while I work at the precinct and she works from home. You need to talk to Kathy, okay? Don't leave her all alone in her head."
Elliot sighed as he thanked the waitress for his coffee before taking a big swig. "Alright, Ms. Relationship Expert. I'll talk to her. Now tell me more about you and Alex." He smirked teasingly at her before winking.
"There's nothing to tell. Somehow we've managed to raise Benjie and Lexie without too much difficulty. The kids seem to be getting along well enough with us and their therapist says everything is progressing well."
"And you and Alex? Did you two work through all your problems, break through that sexual tension and do whatever lesbians do?"
A swift kick to Elliot's shin stopped him mid-laugh and caused him to pout at Olivia. "There is no sexual tension!"
"Yeah right. I saw the way she looked at you when you introduced us. She thought we were a thing and she was definitely jealous." Olivia shook her head as she glanced out into the café, anywhere but at her partner. "Oh come on Liv, you know as well as I do that Alex is interested in you."
"Better than you know," Olivia mumbled more to herself just as their food arrived, cutting any questions that Elliot may have had off. They continued enjoying the rest of their meal bickering over random things while Elliot caught Olivia up on a few cases that she had missed out on due to her shortened hours.
At the end of the meal, Elliot reached into his pocket to pull out some cash, only to be stopped by Olivia tossing enough bills for the both of them onto the table. "Covering me, huh? Didn't know this was a date," Elliot teased.
"No, consider this me paying you back for the twenty bucks I owe you."
"Why do you owe me…No way! She kissed you?" Olivia merely smirked as she stood up and grabbed onto her leather jacket, slipping it over her shoulders.
"I don't kiss and tell, El."
"Well please tell me that you're at least going to take her out for a date."
"Take her out? El, we have two kids who can't stand being with strangers for more than two seconds. There's no way that I'd be able to take her out on a date with just us."
"So don't," He replied as he shrugged his shoulders.
"What?"
"Don't make it just the two of you." Olivia pursed her lips, a faint smiling arising at the idea.
"See you at work tomorrow, El. And thanks for the meal," She teased as she winked at him before they both headed out on their own separate ways.
Olivia purposely arrived home early from work the following day, a wide smile on her face when she entered the scentless apartment, indicating that Alex hadn't started cooking something for dinner yet. She kicked off her boots and wandered into the living room where Ben was watching TV while Alex walked over to her with Lexie in her arms.
"Hey, you're home early. I didn't expect you for another hour so I didn't start dinner yet."
"That's okay. I was thinking that we could go out to eat for once anyway." Alex's eyebrows furrowed up as she looked at the detective in confusion. "What do you say Ben, do you want some pizza and maybe a few arcade games tonight?"
"YES!" Ben was off of the couch before either woman could blink, barreling over to both of them and almost falling as he did. "I wanna go! I wanna go! Can we Auntie Lexie? Please, please, please!" Alex couldn't help but smile as she nodded; there was no way she was going to disappoint Ben. "Yay!"
"Alright I'm going to go get changed quickly and then we can head out," Olivia told Ben as she ruffled up his hair, enjoying how excited the little boy looked.
"I need to change as well," Alex commented as she glanced down at her dark grey sweatpants and Harvard Law shirt.
Olivia glanced down at her attire and smiled. "Why? You look gorgeous in anything." With that, Olivia swaggered into her bedroom, smiling as she shut the door behind her. If this was going to be a date she was going to make Alex feel like the only woman in the world.
Thirty minutes later, they were all crammed into a small booth, Olivia across from Alex with Ben sitting next to her, pizza sauce dripping down his chin, and Lexie bouncing up and down on Alex's lap. Olivia couldn't ever imagine being anywhere else as she grabbed onto a napkin and dipped it into her water before wiping up the pizza sauce on Ben's chin.
"I wanna go play games! Can I Auntie Livia?" He questioned, flashing those big brown eyes that Olivia quickly learned was one of her weaknesses.
"Of course buddy, that's why I brought quarters!" She slid out of the booth and picked him up so that she could carry him over to the arcade. "We'll be back in a bit," She assured Alex, the blonde smiling and nodding in response.
"Take your time."
Olivia turned away only to pause before turning back. "How about you join us, Alex?" The blonde gave her a questioning glance as she looked down at Lexie. "Come on, you look like you could use some fun. Let's go win some tickets and get something fun on the prize shelf."
"You make a convincing argument." Alex grinned as she picked Lexie up off of her lap and walked toward the arcade with Olivia. Halfway through Ben's gaming adventures, Olivia joined in on the fun, winning hundreds of tickets for Ben. The detective smiled as she watched how happy Ben was to hold onto all those tickets, waving them around with joy.
"Can you even hold all those tickets?" Alex teased as she kneeled down with Lexie in her arms and tried to help Ben fold up his tickets so that they were more manageable.
"Yes! They weigh as much as me Auntie Lexie!" Ben giggled as he tossed some tickets at Olivia who scooped them up and started folding them as well before pausing.
"How about a picture with all your tickets, buddy?" Ben nodded vigorously as he jumped into Olivia's arms with all of his tickets. The brunette leaned down so that she was next to Alex and pulled out her phone, holding it at arms' length. "Smile!" She snapped a few pictures of Ben with both of his arms wrapped around her and Alex, Lexie smiling a baby-tooth grin in Alex's lap.
Almost two hours later, they all arrived back home, Ben grinning as he ran around the apartment pretending to fly his toy airplane that he had won with his tickets. Alex was holding onto the small teddy bear that Ben had picked out for his little sister and a little picture frame that said "I love you" on it for her and Olivia.
"I think it's bedtime, buddy," Olivia said as she walked over to a smiling Ben. He frowned slightly as he set his airplane down on the coffee table.
"Will you read me n' Lexie a story before bed?"
"Of course we will," Olivia replied as she adjusted Lexie in her arms and headed toward Alex's bedroom. "Go get changed into your pajamas and Auntie Lexie will help you brush your teeth then we can snuggle up for story time."
Ten minutes later, Olivia and Alex were both sitting in bed on either side of Ben, Lexie in Ben's arms since he wanted to hold her during story time. By the end of it, his little eyes were drooping down so Olivia carefully extracted Lexie from his lap.
"And they all lived happily ever after," Alex murmured softly as she closed the book and set it down on Ben's nightstand. She smiled as she brushed his brown locks away from his forehead and kissed him there, Olivia doing the same thing.
Ben sighed heavily as he cuddled against his pillow while Alex pulled the covers up to his chin. "Love you mommy…"
Alex froze for a moment as she looked down at him before stroking his forehead gently once more. "We love you too, Benjie. Sleep well my little boy."
They both slipped out of his room and Alex smiled at Olivia as they stopped outside of her room. "Thank you for everything tonight, Liv."
"Of course. I figured it was about time that we all got out of the house and spent some quality time together."
Alex glanced down almost nervously before looking back up. "I think this is normally the point where I invite you in for a nightcap or coffee."
Olivia smirked as she glanced up at the ceiling. "Little hard to invite me in considering I already am," She teased lightly as she eased Lexie out of Alex's arms and carried her over to her crib, gently setting the little girl down and covering her up.
"Guess I'll have to improvise," Alex replied as she watched Olivia tuck Lexie in before turning back to her. "What do you say instead of coffee you join me in bed for some late night conversations?"
"Sounds like a perfect ending to wonderful night." They both slipped under Alex's covers and leaned back against headboard, neither looking at the other.
"Was this a date?"
Olivia pursed her lips as she looked over Alex's bare walls. "I'd like to think so. I wanted to take you out on a real date to a nice restaurant, just the two of us and some wine but that's not really us, is it?"
Alex broke out into a smile as she looked over at Olivia. "A long time ago, maybe that was me. But now? Now I think I'm content with greasy pizza, noisy children, and arcade games."
"Me too, Alex." Olivia glanced down at Alex's hand which was resting on the mattress. She bit her lip before sliding her hand over to Alex's and weaving her fingers with the blonde's once she didn't pull away.
She traced her thumb over the back of Alex's hand for a few seconds. "Would you like to spend the night, Olivia?" Alex grinned as glanced over at the detective.
"I like to think of myself as a respectable woman, Alex. I have a rule about waiting until at least the fifth date." Alex laughed abruptly as she playfully bumped shoulders with Olivia.
"Rules were made to be broken," Alex countered as she locked eyes with Olivia, her gaze wandering only for a split second to admire red lips.
Olivia cocked her head to the side to evaluate the blonde for a moment before leaning in and kissing her abruptly. Alex responded instantly, her body sinking into the sheets as Olivia leaned over until she was almost on top of her. Hands tangled against Olivia's shirt and into Alex's hair as they kissed, both enjoying the minty taste from their shared toothpaste.
Olivia finally pulled away, laughing softly as she laid down next to Alex. They both breathed heavily for a few seconds, catching their breath before Alex rolled over onto her side so that she was facing Olivia. "Thank you for the best first date, Olivia."
"Mhm," Olivia hummed in response as she turned to face the blonde. "This might be a little forward of me but I would love to be able to hold you right now." Blue eyes stared intently back at her for a few seconds, scanning her face, before Alex rolled over so that she was facing away from Olivia.
The detective didn't move for a moment, unsure if it was an invitation or not. "My back is getting cold, Liv." Olivia's grin grew as she slid over until she was behind the blonde. With practiced ease from all their other times sleep-cuddling in bed, Olivia wrapped her arm over Alex's and rested it against the blonde's stomach, tangling her fingers with Alex's.
She sighed contently as she buried her nose into long blonde locks, not even the least bit annoyed at the way Alex's hair tickled her when she moved. At the moment, she couldn't think of anywhere else she'd rather be or anyone else she'd rather be with.