Chapter 28

Later that evening, Elliot dropped Olivia off at her apartment. They were deep into their new case regarding an assault on a woman and the Good Samaritan who got beat up for trying to step in and neither one was really focused on anything else. Well at least until Elliot leaned over and kissed Olivia's cheek. She blushed which made him chuckle.

"Badass Benson blushes?" He asked.

"Not normally," she admitted.

"Good to know that I can still do that," Elliot smirked.

"You coming up?" She wanted to know.

"Why Detective Benson, I do believe that you are stepping into dangerous territory," he teased.

"Well we're going to have to be in early tomorrow anyway and you did leave some clothes at my place even though I haven't needed medical attention for quite some time," Olivia pointed out.

"That explains where my blue shirt and black pants went," he laughed.

"So that's a 'yes' then?" She asked.

"Of course and I have a surprise up there waiting for you," Elliot told her. Before she could say anything, he got out of the car and headed around the front of the vehicle. Olivia climbed out and he offered her his hand. She took it and they walked into her building and up to her apartment.

"You left my lights on?" Her senses on high alert, knowing she hadn't left them on this morning.

"The surprise must have left them on," he shook his head and she looked at him funny before slipping the key into the lock. She opened the door and was in for a surprise when she heard familiar voices in the kitchen.

"El…" she didn't get a chance to finish her thought as his kids came over to meet their father and his partner.

"Surprise!" Maureen smiled.

"I'll say," Olivia smiled back.

"We intended to take you out for dinner but since Dad said you guys were working a case, we figured pizza might be better," Dickie was smiling too.

"Pizza is always better. If you don't mind me asking though, why the surprise?" She asked.

"We wanted to thank you for helping out with Mom," Lizzie spoke up.

"No thanks were needed but I'll not turn down pizza," Olivia chuckled.

"Good because it might be getting cold," Dickie pointed out.

"Then let's get a move on," Elliot said and the kids turned around, heading back into the other room. It did not escape Olivia's notice that Kathleen was not there. She didn't bring it up though. They could talk later about it.

"So how is everyone?" She asked as they sat down to eat the pizza at her kitchen table.

"Good. Mom sends her well wishes but she it was her first day back at work so she had to go," Maureen said.

"Good to hear she's back at work. I'm glad she's doing better," Olivia smiled.

"We are too," Dickie nodded. It turned out that Kathy's thyroid was enlarged because of a non-cancerous tumor and that she was in fact going into menopause early. The doctors worked to get everything settled but it took a couple of months to get everything resolved between the surgery, recovery, and new medications that she would need to be taking for a while. During that time, Olivia had helped out as much as she could and eventually Kathy had apologized to her for everything. She'd told her partner's former wife that she understood and that there were no hard feelings. Since then things between them had improved.

"Who ordered the onions?" Lizzie made a face, effectively changing the subject.

"They're only on half of the pizza," Elliot pointed out.

"Still gross," the youngest said.

"So they gave that guy you were chasing the death penalty," Maureen switched the topic to what she'd seen on the news earlier in the day.

"They did but he refused to admit his part in the crimes he committed here so ADA Novak is going to try him here," her father explained.

"Does that mean you'll have to go to court Livvy?" Lizzie asked.

"Probably," Olivia nodded.

"Does that make you nervous?" Dickie wanted to know.

"I've testified so many times at trials, I don't think it'll be a problem," she gave him a wink.

"Well we're glad you're ok and at least the guy won't be getting out of jail anytime soon," Maureen said. Olivia noticed that the older girl had a concerned look on her face. Maureen was old enough to understand what had been going on thanks to the extensive press coverage and the detective understood her concern. No one would want to meet Robbie Alvarez in a dark alley.

"I appreciate it. You guys have a lot of homework to do?" Again Olivia changed the subject.

"Ugh," Dickie groaned.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," Elliot gave him a look. The girls laughed. They enjoyed dinner and then cleaned up. Given that it was a school night, Elliot ushered them all out to the car and drove them back to their mother's place. It left Olivia alone for a little while, though Elliot promised to be back as quickly as possible.

It was then that it struck her as she sat down on the couch. The apartment was too quiet. She'd gotten used to the silence that living alone brought but now that she'd had Elliot take care of her during her recovery and had been running all over to help with the kids, the silence she once longed for was scary.

It had been quite the conundrum before. The silence allowed her to clear her head and refocus after the day's events and it was welcomed after the hustle and bustle of the precinct. It also was a constant reminder that she had no one in her life, not even a pet to come home to. At times the loneliness was overwhelming, which was part of the reason she threw herself into her work so much. If her brain was preoccupied then she wouldn't have time to think about it. Never mind the fact that the job was part of the reason she was alone. Men were either too interested in what she was doing or completely disgusted. The simple fact was though that she couldn't see herself doing anything else. The victims were more important than any self-loathing or self-doubt. They needed someone to speak up, to defend them, to pick up the pieces, and that was all that mattered.

"I caught you thinking again. What'd I tell you about that?" Elliot teased. She practically jumped out of her skin. She hadn't even heard him come in.

"You know you never returned that copy of my keys," Olivia pointed out.

"Figured I could put them to good use," he chuckled, sitting down next to her.

"Oh yeah?" She gave him a look, one that told him she was jerking his chain.

"We've been dancing around for eight years and we've been through some crazy stuff. I think we've earned the ability to move as we choose. There isn't much we don't know about each other," Elliot pointed out.

"We are on our third date," Olivia said as if that was a valid reason or well the magazine in the doctor's office waiting room said so. He laughed.

"You're easy to please. Dinner with the kids as date number three?" He asked.

"Oh I think you'll find I'm a little harder to please than that," it was her turn to laugh as she hoisted herself off the couch. Elliot watched her hips sway down the hall toward her bedroom door.

"You coming?" She asked, looking over her shoulder. He licked his lips as he watched her go through the doorway. He was off the couch like a shot.

"Why Detective Benson, you're being quite naughty," Elliot said, his arms snaking around her midsection from behind.

"You have no idea," Olivia teased. They disappeared into the bedroom knowing that there was no going back and not caring.

THE END

Hope you liked it. :) New story is on the way next week.