Okay last update for a few days as I am off home this weekend to spend a couple of days with my girlfriend. However I will update next week once I am alone again and living in a hotel lol.

Chapter 14

"El….EL!" said Olivia her voice getting louder.

"What," he mumbled sinking lower under the blanket and pulling it over his head.

"Someone's banging on the door," she told him snuggling under the blanket with him.

"So go answer it," he told her a smirk on his face that she couldn't see. He felt the cool air hit him as the blanket was pulled away from his body and Olivia slapped his ass cheek.

"Get the door Stabler," she ordered him.

"Damn hormones," he mumbled as he sat up and reached down pulling on his sweats.

"Nothing to do with my hormones," she mumbled back. "More to do with being kept up most the night by my over sexed boyfriend."

"Hey I didn't hear any complaints at the time," he said walking to the door as whoever it was kept knocking.

"Yeah well I'm complaining now, I'm tired, aching and hungry," she said opening her eyes and glaring at him.

"Fine I will get the door then make breakfast."

"Good," she replied closing her eyes a smile on her face.

"It's a good job I love you," he told her as he closed the door and headed down the corridor. "Yeah, I'm coming!" he yelled as he got to the door and unlocked it.

"About time," said Kathleen pushing past him, followed by Maureen and Lizzy. Dickie stood in the door way with Eli and shrugged his shoulders as he followed the girls in. Elliot closed the door and followed his kids into the kitchen.

"It's not that I'm not happy to see you guys, but what the hell you all doing here so early?"

"One it's not early it's almost eleven and two, we have come to treat Livia," said Maureen. "Got us girls booked in for a pamper day. We figured it would do her good after everything that has just happened."

"And what do I get; I was the one he had?"

"To spend the day with Dickhead and Eli," said Kathleen.

Dickie gave Kathleen a nasty look before lifting Eli up onto the bench. Elliot walked over to his youngest son. "Hey little man," he said kissing his sons head.

"Hey daddy, how long till I get my new brother or sister?" he asked his dad.

"It won't be long now," he told him. "Dickie! Use a glass," Elliot told him as he drank milk from the carton. "Look it's a really nice thought taking Olivia out for the day and everything but she is really tired at the moment."

"And why is that dad?" asked Kathleen smirking. "Anything to do with why you're both in bed at this time of the day."

"Plus the fact you have two hickies on your chest," laughed Lizzy.

"Oh my god, you two are so busted," said Dickie as the older kids all giggled.

"What's a hicky?" asked Eli. "And can I get one if daddy has two." This made all the kids laugh even more as Elliot shook his head.

"No Eli you can't have one, Daddy didn't even know he had one," he told his youngest son, his cheeks going red slightly.

"How did you not know you had them Daddy?"

"Yeah Dad, how did you not know you had them?" asked Maureen. "Any way aren't things supposed to slow down in the bedroom once you're pregnant?"

Elliot looked at his kids not knowing what to say.

"Daddy if I can't have a Hicky, can I at least get a cookie?" asked Eli making everyone including Elliot burst out laughing.

"Should have known," said Olivia from behind them. "This much noise this early can only mean one thing the rest of the Stablers are here."

"Livvy!" yelled Eli jumping down from the bench and running up to her and wrapping his arms around her legs hugging her.

"Hey baby boy you okay," she asked ruffling his blond hair.

"Yeah, I can't wait for my brother or sister though," he said to her as he kissed her belly. "Come on baby hurry up, I can't wait to see you," he said to her belly. Elliot smiled as he watched his youngest son then turned around and picked up the kettle to fill it.

"So what you lot all doing here?" she asked as she struggled to get up onto the stool. Lizzy held out her hand to help her up.

"We are taking you out for a pamper day, just us four girls," said Maureen.

Olivia smiled "Sounds perfect," she told them. "And such a nice surprise."

"Did you know about this?" she asked Elliot.

"Nope, I was just told I have to spend the day with Dickie and Eli, while you spend it with the girls."

"Dickie glass," said Olivia as he raised the milk carton to his mouth. Dickie sighed and got a glass out the cupboard. Elliot grinned.

"Told you to use a glass," he told his son.

"Well after the last few days I could certainly do with a massage and stuff," said Olivia. "My back is killing me and my feet ache all the time."

"You sure it isn't to do with any other activities, as to why your body is aching," laughed Kathleen.

"Kathleen!" Elliot said warning her.

"Oh come on dad, your stood there with two hickies and Olivia has at least one we can see. You really expect us not to pick you up on this. It's like the best opportunity ever for pay back."

Olivia's hand went to her neck and she glared at Elliot. "You gave me a hicky?"

"Hey you gave me two, so don't stand there blaming me for all this."

Eli looked between His dad and Olivia "So how come Olivia is allowed a hicky as well, but I'm not. This is so unfair," he said stomping of into the leaving room. The other kids looked between their dad and Olivia and left the kitchen.

Once they had gone Olivia walked over to Elliot and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Thought you were mad at me," he smiled.

"Nah just put on a show in front of the kids."

"Oh right," he said wrapping his arms around her and kissing her lips.

"It's a bit embarrassing though getting busted by the kids for having hickies."

"Yeah, I guess I won't be able to yell at them for getting them now," he chuckled before kissing her softly, his tongue dipping into her mouth and brushing against hers. "Last night was pretty amazing though."

"You mean this morning," she said kissing him back.

"Whatever," he said before crashing his lips to hers and running his fingers through her hair pulling her to him as he kissed her hard.

They jumped apart when a loud whistle was blew. They both turned and found Lizzy stood in the doorway with Maureen and Kathleen behind her.

"Step apart," she told them. "Livia you go get ready, and dad you stay here. The pair of you obviously cannot be left alone."

Olivia smiled at Elliot and kissed him quickly before leaving the kitchen, and Elliot to face his three daughters.

Elliot poured the water into his cup and turned around to find his three daughters all stood in front of him with their arms folded across their chests, looking at him.

"What?" he asked taking a drink of his coffee?

"Do you love Livia?" asked Kathleen.

"Of course I do….. Why would you even ask that?"

"Well maybe because our little brother or sister is gonna come into the world soon and you and Livia are still living in sin," said Lizzy.

"Why haven't you asked her yet?" asked Kathleen.

"Because…. Because I haven't found the right time yet," he told them as he flashed back to a few hours earlier and what he had told her, a smile slowly spreading across his face.

"I don't know what your smiling at, this not a smiling matter," said Maureen.

"No of course it isn't," he said. "But I promise you, I am going to ask her I'm just waiting for the right moment…. I love Liv more than you guys could ever know and I want to marry her, but I want to do it right just give me time okay."

All three girls nodded, and hugged their dad. "We just want you to be happy Dad," said Lizzy. "And when you're with Livia you are."

"I know sweetheart," he said kissing her head. "But I don't need to be married to be happy."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Maureen and Olivia sat by the pool watching Lizzy and Kathleen as they swam about.

"Liv," said Maureen putting her glass of water down. "How has Dad been since he was taken?"

Olivia looked over at Elliot's oldest daughter and took hold of her hand. "I'm not gonna lie to you and tell you he has been okay and not bothered by what happened, but he is doing a lot better."

"I'm just worried he is going start drinking again, or even worse the drugs. I mean that guy forced him to drink and injected him, what if…?"

"He won't," smiled Olivia.

"But how do you know, we didn't think he would last time and looked what happened."

"Last time he kept everything to himself, this time he is talking about his fears." Olivia stopped talking and looked at Maureen. "Last night….."

Maureen held her hand up "I don't think I need to know about last night," she smiled. "The fact the two of you looked like extras from True Blood this morning is all I need to know about last night."

Olivia smiled at her. "No I wasn't going to tell you about that…Last night I woke up and your Dad wasn't there. I found him sitting in the dark with a bottle of vodka."

"Oh god," said Maureen panic on her face.

"It's okay Honey the bottle was unopened. He said he bought it because he was having trouble sleeping and he figured it would help him. But he didn't open it he just sat and stared at it. He finally talked about what was bothering him. He told me later that night he is going to make an appointment to talk to someone, and he wants me to go with him."

"You think he is tempted again?"

"No… Maybe. But the fact he is getting help before he does is a good thing, and I will be right with him all the way."

"What happened with the bottle of vodka is it still in the house?"

Olivia smiled. "No sweetheart. Your dad waited till he thought I was asleep and got up. I followed him; I guess I was still a little worried about him. I saw him pick the bottle up and open it. I was just about to say something when I saw him pour it down the sink and throw the empty bottle in the trash."

Maureen smiled back at Olivia. "I wish you had been there when he got bad. I wanted to call you but he wouldn't let us. He deleted your phone number and told us if any of us called you or went to see you that he would never forgive us. Even Mom wanted to call you but was scared of what he might do if she did. It's like we didn't know him at all, he wasn't our Dad anymore."

"Maureen, the things we used to see at work, the things we had to deal with every day. It was hard. Your dad spent his days protecting those that couldn't protect themselves. He gave up time with you kids so he could help other kids. The day he shot Jenna… it was too much for him. He felt like he had let her down. His whole world fell apart. His drinking, drugs and the sex was his way of blocking everything out, he just didn't want to remember. Your dad was never a one to admit when he needed help. He thought asking for help made him weak and less of a man….."

"Cause of Grandpa Right…..Grandma told me not long after Kathleen was diagnosed with Bi Polar that he and dad didn't get on. That grandpa used to put a lot of pressure on him."

"Yeah I heard that as well. But he is changing he is learning to open up a lot more and not keep things bottled up in here," she said tapping the side of her head. "I'm just as bad as him, I never used to talk about my problems either, and I always kept them hidden away. But the last 6 months since I got together with your dad I have opened up a lot more, I feel a lot more relaxed."

"I'm glad. It's about time you were both happy…..Aaaaaahhhh! What the hell," she screamed as she was splashed with cold water and Kathleen looked up at them both from the pool.

"What time we booked in for our massage?" she asked with a stupid grin on her face.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Dickie dropped down onto the sand next to Elliot. "You okay dad?" he asked him as they both watched Eli digging a large hole in the sand.

"Never better," he smiled.

"So, I know the girls probably already asked you this, but, are you gonna ask Liv to marry you?"

"I'm sure I will at some point, but as I told the girls I don't need to be married to be happy."

"But you want to, right."

Elliot turned and looked at his son. "More than anything," he smiled. "But don't tell the girls that, otherwise they will never let it drop."

"So why not just ask her."

"I just want to make sure the time is right. I don't want Liv to think I am only asking her cause she is pregnant. I want her to know the reason I am asking her is because of how much I love her. That I would be asking her even if she wasn't having my baby… I don't want to rush it this time."

"You mean like you did with Mom?"

"Yeah I guess."

"Dad….. Do you ever regret marrying Mom?"

"Not once," he told him. "Sure sometimes I used to wish we had done things different, but I never regretted making the choices we made. Having you kids was the best thing we ever done."

"Can I ask you something without you getting mad?" asked Dickie. Elliot looked at him.

"I can't answer that until you actually ask the question."

Dickie picked up a stone and threw it down towards the water over Eli's head. "Did you and Mom split up the first time because of your feelings for Livia?"

Elliot took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "No," he said and Dickie looked over to him. "We split up because of a lot of reasons. Maybe Liv was part of the problem but not in that way. I was spending a lot of time at work, I was never at home. I was able to share things with Liv I could never share with your mom and I guess that pissed her off. Dickie, me and your mom just grew apart. It was mainly my fault for not talking enough to her, but basically we just fell out of love. We stayed together because we didn't know any different and all we done was make each other miserable. When she got pregnant with Eli, we felt like we should get back together for him, so he had both parents. But deep down as much as we tried neither of us were happy."

"So if you hadn't got mom pregnant….."

"I wouldn't have come home. I was happy living like I was; I had finally accepted our marriage was over. My feelings for Liv were growing day by day and I was trying to figure out how to tell her. When your mom told me about the baby I was so torn with what to do. In the end I put aside my feelings for Liv and went back home."

"Did you even love Mom when you came back?"

"I will always love your mom; she has been a part of my life for so long. But was I in love with her, like a husband should have been, then no. In my heart I was in love with Liv."

"So for all those years you put your own feelings aside for Mom and us kids."

"Yeah, because I didn't know what else I was supposed to do."

They both sat and watched Eli playing neither speaking for a while.

"I love you Dad," said Dickie.

"Love you to Kid," said Elliot putting his arm around Dickies shoulder and pulling him over for a hug.

"Think it's time for ice cream," said Dickie standing up and brushing the sand of him, before holding his hand out and pulling Elliot up. "And for the record dad. I reckon if you asked Livia to marry you she would know it wasn't just cause of the baby."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Elliot lifted his head from the arm of the couch when he heard the door close.

"Hey gorgeous, you have a good day?"

"Yeah it was perfect, you have three amazing girls Elliot," she said kicking her shoes off and sitting down between Elliot's legs resting her back and head on his chest. Elliot kissed the top of her head and turned his attention back to the TV.

"Ooooh," said Olivia jumping slightly and putting her hand on her bump.

"You okay?" asked Elliot.

"Yeah just a little twinge, been getting them quite a bit the last few days."

"Why didn't you tell?" he asked sitting up and turning her to face him.

"Because there is nothing to tell," she smiled. "And I knew you would get all worried," she laughed.

"Yeah well….. Your only a couple of weeks away from having spud anything could be happening."

"I promise you El, as soon as I am in labour you will know about it," she told him.

Elliot nodded and placed his hand on her stomach. "You want to get an early night?" he asked wiggling his eyebrows.

Olivia laughed at him and pushed herself up. "Yes I do, but only to sleep, I'm really tired Baby and my back is killing me, despite the massage today."

"Okay, sleep only, I promise" he said standing up and taking her hand leading her to the bedroom.

Olivia lay on her back staring at the ceiling as she listened to Elliot snoring gently beside her.

"Fuck," she cursed under her breath as she felt another pain; she looked at the clock beside six minutes since the last time.

An hour later she shook Elliot's shoulder. "El …..Baby," she said shaking him.

"Hmmmm."

"You need to wake up," she said shaking him again.

"Really Liv I thought you said you were tired," he mumbled and moved his hand down between her legs and grinned to himself. "Hmmm baby your so wet already."

"Yeah El, I am. It might have something to do with my waters breaking." She felt Elliot's hand stop moving as his whole body froze as he took in what she just said. Without any warning he jumped out of bed and switched the light on.

"Your…. Your waters have broken. Shit Liv why didn't you wake me earlier?" he asked as he looked around the room frantically and grabbing a pair of jeans and pulled them on not bothering with any boxers. "I will grab your bag…. Do you need a hand to get ready? How far apart are your contractions? I can't believe you didn't wake me…"

"El…El…..EL!" she yelled trying to get his attention. He stopped and turned round to look at her trying to catch his breath. "My waters have just broken and the contractions are just under 6 minutes apart, I'm fine," she told him. "Now pass me my sweats and your t-shirt," she told him.

Elliot passed her what she asked for and continued to get ready. He grabbed her bag and the car keys.

"Fuck," she groaned as another contraction came. She looked at the clock. "Still just under six minutes" she panted.

"That's close enough for me, let's go," he said helping her up from the side of the bed and helping her out into living room. He let go of her whilst he found his wallet and pulled on his hoody. "You got everything you need?" he asked her turning around to face her. "Liv what's wrong?" he asked when she just stood there not speaking.

"I'm scared," she told him a tear falling down her face. "What if I can't do this? I have never looked after a baby for longer than a few hours, what if I can't do it? What the hell were we thinking I'm almost fifty, I'm too old to do this." she hissed and grabbed on to the back of the couch as another contraction came.

Elliot walked over to her and put his hand on her lower back massaging it. "Okay Liv I need you to stop panicking. That's my job," he said trying to make her smile. "You are going to be an amazing mother. And I know this after watching you all these years with kids you have helped. You're gonna be perfect baby, I just know it. You are going to care for and love this baby so much, the same as I will. Sure you will make mistakes just like I did with Maureen. Then with Kathleen and you wouldn't believe how many times I screwed up with the twins."

"And Eli?"

"Even Eli, and I'm sure I will do something wrong with spud as well. Every kid is different Liv; you just have to learn as you go along. There is no correct hand book on how to bring up a kid; you just kind of do it. As long as you show them love and are there for them, the rest just sort of happens."

Olivia wiped the tears from her cheeks. "You really think I can do this?"

"I know you can sweetheart," he said kissing her lips softly. "Now can we please get you in the car and get you to hospital," he smiled at her. "I really don't want to have to deliver my own kid in the car."

Next up baby spud arrives. I was going to end the story after the birth of the baby, however another idea came to me today when I was bored on the course I'm doing so I may just continue it for a little while longer.