Thanks again for the kind reviews. I know some people are questioning where I am heading with this, but trust that I know where it will end. I hope no one gives up reading before we get there. There are always twists and turns on the road of life. ;)

When she opened her eyes the next morning, Olivia was surprised to discover Elliot wasn't in the bed next to her. She remembered him saying he had to leave early for work, but a quick glance at the clock let her know it was much too early for that. She was about to get out of bed and look for him when she heard him talking. It took a minute for her to realize his voice was coming from the baby monitor. He was in Noah's room. The baby must have woken up, and she didn't hear him. She'd barely been asleep an hour, so it was no wonder she'd slept through his cries, but she felt guilty about it.

"It's okay little man," she heard Elliot's calm whisper through the monitor. She could hear Noah sniffling, as if he had been crying pretty hard before Elliot picked him up. "We're gonna let Mommy get some sleep this morning," he said softly. "She didn't sleep well last night."

Olivia smiled at the gentle way Elliot was talking to her son. She knew she should get out of bed and make her way to the nursery, but she enjoyed listening to the two of them. She heard Noah's soft babble and Elliot laughed, "You really are a happy baby, aren't you?" he asked. She could hear the creaking of the rocking chair and knew Elliot was trying to rock the baby back to sleep…trying to buy her another hour or so of sleep and she appreciated the effort. "You mean the world to her," his voice was soft and serious. "I know you're too little to understand that…but it's true." He sighed, "God…I didn't expect this…"

Olivia sat up in bed and looked intently at the baby monitor. What was he talking about? He didn't expect what? Before she could let her imagination run wild her questions were answered when Elliot's voice echoed through the monitor once again. "I never expected her to have a baby." She knew Noah had drifted back to sleep and Elliot was continuing to rock him and talking to himself, completely oblivious to the fact that the baby monitor was pumping his every word into her bedroom. "For three long years I imagined coming back to her, telling her how I felt. I could picture our life together. I love her…but I don't know if I can do this. I've raised my kids. I'm a grandfather for crying out loud. And I think she knows that I don't want this life. I think that's why she keeps pulling away." She heard the chair creak again and Elliot's footsteps walking to the crib, "Sleep tight buddy," he whispered.

She could hear him walking down the hall toward her room and tried to decide if she should pretend to be asleep or confront him about what she'd heard. She lay back on the bed and closed her eyes, cringing as she heard the door open. She felt him crawl in bed next to her and she tried not to cry when he cuddled next to her, wrapping her in his arms. She had known something wasn't right about their relationship and she hated that she'd let herself get caught up in it. If he didn't want a life that included a baby…he didn't want a life with her. "Elliot," she said sadly. "The baby monitor is on…"

He froze when she spoke, angry with himself for not realizing she could hear everything he'd said in the nursery. "Liv…" he began, but she interrupted him.

"Don't," she insisted. "I heard you…and I understand. You don't want to start over right now. You don't want dirty diapers and birthday parties and toys scattered from one end of the house to the other. I can't blame you," she refused to look at him because she didn't want him to see her tears, but he turned on the lamp and sat up.

"I just didn't expect it," he explained. "I thought that part of my life was over…and this takes some getting used to. When you were at work yesterday…I realized I'm not a kid anymore. Taking care of Noah was hard, and I was exhausted."

"I didn't ask you to take care of him," she sat up and looked at him, trying to hold back her tears. "You said you wanted to do it."

"And I did," he assured her. "It's just…two days ago I hadn't even seen you in years and now…I feel like we're playing house."

She shook her head, "No…don't even say that to me. You said you were in love with me…I told you I wasn't the same person I used to be. I knew we shouldn't have gotten so serious so quickly. But it doesn't matter Elliot, because Noah is my son and he isn't going anywhere. If you can't handle that…then we don't belong together."

"Liv, I never said I can't handle it," he tried to explain. "It was just a shock and I'm not sure how to deal with it all yet. He's a great kid…he's adorable…and I know he means the world to you. You're a great mother. I just don't want to pretend like I can be a father again right now, when I'm not sure I can."

"You're not his father," she argued. "I never asked you to be."

"I know that," he said sadly. "But these past couple of days…it felt like we were a family."

"And you don't want that?" she asked.

"I want you," he offered. "And Noah is a part of the package. He's a sweet baby. I just have to get used to picturing myself with a baby again. It's not easy…"

She nodded, "And if you can't do it…if you can't commit to raising a baby again…where does that leave us, El?" She sighed, "I won't do that to my son. I can't let you come into his life and then just decide you don't want to be a part of it anymore."

"He's a baby, Liv," Elliot reminded her. "He isn't going to remember any of this."

"And one day he won't be a baby anymore," She argued. "What do I tell him when he's five years old and all of the sudden you decide you can't commit to teaching him to ride his bike, or going to his little league games? He won't be a baby then and he'll know you don't love him." She let her tears fall. "I won't do that to my son."

"I would never do that, Liv," he promised. "You know me better than that. Things have just changed really quickly over the past couple of days. I need to wrap my brain around everything…"

"No you don't," she said quickly. "You need to go home."

"I love you…and I already adore Noah…you know that," he tried to reason with her, but she wouldn't listen.

"I believe you," she offered. "But that doesn't mean this will work out. I'm not mad at you…and I want us to be friends, but this relationship isn't going to work. I shouldn't have let it get this far. It isn't fair to either of us."

Elliot shook his head, "Liv…I don't want to be just friends. We played that charade for too many years and I can't do that anymore."

"Then we won't be friends," she said sadly.

He wanted to reason with her, but he knew she wouldn't listen. He'd ruined his one chance at happiness and he wasn't even sure how it had happened. He stood from the bed and grabbed his shoes from the floor, walking toward the door. "Maybe we can talk later," he suggested. "When I get off work?"

"We don't have anything to talk about," she insisted. "We just need to go back to our normal lives and forget about all of this."

"I don't think I can," he said honestly. "I love you."

She didn't say anything as he walked out the door. She heard him walk down the hall and listened for the clicks as he unlocked the front door. When she heard the door close, she climbed out of bed and made her way slowly to the living room to lock up. She leaned against the door, sobbing. "I love you too," she whispered, knowing he couldn't hear her. They had both been through so much…had faced so much pain…and now they'd hurt each other. She wiped the tears from her eyes and walked back to her room. Why was life always so unfair?

More coming soon...