Elliot pushed open the door, balancing the overstuffed bag in hand hands. "Liv.." he called and he laughed when she walked out of the kitchen, a jar of pickles in her hand, munching on one of them. "Why are you eating those? I went to get your tacos."

"I was too hungry to wait anymore," she crunched down on the last bite of her pickle and sat the jar on the coffee table. He sat the bag on the table and she immediately began digging through it, finding the aluminum tin with her tacos and the small Styrofoam cup of salsa, pouring it on top. "Oh my gosh…these are so good," she moaned with delight as she crunched on the taco and then grabbed another pickle from the jar and dipped it in the salsa, taking a bite.

Elliot looked at her and shook his head, "Really? Tacos and pickles? Liv…"

"What?" she asked as she took another bite. "I'm hungry…"

He laughed, "When Kathy was pregnant with Eli she made me run out and get her tacos and peanut butter once," he remembered.

"Well, that's disgusting," she shot him a look that reminded him she wasn't in the mood to discuss his ex-wife's pregnancy cravings. He opened up his own container of food, and grabbed a plastic fork from the bag, taking a bite. "What'd you get?" she asked, leaning over to look in his container.

"Some burrito thing," he took another bite. "It's not bad."

"Does that have guacamole on it?" she asked and he nodded. "Can I taste it?"

"You did not ask me for guacamole," he reminded her teasingly.

"Well fine," she snickered. "Don't bother…I'll just go back to my tacos." She took another bite, but kept her eyes on his burrito.

"I'm just teasing," he cut the burrito, stabbing a chunk of it with his fork and dipping it in the guacamole, lifting it her.

She took the bite and smiled, "Thanks," she grabbed her pickle and reached over, scooping the guacamole up from his container with the pickle and putting it in her mouth while he looked on with disgust.

"You know," he put down his food and watched her eat. "That place is called Pablo's and it was ten blocks down and four blocks over. It took me forever to find it."

"Pablo's…that's right," she shook her head. "I'm sorry…I can't remember anything lately. I'm glad you found it though." She put her hand to her mouth and burped loudly, completely embarrassed by the randomness of it. "I'm sorry," she sighed, suddenly feeling uncomfortable and putting down her nearly-empty food container. "I don't know where that came from…"

He put his hand softly on her stomach, "I think it was the jalapeños, guacamole, and pickles, hon. Not a great combination."

She exhaled slowly, "Maybe…I don't feel so good…"

"Are you going to get sick?" he asked, sorry that she was feeling so miserable when she had been so happy just moments before.

She shook her head and burped again, "I'm okay," she sighed. "I think it was just the spices…" He reached into the bag, pulling out a plastic container of TUMs and handing them to her. "What is this?" she asked. "They sell antacids at the restaurant now?"

"No…but they do at the pharmacy next door to the restaurant," he teased. "And whether you want to admit it or not, I do know a little something about pregnancy. The baby may want tacos and salsa with jalapeños and pickles, Liv…but that doesn't mean your body is gonna cooperate." She opened the container, putting a couple of the antacids in her mouth. He rubbed his hand gently on her stomach, "You'll feel better in a little bit," he promised.

"El…I'm sorry…" she looked sadly at him.

"For what?" he put his arm around her and she leaned into him.

"For biting your head off every time you mention Kathy," she admitted. "I know you've done this before. You know more about it than I do…but I just don't want to feel like everything I say and do and feel is old hat to you…"

"It's not," he squeezed her close and kissed her on the cheek. "This is brand new…I told you before…I've never done any of this with you before, and that makes it special."

"Sometimes I think you're comparing me to her," she admitted. "Like you look at me and think 'Kathy wouldn't have gained so much weight so fast' or 'Kathy could balance four kids and being pregnant and Olivia can't even stay awake past 8:00 every night.' I don't want to feel like I'm failing at being pregnant…"

"That's ridiculous," he assured her. "Liv, you are doing amazing with all of this. Trust me…I am not comparing you to Kathy or anybody else. You're having a harder time that a lot of pregnant women, and you're a trooper. I'm in awe of you…and I just want to help make this easier for you."

"Thanks," she sighed.

"Besides…" he glanced at his watch. "It's way past 8:00…it's 9:15…"

She laughed, "That must be why I'm so tired," she sighed. "I missed my bedtime."

"Why don't you go to bed," he suggested. "I can clean up out here…"

"You always have to clean up," she said. "I should do it."

"No…you should let me do it so you and our daughter can get some rest," he smiled. "It's okay, Liv. I want to clean up. It makes me feel like I'm doing my part. You're taking care of the baby and I want to take care of you."

"El…I wanted to talk tonight, but I'm too tired," she said with a tired yawn. "If I drive to Queens tomorrow can we go to lunch?"

"Why don't I drive here and we can go to lunch," he suggested. "I can get away from work easily and I can pick you up." He squeezed her hand. "Do you want to talk about what the social worker said?"

She nodded, "We need to, El."

"I know," he agreed. Then he kissed her softly and ran his hand over her stomach one more time, "We'll talk at lunch tomorrow…now you and the baby need to go to bed."

Olivia couldn't get comfortable enough to fall asleep. Her stomach hurt and she had heartburn that was making her miserable. She was exhausted, and she was mentally kicking herself for gorging on tacos so close to bed. She closed her eyes when Elliot came in the room a while later, not wanting to let him know she was still awake and feeling so rotten after he'd gone out of his way to help her. He climbed in bed next to her and put his arms around her, "Why are you still awake?" he whispered knowingly and kissed her on the cheek.

She turned and looked at him, "I can't sleep," she admitted. "I feel awful. Please don't ever let me eat tacos again…"

He smiled and put his hand on her stomach, "I'm not really in any position to argue with a pregnant woman about food," he teased. He sat up, getting out of bed.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"I'm going to the kitchen to make you some warm milk," he yawned, suddenly exhausted himself. "We'll try that…see if it helps."

"You don't have to," she said. "You're tired too."

"I'm not getting any sleep until you get some sleep," he sighed. "It's okay…I told you…you take care of our little girl and I'll take care of you." He walked out of the room and she couldn't help but wonder how their conversation would go at lunch the next day. More than anything, she wanted him to say he loved her and Noah and the baby…to beg her to let him adopt Noah and marry her and be a family. But she cautioned herself on wishing for something that didn't seem logical. Things were moving too fast, and she knew the baby was the reason for it. Elliot loved the baby, but that didn't mean she could ask him to commit to changing his whole life. She closed her eyes, waiting for him to return with her milk and tried not to think too much about anything. Tomorrow would come soon enough, and she needed one more night to just hope for the life she'd always dreamed of.