One last chapter before the weekend, written at work partially ... (shhh)! Shoutout to my most faithful reviewers of this story, Peedy, Faith Ann Tucker, greenbasketball, poetif, The Congressman, Roanie123, Cinderella1268, lizzard9, TV Angel 711, Jammie123 and Kattella07. Thank you for your support and feedback! At poetif, the next chapter will be longer, I promise. You'll understand why when you get to the end of this one ... Dun dun.

...

17. Comfortable

Olivia was afraid to ask if Elliot was possibly remembering their former Captain after all. He seemed to be deep in thought and Olivia checked her watch. She would need to get going soon to pick up Noah from day care. Just when she thought they were going to drop the subject, Elliot said pensively,

"When he called me Stabler just now, I could swear I'd heard that before. That voice ..."

Olivia stepped closer to the man in the hospital bed. She breathed out slowly through pursed lips. Could this really be? Could he actually remember his former boss and not his own wife and children? Elliot looked up at her.

"Everyone just calls me Elliot ... or El," he added with a half smile. "Or dad, or Mr. Stabler. But the way he just called me Stabler, like he was giving me an order ..."

"Well, he used to do that a lot," Olivia remarked, still unsure if she should just let Elliot figure it out or if she should help him in some way to remember, although she had no idea how to do that.

Elliot just nodded and when he remained silent, she decided to announce that she would be leaving for the day soon.

"Will you be back tomorrow?" Elliot asked her with hope in his voice, and his vulnerability was disarming.

Olivia wanted to say yes, but she would need to talk to her Sergeant first. And to his father, Chief Dodds, to discuss the possibility of taking some personal time off.

"I have to go to the station first tomorrow," she told Elliot.

"But you'll drop by afterwards?"

Olivia put her hand on his upper arm and rubbed it gently. It was becoming easier to touch him without being hit by a bout of nerves, and when he smiled at her warmly, she felt the desire to touch more of him. But she reigned herself in and just squeezed his impressive bicep. He had definitely stayed in shape.

"I'll be here tomorrow. Can't tell you what time yet, but I'll be back. And then you can tell me all about Kathleen's visit."

Elliot looked down at his hands in his lap and nodded.

"Yeah. I need to talk to her. Ask her why they never told you or the others at the NYPD about my memory loss. I don't get that."

"Neither do I," Olivia admitted softly, and the sadness in her voice made Elliot look up at her again.

He moved his left arm and put it around her waist tentatively, nudging her a little closer to him.

"I can't tell you enough how sorry I am about that Liv. I mean ... I guess I was a jerk too, to leave you hanging for a couple of months but ..."

Olivia shook her head, not wanting him to beat himself up about that. It was in the past. But Elliot continued despite her non-vocal objection, and she made an effort to concentrate on his words and not on the feeling of his hand on her hip or his thumb rubbing her hipbone gently.

"No, let me finish please. I have no doubt that I wasn't always the nicest person. Kathy let that slip on several occasions when we argued during the year I lived with them. But still, this shouldn't have gone on for four years. It's not fair. To anyone. And I will confront Kathy about that, trust me."

Olivia wanted to ask him if and when he was going to call Kathy, but she decided against it. It wasn't any of her business. Perhaps it was wise to use Kathleen as a buffer between the former spouses. And between her and Kathy too. She didn't know what she'd do or say if she were suddenly confronted with the blonde. Shaking off the uneasiness she felt whenever she thought of Kathy, Olivia told Elliot to just rest now, and not worry too much. He had a lot of healing to do, after all.

"I'll be fine here Liv, they're taking good care of me," Elliot said smiling, and Olivia found herself having difficulty moving out of his arm.

She was beginning to feel more and more comfortable with him and his open display of affection and wondered if he would be surprised if she kissed him on the cheek before leaving. Their eyes remained locked for several long seconds and they were both equally hesitant to say goodbye. Olivia was the first to break eye contact when she put a hand on his chest. She looked at her hand while she told him softly,

"I'm glad you're going to be okay."

"And I'm still glad you crashed into me," he answered immediately, and her eyes flicked back up to his.

His cocky grin made her heart flutter and her stomach clench. He still knew annoyingly well how to push her buttons. But in stead of brushing off the moment or feigning annoyance, like she used to do in the past when they got too close, she just acknowledged softly,

"Me too."

...

Noah was tired after a long day but still managed to wear his mother out before he was finally ready to admit that he might actually need some sleep. They had played with Noah's wooden dinosaur jigsaw puzzles for a while before Olivia started dinner, and she was pleased that Noah was eating so well lately. When she stood up to get them both some dessert, she listened to his quiet babbling about his friends in day care and his favorite stuffed animal, which was a dinosaur of course. She was surprised to hear him talk about Ewwie as well and when she sat back down at the table, she asked her son,

"Do you remember Elliot in the hospital, Noah?"

Noah nodded, picking up his spoon and tapping it on the table.

"Ewwie Ot ouch," Noah said, frowning. "Ewwie Ot better soon? Noah want to pway with Ewwie."

He looked at his mother hopefully and she smiled at her little boy. He wanted to play with Elliot?

"You like Elliot?"

Noah nodded again.

"Ewwie is Noah big friend."

Olivia's smile widened. Noah was the most important man in her life and him calling Elliot his big friend made her heart soar. She pushed away the fear that was immediately starting to gnaw at her new-found joy of having Elliot back in her life. Elliot was making it very clear that he wanted her to be a part of his life and he had taken to Noah right away and vice versa. There was no reason not to be happy about that and she shouldn't let her fear that happiness would never last for her, keep her from enjoying these moments.

"Well Noah, maybe we can bring one of your dinosaur puzzles to the hospital some time, and you can play with Elliot."

Noah clapped in his hands excitedly and Olivia made a mental note to ask Elliot if it was okay to bring Noah again. She had kind of promised her son already, but somehow she knew it would be okay. She let her mind wander a bit when Noah started eating his dessert. She liked the way things were between her and Elliot like this. She still hoped he would start to remember more, but she could get used to things not being so complicated for a change.

After Noah had finally nodded off in his bed, Olivia took a shower and changed into her favorite sweats. She had just gotten comfortable on the couch with a glass of wine and one of her new books, when the sound of her buzzer filled the apartment. She checked the time. It was almost 10 pm. Who could be dropping by at this hour? She hoisted herself up from the couch and walked to the intercom.

"Who is it?" she asked, hoping to sound stern and confident.

She still got nervous sometimes when she was alone in her apartment, remembering that one night in May when it turned out that she wasn't alone at all. The voice that answered her was one she hadn't expected.

"Olivia? It's Kathleen Stabler. Can I come up?"

...

Dun dun. Or rather, it's about time? More soon.