Unfortunately, I've hit some serious writers block on this story and it's supposed to be almost finished! I hope this chapter won't disappoint. I'm crawling towards the finish line.

Also, I'd like to recommend Stargitay's latest story to you all! It's called "Change" and I'm sure you'll love it.

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69. Richard

Olivia could tell that Elliot was a little nervous. He hadn't seen Richard in a while and things had been strained between them. He felt like Richard actually blamed him for not remembering his family, as if they weren't important enough for him to remember. Olivia was nervous herself. How would the young man feel once he'd realize that apparently, she had been important enough to remember? He'd been a little hostile towards her in the past, and Kathleen had told her that her brother had never been Olivia's biggest fan. He'd felt like his father was choosing her over his mother whenever the job got in the way of their family life.

Elliot was dressed in clean sweats and sitting comfortably on the couch an hour before the twins would arrive. He tried to give his attention to Noah, but Olivia could tell he was distracted. The sound of his phone ringing startled him and Olivia suppressed a smile. When he picked it up and checked who was calling, he looked at her.

"It's Kathleen."

He answered the call then, and from his end of the conversation, Olivia deduced that Kathleen and Terrence wanted to come over. Elliot looked at her and she nodded. She had a few extra chairs in storage down in the basement of her building. She didn't host big parties often but she wanted Elliot to be surrounded by his family and was glad that her apartment was big enough. She would need to keep an eye on Noah though, because he wasn't used to having so many people over. She'd just hauled two chairs up to her apartment when Elliot's phone rang again. This time it was Maureen. After a short exchange between father and daughter, Elliot held his hand over his phone to tell her,

"Maureen and Steve arrived in the city last night and they want to come over as well. Liz told her Richard was coming and now they wanna come too."

Elliot seemed a little overwhelmed himself and she asked him if he was up for so many visitors. They were expecting the twins and Jessie at three and Elliot told her he'd asked Kathleen to come around four.

"Put Maureen and Steve at four too then," Olivia said softly.

Elliot nodded. They wanted to talk to Richard first. He gave Maureen the message as well as Olivia's address and then looked up at her again.

"You wanna bring Eli?" he asked his daughter, and Olivia grinned.

She needed more chairs. All of his kids were coming, plus several significant others. It was going to be a full house.

...

At 3.02 the buzzer announced the arrival of their first visitors. He and Olivia had done their best to explain to Noah that they were having people over, and that they were all Elliot's family, but he wasn't sure he understood. The boy was sitting on the couch next to Elliot, looking at the door expectantly as Olivia walked over to open it. Elliot was nervous. He wasn't really worried about how Richard would act around him or Olivia, but he knew he'd gotten his hopes up of remembering his son, now that he remembered Elizabeth in a way. He'd gotten used to not remembering over time, but the past two weeks had been such a rollercoaster for him, with all of these memories finally returning, that he just needed more.

"There they are," he said softly to Noah when he saw the small group of three enter the apartment, Elizabeth and Jessie first, followed by Richard.

The girls greeted Olivia at the door with a warm hug and he saw Olivia's eyes light up, and then dim a little again when she turned to greet Richard. Richard seemed tense as well, and when he extended his hand, it looked very formal.

"Richard, welcome. It's been a long time," Olivia said kindly while shaking his hand.

Richard nodded.

"It has. How have you been, Olivia?"

"I'm fine, thanks. Which is more than I can say for your father."

She gestured at Elliot, who admired her for deflecting the attention away from herself so quickly. The small group moved closer to the couch and after smiling at Elliot, Jessie immediately sat down on her knees in front of Noah.

"Hey little man, what's your name?" she asked him. "I'm Jessie."

"I Noah," Noah said softly, putting his little hand on Elliot's thigh.

It made his heart soar. Olivia's son felt safe with him.

"Hi Noah. Is it okay that we're here to visit Elliot?" Jessie asked him, and Elizabeth glowed with pride, seeing her girlfriend interact with the youngest member of the group.

Noah looked up at Elliot, who nodded at him.

"Okay," he told Jessie then.

"Thank you so much, Noah. This is my friend Liz."

Jessie stood up and Elizabeth said 'hi' to Noah.

"Hi!" Noah said with a small smile, apparently beginning to feel a little bolder.

"And this is my brother Richard," Elizabeth said, gesturing at her brother, who until now had stayed behind a little.

Elizabeth moved aside to kiss her father on the cheek, giving Richard some room to greet Noah.

"Hey buddy," Richard said, and Elliot could tell that the young man wasn't at ease yet.

"I Noah," Noah repeated and Elliot chuckled. The two-year old must be thinking Richard thought his name was buddy.

"I'm sorry sir," Richard said immediately, and Elliot could see a twinkle in his eyes. "Hello Noah, it's nice to meet you."

Richard leaned down and held up his hand. Noah giggled and put his hand against Richard's.

"Havaav," he said, and Richard smiled.

"High five," he answered, and Noah nodded happily.

The young man then looked at his father and Elliot looked up at him.

"Dad," Richard said. "How are you doing?"

"I'm getting there," he answered his son, feeling slightly disappointed that he didn't feel that spark of familiarity he'd hoped for. "Olivia is taking good care of me," he added.

He saw the look in his son's eyes change.

"Yeah, Liz told me. She's been good to her and Jessie too," Richard stated flatly, stuffing his hands in his pant pockets.

The girls had already found a place to sit and Olivia had retreated into the kitchen to check on their coffee. Elliot looked at his son more attentively.

"Does that bother you, Richard?" he asked him directly, skipping all the small talk about Richard's job completely for the moment. He wanted to get this out of the way as quickly as possible, probably more for Olivia's sake than his own.

Richard finally sat down on the couch, leaving some room between himself and Noah. He stayed sitting upright, his hands folded in his lap. He looked around the room and made eye contact with Olivia, who was just walking back to the living area with their coffee. Elliot watched his son as he watched his former partner. He saw Richard's eyes move to Noah, to his twin sister and her girlfriend, back to Olivia and finally to his father.

"It's no secret that it used to bother me that you spent more time with Olivia than with us," Richard replied honestly.

From the corner of his eye, Elliot saw Olivia sit down on one of the extra chairs. He could feel the tension between the two people and he automatically put a hand to his forehead. Noah had decided that he'd sat still long enough and hopped off the couch. He walked up to Jessie, who had apparently struck the right cord with him and asked her innocently,

"Pway wit Noah dino?"

All the adults in the room were temporarily distracted, and when Noah tried to get Jessie to come with him to his room, Olivia nodded and smiled. Jessie and Noah left the room to play in Noah's room but Elizabeth stayed, clearly interested in the conversation between her twin and their father. Olivia scooted her chair a little closer to Elliot, who was still rubbing his forehead.

"Headache?" she asked him softly. He knew she was tense as well but she was still looking out for him.

Elliot nodded. He lowered his hand and looked at his son again. He had a feeling that there was more to Richard's remark. He didn't feel like defending himself. He'd no doubt done that countless times, trying to convince his family that it was the job, not his partner, that kept him away from home.

"And now?" he asked the younger man simply.

Richard seemed surprised at his direct line of questioning and hesitant to answer the question.

"It seems your father has shed some of his filters over the past few weeks," Olivia chimed in. "And I have to say it's ehm, ... liberating."

That actually elicited a small smile from Richard.

"I can imagine. We Stablers usually bottle everything up."

"No need son," Elliot said encouragingly. "It's important to me to get along with all my children, and Olivia has become a part of my life again. If there's something you need to get off your chest to maybe clear the air, now is as good a time as any to do it."

Richard glanced at Olivia again, and they smiled faintly at each other.

"See," Olivia said, her smile widening a bit. "He's impossibly direct some times."

"So he's finally come clean about being in love with you?"

Richard almost seemed shocked himself at his own blunt question, but he didn't look away. Elliot somehow recognized the stubborn pride in the younger man's eyes. He looked ... just like him.

"Subtle Dick, very subtle," Elizabeth muttered, earning an angry glare from her twin brother.

Elliot looked from Richard to his sister and back. His head was killing him but around him, the conversation continued.

"Actually, he has," Olivia answered Richard.

"Yeah, and even mom accepts it now, so you'd better accept it too," Elizabeth added. "They've been divorced for like three years. It's not Olivia's fault this time."

Olivia raised an eyebrow and Elliot knew it was because Elizabeth had said 'this time'. Was that for Richard's benefit or did she really still feel like things had gone sour between him and Kathy in the past because of his partner?

"You did prefer spending time with her all those years, didn't you?" Richard suddenly asked his father, as if the mention of his mother reminded him of why he'd never liked his father's work partner.

Elliot closed his eyes, partly because of his headache and partly because he wasn't sure how he should answer his son's question. He was relieved when Olivia chipped in once more.

"Your father always tried to be there for you guys, Richard. Whenever he couldn't, it was because of the cases we worked on. Nothing inappropriate ever happened between us and I've always supported your parents' marriage."

"I appreciate that, Olivia," Richard replied formally, "but that wasn't an answer to my question."

"Dickie!" Elizabeth hissed, but her brother ignored her.

"I remember ... having feelings for Olivia," Elliot said, trying very hard to get the words out despite his headache. "But I fought for my marriage. Duty and responsibility always came first for me. On the job and at home."

Duty and responsibility were words that resonated with the young Marine. Elliot watched his son digest his words and as he looked at the younger version of himself, he suddenly remembered holding him. Very tight. Were they crying?

You can hate me all you want.

You're my son.

You're my son.

Those words echoed in his mind and Elliot took a deep breath. Olivia put her hand on his knee, sensing that something was happening. Then Elliot repeated out loud the words that kept repeating in his head.

"You're my son."

...

Dun dun ...
Finally, another chapter done. I hope I'm capturing Richard's character correctly here. Let me know? More soon, I hope!
Don't forget to check out "Change" by Stargitay.