Elliot made his way to the small bathroom that came with his cheap motel room. He stared at himself in the dingy mirror and swiped his hand over his face. The room was old and something he would deem as live-able, but it was what he was offered. The wallpaper was stained with grime, the mattress hard from age, and the room musty from the room that had see more action that anyone could ever imagine.
He dropped his towel and let the cool water wash over him. He was going for a hot shower, but apparently it wasn't in the cards for him. Instead he bit his tongue and rushed the moment. An ice bath wasn't as enjoyable. Once he finished washing his body he exited the shower that was almost to small for him and went back over to the sink. He grabbed his shaving cream and applied it to his face in order to clean himself up.
It was the day Olivia was going to help him tell his four oldest children that he wasn't dead. That the grave they had brought flowers to for almost five years was empty. He felt the tension in his body. He wasn't quite sure how his children were going to react. He had already contacted Kathy about the matter in order to inform her. The last thing he wanted to do was blindside her. She promised to keep it to herself until he and Liv told everyone the news.
Once Elliot was satisfied with his shave job he went back out to the open space and got dressed. He didn't put on anything fancy. Just a nice pair of blue jeans, a white shirt, and a black jacket. It was nice enough. He took in a deep breath and let himself take in the moment. It had been almost five days since Olivia had found out that he was alive. A large portion of his time had been spent with her and their daughter.
Eleanore. Just her name brought a smile to his face.
He couldn't believe the four year old was real. She was everything he pictured having a child with Olivia would be. Luckily the tot was blessed with her mother's features and not his. Especially when it came to the ears. He smiled at the memory of their first meeting. The way her tiny arms wrapped around him so tightly that he wasn't sure she was ever going to let go. A part of him didn't want her to.
A big part of Elliot wasn't sure his four oldest were going to be as forgiving as his wife and their daughter. Especially when it came to Dickie and Elizabeth. There were a lot of major points in their lives he had to miss out on because he was 'dead'. He couldn't be there to help his twins learn how to drive. It was all placed on Kathy's shoulders. He wasn't there to teach Dickie how to shave. He wasn't there for Elizabeth's first date. He could have intimidated the boy coming to meet her at their door. Scared him into treating her right.
Elliot was brought out of his thoughts by his phones outburst. He picked up the small device and answered when he saw the name on the screen.
"Hey, how are you feeling about today?" Olivia asked.
"Nervous. They have every right to hate me," he sighed.
"They aren't going to hate you. They may be shocked at first, any they may need some space to wrap their heads around it, but they aren't going to hate you." Although she couldn't see him through the phone he nodded. "Do you want me to pick you up? Eleanore is with Lucy." Olivia added a bit of a suggestive tone to her ending phrase. He looked around his room and decided against it. He didn't want her to see where he was living. It was the best the NYPD was able to do and it wasn't in the most friendly of neighborhoods.
"Nah, I'll catch a cab to your place."
"Yeah, your right," he could hear her voice falter and he wanted to kick himself. He wanted nothing more than to wrap her up in his arms and keep her there, but he wanted to do things the right way.
Plus a part of him knew that if she saw the crappy motel room she would dump her timeline and just have him move in. She would push away her fears and pretend like everything was okay out of guilt. He refused to do that to her.
"Liv, all of this is temporary."
"I know," she whispered. "I'm leaving the grocery store now. I'm going to go home and start dinner. The kids are coming around six," she informed him. She sounded distant and he wanted to kick himself, but instead he decided to remind himself that this was for her. Olivia had the habit of putting everyone else before herself and he wasn't going to let her do that for him. He had caused a lot of damage by being away and he wasn't going to cause more because his life wasn't where it needed to be once he got back.
"Hey, Luce. Thanks for watching Eleanore while I ran those errands," Olivia stated as she walked into the apartment with groceries in hand. She walked into the kitchen and sat the bags down on the counter. She hadn't planned on anything fancy. It was just going to be lasagne, garlic bread, and salad. It was Eleanore's and Elliots favorite dishes. Though the four year old wouldn't touch the greens Olivia used as a side.
"Not a problem. Do you need help with anything before I go?" Lucy questioned. Olivia shook her head with a smile.
"No, but thank you for the offer." Olivia heard the door click and decided to check to see where Eleanore was. She smiled at the four year old sitting at the coffee table coloring. It was her favorite past time. Though if she created any more art there wasn't going to be room left on the fridge.
"Hey, bug." Olivia stated as she bent down beside her mini. She pulled her into a hug and held on to her for a moment. Her daughter was her center. The one thing that made life worth it. All the ups and the downs included.
"Hi, mommy. I'm drawing Elliot a picture," Olivia nodded. Both she and Elliot had picked up on her use of his first name. Olivia went to correct her, that Elliot was her dad, but he stopped her. Her heart broke for him, but he informed her that when Eleanore was ready she would call him dad.
"Mommy, is going to be in the kitchen making dinner okay?" Eleanore nodded and then turned her attention back to her picture. Olivia placed a kiss on her cheek before making her way to the compact area. Olivia sighed as she sorted out everything she got. She bought enough stuff to make two lasagna's. Elliot and Dickie were both pretty big eaters so she wasn't sure how much she was going to need.
Olivia set a pot of water onto the stove in order to let it boil. She pre heated the oven and already had the sausage and ground beef cooking in a seperate pan.
"Mmm, something smells good in her." She turned around to see Elliot entering the kitchen.
"Eleanore let me in," Olivia was about to go reprimand their daughter but her stopped her. "I already talked to her. I hope that is okay," he hesitated.
"Elliot, you are her father. It's okay." She looked around the make sure Eleanore hadn't made her way into the kitchen before wrapping her arms loosely around his neck and then placing a gentle kiss on his lips. Olivia smiled once she felt him try to deepen it.
"Oh, how I've missed kissing you."
"Just kissing?" She laughed against his lips. Olivia felt him tug her body closer to his. He pulled their lips apart and then leaned his forehead against hers.
"No, not just the kissing. Or the sex. Although, I did miss both of those a lot," he joked. She threw her head back as she let the lightness of the moment take over. Once she placed her forehead back against his he continued. "Most of all I missed you. I missed your smell, your voice, your laugh." He watched as a tear slid down her cheek and he used the pad of his thumb to wipe it away.
"You keep saying you can't imagine how hard it must have been for me and Eleanore, but I also can't imagine how hard it must have been for you," she whispered. He swallowed hard and then let his head drop to the nook between her shoulder and her neck. He wrapped his arms in a tighter embrace and just took in her scent for a moment. "Elliot, as much as I want to continue holding you like this, I need to get dinner done."
He pulled away and watched as she poured the lasagne noodles in the boiling water and worked on stirring the ground meat in the pan.
"I'm going to go sit with Eleanore for a little bit. She wanted to show me all the pictures she drew for me. I told her I would be a minute," he winked.
"That was longer than a minute." Olivia heard their daughter say and she couldn't help but smile. The small brunette couldn't tell time yet, but she was very impatient. Even if it was 25 seconds in to the time she would still say it took to long.
It was around 5:45 when the first knock came to the door. Eleanore stayed seated and waited for her mother to grab it. Olivia wasn't sure if it was because of what Elliot said or if it was because she was so invested in her T.V. show. Olivia and Elliot had decided to wait until everyone was here to inform them that Elliot was alive.
"Kathleen," Eleanore cheered as the familiar blonde walked through the door.
"Hey, Nelly." Kathleen stated as she opened her arms and enveloped her little sister into a hug. She tickled her and smiled when she heard the young girls small giggle escape.
"How are you doing Kathleen?" Olivia asked as she watched the blonde with Eleanore. Once Kathleen broke apart from her youngest sibling she turned to Olivia and gave her a tight squeeze.
"I'm good. I've just been working on my internship. I start Law school in the fall." Olivia shook her head.
"I still can't believe you want to be a lawyer." Olivia laughed out. Kathleen shook her head.
"I question myself everyday, but I'm in it. I passed the LSAT with flying colors. Though it kicked my ass in the process." Kathleen peered down at her sister and gave an awkward smile. "I mean butt." Olivia shook her head and brought her into the living room.
"We are having lasagne. I figured that was something everyone would like."
"Am I the first one here?" Kathleen asked.
"Yeah, Maureen said she would be here a little late. The twins should be here any second though."
"I'm here, I'm not late," Maureen exclaimed as she let herself in. "The twins are right behind me," she smiled as Olivia gave her a hug which was soon followed by Eleanore and then Kathleen.
"We're here too," Elizabeth stated. The two teenagers walked in and Olivia gave them each their own individual hug.
"So what are we all gathered here for?" Dickie questioned. Though his thoughts were lost once he got a whiff of the food.
"I will let you guys know in a second. I have the table set up, why don't you each go take a seat. They all nodded before making their way to the table that took up most of the dining space.
"Olivia, this smells delicious," Maureen stated.
"Lasagne was dads favorite," Kathleen followed. She sighed as she grabbed a piece and put it on her plate.
"Olivia, there is a plate at dads spot. Are you expecting someone else?" Lizzie questioned. It was then that all of their eyes turned to her.
"Have you moved on from dad? Is that what this is about?" Kathleen had tears in her eyes as she stared at her step-mom.
"I need all of you to take a deep breath because whatever you are thinking is wrong. Your dad will always be it for me."
"Then why is there a plate there?" Dickie asked. He was beginning to put his guard up. Elliot's only son was a lot like him. He had the same temperament along with the same walls.
"It's because I'm not dead," Elliot stated as he walked through the entryway. Everyone stared at him for a moment. The silence was deafening.
"D-Dad, i-is that y-you?"