Olivia felt like falling over by the time she made it through her front door. She glanced at her watch. 11:45 pm. She dropped her stuff by the door, not even bothering to put anything away. At this point she would be lucky to brush her teeth without falling over.
She missed time with Noah and Elliot tonight, and she felt incredibly frustrated. She noticed the TV had been left on and she assumed Elliot fell asleep on her couch.
She came around to the front of her couch and her hand pressed over her fluttering heart.
Elliot laid reclined on the couch's reclining end, with a zonked out Noah using a throw pillow and Elliot's thigh as a pillow. One of Elliot's hands rested protectively on her son's head. The scene was a perfect picture of everything she hoped her life could be. It was perfection.
Her heart felt like it would explode, and as much as she wanted to live in this moment, she needed to get her boys to bed. She started with Noah.
"Hey, baby," she lightly shook his shoulder.
"Ugh, mommmm." He complained.
"Sorry sweetheart, but let's go to bed."
He let out an exaggerated sigh before swinging his legs off the edge of the couch. She kept a hand on his because she was fairly certain he'd walk into a wall on his own. He was a complete zombie.
She got him tucked quickly and he fell asleep without another word. She wandered back towards the couch where Elliot still slept.
He had shifted in the few moments she had been gone and his muscled arm now sat perched above his head and the other laid across his chest.
She quietly toed over to the edge of the couch. She was exhausted, but she couldn't help herself when she gently climbed over him and kissed him slowly.
His arms crept around her and rested on her back. He returned the kiss, mimicking the slow cadence of her lips against his.
"Mmm," he mumbled against her lips. He kept his eyes closed.. "I have had dreams that started like this."
"Yeah?" She ran her tongue across his bottom lip and smiled when she heard his breathing quicken in response. "And how did they end," she whispered seductively.
His hand gripped her waist and he rolled her beneath him. The sudden movement left her breathless. His mouth was on hers and their tongues found each other with purpose.
He pulled back and an unexpected whimper escaped her lips. She pulled him back into her, only releasing his lips when she desperately needed to breathe. His calloused hands snuck beneath her shirt and slid up her back. "I think you know exactly how they end," his whisper burned hot against her lips. That fire in her belly burned hot and she fisted his shirt, yanking his body roughly against hers.
His hands pushed into the skin on her shoulder blades and his chest pressed deeply into hers. She grinned as a pleasured groan escaped his lips before his lips roamed her neck. He pulled back and her body chased the movement. His hands swiftly grasped the hem of her shirt, tossing it aimlessly on the floor behind the couch. His mouth explored her lower abdomen and her breathing was loud and erratic. When his fingers started to work open the button of her slacks she came to a realization. She definitely wasn't tired anymore.
-000-
Olivia groaned when the rising sun streamed through her blinds. She awoke on her back with Elliot's arm draped over her belly, and his face nuzzled into her neck, his hot breath made her shiver.
She wasn't sure when they made it to bed, but she vaguely remembered tossing his t-shirt over her naked body before dragging his groggy ass to her bed.
Just then his phone started ringing… in the living room. "Damn it." She flipped the comforter off herself and hurried over to the couch. Elliot was dead to the world and stark naked so it was up to her to silence the damn thing before Noah came investigating. She made it to the couch but she couldn't find the stupid thing. She finally found it in the space between the arm of the couch and the cushion. Once she silenced Elliot's phone, she let out a sigh of relief, that is until a set of bright blue eyes and a head of bouncing curls stood at the back of the couch.
His eyes looked her over, and she had no idea what he was thinking. Here his mother was, on her knees digging in the couch cushions with no pants while wearing the t-shirt of the man who babysat him yesterday. The only good thing about this was that the shirt kept her covered. Barely. "Oh hey baby."
He eyed her skeptically, "What are you doing?"
Innocent enough question, however the answer wasn't exactly innocent. She had literally no excuses for this, and she just realized half her clothes were still piled on the floor right next to Noah's feet.
"Ummmm," there were no words. She went to deflection. "Honey, why don't you take a shower. I need to talk to you about something, and I thought we could go to breakfast."
"O-Kay?" He looked genuinely confused, but complied.
Once he shuffled around the corner and down the hall she dropped her head onto the couch back and let out a long slow breath. The situation could have been a lot worse. She needed to talk to him because she and Elliot were obviously not going to be discreet.
She gripped his phone and rushed back to her room. Damn him! How is he still sleeping!? She resisted the urge to chuck his phone at him, figuring kissing him would be more fun.
She dropped a quick kiss on his lips and her heart swelled at the perfectly content smile that lit his face.
"Hey," he greeted sleepily.
"Hey," she smiled in return. She snuggled into his bare chest. "Well, my son just saw me digging through the couch in nothing but your t-shirt."
They got him awake. He pulled away from her quickly. "What?"
"Oh you know. Your phone was ringing in the living room, and I couldn't find the damn thing. By the time I found it, Noah was standing over me by the couch."
"Oh God," he kissed her head and muttered, "I'm sorry Liv. I was so tired when we went to bed I must have left it behind."
She kissed his lips. "It's embarrassing but not a huge deal. I was planning on talking to him anyway."
"Yeah?" His grin was adorable. She couldn't help pushing on his shoulders, rolling him onto his back so she could kiss him deeply.
"Yes." She affirmed, "but I need you to get the hell out of here before he gets out of the shower." She chuckled, "he will have questions and I want to at least make it to breakfast before answering them."
He kissed her again. "Okay," she rolled off of him, and he sat up. He looked around the room, and back at her. "Where are my pants?"
She groaned. They were probably somewhere near the pile of clothes she left by the couch. "I'll get them." She rushed back out to the living room, grabbing his pants, and hurried back.
She tossed him his pants, and after he pulled them on his eyes danced with mischief.
"What?" She asked suspiciously.
"I need my shirt back."
"Oh do you now?" She teased, but she turned away from him so she could face her dresser. She lifted his shirt over her head, tossing it behind her before digging through her drawers for something quick to throw on. She managed to get her panties on before she felt his hands on her hips.
His mouth was at her ear. "You are so incredibly beautiful."
She lifted her hand to his cheek to give him a quick hug in response. God, she loved him.
She turned her face and dropped a kiss to his lips. "You gotta get out of here."
"Okay okay," he laughed before heading out the door.
-000-
Noah scarfed his bacon and eggs. He seemed unaffected by the weird encounter of the morning. After she finally had some coffee in her system she felt up to starting this conversation.
"Noah," she began, "you know Elliot…"
He rolled his eyes, "Duh Mom, he was literally at our house last night
She was killin' it with this conversation. "Sorry," she felt a little flustered, but he saved her.
"You're dating now? Right?" He was so matter-of-fact it was startling.
"Yessss…" her mind tried to catch up. This wasn't exactly how she expected this to go.
"Cool." He took a piece of bacon from her plate. "I like him," he said like he was telling her his favorite color. Then he gave her a grin, "And I know he likes you."
Crap. This conversation was taking weird turns. "Oh? Why do you think that?" She kept her voice casual.
"It's so obvious. He smiles all the time when he's texting you. I dunno." He shrugged.
"You okay with all this." She tried to keep her voice casual, but she was a little nervous about his response.
"Yeah. He's cool, and as long as he's nice to you then I'm okay with everything." He gave her another smile and she worried about what else he had to say. "Oh and maybe don't do weird things like not wear pants in the morning. It weirds me out."
She laughed out loud, "I'm so sorry."
He shrugged. "No worries Mom. You seem happy and I really like that." She wanted to drop a massive kiss on the top of those curls, but she knew he'd be incredibly embarrassed.
Instead she settled for a, "Thanks baby."
-000-
Noah wanted to try out his new rollerblades. He had finally saved up enough for them. She decided to invite Amanda and the girls along. She knew Carisi was slammed with trial prep and it had been a while since she was able to spend real time with her.
Once the girls were settled at the playground Olivia and Amanda found a bench where she could see Noah and they could still see her girls.
"You know I'm going to ask right?" Amanda grinned.
"I mean I worried you might," she shot her a teasing look, "but I thought maybe you wouldn't."
"Do you know me at all?"
"Oh I do. I figured you couldn't resist."
"You know you don't have to tell me anything, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't dying of curiosity."
"Fine fine," Olivia acquiesced.
"Welllll, I dropped a cute curly haired boy with a certain detective we both know." Her not so subtle subtlety was so Amanda .
"He offered when I got called into work."
"Fin said he called you first thing in the morning." She heavily emphasized the word morning.
She was about to answer when she was interrupted by a text message that made her stomach clench and her mood visibly dampen.
E: I just wanted to let you know I'm having Jet pull those files. I'm going to read them at work. I don't think I'll want to take them home.
Good assumption.
E: Nothing in those files will change how I feel about you.
And a third text.
E: I love you.
She breathed through her anxiety, knowing Amanda was for sure picking up on it.
O: I love you too.
She locked her phone and stared at the blank screen for a moment. She didn't worry about how he'd feel about her after reading the files. She worried about how he would feel about himself.
Amanda gave her a minute before asking, "Something from work?" Obviously noting the change in her demeanor.
"No, um," she shifted uncomfortably. She didn't even like thinking about this. "Elliot and I talked about Lewis, you know, the other morning . I told him to look up the files," she stated at her hands, "I couldn't tell him everything and he deserves to know."
Amanda's face reflected the solemnity of the conversation, "How do you think he'll handle all that?"
Olivia shook her head, "Not sure but I'm gonna assume not well."
"Well, you have talked about some of it so he isn't going in completely blind. She tried to lighten the mood, "and I'm assuming he's seen at least some of those scars." she didn't even try to hide her cheeky grin and sexual innuendo, "if not all of them."
Olivia whacked her arm lightly, but didn't deny it, "Seeing faded scars is not the same as seeing photo evidence of fresh burns."
Amanda nodded seriously, and Olivia knew that Amanda understood what she was talking about. She understood because she had seen them when they were fresh and bleeding. She had seen the crime scene and the terror in her eyes when she was finally rescued.
And neither of them had ever been the same since.
