In mid June, Elliot took a couple of days away from work to spend with the kids. Maureen was home from college for the Summer and it was the first time he'd had all four of them stay over in a while. Olivia missed him but knew she'd have to get used to him not sitting across from her all day eventually. She'd been working with Fin and Munch on a case since Wednesday. Cragen had told them about Elliot and Olivia the day after they'd spoken to him and they'd had the same reaction he did.
"Was it really that obvious?" Olivia had asked incredulously "I thought we'd been pretty discreet and professional."
"But you weren't pretty discreet and professional over the last god knows how many years Olivia" Munch snorted and she glared a him. "Oh come on! You two have been like an old married couple since the day you met. And god help anyone who tried to get in the middle of your partnership." Elliot and Olivia looked across at each other grinning.
"Wow" Elliot had laughed as he leaned back in his chair, hands clasped across his belly.
But today, the jibes had been relentless especially from Fin. Olivia took it all in her stride and played along with their jokes. There wasn't much time for levity in their line of work and it felt good to laugh together once in a while.
"You know we're only kidding right?" Fin said as he stood next to her at the coffee station "It's nice to see you happy Liv. You deserve it."
"Thanks Fin" Olivia smiled and handed him a cup. As she left the precinct that night, her cell phone rang. It was Elliot. He'd just driven out to get dinner for him and the kids and Olivia nearly made a remark that he should maybe cook something one of these days. Then remembered that she was one to talk, she hardly ever cooked but that was because she could never see much point when it was just for her.
"How was it today? I missed you" he said stopping at some traffic lights.
"Fine. Another day another case I'd like to forget. I missed you too" she rested the phone between her cheek and her ear while she rummaged in her bag for her car keys. "The kids ok?" she asked.
"Yeah, they're great. Listen... when I drop them off at Kathy's tomorrow night, I want to tell her about us." There was silence at the other end of the phone for a minute and then Olivia spoke;
"Ok.." she didn't know what else to say. At the end of the day this was something Elliot needed to do on his own. Whatever had happened between him and Kathy he never really talked about and she never probed him on it. It was none of her business. When they first separated, all she could do was be there for him as his partner.
"Ok" he said back "well... I'll call you tomorrow. Are you doing anything tonight?" she was glad he tried to change the subject.
"Um, I think I'm just gonna go home and take a shower. Maybe make something nice for dinner." She tried to lighten the mood and he laughed.
"Ok, well good luck with that! Enjoy your night"
"You too" she smiled.
"Liv... I love you"
"Love you too." They'd started to say it to each other more often these days and they were both a little surprised at how easy it felt.
The following night, Elliot drove the kids home. He and Kathy had decided it was best for her to stay in the house they'd all shared together. When he pulled up on the drive, they all got out of the car and Elizabeth leaned over to kiss him on the cheek.
"Bye Dad"
"Actually I'm gonna come in, I need to speak to your Mom about something"
"Ok" she shrugged. It wasn't unusual for their parents to talk to each other. Even though they were divorced, they were still raising four kids together. When they went into the house, they said Hi to Kathy all dispersed into their respective bedrooms. Teenagers Elliot thought.
"Hi Kath" Elliot smiled at her "how are you?"
"Good" she smiled back "you want a drink?"
"Uh, no I'm good thanks." He took his jacket off and sat on the couch. "I just wanted to talk to you about something."
She sat next to him, thinking it was something about the kids "sure". They were good with each other now. After Elliot had agreed to sign the divorce papers, they'd had long talks and they were friends now.
"I've started seeing someone. A couple of months ago.. the kids don't know yet and I wanted to tell you about her first.." He stuttered, looking for the right words.
"Elliot" she laughed "We've been divorced a while now. I think it's normal for us both to be dating other people." She was right about that. She hadn't told him about anyone she was seeing but he knew she'd been going on a few dates after Kathleen told him about it. "It must be serious though" she raised her eyebrows "I know you had a couple of dates in the past and you never sat me down to tell me about them" she grinned. Oh god, Elliot thought. She really has no idea.
"It is serious. Really serious. We've um, we've known each other for a long time and things changed for us recently." Kathy stopped smiling, a look of realisation on her face. He swallowed; "It's Olivia, Kath" She looked down at her hands, picking at her finger nail. "Please say something" he said.
"What do you want me to say Elliot?" she paused "I can't say that I'm completely surprised. I mean, you spent more time with her than me since the day you became partners."
"Please don't bring that up again. I spent more time with her because of my job Kathy. It's one of the reasons we separated, because I was never here remember" She looked up at him as though she was going to ask him something but he already knew what she was going to say. "No" he answered her silent question "Nothing ever went on between me and Olivia while we where married. I promise you that. I could never do that to you, you know that... something happened a few months ago... a case..."
"Elliot I don't need to know..."
"Yes, you do" he broke her off. "You deserve to know. There was a case a few months ago where we both could've been killed. I chose to save her and a child was taken. A little boy who had been kidnapped and he was murdered." Elliot tried to hold back his emotions as the memory of that day came back to him. "I think it had been building a while and that case finally made us admit that we had feelings for one another." He stopped there realising that Kathy didn't need or want any more information. "I'm sorry" he said.
"Elliot" Kathy looked at him "I'm not stupid. I knew there was always this... this connection between the two of you. I always thought it was because you were partners and I'm told there's always a special bond that no one else can understand. The two of you were always so in sync. I know you said you didn't have a physical affair Elliot, but you've got to admit you had an emotional one?" He nodded, she was right after all. They sat in silence for a moment. "I'm happy for you Elliot. If you'd have come to me and said this a year ago I probably would've reacted differently. But... I don't know. I guess we've both grown as people." He reached across and patted her knee.
"Thank you. You don't know what it means to me that you're ok with this" he said.
"I always liked Olivia. I'll admit I was a little jealous, I mean look at her, she's gorgeous. I can certainly see why you're attracted to her Elliot" she smirked and then got serious again. "Let's just agree to be happy Elliot".
"Of course. Kath, that's all I ever wanted for you. You're the mother of my children and I'll always love you. You know that".
They hugged and talked a little longer. Elliot eventually went to say goodbye to the kids and left. Another weight lifted off his shoulders. He hadn't talked to the kids yet but he guessed Kathy would do that. He thought about going to see Olivia but decided to leave her be for the night. He had missed her this last few days and couldn't wait to see her beautiful face tomorrow.
