Hey guys, sorry if my last update was so long! It was a bit of a hike to get through and not sure that a lot of you did. Anyway, here's something a bit shorter. Lemme know how it is...
Olivia could hear Trevor snoring lightly. She knew she couldn't fall asleep without going to the bathroom. She got up and relieved herself and went to her handbag and plucked out her phone. She remembered she needed to text Ava.
She went to Trevor's phone and scrolled through his contacts until she found Ava's name. She smiled at the photo of him and his daughter on the background. It was just after 11 and if she knew anything about teens it would be that Ava would likely be awake pushing the limit of what was an appropriate bed time with Lucy.
She picked up her phone and saved the contact and got back in to bed beside Trevor. She sent a message to Ava. Hi honey, this is Olivia, can you please send me your instagram username and I will add you. She had to figure it out. She felt a little dehydrated so she got back up and helped herself to a bottle of water from the minibar, making a mental note to let Trevor know in the morning.
"Baby, what are you doing?" She heard Trevor's voice, startling her as she dropped the bottle cap on the floor.
"I just needed a drink, go back to sleep, love…" she said softly. It was too late though, he'd eased himself up. He looked bleary-eyed.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep on you," he yawned, "what's the time?"
"11ish," she replied, making her way back over to him with the very cold bottle of water. She sat on his side, on the edge of the bed. She took a few gulps of water and offered it to him. He accepted the bottle and took a few mouthfuls.
"Oh, I haven't been asleep for long…" he replied. She felt his hand resting on her back. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," she replied with a soft smile. "I'm great, I'm just a little too wound up to sleep, I might go have a quick shower."
"Okay, can I join you?," he wondered, yawning again.
"Yeah… that'll be nice, she agreed. She screwed the lid on to the bottle of water and set it beside him on the bedside table.
/
It felt better to be clean and refreshed, both of them smelling good and getting back in to bed. Olivia picked up her phone and saw that Ava had replied. "Your kid is still awake," she told him with a little smile.
"What? It's almost midnight…" he yawned again, "why is she awake?"
"I don't know, she's a teenager, weekends— must stay awake," she shrugged. She read the text. "My username is OldTwinkleToes, I've put it on private for now but if you do an account, please add me."
Olivia laughed. "Your daughter is so funny, she's an old soul I'm sure of it, look at her username," she showed him. He stared for a moment without his glasses trying to focus. He saw it and started to laugh.
"Aww that's so cute," he chuckled, "I call her that… she actually holds on to stupid things I say."
"Really?" Liv grinned at him, "that is sweet, see, you impact her more than you think. She's all bravado, really."
"Don't do all that instagram shit now, do it tomorrow. You told Lucy you'd be back before 10 and we promised the kids we'd do something fun tomorrow so we should probably sleep," he suggested sensibly and Olivia knew he was right.
She hit the text input and responded, "Okay thanks babe, Ill sort this out tomorrow, Ill see you early in the morning, please try to get some sleep…"
She locked the phone and placed it face down and rolled over to face Trevor. She kissed his lips. He pulled her close to him and smiled. "I hope you have the sweetest dreams, baby,"
"You too," she replied. He smiled at her and watched her eyes close. He kissed her forehead and squeezed her tightly.
"Sleep tight, Liv…" he murmured.
/
Olivia dropped her keys on the mantlepiece as she walked in to her apartment. Everything was nice and neat and there was silence. She wondered if Lucy had taken the kids to breakfast. She wheeled her suitcase behind her and pushed it aside out of the way.
Answering her question was Lucy greeting her. "Hi Liv, how was your night?," she asked, flashing her a smile.
"Oh hey," she smiled right back, "it was great, I'm so tired though… where are the kids?"
"Oh, Noah woke up a little while ago and he was in such a foul mood because the movie ran a little late and we didn't get home til after 10… he had breakfast and he was cranky and whiney so I let him watch Batman on Netflix and I checked back in on him and he was asleep…"
Liv chuckled. "And Ava?"
"I checked in on her before, typical teenage, cocooned in the covers and sticking her head out just to give me a sign that she's okay."
"Okay… thanks so much for staying last night, you're the best. I hope they both behaved. Ava can be a lot if you're not used to her sense of humour."
"Oh no, she was a saint, Olivia, honestly. She helped me with everything including trying to get Noah to bed. She's a really good kid, she can be here anytime."
Olivia smiled and they said their goodbyes.
She texted Trevor and let him know that the kids were still in bed and not to rush. She told him she would lay down for half an hour because she was tired too.
She opened her bedroom door and found the glow of a phone screen lighting her darkened bedroom where Ava was. "Good morning, honey," she greeted her softly.
Ava threw the blankets of from around her and glanced at Olivia with a bleary-eyed smile. "Hey Liv, you are super early."
Olivia yawned, "I know, the gala finished early last night and I went to my hotel room and slept, I really needed it." She knew Ava knew exactly where she was and would laugh at her, but she wasn't going to allow a fourteen year old to ridicule her.
"Oh yeah, the gala," she rolled her eyes with a laugh, "another one so soon after the last," she added.
Olivia smiled, "Yeah, another one, so quickly after the last," she repeated with a little smile.
"Sorry, I'll get out of your bed," Ava replied as Olivia took a seat on the edge.
"No, it's okay you can stay there. I'm gonna just lay down next to you for a minute if that's okay," Olivia replied. She was nap-ready since she left the hotel. She was wearing a pair of activewear pants and an oversized hoodie but it was pretty warm already. She pulled the hoodie off and watched Ava unravel herself from the blanket and spread it back out over the bed.
"Thanks babe," she slid in to her bed and pulled the covers up around her. "Did you have a good time last night?"
Ava turned to her, putting her phone down and nodded. "Lucy is so cool, she's way cooler than Casi… did you know she has a girlfriend?"
Olivia laughed, it suddenly dawned on her that Lucy did have a girlfriend. "Oh yeah, actually I did know that, her girlfriend is Michelle" she smiled at the young girl, "there you go, Lucy has a perfectly normal life, Noah loves her, I love her and I don't want her to change or hide the fact that she has a girlfriend."
Ava smiled. "I had fun… we went to see a movie and when Noah went to bed she let me stay up a little bit later and we watched Dance Moms."
Olivia made a face, "that is a terrible show, Ava," she was able to laugh.
"I know, but I know it's all scripted so it's okay," she shrugged, "Did you have a nice time at your 'gala'" she made quotation marks."
Liv gave her a look— a semi raised eyebrow that made her stop, but she smiled. "I hope you did, I tried to call my Mom and she ignored my calls and hasn't texted me since she and Dad had a fight about me a week ago."
"I'm sorry, honey, that must feel pretty awful," Liv replied frowning, "I hope that it works out," she didn't quite know what to say about a mother who was perfectly abled but chose not to be there for her daughter.
"I was worried about her and thought that maybe something happened so I told her that and to just at least let me know that she was fine and finally she replied with 'yes, I'm fine'"
"That's it?" Olivia tried to hide her annoyance and heartbreak for Trevor's daughter who was clearly struggling.
She nodded. "I keep telling Dad that she hates me now and he keeps insisting that she doesn't but it's pretty clear she doesn't want to hear from me, she just wants to live her life and purposely moved across the other side of the country…"
"I'm sure she doesn't hate you, sweetheart," Olivia told her, reaching for her hand. "I know I'm not Mom, but I'm here for you and I'm not going anywhere, Dad too."
"Ha," she spotted, "you're already a better mother than mine," she remarked and rolled over, her back facing Olivia, not wanting to see her face growing red and hot. Liv reached out and rubbed her back soothingly.
"Its okay to be upset."
"I'm not upset about her anymore. I just wished I had of asked to live with Dad sooner…" she murmured.
"Dad's on his way to your place now and he promised he's got something fun under his sleeve for all of us for the day and I told him I might have a quick nap before he turns up, what do you think about that?"
"I can't nap in silence," Ava replied, "I won't annoy you, I'll get up."
"No, its okay, why don't you put one of your shows on or your music or whatever you do in the background…" she nodded at Ava's phone.
She didn't have to be asked a second time. She went through her phone and found her favourite show and pressed play. She lay it face down, "I usually just listen to it," she informed her.
"Okay, let's listen to it then." Liv agreed, setting her alarm for thirty minutes.
/
Trevor was suspicious of the silence in Olivia's apartment as he let himself in with the spare key she had given him. No one was answering their messages and he could only guess she had crashed out and if he knew his daughter like he thought he did, she would have been sleeping for as long as possible if she could help it.
He checked in on Noah and found him playing his Nintendo Switch. "Hey," he greeted the little boy who was mid-yawn, still laying beneath his blanket looking a little sleepy.
"Hi Trev!," he greeted him excitedly, sitting up. Trevor smiled at him. He was wearing long shorts and a plain blue t-shirt and was looking ready to head out. "Mommy and Ava are asleep, I didn't even hear Mom come home."
"Yeah Mom got home early this morning, you think we should go wake them up?," Trevor asked, "I have a big surprise for the day."
"Yeah, let's go wake them up," Noah turned his game off and watched Trevor make his way down the hall to Olivia's bedroom. He saw both of his girls asleep side by side and he grinned to himself, feeling his heart warm. Noah went to swoop in but Trevor paused him. "Hang on kiddo, I wanna take a pic so I can tease Ava later," he whispered.
Noah held back a giggle and watched Trevor take out his phone and take a pic of them both before he slid his phone back in his pocket. "Okay, go for the gusto!," he encouraged her son who bounced on the bed between the two of them, startling them both awake.
Trevor leaned in the doorway and grinned to himself.
Ava grunted and rolled over, shoving the pillow over her head and Noah giggled. "Ava, you're so grumpy in the morning… Mommy you didn't even tell me you got home…"
Olivia smiled at her son and glanced at Trevor in the doorway and smiled. "I know, Mom was so tired she had to come have a quick nap…" she pulled Noah toward her and cuddled him. "I missed you though!"
"Trevor says he has something special planned," he announced to her.
"Wellllllllll…. We better get up then, huh?" She asked.
Noah wriggled from his cuddle and climbed out of bed. "What are we doing, Trev?," he questioned him.
"We are going to get Mom some coffee and Ava some juice and make you both something to eat and get ready to go out," he informed him.
"Thanks baby," Olivia replied with a grateful smile. "You really know the way to my heart."
Ava got up and made her way in to the bathroom to pee and reluctantly get out of bed.
/
"Okay, surprise!" Trevor looked back at the kids in the backseat of his range rover and smiled. "We're gonna spend the day at Dreamworks Waterpark," he told them.
"But… I don't have my bathing suit…" Ava told him, alarmed.
"I grabbed your swim team bathing suit and your other one from the bathroom this morning on my way out, it's in the back," he smiled at her.
He watched her lips curl in to a smile. "Thanks."
"Are you both excited?," he asked, "cos we thought it might be really fun, right Liv?"
"I'm excited, are you and Mommy gonna swim with us too?" Noah asked, knowing it was a novelty when his mother got in to the water with him.
"Sure, of course, we're all gonna swim, right Mom?" Trevor turned to Olivia. He had put some of her insecurities around her bathing suit to rest earlier that morning when she got some of her and Noah's things together.
"Sure," she replied with a smile.
"Yeah! Awesome!" Olivia could tell that both kids were beyond excited and as usual Ava tried her best to play it cool.
Trevor took Olivia's hand as the kids walked fast ahead toward the entrance. "I got us a private cabana when I booked," he told her, "we'll get food brought to us brought to us and we can relax when we're not in the water…"
"Wow, you're gonna send yourself broke trying to impress me," she remarked with a light laugh, feeling his thumb caressing the arch of her hand.
Ava turned back to see how far behind they were. "I love how she tries to pretend she's super cool but she's so excited," Trevor laughed speaking softly to Olivia so that Ava didn't hear him, "and actually, I am not sending myself broke, we promised the kids somewhere fun…"
"Noah is not sleeping tonight, I assure you." Olivia laughed.
They caught up with the kids and Trevor showed the tickets that he purchased on his phone earlier in the morning. The kids took in everything around them, "Mommmmm look!" Noah pointed to a giant Kung-Fu Panda, "Look!"
"I know, honey, very cool," she grinned, looking around, loving Trevor for pulling out all the effort to give the kids a treat— truthfully, she thought, they both could have done with some quality time with both of their parents.
"When can we go in to the water?" Noah asked, excitedly, "Ava, are you gonna swim with me?," he asked.
"Yes!," she exclaimed, "look," she pointed out the waterslides, "we can all go on the slides…" she paused, "as kind of like a family," she added a little meekly. Olivia felt Trevor squeeze her hand and both of them smiled.
"Dad? Are you gonna go on the slides too?" Ava asked and Trevor loved that she was just as excited as Noah. She fell in to step with him and Olivia.
"Sure, honey… we'll go get our things settled and then we'll get changed and decide what we want to do first," he explained.
They followed the map up to a lift that led them to their private cabana.
"This is so great!" Olivia grinned as they put down their bags. There were two long couches and a couple of chairs that overlooked a glass balcony down to the water and the slides. For privacy there were curtains that were able to be pulled across in front of the balcony.
They all respectively left to get changed; Ava with Olivia and Trevor and Noah and met back at the cabana. "Hey guys before we go down to the water, we want to talk to you both about something," Olivia announced.
"Is it bad news?" Ava asked softly, wondering for a second.
"Hopefully not," Trevor replied with a smile. He motioned for her to sit beside Olivia. Noah didn't want to be left out. Olivia grabbed him and pulled in him in to her lap while Trevor pulled up a chair.
"Okay, do you want to tell them?" Olivia asked him, feeling suddenly shy.
"Sure," he smiled, "last night," he looked at Olivia and then to Noah, "I told your Mom that I wanted her to be my girlfriend and I wanted us all to spend more time together," he turned to Ava, "and we hope that you both want that too… and we want to be really honest with you both about all of this every step of the way, so if anyone has any thoughts or feelings they wanna share, now's the time," he glanced back at Noah and to Ava gain.
Ava was grinning. "I think it's great!," she announced flinging her arms around her Dad. Her cuddle was unexpected and nearly sent him off the chair. Olivia laughed and looked at Noah, "how do you feel about that, kiddo? Is that okay with you, if Mommy has a boyfriend?"
Noah giggled, "Yes," he replied. Olivia kissed him on the cheek and drew him close.
"Noah, we can hang out even more now since your Mom will basically be at our place all the time with you."
"Not necessarily," Olivia replied quickly, "maybe you guys will come to my apartment sometimes?," she smiled.
"Yeah, Liv's got the bigger apartment," Trevor beamed, happy that the kids were okay with the idea.
"Yeahhh, and we can do dance stuff and play Nintendo and xBox…" Noah was getting ahead of himself.
"Okay, okay, we'll see about all that screen time, you already have enough of it," Olivia told him with a little laugh, running her fingers through his hair.
"I'm glad you guys are so happy," Trevor announced, "I thought today would be a nice celebration and tonight we're gonna get some dinner together and we're gonna have a nice relaxed night," he informed them.
"That sounds wonderful," Olivia said with a smile, beaming at Trevor.
"Okay, welllll how about now we go down and check out the waterslides?" Trevor asked
"Yeah!" Noah jumped off Olivia's lap and Ava got up excitedly too. Olivia felt a little reluctant. She had put a kaftan on over the top of her plain black bikini. "Come on, Liv, are you coming?," she asked.
"Uh… I might stay up here and watch and take some photos of you guys," she smiled.
"Noooooo, Mommm, you have to come!" Noah whined.
"You're not gonna stay up here on your own," Trevor gave her a funny look. "No way, we're going down and getting in to the water, Liv," he told her firmly.
He looked at the kids, "why don't you guys go and get a head start, but do not get in to the water until we're down there," he suggested.
Ava knew enough to read that there was something going on that she couldn't quite work out with Olivia. "Come on, Noah," she grabbed the little boys hand, "lets go downstairs and wait for your Mom and my Dad."
"Okay hurry up!" Noah told them over his shoulder.
/
"Okay, what's up? Why don't you want to go down there?" Trevor asked Olivia, concerned. He had an idea but he didn't want to give her reasons to think she should have been insecure.
"I don't particularly like what I'm wearing beneath this, I feel too old for it," she told him, "and its a little ill-fitting…"
He made a face. "Show me, I'll be honest."
She gave him a slight smile. "I feel like you are not exactly impartial," she chuckled, appreciating his sweetness.
"No, seriously, I would never let you leave for a public place if you were inappropriately dressed or I thought that something looked really bad, I promise."
"Okay," she lifted her kaftan and revealed her high-waisted black bikini. She felt slightly uncomfortable as Trevor gave her the once over.
"Turn around…" he commanded. She did as he asked and he really couldn't see anything wrong with it. It felt nicely, it held her in snugly at the chest which had been a little difficult to peel his eyes from her beautiful body.
She turned back to him to find a little smile. "Liv, what are you worried about?," he asked gently, "you look perfect…" she crossed her hands over her bare belly.
"Don't you dare…" he shook his head, "you have absolutely no cause for worry, you are gorgeous, your body is gorgeous, Liv, please," he stared in to her eyes, slowly taking her hands from her stomach, "I don't want to be gross, but you look … hot…" he smiled.
"I'm just inside my own head," she sighed, "I'm sorry,"
Trevor smiled at her, "Sweetie, I don't want to be inappropriate, but I saw you totally birth-day-ass naked last night and I will only have eyes for you for all of my days."
Olivia managed a laugh. He slid his arms around her and gave her a little squeeze. "You are going to abandon any insecurities and we are going to just be young for once and have fun with our kids…"
/
Noah frowned with disappointment, "I'm too little," he stood beside the height meter and his shoulders slumped.
"That's okay, honey, we can go on one of the smaller slides and Trevor and Ava can go on this one and we can watch," she told him gently.
"No, it's okay," Trevor put his hand on Liv's shoulder. "He's allowed with an adult, I can take him…"
Noah looked from his Mom to Trevor. "Would you like to go down the big slide with Trev?," she asked him.
"Yeah!," he smiled.
Trevor held up his hand, "come on then, are you coming up too, Mom?," he asked Liv. Not to be outdone, Ava turned back, a few steps up already, "come on, Liv, you can come down with me if you're scared!"
She laughed and agreed, "okay, come on…"
They stood in a queue for a short while and the kids squabbled playfully over who would go first. Olivia could tell from how high up they were that Noah was getting more and more scared the closer they got to their turn.
"Mommy," he whispered, beckoning her closer so he could speak to her privately.
"What is it, babe?" She asked, crouching a little.
"Mommy, I don't think I want to go down, its so high up here…" he whispered. Olivia stood up and glanced at Trevor. He got the drift immediately.
This time, he got down to Noah's level. "Hey bud, listen… it's totally okay to be scared and nobody is gonna make you go down the slide if you don't want to, but I think it might be fun and its very safe, it just feels scary but after you have the first turn, I promise you'll want to do it again," he smiled.
Noah looked from Trevor to his Mom.
"I will be holding on to you," Trevor promised, "and I won't let anything happen to you…"
"Mommy doesn't like heights either, babe," Olivia told him, "but I'm gonna try to be brave with Ava, do you think you'd like to try being brave with Trevor?"
He was unsure but nodded slowly. "Okay, but I'm scared."
"That's okay," Trevor told him, holding his hand tightly, "its okay to be scared, but I've got you. You can trust me to keep you safe," he smiled kindly. Olivia realised there was a little more to that statement and she knew that it didn't just extend as far as the slide. He was building up trust with Noah and it made her feel incredibly happy.
"I think you and Noah should go first," Ava told her father, knowing that Noah could change his mind.
"Yeah, we'll watch and cheer you both on," Olivia agreed as the slide attendant unchained the slide guard. Trevor took Noah's hand and guided him up to the slide. Noah looked back at his Mom and Ava a little worried.
"You're gonna have soooo much fun!" Ava told him, encouragingly. "Dad's gonna hold on tight so you'll be fine."
"You're so brave, Noah!" Liv exclaimed with a big smile.
Trevor sat down on the edge of the tunnel and looked up at Noah. "Okay, come here kiddo." Noah looked away from Ava and Liv and turned to Trevor who patted a space between his legs. He grabbed a reluctant Noah and secured him in place and wrapped his arms around him.
The ride attendant directed them to lean back a little with Trevor's height so they wouldn't slide forward. "Okay, ready?" Trevor asked Noah.
"Uhuh…" Noah replied uncertainly.
"I got you kiddo…. Alright, on the count of three…" Trevor began to edge himself forward little by little and on three let himself slide with Olivia's son letting out a yelp of surprise. Olivia could hear Trevor's laughter disappear down the tube.
"Are you really scared about this Liv?" Ava asked as they went forward.
"I don't love heights, but I think I'm fine with this," she answered with a laugh. She sat down first as Trevor had and waited for Ava to get in to position.
They went flying down the chute. They both squealed and laughed through all the bends and curves, flying up the sides, worried that they'd topple over and defy gravity, but thankfully they didn't.
After what felt like an eternity, they came out the other end, smashing right in to the warm, tropical-temperature water. Olivia began to laugh when she resurface and looked for Ava who was already swimming out of the way and over to the side where she could stand. Olivia followed her and found Noah and Trevor close by laughing and waving at them too.
"Oh my goodness!" Ava laughed, "that was so cool! Did you have fun, Noah!?" She asked.
"Yeah! It was totally cool!," he exclaimed, "we had fun, didn't we Trev?"
"We sure did," Trevor replied. Noah had thrown his arms around Trevor's neck since the water was a little too deep. "We're gonna go up again, how do you guys feel about that?," he asked Olivia and Ava.
"Maybe one more go," Olivia replied, glancing at Ava who agreed.
/
For much of the afternoon Trevor entertained Noah on slides and jumping off the rocks and in to deep water while Ava and Olivia were happiest in the lazy lake, laying on circular ring floats as a soft rapid floated them around the park. They held hands to keep from floating away from one another and enjoyed their time relaxing.
"This is the best day," Ava told her, "you and Dad together is my favourite relationship pairing of this generation," she grinned at Liv.
Olivia started to laugh, "you are so sweet, I'm really happy that you are okay with it, honey, I don't want to step in when you're just starting to get close to him, so I need you to be honest if you ever need some space away from Noah and I, that's important to me, that you and Noah both feel comfortable."
"I know that, that's why you're the best, Liv, you actually care about me too and that's really nice. I don't feel like you're only being nice to me cos you're with Dad."
"Of course not, I love hanging out with you too, it's been lovely to get to know you so far," she smiled and gave her hand a squeeze.
"Me too…"
"When we get back later, I thought we could go through your instagram page together and you can show me how it works," Olivia suggested.
"Okay, well first thing we have to think up a cool username for you," Ava began, almost as if she was excited by the idea of having Olivia follow her on social media. "Like, JusticeSeeker, or BadAssBenson," she giggled.
Olivia laughed, "you're funny…"
"No but you have to have a good name," she chuckled, "no one will mess with you when they find out you're a cop."
"Oh, no I can't disclose that on social media, babe, I'm a detective, I have to be really careful with my job."
"Oh right, yeah that makes sense." Ava agreed.
"Should we go back in the water for a proper swim?" Liv asked, changing the subject.
"Yeah," Ava smiled. "Let's do that. Hey are you going to stay at our house tonight?," she wondered.
"I don't think so," she gave her a smile as they slipped from their tubes at the exit point.
/
"Trev are you and my Mom gonna get married?" Noah asked, loving the attention he was getting. Trevor had taken him on the slides an endless amount of times and had taught him how to jump off the rocks and in to the deep end without anymore fear of heights.
Trevor laughed, "No, Noah, not anytime soon. Maybe one day in the future if everything works out, maybe we'll talk about it but right now we are just all going to enjoy company together and doing fun stuff like this and I'll work on making you and your Mom and Ava happy."
Noah nodded with understanding. "I like it when you and Ava are with us and I love when Mom is happy, she hasn't been sad for a long time."
"Do you think Mom gets sad a lot?," he asked Noah, curious.
He shrugged, "Sometimes, sometimes I see her cry but she says its okay and that she just feels sad because of work and if I give her a cuddle she gets happy again."
Trevor tried to smile through his grimace. "You're the best son, I bet your cuddles make her very happy," he replied.
Noah hooked on to Trevor's shoulders as they got a little deeper. "Look, there's Mommy and Ava now…" he waved to them excitedly.
"Looks like they're headed up to the slide. Would you like to go up and have another slide too?," Trevor asked Noah.
"Yessss!," he agreed excitedly.
Trevor pulled him along to the side and lifted him out of the water and on to the surface before hoisting himself out. He grabbed Noah's hand and followed the path of Olivia and Ava took.
/
"Mommy!" Olivia could recognise Noah's voice in a crowd. She turned to face find a short way away, Trevor and Noah, following them up the stairs. She grabbed Ava's arm to stop her, "wait, your Dad and Noah are coming."
"Hey guys," Trevor greeted them when they caught up. He took Olivia's hand, "how was the lake?"
"Great," Liv replied, "we had a nice relaxing float around the park, didn't we babe?"
Ava nodded. Trevor grinned at his daughter.
"Mom!" Noah exclaimed, "Mom, Trevor and I went on the slide twelve times and we jumped off the rock face at least four times, didn't we Trevor?"
"We did, kiddo, we had a lot of fun," he smiled at Noah. Olivia beamed at her two boys. "Come on, let's go up and have one more slide each, huh?"
Olivia knew it was getting late in the afternoon and that if they didn't start to wrap the day up, Noah would be tired and cranky all night.
/
"What a day…" Trevor sighed as they got back to his place. "How are you feeling, love?," he asked Liv as they hung everyone's wet clothes up together in the bathroom.
"I'm tired, but I feel good."
"Wanna stay here with Noah tonight?," he wondered nonchalantly, trying to keep casual.
"I wish… but I need to keep Noah's routine. He won't sleep well at someone else's house." She paused, "Unless you guys want to come and stay at my place," she thought out loud.
Trevor smiled back at her, "I can ask Ava. Something tells me she will jump out of her skin to hang out with you more."
Olivia laughed, "I love her, she's amazing and she has the softest heart and loves her Daddy so much."
"I don't know about that last part."
"No, she does, Trev, trust me,"
"I do trust you… let me go have a word to my kid and maybe if that's the plan we should make tracks so we can get dinner and have a quiet night." He paused to kiss Olivia's lips. "Hey, what time do you work tomorrow?," he asked.
"I don't work tomorrow, I told you, I have three days. Tomorrow I get to walk my kid to school and probably relax with my boyfriend for a short while before he has to do some work."
Trevor grinned, "I think I could clear my schedule a little."
/
Noah had fallen asleep on the couch and Ava was blithely staring at the TV. She was tired too, he could tell. She always seemed to remind him so much of her younger years when she was exhausted. She was extra sweet and extra affectionate and he doted on that. "Hey baby," he greeted her.
"Hi Daddy," she peeled her eyes away from the TV. "Where's Liv?"
"She's just getting her things together," he sat down beside her. "I want to ask you something and I need you to be honest with me, okay?"
There were no smart remarks, no silliness. He reached for her hand and Ava was too tired to protest or push away his affections as she normally did. He smiled at his daughter. Her green eyes stared right back at him, her eyelids looked like they were fighting to stay open. "How do you feel about having another sleepover at Olivia's tonight and walking Noah to school with Liv in the morning?"
"Okay," she smiled, "wait, are you coming too? If you're not coming I'd rather stay here with you."
Trevor laughed, "of course I'm coming, honey, but we are gonna go over soon and Liv is going to make up the guest room for you so you feel comfortable in there. I need you to get some things ready to take with us. I can help if you like…"
"Okay Daddy,"
He kissed her temple, "I know you're really tired, honey, but I'll come help you."
Ava got up sluggishly and she and Trevor went in to her bedroom. She passed him her school bag. He held it open while she loaded her books for the next day and grabbed her computer and charger. She tossed in her UFO book and closed it up and moved around the room getting her uniform and her pajamas.
"There you go… do you need anything else?"
"No, we're not moving in, we're just staying there tonight, right?" She wondered.
Trevor laughed, "Yeah sweetie, just for tonight…if you don't want to or if you're not okay with it, you just have to tell me, I won't be upset or disappointed, okay? I know sometimes it's nice just to be in your own bed."
"No, its fine…" she shrugged, "I liked Liv's apartment it feels home-y and her bathtub works…"
"Shoot," Trevor remarked, "Sorry, I promise I'll get someone to come and look at the faucet this week…" Ava had complained to him since moving in that she couldn't take a bath due to plumbing issues that he hadn't bothered fixing in the main bathroom. There was no way he would have fit in the bath even if he wanted, but apparently Ava was a big fan of taking baths.
She smiled, "its okay, Dad, it's not an emergency."
"I told you, you can use my bathroom… just.. give me a heads up." Trevor's bathroom had a bath and a reasonable sized shower but he'd also never used the bath in there either, for all he knew, it didn't work.
She shrugged. "Okay, I've got everything."
Trevor put his arm around his little girl as the made their way down the steps to where Olivia was in the kitchen cleaning up from the snacks they'd had when they got home.
"That was fast," she smiled, wiping her hands on a dish towel.
"We don't mess around," Ava replied.
"Okay, let me go get Noah… I need to wake him up anyway or else he won't sleep properly tonight."
/
Noah dragged his feet all the way back to the apartment. He was whiny and weepy, exactly as Olivia knew he would be after such a huge day.
"I think you need to have a bath and dinner and an early night, kiddo," she told him. "You're tired and cranky."
"No I'm not…" he whined with a pout on his face.
She and Trevor shared a smile.
"You are and it's okay honey, you've had a huge day and I know Lucy gave in and let you stay up a little later than usual last night."
Once home, Olivia tasked Trevor and Ava with choosing what to eat for dinner by looking around her kitchen or deciding to order in while she went and oversaw Noah's bath time. She knew he was tired because he didn't fight her coming in to check on him — he had recently been hung up on having privacy and she was careful to give him that, but she could tell he was far too tired.
She helped him wash his hair and he wanted out immediately after, wanting to be with everyone else. They decided to order in some Thai food; Olivia knew the delivery was fast and Noah would eat some noodles and probably crash out with the TV on.
/
"Bud, you look like you're going to fall face first in to your food," Trevor remarked watching Noah's heavy eyes struggle to stay open.
He glanced at Trevor and over to his Mom. "I don't want to eat anymore, Mommy," he murmured.
"That's okay, why don't you go and watch the TV and after dinner we'll come and join you."
Noah nodded and pushed his chair back and went to the living room. Ava smiled, taking a forkful of her chilli beef, "I think that's the first time I've seen Noah in a bad mood."
"Oh, yeah," Liv nodded, "he can be brutal when he's in a mood, you'll witness it one day, I have to send him to his room, he gets really mean," she laughed.
"What?" Trevor asked, disbelievingly, "not sweet little Noah!," he grinned, taking a sip of his beer and setting it down. "I don't believe it!"
Olivia laughed, "like I said, you'll witness it one day and you won't think he's just a ball of sweetness and nothing else," she chuckled. She turned to Ava, "and what about you, kiddo, you look pretty tired yourself."
"I'm tired, yeah, but I'm okay," she shrugged, "I had a really good day today, it was so much fun."
"I'm so glad to hear that," Trevor remarked, "I just want you to be happy, sweetie, you've had a really tough few weeks," he reached out and gave her shoulder a little squeeze. Ava glanced at her Dad and smiled at him.
"Thanks, Dad."
"You bet…" he replied. "After dinner, Liv said she'll go through your Instagram account with you while I do a little bit of work to prep for a meeting tomorrow afternoon and then you should probably see about a bit of an early night too."
Ava agreed, "Okay, I haven't looked at it today, I had a phone free day."
Olivia smiled, "I think that's healthy, sweetheart," she told her, "sometimes its good to turn it off and focus on other things,"
"We're proud of you, Ava, you've been dealing with this bullying online and at school and you haven't caved and you haven't let any of them ruin your school activities, you smashed it again swimming yesterday morning, you're doing really well," Trevor told her meaningfully as he finished the food on his plate, "but please don't think you can't tell me or Liv if you need help."
Ava nodded. "I did, I told Liv I needed help with my social media."
"And I'm proud that you did, I just mean at school or with dance or—"
"I was actually thinking," she started slowly, "do you think I could look at dancing privately? Outside of school?," she asked, "because that way I can start fresh and I won't have to feel anxiety about going to dance practice and I could have a little break for a few weeks until we find the right place."
"Hmmm…" Trevor thought about it, "why don't you let me think about it and then we can talk about it some more. I really don't want these girls to run you out of something you worked hard for, honey…"
"I know, but I don't want to be somewhere where I'm not wanted, that's an awful feeling have to go up against that."
"Okay," Trevor nodded. He glanced at Olivia who was keeping quiet. "I hear you, I think we should talk about it a little more, but not tonight… I might talk to your Mom about it too."
"Ha, good luck," Ava rolled her eyes and set her fork down. "She's not answering me, she's certainly not going to answer you."
"Let me worry about that," he replied. "If you're finished, go and empty your dish and wash your plate please," he commanded gently. "And maybe when Liv's finished you can borrow a towel and go and get washed up."
"Okay,"
"Leave the plate, honey, I've got it," Liv told her.
"No, Liv—" Trevor went to protest.
"No, Trevor, this is my apartment and she can leave her plate," she glanced at Ava, "I put a towel and a wash cloth at the end of your bed upstairs, whatever you need is in the bathroom," she smiled at her.
"Thank you, Liv" she pushed back her chair and picked up her plate anyway, knowing better than to just leave it. She knew her Dad expected her to clean up after herself and she didn't really have any issues with that.
Olivia sighed and glanced at Trevor with a little smile. He smiled back, proud of himself, proud of his daughter for not just hot-footing it once Olivia had let her off the hook. "You are so smug," she remarked with a light laugh.
Ava laughed too, knowing exactly what Trevor was boasting about, the fact that he'd won. She finished clearing her plate and cleared Noah's too and went upstairs to the bedroom that she was staying in.
She picked up her phone and considered turning it on. It had been bringing her so much fear to open up her usual internet haunts. She was scared of the threats and scared of what was happening within her old circle of friends. She turned it on and sat on her bed, looking up to make sure no one was coming, as if she was doing something wrong.
She waited for the phone to boot up and slowly allowed herself to click on to the Insta app. She felt her heart racing as she saw the heart notifications and comment notifications popping up. She clicked the notification icon and saw the comments.
She let her eyes fall over the screen. She found it hard to believe that suddenly people that she once called her friends were now threatening to beat her, were trying to fight her, calling her names and saying the kinds of things about her that made her feel wounded and frightened of going to school.
"Honey, what are you doing?" Olivia asked, startling Ava in to dropping her phone on the floor.
"Nothing-" she replied, looking up at Olivia, giving her her best smile. "Just checking my phone to see what my timetable is for school tomorrow so I can make sure I have my books."
The look on her face said otherwise and Olivia wasn't buying it. "Do you need anything?," she asked Trevor's daughter.
Ava shook her head and picked her phone back up, locking the screen. She got up from the bed and tossed her phone down beside her bag. She took out her pyjamas, trying to block what she'd seen on the app.
"You sure?" Olivia pressed, "are you alright? You seemed a little jumpy."
"I'm okay," Ava replied, "promise."
She pushed past Liv and went to the bathroom and closed the door. Olivia eyed Ava's phone and considered helping herself to it but knew better than to invade a teenager's privacy. She sighed.
She wanted to help, she wanted to stop whatever was going on, but unless Ava wanted to share there wasn't much she could do.
/
"You can set up in here…" Olivia told Trevor showing him her office at the end of the hall. It was just on 7:30 and Trevor had just helped her carry Noah to bed; the day of excitement had taken it out of him.
"Thanks," he smiled, putting his computer down on her desk top. "How are you?," he asked, "you look pretty beat too, big night last night or something?"
She grinned, looking up at the handsome man that towered over her; his ever-intense eyes were drinking her in. "Yeah, my boyfriend kept me up pretty late," she shrugged.
He snickered almost-evilly. "I'll let you sleep tonight, I promise." He leaned over and kissed her lips. It was soft and lingering and she had longed to feel him around her all day. She slid her arms around his waist and closed the small space between their bodies.
"You're the best…" he murmured, burying his lips in to her hair, "I loved you spending time with Ava today, I hope it's not too much and if it becomes too much, you need to tell me, okay?"
"Its not too much," she replied sleepily, closing her eyes as she felt his fingers stroking her hair from the crown of her head to her shoulders. "She's the sweetest kid and I know its probably out of turn but it breaks my heart how badly she wants her mother right now and how that doesn't seem to be a priority for your ex."
She felt Trevor's shoulder's drop a little. "I know, I try to keep encouraging her to make contact with her Mom but at this point, I think its causing more hurt. I am going to call Sarah and tell her to make a choice, be a mother or fuck off and stop being cruel, she would never tell me, but it's breaking Ava's heart."
"I know…" Olivia agreed, "you have to do what you think is right for your little girl," she sighed. "I just don't think I could ever do that to Noah, no matter what I felt about his sexuality or his lifestyle or whatever…. Which by the way, I'd be okay with whatever was right for him."
"Right?" Trevor agreed, "Why the fuck does it matter?" He heaved a sigh and squeezed Olivia tight. "I just want her to be healthy and happy and I want to see her smile again and not walking around the house wearing a mask because she thinks she's fooling me."
"It'll be okay sweetheart, I promise, we'll navigate this together. I'm by your side the whole way."
Trevor put some distance between them so he could look at the woman that he was already so desperately in love with. "Thank you, I'm so happy that I have you by my side…"
"Me too," she replied. He kissed her again.
"I'm gonna go get in to my pyjamas too and I'm sorry to say but they'll be far less elaborate than last nights…"
He laughed, "I just want you to be comfortable too, baby," he replied.
/
Olivia charged her phone a little and sat in front of the TV while Trevor worked upstairs. It was silly, but she felt so comforted knowing that if it was necessary she could go up and chat to him or stop him for a break for a cuddle or a kiss and that he was the type of guy that would entirely oblige her.
She yawned and stretched. Ava eventually came down looking every bit like a child with her cartoon pajama pants and long-sleeved matching top. She had a towel over her shoulders and her wet hair over the top of it. She was holding her phone in one hand and a brush in the other.
Olivia sat up straight and smiled, "Look at that long hair of yours…it's so beautiful and as white as sand," she smiled.
Ava managed a smile. "I hate it, it gets so dry and gross and takes me forever to brush out."
"Come sit over here…. I'll brush it out for you, if you like."
Ava couldn't help but to smile, so happy that her father's choice of woman was so perfect. "I have to admit, I always dreamed of having a baby girl so I would get to do hair and all that girly stuff…"
"Maybe you and Dad can have a baby," she joked.
Olivia made a face, "I'm too old to do it again and I think your Dad is too, I'll settle for having you close with me and doing your hair…" she gave her a wink.
Ava handed over her brush. Olivia sat up strait and directed Ava to sit on a cushion in front of the couch. She carefully brushed from the ends to her scalp, trying her best not to pull and found it all very relaxing. Once she was confident that all the knots were gone she wrung out her ends.
"Do you have any hair ties?" She wondered.
Ava took one from her arm and handed it over. Olivia pulled her own hair out of the ponytail that she had it in. She parted her hair and tried to remember if she could do a reverse braid the way she wore her hair at school when she was a teen.
"Liv, can I tell you something?" Ava spoke up.
"Of course…" Olivia replied quietly.
There was some silence before Trevor's daughter pushed the words from her mouth. "I logged on to my IG before and there was a lot of comments on Rhiannon's post and I'm a little bit scared to go to school tomorrow."
Rather than panicking her or making her think it was a bigger problem than it might of been, Olivia pressed her, "what type of comments?" She wondered. She continued to casually braid her hair down her back and secured it with a hair tie and worked on the other side.
"Just…" Ava shrugged, "I dunno, they want to beat me up…"
"Ava, if a single person lays a hand on you at school they are going to deal with me okay?," she told her calmly. "Do you want Dad and I to go speak to your school?," she asked.
"No," Ava replied quickly, "that'll make it worse. I don't know what to do, but I'm starting to get a little bit scared and no one can fix it for me."
Olivia silently braided the last bit of her hair and put the towel and brush aside. "Come on, come sit up here…" she patted the spot next to her while Ava felt her hair. She smiled, "thanks Liv, no one has braided my hair like this before, well maybe once for dance but it doesn't count, it feels so cool."
Olivia smiled at her, "I'm your secret hair weapon," she chuckled. Ava jack-knifed herself beside her father's girlfriend who she adored. She curled her legs up beneath her and leaned in close, feeling comfortable enough to rest her head on her shoulder.
"Okay let's set my account up and I'll follow you," she suggested, grabbing her own phone. She had already downloaded the app. "What do you think I should call myself?"
"Hmmm," Ava thought, "My username is a nickname Dad used to call me when I was little…. Does he have any non-gross nicknames for you?"
Olivia laughed, "I don't think so, in fact, there's not even any gross ones, sorry to disappoint you," she replied.
"What about, JusticeWarrior, because that's what you are, Liv, that's what you do."
She smiled at Ava, "sure, okay let's try that." Truthfully, she wasn't interested in usernames, nor did she care about curating a special social media account. Her concern was for Ava and what she was going through. She added some numbers after the username as it had been otherwise taken.
Under Ava's direction, Olivia began to follow her and looked up her ex-friend to see what had been left and was suddenly confronted by a lot of comments of abuse and threats of violence after the text message had been shared.
"Oh, honey…" Olivia's voice trailed off, "no, no… this isn't right…" she sighed, "you poor thing… this isn't—-" she continued to scroll through it, "nope, Ava, I can't let you walk in to this tomorrow, I think we need to talk to Dad about this, this is illegal, you know? These threats…"
"I don't think they're going to follow through…"
"I know, but the fear that they might is going to be with you…I don't like this. Even if you came to me as a stranger with this, I'd say the same thing, this needs to be investigated and I'm not letting you walk in to an unsafe environment and neither will Dad, not emotionally unsafe nor physically unsafe," she said firmly. She kissed the teen's temple.
"I don't want it to get worse," Ava replied tearfully, "and it will if you or Dad do something…" Olivia put an arm around her and gave her a squeeze.
"Honey, I know it feels like that, but you have to trust that we're going to protect you," she said softly, smoothing her tearful cheeks, "I think we should have a chat to your Dad before you go to bed and try to figure something out."
She looked at Ava who wiped hers eyes and nodded.
"Its okay," Liv said softly, knowing that she was stressed out over it, "I promise it'll be okay." She went ahead and followed Ava on the social media network. Ava was about to hit follow back when Olivia's phone rang.
Olivia stared at the contact for a moment, hesitating. She looked at the teen, "I'm so sorry, hold that thought, okay?"
Ava nodded wondering who Elliot Stabler was.
"Hi," she picked up the phone.
"Olivia…" the voice trailed. She knew Elliot so well that she could pick up immediately that something was off.
"Hi Elliot, how are you?," her voice was even and slow, waiting to draw out of him whatever he needed to say and as quickly as possible so she could get back to the girl beside her.
"Liv…" he repeated her name, "Liv, I really want to see you, can I come over?"
"No, Elliot," she replied, "I don't think that's a good idea, you sound drunk."
"I just need to see you—" he replied, "please."
She tried not to feel irate at the slurring of his speech. "No, don't come here. I'm back at work on Tuesday you can see me at work, don't come to my apartment and I've asked you not to call me like this."
"Its too late," he mumbled.
"What is?," she asked. Instead he mumbled something and hung up.
She cursed under her breath. She glanced at Ava, "Sorry babe, where were we…"
"You should post a pic," Ava told her, "something cute… the pic you sent Dad and I in your onesie, that's cute…" she giggled.
"Get out of here, I'm not posting that," Olivia laughed. "What if I post the selfie we took this afternoon when we were having a little snack in the cabana?"
"Yeah!" Ava grinned, "we look cute in that pic."
Olivia scrolled through her photos and found one of dozens she had taken earlier. She worked out pretty quickly how to post a pic. "What should I write? Or is writing a comment lame?," she wondered.
Ava laughed, "You can write a comment, that's not lame."
Liv smiled and began to text. "Hanging out with my favourite girl making what is hopefully many memories." Ava explained how to tag her so that she could also share the photo.
Interrupting them was a knock at the door. "What the hell…" she remarked, "Hang on a second," she told Ava. She was angry because she knew immediately who it was.
She went to the door and opened it. Elliot stood, slumped over the doorframe. When he caught sight of her, he had a burst of energy and pushed his way inside before she could do much about it.
"El!," she pinched the bridge of her nose in sheer annoyance, "you can't be here, I have kids in my apartment, I told you not to come," she said, irritated.
"I'm sorry I had to see you," he slurred, "I've been such a dick…"
"You're being one now, Elliot, you need to go, you're drunk, you're a fucking mess!," she hissed. He stared at her for a minute, his blue eyes burning in to hers. She was serious, she wasn't playing around but all he could think about was making sure that she was aware of how much he loved her.
"I love you-" he blurted the words out.
Olivia was angry, she was angry that he had turned up, that he thought it was okay to turn up uninvited and insist even when he was told no. She was angry that he had not only come but it had clearly taken him a night of Dutch courage to turn up while fall-down drunk and knowing she had a child in the apartment. He had assumed that there was no one else on her radar— in typical Elliot-fashion, believing that he was the centre of her world still after so many years.
She'd had enough.
"Elliot, you need to leave, right now," she told him firmly.
"We need to talk, I love you, I just want to talk."
"You don't love me and there is absolutely nothing to talk about." He stumbled forward, wrapping his arms around her. She held up her hands and blocked him, making him stumble back again.
His interest was suddenly piqued by someone behind her. She looked behind her to see Ava standing, looking a little frightened and bewildered and concerned.
"Oh…" his voice trailed off, "I thought it was just Noah…" he tried to smile, but it was more of a grimace, "Captain Benson saving allllll the kids without mothers," he offered it as a joke but it came out as insensitive and cruel.
"Ava has parents," Olivia snapped, "You need to leave, I don't want you here, I told you I had kids in my house. You have no business showing up like this." She glanced at Ava who disappeared upstairs and she knew Trevor would be done in a hot second.
"Elliot, I'm not interested in any of this," she told him.
"Please-" he added, trying to hush her protests but he could barely hold himself upright. She found herself getting a little upset. "I'm so sorry," he said, "for what I did — for the letter, for everything, I didn't even write it — I love you, Kathy wrote it and-"
"What the fuck?!," she exclaimed, "Why the fuck did you give it to me then?," she shook her head, incredulous, "that's sick, Elliot, were you trying to hurt me more? Fuck you… get out of my apartment."
"No, I want to apologise."
"I don't need your apologies!," she said angrily, "I don't want them, you aren't sorry, you just need me to satisfy your fucking ego and your wounds-" she felt his hands on her shoulder, taking a step closer.
"No!" She snapped.
"Let go of her," Trevor's voice rang from behind her. He took the stairs two at a time until he met them both just inside the doorway.
Elliot looked up, startled. He looked back at Olivia and to Trevor as if he was confused. "What the hell, Liv?"
"You just need to leave and I'm not going to ask you again, I told you, I have kids in my house and my fucking boyfriend is here and I don't need you showing up talking shit."
"Trevor fucking Langan…" he remarked slowly staring at the tall man who had been his adversary for many years. He advanced upon them both at the door, getting close to Olivia. "You're fucking Trevor Langan…"
Olivia had never wanted to hit him harder but she could smell the stench of alcohol on him and knew that in the morning he probably wouldn't remember half of the bullshit he was saying. Trevor stepped in, taking Olivia's hand and pulling her back toward him.
Ordinarily she would have protested; ready to fight her own battles, but this was a little different. She took a step back and let Trevor guide her behind him protectively.
"This has got nothing to do with you, Langan," Elliot managed; suddenly angered.
Trevor wasn't a violent man, especially not with two children in the house but he was furious with the messy drunk who had put his hands on Olivia, who had angered her and he could tell he had upset her. "My kid is in the house and Olivia and her kid are in this house, so yes, actually, it's got everything to do with me." He took a step toward the door and opened it. "Get out, Elliot. Olivia has asked you a bunch of times since I've been standing here, so you need to go."
Elliot looked at Liv. "After everything between us — this is who you choose to be with?," Elliot asked her.
"There's nothing between us! There never has been! You made that so fucking abundantly clear 10 years ago!," she snapped, her voice raising and becoming more desperate for him to take on her words. "I told you, I grew up and now you're just a part of my past…"
"Get. Out!" Trevor said again, speaking in a fragmented way, angered by Olivia's ex partner.
"FUCK!" Elliot yelled in frustration as he walked out the door.
Trevor closed it behind him and turned to Liv. "Are you okay?," he asked.
She nodded but he could tell Elliot had rattled her. He took her in to his arms and wrapped them around her tightly. He kissed the crown of her head. "Its okay baby, you're allowed to be upset."
"No, it's okay," she said again. She broke free of Trevor when she heard a little thump at the door. She opened it just a tiny bit to find Elliot slumped against the wall, passed out. She shook her head and closed the door again. "I need to call Kathleen to come and get him, this is not my job."
Trevor was a little hurt that she'd pulled away quickly, but he realised Ava was hovering around. He knew Olivia was just trying to spare herself tears and wanted to get Elliot as far away from her apartment as possible. She went and grabbed her phone and had to go through her work contacts until she found his daughter's number.
It wasn't a call she wanted to make, but she had just had a slight epiphany that it wasn't up to her to constantly pick up the pieces of whatever Elliot was going through. When he'd given her the letter; one of the most hurtful things she'd ever read, she had made the decision, he wasn't going to worm his way back in to her life. That feeling was only amplified with his drunken admission.
Nope, she thought, Elliot Stabler was no longer welcome in her life.
She explained to Kathleen that her father was taking up space in her apartment hallway and she needed him to go. To her credit, Kathleen apologised and said she'd be over with her husband to pick him up.
/
"That was shitty," Trevor remarked after Kathleen left.
"Tell me about it. I'm so sorry that Ava had to witness that," Olivia remarked, glancing at his daughter who was sitting on the couch watching TV, knowing that Ava was a little too shaken up to go to bed.
"Its okay, my kid is resilient. What about you, are you okay?," Trevor asked softly, smoothing his hands over her long, soft brown hair. "You seem shaken up."
She nodded slowly, "I'm okay but I'm angry with him — with the whole situation, but… can we talk about it a little later? I just want to calm down and make sure Ava is alright."
"Okay," Trevor agreed, "do you need a hug or do you need me to give you some space?" It pained him that it felt like she was trying to push away his comfort. She glanced at him and he could see her eyes filmed over with water. She swallowed hard.
"I don't want space," she replied bravely knowing that the Olivia of past would have ran to be alone for fear of oversharing or becoming a burden on another person emotionally. "I just want you…" she murmured.
"Its okay, baby, come here…" he walked around the kitchen counter until he met Olivia on the other side where she had been pouring herself a whisky. She set the glass down and took his hands. She fell in to his arms and let herself feel the relief wash over with the comfort of a man who had so far only been true and honest with his words. "That surprise visit must have been really upsetting to you…"
"That's the second time he's turned up like that, last time it was after midnight and I was alone with Noah and…" she sighed, "it was really scary for me given what happened with…" her voice trailed off.
"And of course he probably doesn't know about any of that," Trevor added.
"Because he hasn't asked about me, not a single damn question about anything I've gone through, not about Noah, nothing… he just comes to me when he needs help on a case or there's a thing going on with one of his kids and I'm just… done."
"Its okay to feel a little heartbroken, Liv, I'm not gonna be mad at you for your feelings."
"I don't have feelings for him, Trevor, not like that…" she told him sincerely. He gave her a squeeze. "Let's just…" she took a deep breath, "let's talk about this after Ava goes to bed, we have other shit we need to address," she told him.
"Okay," he agreed. She pulled away but Trevor stopped her.
"Hey," he caught her attention. She glanced at him, a small smile spread across his lips.
"Yeah?"
"I'll always protect you, Liv," he said sincerely. "I know it might seem funny to say given that you're who you are but… I know at work you can hold your own, but when you're here with me, with family — us, I will protect you and I won't let you ever feel unsafe. I've always got you, okay?"
A small smile spread across her mouth. "Thanks, Trevor, that means a lot to me…"
He leaned over and kissed her lips softly, "I mean it," he added.
"I know, you're one of the good ones, baby…"
He let go of her and grabbed the whisky bottle and poured himself a glass too. "Can you come with me to talk with Ava?," she asked, "I think you need to keep her home from school tomorrow."
"What? Why?," he looked confused.
"I think I need to show you what's on Instagram. If it were Noah, I'd be keeping him off school until it's resolved… but you need the facts and then you need to decide what you need to do."
He followed her to the living room. "Hey angel, how are you doing?," he asked Ava who sat, still scrolling through her phone.
She shrugged, "I'm okay."
"We hope that wasn't scary for you," he added.
"Yeah," Liv added, "you don't need to worry about him, he's an old colleague of mine, he's going through a tough time."
"Sounded more like an ex-boyfriend," Ava replied a little glumly.
"Nope," Liv shook her head, "his wife recently passed and he is just drunk and stupid and isn't coping, I guess."
"Oh… so is he your friend?" She asked curiously as both Liv and Trevor sat on either side of her on the couch. Trevor sipped his whisky and Olivia field his daughter's questions because his answers would have been far less polite.
"He used to be," Olivia replied, "it's kind of a lot to get in to, but I'm glad that you and your Dad were here because I'm not comfortable with anyone turning up to my apartment like that and I'm sorry for what he said to you," she apologised.
"What did he say to her?" Trevor asked, not missing a beat.
"Nothing, it doesn't matter," Ava replied.
"It matters to me," Trevor replied, looking at Olivia expectantly.
"He asked if I was busy being a saviour to all the kids without mothers."
Ava shrugged, "It may have been intended as insult, but actually its kind of flattering if you think about it." She paused, "and… my own mother's not so crash-hot at the moment."
"Ava," Trevor warned her. "You have a mother," he said firmly, not wanting Olivia to wear that burden.
"He shouldn't have said any of it," Olivia answered, ignoring them both, "and I'm sorry that he did."
She sipped her whisky wanting it to hurry up and do its trick and warm her through and relax her. "Its okay Liv, I'm sorry about what he said to you too."
Olivia smiled at Ava's sweet and ever-present compassion. "Thanks babe, that's so sweet… but hey I was thinking we might show Dad the stuff that you showed me before."
She looked alarmed, "He's gonna be mad," she murmured as if Trevor wasn't sitting right beside her.
"Honey, I might be mad, but I'm not mad at you," he replied, "I've already told you, you can tell me anything and I will try my best to understand even if it's a little harder to get it."
Reluctantly she opened up the app and found Rhiannon's account. She passed the phone over to Trevor. He took it in his freehand and sipped his whisky as he read the image and all of the subsequent comments.
He kept very calm; Olivia was expecting him to lose his temper. Instead he continued scrolling and sipped his drink, the sips got longer until they were gulps and she could see his hand clutching the glass a little tighter as he finally finished his drink. She winced, almost tasting how the mouthful would have went down with a burn.
"Daddy? Are you mad?," Ava probed softly. He couldn't bare her to think that any of the filth he had just read was her fault. He locked the phone and shook his head and handed it back to her.
"Not mad, sweetheart, just heartbroken for you to be honest, but look—" he sighed, trying to keep his shit together, "here's what I want you to do. I want you to lock your account and I want you to delete anyone you are friends with you may have had something to do with that and you're not going to school tomorrow because despite you being such a trooper through all of this, kiddo, you shouldn't have to go to school feeling scared."
She became emotional as she had with Liv. He gave his daughter a hug and held on to her, exchanging empathetic smiles with Olivia. "And I do think we should look for a new dance school for you," he added, "I want you to feel comfortable to be who you are, honey," he told her sincerely.
"Thanks," she murmured, tucking her head beneath his chin, enjoying the support and comfort of her father.
Olivia smiled at him, she loved the fact that he was not just a good Dad, but a great Dad and put his daughter's needs ahead of his fury for what he had just seen. She knew he was angry, that he wanted to throw the phone across the room.
"I love you, sweetie, I won't let anyone hurt you, I promise."
Ava just nodded, he felt her relaxing and he wondered for how long she had been tense and wound up and waiting for someone to protect her. It hurt him to think she had been holding on to it all for far too long.
He kissed her again.
"What am I gonna do tomorrow?," she asked.
"I've got a meeting in the morning and one in the afternoon, but-"
"You can hang out with me," Liv replied, cutting in. "I have the day off and I'm gonna take Noah to school in the morning and you can either come with us or you can stay in bed and sleep while Dad takes his meeting in my office and then I'm going to be hanging out and not doing much."
"Okay, thanks Liv."
"Yeah Liv, thanks," Trevor smiled.
/
Olivia got settled in to bed, dressing down to her t-shirt and underwear. Trevor was already in bed re-reading over the messages left for his daughter on Olivia's phone. "I am going to contact Rhiannon's mother. Can you screen shot these?," he asked, "I've met her Mom and I'm pretty sure she'd be disgusted."
"I can take screen shots," Olivia confirmed.
"I'm finding her a new school. Maybe I'll check out Noah's school," he suggested. "They have a middle school campus, right?," he wondered.
"Yeah, it's all the one school until high school," she replied, inching over closer to him. "I'm sorry this is happening to Ava," she told him.
"Thanks, Liv and thank you for finding this out, she probably would never have told me if it weren't for you." He locked the phone and handed it back to her. He turned to face her, "let's talk about Elliot…"
She expected that she wouldn't be let off the hook so easily. "There's not really a lot to say, honestly," she sighed, "he gave me a letter a couple days after Kathy passed, it basically said we were never going to be a thing; that maybe in another universe it might have been, but no longer was it ever on the table."
"Wait," Trevor interrupted, "was it ever on the table?"
She managed a laugh, "No, that's what was so bizarre about it and the letter was so cruel and assumptive and he wouldn't talk to me about it… or anything really. His calls only came when he needed my help on a case or with his kids and I was concerned for him after Kathy but…" she shrugged, "just nothing… he still hasn't asked about me, hasn't asked me questions about Noah, it's just always about him and I genuinely thought he wanted to be my friend."
"You guys haven't sat down to just talk?"
She shook her head. "Well…. once, kind of. His youngest son was in a bit of hot water and I was helping him out. He asked me basically how many guys I'd been with in the time that he was gone and at the time I was a little surprised and mentioned Ed but… the more I thought about it later, the angrier I got…"
"So why did he turn up tonight?" Trevor wondered.
Olivia shrugged, "looking for a saviour, probably… but I'm not it. I have a kid to worry about and I can't have that type of person in my life; friend or other. I kind of felt like maybe there was something between us for awhile after Kathy," she admitted, "but I realised the man that I remembered him to be was mostly my imagination." She paused, trying to find the right words, "Like, in the time that he was gone, I was romanticising him, amplifying his role in my life at the time to be more than what it really was because I was lonely and … alone."
Trevor listened attentively, appreciating that she was trying so hard to be honest and direct with him. He knew that she had a tendency to be quite guarded at times.
"And since he's been back," she continued, "I'm reminded of why he is not who I want. He was an incredible partner but he could be mean and rude and very selfish…"
"So there's no feelings for him?" Trevor asked, "because I don't want to stand in your way."
She shook her head, "Nope. I feel sad that he's kind of running himself in to the ground because I still worry about him in that old partner way, but….," she paused, "you're it, Trevor, you're the one I want and the one that I…"
"The one that you what?" A small hopeful smile rested upon his lips.
"The one that I really, really want to be with." She chickened out again, "I really like what we have between us and between the kids, I don't want that to change."
He smiled, "Okay."
"And honestly he scared me a little tonight when he wouldn't leave and he kept grabbing me."
"I won't let that happen again," Trevor said. "And next time you don't answer the door to him, okay?"
She nodded.
"Good," he replied, kissing her, satisfied. There was conviction behind her words and he knew already when Olivia was being sincere. "Good," he repeated, "because I like what we have too."