Back to You

Ch.20

"Chill, Liz. You got all night," Dickie said as he sat down at one of the bar stools.

"Yeah! Where's Livvie? Livvie!" Eli shouted as he kicked off his light up shoes and ran into the living room.

Olivia came out of the nursery with Noah on her hip "Hey everyone, long time no see."

"Livvie!" Eli yelled as he ran to her, hugging her legs.

She ran her hand through his hair and hugged him to her "Eli! How are you doing? I've missed you."

"Oh God, Liv! He has talked about you and Noah nonstop," Maureen confided as she went to Olivia and embraced her in a warm hug. "How are you? It's been too long. "

"Well I guess Eli has warmed you all up for this" Olivia chuckled as she looked between all of the Stabler kids and Elliot "I'm great Maureen, really I have never been better. How have you been?"

"Oh we're good, Liv." Kathleen chimed in as she joined them and gave her a hug, running her hand down Noah's leg, "Who is this little guy?"

"It's Noah, Katie," Eli said as he stood up on the couch to get a better look at him "He likes ice cream and he's super fun. Can I play with him?" He asked eagerly.

"Yeah, of course! Here's his toys, but dinner should be ready soon," she told him as she gave Noah a kiss on the head and put him on his play mat with Eli.

"How about we let Liv take a breath before you guys all jump on her with questions, huh?" Elliot told them as he came in from the kitchen and took her hand in his.

"El, I'm fine. Really. I've missed them all as well and I'm sure I have just as many questions for them as they do for me," she told him, lightly squeezing his hand to give him reassurances.

"So is there anything else we need to know, other than the fact you two are together now?" Dickie questioned as he pushed himself off the stool and made his way towards where the group was gathered.

"Uh ... well, El?" Olivia stuttered, getting slightly flustered, and looking to Elliot for some guidance.

"Well, I guess not. We were going to tell you all over dinner but I guess some people just can't wait for us to announce it," He said looking pointedly looking at his oldest son.

"Sorry," Dickie mumbled and rolled his eyes as he left the group and went into the living room to see Noah and Eli.

"Don't worry about him, I'll talk to him later," Elliot told Olivia as he kissed her cheek.

"Yeah, Liv. That's just how he is. He isn't really good with change," Maureen said as she gave her arm as gentle squeeze and made her way to the living room.

"Do you think we could talk for a minute?" Kathleen asked Olivia, motioning towards the kitchen.

Olivia nodded and followed her into the kitchen, allowing them a little bit of privacy "What did you want to talk about?"

"Um... I don't know if I ever really thanked you for being there for me when I was younger. With the disease and everything else, you were always behind me, helping me to be the person you knew I could be." She took a deep breath and enveloped Olivia in a hug, taking her by surprise. "I know my parents have always been there for me, but you had an outsider approach and it just meant the world to me that you did all of that for me ... for my family."

Olivia pulled back and held her tears at bay "You don't have to thank me, Kathleen. I would do that for any one of you. You all have a special place in my life. The greatest thanks is that you have turned into a beautiful woman, inside and out, and I couldn't be more proud of you."

"Thanks, Liv. I'm working with a group that helps at risk youth as well another that helps parent's understand and deal with children with mental diseases. I have an amazing fiancé," she told Olivia holding out her left hand "And I know that I wouldn't have any of this if I didn't accept my disease and take the action I needed to and  it's really all because of you."

Olivia took her hand and admired the engagement ring that sat on her ring finger. It was simple but elegant 2 carat diamond with a white gold band. "Kathleen, it's beautiful," she gushed, "I hope I get to meet the lucky guy one day. I am truly so happy for you, honey."

Kathleen smiled just at the thought of her fiancé, "His name is Aaron. We will definitely have to set up a coffee date or something like that one day." Kathleen gave her another brief hug and started into the living room "Oh, and Liv?" she asked and Olivia turned back to her "I'm happy for you and my dad. There isn't anyone else in the world I would want him to be with, and over the last month or so, he's been really happy. He's back to his old self," and with that, Kathleen walked away to join the rest of her family.

Elliot made his way into the kitchen "What was that about?" he asked, gesturing towards Kathleen.

"Nothing, all good things." She told him, giving him a hug and a peck on the lips "You have some amazing children, you know that?"

"Yeah. I just want to figure out what's going on with Dickie. I don't want him to be upset about any of this," he confided.

"Just talk to him after dinner. Give him the chance to explain to you how he feels about it or whatever is going through his head," she told him, running her hands up his chest. "I'm not too worried about it, he has the right to feel however he wants about this. Just let him process it."

He dropped his head down, leaving a gentle kiss on her lips "I love you so much. Thank you for being so understanding."

"They're your kids, El. They are your first priority, as they should be, and I want this to work for all of us," she encouraged.

"I know, but you're a major priority too. How about we have dinner and enjoy the rest of the evening and I'll talk with Dickie after?" he ran his fingers through her hair, enjoying the feel of her silky locks falling through his rough hands. She nodded her head and he kissed her once more.

They all sat down at the table to enjoy their meal, minus Noah who was in the high chair. The conversation throughout dinner remained light. Lizzie talked nonstop about college and how it was the time of her life. Maureen told her all about her husband of two years, James, and her career in PR. Kathleen chimed in now and again with plans for the wedding and how different it was living with someone full time again. Eli was a regular chatter box, providing entertainment for the whole group.

They all asked questions of their father's new relationship with Olivia, which they happily answered, as well as Noah and his adoption. The only one remaining relatively quiet was Dickie. After dinner had ended and they were cleaning off the table, Elliot took Dickie aside.

"What's going on in that head of yours, Dickie?" Elliot asked him.

"I don't know really. It's just weird seeing you with her and Noah," he shrugged and busied his hands with the edges of the pillow.

"Weird how?" he questioned as he sat back on the couch.

Dickie dropped the pillow on the couch and looked to his father "I feel like you're happier with Olivia and Noah than you ever were when you were with Mom and us."

Elliot was taken aback by the honesty Dickie was giving him and it stung. The last thing he wanted, for any of his children, was for them to feel slighted or that he loved them any less. When he had worked with Olivia, Dickie had his own thoughts and opinions about it and since the actual relationship was still  very new, they had never really talked man to man about the deep rooted feelings and emotions that he had for Olivia after all of the years, on and off the job. He took a deep breath and decided that honesty was going to be the best way to deal with this and he prepared to lay all of that out there with the hope that his son would understand.