The next important thing that happened in the 3 months since their return from Rome was their camping trip. Olivia was beginning to feel like she might be better off permanently putting Fin as Captain with how much work she had been missing lately but the truth was she still couldn't feel bad for it.
Noah was her life and he would only be little for so long. Before she knew it he'd be heading off to college and buying a house and getting married so she was going to enjoy every little memory she could make with him, and now that Elliot was in the picture? The 3 of them couldn't get enough of each other. They always wanted to be together.
She felt like she finally had the opportunity to live that picture perfect life she used to dream of, a man to call her own, her amazing son. It was everything she ever could have wanted. She was quickly burning through her vacation time but it was towards the end of summer so they wouldn't be able to go do much soon anyways.
When they arrived at the campgrounds Noah was just bubbling with joy and excitement. When they finally made their way to their plot Elliot began trying to find the flattest area to pitch the tent. Him and Olivia had had a disagreement about whether to use a tent or an RV or pop up camper.
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"I'll go to the store and get the tent if you can make the reserva-" Olivia interrupted before he could finish. "Tent?" She asked eyes widening in surprise. "Yeah. Tent. Ya know. Camping. That's the thing you sleep in." He bites off sarcastically. "I don't remember agreeing to that."
He made his way around the island to her side. "Well what would you suggest an RV or a pop up camper?" He laughed at the idea. "Yeah." She replied with the most serious tone and facial expression. "That's hardly camping Liv." He placed a hand on her hip as she continued making the 3 of them lunch. "Well I'm not sleeping on the ground." She insisted, slicing Noah's sandwich in half.
"What am I supposed to tell Noah. I promised him camping. Real camping?" His eyebrows raise involuntarily and she chuckles. "I'm not sure but I'm not sleeping on the ground. We're too old for that." She added as she placed Noah's sandwich on a plate and poured him a cup of juice. "What if I got us an air mattress?" She rolled her eyes. 'An air mattress?" Her voice sounds unamused and unconvinced by the idea. "Yeah, It's just for a few days." He takes a bite of his sandwich and sets it back on the plate.
"I'll get an extra large tent. One that has the extra space just for the mattress. Noah can make a spot on the floor next to us." He elaborates trying to convince her.
She rolls her eyes again and inevitably smiles and he knows he's got her. Sucker. He thinks to himself. Before she can even say anything she knows that he knows shes going to submit when he smiles and wraps his arms around her waist planting a kiss on her cheek through a smile.
"It'll be great. Noah will love it." Elliot adds to soften her to the idea. "Fine." She replies as she walks away and he can't help but stare at her ass as she makes her way to the table. He was in love with that woman, they had such a soft spot for each other and often found themselves in scenarios where they couldn't resist each other's smiles and charming demeanor.
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Elliot places some lawn chairs in the grass for Liv and Noah to sit while he begins building the tent but no more than 10 minutes pass and Noah's helping him. Olivia laughs as they struggle to get all the rods in the right places so that the tent stands up straight.
"Amateurs." She mutters and stands to help them too. She had never built a tent either but surely a woman's touch would do the trick. When they finally got it set up Elliot began blowing up the air mattress. He had gotten this one specifically because it came equipped with an electric pump that you could attach the cigarette lighter in the car, and he wanted nothing to do with a manual pump. Once he got it blown up he rolled up the cord and tucked it in its compartment and carried the mattress to the tent.
As soon as Elliot had the mattress placed on the ground Noah was all too quick to ask if they could go fishing and Elliot agreed. They got their fishing rods and headed to the water. Elliot showed Noah how to bait his hook and showed him how to cast his line and how to tell when he had a fish.
When it came time for Noah to try it himself Elliot wrapped his hands around Noah's and helped him draw his arms backwards to throw the line out. It made a loud plop noise when the bobber hit the water. "So what now?' Noah asked when Elliot let go of his hands. "You wait until you get a fish." Elliot informed him as he made his way over to Liv who was sitting in her lawn chair near the edge of the water looking at a worm in the cup and holding her hook in her hand.
He chuckles at the sight. She's so adorable in her little sweater vest and sunglasses pinning her hair up out of her eyes. "Want me to help you with that?" He asks but already knows the answer. "I don't want worm guts all over my fingers." She admits and hes surprised she was so forthcoming with the information, it didn't even take any prying, and he can't help but chuckle. "Okay come here." She walks over to him near the waters edge and he takes a worm from the cup. He positions himself behind her and wraps his arms around her to help her put it on.
Once upon a time he had been helping Maureen put a worm on a hook and when she didn't hold the pole still the line swung around and the hook had lodged itself through his pants and had poked his thigh-way too close to his manhood-so he wasn't taking any risks.
With his arms wrapped around her, her arms resting on top of his, he took the hook between his fingers and slipped the worm onto it, looping it around it several times and hooking it again. When it was secure and he was ready to release it he let her know to walk slowly towards the water.
He followed behind her and returned his arms around her waist to help her grab the pole and show her how to cast her line. She had been embarrassed to tell him but she had never been fishing before and he was more than happy to show her. He helped her press the button and hold it as he raised their arms above their heads and he knew the line, and the hook, were behind them. He couldn't help but tense his ass in anticipation and fear of a hook getting lodged into him again as he threw their arms forward to cast the line out.
When the line reached the end of the throw and plopped into the water they were bent over slightly, Elliot's crotch pressed against her backside as they straightened themselves into a standing position again. He slowly releases her hands from his grasp and retracts his body from hers. "Well that's it. You did it. If you want to go ahead and try again you can or you can leave it there. That seems like a good spot."
Olivia glances out at her line in the water using her hand to shield her eyes from the sun refracting off the water. "I think that's a good spot." She agrees, as if she has any idea what she's talking about but he thinks it's adorable. He truly adores her and everything she says and does. She places her fishing rod in the holder that Elliot had gotten all of them and looks back for her chair.
Elliot is already positioning it underneath her and she shoots him a warm glance and takes a seat. Elliot casts out his own line and takes a seat in his chair between her and Noah. It was a strategic move in case either of them caught a fish and didn't know what to do.
A while passes with them all just taking in the view and the sounds-the little ripples in the water, the birds chirping, it really was a beautiful place. After about an hour he could tell Noah was getting exceptionally bored and was ready to call it quits. Noah was picking at little pieces of grass beside him and squinting. He had moved from the chair to the ground about 15 minutes ago clearly feeling restless.
When Elliot looked out at the water he noticed that Noah's bobber was no longer sitting on the surface and jumped to his feet. "Noah you've got a bite buddy." Noah anxiously hurried to his feet and tried to grab his pole. When Noah took it in his hands and quickly started reeling in the line at an exceptional speed Elliot reminded him not to go too fast otherwise he might break the line. After a few minutes Noah started to struggle and Olivia was glaring daggers at him and tilting her head towards Noah silently pleading for Elliot to help him.
"You've got this buddy." Elliot offered words of encouragement and shot her glance as he dropped his hand towards the ground a couple times urging Olivia to wait a moment. "I'm here if you need me." He added to assure him.
A few more minutes pass and when Noah finally gets the fish close to the bank his arms are beginning to tire and he can't get up out of the water. Elliot notices him struggling and wraps his arms around him, placing his hands over Noah's and giving the line a gentle tug upwards. The line rises out of the water and they lay it down on the ground. As soon as the fish is on the ground Noah excitedly jumps up and down alternating between looking at Olivia and Elliot. "Good job buddy!" Elliot praised him, lifting a hand to give him a high five.
Noah quickly moves his hand to meet Elliots and looks back at his mom. "Did you see that??" He asks excitedly with wide eyes and an even wider smile. "I did baby. You did great. I'm so proud of you!!" She says wrapping her hand around his head and pulling him into her waist for a moment giving him a quick hug before releasing him.
Elliot squats down and rests his weight on one knee as he begins trying to remove the fish from the hook but before he has a chance Olivia calls out. "Uh.. El.." she said faintly and he quickly looked up. "I got a fish." She blurted out nervously. "Okay okay." He was quickly on his feet again, hurrying to her robust backside. His crotch rubs against her jeans as he wraps his arms around her once again and helps her reel in the line when she doesn't move.
Surely this was intentional, if Noah could reel in his fish and she had just watched him do it, she could definitely do it on her own, but he wasn't complaining. He enjoyed the feeling of her body pressed against his own.
When they finally get it up onto the bank in front of them he takes a deep breath and backs away. "Elliot what are we doing with the fish?" Noah asks eagerly. "Well buddy I don't like fish so I'm going to be eating burgers or hot dogs but since you and your mom both like fish we're going to cook them."
Noah's eyes go wide and he asks how they're going to cook them. "We're going to get all these scales off and we're going to fillet them and then we're going to cook it over the fire in some oil." Noah tries to grab the fish to carry it back to their campsite but makes an unhappy noise when he feels the sliminess of it.
"I'll get it buddy." Elliot chuckled slipping both of the fish into the basket so he could carry them back. He had never filleted a fish before but he had seen it done and had looked up a video as a refresher course. When they arrived back at the camp site Elliot set the fish on the table and made his way inside the tent where he had put all of their belongings.
He found his recently purchased fillet set and made his way back outside. So step one is to clean the fish. He advises Noah that it's kinda nasty and that he may not want to be present but Noah is primed and ready to go, he's eager and all in. Elliot places the fish on the cutting board and begins trying to descale it, Noah just at his side. When he's completely removed all the scales he begins trying to fillet it but can't quite remember the steps. He knows you have to cut along the skeleton of the fish to keep the bones out of it but doesn't remember precisely where to cut first.
Olivia notices him struggling and feels the need to save him. "Noah sweetie can you come help me for a moment?" With that Elliot begins trying to cut the fish again and just butchers it. He didn't cut it in the right place and there's bones everywhere and while he's sure he could probably salvage it if he tried him and Liv exchange a knowing glance and she nods and shoots him a smile.
"Well buddy this fish isn't going to work, it's a bit slimy and it's got some gashes and stuff so I'm not sure it's a good idea for you guys to eat them." Elliot says feeling too proud to admit he had messed it up. He wants to show Noah all these things about being a man. He just had to learn them himself. He never had a dad who was willing to teach him. He's expecting Noah to be disappointed but he just smiles and says "Yay hamburgers!" and it makes Elliot feel a whole lot better at the incident.
"Do I have to use bread?" Noah asks as Elliot forms some hamburger patties in the palm of his hand. Elliot looks at Liv who has lowered her eyes at him daring him to say what she knows he's about to. "No. You don't have to use a bun." Elliot turns to Noah whose face is lighting up with excitement. When he looks back to Liv she's glaring at him and he shrugs his shoulders. He knows he'll be in trouble later but he figured it'd be worth it. Besides he had come to find out he secretly likes being in trouble with her.
He'd never admit that to anyone, even her, but it was his guilty pleasure. When all the burgers were pattied up and ready to be cooked he moved to the fire ring and collected several logs of wood that he balanced together overtop of a small teepee of sticks and brush below it.
He explained to Noah what he was doing as he lit a match and slipped into the brush below the logs. When it caught fire but the wind blew it out he leaned down and started blowing on it. "What are you doing.?" Noah asked as he watches Elliot blow on the hot embers. "Wind helps fire." "The wind just blew the fire out though." Noah says with a confused look. "It did but that's because there was too much wind. Fire has to have a little bit of wind to breathe." He said leaning down and blowing gently on it a few more times. When it caught fire again he quickly pulled his face away to avoid smoke getting in his eyes.
"Woah." Noah muttered excitedly and watched as the fire grew bigger and bigger. Once the fire had grown hot enough and wasn't going to fizzle out but wasn't too excessively large Elliot sat a rack overtop the ring of the fire and set a pan on top of it. He places the burgers inside the pan and cooked them all until there were none left.
They ate their burgers with some chips and Elliot had one more surprise for Noah. He headed to the tent and collected a bag of marshmallows, some skewers, chocolate, and some Graham crackers.
Noah had heard of s'mores before but had never had one himself and Elliot and Olivia both helped him assemble it. Elliot helped him roast a marshmallow and Olivia snapped some photos of them before helping him place it on a graham cracker that was already lined with a bar of chocolate. She pushed the top Graham cracker down on the top of the marshmallow and drew the skewer back to slide the marshmallow off.
Once it was assembled Noah looked at it with wide eyes and licked his lips. "Go ahead champ." Elliot chuckled and Noah opened this mouth wide to shove it in. As soon as he took a bite he was noticeably pleased with it. "Mmm" he moaned through a mouth full of chocolate, marshmallow and graham crackers. And they both chuckled. Elliot made Liv a s'more too and it felt cheesy when they laid on a blanket next to the fire and he hand fed it to her. She took one bite and was reminded how sugary they were and didn't want anymore.
When 3/4ths the s'more remained Elliot didn't hesitate to funnel it into his own mouth. "I think I need a shot of insulin." he joked only a moment later.
After that they all cuddled around the warm fire for a while and watched as the night faded away. The sky was riddled with stars and they all lay on their backs looking at them. Noah seen it as opportunity to find different objects in the stars and point them out and they couldn't help but laugh. None of them were used to such things. In the city the most they had ever seen was when Elliot took Liv to his rooftop but even then the bright city lights made the stars much dimmer than what they are currently.
"Mom," Noah starts and flips onto his side towards Elliot and her. "Yeah sweetheart?" She asks flipping on her own side to face him, Elliot's hand resting comfortably on her hip. "How far away is the moon?" He glances up at it. Liv glances back at Elliot over her shoulder and he shrugs his. "I'm not sure baby. I think it's like over 200 thousand miles away." Elliot pulls his phone out of his pocket to Google it but has almost no service and slides it back into his pocket. "We'll have to look it up when we get back buddy." Elliot assured him.
After a while of laying there Liv and Elliot got tired and felt incredibly old when they went to move and felt completely stiff. It made them feel slightly better when they looked over to find Noah fast asleep. "Maybe we're not so old. We made it longer than him." Elliot joked scooping him up into his arms and carrying him to the tent. Elliot holds him for a moment while Olivia makes a small blanket pad for Elliot to lay him on and Elliot gently lowers him down onto it.
Olivia slides a pillow under Noah's head and Elliot throws a blanket over him. The fire wasn't quite out yet but had died down enough that they could go to bed without worrying about it. Once they got Noah settled Olivia was the first to jump into bed and cover up, feeling slightly chilly already now that there's not the heat from the fire warming her skin.
Elliot climbs in st the bottom of the bed and crawls up towards her. As he nears her she begins scolding him for earlier. "No bread?" She asks and he inevitably smirks and shrugs his shoulders as he continues crawling towards her. "I've got a sweet spot for him, what can I say?" He says with a charming grin. "But no bread?" She reiterates trying to ignore his grin. The goddamned grin that had gotten him his way on numerous occasions, and when he climbs on top of her, his body hovering above hers she knows that she can't stay mad.
His thick arms are closing her in as his tight chest rubs her clothes against her body. He sees the look in her eyes-the lust-the love she has for him and yet again knows he's off the hook. "Goddamn it Elliot." She mumbles into his shoulder as he leans down to place a soft kiss on her neck. "Don't be mad baby." He whispered softly and seductively as he placed another kiss on her shoulder. And then her collar bone. And then her chest.
She was mad. She wanted Noah to have more sustenance than just meat to his diet but good god his lips would be the death of her and she couldn't deny it any longer. She finally conceded to him and contradicted the words she wanted to say.
"I'm not." She muttered. Placing a hand on the back of his head to encourage him to keep going.
Are air mattresses loud?
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The following 3 days were just as eventful. There were plenty of positive things she could say about Elliot but she loved that he always found a way to make the most of their time together. They spent their time swimming, doing more fishing, kayaking, telling stories by the campfire, the list went on and on. He had even convinced her to go skinny dipping their last night while Noah was asleep. He had brought a baby monitor and placed it strategically in view of Noah sleeping. The water wasn't far from their camp site and all of the other campers were either old or had checked out that afternoon and he seized the opportunity.
He initially brought the monitor thinking maybe he could set out some food and catch some animals on video for Noah to see. He thought it'd be a fun thing for Noah to see the wildlife and how close they really were to it. However he was more than happy to use it for what they did that night. They weren't gone more than 20 minutes but he had convinced her in the dead of the night.
He had gotten hot and thought back to his young days and how he was always an upstanding gentleman who never did anything crazy, and decided in the spur of the moment that just once he wanted to do something wild. So they did. Together and it was ridiculous and criminal even but boy did it get their adrenaline going.
They hurried back to shore to slip their clothes on when they started to get chilly and then hurried back to the campsite. Maybe they were getting older but damn it they were going to enjoy the time that they had left.
When the trip was over they sat down to have a serious discussion about how neither of them wanted to be apart anymore before returning to their own homes. In the end tears were shed but they agreed that soon, no matter what, they would figure out a viable solution no matter the costs.