Partners For Life [A Bensler FanFic]

Sixteen

The next morning, Elliot got up way before his girlfriend did. He went downstairs and started to get stuff around for breakfast, while also listening for any sign of his kids or girlfriend stirring.

"Morning, Daddy." Lizzie smiled, as she came into the kitchen nearly an hour before any of her other siblings would even be awake.

"What are you doing up so early, honey?"

"I didn't get to see you last night, so I got up earlier for us to hang out." Lizzie replied.

"Liz, you didn't have to do that. You should head back upstairs and get some more sleep." Elliot spoke. He moved to his daughter and kissed her blonde curls, before trying to turn her back towards the living room.

"Daddy, I'm not going back to bed! I missed you!" Lizzie exclaimed. Elliot nodded before hugging his daughter close.

"Okay, but if you are tired at school, it is your fault. Not mine." Elliot smiled.

Lizzie helped her father make breakfast and set the table before they just sat in the living room and chatted. 

"So I heard you talking to Mo last night about Olivia. Does she really want to be our Momma? Because I'd love to have another Momma... one that will stick around." Lizzie breathed.

"Do you want her to be your Momma? Liz, I know that you miss your Mama a lot."

"Mama won't be back, Daddy. Never." Lizzie frowned, as tears welled in her blue eyes. Elliot nodded hesitantly, before reaching out and rubbing his daughter's back gently.

"Olivia would love to be your Momma, sweet girl. She said that she has six kids, not just one. She loves you all so much."

"We love her too, Daddy. A lot... especially since she is giving us a baby sister."

///

Elliot and Olivia got the day off, so he didn't wake Olivia up. He let her sleep in, and she woke up at around eleven.

"Why is the sun up?" Olivia yawned as she slowly walked down the stairs and found her boyfriend folding laundry in the living room.

"Because it's eleven. It's almost lunchtime." Elliot smiled.

"What?! I had things I had to do this morning! I needed to sign permission slips, make lunches, Lizzie wanted me to braid her hair, and Kathleen needed me to help her find her cleats!" Olivia exclaimed. She quickly walked into the kitchen and started to look for the stack of permission slips she needed to sign, but she didn't find them.

"Elliot Stabler, where are they?!" Olivia cried.

Elliot quickly grabbed his girlfriend by her waist, before turning her around to face him.

"Babe, relax. I signed them this morning, Maureen braided Lizzie's hair, and our sitter made lunches last night. We still need to find the cleats, but that can wait for a bit because Kathleen's game isn't until four this afternoon. Take a breath and let's sit down."

"I let the kids down." Olivia whispered.

"What? No, you didn't! You had a hard day at work, and they know that. You needed your sleep, and so did our daughter." Elliot replied quickly. Olivia didn't let the kids down, especially since she was still here and their biological mother was nowhere to be found.

"El-"

"You are here, Olivia. You spend more hours with these kids than I thought you would. I would come home from work and find you playing games with the kids or cuddling with Eli. I can't remember a day where I'd come home and find Kathy actually having fun with the kids... instead she was always yelling at them or trying to keep the house clean. You seem to enjoy being their mother."

"Did they say that they want me to be their mother? Because I'd love to actually have a title... even if they don't call me it." Olivia whispered.

"Liz wants to call you Momma. Maureen said that there isn't a reason to hold on to hope in regards to Kathy, especially since she is never coming back. So I think that you have a title. We just have to wait till they call you it." Elliot smiled.

"Thanks for talking me down." Olivia sniffled as she wiped tears from her cheeks.

"That's kinda my job as your boyfriend, huh?" Elliot spoke, and Olivia nodded.

"It's going to be a second full-time job, trust me."

///

Olivia found Kathleen's cleats in the attic for some weird reason. But she cleaned them up before they left for the soccer game that Kathleen had been nervous about for the last several days.

"Hey, sweetie. I found them." Olivia smiled as she walked over to where Kathleen was sitting on the bench.

"Thank you so much, Momma!" Kathleen exclaimed, as she jumped over the bench and quickly hugged Olivia.

Olivia's eyes went wide, but she didn't bring up what Kathleen called her. She just held her close before kissing the top of her head.

"How are you feeling about the game?" Olivia asked, as Kathleen sat down again before quickly kicking her sneakers off and pulling her cleats on.

"I'm so nervous. I don't think that I'll do good." Kathleen frowned.

"Why not? You are a great goalie." Olivia replied.

"We are up against one of the best teams. They always win, and I feel like we are losing more often than winning. Whenever we go up against them, Mama was always here to cheer me on and I'm so nervous. Like, what if she was the only reason I did so good?" Kathleen sniffled. Olivia shook her head as she squatted down in front of her.

Olivia reached out and caressed Kathleen's cheeks before smiling at her.

"Love, you are great at soccer. You are the reason you did so good. Your mother wasn't. And don't worry about her not being here, because I'm here. I will cheer you on, because I'm just as proud of you as she is. Now, Kathleen... go kick some ass."

"I'm going to go kick some ass." Kathleen smiled.