Partners For Life [A Bensler FanFic]

Seventeen

Olivia had been to a few of Kathleen's games before, but not one that was intense as this one. Kathleen tried her hardest to stay as concentrated as possible, but everyone could see that she was nervous. The pep talk she had with Olivia helped for a bit, but now she was nervous again.

"How is she doing?" Maureen asked once she finally showed up with her younger siblings. Olivia quickly took Eli from her before sighing softly.

"She's scared to death about this game. She thinks that the only reason she was good before was because of your mother." Olivia frowned.

"Mama rarely came to her games... not like you."

"What?" Olivia asked, as Eli squirmed from her arms before quickly running over to where Dickie and Lizzie were sitting together in the grass.

"I think our mother attended two games a season. You showed up more than her, and Dad even got out of work early to attend. But my mother, the lady who didn't work, couldn't come to her daughter's games." Maureen huffed.

Olivia frowned deeply as the coach called a timeout. She hadn't realized that she was already a better mother to these kids, even before she took on this role.

///

Kathleen's team didn't win the game, but it was extremely close. Kathleen took a ball to the face, so she was taken out early and sat on the bench beside Olivia as her nose bled.

"That is not how I expected my game to end." Kathleen mumbled, as Olivia cleaned up her nose before they headed home. 

"You still did great today, honey." Olivia smiled.

"Do you think it's broken?" Kathleen grumbled.

"Nope, it's not broken. Your father and I have had our share of broken noses, and this isn't one. Now, let me get your other shirt and you can change before we head home."

"Thanks for cheering me on the whole game. It meant a lot." Kathleen spoke softly as Olivia got into Kathleen's bag before grabbing her spare t-shirt.

"I love you a lot, Kathleen. It's kinda my job to cheer for you now." Olivia replied.

"Did Mo tell you about how my Mama never came to my games that often? How she always skipped my games?" Kathleen asked weakly.

"She did."

"I was really upset when my mother left, but I honestly don't know why. I feel like she always did the bare minimum. Especially towards the end. I asked her to come to my last game of the season last year, and she skipped it. She said that she was too tired to come... but you were there. You cheered me on with Dad... You have been here more for me than my mom has." Kathleen sniffled.

"Kid, you should have told me this sooner. Maybe I could have-"

"I don't want her anymore. If she came back, I wouldn't want to see her. I wish she wasn't even my mother, I wish that you were..."

"Babe, you called me Momma earlier. I don't want you to forget about her, but if you want to keep calling me that then I fine. I'd like to be your mother."

"Then I guess you are. You don't see her here cleaning blood off my face. Or spending the night scrubbing blood out of my jersey."

///

Over the next several weeks, all the kids started to call Olivia either mom or momma. It made her feel more apart of the family than at the start or even when she found out she was pregnant. The school year came to an end, and all the kids finally got time off for summer vacation. The twins went to a summer camp for two weeks, while Kathleen and Maureen took Eli to stay with Kathy's mother.

It was weird for Olivia and Elliot to have two weeks without kids in the house, but it gave them more time to make space for their daughter and start thinking about her name.

"It's small, but it works." Olivia spoke as she and her boyfriend stood in the storage room that was across from their bedroom.

"We might need a bigger house." Elliot sighed as he opened the window to hopefully air out the paint fumes so Olivia didn't feel as dizzy from them.

"We can make this work, El. She's going to be little for a while, and she could totally stay in here until Maureen graduates and goes to college."

"I don't want Maureen to go to college." Elliot breathed.

"I don't either, but she will eventually leave the nest and we have to let it happen." Olivia frowned. She walked over to her boyfriend before wrapping her arms around his waist. She kissed the back of his head before resting her cheek against his shoulder.

"She'll be leaving the house not long after our little girl comes into the house. It's weird."

"You should have been aware that starting over was a possibility when you didn't use a condom." Olivia teased.

"Okay, leave me alone. I'm going to go look up names, while you continue to make fun of me." Elliot huffed, before leaving the room.

Olivia sighed before starting to pick up the room a bit, before stopping when her phone started to ring in her pocket. She pulled it out before smiling when she saw it was Maureen.

"Hey, sweetie. I'm so happy to hear from you." Olivia smiled, but instead of hearing Maureen reciprocate her happiness, she heard her sniffling.

"Love? What's wrong? Mo, please tell me." Olivia spoke quickly.

"She just showed up." Maureen sobbed into the phone.

"What? Who?" Olivia questioned rapidly as she moved from the room and went to find her boyfriend.

"I can't believe she has to the balls to show up here! I hate her and I want her to just go even further away than she is right now!" Maureen yelled.

"Kathy is there?"

"Yes!" Maureen cried.

"I will be there soon. Daddy and I will come and pick you three up, okay?"

"Please hurry."

///

Olivia and Elliot raced to New Jersey to get the girls and Eli. Elliot was that silent type of angry that made the air around him seem thicker and full of tension. Olivia stayed quiet to make sure she didn't make her boyfriend more upset, and because she was figuring out things to say to Kathy. 

"Get the kids and take them home. I'll drive Mo's car home after I bitch Kathy out." Elliot grumbled as he parked behind Maureen's vehicle.

"No, I'm going to say some things to her, so we will get the kids out into the car. Then we can bitch her out together before heading home. Okay?"

"What do you have to bitch her out about?" Elliot huffed, and Olivia rolled her eyes as she turned and looked at him.

"She hurt our kids, El. I think that is enough."