Partners For Life [A Bensler FanFic]

Thirty-Five

The service went well, and Tallulah was on her best behavior for some strange reason. When everything was done, Olivia took her time leaving so that she could see Elliot one last time.

"You had the same idea as me." Elliot smiled as he reached out and gently touched Tally's curls.

"I wanted to see you one last time before next weekend." Olivia breathed. She had missed Elliot so much, and seeing him again made her crave him, almost. 

"Now that I get to see you weekly, I think everything will be easier." Elliot replied softly. Olivia nodded before stepping closer to Elliot and pecking his cheek softly.

"Do you want to get some coffee? Maybe lunch?" Elliot asked as Olivia stepped back and shifted Tally to her other hip.

"We are having a big lunch at home, it's our Sunday tradition... but maybe sometime during the week. Then the kids wouldn't find out."

"It's a date." Elliot smiled, and Olivia laughed.

"No, it's not. But there might be a kiss. Now, I gotta get this baby outside before her siblings come searching. I'll see you around, El." Olivia spoke.

"I'll call you to set up lunch!" Elliot exclaimed, as Olivia walked towards the door.

"Call my desk phone!"

///

A big lunch was eaten before the kids spread out through the house to do what they wanted. Olivia came downstairs after putting Tally down for her nap and went straight to the kitchen to clean up. She stopped short when she spotted Maureen doing the dishes.

"You didn't have to do that... I just needed to put your sister down before tackling these." Olivia spoke, and Maureen nodded slowly.

"This is an apology."

"An apology? When did my children start apologizing?" Olivia asked with a weak laugh.

"I called you by your first name, and that wasn't right."

"Oh, so you are apologizing for that and not for being a jerk last night?" Olivia sighed.

"Mom-"

"Maureen, I know that you are angry at your father still, but please give him a shot in the future. He plans on cleaning up his mess so he can be around for you and the others."

"Do you still love him?" Maureen frowned as she turned around and looked at her mother.

"I don't think that I could ever stop loving your father." Olivia whispered.

"I don't want you to get hurt again... you are too amazing to get your heart broken by the same man again and again. I know that you don't want to close your heart to a possible future with someone, but why him? You could have more kids with another man... like what about Brian Cassidy?! I know you dated him before!" Maureen exclaimed.

"Brian Cassidy is not marriage or father material. If he would have been the one to knock me up, Tally and I would have been on our own long before she took her first breaths." Olivia sighed.

"Mom-"

"If I want to be with your father, you will just have to accept that fact. He loves and misses us all, and he wants to make things right. Please, just don't make things intentionally harder for him, because you disapprove."

///

Elliot didn't want to seem desperate, but he couldn't wait to see Olivia any longer. So on Tuesday, he called her and asked to have lunch with her. Olivia accepted without another thought, and at noon she took her hour lunch break and met up with Elliot.

"Those slacks really make your ass look great." Elliot grinned as Olivia joined him at their table.

"My ass always looks great, especially when I was pregnant with Tally." Olivia spoke. She leaned down and kissed Elliot's temple before sitting across from him.

"You were adorable when you were pregnant with Tally. I can still remember waking up and find you cradling your belly or being awake and trying to talk to Tally." Elliot smiled.

"Do you want more kids?" Olivia blurted out, and Elliot's eyes went wide as he thought. He took a few minutes before nodding.

"Yeah, I'd love more kids with you. I know that everyone probably thinks that six is enough, but with you... I don't think I'd ever say no to another baby." Elliot replied. Olivia nodded before sighing deeply.

"Maureen still doesn't approve." Olivia frowned.

"I'm not surprised. She's stubborn." 

"She wants to protect me, and I understand that. But I really don't want to believe that you would hurt me again."

"I don't want to, baby. I want any tears that run down your cheeks to come from happiness and not sadness."

"Have you figured out how you will make things up to the kids? And to start, I'd try to chip away at Mo. She's going to be the hardest one." 

"I'm going to ask her out to dinner to talk. I'm hoping that if I show her my six month chip and other things about my recovery, that she'll change her mind. That she will truly realize that I have changed."

"She is staying at a hotel right now because she hates me after Sunday night... I can give you the address and you can approach her there. But don't push her."

"I won't, Liv. I want to do things right this time, because I really hate living without my family."

"I think we all hate living without you too."

///

That night, Elliot bought Maureen dinner before heading to her hotel. He hated that he was the reason Olivia and Maureen had fought, and he wanted to make things better.

"Yeah?" Maureen asked, as she opened the door before looking at her father.

"Hey, Maureen. I brought you dinner, and I was hoping we could talk?"

"Gonna lie about how you've changed? That you haven't been fucking every woman in this city?"

"Mo, I have changed. I was worried that you wouldn't believe me, so I brought some things." Elliot replied, as Maureen let him into her room.

Elliot sat the bag down before pulling some things from it. 

"These are the records from my stay in the rehab center and in the institution... and this is my sober chip. I have been sober for six, almost seven months. I don't do drugs or drink alcohol at all. I'm doing this for me, so I can be around for a long time. But also so I can be around for my family and get them back."