Partners For Life [A Bensler FanFic]

Thirty-Seven

"Trevor Langan?" Elliot asked with wide eyes.

"Yeah, Trevor Langan. He was my lawyer while I filed for rights to the kids and adopted them. We got close because I didn't have anyone else, and he tried to kiss me a few times. I said no each time because even if I found him attractive, I knew it would be a mistake to kiss him." Olivia replied as she climbed out of bed and moved to grab her t-shirt.

"You find him attractive?" Elliot frowned, and Olivia sighed as she turned to look at her ex.

"El, I told you I found him attractive, but that was before you and I were together. Before we slept together and Tally was born. I don't find him attractive anymore, especially because I have been and will always be in love with you." Olivia replied. She didn't want to fight with Elliot, but she had a bad feeling that things were going to get out of control.

"Hey, it's okay." Elliot spoke, as he climbed off the bed and hurried to Olivia's side.

"What?" Olivia breathed.

"I'm not angry with you... more surprised. I think you should have mounted him when you had the chance." Elliot teased. Olivia blushed a bit before sighing and taking her shirt off again.

"Are you sure that you aren't angry?"

"No, I'm not. I treated you like shit, and if you moved on... I would have deserved the pain of seeing you happy."

"Get back in bed, El."

"What?" Elliot spoke.

"I told you to get back in bed, Elliot. Now. You are being too sweet and understanding, and I think we should celebrate your change again." Olivia smiled.

///

Elliot slipped out of the house after he and Olivia made love all night. They made a plan, and Elliot was going to come over to make up with the younger five kids with the help of Olivia and Maureen.

"Why are there socks in the hallway?" Dickie sighed, as he carried a pair of socks into the kitchen. Olivia quickly turned around from the stove before eyeing her son.

"Oh, uh... those are mine." Olivia breathed.

"You wear big socks, Mama." Dickie replied, before tossing them to Olivia. She quickly shoved them into the front pocket of her sweatshirt.

The rest of the kids filtered into the room, and as Kathleen put Tally into her highchair, Olivia brought up Elliot.

"So I have been seeing Elliot lately." Olivia breathed.

"Dad?" Kathleen asked, and Olivia nodded.

"Yeah, your father. So I was wondering what you thought about possibly seeing him?"

"The man that hurt us all? You want us to see him? Why?!" Kathleen huffed.

"Because he has changed." Maureen spoke. Olivia jumped and turned to look at her daughter. She gave her a small smile before turning to look at the rest of the kids.

"He has changed? How do you know that?" Lizzie frowned.

"We talked last night, and he's changed a lot. He is sober, in therapy, and taking care of himself. He promised to not be mean to us anymore, and to treat Mama with more respect." Maureen spoke.

"Mama-" Lizzie started, but Olivia stopped her.

"Liz, Daddy isn't coming home tonight. He will not come home and pretend like nothing happened. He has a lot of work to do, especially since he didn't treat any of us in a good way. So if you are good with it, Daddy will come over and spend some time with all of us. He will work on our relationships, with our final goal being a part of our family again."

///

The kids weren't too sure, so Maureen drove them to school in hopes of helping them figure out what they were feeling.

"El?" Olivia asked, as she opened the front door. She had expected her babysitter to be on the other side of the door, but instead it was her ex-husband.

"Hey, baby. I just wanted to stop by and see if you had talked to the kids yet." Elliot smiled.

"I did, and it was rough. Mo is trying to help them through this all." Olivia replied, as she let Elliot into the house. He followed her into the kitchen and smiled when he saw Tally, with food smeared over her sweet face.

"She eats just like her brothers." Elliot grinned as he tried to ease the tension in the air.

"Yeah, it must be a Stabler trait... but El, we can't do anything until the kids agree to start seeing you. So I don't know if you should be dropping by without contacting me in advance." Olivia frowned. She handed Elliot a washcloth, and Elliot started to clean up Tally.

"I really hope that everything works out, because last night was amazing."

"It was amazing, but until we do anything else, things need to get better. But I did get a call from Cragen and I have to get to work. Can you stay with Tally until the sitter gets here?"

"You want me to watch Tally?" Elliot smiled.

"For only like twenty minutes."

///

The twenty minutes that Elliot got to spend alone with Tally were amazing. He hadn't held or taken care of his baby since she was a baby. It felt so nice when Tally would rest her head against his shoulder, and Elliot knew that he didn't want to miss out on anymore days without his daughter. Without his entire family.

Twenty minutes went by, and the sitter didn't show. She did call the house, and Elliot found out that she wasn't feeling well and she apologized several times for the short notice. So Elliot decided to just hang out with Tally for the day and prayed that Olivia wouldn't be mad about it.

"Hello?" Elliot asked when he answered the house phone around noon.

"Elliot?" Olivia questioned, since she was beyond confused why Elliot was answering her house phone.

"Yeah! What's up?" Elliot replied, as he looked over and smiled when he saw Tally bouncing around and dancing to the music he had put on the radio.

"What are you doing at the house? Lucy was supposed to be there at eight, and now it's noon and you are there."

"I sent you a text to tell you, but you didn't send me one back. Lucy is sick, and couldn't come over. So I decided to just stay and spend time with our baby."

'El-"

"Liv, I promise you that Tally is in good hands. We are having a lot of fun, and I am enjoying my time with our baby." Elliot frowned, since he knew that Olivia was doubting him.

"I'm glad you are having fun, but I'm very protective of our kids... can you bring her to the station house? I'll watch her until Mo can pick her up." Olivia breathed.

"Liv-"

"Now, El."