THE RETURN

Chapter 39

Olivia awoke the next morning to Elliot placing small pecks on her lips. When she opened her eyes to look at him, he smiled, "Good morning Sunshine."

The night before, she had stuck to her more than one date rule. Telling him that since she really liked him, he had an extremely good chance of getting lucky on the second date. He surprised her when instead of whining, he nodded his head, asked her on another date, took her home, helped her get ready for bed, put a movie on, kissed her on the lips and pulled her into his arms. She fell into such a deep slumber, she didn't even remember drifting off. With a small yawn, she asked, "What time is it?"

"It's ten. I was going to let you sleep longer but the kids are begging to go somewhere. I figured you'd want to come too."

She smiled and nodded, "I'm getting up."

He smiled back at her and leaned down to kiss her again. "Noah wants to go to the museum."

She rubbed her eyes and used her elbows to push herself up slightly, "The museum sounds fun."

"And then Kathleen agreed to watch the boys and take them to school tomorrow, so I can take you on another date tonight."

"Oh, so you're assuming we're going to spend the night together?" Her playful tone caused him to chuckle.

"No, I'm not assuming anything. I'm just hoping."

"It better be a really good date."

They both smiled at one another as he leaned down to kiss her lips again, "I promise you it will be." His phone chose that moment to start ringing. Glancing at the caller ID, he took a deep breath before mouthing "Kathy" to her. He had been trying to call the mother of his children for the past two weeks to discuss Eli's custody. After a lengthy conversation between Olivia and him, he decided to go with what she was suggesting. Instead of hitting Kathy with custody papers, give her the time she needed to process everything. As he answered the phone, he helped Olivia out of bed. "Hello Kathy."

"Elliot." He didn't respond right away, rather ensuring that Olivia was steady on her feet and heading safely to the bathroom before sitting on the edge of the. "Are you going to say something?"

"Are you? Because I've called you numerous times and have left plenty of voicemails."

"Well I was waiting for custody papers."

He took a breath, "Like I said over voicemail I don't want to put Eli through that. Why can't we just be civil and handle it like adults."

"You want me to handle the fact that Eli wants to live with you, wait not only you but also Olivia and her son, like an adult?"

Her kurt tone was not lost on Elliot. "Yes, I do. Do you really want to drag Eli through a court case Kathy? And what is your problem with Olivia and her son? She was nothing but respectful towards you during our partnership."

She took a deep breath, "I don't have anything against her, I just think you have your hands full."

"My hands would never be too full to have Eli. He's my son."

"And he's mine too Elliot."

"I know but I'm not the one pushing for this Kathy, he is. If you're saying no because you're punishing me for all the wrong I've done, that's not fair and you know that. You know that I've worked really hard these last few years getting my head on straight, our kids know that and you should too." He waited a few seconds for her to respond but when he was awarded with only the sound of he breathing, he said, "Just tell me if we're doing court or not Kathy."

She sighed on the other line, "He spends every holiday and vacation with me Elliot. No exceptions."

"But what if we want to take him somewhere during summer break? Can we work out that I can have him at least two weeks during the summertime?" He glanced up at Olivia when she emerged from the bathroom, holding her pair of jeans in her hand. She had gained enough mobility to dress her top half, do her hair and apply her makeup without any assistance. However, she still could not bend down enough to pull her underwear and pants up. He gave her a small smile and stood up to gesture her to sit on the edge of the bed. As Olivia made her way to him, he heard Kathy scoff on the other line.