THE RETURN

Chapter 73

She arrived home at 6:00pm with her hands completely full of small gifts the squad had surprised her with that day. Since no one had any doubt in their girl prediction, she walked into an office covered in pink "it's a girl" balloons, flowers and pink cupcakes. She had smiled widely and turned to Fin, who was following close behind her. When he said, "Please tell me she's a girl," she nodded her head and responded with, "Of course she's a girl."

Unfortunately, they had caught a busy case as soon as she confirmed the gender with everyone, so they didn't have much time to celebrate. As Amanda was helping her load her car at the end of the day, she made a comment about how they would have plenty of time to celebrate the baby at her baby shower. Olivia hadn't even considered a baby shower and the thought of one both excited her and stressed her out. She vowed to herself that she would talk to Elliot about it as soon as an opportunity arose.

When she approached their door, she could already hear the laughter coming from within. Elliot had stayed in contact with her all day, ensuring that she was kept one hundred percent in the loop about what was going on with the kids. Everything had gone as planned. Which meant that inside their home Kathleen, Richard, Elizabeth, Eli, Noah and Hailey were hanging out waiting for them to get home, while Elliot was at the airport picking up Maureen, Jessie and John.

All her distress from the day faded as she opened the door and took in the site before her. Noah was attempting to teach Hailey some dance moves, Elizabeth and Kathleen were laughing on the couch, and Eli and Richard were engaged in a game of arm wrestling on the table. As soon as Noah made eye contact with her and said, "MOM!", everyone else turned to look at her as well.

"Hello everyone," she said. Richard and Eli were the first two to her, relieving her hands of all the things she was carrying. "Thank you."

"Of course, Liv," Richard responded. He dragged his eyes down to her belly once, glanced at the pink balloons and cupcakes he was now holding and made eye contact with her once more, "So, she's for sure a girl?"

Olivia nodded, "You for sure have another sister on the way."

Although he groaned lightly, he smiled widely and pulled her in for a one armed hug, "You look great."

"Thank you, Richard."

"It's really good to see you."

She rubbed his back gently, "It's really good to see you too."

"OKAY! It's my turn now," Elizabeth said from behind them.

Olivia laughed lightly, while Richard huffed at his twin. As he released his hold on her, he said, "I've literally only said ten words to her and it's your turn already?"

"Umm, yes? Now move," Elizabeth stated, tapping her foot on the ground impatiently.

He rolled his eyes and stepped out of the way far enough for Elizabeth to step forward and place her hands on Olivia's expanding abdomen, "Oh my goodness! Look at you! Your bump is absolutely perfect." She exclaimed, rubbing her along it softly.

"Wow, so I got pushed out of my hug so you could feel her bump? Really?"

"Shut up and go set the stuff down somewhere Dickie," she responded as her hands left Olivia's abdomen to wrap around her. "Hey, Liv."

"Hey, sweetie. How are you?"

"I'm great. So glad to finally see you, to see everyone. I'm so sorry it's been so long." As the words escaped the young woman's mouth, her arms instinctively tightened around Olivia.

Through the twelve years of their partnership, she had gotten to know Elliot's children really well. When he left her all those years ago it wasn't only him who disappeared, it was all of them. She never heard from any of them ever again until her and Noah ran into Elliot at the diner. Her heart was shattered by not only the loss of her partner but also by the loss of a family that was never hers to begin with. Elizabeth's acknowledgement of that assisted in putting some of the last pieces together again. Elliot was not the only one sorry, they were all sorry. "Me too, honey. Me too."