All I Ask [A Bensler Fan Fic]

Chapter Fifteen

Just as Elliot had predicted, Eli asked to sleepover with his friend instead of spending the night with his father. Elliot had wanted to scream no and order Eli to come home right away, but he kept his anger at bay and told him to have fun.

Elliot spent all Friday night drinking and crying, before getting up the next morning and picking Eli up from his friend's house.

"Did you have fun?" Elliot asked. Eli wasn't even paying attention to him since he was too busy texting someone.

"Sure." Eli answered, but it was his usual answer when he wasn't paying attention.

"Eli, can you put your phone down?" Elliot asked, and when Eli didn't do as he was asked, Elliot reached over and pushed the phone down.

"Hey!" Eli exclaimed, and Elliot sighed.

"I asked you to put the phone down so we could talk."

"I really don't wanna talk, Dad. So, can you just leave me alone?"

Eli was only ten, but he acted like a teenager. 

"No, Eli. You are still my child, and I'd like to talk to you."

"The only child you can about is Olivia's baby!" Eli exclaimed. Elliot swallowed hard as hot tears welled in his eyes.

"If I only cared about Olivia's baby, I wouldn't be here right now. I gave her and that baby up so I could be with your mother again. So I could be with you and your siblings. Treating me like shit will not change a damn thing, so respect me and start treating me better." Elliot snapped, yet he wished he hadn't. Eli shut down completely, and didn't say another word to his father for the rest of the weekend.

///

Elliot opened his apartment door on Sunday morning, and he couldn't even fake a smile. Kathy stood there in front of him, and she looked disgusted as usual.

"Elliot." Kathy spoke.

"Hey. Eli locked himself in his bedroom, so you'll have to talk to him to make him come out."

"Why is he in there? Did you do something?" Kathy huffed. Elliot swallowed hard and didn't even respond. He led Kathy into his apartment and pointed toward Eli's bedroom.

It took awhile, but eventually Kathy and Eli walked out of the bedroom together.

"Say goodbye to your father." Kathy spoke, but Eli didn't say a damn thing to his father.

Kathy looked at her son before sighing.

"Go out to the car. I'm going to talk to your father real quick." Kathy breathed. Eli ran from the room, as Elliot stood and turned to look at his ex.

"Before you say anything, I think you should just keep Eli. He hates me, and he isn't happy here with me." Elliot breathed, as he tried to blink away the tears that had welled in his eyes.

"W-what?" Kathy asked, shocked. Elliot had fought hard to keep Eli, but now he was giving him up. Kathy didn't know what made him change his mind.

"He hates me, Kath. He slept over at a friend's house on Friday, came home yesterday and wouldn't talk to me. He's ten, but he's acting like Dickie did at fourteen. So keep him."

"You fought me for him, Elliot. You got an apartment close to his school and promised to cut back your hours so that could spend time with him. Elliot-"

"You really don't care about what is happening to me or how I'm feeling... so just accept the win." Elliot whispered, as a tear slipped down his cheek. He quickly brushed it away, before moving towards the door.

"Elliot, are you going to run away or something?" Kathy asked, and Elliot shrugged as he opened the door and looked out into the hall.

"Does it really matter? Liz would probably be the only one that would miss me... so who gives a fuck?"

Kathy swallowed hard as she looked at Elliot before stepping forward and hugging him tightly.

"I'll see you next Friday when you pick Eli up. Maybe you could even stay for dinner." 

///

Olivia smiled as she watched her girlfriend talked about what she had done today. Casey was so excited about finally getting cases in because she missed being in the courtroom.

"Okay, enough about me." Casey chuckled after taking a break to get a drink.

"No, please continue. I'm really enjoying hearing everything you have to say." Olivia breathed as she reached out and grabbed Casey's hand.

"Really?"

"Really, Case. You light up when you talk about going back to work." Olivia replied as Casey's cheeks grew red.

Once dinner came, Olivia and Casey settled into just some casual small talk. By the end of the meal, Olivia finally got the nerve to ask Casey something that had been keeping her up at night.

"Baby?" Olivia asked.

"Yes?"

"What do you see in our future?" Olivia asked.

"Well, I see us being together. Of course, I see Evie Peyton running around and us chasing after her... I don't know what else though... Why?"

"I have been doing a lot of thinking lately, especially since we don't have that long until our baby will be here... but I was wondering if you'd like to take the next step."

"Liv, we are dating, living in the same house together, and having a baby. What else is there to do?" Casey replied, her voice shaking.

"What about marrying me?" Olivia breathed. Casey's eyes went wide, and her jaw dropped.

Olivia gave her girlfriend some time to process what had been said before she hesitantly requested the bill.

"Are you proposing?" Casey blurted out once the server walked away.

"Does this answer your question?" Olivia replied, as she dug into her purse and pulled out a box.

Olivia had been planning on proposing for a few weeks. She picked out a ring for Casey and was just waiting for the perfect time to pop the question.

Casey opened the box slowly before a gasp left her mouth. 

"I don't know what to say." Casey whispered.

"Baby, it's up to you. If you aren't ready, then you can just say no and you can tell me when you are ready."

"I don't know if I will ever be ready, Liv. I'm sorry." Casey whispered.