Sweet Relief

My Kid

As Olivia stretches awake in bed, she's surprised to find herself alone. She sits up in bed and smiles to herself when she hears giggling coming from the kitchen. She hears Elliot's muffled voice and her daughters laughter through the walls and she sits for a moment, just listening to them. She rubs the sleep from her eyes and looks at the clock on her nightstand, shocked to see that it's half past ten. She hasn't slept in this late in years.

She finds the yoga pants and tank top Elliot stripped off of her last night and gets dressed before going into the kitchen. She pauses in the doorway, watching them for a moment. Elliot's holding Noah with arm and flipping pancakes with the other. Emma's sits at the breakfast bar eating what could only be chocolate chip pancakes with a huge grin on her face.

"Morning, Mom." She says in between bites.

"Mmm, good morning, Love." Elliot says, turning towards her, a content smile on his face as he passes her his cup of coffee. He lets her take a long sip before giving her a quick kiss on the lips. "Sleep okay?"

She sees the smirk on his face that lets her know he already knows the answer to his question. After their conversation last night, Olivia had fallen asleep faster and slept harder than she has in months, tucked firmly under Elliot's arms.

"You could have woken me up, you didn't have to do all this..." She says, leaning against the kitchen counter, coffee cup still in hand.

Elliot rolls his eyes and turns his attention back to the pancakes cooking on the stove. "I was gone for ten days, Liv, it was my turn."

Olivia almost doesn't know what to say to him. She's so used to parenting completely by herself... And even as he's taken on more with the family, she's considered it extra, a helping hand here and there, never his job. It hadn't occurred to her that he thought of it that way. She wraps her arms around him from behind, gently kissing the spot in between his should blades before she rests her cheek against his back. "Thank you." She whispers.

Nothing could have prepared her for how quickly Elliot would jump into parenting. Not just the fun stuff or the easy stuff. He does homework with Emma, even after long shifts, he does carpool when he's off work, and the moment she started to test him, to test them together, he backed every move she had made. Although she couldn't picture it, she expected eventually that they would get to a place of equal effort in parenting Emma... But he jumped in headfirst with Noah too. From day one. He gets up at night and early in the morning, he changes diapers... He makes dinner just as often, if not more than she does. She's never had a partner in parenting before, but Elliot has become her partner in every sense of the word in the few months. Without hesitation and without complaint.

She sees Emma eyeing her and then Elliot and she prepares herself for whatever's to come. She lets go of Elliot and pours herself another cup of coffee, leaning against the counter, watching them exchange looks with an amused smile.

"Can I ask?" She asks Elliot excitedly.

He chuckles. "I did say after she finished her coffee..."

"Ask me what?" Olivia asks, an eyebrow raised as she looks between them.

"Mom can we pleaseee go to Coney Island today?" Emma asks, "Elliot said if you say yes he'll ride all the rides with me so you don't have to."

Olivia looks to Elliot and he gives her a guilty grin. All he thought about while he was undercover was coming home to his girls. They had had a rough couple weeks and he wants to get back on track with them both, and finally follow through with telling Emma he's her father. He only hopes Olivia is still willing after the arguments they've had.

"So, Mom? What do you think?" He asks, trying to gauge the look on Olivia's face. He knew there was a chance he was overstepping in asking Emma beforehand, but he's hoping he's reading the amusement on her face correctly.