Forgotten Memories [A Bensler Fanfiction]

Two

The sound of the doorbell made Olivia freeze. The moment that she had hit the button, she realized that this was the day she'd figure out what was happening. She may meet her daughter again for the first time in at least two years, especially since Olivia didn't know exactly how long she had been gone.

"Hello?" The older woman questioned as she swung open the front door. Olivia stared at the woman for a moment, but couldn't muster a name or who she was. 

"Um."

"Olivia? Is that you?" The woman whispered as tears sprung into her eyes.

"Yeah... I'm Olivia. I-"

"Ava, come here!" 

Olivia got overwhelmed, and she grabbed onto the door frame as her heart beat quickly in her chest.

"Gran-" The little girl started once she reached the doorway, but she stopped speaking the moment she saw Olivia.

Olivia stood there but didn't hear a damn thing but the sound of the blood pumping through her body. Her vision got blurry, and she felt dizzy. Olivia tried her hardest to focus, but she couldn't.

Then everything went black.

///

Olivia woke up a few hours later, her body wrapped in a patchwork quilt. She blinked a few times, but this time she wasn't laying in a park, and Elliot wasn't finding her.

"You have a goose egg on your forehead." A small voice spoke. Olivia turned her head slowly and spotted the little brunette sitting in an armchair.

"What?"

"You hit your head when you fell. You got a bump in the center of your forehead." She replied, before sliding off the chair and padding across the carpet.

"You're Ava, right?" Olivia breathed, and the girl nodded.

"Yeah, Mama."

"I'm your Mama?" Olivia whispered, and Ava nodded.

"Yeah." She replied plainly.

Olivia sat up slowly, a groan leaving her lips. Her entire body ached, but she wasn't surprised. Fainting always did this to her body.

"Where did you go?" Ava asked as she sat on the edge of the coffee table. The small girl didn't want to touch her mother at all, because she was afraid that she'd disappear.

"Ava-"

"Did you leave me because I was bad? Because-"

"No, baby. I didn't leave because you were bad... whatever happened wasn't your fault."

"I woke up one morning, and you were gone, Mama. Like, I was sleeping in your bed, and I woke up to you gone. Gran and Papa didn't know where you were, and I was so scared." Ava sniffled as she thought about the day she lost her beloved mama.

"How old were you when I left?" Olivia questioned, as she reached out to her child. Ava stood and quickly pushed herself onto her mother's lap.

"I was four. Daddy had left us a few months before you went missing."

Olivia drew in a sharp breath as she wrapped her arms tightly around her daughter. Ava melted into her mother's embrace and breathed in her scent. For the two years that Olivia had been missing, Ava kept as many memories as she could. Like the way her mother gave her an extra tight squeeze before they broke an embrace, or the way her mother smelt. 

"Have you seen your daddy since I left?" Olivia whispered.

"No, Mama. Daddy has been gone for a long time. Gran and Papa don't even know where he went... we just know he's not here with us."

Olivia thought about what her child had said before just settling back and holding her close. 

"Elliot, the man that is here with me, he found me in New York City. I was in a park, and no one knew who I was. Then yesterday, I woke up after seeing your name. It was on posters and signs... all I could see was your name all over and that brought me here."

"Do you remember anything about me, Mama?"

"No, baby. Not really. But I want to, I can promise you that. I want to know exactly who my baby girl is."

///

Olivia and Elliot stayed late enough to put Ava down for the night. The small girl didn't want her mother to leave, but Olivia promised that she'd see her again in the morning. Until then, she needed to get some sleep because today had been very exciting.

"I think she's finally out." Olivia spoke, as she reached the bottom of the stairs and spotted her boyfriend and Kevin's parents. Dana and James had said little to her since she woke up, so now they had a lot to ask.

"She doesn't sleep well, and hasn't for the last few years. Maybe she'll got a solid eight hours tonight." Dana spoke. Olivia sank down beside Elliot before grabbing his hand and squeezing it.

"Thank you both for taking care of her."

"Well, when both parents abandon her-" James started, but Olivia interrupted him.

"I didn't abandon my child, James. I would never leave Ava behind. Someone stole me from her."

"Someone snuck into your bedroom and pulled you away from your sleeping child? Don't be dumb, Olivia. You probably ran away with Kevin. Then you shacked up-" James once again got interrupted, this time by Elliot. 

"Listen here, James. Olivia showed up in New York without a single memory in her head. She didn't know her name, where she came from, or even how old she was. Olivia only knew that she had been pregnant before, because she had a scar on her stomach from a c-section. She knew nothing until yesterday, and we got on a plane and rushed out here."

"You and Ava almost died, Liv." Dana whispered. Olivia lifted her eyes and stared at Dana.

"What?"

"You and Ava both started crashing. The doctors had to rush you in for an emergency c-section. Kevin wasn't even allowed in there with you, and I remember holding my only child as his girlfriend and daughter, hung by a thread." Dana whispered.

"I wanna figure out what happened, and why I ended up thousands of miles away from here. So please, let me stay around here and get to know my child again... let me remember."