Operation Heart

Ocean Blues

"You okay?" Elliot asked her quietly, not wanting their kids to overhear their conversation. His seemingly genuine curiosity made her smile, and she wondered if they'd ever be able to be friends again, or if they were just doomed to this awkwardness for the rest of their lives. When she, Kathleen, and Noah had first arrived, Elliot had done everything in his power to avoid looking directly at Olivia, but now that they were sitting side by side, and she wasn't looking, he found himself unable to take his eyes off her. She had always been attractive, and he'd have been an idiot to deny it, but apparently she aged like fine wine because she somehow looked even more beautiful now than she did back when they had first met. She was wearing a bikini that covered everything it needed to, but it still left little to the imagination.

She reached for a water bottle out of the cooler, passing one to him, trying to be nice. "I will be. I'm just tired of loving people who I know will eventually leave, for one reason or another," she admitted cryptically, just as quietly. Neither of them realized they were being watched closely by the Stabler ladies.

Lizzie was the first one to tear her eyes away from the two of them, and her attention immediately went to Kathleen, who was smiling at the fact that Olivia and Elliot were getting along. "Okay, what did you mean earlier, Katie? Why was Liv singing Mamma Mia?" Lizzie asked softly. Maureen also turned to look at Kathleen, who was still watching her dad and Olivia.

"Liv's been acting strange since dad came back," she started to explain.

"The man faked his death, Katie. I think we've all been acting strange since dad came back," Maureen replied.

"I told Liv that I think she's still in love with dad, and she didn't deny it," Kathleen softly blurted out.

"What?!" Lizzie shouted, shocked, but she was grinning.

Both Olivia and Elliot jumped, their conversation forgotten as they turned to the three women. "What's wrong?" Elliot questioned. The three girls turned to look at him and Olivia like deer caught in a pair of headlights.

Olivia locked eyes with Kathleen, who then started smiling ever so slightly, and the older woman groaned, knowing what the three girls had been talking about, looking up at the sun instead of anyone near her. "Goddammit," she grumbled as she reached for her sunglasses. After a minute she sat up, looking at the girls. "Look, even if Kathleen is right about what she told you, which I'm not saying she is, it would never happen."

"Why not?" Maureen questioned, an amused smirk playing at the corners of her lips.

"Because!" Olivia was clearly getting flustered. "It just wouldn't! Alright?" She stormed off, toward the ocean, leaving three very happy women, and a very confused Elliot.

"What the hell was that about?" Elliot asked his daughters, who were talking in hushed voices again.

"Nothing, just girl stuff. Why don't you go swimming, dad?" Lizzie asked, shooing her dad away so she and her sisters could talk in private, clearly plotting something.

He sighed, but went down to the water's edge. Olivia was sitting with just her feet in the water, and she was watching Noah swim around, he was clearly having the time of his life. "Come on in and swim with us, Olivia," Elliot said with a smile.

"No."

"Why not?"

"The water's cold."

Elliot was up to his knees in the water. "Come on, live a little!"

"Says the man who was dead for ten years."

"Exactly! If anyone knows the beauty of living life with family and friends nearby, it's me." He walked over, picked her up, and threw her over his shoulder. He started to walk toward the ocean, laughing when she started squirming.