North Star [A Bensler FanFiction]

{37}

Kathleen took the twins, Eli, and Adalynn out for breakfast the next morning. Elliot had texted his ex-wife through their parenting app and asked her to join them for breakfast the next morning. Olivia didn't know about this and didn't appreciate opening her front door to find Kathy standing there.

"Uh, hello," Olivia spoke.

"Hey, Olivia. Elliot asked me over for breakfast," Kathy replied.

"Oh he did, did he? Everyone but Maureen..." Olivia trailed off, finally realizing why she was there. Elliot was going to force Maureen to tell her mother about the pregnancy before she was ready.

"What?" Kathy sighed, annoyed at her ex's girlfriend.

"Come in. I'll go get Elliot," Olivia frowned.

Olivia left Kathy at the front door and went upstairs to where Elliot had been showering. They bumped into each other by their bedroom door, and Elliot's smile faded when he saw anger etched into Olivia's features.

"What's wrong?"

"Were you going to tell me Kathy was coming over? If you are going to force Mo to tell Kathy, we are gonna have some issues," Olivia huffed. Elliot frowned deeply, a hand running over the back of his neck.

"She needs to know, Liv."

"I agree, but it's Maureen's timeframe we need to work with. It's important we know because we are the ones supporting her and the baby, not Kathy," Olivia sighed.

"I'm sorry, but-"

"No, Elliot Stabler. I'm going to see your daughter, and you need to kick Kathy out. End of conversation."

///

Kathy refused to leave without finding out what was happening. Olivia was informed via text that either she needed to come up with a reason to have Kathy there, or Maureen needed to spill the beans and tell Kathy she's going to be a grandma.

"I love how it's my problem, not yours," Olivia grumbled as she flipped a pancake. 

"She wouldn't believe my excuses, so it's your turn," Elliot huffed. Olivia elbowed her boyfriend in his side, her face red with anger.

"I didn't fuck this up. You did. She doesn't like me, so why would she believe my excuses?" 

"Tell her you are pregnant! Then we can just adopt Maureen's baby," Elliot spoke, which received a harder elbow to the side. Olivia didn't want to adopt Maureen's baby, especially since it would be too hard for Maureen to live around her baby. Then there was the fact Maureen didn't know if she wanted the baby or not. It hadn't been discussed yet.

"We aren't doing that, Elliot Stabler. I don't even want to sleep with you anymore, since I'm so disgusted with you," Olivia huffed. She tossed a pancake onto the stack before turning the burner off and carrying the plate towards the living room where they had a makeshift dining table.

Maureen barely ate from where she sat beside Olivia. Kathy and Elliot were talking about the three kids they shared that weren't there. Upcoming holidays were discussed before Kathy turned her attention to her eldest.

"What's wrong?" Kathy asked, jumping straight to the point of this breakfast.

"N-Nothing," Maureen replied.

"I don't believe you, Mo. Tell me what's happening," Kathy sighed as she glanced at Olivia. Olivia was pretending to not hear a thing, because she wasn't Maureen's parent. Yet she was her only support right now.

"If she doesn't want to talk, we can't force her," Elliot breathed, as he leaned back with his coffee mug.

"We are her parents. We can force her to talk if we want to," Kathy said with a roll of her eyes. Olivia reached under the table and grabbed Maureen's shaking hand.

"She is almost twenty-three, so she doesn't need to tell you anything she doesn't want to. Right now, you two are making her uncomfortable," Olivia spoke, squeezing Maureen's hand. Kathy looked at Olivia with anger-filled eyes.

"Excuse me? You aren't her mother. You are nothing more than her father's latest slut!" Kathy huffed.

"If I remember right, you had that title last," Olivia smiled as Elliot took a shaky breath and leaned forward.

"Liv, please," He begged.

"No. I won't allow your ex-wife to insult me in my house. She can leave, because this isn't going anywhere. For you, get comfy on the couch because I'm just as angry at Kathy as I am at you," Olivia replied, as she slid her chair back and stood. Maureen stood with her, and they walked upstairs together, as Maureen cried quietly.

"I-I'm not ready to tell her," Maureen whimpered, as she settled onto the bed in the master bedroom.

"I know, and I told your father to make her leave. He never should've invited her over without talking to you first. This is your pregnancy, not his. He can't be making decisions for you," Olivia spoke, as she climbed onto the other side of the bed and pulled Maureen close. Maureen rested her head on Olivia's shoulder and wrapped her arms around her waist.

Olivia placed a few soft kisses on Maureen's hair as they sat there together. Years ago, this wouldn't be happening. Maureen wouldn't be leaning heavily on Olivia for support, because she didn't like her. Now they were working together to make this time easier, even if it was already incredibly hard.

"Will you help me through my pregnancy? Go to my appointments and help me decide if I want to raise the baby or not?" 

"I love you, kid. I will try my hardest to support you through everything... however, I can't decide if you are ready to be a mom or not. We can research things together, but that's your decision. But I'll hold your hand through each hard decision," Olivia breathed. She gave Maureen's body a squeeze and held her until she fell asleep.

The door opened and Elliot stepped in quietly.

"How is she doing?" Elliot questioned.

"You made this hard time even more difficult for her. I think you know how she's doing, and I also think you know it was wrong to ask me to stop when your ex-wife was being a bitch to me. I'm not happy with you, and neither is your daughter."