Second Chance At Love

Chapter 7: Olivia's Invite

The sun had just risen when Olivia was woken up by the sound of Noah crying. She quickly rolled out of bed and walked towards his room. Putting on a huge grin on her face, Olivia reached out her arms and picked up her son. "Well good morning to you little buddy," she said calmly as she held him close, gently patting his back. "Someone wanted to start Sunday early." After changing his diaper, Olivia carried Noah to the kitchen and placed him in his highchair. She then began to make him breakfast. Noah fussed as he waited for his food. "It's almost done, sweetie," Olivia called out to him. A few minutes later she brought a chair from the dining table and placed it next to the highchair. She had a small bowl of blueberry mango flavored oatmeal. It was Noah's favorite. "Okay now," she said playfully. "Let's get you fed."

From the moment she found Noah in a hotel room during a man hunt investigation almost two years ago, Olivia had grown a special love for him. The yearning of having a family had always been a key factor for her. Since Noah had been placed in her care through family court, the opportunity of playing the role of a mom was not only exciting for Olivia, but also a blessing. It had changed her in a way that she had never thought possible. It had given her the chance to be more in touch with her nurturing side. It had also given her ground and stability emotionally. Since the time she had went undercover as a prisoner several years ago and was almost raped, she had been struggling with PTSD. The constant therapy had helped every so often, but with continuing her job, it wasn't easy to get through. Five years later, Elliot had turned in his papers following the shooting in the prescient. Lastly, the horror Olivia had went through during her four day long time with William Lewis and the day when he had shot himself, forcing her to watch as he pulled the trigger. With Noah now in her life, those vivid memories were slowly blurring throughout her thoughts. Noah was a sense of hope and strength for Olivia. She didn't feel scared anymore. Olivia had almost forgotten what it was like to not feel scared. She even began to smiled more often. These changes had surprised Olivia, and she had Noah to thank for them.

Olivia grinned as her son ate his last spoonful of oatmeal. "All done my big boy," she chuckled as she stood up to take his bowl to the sink. Noah laughed while banging is hand on top of his eating area. "Okay now, let's get you all cleaned up in the tub. We have big day ahead of us." With that, Olivia grabbed Noah from his highchair and made their way to the bathroom.
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It was a little over 9 a.m. when Elliot woke up. His body was semi sore from yesterday's tackle with the police officers. He lay on his back while trying to adjust his eyesight to the sunlight that shined from the window and gleamed throughout the bedroom. Yesterday was chaotic for Elliot. He had not tried to remind himself of the good and the bad memories of he and his family since his divorce from Kathy. He had refused himself to ever get to that level. The family of three from yesterday had triggered something inside of Elliot that he had no control over it. There was no way of escaping the emotion he was feeling inside and it had terrified him deeply. 'Why did it have to be this way?' he thought to himself.

Not only was yesterday's incident troubling Elliot, but the fact that he had Olivia bail him out of jail bothered him as well. There were moments where she had seen him at his low points when they were partners, but never so low like last night. Elliot saw that she wasn't pleased and it made him feel so ugly. All he could think about now was how he could ever repay her, not only from last night, but for also the long five year gap of no communication. He had already explained to her why he never reached out but still he had no excuse for the time space.

After forcing himself out of bed with an aching back and taking a shower, Elliot then wrapped himself with a towel around his waist, went to the kitchen, and made himself some coffee. When he was just about to pour himself a cup, his cellphone began to ring from his bedroom. Elliot put his cup down and jogged to the room. Grabbing the phone, he saw Olivia's number on the caller ID. He hesitated at first. He wasn't ready to talk, let alone ready to see anyone today. With him staring at his phone a few seconds more, the ringtone stopped and now showed 'missed call' on the screen. Elliot sighed heavily and tossed his phone on the bed. Just as he was about to leave the room, his cellphone rang again and this time he answered.

"Hello?," he said in a low tone. "Hey Elliot." It was Olivia. "I was just checking on you to see how you're feeling. You're doing good this morning?" Elliot counted to three in his head before responding. "Yeah, I feel a little better." He lied. He was actually feeling terrible, but he couldn't let Olivia know. "Actually I was getting ready to go to church," he continued. "How is your morning going so far?"

"It's going good over here. I just gave Noah a bath a little while ago and we're going to be on our way to the park soon. Do you by any chance want to come over later this evening? I can make dinner or we can order out. Your choice."

As much as Elliot wanted to see Olivia, he wasn't quite sure if tonight was good timing after what had happened the night before. "Um, well," he began. He didn't know what to say. "If you're not up to come over tonight, I understand El," Olivia continued. "No, it's fine," Elliot quickly responded. "It's just that, I'm kind of roughed up and I have a big bruise on the side of my face. I'll never miss church, but it will be embarrassing to go in there with it. I wouldn't mind coming over, but I just don't want to meet your son and scare him with how I look, you know?"

Olivia sat back on the couch as she pressed the phone firmly against her ear. "Well his bedtime is early. I was thinking just you and I have dinner together. Is that okay?" Elliot held his breath. 'Dinner with Olivia? Just the two of us? That's a first' he thought to himself, but how was he going to respond? He didn't want to answer all straight forward, be he also didn't want to sound like it was a whatever matter either. "Hello?," Olivia said. "El, are you still there?" Elliot didn't realize how long he was quiet for. "I, uh, dinner sounds great," he finally said, nearly stuttering. "W-what time should I come over?" "8 or 8:30. I put Noah to sleep at 7:30. So will it be me cooking or take out?"

Elliot smiled. "I'm curious to try your cooking. What did you have in mind?" Olivia stood up from the couch and picked up her son, adjusting the phone between her ear and shoulder. "Oh no. If you want me to cook, the meal will be a secret until you get here. Deal?" Elliot sigh. "I won't argue with you on that. I'll see you later tonight." "Okay then. Bye El." "Bye."