A Preschool Promise [A Bensler FanFic]

Twenty-One

Olivia walked upstairs after Cragen left. Elliot was leaving Maureen's bedroom, and he frowned when he saw his wife standing at the top of the stairs with tears on her cheeks.

"Liv?" He questioned, and she swallowed hard.

"El, I just got fired." She spoke. Elliot's eyes went wide.

"What? They can't do that."

"Well, they just did. So, I don't know what is happening." Olivia whispered. She wiped at her cheeks for a moment before looking at the door that was painted a light pink.

"I don't know if we can afford Josiah." She whispered.

"Don't worry. We can get everything that he will need."

"What if we lose the house? Or if we can't pay the utilities?" She asked.

"Olivia, don't worry about this all. I'm still working."

"For how long, El? Because they might want you gone too. Then we might have to move to Buffalo and live with my parents. No matter how much I love them, I don't want to live with them."

Elliot wanted to keep telling her to stop worrying, but he knew she wouldn't stop worrying. She was scared to death that money would become an issue, and a big one.

///

Elliot called Denise after Olivia went to bed, and she said she'd come down to Manhattan to spend some time with her while he was at work. So once he got the baby sitter for his wife, he went and fell asleep beside Olivia. 

Maureen woke up the next morning at her usual time, and Elliot was already downstairs making her breakfast.

"Where is Momma?" Maureen asked.

"She's still sleeping. She had a rough night." Elliot spoke.

"Doesn't she have to go to work with you?" Maureen questioned, but then her eyes went wide when she heard a knock on the front door of the house.

"Daddy?" Maureen questioned, and Elliot smiled before picking up his daughter and carrying her to the front door.

"It's Grandma Denny." Elliot spoke, and Maureen's eyes went wider than before and a smile grew on her lips.

Elliot opened the door and before Denise could even get into the house, Maureen had squirmed from Elliot's arms and was hugging her waist.

"Grandma!" Maureen exclaimed.

"Hey, Mo! How are you?" Denise smiled, before hugging Maureen tightly.

"I'm good. But why are you here, Grandma?" Maureen asked, as Denise walked into the house and Elliot grabbed the few bags that Denise had brought. He was glad that it looked like she might be staying here for awhile, because Olivia needed her mother.

"Your father told me that your Momma had a tough night so I came down here to spend some time with her."

"And me?" Maureen smiled.

"Yeah, of course I'll spend some time with you." Denise smiled.

"Have breakfast with us, Grandma!"

///

Elliot took Maureen to school and left Denise at the house. Olivia slept till nearly 9 because she was so exhausted, and once she showered and went down stairs, she noticed her mother's soft humming coming from the kitchen.

"Mom?" Olivia breathed.

"Hey, Livvie. How are you today?" Denise asked, as she sat down at the counter with a mug of coffee in her hand.

"I'm okay. Uh, what are you doing here? I... Elliot told you that I was fired, didn't he?" Olivia frowned.

"Yeah, he did. He said you were worrying a lot last night about money and not being able to afford Josiah."

"Mom, I wasn't thinking about giving him up." Olivia breathed, and Denise nodded.

"I know you weren't. You love that little boy so much already, and you haven't even met him yet."

"But what if we can't afford to stay in this house? Maureen has lived here her whole life. She loves her room and that she has friends living all around us. I don't know how many times I've gotten home and our backyard is full of little girls that she goes to school with." Olivia frowned.

"Your father and I can help you guys out. If you fall short on some bills, just tell us and we can help you pay them."

"I'm 31, Mom. I shouldn't need my parents to pay my bills." Olivia sighed. She ran her fingers over her stomach before standing to go and find something to eat.

"You know that we have helped all your brothers out before. We payed for hospital bills and to get a new car. It's not that big of a deal."

"I've always tried to be independent, and feeling like I need to ask you and Dad for money hurts. I'm embarrassed."

"Don't be. Now, how about you and I go and pick up your groceries? Your house doesn't have enough food for me to prepare for dinner." Denise smiled.

"You don't have to cook for us, Momma." Olivia sighed, and Denise smiled even larger because Olivia called her Momma.

"You didn't learn a lot when we'd cook together when you were younger. Come on. You need to get out of the house."

///

Being out of the house and with her mother helped a bit. Just being able to talk to someone who isn't her husband was helpful. Olivia knew that she should be discussing everything with Elliot, but when she doesn't know what to say, it's hard to discuss it with him.

"So, Josiah Reed, huh?" Denise asked, and Olivia looked over at her mother and smiled softly.

"Yeah. All of the boys and Dad have Josiah as their middle name. It was important to me." Olivia spoke, as they walked through the grocery store together.

"Did you have a name picked out if Josiah had been a girl instead?" Denise asked, because talking about the hard stuff would just make Liv more upset.

"Luna." Olivia smiled.

"I didn't expect that to be the name you would've picked. I expected something more old school like Maureen's name."

"Yeah, but we fell in love with that name, and we might name our next baby that if she is a girl."

"Just wait until you have Josiah first." Denise laughed.

"Mom, thanks for coming up here. It has actually really helped."

"Are you surprised that I helped? Geez, it's as if you haven't known me most of your life." 

Olivia wanted to know that everything would be okay, and having her mom here gave her the hope that it might all just work out in the end.

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