A Preschool Promise [A Bensler FanFic]

Twenty-Six

It wasn't a hard thing to rule on, and Judge Neal decided that the Stablers would get the amount of money that they were suing the NYPD for. Once Elliot got the date that he would receive the check and when they could go back to work, Elliot got in his car and drove up to Buffalo to surprise his wife and daughter.

"She's in the basement hanging out with her father and Maureen. I'm supposed to bring down some popcorn for them to eat while watching the movie." Denise spoke, as she led Elliot into the house.

"How are they doing?" Elliot asked, as he followed Denise into the kitchen and he took the bowl of popcorn from the counter and waited for her to respond before he took it downstairs.

"Olivia has been sleeping a lot, but it looked like she had slept in weeks when she showed up here. Maureen is really enjoying her stay here." Denise replied, and Elliot nodded.

"Liv was so upset since she was fired, and I wasn't there for her like I should've been. But I'm glad she came here because then she could relax." Elliot spoke. He looked over at his mother in law for a moment before smiling.

"Thank you so much, Denny. For taking care of them and not hating me for being a shitty husband to Liv."

"You weren't a shitty husband to her. You were stressed too. So don't worry. If I felt anything negative towards you, it is all forgiven. Now, my daughter and your daughter are going to be angry if they don't get popcorn soon."

///

It took about two more weeks before Olivia and Elliot got their jobs back, but Olivia didn't return when Elliot did. She wasn't even sure that once Josiah was born if she was going to go back to work. She was wondering if everything would be better if she just stayed home and raised her children and had a clear head when her husband came home upset and stressed out about a case.

Maureen had another big dip in her feelings and had a rough week when she and her parents had to have a meeting with her teacher and the principal. They didn't want her to just be pulled out of school without knowing what was happening, but once they kept denying what was Maureen was saying, Maureen just got super upset and couldn't stop crying for several hours. And even if Elliot tried to calm her down, only Olivia was able to do that.

More weeks went by, and Maureen became a little more like herself once she started to get homeschooled and as the days got closer to her baby brother finally arriving.

"How many more days?" Maureen asked as she and Olivia went to go pick up a few new books for Maureen to read during the hour of reading time Olivia had Maureen do every day.

"Technically Josiah is going to be late as of tomorrow. He is supposed to be here today." Olivia sighed. She looked down at her daughter and smiled a bit.

"He's gonna be worth the wait, Momma!" She exclaimed. Olivia nodded her agreement before she and Maureen walked into the bookstore in the mall. They walked around a few minutes and Maureen begged Olivia for one picture book, so after they picked that one out, they found some smaller chapter books that Maureen seemed interested in. Olivia wanted to find a book for herself because there was going to be some downtime while Josiah slept, so she wanted something to spend the hours she was waiting.

"Momma, is that the woman?" Maureen asked, and Olivia looked at her daughter with confusion.

"The woman?" She asked.

"The woman who was at our house a while ago. Was her name, Erena?" Maureen replied.

Olivia knew that she meant Serena, especially when she saw the look on Maureen's face. Olivia turned around and saw Serena staring at them. Her eyes were wide and Olivia kinda just froze there.

"Momma, let's go," Maureen spoke, as she tugged on the bottom of Olivia's sweater.

"Hey, Olivia. Maureen."Serena spoke, as she walked over to them. Serena looked at her daughter over and couldn't help but smile a bit when she saw her stomach. Serena didn't seem to care that she and her daughter haven't talked in a while and she went to reach out and touch Olivia's stomach. Olivia quickly swatted her had away.

"Don't talk to me. Don't touch me. And don't you dare follow us." Olivia spoke, before quickly grabbing the book she had been looking at before grabbing Maureen's hand and quickly walking towards the cash register.

///

Olivia buckled Maureen into her car seat before pulling her phone out and dialing Elliot's number. She paced back and forth beside the car, but he didn't answer. She shoved her phone back into her pocket and let out an angry groan before turning to walk around to the driver side of the car when she bumped into Serena.

"Fuck." Olivia groaned as she ran her hand over her face.

"I guess I didn't really realize how long it was since I saw you last. I didn't expect you to be about to pop." Serena smiled, and Olivia shook her head.

"What I said earlier is still in effect," Olivia spoke.

"Liv-"

"No, you really fucked up. Again."

"One more shot at being your mother, please," Serena whispered.

"My mother is Denise. I feel like you have had a hell of a lot more than three strikes. Now, I have to get home."

"Olivia, please! I want to get to know my grandchildren! This might be the only time I get to be even close to meeting that baby, and he is still inside of you!" Serena exclaimed.

"You'll never meet my son! He doesn't need you around, because you are a monster. You tried to pay my husband off so that the lawsuit would've been tossed out! We need that money to catch up on the bills we missed because neither of us had a job, and the rest is going to college funds for our children. So, you almost stole that from us. Get the hell away from me." Olivia spoke, before pushing past Serena and walking over to the driver side of the car. She got in and Maureen sat quietly and watched Olivia as tears ran down her cheeks.

"Don't cry, Momma, please," Maureen whispered.

"Let's go home, Maureen. You need to start reading."

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