Author's Note:

Bailey and Aubrey Stabler are now fifteen year old freshmen in high school. I know the timing is not going to line up right, but for the sake of not trying to write this fifteen years in the future I am going to just pretend it is taking place now.

The other Stabler children are grown up as well. Eli is now about nineteen and in college. Elizabeth, is a pediatrician. Dickie, is a Military Police Officer in the U.S. Army. Kathleen, has gone into criminal law and is now a defense attorney. And Maureen, is a psychiatrist and is married with a one year old son and a three year old daughter.

Cragen is in his last year as Captain over the Manhattan Special Victim's Unit at the 1-6 and will soon retire, leaving John Munch to take his place.

My Sister's Secret

(Chapter One: Thing One & Thing Two)

"El," he heard her say over the buzzing of the alarm clock. "Come on. Get up. I am going to start breakfast and wake the kids. If you want a shower I suggest you get in there now. In half an hour there will not be any hot water left."

Elliot opened one eye to watch his wife of seventeen years climb out of bed and pull on her running clothes.

"I mean it Elliot," she reminded him in her mother voice. "We will be back from running in thirty minutes and I have two teenaged girls to get into the bathroom and get a shower myself. You'd better get up."

"Yes mother," he growled pulling a pillow over his face as Olivia pulled her hair back in a pony tail and headed down the hallway.

"Girls, we leave in five minutes!" She called as she tapped against each of their bedroom doors. "If you are not downstairs I am going without you!"

She continued down the stairs and pressed the button to start the coffee. She stretched out a bit as she watched the news on television. Aubrey was the first to make an appearance as she took the stairs two at a time and poured herself a cup of coffee.

"Where is your sister?" Olivia asked looking at her.

"Still in bed for all I know," Aubrey said taking a bite from an apple she pulled from the fruit bowl on the counter.

Olivia looked down at her watch and then looked back up the stairs. "Bailey we are leaving! If you are coming with us get your butt down here!"

Aubrey, like her mother, was always up early even without the use of an alarm clock. Bailey however, was a little more like her father and usually took a little coaxing to get out of bed in the morning. For the last couple of years, since the girls had become active in cheerleading and sports at school they had joined Olivia on her running path in the mornings before school.

"I hope she hurries," Aubrey said looking at Olivia. "I was really hoping to get in two miles today to make up for it raining yesterday.

Olivia took a deep breath and turned to yell up the stairs again. "Bai…" was all she got out before her youngest, by two and a half minutes came sliding out across the top of the stairs in her socks slipping her shoes on as she ran down the stair case.

"I'm ready, I'm ready."

"Good," Olivia said with a smile as she kissed Bailey's forehead. And out the door they went.

Elliot waited in the bed until he heard the front door slam and he knew he was alone. He climbed from the bed and picked up his boxer shorts from the floor across the room, where they had landed the earlier when his lovely wife had woke him up at three in the morning to have sex. Not that he didn't appreciate sex with his wife, but this three o'clock in the morning kick she was on was really starting to get to him.

He moved to their bathroom and turned on a hot shower stepping in and just letting the water pour over him for a few minutes. He soaped up and rinsed off then climbed out, wiping the steam from the mirror with a towel and getting dressed.

Elliot walked toward the front of the house opening the door and picking up the newspaper from the front steps. He yawned and stretched as he opened it and closed the door heading back into the kitchen for a cup of coffee. He had just settled in his seat at the dining room table when Olivia and the girls returned home.

"Okay ladies, it is now six fifteen. Car leaves the house at seven thirty on the dot. Anyone not inside it walks to school."

"Mom, can I use your bathroom to shower?" Bailey asked.

"Make it quick. I am starting eggs who wants some?"

"Me," three voices called as the two girls headed up the stairs.

Olivia exhaled and pulled the carton from the refrigerator sitting it on the counter. She cracked three eggs into a skillet and started them for Elliot. In another skillet she started ham slices. She dropped bread into the toaster and refilled Elliot's coffee cup as she handed him a plate.

She separated six eggs, whites from yolks and dropped three of them into the skillet scrambling them with a fork. She placed a slice of ham in the skillet beside the eggs, then scrambled the other three eggs as well. She poured them into a separate skillet cutting up some tomato and bell pepper and dropping them into the omelet as it began to set. She laid three plates out on the counter in front of her and cut a grape fruit in half. She laid half a grape fruit on two of the plates and dropped the scrambled egg whites and ham on the third. Olivia started a second egg white omelet, for herself as the girls came back down stairs.

"Here we go ladies. Bailey, scrambled egg whites and ham. Aubrey, egg white omelet with tomato, peppers and cheese with half a grape fruit." She sat down two glasses and filled them with orange juice as she slid them to her daughters. "And juice. Coffee?"

"Me," Bailey said raising her hand. Olivia sat a mug down in front of her and filled it up.

"Thanks mom," Bailey said with a smile.

"Yeah mom, thanks." Aubrey smiled up at her.

"You are both very welcome," Olivia said dropping her omelet onto a plate and moving to sit next to her husband and eat. She picked up an envelope form the table and opened it.

"What is that?" Elliot asked looking at the envelope.

"The results on my blood work from the clinic," she said as she skimmed over the document.

Elliot watched her nervously. "And?"

"Perfect," she said with a smile as she laid the paper down on the table in front of her and took a sip of her coffee. "No sign of any cancer cells what so ever."

"Thank God," Elliot exhaled squeezing her hand."

Olivia smiled and placed her hand under her chin staring into his eyes. "Elliot we go through this every six months. It is just a routine blood work up. I am fine. I don't know why you get so nervous. I have done this every six months for about sixteen years, with no sign of the leukemia returning."

"I know. I just worry. I can't help it, Liv. You and these kids are my world, my life. I worry about all of you," he said kissing her hand.

"Well, now that this little thing has been dealt with we can get on with our lives," she said balling up the letter and tossing it into the trash. "For another six months at least."

Elliot smiled. "I love you."

"I love you, too. I have to get moving or we are going to be late," she said taking another sip of her coffee. She quickly finished her breakfast then moved upstairs to shower and get dressed.

At seven thirty on the dot, her black SUV pulled out of the driveway and headed for the city. Exactly the same at is did every other day of the week. Upon entering the city Olivia dropped the girls off at school, then headed to work. Elliot usually drove the car to work because he often went in earlier or worked later and this allowed Olivia to pick up the girls from school on time. Olivia made up for the few hours she managed to shave off her work week by doing a large amount of her paperwork at home and coming in and catching up on things a couple of Saturdays a month.

This was their balance. Their schedule and the way things had been since Olivia had returned to work after giving birth to her daughters. On the rare occasions Olivia and Elliot both got caught up in a case and had to work over, Maureen would usually pick the kids up and take them home with her for a while.

This was the girls' first year of high school and both seemed to be handling the transition very well. Both Aubrey and Bailey had always been straight 'A' students and neither of them had ever been in any real trouble at all. Aubrey was a cheerleader and ran with the popular crowd. Bailey was more quiet, but friendly to everyone and popular as well.

Elliot often thought back at some of the trials he had faced raising the older Stabler children. Eating disorders, partying, drugs, arrests, the lying and sneaking out. And he would think to himself how he must have gotten off easy this time.

Elliot stood beside his desk as Bailey and Aubrey climbed off the elevator and came running into the bull pen to greet everyone. Olivia stepped off behind them and walked back in to get a file she had forgotten. She took a seat at her desk and flipped through her mail as the girls made their way to Cragen's office.

"So what brings you back here?" Elliot joked.

"I forgot the Pelot file. I have to testify at his parole hearing in the morning, so I need you to take the girls to school."

"That psycho is up for parole again?"

"Yup. And hopefully, if I have anything to do with it anyway, he will be denied. Again."

"Which one was Pelot?" Fin asked.

"We got him for raping and murdering his fourteen year old neighbor. He was the suspect in the rape and murders of two other teenage girls as well, but we were never able to prove he did it. Statute of limitations ran out on us before we could tie him to them and they went cold. But the M.O. was the same. The crime scenes were even identical. Jeff Pelot only got a twenty five year sentence for what he did to that poor girl. And I intend to make sure he serves every bit of it."

"Do you see why I love her so much?" Elliot asked with a smile.

Fin laughed as Aubrey plopped down in her father's office chair and spun around in a circle.

"What have you been up to kid?" Fin asked giving her a high five.

"Not much. School."

"How you liking high school?"

"It's cool. Better than junior high."

"Your dad say's you're a cheerleader?"

"Yeah. I have been since I was like eight."

"Your sister doesn't cheer?"

"Oh, no. Bailey just runs track and plays softball."

"Softball, huh?" Munch asked looking at Bailey as she sat on the edge of her mother's desk.

"Yes."

"I used to play third base."

"I pitch," she said with a smile. "And Aubrey is short stop."

"You both play?"

"Yeah."

"You two ever trade places and confuse the other team?"

"Once or twice," Bailey laughed. "I bat left handed, so it really messes them up when they are not expecting it."

"You pitch lefty, too?"

"I can pitch either way."

"She is good Munch, you aught to see her. She has this little bounce step thing she does just before she throws a fast pitch. They can't hit it. She got M.V.P. for her team last year."

"Dad, that was eighth grade. This is high school. Completely different," Bailey said with a smile.

"Well, I am still proud of you," he said kissing her forehead. "Both of you," he said moving to kiss Aubrey as well. "What are you girls up to today?"

"Mom is taking us shopping and to get our nails done."

"She is, huh?" He asked looking across the room at Olivia who was still studying the file.

"Relax dad," Aubrey said with a smile. "It is babysitting money. And birthday money from grandpa," she said pointing to Cragen.

"Birthday money?" Elliot asked looking up at his boss. "Your birthday was in May. This is September."

"I gave them a little something. Twenty bucks, it wasn't much. I can give my grandchildren money if I want to."

"Twenty bucks?" Elliot asked studying the expression on Cragen's face. "You mean twenty bucks each. I know you better than that!"

"Hey I am their grandpa. It is my job to spoil them."

"Did you girls say thank you?"

"Thank you grandpa," they said at the same time.

"They did Elliot, the moment I handed it to them. They are both very well mannered young ladies," Cragen said as Aubrey belched really loud from the diet soda she was drinking.

She smiled a little embarrassed as pretty much everyone in the room turned their attention to her. "Excuse me."

Elliot nudged Bailey as she tried not to laugh. "Yes," Elliot said looking at Cragen, "very well mannered young ladies."

"Are we ready to go girls?" Olivia asked. "I have a lot of work to get done tonight and still have to figure something out for dinner."

"Just do what I do Liv," Munch suggested, "order a pizza. Nothing better than a spicy double pepperoni and sausage from Bryce Brothers."

"I would John, but we have some very particular appetites around our house. This one," she said pointing to Bailey, "does not like sausage. And this one," she said pointing to Aubrey, "does not eat pork at all."

"You girls don't know what you are missing," Munch said rubbing his stomach.

"About a thousand calories a slice and tons of saturated fat," Aubrey said with a smile.

"Smart kids," Fin said winking at her.

"Girls, tell everyone bye," Olivia said as she picked up her file and car keys. "I will see you at home later," she said kissing Elliot tenderly.

They scattered hugging everyone and saying their goodbyes, then came back and kissed their father goodbye.

"Bye daddy," Bailey said waving as they walked out of the room and toward the elevator.

"I swear they look more like Olivia every day," Munch said. "I can barely tell them apart anymore."

"Except that Aubrey is right handed and has blue eyes. Bailey has Liv's eyes and can use both hands, also like her mother."

"The term is ambidextrous," Munch rambled off.

"Whatever," Fin said returning to his desk. "They really are great kids. You have a beautiful family Elliot.

"I know," Elliot said picking up his pen to return to work. "When they were little I used to read to them from the 'Dr. Seuss' books. They were still babies, just big enough to be crawling and walking around. They were always getting into things. Olivia and I dubbed them Thing One and Thing Two, characters from one of the books. In the book Thing One and Thing Two, were these identical little monster things, very cute, anyway they were always getting into trouble. They still remind me of the girls. Infact last year during softball season they had Thing One and Thing Two printed on the back of their batting helmets. They are good kids, damn good kids. But they are kids. And kids, especially twins are a handful."

"And to think," Munch said with a devious grin, "you still have dating to look forward to."

Elliot shot him a smirk across the desk and returned his attention to his paperwork.