Title: My New Daddy
Author: SVU Addict
Disclaimer: I did not create the characters of Law and Order: SVU nor do I own them. I only own the story line and the characters I make up.
Summery: Eight-Year-Old Olivia Benson shows up to school with some black and blue marks.
A/N: This is a one-shot. Enjoy!
Eight-year-old Olivia Benson sat in the back seat of her car trying to keep the tears that were threatening to shed from leaving her eyes. She looked up at her Mother, Serena Benson, with fear in her big chocolate brown eyes. There had been a time when her Mother could do no wrong. But that only lasted until the young girl was six. It was before her Mother started to drink more heavily and started into heavier stuff. Olivia wasn't stupid even as an eight year old. She knew exactly what her mother was doing and it wasn't good. With the drugs and alcohol Olivia found herself being abused more. Not just verbally like she had been used to but now it was getting physical. She watched as her Mother pulled up in front of her school. Olivia went to get out of the car.
"Olivia," Serena said sharply.
Olivia stopped her movement and looked back at her Mother. She tried to keep the fear out of her eyes. She didn't want her Mother to know anything that she felt.
"Tell no one," Serena said in a deep scary voice.
Olivia nodded before she fled the car in a hurry. She pulled her jacket closer to her body trying to keep the chill of the cold morning out. She didn't bother stopping to meet her best friend Alexandra Cabot in the cafeteria. She just went straight to her classroom, which was empty because school wasn't going to be starting for another ten minutes. She sat in her seat and rested her head on the cold surface. She only let one tear slide down her cheek, but quickly wiped it away.
"Olivia?" a soft voice asked.
Olivia didn't have to look up to find out who it was. She already knew that the voice was the voice of her teacher Mrs. Browne. She was her favorite teacher and the only teacher who actually paid attention to her students and cared if they were okay. Olivia lifted her head and found a worried expression on Mrs. Browne's face. She knew why she was worried. She had been coming to school with bruises from her Mother's many drunken sprees.
"Yes," Olivia said in a small voice.
Mrs. Browne studied Olivia's face and the small black and blue that was on her cheek. She studied the cut above Olivia's eyebrow that was still healing from last week.
"Is everything okay at home?" Mrs. Browne asked in a gentle voice.
Olivia couldn't keep the tears back this time. The tears gushed out of her eyes and slid like an avalanche down her cheeks. She told Mrs. Browne everything. When she was done Ms. Browne wiped away her tears with a tissue and took her by the hand.
"Where are we going?" Olivia asked.
"We're going to go talk to Mr. Harris," replied Mrs. Browne.
Olivia knew who Mr. Harris was. Mr. Harris was the school social worker. He helped students that needed help. Olivia knew that he would help her. Maybe he would put her with a family that loved her. She didn't understand why her Mommy didn't love her, but she wanted a family that would love her. She wanted a Daddy that would love her. When she arrived at Mr. Harris's office Mrs. Browne told her to wait outside while she talked to Mr. Harris for a minute. She sat outside trying to picture a time when her Mommy loved her. She realized that she couldn't remember a time when her Mommy loved her. She always called her bad names and once she said she didn't love her because she looked too much like her daddy. Olivia didn't know why that was a bad thing, but she learned to know that well. She just wished she knew why looking like Daddy was a bad thing. The door opened and Mrs. Browne came back out. She took Olivia by the hand and led her into the small office. She sat on a couch with Mrs. Browne. Mr. Harris sat in a small chair across from her.
"Can you tell me what you told Mrs. Browne?" Mr. Harris asked.
Olivia nodded. She retold everything she had told Ms. Browne. Only this time she didn't cry. She told him how her Mommy would call her bad words. She told him how when her Mommy drank she would sometimes hit her. She told him about the men that her Mommy would bring home and how they would taunt her.
"We're going to find you a nice family to live with," Mr. Harris told her.
Olivia hugged Mr. Harris. He hadn't been expecting it but he wrapped his arms around her small body.
"Thank you Mr. Harris," Olivia replied, "Thank you."
Cragen had only been heading home from work after having worked a double shift without sleep while working on a big case when social services had called him down to the office. He had put himself on a list because he was looking to adopt a daughter or son that was being abused. He knew that most people wouldn't want the kind of responsibility that came with adopting a child of abuse. They were usually scared for the first year or so as they were getting used to a life where they didn't have to worry about being abused when they did or said something wrong. But Cragen, even though he was only at the young age of thirty-two, knew the importance of taking care of those children. He walked into Mr. Browne's office in the social services office after being called to come in.
"I'm glad that you could come down," Mr. Browne said.
Mr. Browne had told him his wife was the teacher of the girl that needed to be adopted and fast.
"You know me Mark," Cragen told the man, "I'm always willing to help the kids."
Mark agreed. Mark then went on to tell Cragen about Olivia in more depth. He told him about what Olivia had gone through living with her Mother Serena. When they were done Cragen knew that she needed his help and that he was going to adopt her.
"Can I take her home today?" Cragen asked when they were done.
Mark nodded. He hadn't been able to find a foster family to take her in and since Cragen was going to adopt her anyway it couldn't hurt to let her begin her healing process.
"Come with me and you can get Olivia," Mark told him.
Cragen nodded. He followed Mark into a small room set up for the children to play in. Olivia was in the corner playing with his daughter Emily. It had been bring your child to work day and Emily had decided to go to work with her Dad. She was twelve years old and was having a blast playing with Olivia.
"Olivia," Mark said, "Can I talk to you for a minute?"
Olivia smiled and ran over to him. He bent down so that he was eye level with her.
"Olivia this is Mr. Cragen. You're going to go live with him," explained Mark, "Is that okay?"
Olivia nodded slightly. She walked over to Cragen and pulled at his arm until he knelt down so he was eye level with her. She smiled brightly at him and Cragen's heart melted at the sight.
"Are you my new Daddy?" Olivia asked in an innocent voice.
Cragen's heart melted even more. He was so glad that she was going to accept him into her life so fast. When he had asked if he could adopt a child of abuse they had told him that they it would probably take some time before the child accepted him, but here was Olivia asking if he could be her new daddy.
"Of course," Cragen replied.
Olivia's smiled got brighter and she ran into his arms. Cragen wrapped his arms around her small body and lifted her off the ground so he could stand.
"I'm glad you're my new daddy."
A/N: Isn't that cute? I thought so when I wrote it. Wow I just realized this is my third one-shot I'm putting out there. My third SVU one shot. Enjoy and review.
SVUAddict