"What're we gunna name you little guy?" Elliot's palm rubbed the swell of Olivia's stomach. She stared at the man next to her, her eyes studying his face. It always amazed her how he really never aged. His face was relaxed, opposite from the usual stern angry look that was found occupied there. A small smile fell across his lips and his eyes were soft and starring at her bump. She let out a sigh causing him to redirect his gaze to her eyes.

"Girl," She corrected him. He rolled his eyes.

"It's a boy." His voice was certain.

"It's a girl, Elliot."

"Wanna bet on it?"

A breathy laugh escaped her. "You want to bet on the sex of our unborn child?"

He replied with a lazy grin and she offered a toothy smile.

"What's the bet?" Why was she humouring him?

He bit the insides of his cheek as his eyes darted around indicating that he was thinking. The hand that was now resting on her stomach started to move again causing her shudder. She was certain that she'd never really get sick of him touching her.

"If it's a boy-"

"-Which it's not,"

He glared at her.

She pursed her lips together to stifle a laugh.

"If it's a boy..." He halted his hand and tapped his pointer finger against her now bare stomach, he managed to snake his hand under her shirt without her knowing. She didn't mind. If she had it her way, she'd make sure his hands never left her.

She rolled her eyes. "How about if it's a boy, you name him. If it's a girl, I name her."

He looked into her eyes and smiled. "Sounds good to me."

A moment of silence passed. His hand still lazily worked over her, and she still didn't want him to stop. He leaned his head back against the stack of pillows behind them and closed his eyes. She brought her hand to his and laced their fingers together. He ran the pad of his thumb over her fingers and she tucked her head into the nook of his neck releasing a content sigh from deep within her.

They laid like that for a while, enjoying the closeness. Olivia opened her mouth to say something but was silenced by the unusual feeling that was going on in her lower abdomen. The unsure look on her face alarmed Elliot.

"What's wrong?" His soften relaxed features tensed.

"You didn't feel that?"

"No...?"

"She kicked!" Her voice cracked with excitement as she sat up, lightly pressing into her stomach. "Elliot, she actually kicked!"

Elliot's face beamed as he watched the first time-soon-to-be mom feel the joy of her child moving around inside her, a feeling that he knew she wanted to feel since...forever. She grabbed his hand and guided it to the spot with the most movement. She frowned. "Aw, she stopped." She heaved a sigh and dropped her hands to the bed beside her. Elliot continued to cradle her swell in his hand as he lightly thumbed over the bare skin.

"Sure it wasn't just gas?"

"Really? Always gotta ruin it for me, don't you?" She couldn't help but laugh.

That infamous cocky grin appeared as he looked at her. "Okay. It wasn't gas. He kicked."

"She."

He shook his head with a small laugh and she punched him on the arm.

"Was that necessary?"

"Sorry. Pregnancy gives me random ticks." To emphasize, she punched him again.

"Olivia," He warned, one eye brow raised.

"Yes?" She tilted her head to the side batting her eyelashes at him.

"Don't make me-"

She punched him again.

"Okay. That's it. You asked for it," He threw his leg over her thighs straddling her as he pinned her arms next to her head. "Mhm. Now what are you going to do?" There was that cocky Stabler grin again.

She struggled against his strength, but quickly gave up. If she weren't pregnant, she definitely would have been able to overpower him. She laid there beneath him, their eyes boring into each other. He loosened the grip around her wrists only to lightly run his fingertips down her forearms and back up again. He clasped his hands in hers and leaned down to place a kiss on her collar bone, his stomach smoothing over her's. He slid off of her to her side and rested his head on her shoulder-mirroring their previous position.

"I don't regret this," He spoke softly, trailing his fingers over her stomach causing her skin to erupt with goose bumps. She felt the tears coming but willed them away, blinking rapidly.

"I don't regret it," His voice was still low, barely above a whisper.

Was he trying to convince her or himself?

She couldn't fight the tears anymore. They rolled down her face in a jagged line.

"Liv, I..."

"Just...don't, okay?" She pawed at her face before sitting up causing Elliot's head to fall back on the mattress. She rested her head in her hands willing herself to calm down knowing the anxiety plus the pregnancy would cause her to vomit.

He propped himself up on his elbow. "Maybe you should go eat something."

She nodded in agreement. Getting up and heading into the kitchen she called back to him, "There's plenty of left overs if you want to join me."

Her slightly protruding belly lead the way to the kitchen and she rummaged around the refrigerator for something that looked even a little bit appetizing. She settled for a ham and cheese sandwich (with pickles) because the thought of eating left over spaghetti made her want to throw up everything she'd eaten in the past four and a half months.

Sinking her teeth into the sandwich she actually had to fight back a moan because she hadn't realised just how hungry she was. Relishing in the taste, she practically shoved half of the sandwich into her mouth in one bite.

Elliot rounded the corner into the kitchen smirking at her wild eating habits. "Hungry?"

"God, yes," She managed to say around a mouth full of bread and mushed meat, cheese and condiments.

He leaned against the counter watching her. She took another bite of her sandwich and returned his gaze.

"You leaving?" She slowed her chewing and cast her eyes to the floor. He saw the sadness in her features and an immediate wave of guilt hit him.

"Uh, yeah. Kathy gets off work at three,"

Suddenly not hungry anymore, she dropped the remaining half of her sandwich on the plate.

"And Eli has a doctors appointment at four," She remembered aloud. He nodded.

She stood and disposed of the plate in the sink. Turning on her heels, she went to exit the kitchen and go to the living room but was abruptly stopped by Elliot's body. She took a step back, eying him. Those pesky tears welled up in her eyes again she took another step back away from him. He stepped closer to her, grabbing her upper arms to prevent her from moving again.

"It'll be okay, Liv," He said sternly.

He wrapped his fingers around the back of her neck, his thumbs smoothing over her jawline. "I promise you, this will all be okay."

"Don't," her voice caught in her throat. "Don't make promises when you have no possible way of knowing that, Elliot. Don't stand here and tell me everything is going to be okay when you're walking out of my apartment to go home to your wife." She took a deep breath. "I don't regret this," she repeated his previous words, her hand coming to rest on her stomach. "I don't. But, I wish this would have happened under different circumstances."

She brushed past him into the living room to sit on the couch.

"I don't know what to do, Liv..."

Leave her.

"I can't tell you what to do, Elliot. You should probably go."

He dropped his head and squeezed the bridge of his nose, letting out defeated sigh. "Okay."

He opened his mouth to say something but was cut off.

"Don't say anything. There's nothing to say. Just go."

He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. "I'll drop by tomorrow, okay?" She gave a small nod, and he turned to walk out the door leaving her alone to think about how exactly she got in this situation and what the hell she planned to do about it.

I've decided to re-write this entire story for many reasons, one to hopefully improve the story line and to fix a few errors I've made along the way.

If you're going to re-enter this journey with me, pleaaaase leave a review to let me know you're going to read it! (Especially after this chapter. I want to know/see how many people are reading so I know if I'm going to continue or not; you don't even have to "review" just tell me you're interested in reading.)

I have all of the chapters (re)written and ready to publish, so after every 10 or so reviews I get, I'll update.

Also, I don't use it much (trying to change that now), but if you'd like you can follow me on Twitter: aminaxbella to keep up with updates and stuff~