Perfection
Chapter 1: Morning at the Stabler House
Disclaimer: Characters that you recognize, such as Elliot and Olivia, do not belong to me. Characters such as Emma, Caroline and baby Ian however do.
A/N: I've tried many times to write a future fic or something like that. This, I feel, is the best of my many attempts. So, having completed the first chapter, I decided to post it. To loyal fans of some of my other stories such as "Casanova" and "I Wanna Come Home" and other such works I say, do not fear, I have not lost my inspiration. I just needed something different for a little break.
"Emma! Caroline!" Olivia called from the kitchen to her two daughters "Come on you two!" She shifted nine month old Ian to her other arm as she finished packing the diaper bag and slung it over her shoulder. When after ten minutes, the girls hadn't appeared Olivia called again "Girls! What's taking you so long?!"
Five year old Caroline appeared and giggled "Daddy's hiding!" she squealed.
Olivia rolled her eyes "Elliot," she muttered. Sometimes he could be just as much of a handful as the kids but God help her, she loved him. She turned to Caroline "Don't worry honey, Mommy's gonna go find Daddy. You and Emma finish getting ready for kindergarten."
"Okay Mommy," Caroline bounced up and down on the balls of her feet before running off to find Emma.
Olivia dropped the diaper bag on the table and adjusted Ian in her arms once again. She bounced him lightly as she asked "You wanna help Mommy find Daddy, baby boy?"
"Bluvvvvv," Ian burbled a nonsensical response and smiled at his mother.
Olivia grinned widely at her little boy as he pumped a tiny fist in the air "I'll take that as a yes," she chuckled, pressing her lips briefly to Ian's forehead.
Olivia walked up the stairs and into the master bedroom. She had a feeling that her daughters had neglected to look in there "Elliot," she called stepping through the door "We're running late. I have to take the girls to school and you have to drop Ian off at daycare, otherwise we'll both be so late for work that Cragen will…" she looked down at Ian in her arms and decided that she shouldn't explain what their boss would do in front of such little ears; Ian was bound to say his first word any day now and Olivia was damned sure determined that it was not going to be a swear.
She knelt down beside the bed and lifted up the quilt. Peering into the darkness beneath the bed, she thought she saw the outline of an arm moving swiftly out of site. She wasn't about to crawl under the bed after her husband. She rolled her eyes upward "Why Elliot, why?" she groaned.
The next second, he was beside her "Sorry," he shrugged "I guess I got a little involved in this game."
Olivia looked at her watch "Yeah," she sighed "I'd say that you definitely got a little carried away."
Elliot lifted Ian out of Olivia's arms "Hey buddy," he smiled, standing up. He turned to Olivia as she picked herself up off the floor "I'm so sorry Liv. I promise I won't do it again."
"Sure," she smiled, not believing him in the least as she stepped forward and kissed him "If you did that and Emma and Caroline actually got to school on time for once, I don't think that I'd see Emma smile so much."
"I love you," he whispered as they walked down the stairs together.
"I love you too," she whispered back, giving him a quick peck on the cheek. They reached the bottom of the stairs and saw Emma and Caroline in the kitchen, waiting for them.
Caroline was standing in the middle of the kitchen floor, practicing with her jump rope. She had insisted on taking it to school with her every day since she had gotten it as a birthday present a month ago.
Emma on the other hand was sitting at the table, quiet, patient and looking sad. Emma and Caroline had been like night and day since the day they were born and they continued to contrast to this very day.
Olivia had gone into labor a month and a half early. Caroline had been born first, strong, healthy, only having to spend a day in the NNICU because her lungs needed the aid of a little bit of oxygen. Emma by contrast had weighed three pounds ten ounces at birth and had been much smaller than her sister who weighed a still low but not dangerously low, five pound twelve ounces.
There had been one horrible day when they thought that they were going to lose her. Cragen, Munch, Fin and Casey all came to the hospital and stood with Elliot and Olivia, passing Caroline among them as Olivia sobbed in Elliot's arms by the crib where Emma lay.
The doctors had said that it was nothing short of a miracle that the little girl had lived. Olivia always treated her girls equally but in her mind, Emma was her miracle baby, the one who had beat the odds and showed the doctors what the collective stubbornness that she had inherited from both of her parents could do.
Olivia smiled at each of her daughters in turn "Ready to go girls?" she asked.
"Yep!" Caroline bounced up, throwing her jump rope into the air and catching it.
"Yes Momma," Emma said quietly, sliding off the chair she was sitting on and coming to stand beside her sister.
Olivia handed each girl her backpack, pink for Caroline and green for Emma, and she herded the girls towards the door "Diaper bag's on the table El," she called back over her shoulder "See you at work."
"See you," Elliot called back "Bye girls, have a good day at school. I love you."
"Love you too Daddy!" they called in unison right before Olivia closed the front door behind them.
Elliot adjusted Ian in his arms as he picked up the diaper bag. The woman who watched Ian during the day was only a few blocks from their house. He gave Ian a gentle bounce as he headed to the door "Hey buddy," he grinned at his son "Are you ready for a big day at daycare?"
Ian smiled at his father "Gaboo blooooob!"
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Olivia knelt down to give each of her girls a hug goodbye. After she hugged Caroline, the precocious child ran off to meet a few of her friends in the play yard. But Emma stayed by her mother a bit longer; Emma didn't really have any friends in the kindergarten class other than her sister. Caroline was always the extravert, the other children seemed to gravitate to her energy but poor Emma was the introvert. She didn't talk to anyone and therefore, no one talked to her. This morning was no different from any of the others.
"Bye sweetie," Olivia whispered in Emma's ear "Have fun today. I'll see you later okay?"
"Okay Momma," Emma said, giving her mother another hug but not making any move to go play with the other children. Not until Olivia stood up and started to walk back to the car, did Emma turn towards the place where her sister was once again showing off her jump rope skills. Emma walked over to a corner of the play yard and took a seat, hugging her knees to her chest, watching the other kids silently.
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Olivia walked into the squad room only fifteen minutes later. She spotted Elliot immediately as she took a seat at her desk. She pulled the latest lab report to her and began reading it over.
Elliot saw the look on her face and knew without asking that things had gone the way they always did with Emma. He leaned forward and tapped his wife's hand gently with his pen "It isn't your fault," he whispered.
Olivia looked up "I must be doing something wrong," she whispered back. Somehow, she had failed as a mother. Her two genetically similar girls were absolutely different. The only explanation was the environment she had raised them in. Caroline was fine but somehow she had screwed up with Emma.
"Kids are just different," Elliot told her firmly. This was an all too familiar discussion, one they had every day. Elliot couldn't explain why his identical twin girls were so different but he knew it wasn't Olivia. He had seen the way she was with them; she didn't play favorites, she wasn't more protective of one more than the other. She had tried everything to help Emma come out of her shell. Hell, Elliot had tried everything.
"They're identical twins Elliot," Olivia said, slamming the lab report closed. Warner hadn't found any DNA or anything of use to them anyway.
"Even twins are different," Elliot stated "Dickie and Elizabeth were never anything like one another."
Olivia sighed heavily "They're fraternal twins El."
"No one," Elliot told her, reaching across the desk and holding her hand tight "Not even identical twins are exactly alike."
"I know," Olivia conceded "But to see her so lonely… El, it… it just breaks my heart," her voice shank to a whisper as she tried not to cry. It was too early to lose her cool. She changed the subject quickly "Are we going to go re-interview the witness in the Fisher case?"
Elliot released her hand and cleared his throat, looking down at his notes "Uh, yeah. Should we go do that now?"
Olivia looked at her watch again. Their witness worked the late shift at a seven eleven. If they left now, they could probably just catch him slinking back to his apartment building, hoping to get a nice long day of sleep "What better way to get an honest statement from someone than when he's half dead on his feet?" she asked, getting up out of her seat.
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Emma nibbled on her animal cracker at snack time. She sat in her normal spot at the corner of the play yard; it was so nice outside that the teacher let the kids eat their snack outside. Emma watched as Caroline and a few other kids, played duck, duck goose. Suddenly the little girl felt a tap on her shoulder.
She turned, dropping her cracker on the ground in surprise. She saw an unfamiliar man on the other side of the fence. Emma stood to her feet and backed away, her small eyes darting around, searching for the teacher; her parents had taught her well what she was supposed to do if a stranger ever approached her. She was about to run away when the stranger spoke.
"It's okay Emma. I'm your uncle. My name is Simon."
A/N: I have no idea what the producers are planning for Simon Marsden for the rest of this season but this story assumes that he disappeared for about six years. I hope that makes sense. That said… What the hell does that freak want, sneaking up on little girls in school yards like he's freaking Gitano? Wow… my writing is making me mad at me LOL. Okay guys, I love you and I love hearing from you and I would love to hear your thoughts on this new story.