I don't own Law & Order: SVU...

Timeline: Current-ish. Casey and Alex are back, Rollins recently joined the squad, but Elliot never left (though he and Kathy are split up, for good this time.).

March 12

Detective Olivia Benson had faced more than her fair share of scary situations. She'd had a gun held to her head and been shot at. She had nearly had her throat sliced open. She'd been in foot chases that ended with her fighting guys much bigger than herself. She had been assaulted by a prison guard while she was undercover. But nothing terrified her more than what was directly in front of her. All of that was the job…this wasn't. She'd had a partner to back her up all of those times…this time she feared she was on her own. And what scared her the most was the fact that she was not only terrified, she was also thrilled with the news.

She sat on the edge of the bathtub, glancing back and forth between the little white stick sitting on the counter and the one in her hand. They both gave her the same message: a big, fat positive. Olivia Benson was pregnant.

She pressed her left hand against her abdomen, trying to imagine the little life that was inside her. Then she laid her right hand on her gun, still in its holster, and attempted to meld her life and her future. Olivia knew she wanted a child, she wanted to be a mother, but this was so overwhelming. She sat on the couch and cried, never even realizing she fell asleep until her alarm went off the next morning.

For the next week Olivia threw herself into the job, while attempting to conceal her morning sickness and aversion to the smell of her favorite take out from her coworkers. This didn't go unnoticed by her partner, Elliot Stabler. No matter how many times he asked Benson if she was okay, her answer was always the same, "I'm good El, just stressed, you know?" Then she would ask about some detail of a case to divert his attention. She wanted to tell him, wanted him to hold her and tell her it would be alright, that he would be there to support her. Even if she never admitted it before, she needed him now.

I'll tell him soon, she thought. I just need to go to the doctor first. Olivia had all of the worries and questions than every first time mother had, but she also had some special concerns. Detective Benson needed to know how quickly she needed to make changes to the job. The job had always been her life, now her life was going to have a whole other part. So many questions, she just needed to get them answered before she could tell anyone.

March 25

Don Cragen looked up from his paperwork to see Detective Benson standing in the doorway of his office. She looked…heavy, like something was weighing on her mind. She was silent, but her face told him she needed to talk. The captain decided that he could use a break from the stacks of files and he waved the detective into his office. "What's up, Liv?

Olivia still didn't say a word as she stepped into the office of her captain, the only man who she ever thought of as a father, and shut the door. She took a deep breath and tried to find the words.

Cragen watched the expressions play over her face, a whole range of emotions reflected there. "Olivia, is this professional or personal?"

"Uh…both, I guess." The normally self-assured, confident detective was still struggling with how to tell him. She finally decided that she might as well just say it. "Captain…Don, I'm pregnant" she said with a small smile playing over her lips and concern in her eyes. "I just went to the doctor yesterday. You're the first person I've told." Now that she started talking she couldn't seem to stop. "I already talked to my doctor about my job, and she said that I could continue as normal for a few weeks and then I'd need to go on desk duty at three or four months. I know I'll need to make some changes and you have the final say, and I just want to make sure-"

"Olivia" Don interrupted her, "take a breath." He really didn't need to ask how she felt about it all, he could see that her concern was for his reaction and her job, the joy was evident now. "Congratulations, Liv."

"Thanks Captain" Olivia slipped back into her professional mode, nearly holding her breath waiting for him to speak again.

"As long as it's alright with your doctor, I'm fine with you staying on full duty for the time being. Give me a couple of days to get everything else sorted out and then we'll talk about when you're going to start riding a desk!" He smiled when she released her breath.

"Alright. And, captain, I don't want to tell anyone else just yet."

He figured as much, but kept this thought to himself as she turned to walk out of his office. "Olivia, we're all here for you, you know that right?"

Olivia looked out into the squad room at her partner and the rest of the detectives and let out a sigh, "Yeah, I know. Thanks…Grandpa Don." She quickly opened the door and strode into the hall before either of them saw the tears in each other's eyes.

April 2

"Elliot…I need to talk to you…"

Elliot glanced across the desks at Olivia, she look nervous. He'd been worried about her for a few weeks, but now that worry turned to full-fledged concern and fear for his partner. "What's wrong?"

"Can we…go somewhere else?" After more than ten years, Olivia knew how to read her partner, and she could tell he was on the verge of freaking out. "It's okay. Let's just go up to the crib, it's probably empty." She walked away before he had a chance to ask her what was wrong again, she wanted to tell him, but she wasn't quite ready for the entire squad room to know.

"Olivia, tell me what's wrong!" Elliot demanded as he walked into the crib. He didn't even wait for a response before he started talking again. "I've been worried about you, you're pale, you've been late more often than normal, and you always seen exhausted at the end of the day! Are you sick? I need you to tell me-"

"Elliot." Olivia sharply cut off his tirade. Half of her job as his partner was controlling the infamous Stabler temper, so she'd had plenty of practice and could hold her own. This time she didn't let him get another word in before she spoke. "Nothing is wrong with me! El, I'm pregnant."

Elliot sank down onto one of the beds and stared at her. Benson could see the pieces fall into place for her partner: her not drinking coffee, her sudden dislike of her old favorite foods, her lack of energy, everything made sense to him now.

"I was going to tell you yesterday, but I figured April Fools might not be the best day to break this kind of news!"

"Wow, Liv. Are you…?" He didn't even bother finishing the question, he could read his partner and he knew she might be nervous and scared, but she was also glowing.

"Yeah, I'm happy" she answered his unspoken question. "I've already told Cragen, but no one else knows yet. I want to wait a while before I tell everyone, but I needed to tell you."

Elliot's face broke out into a smile "I'm so happy for you! And, everything looks good?"

"Everything looks great! I'm almost 9 weeks along."

"And you kept it a secret?"

"Well, I did even know until a few weeks ago, and I wanted to wait to see the doctor."

Olivia is spared any further questioning by a shout from Fin downstairs, "Benson, Stabler! We caught a case, let's go!" She's already out the door when Elliot realized he forgot to ask who the father was. As far as he knew, Benson wasn't serious with anyone.