A/N: I was reading all these stories about Elliot and Liv and secret babies and what not… what if they had a baby that WASN'T a secret and THEN Elliot went into witness protection? Hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think!

"Mornin' Ella bug," Olivia greeted her ten-month-old daughter. The baby's bright blue eyes sparkled up at her momma from the white wooden crib.

Olivia scooped her daughter out of bed and began another day in her routine of being a single mom.

Olivia wasn't thrilled about the card God had dealt her on the whole single-mom thing. But Ella's dad… he was a special case. He was her best buddy, had been her partner at work, and then… well. Olivia knew she and Ella's dad had pretty much written the book on falling in love with someone you work with. She hadn't meant to. She'd actually fought it really hard for a long time, but it was probably always there. In fact it must have been always there to some extent, because people didn't really seem all that shocked when the whole "Elliot and Olivia are dating" thing came out. Come to think of it, they hadn't really been all that shocked when the whole "Liv's knocked up" thing came out either. When Olivia finally allowed herself to fall head over feet for her partner, she knew she'd never regret it. Elliot and his wife Kathy had been divorced for about two years. Their four kids were getting used to the idea that mom and dad weren't ever going to be "mom and dad" again, and they were okay with it. Elliot's middle daughter Kathleen had always been tight with her mom, so she was the one who took the longest to come around but eventually, she did. Elliot's kids really liked Olivia, and she loved the hell out of them.

Olivia remembered the day her relationship with her partner had gone from best friends to something much more. It had started out as just another day.

"Liv! Let's go!" Elliot hollered at her as she scrambled in her desk for her sunglasses. She was so flustered and frustrated with herself. The tension between her and Elliot had been ridiculous lately and he was teasing her more and being flirtier and she was about to go around the bend. This was NOT her. This was NOT how Det. Olivia Benson operated.

"I'm coming. Right behind you," she chased after him like a puppy. He chewed his gum slowly and smirked at her. "Oh what? Like you never had an off day in your life," she scowled.

"I didn't say a word, Liv," then he smirked again. She hated that smirk. She hated it because on one hand, well, she hated it. But on the other hand… she loved it. It was just another "Elliot-ism" that made him so sexy in her eyes. Those Elliot-isms had been piling up lately. She was, in fact, drowning in them. Crap.

"So what's going on?" she asked. Elliot explained to her that a janitor at a high school had found a baby in a trash can. Unfortunately, pretty routine stuff for them.

"I just don't get how a girl can do that! What in the hell is the logic behind it?"

"Elliot," Olivia placed her hand on his arm. "You know your girls would never do that, right?" She knew him well enough to interpret the outbursts that most people thought were just his uncontrollable temper.

"Yeah. I know."

"You raised good girls, El," Olivia felt a need to keep reassuring him.

"Thanks." He went to pat her hand but left his on top of hers for just a beat too long. Her eyes met his and she quickly jerked her hand away.

Later That Night

Olivia reached behind her to the arm of the couch and grabbed her vibrating cell phone. She flipped it open and answered, "Benson."

"Hey." Elliot.

"Hi."

"Can I…"

"Sure. I'm here."

"Great. I'll be there in a few minutes."

Olivia looked around the disaster that was her apartment. She wasn't the world's greatest housekeeper and it sort of showed. She tornadoed through the place, haphazardly tossing dishes in the dishwasher, throwing a load of towels in the washing machine, and kicking a pile of clothes into her closet. She leaned on the closet door to get it to shut. A sock poked out from beneath the door and she pulled it out and threw it under the bed. Good enough. Stopping in the bathroom long enough to catch a glimpse of herself in the mirror, she brushed the chocolate chip cookie crumbs from her NYPD sweatshirt and dragged a comb through her shoulder-length auburn hair. Again, good enough.

Just as she was flopping on the couch trying to look totally relaxed and like she hadn't just marathon cleaned her house, the buzzer went off. She went to the door and buzzed Elliot in. When he came in, he gave her that great smile that lit up his ice blue eyes brighter than the first cloud break after a winter snowstorm. She couldn't help but grin back at him before she flopped back down on the couch.

"So what's up?" she asked casually.

"Well, I was… uh… Liv, I… This… Feelings and girly stuff…"

"Isn't your style?" she finished.

"Right."

"Okay, then I'll go first."

"Thank you," he heaved a sigh of relief as he perched on the opposite end of the couch from her and looked at her expectantly.

"Um. Well…"

"Olivia, I love you," he interrupted.

"You what?"

"Love. You."

"I. Uh. I… Elliot."

"It's okay, Liv. You don't have to say anything. I read you wrong. I'm sorry."

"No, Elliot. That's not it. I just… didn't know what to say. I've been sort of hoping you'd say that for awhile now. I just figured you were just flirting and it wasn't a big deal. And, you know, you were married. And I don't fall in love with married guys. Or my partner. So I just told myself to get over it."

"Liv, I was flirting. But I was flirting with the girl I'm in love with." Again with the megawatt smile.

"Me?"

"No, Fin. He's sorta girly, don't you think?"

Olivia poked her bare toes into his thigh. "Shut up, Stabler."

"And you're right. I was married. But I'm not anymore, I haven't been for awhile. And I agree, it wasn't a good idea for us to be together when I was married to Kathy. I'm not a cheater, Liv. You know me. I honor my commitments. But sometimes, married guys fall in love with someone else. When I figured out I was in love with you, Olivia, I swore to myself that I would be a free man before I made any decisions about you and me. As far as falling for your partner, well. You know," his face reddened.

"I'm sorry, are you BLUSHING? Is the great big tough guy BLUSHING? Elliot Stabler. In my apartment. BLUSHING! I can't believe it," Olivia teased.

"Yeah yeah. Even hardasses fall in love, Liv." He grinned at her. "So, now that you know… is there anything you'd like to tell me?"

"No. Not that I can think of. Hey! Thanks for stopping by," she grinned at him.

"Oh it's on now," Elliot launched on to the couch, ready to tickle a confession out of her.

Olivia let him have his fun for a few seconds before she flipped him onto the floor and pinned his hands next to his head.

"On, huh?"

"Probably not a good way to elicit a confession…"

"Yeah, probably not. Good try though. Hey, Elliot?"

"Yeah, Liv?"

"I love you too."

A/N: Okay so I decided to split this up into chapters. Let me know what you think. I used to write backstreet fanfic way back in the day (I'm much older and cooler now) but this is the first thing I've done for a long time.