Different
(Chapter One: Answered Prayers)
Olivia sat on the edge of the bed fighting off a wave of morning sickness. She smoothed her hand over the small bump of a belly as she remembered back to the day she learned she was pregnant.
It was two years to the day that she and Elliot had exchanged vows and they had been trying to conceive from the moment the ink was dry on their marriage license. For so long it seemed as if this were a dream that would never come true, until that day.
Olivia had gone for her annual physical for work and showed symptoms of what she thought was a stomach virus that had been going around. Her doctor took some blood samples to run a few tests to try and figure out what was causing her illness. The results were something she definitely hadn't been expecting.
The tests showed high levels of a hormone he referred to as human chorionic gonadotropin or HGC. Just when Olivia was sure she had some horrible disease and was going to die, he explained that HGC is a hormone that shows up in blood and urine when a woman is pregnant. Olivia, was finally going to be a mother.
That night over a romantic anniversary dinner, she shared with her husband the news they had waited so long to hear. Elliot was so excited he grabbed her hands in his and they jumped around screaming in excitement. He held her so close and they laughed until they cried. To this point, it was the happiest day of her life.
She smiled and walked to the kitchen for some saltines and water.
"Good morning beautiful," Elliot said kissing her tenderly.
"Morning."
"How do you feel?"
"Not so hot," she replied combing her fingers through her hair.
"Hopefully this part will be over soon," he said paying out some crackers on a plate for her and handing her a bottle of water.
"Hopefully?"
"Well, with the twins Kathy had morning sickness through the entire pregnancy. Maybe it's twins."
Olivia smiled. "That would be nice. We would have our hands full, but it would be nice. We probably would have known by now if there were two in there. I would be just as happy with one." She rubbed her palm over her baby bump as she smiled.
"Have you felt it move yet?"
"I don't think so. But I am only about seventeen weeks or so, Elliot. My doctor says that some women don't feel their babies move until around twenty or twenty two weeks."
"So, what is on the agenda for today?"
"I have an appointment."
"For what?"
"Well, he was having a little trouble determining exactly how far along I was the last time. He just wants to check some things out and make sure the baby is developing properly. He says it isn't uncommon to miss the due date on the first appointment. He said he would probably do an ultrasound and take some measurements. Do you want to come with me?"
"Of course, I do. I want to be there for every appointment," he said kissing her on the forehead. "I am so excited about this baby."
"Me too," she said with a smile.
Elliot placed his hand against the side of her cheek. "We waited so long for this to happen. This baby is the answer to our prayers." Things were quiet for a few minutes. "What time is the appointment?"
"One o'clock."
"I have court in the morning, but I should be out by noon. I could take you out for lunch and then on to your appointment. And we'll get to see our baby," he said as he placed his palm on her belly.
"Sounds good. We'd better get going though if we are going to be at work on time."
"Are you sure you're feeling alright?"
"Yeah. Just a little morning sickness. It has pretty much passed."
"Because if you are feeling bad, maybe you should stay home."
"No way, El. I am saving up my sick days for after the baby is here so I can stay home with him."
"Or her," he said winking at his wife.
"Or her," she said with another smile.
"I love you, baby."
"I love you, too. I'm going to go take a quick shower. That always makes me feel better."
Elliot smiled and watched as she made her way down the hall toward the bathroom. He stood and walked down it as well, stopping at the first door on the right. He opened the door and stared at the empty room with blank white walls. The room that would soon serve as a nursery for their son or daughter. He looked around for a minute trying to imagine everything set up and the walls painted and the crib against the wall. He exhaled slowly and turned his attention to the large cardboard box containing the pieces of the crib.
"Daddy will start working on your bedroom this weekend," he said with a smile.
He closed the door behind him and walked back to the kitchen picking up the cards with paint samples in the bright green and yellow colors he and Olivia had chosen for the nursery.
That afternoon Elliot picked his wife up from work to take her out to lunch before her doctors appointment.
"I have a surprise for you," he said opening the back hatch or her black SUV.
"You got the paint."
"Yeah, I figured I could work on painting the nursery this weekend. Maybe get the crib set up next weekend."
Olivia smiled. "I can't wait to see how everything comes together."
"Oh, and this." He moved some stuff around to reveal a large box covered in brown shipping paper.
"What is this?"
"Open it," he said with a smile.
She tipped her head to the side and stared at him with a sparkle in her eyes as she tore back part of the paper.
"Oh, Elliot."
"Is that the right one?"
"Yes," she said with a smile looking down at the picture of the infant car seat she had picked out from the baby store. "I thought they were sold out. The girl said they had sold the last one and wouldn't be ordering anymore."
"I pulled a few strings."
"What strings?"
"I wrote down the serial number and made Fin and Munch help me hunt it down on the internet."
Olivia laughed. "It came from South Carolina," she said dragging her fingertip across the postmark on the package.
"Hey, what my wife wants, my wife gets." he smiled and kissed her again.
"You did good," she said wrapping her arms around his neck to kiss him once more. "But right now, your wife really wants food."
Elliot grinned as her stomach growled. "Apparently, so does my baby."
"Apparently."
He drove her to one of her favorite places and they enjoyed a nice Italian meal. Then it was off to the doctor's office. Olivia's OBGYN shared an office with a pediatrician. Elliot smiled and waved making silly faces at some of the babies in the waiting room as Olivia tried hard to concentrate on feeling her child move inside of her.
"Just think," he said locking his fingers in hers, "a few more months and we'll have one of those." He kissed her hand and smiled at a little boy who grinned at them. "Or one of those," he said nodding toward a woman holding a baby in a little pink sleeper.
"Do you want a boy or a girl?" Olivia asked staring into his eyes.
"I would gladly take either. But I seem to be really good at making baby girls."
She hugged his arm and grinned as she settled her head against his shoulder. "I could handle having a baby girl who looks like her daddy," she sighed never feeling more in love than she did in this moment.
Elliot kissed the top of her head. "So, we want a girl?"
"Or a boy," she said turning her eyes to gaze into his. "I have seen how adorable those blue eyes Stabler boys can be."
"Well, who says he or she will have blue eyes? Brown is more dominant, you know?"
Olivia smiled at him again.
"I could see our beautiful little girl with her mama's brown eyes."
"You can?"
"Yes, I can."
"Okay, I will make you a deal. If it is a girl, she can have brown eyes. But if it is a boy, they are blue."
"Deal," he laughed. "As if we have any say in that."
"I know," she laughed again. "But, it is fun to dream."
"I guess we should just keep trying until we have one of each. A boy and a girl, one with brown eyes and one with blue."
"Now, that is a deal," she said with a smile.
"Deal," Elliot repeated as he kissed her lips.
"Olivia Stabler," a woman called as she stepped out in to the waiting room.
"What do you see?" Olivia asked the doctor as he studied the ultrasound screen.
"Well, this is the heart beating. And here is the spine."
"It looks good, right?" Elliot asked not liking to look on the man's face.
"Olivia is right around seventeen weeks along. But the baby appears to be developing a little slower than we like to see."
"Something is wrong?" Olivia asked looking at him doctor with fear in her eyes. "Am I going to lose my baby?"
"Try to calm down. It could be nothing. Some babies just develop a little slower than others. But I would like to schedule some tests."
"What tests?" Elliot asked.
"I would like to schedule you for an amniocentesis."
"What is that?"
"It is a procedure we use to remove amniotic fluid from the amniotic sac. I will take a needle and go in through the abdominal wall until I have entered the sac. I'll draw out a little fluid and we will send that off and have it screened."
"Screened for what?" Elliot asked.
"Will this hurt the baby?"
"Overall, amniocentesis is a safe procedure with the risk of fetal loss at generally less than one percent."
"I could cause me to lose the baby?"
"Miscarriage does occur in about one out of about five hundred cases. The procedure is relatively pain free and provides us with a good look at what is going on in there. I will have the results back in about five to seven days."
"What are you screening for?" Elliot repeated, feeling as if the man was trying to avoid answering the question.
"The screening can give us information that can help detect complications such as certain birth defects as well as telling us things such as the baby's sex."
"What is wrong with my baby?" Olivia whispered in tears as she focused her attention on the tiny little heartbeat on the screen in front of them.
"That is what I want to help you figure out," the doctor said softly looking at Elliot. "I can do the procedure as early as tomorrow morning. But the sooner we get the results back, the better."
Elliot looked at his wife as he squeezed her hand and she nodded to him. "We'll be here."