Undercover Infatuation
Chapter 2
A/N: I apologize for this taking longer than expected to get posted. I only really saw this being a light/fluffy two or three shot, so this is going to be the last chapter. I have a sequel in the works at the moment, so keep your eyes open. Thank you again to every one of you who follow and favourite my work and stick with me despite any gaps in updating. Your readership means the world. I promise no matter how long I'm away from writing/posting for whatever reason, if y'all keep reading I'll always have things to share whenever I'm able!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Law and Order: SVU, nor any affiliated characters. Any additional characters or situations I create within this work of fiction are figments of my own imagination, intended to bear resemblance to no actual persons or circumstances.
"So, you and Rollins, hmm? Is there something going on between you two?"
"What? No, Nick, that's crazy. It's not like that. The relationship Rollins and I share is strictly professional, I promise you."
"I can tell she likes you, it's obvious."
"Oh really?! You an expert on women now or something?"
"I'm not an expert on anything, and I don't claim to be. I'm not sure if you've just got an extremely short fuse today, or if you actually have feelings you don't want to admit, but it's in the way she looks at you. I'm not the only one who notices."
I'd just gotten back from court and heard the entire discussion between my fellow detectives, even though they were still oblivious to my presence. To say I was hurt would have been the understatement of the century. If Amaro and the rest of the team had picked up on the way I lusted after Olivia, she had to have noticed too. She was far from stupid and there was a reason they called her one of the city's finest.
I had tried to make my intentions obvious without coming on too strong or being overbearing, but relationships had never really been my forte, and hearing her say now that she thought of our relationship as nothing more than professional made me realize that she was yet another person who'd either misinterpreted my signals or couldn't let herself acknowledge them. Every time we all went out for drinks after wrapping up a case I took it upon myself to strike up a conversation with her, find out more about her and let her know I was more than what she and probably the rest of the squad made me out to be. I'd even broached the subject of the two of us going alone for drinks outside of work, but it never happened. There was always a new case, or some other excuse for one or both of us not to go. As much as she likely wanted to deny it and I didn't want to push, there was the smallest nagging part of me that believed if I could make her pay attention and truly get to know me, she'd see that I could be everything she ever needed and hadn't known she'd wanted.
"Just because you all think you notice something, doesn't mean anything is gonna happen between us."
"You really should give her a chance, Olivia. I've talked to her quite a bit, and there's more to her than a lot of people might think. It's not like you'd have anything to lose. God knows you haven't had much luck with the men you've dated."
"Thanks for reminding me. I know you mean well Nick, but I really don't need a matchmaker, okay?"
"Hey," I finally piped up as Olivia put the coffee pot back in its holder on the counter and added the desired fixings to her cup.
"Oh, hey Rollins." The way she startled at the mention of my name I knew she probably felt guilty about what had just been said, but I tried to let on like I hadn't heard.
"How was court?" Amaro offered up the coffee he'd fixed for himself, but I shook my head, refusing.
"Jury saw right through the son of a bitch, just like we figured they would. Found guilty on all charges."
"I love when it's that simple."
"We all do honey, we all do."
##
I could feel her behind me even though I hadn't allowed my concentration to be broken and veer away from the screen in front of me.
"You need something, Olivia?"
She was silent for a moment, and I smiled to myself. I couldn't help but wonder if she was nervously trying to put her thoughts together behind me; despite that I couldn't see her face I found the possibility of her being nervous around me extremely adorable.
"Uh, I was just getting ready to um, pack it in. I wondered if..y'know, you maybe wanted to make good on that invitation for drinks?"
"I don't believe I've ever seen you so flustered, detective." I laughed, turning around and noting the changed shade of her cheeks. "I'd like that, though."
"Really?"
She sounded genuinely surprised that I hadn't come up with yet another excuse. Being that it was the end of the day and we were the only two people left at the station, I doubted that any I might've come up with spur of the moment would have seemed plausible anyhow. "Yes, really. Well, that is if you're buying," I joked, laughing lightly as I powered down the laptop in front of me.
"I can handle that."
##
"What about Aubree?"
The voice that reached my ears was distorted and distant as it pulled me from the fog of my own thoughts. "Sorry, wha'?"
I was positioned in the space between her legs as she leaned back against the headboard of our bed and held me somewhat protectively against her. Looking up at her, I saw amusement playing itself through her features rather than annoyance at my absentmindedness.
"I said, what about Aubree?"
I clued in and realized then that she'd been glancing at the book of baby names I'd somehow managed to keep open in my hands as I'd drifted off, screwing up my face in response. "Aubree's a girl name."
"Exactly why I picked it," she teased me.
"It's a boy, I'm telling you, I have a feeling."
"You don't know that. If it's a girl she's gonna be really embarrassed her Mama referred to her as 'little man' in the womb all the time."
"What she doesn't know ain't gonna hurt her."
"If Mommy decides not to tell her," she said playfully as I rolled my eyes.
"We could just ask them to tell us the sex at my next appointment, you know. Settle this once and for all. It'd be easier to choose a name, too."
"If you really want to, sure. But we did talk a lot about how much we both liked the idea of it being a surprise. I think it'll be worth it to wait. We'll agree on names for both genders eventually, I promise."
"Well, if you promise..." I let my sentence trail off, laughing a little as I smiled up at her.
"I do," she said, and I knew she meant it.
"You think it's a girl, so I'll leave the girl name up to you. Whatever you like, that'll be her name, and I'll choose the boy name."
"That's fair."
"Is Aubree the name that you actually want to use? As much as I believe it's a boy, I'm definitely not opposed to that name. It's pretty."
She smiled, "I thought so. I'm gonna keep looking, but it's definitely on the top of my list. Have you even looked at the book the whole time you've been holding it? You were completely spaced out for a while there."
"I know, sorry."
"It's okay. What were you thinking about, anyways?" The loving smile she flashed in my direction told me she was intrigued and genuinely wanted to know. She made me feel like every thought or memory I had, no matter how big or small, mattered to her.
"Oh nothin' really, just about the time that you finally decided to take me up on going out for drinks."
"Ah, the night that started everything," she laughed, kissing the top of my head. "I remember like it was yesterday. I'm glad I finally had balls enough to take the plunge and admit my feelings. I can't imagine where I'd be now if I hadn't. I had way too many walls up back then."
"And the Georgia Peach broke 'em all down. Who'd 'a thunk?" I smiled sincerely, truly glad I had been the one to break down the protective walls that guarded Olivia Benson's heart and knowing that this was no small feat.
"That you did," she said laughingly, "the plunge was so worth it."
"I agree."
"So, you didn't answer my question. Have you even looked at that baby book the whole time you've been holding it?"
"I wasn't really looking, but I've looked through it before while you were at work and I did pick one name so far."
"Oh yeah? What is it?"
"Aidan."
"That's actually really cute."
"Thanks, I think so too."
The shrill ringing of the phone on its dock next to our bed startled us both out of our momentary silence, and instead of answering it and letting me in on the conversation as my wife often did when one of our friends called, she glanced quickly at the caller ID on the screen before grabbing the receiver and hightailing it out of the room. I raised my eyebrow questioningly at her behaviour, even though she couldn't see it.
##
"Casey, hi. Sorry I took so long to answer, I had to find a spot away from Amanda."
"No problem, I know how hard it can be to hide things from the wife, even if they are good ones." I heard her laughter coming down the line and couldn't help but laugh a little myself. I had no doubt that she and her own wife had been through things similar to this many times.
"Happy wife, happy life."
"You bet," she said enthusiastically. I laughed again. "Thank you so much for planning this. You really didn't have to."
"Hey, I love you guys. I wanted to. You deserve it."
"Are a lot of people coming?"
"Pretty much the entire team you ever worked with. There's a couple who couldn't make it, but everyone major will be there. I know there's usually supposed to be some unspoken rule about no men at these things, but you said you didn't care about that and all the men of the squad wanted to be there so I guess it'll end up being more of a party than an actual baby shower."
"That's amazing. I don't mind, and I'm sure 'Manda will love you for it. You're really a doll for getting this all together."
"Like I said, I love you guys. It's my pleasure. You just get Amanda there on time and leave the rest to me."
"All right, Saturday at noon, yeah?"
"On the dot."
I couldn't help but smile to myself as the line went dead and I made my way back to our bedroom.
"Who was that?" my wife questioned as soon as I set foot over the threshold.
"Casey," I said, unable to tell the whole truth but not entirely wanting to lie.
"Oh. And you had to go out of the room to talk to her?"
"She's just been..going through some stuff and asked me to keep it private."
"Oh. Is she okay?"
"She's fine," I said confidently, hoping the explanation would be sufficient.
"Good, now come back to bed. If we're done looking at baby names, there's other things I'd like to do."
By the looks of the devilish grin she flashed my way, I knew whatever explanation I'd given, or lack of one, would soon be the furthest thing from both of our minds.
##
That Saturday, both the brightness of incessant sunshine mercilessly making its way through the fabric of closed curtains and the distant murmurs of my wife woke me from a slumber that was in no way as deep as I would have liked. The further I got into the throes of pregnancy, the more difficult and restless sleep became. I supposed I should get used to it, as the hours in which I found sleep would become fewer and farther between with the arrival of a newborn.
"Babe, wake up. It's 10:30."
"It's Saturday Olivia, I'm tired. What are you doing up now anyway, did you get called to work?"
"I know you're tired love, but we have a couple things that cropped up we need to do today and I figured you'd want time to get ready."
"We have things to do? What things?"
"We have to go over to Casey and Jenna's."
"What? Does this have something to do with the stuff Casey is going through? What's going on?"
I lifted my head from the pillow and looked at her through a fog of sleepiness as I pushed hair from my forehead.
"No, she's fine, don't worry. I just have some papers and things I need to drop off to her and she asked to see you."
I raised an eyebrow. "At 10:30 in the morning?"
"It'll be 6:00 in the evening before we get there if you keep going in circles with me about it. I know you're tired, really I do. I know you hate me for making you do this, but I'll make it up to you, I promise."
"You better," I muttered, sighing heavily with exasperation and hauling myself out of bed in the direction of the shower.
"Why are other cars here?" I asked my wife over an hour later as she killed the engine of our vehicle in Casey's driveway beside a couple other parked ones I wasn't expecting to see and didn't recognize.
"She does know other people besides us, y'know."
"Well, I know, but still."
"The sooner we get out of the car, the sooner we'll know who else is here and why. Come on."
"I'm comin'," I said, unbuckling my seat belt and opening the door. Olivia followed suit, walking behind me, her hand lightly resting on the small of my back as I walked up Casey and Jenna's front steps.
"SURPRISE!"
Nothing could have prepared me for the loud, exuberant voices that greeted me and the faces that were unveiled upon the opening of the door; some of which I hadn't seen in years, or even met at all. My wife's old partner, Elliot Stabler, was right in front of me, smiling warmly. I'd heard many stories of him and knew how much Olivia missed him. Others I had worked with but had failed to maintain what would be considered adequate contact with were before me too, and I felt bad for not having found the time to send a quick message to let them know I'd not forgotten them, but was grateful that they cared enough to be here now.
I scanned the room, meeting the eyes of Cragen, Amaro, Liz, and finally locked gazes with a smiling Casey, her arm linked lovingly through Jenna's, who also smiled at me. The lump in my throat was undeniable then, and I could hardly swallow enough to surpass it and speak. This was obvious to my own ears as my words came out warbled, the lining of my throat seeming having thickened with emotion.
"You did all this?" I questioned the redhead, knowing her answer before she said it.
"Jenna and I both did, yes. I went to Olivia with the idea, and she helped us keep it from you until the actual day. There are men here, as you can see, but I figured you'd both want everyone who means something to you to be here so it's turned into more of a general celebration rather than a shower."
"Whatever it is, it's perfect," I said, blinking in attempt to stop my watery eyes from spilling their contents over onto my cheeks. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." she motioned then for us to come inside, and as I looked again at all the people before me, donning smiles and bearing gifts all because of someone they had yet to meet, I felt loved beyond measure and excited for whatever the future may hold for the little family that was about to be mine.