A/N: What do you guys think so far? Thanks for the AWESOME reviews. I'm glad you're digging it. Keep reviewing. Elliot should get to meet Ella pretty soon… ;-)

Olivia bagged up a lunch for herself and filled a Ziploc with cheerios for Ella Dawn. She looked down at her daughter and blew her a kiss. Ella giggled and blushed, her blue eyes twinkling. She pulled herself to a standing position at the kitchen table.

"Are you going to try again today, baby? Are you going to come see Momma?" Ella had been taking stabs at walking for about three weeks but kept landing on her diapered butt or chickening out. Olivia knew she'd do it eventually. Ella had her daddy's determination and stubbornness. That had been evident since the day she was born – after thirty-six hours of putting Olivia through the most excruciating pain she'd ever experienced. She was bound and determined to meet her mom and dad in her own time. When she finally showed up, Elliot had pronounced her stubborn as hell, just like her mother. Olivia had disagreed, saying that she just took her damn time to come around – same as her daddy.

Olivia squatted down to Ella's level and held out her hand. "Come see me, Ella bug!" she encouraged. Ella took one tentative step forward and lost her balance, crashing to the ground.

"Ups!" she proclaimed, holding her arms up to her mother.

"Don't want to try again?" Olivia asked.

"Ups!" she said again.

"Okay then," Olivia scooped her up and planted a kiss on the mess of mahogany curls on top of her daughter's head. She grabbed her lunch and headed downstairs to her car.

Ella chattered up a storm all the way to the Manhattan SVU office. Olivia glanced in her rearview every so often, a twinge of bitter sweetness crossing her heart when she saw a mirror image of the sparkling blue eyes of the person who meant the most to her in the world staring back at her in the form of his baby.