Disclaimer: I own only Belinda! SVU and all recognizable characters belong to Dick Wolf.
A/N: Many thanks and much love to my awesome betas! I can never thank you enough for all of your help!
To the readers: many thanks for the truly motivating reviews! You are great! Please continue to review and let me know what you think!
In this chapter, we finally see a little bit of justice for Belinda and a small victory for Olivia and Elliot in their quest to help the troubled teenager. But will it last?
Chapter Four
Two hours later, Olivia slipped out of the guest bedroom and closed the door behind her. Changing her mind, she quietly opened the door again and left it open just a crack so she could hear Belinda if she needed her during the night. She sighed and rubbed her face with both hands then slowly made her way downstairs.
Elliot and Melinda looked up as Olivia entered the living room.
"How's Lindy?" Elliot asked.
"She's. . ." Olivia hesitated a moment. "She's asleep. She cried herself to sleep."
"Poor child." Melinda shook her head. "She's been through so much."
"Much more than you know," Olivia responded.
"She told you something after we left the room," Elliot said as he reached up from his place on the couch and gently pulled his wife down beside him.
She nodded then leaned over and laid her head on his shoulder.
"Anything I need to know?" Melinda raised one eyebrow questioningly.
"When you come back, will you bring a pregnancy test with you?"
Melinda quietly blew out a breath. "I have one in my bag. I can leave it with you if you want me to."
"Thanks," Olivia spoke quietly without raising her head.
"There's more?" Elliot asked, knowing there was something that she wasn't saying.
"Yeah," she sighed. "But I can't say what it is. I can't betray Lindy's confidence. She'll tell you when she's ready."
"That bad?" Elliot asked.
"Worse," she whispered as tears pooled in her eyes.
"Honey. . ." Elliot sat up and gently raised Olivia's head from his shoulder. "What is it? Tell me," he requested, his voice dripping with concern.
"I can't. . ." her voice cracked as she slowly turned her gaze to her husband. She wiped away the tears and repeated even quieter than before. "I can't."
"Alright," he whispered his agreement as he pulled her closer again.
"It's getting late. I better go home," Melinda said as she rummaged through her medical bag. She pulled out a small rectangular box and placed it on the coffee table then rummaged through her bag again. "There's a home pregnancy test. Belinda can take it whenever she's ready. And here's some pain medication," she said as she pulled out a bottle of pills. "If the pregnancy test is negative, she can have two pills every six to eight hours. If the test is positive, don't give her any of these," she explained as she sat the pill bottle next to the test on the coffee table. "Let me know and I'll find something for her that's mild enough to take during pregnancy. It's best not to take any pain medication while pregnant, but with the extent of beating she took, she's gonna have to have some sort of pain relief."
Olivia nodded in understanding. "Lindy's probably not going to feel like taking the test until morning."
"That's fine," Melinda answered. "Just call me if you need anything, anytime."
"Thank you for. . ." Olivia paused to swallow back a wave of fresh tears, her voice cracked with emotion as she quietly spoke. "For everything."
A small smile graced Melinda's face. "You don't need to thank me. I just hope Casey gets this case into night court and wins." She glanced toward the stairs. "That little girl needs somebody in her corner; she needs you."
"She's got us," Elliot answered. "Forever. We'll fight to keep her if we have to; we'll do whatever we have to do."
"I know you will," Melinda nodded as she stood and pulled her keys out. "And I meant it when I said anytime. I don't care what time it is; call me if you need me. I'll come back to check on Belinda tomorrow, but don't hesitate to call if she needs me before then."
Olivia stood and gave her friend a quick hug before walking her to the door.
When she returned to the living room, Elliot was still sitting on the couch. He opened his arms to her and she gladly moved into his embrace, lowering herself onto his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and gently tucked her against his chest.
"We can do this," she whispered against his cheek.
"Of course we can," he answered with quiet encouragement.
After a moment of silence, Elliot spoke softly. "Do you think Lindy's pregnant again?"
"There's a good possibility that she is," she answered with a sigh.
"Ok." He tightened his arms around his wife. "Well, if she is, we'll just deal with it."
"That's exactly what I said." She nodded as she curled up in his lap and laid her head against his chest. "She told me that if she's pregnant, she doesn't want to have an abortion."
"That sounds like Lindy. She has such a soft, loving heart." He smiled. "She doesn't have to have one if she doesn't want it. We can work things out."
"If the state lets us adopt her. . . and if she's pregnant. . . and if she wants to keep the baby. . ." She let her question hang in the silence between them.
"Well. . ." Elliot answered after a few seconds. "Then she keeps the baby and we do everything we can to help her."
Olivia smiled as she relaxed into her husband. "I knew you'd feel the same way I do."
They sat, cuddled together, in companionable silence for awhile.
Olivia was just beginning to doze off in Elliot's arms when she was startled awake by the ringing of her cell phone. She raised up just enough to retrieve it from her pants' pocket.
"Is it Cragen?" Elliot asked, assuming it was their boss calling them to a late night crime scene.
"No," she answered with a hopeful smile.
Elliot nodded once and leaned back a little further into the couch as his wife settled against him again.
She tapped the touch screen of her iPhone to accept the call and raised the phone to her ear. "Case?" she questioned.
"Hey," came Casey's reply. "I just got out of night court."
Pulling the phone away from her face, Olivia quickly activated the speaker phone and held it out so Elliot could hear as well. "What did the judge say?" Olivia asked nervously.
"You have immediate, temporary, emergency custody of Belinda," Casey's voice flooded through the phone line and flowed into the living room.
"Thank God…" Olivia breathed a huge sigh of relief.
"And…" Casey paused briefly before continuing. "There's a temporary order of protection in place. No one from Belinda's family is allowed within 500 feet of her or of you two."
"We owe you, Casey." Elliot said as he tucked Olivia under his arm and held her close.
"It's just temporary," Casey warned.
"That's ok," Olivia answered. "It's progress."
"True," Casey agreed. "At least this judge listened and didn't return her to her parents' custody."
"I know how much you hate going to night court, Case." Olivia's voice cracked with appreciation.
"I do. But for you guys and for Belinda… I don't mind."
"Thank you." The tears were evident in Olivia's voice.
"A court date will be set to determine permanent custody. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure it goes before Judge Donnelly."
"Good," Elliot responded. "Liz knows us and she's familiar with Belinda's situation as well as her past."
"We'll have a better chance with Liz than any of the other judges," Olivia agreed.
"I can't promise that she will be your trial judge, but I'm going to do my best to get it before her," Casey said with a yawn.
"I know you're exhausted," Olivia remarked. "You already had a long day in court and then all of this tonight. Thank you for pulling a late night for us."
"That's what friends are for," Casey replied as she tried to stifle another yawn.
"Go home and get some rest," Elliot encouraged.
"I will. You guys get some rest too; you both sound exhausted."
"Yeah, I think we're headed to bed pretty soon," Olivia answered with a yawn of her own.
"How's Belinda?" The concern was evident in Casey's voice.
"Not so good."
"I was afraid of that," Casey sighed. "In a lot of pain?"
"Yeah, but she can't take any pain meds yet."
"None? Is she pregnant?"
"Umm," Olivia hesitated, surprised at her friend's insight.
"She is, isn't she?" Casey asked gently.
"She might be," Olivia answered softly. "We're not sure yet. Melinda left a test for her to take."
"Okay," Casey sighed. "Any thoughts on what you're going to do?"
Olivia looked to Elliot as they held a silent conversation with their eyes.
"You still there?" Casey's voice flowed through the speaker phone.
"Yeah," Elliot answered. He took a breath before answering for his wife. "We're not sure yet. We're waiting to make any decisions until we know for sure if she's pregnant or not."
"Well either way, whether she's pregnant or not, she's in good hands. You have her best interest at heart and no matter what happens, you'll handle it. And you have me here too; I'll help in any, and I mean ANY way I can."
"Thanks. We might be taking you up on that." Olivia sighed tiredly.
"Go home," Elliot added gently. "Get some rest."
"I will," Casey replied. "You too. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"Thanks again." The exhaustion was evident in Olivia's voice.
"Good Night."
"Night, Case," Olivia replied before touching the red button, effectively ending the call and slipping the phone back into her pants' pocket.
"You're exhausted," Elliot spoke quietly as she leaned against him again.
"Yeah," she mumbled into her husband's chest. "So are you."
"Let's go to bed," he whispered.
"Umm humm," she mumbled without moving as her eyes drifted shut.
Elliot chuckled softly and shifted her slightly.
"Uhh," she protested the movement without opening her eyes.
"Hang on, Love. I've got you," he spoke quietly as he shifted her again, getting her into a position where he could easily stand up without having to make her stand. He slowly rose to his feet, his wife still cradled in his arms. He laughed as Olivia sensed where they were without opening her eyes; they passed through the living room archway and her arm darted out, flipping the light switch off. "That's my girl." He smiled as he kissed the side of her head. He carried her upstairs to the master bedroom and gently laid her on their king-sized bed. "You gotta wake up a little bit, honey."
Olivia groaned in response and rolled over, burying her face in her pillow.
"Just a little bit." Elliot grinned as he retrieved her pajamas from the dresser drawer and put them on the bed beside her. "Just enough to change into your PJs." He waited a moment and when she didn't move, he prodded gently. "Come on; you won't be comfortable if you sleep in your work clothes."
She groaned again and slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Ok, ok."
Satisfied that she was on the move, he retrieved his own pajamas from the dresser and slipped into the in-room master bathroom. He only took a couple of minutes to change and then returned to their bedroom. Finding Olivia already changed and under the covers, he smiled as he flipped out the light and joined her in bed. "Good night, Beloved," he whispered as he reached across the bed and pulled her into his arms.
Settling into his embrace and snuggling against him, Olivia mumbled sleepily. "Night, Babe."
~~EO~~EO~~EO~~EO~~EO~~EO~~EO~~EO~~EO~~EO~~EO~~
Several hours later, Elliot and Olivia were jerked from a sound sleep as a blood curdling scream echoed down the hallway and into their bedroom.
Instantly wide awake, they both scrambled out of bed, rushed out of the room and down the hall to the guest bedroom.
Olivia burst through the door that she had left open a crack earlier in the night and hurried over to flip on the bedside lamp. "Lindy, Sweetheart?" she asked anxiously as she moved to the bed where Belinda sat upright, fighting to catch her breath. Being mindful of her injuries, she quickly but gently pulled the terrified teenager into her arms. "What is it? What's wrong, Baby?"
A/N 2: What has Belinda so scared? Will Liv and El's temporary custody turn into permanent custody or will they run into more roadblocks? Is Belinda really pregnant or is it a false alarm? Will Belinda open up more to Melinda and Casey?
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