Be Careful What You Wish For

(Chapter Six: A Covert Affair)

Elliot leaned stood on the steps of the courthouse eating sunflower seeds and spitting the shells into the planter beside the building. He had been standing here on this cold New York fall morning for hours now just waiting people to start rushing out. He checked his watch again and made his way down the steps and across the street for a third cup of coffee from a street vendor.

"Another one Detective?"

"Yes, please," Elliot said stuffing a handful of one dollar bills into a tip jar.

"You been standing over there all day. You running a surveillance or something?"

"Something like that. There is a man inside I really need a few words with."

"You gonna arrest him?"

"Not today, Jimmy."

"Well, I hope you get what you been waiting for," the man said as he handed Elliot a paper cup with steam rolling off the top.

"Yeah, so do I."

"You want a little something to go with that?" the man asked pointing to a basket of prepackaged cheese danish next to the cash jar.

"No thanks, I'm trying to cut back," Elliot replied patting his hands against his stomach as the man laughed. "Try and stay warm, Jimmy. It's supposed to get pretty cold this week."

"Will do, Detective."

Elliot waved to the man as he made his way back to his post and prepared to wait some more. It was almost two hours later when the crowd of people began to file from the courthouse. The sharp dressed high profile lawyer stepped out with a shit eating grin on his face as he stopped to speak for a moment and put on a show for the cameras.

Elliot watched, shaking his head as the man worked the circus of reporters that swooped in for their turn at shoving a microphone in the man's face and Elliot knew that the cocky son of a bitch must have won his case. By the look on his face, he was used to winning.

"David Hayes?" Elliot asked offering the man his hand as the last of the crowd disappeared.

"Yes, detective. How can I help you?"

"I was wondering if maybe I could buy you a cup of coffee?"

"I don't drink coffee," the man said attempting to blow him off.

"Lunch then," Elliot said as the man turned to walk away. "You have to eat."

"Detective…."

"Stabler, Elliot Stabler," Elliot said offering his hand again.

"What exactly is it you think I can help you with?"

"All I want is twenty minutes of your time. Just talk to me. Let me buy you some lunch so that we can sit down for a few minutes and talk."

"This is about Olivia?" David asked.

"It is."

"Did she send you here?"

"She doesn't know I'm here."

The man looked down at his watch then looked around the courthouse steps.

"I have to be back in court for another case in an hour. Twenty minutes is really all I can spare."

"Thank you."

The men walked across the street and down a few blocks to a café where the detectives would often grab a quick lunch when they had to be in court.

"This place any good?" David asked.

"The cheeseburgers are the best. Homemade pie and soups. It's not bad."

"But the cheeseburger isn't why you brought me here. What's going on?"

"I just wanted to talk to you about Olivia. About the situation…."

"About the restraining order, you mean?"

"Is that really necessary? She isn't a violent person, you can't possibly think that she you try to hurt you or Nicky."

"You think you know so much. But you don't. You don't know her, you don't know me and you do not know my son. So how about you leave the parenting to me, huh?"

"I just think maybe this is a big misunderstanding. She wasn't trying to hurt anyone, that day at the church last month. She was only trying to deliver a birthday gift to your son."

"That's right, my son. You don't know what is going on so why don't you just stay the hell out of it?"

"I know she is hurting. I know she misses her little boy and I know she doesn't deserve this. Can't you give her another chance? Just one chance to see Nicky?"

"Nick, doesn't want to see his mother."

"He is barely four years old. How can he possibly know enough to make that decision for himself?"

"He knows his mother abandon us. That she walked away and left."

"She left you, she never left her son."

"That bitch took my child and tried to keep him from me! She thought she was just going to live in a homeless shelter and raise our son there. I did what I had to do for my son!"

"She has a stable life now. A job and an apartment. What would it hurt to let her see him. All I am asking is that you give her a chance. Anything. Even if you were there to watch her with him, if you are so sure she is going to try and take him. She just wants to see her little boy."

"I think you just need to butt out and stay the hell away from me and my kid! I just went and re-filed the restraining order against Olivia, do I need to have one filed against you as well?"

"You do what you gotta do," Elliot said standing up from the table and picking up the check. "But someday your son is going to want to know why you kept his mother from his life. And someday he is going to be old enough he will learn the truth. You are not just punishing Olivia, you are punishing your child, too!"

Elliot walked in to the bullpen and tossed his suit jacket over the back of his chair.

"Where have you been all morning?" Olivia asked looking up from her computer screen to observe the disgruntled look on his face.

"I had a thing."

"A thing?"

"Yes, a thing! An errand! I took some personal time!" he snapped at her without thinking.

Olivia stared blankly at him allowing him a moment to compose himself, all the while wondering if he even realized what an ass he was being in this moment.

"Feel better, now?" she asked.

"I'm sorry. I just had something I needed to handle this morning and it didn't quite go the way I had hoped it would."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really," he said sitting down and exhaling deeply. "I want to work. I want to get some work done so that I can just go home and be finished with this day."

"I'm glad to hear you're in a mood to work, because we have a ton to do to prep for this trial," she said tossing half a stack of papers onto his desk. "I'll have to admit I was a little bit pissed off when you stood me up this morning after agreeing to meet me to finish this report."

"I stood you up?"

"You for got, didn't you?"

"I'm sorry, Liv. I just have so much on my mind."

"Yeah, Elliot, well I have a lot on my mind lately, too. But I still find the time to be where I need to be when people are counting on me."

"I said I'm sorry and I meant it. It completely slipped my mind."

"Cragen has been looking for you all morning. You wouldn't answer your phone and left me to cover for you, which I don't mind doing as long as I have some clue as to why I am lying to my boss for you."

"What did you tell him?"

"I told him that something important came up and you asked me to cover for you here until you could get back."

"Then you weren't lying. That is pretty much what happened."

"Pretty much? El, I don't like risking my job on pretty much. And I wont do it again."

Elliot watched as she walked away from him and disappeared into the file room. He didn't want to tell her what he was doing, there was no reason to if he couldn't help her situation. He hadn't meant to bail out and leave her to finish the report alone, now he had to find a way to make things right with her.

Elliot stood up from his desk and walked into the file room pulling the door closed behind him.

"I really am sorry. I got distracted, there was something I needed to do and I forgot I had promised to meet you here early this morning to work on this. It won't happen again."

"Elliot, now more than ever, I need to know that I can depend on you. I can't take the chance that you will get distracted and…."

"I won't. I can promise you that. Olivia, I am gonna be here every step of the way, for you and our baby. I wouldn't miss a second of this for anything in the world."

"But is this really what you want? Or just something you feel obligated to do because you happened to be the one who got me pregnant and you're trying to take responsibility?"

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to be." Elliot leaned closer to her and began to whisper. "Look, I know we didn't plan this pregnancy, but that doesn't mean that have not loved this kid every second from the moment I found out about him."

"Him?"

"Or her. As long as he or she is healthy, I don't really care either way."

"Really? Most guys want boys."

"I have a son. And three daughters, so it doesn't really matter to me either way."

"I have a little boy. I don't get to see him right now, but…." she paused for a moment and looked away from him. "It would be nice to have a little girl, but little boys are nice, too."

"Yeah they are," Elliot agreed with a smile.

Olivia laughed.

"Are we okay?" Elliot asked softly.

"We're okay. Just, from now on if you need me to cover for you, please give me some kind of warning."

"Alright."

"Now lets get this paperwork done so we can both go home."

That evening as Elliot walked Olivia to her car she stopped to talk to him.

"El, I was wondering…."

"Shoot."

"What are you doing tomorrow afternoon around….one o'clock?"

"Nothing I can think of. You looking for a lunch date?"

"Kind of. I have a doctor's appointment, for the baby. I was thinking maybe you could come along….if you want to?"

Olivia watched as an ear to ear grin spread across his face.

"I would love to," he said and the excitement in his voice brought tears to her eyes.

"Umm, it is still early, so we probably wont see much. And it will be several more weeks before they can tell the sex, but we should get to hear the heart beat. The appointment is mostly exam, but my doctor will do a sonogram to make sure the baby is developing on schedule."

"I can't wait," Elliot said kissing her forehead.

Elliot closed the car door behind her and waved as she drove away.