After Tucker left, Alex decided to go find Casey, whose office was down the hall from where hers was, and when she reached it, she found her friend absorbed in something on her laptop. Casey was only vaguely aware that she had company until Alex cleared her throat.

"Hey, Alex!" Casey said, practically jumping out of her skin.

Alex tried and failed to hold back a laugh. "Okay, what are you doing that's got you acting like a cat with its fur on end?"

"Come here."

Casey beckoned to Alex and pointed to her screen. Alex found herself looking at a webpage of different kinds of small stuffed animals, namely elephants.

Alex looked at the younger woman in amusement. "Is this about Sophia? I know that you gave her flowers and a stuffed elephant."

"I also paid for hers and Melissa's bills, but all she knows is that they were paid anonymously."

"Casey and Sophia, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N—"

"Shut up!" Casey whined in protest. "I have a serious crush on Sophia Rose Benson, yes, and Olivia already had a chat with me about it, but the last thing we need is Fin finding out!"

"Fin?" Alex echoed in confusion. "Why him?"

"Because he's coming in a little bit to ask something recording the case around Sophia, and although he's always treated me like a baby sister, he'd never let me live it down if he found out before I'm ready that I'm attracted to Olivia Benson's daughter."

"Good point." Alex agreed. "Sophia doesn't know, does she?"

Casey blushed a little. "No, she doesn—what's that look for?"

Alex had suddenly gained a grin worthy of the Cheshire Cat: it had just occurred to her that when she and Olivia got married (because she knew already that she was going to propose to her at some point), Sophia would be her stepdaughter. And because she had always been able to ready Casey like a book, she knew that at some point in the next year-and-a-half, Casey and Sophia would be engaged, which meant that in the year or so after that, they would be married. Ultimately, this meant that Casey would one day be her daughter-in-law.

"Nothing!"

Casey opened her mouth to argue, but fell silent immediately when she saw a new person arrive in the doorway. It was Rafael Barba.

"Hey, Rafael!" the women said in unison.

"Oh, boy." Barba felt a sense of foreboding as he entered the office and sat in a vacant chair in front of Casey's desk. "I came looking for one of you and going both of you. This will be fun."

"What's up?" Casey asked casually.

"What's up is that you two have picked up a case from the SVU!"

Alex pretended to play dumb and turned to her companion. "Do you know what case Rafael is talking about?"

"Oh, it's on the tip of my tongue…"

"Don't you two get shirty with me!"

Alex relented first. "How did you find out?"

"I have my ways, especially because they're my people!"

Casey chortled. "We may have been away, and you may have picked things up, but Olivia and Company don't belong to us. We belong to them."

"But we don't work for them! They work for us!"

Barba pinched the bridge of his nose, exasperated.

"Why, why, why am I an only child?"

"I've got six sisters and a brother." Casey said cheekily. "I can play this game all day long!"

Barba looked over at Alex. "And you?"

Alex motioned towards Casey. "I've got her."

Barba sighed again. "Were you going to let me in at all?"

"Of course we were, but it sounds like you haven't gotten the memo from Donnelley yet that there's going to be some job shuffling between the three of us."

"Wait—doesn't one of you belong to the arson squad now?"

KNOCK-KNOCK!

Barba breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God."

Fin had finally arrived.

"Is this a bad time?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Yes."

"No."

Barba rolled his eyes. "No, it's not a bad time, Fin, so ignore them. What's on your mind?"

"Actually, I was looking for Casey…"

"I give up."

"Ignore him." Casey said quickly. "What was it you wanted to ask me?"

"I was going to ask if you had any ideas about who I could ask to sign a warrant to open the sealed file that Amanda found."

"But let me guess: you ran into a judge on your way here, huh?"

"And one who owes me a favor, to boot."

"Oberlin?"

"How did you know?"

Casey winked. "She owes me a favor, too, and I was just thinking about how to collect. Are you all good?"

"Yes. By the way, Olivia and Amanda have just arrived and are talking to Judge Donnelley now in her office. They're being questioned about objectivity."

Barba back into his chair and rubbed his temples. "What is going on?"

Alex arched an eyebrow. "I thought you said you knew what was going on."

"I do, but I need specifics on Sophia, like who she is, exactly."

"Oh, this will be fun." joked Fin.

"Wait." Casey said suddenly. "If we're all here, and Olivia and Amanda are having a chat with Donnelley, then who is holding the fort down at the precinct?"

Alex did the math and smirked. "It's Carisi."

Fin added quickly, "And that's my cue to go. Doesn't one of you belong to the arson squad, though?"

"Go away, Odafin."

"Have fun telling Rafael about Sophia."

Pointing to the door and unable to hold in a laugh Alex reiterated, "Go! Now!"

When he left, Barba resigned himself to more time with Alex and Casey.

"I should get comfortable, huh?"

They were both grinning like the Cheshire Cat now.

"Oh, yes."

"You bet."

Amanda was allowed to leave Donelley's office early when she got the notice about the signed warrant, but she kept Olivia longer. She was fascinated by the fact that she had a grown daughter and was curious about her. She also hadn't seen Olivia in awhile, and she had actually missed her.

By the time Olivia finally made it back to the SVU, Amanda, Fin, and Carisi were all there, and she had expected to see them working. What she did not expect was to see them all gathered around Amanda's desk, or Amanda coloring with a little girl who was perched in her lap and chattering animatedly with her.

"Um, you guys?" Olivia said as she approached Amanda's desk. "Who's this?"

Amanda gave her charge a hug, wanting to get her attention. "Remember how I tol≥d you our friend Livvy was coming?"

The little girl was dressed for the crisp autumn weather outside in an adorable Halloween-themed outfit, and when she turned to Amanda, she gave her a happy smile.

"Yep!"

Amanda motioned towards Olivia. "This is her."

The little girl regarded Olivia and blew her a kiss. "Hi!"

Immediately, Olivia grinned at her, although she felt slightly creeped out: something felt familiar about this kid, but couldn't put her finger on what it was.

"Hi, little one! What's your name?"

"DJ!"

"Well, it's very nice to meet you, DJ! Are you coloring?"

"With Mandy!"

"You keep doing that, alright, DJ?"

She bobbed her head and resumed her activity, while again, Olivia looked to the others for an explanation.

Fin stepped in quickly. "Her name is Diane, but she likes it when we call her DJ."

"What does the j stand for?"

"It stands for joy." Carisi supplied. "Her mother is waiting for you in your office."

"Alright."

Amanda looked up at them and added, "Remember—calm is key."

"Come again?"

"You'll thank me later."

Erring on the side of caution, Olivia crossed the squad room to her office. She didn't have far to look for DJ's mother, as she was sitting on the sofa, but when Olivia finally registered who she was looking at, she felt her heart leap into her throat because she was genuinely surprised.

"Kathleen?" she gasped as she set her things aside and sat with her on the sofa. "Is that really you?"

Indeed, it was Kathleen Stabler, in the flesh. Olivia hadn't seen her since the days of Calvin Arliss, which was already a few years ago, but even still, Kathleen looked like she'd aged abruptly, like something had happened to her.

She gave a nod and spoke softly. "Hi, Olivia."

"How are you?" was all Olivia could ask because she suddenly realized that an appearance of one of the Stabler children was by no means a coincidence.

"I've been better, but before I start to really talk, I want you to meet someone."

"I met DJ, and she's a real love."

Kathleen smiled fondly, although she seemed sad. "She is, but I brought someone else."

She pointed to her front, and that's when Olivia saw that the younger woman was wearing a muslin baby wrap. It was purple with white polka dots, and the closer Olivia looked, the more she realized that the very top of a baby's head could be seen.

Olivia looked back at her friend. "Kathleen, you have a baby?"

"I do."

Very carefully, Kathleen lifted a tiny infant girl from the sling and propped her in the crook of her arm, moving on to brush out the wrinkles of her outfit. The baby was wearing a plum-colored dress, white footed stockings, and a pink pastel her head, atop a head of thick brown locks, was a crotched flower headband, the same color as her dress. Her ears were even pierced and she had gold heart studs in place.

Apart from the dark hair, the little girl easily looked like she was Kathleen's clone en miniature. It took her a moment to realize that Olivia was there, but when she did, she gave her the biggest smile, and Olivia's heart turned to putty immediately.

Kathleen said, "I wanted the little miss to be dressed in her best when she met her namesake."

"You named her after me?" Olivia asked in awe.

"Mhm." Kathleen kissed straightened out one last wrinkle in her daughter's dress and held her up straighter. "This is Olivia Ruby McFadden. She'll be three months old on the fourth."

Olivia did some backtracking. "So your Olivia was born on Independence Day?"

"At noon on the nose, but not without theatrics, and for that, we've been calling her Sparkle since she was born." Kathleen held her daughter out. "She loves new people and cuddles. Would you like to hold her?"

"Oh, I would love to hold her."

"Then here you go."

Kathleen proudly deposited her daughter into Olivia's arms. The moment the baby locked eyes with her namesake, she smiled more and then arched her back before letting out a huge yawn that seemed to take up all her strength.

"Oh, are you sleepy?" Olivia cooed. "It's okay; I'll keep holding you."

She caressed the baby's fingers with one of her own, and immediately, she felt tiny fingers grasp on tightly. Tickled, Olivia kissed the baby's fingers, and for her affection, she was rewarded with baby Olivia rubbing her eyes with her free hand and snuggling closer to her.

"Go on and sleep." Olivia rocked her new friend gently in her arms. "You're okay, you're okay. Livvy's got you."

The baby fell asleep quickly, and Kathleen looked at her elder with amazement.

"How…?"

"I've always been something of a baby whisperer." Olivia admitted bashfully. "It's also been a long time since I've held a baby girl."

"Of course." Kathleen said in amusement and then sighed heavily. "I'll tell you why I'm here, but first, I have to tell you about my family, and how we've been since the last time I saw you. It's been an absolute whirlwind."

"Alright. Is this why you said you've been better?"

Kathleen exhaled shakily and began. "I've been married for the past two years now to a wonderful man by the name of Private First Class Zacharias Levi McFadden. He's my best friend, and the love of my life."

"Where is he?"

"Kandahar—he was home for awhile, and we made the baby, but he was deployed just before I found out she was on the way, so they haven't had a chance to meet yet, but he'll be back just before her first birthday." Kathleen explained. "Olivia is my clone, but she's totally got Zacharias' hair."

Copious was the world to describe the amount of hair that Olivia Ruby McFadden had. Her namesake gave it a gentle kiss as she posed her next question.

"How's Maureen?"

"She hasn't left New York, and she does professional photography now. Her specialty is maternity."

"Is she married?"

"No, but last year, she adopted a little boy named Jaxon." said Kathleen. "He spells his name with an x, so we call him Jax. He and DJ have the exact same birthday, and they think it's the coolest thing ever."

"Are they best friends?"

"Always have been, always will be."

Olivia grinned. "How are the twins?"

"Preferring to be called Richard and Elizabeth, for starters. He's going to Hudson to study to be a pediatrician, and she graduated already with a major in language and performance arts."

"What does Elizabeth do now?"

"She works at the big theater house in Times Square."

"Good for Elizabeth." praised Olivia. "How's Eli?"

For she could never forget Eli's birth or the role she'd played in it.

"Loving life, and happy as a clam. He also really loves DJ and Jax."

"I'm so happy to hear that, but you've told me about everyone except for DJ and your parents."

Kathleen's bottom lip trembled, and for a second, she felt like she was going to come undone, but miraculously, she held herself together.

"My dad took some time off after he quit the SVU, and when he was done, he transferred to the Queens Narcotics unit. His partner's name is Yardley Chung."

"Why do I sense a caveat?"

"This is what made my family fall apart: when my dad left the SVU, his and my mom's marriage was on the rocks again, but he was determined to fix it. The only problem was that even though my mom agreed, it was a lie—she was having an affair."

Olivia's heart sank. "Oh, Kathleen, I'm so sorry."

"So am I." Kathleen sighed. "I was even the one who caught her. She left us that night, for her boyfriend."

"Were you with Zacharias by this point?"

"Yeah, but we were newly engaged. We were even going to get our own place."

"But…?"

"After mom left, my dad fell apart all over again, and we all helped him, but we also ended up moving in."

"Who all is 'we'?"

"Me, Zacharias, DJ, Olivia, Maureen, Jax, the twins, and Eli. When dad finally got back on his feet, he turned the house over to Zacharias and I. The house I grew up in belongs to me."

"Wow."

Kathleen smiled, but it was hollow. "That isn't even the whole 'wow' factor."

Olivia couldn't believe that Kathleen's tale had the possibility to get even more fantastic, but still she said, "No?"

"No. The next part of the story is that we met DJ for the first time."

Dawning comprehension hit Olivia full in the face. "She's sister, not your kid."

"Bingo."

"How did you meet DJ?"

"We found her on the doorstep one morning—she didn't even have a name yet. She was so tiny and perfect, Olivia, but my mom didn't even want her."

"Do you know why?"

Kathleen sneered. "She explained everything in a letter, but it was mostly because she felt too old to be a mom and she really didn't want kid number six. She just left her there, in her car seat. I mean, at least she was properly dressed and had warmth, but I'll never understand why my mom couldn't have at least have knocked on the door."

"Did you and Zacharias adopt DJ, then?"

This time, Kathleen softened up and gave Olivia a real smile. "We did, and we gave her her name, too. Diane means divine, and joy is self-explanatory. We wanted her have a fresh start, and a happy life. Eli called her DJ one day, and it's been stuck ever since."

Very carefully, so as not to disrupt the sleeping baby in her arms, Olivia patted Kathleen's hand. "I commend you for keeping your family together."

"Thanks, Olivia. That means a lot."

Olivia gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "May I ask you something?"

Kathleen had a feeling she knew what it was. "You want to know where my parents are?"

"Yes."

"My dad and Yardley are deep undercover somewhere, and we haven't seen them in awhile."

"So you're keeping Eli, too?"

"Well, my dad didn't want to take Eli from the only home he's ever known, so he's already been with us. I'll explain the rest of it some other time." Kathleen told her. "As for my mom, she and her boyfriend were killed in a carjacking a month after DJ arrived. The detectives even had an idea of who did it, but they could never prove it."

Olivia felt her heart tighten. "What's his name?"

"It sounds totally fake, but apparently, he's called Satchel DiMaggio, like the old baseball players."

Now, Olivia's heart did a somersault, and not in a good way. "This is the other thing you came to tell me?"

Kathleen saw Olivia's change in demeanor and was instantly on her guard. "What is it? Did I just give you a clue?"

"Maybe, sweetheart. Did you come to tell me about Satchel DiMaggio?"

"Him, and something else."

"What?"

"It's about Elizabeth."