AUTHOR'S NOTE: This one is for Monica. ;o) Thanks for checking it out! Please remember to review!
~ Detective Olivia Stabler ~
Nobody's Child
(Chapter Seven: Routine)
"Liv?"
"Yea?" she said flipping her hair as she answered her phone.
"Look, I know you have spent all week getting ready for your big date tonight. And I know it has been a really long time since you have even gone out on a date…."
"Elliot," she said turning standing from the table and walking toward the door to take the call, "we are in the middle of dinner. What is going on?" she asked hearing Allie crying in the background.
"She has been crying for hours. I have tried feeding her and she won't take the bottle. I have rocked her and bounced her and she just cries."
"It is half past ten, what is she still doing up? She should have been asleep two hours ago."
"I have tried everything! Nothing works, she just cries. She isn't running fever, she isn't acting like she is sick. She is dry, she wont take her bottle and when I put her in the crib she just screams. I even tried reading to her. I have done everything that you do when you put her to bed at night, nothing is working. We are probably going to get evicted."
Olivia exhaled as she checked her watch and looked back at her boyfriend waiting for her at the table.
"Give her a little baby Tylenol and see if you can stall her with the pacifier. I'll be there as soon as I can."
Elliot closed the phone feeling really guilty for ruining her big night. He carried his daughter into the kitchen and gave her the medication.
Fifteen minutes later Olivia apologized to her date as she stepped off the elevator and walked toward her apartment.
"Just give me a few minutes to get her calmed down, then we can go."
"I don't understand. I thought you didn't have any kids."
"I don't….exactly."
"Then whose kid is that screaming in your apartment?"
"Her name is Allie. She is my roommate, Elliot's eight month old daughter."
"And her father is in there with her?" he asked as she opened the door.
"There she is," Olivia cooed dropping her purse on the sofa to take the baby girl from Elliot. "What's wrong sweet girl?"
Allie stared at her with her little blue eyes all full of tears and fussed. Elliot watched as Olivia kissed the little girl's forehead and whispered softly to try and soothe her cries.
"She doesn't feel warm. She is probably cutting teeth."
"I gave her medicine."
"Give me a couple minutes to get her down," Olivia said smiling at her date taking the bottle from Elliot as she headed down the hall.
Olivia whispered softly as she bounced the infant on her hip. She sat down in turned on the carousel lamp in the nursery and sat down in the rocking chair.
"Tell me about it," she said softly, shifting the little girl and offering her the bottle.
Allie fussed a bit and turned her face away.
"It is way past your bedtime little lady. And you are so sleepy. I can see it in your eyes," she whispered as Allie grunted and cooed up at her.
Within moments Olivia had not only calmed the baby, but had gotten her to take her bottle. Allie stared up at her and sucked on her bottle until her pretty blue eyes finally fell shut.
"There we go angel," Olivia whispered kissing the baby as she placed her gently into the crib.
"You are a miracle worker," Elliot said as she reappeared in the living room. "What was wrong with her?"
"I don't know. I just talked to her and in a few minutes she calmed down and took the bottle."
Elliot smiled.
"Maybe she just wanted you."
"I just saw her this morning."
"She is a baby, Liv. She just wants what she wants, she probably doesn't know why."
Olivia smiled.
"We broke her routine. Messed things all up. I give her a bath and you usually give her the bedtime bottle and sing to her. She didn't want daddy to do it," he laughed. "I think she wanted her aunt Liv."
"She missed me."
"I'm sorry we messed up your plans," Elliot said as Olivia noticed the now empty living room where she had left her date standing twenty minutes earlier.
"It's okay," she exhaled as she kicked off her heels and took off her earrings. "How long did he last?"
"Long enough for you to shut the nursery door. I guess Allie and I chased him off."
"Yea, well, I am better off. He had this horrible habit of ordering for me. I hate that. And the worst case of halitosis I have ever encountered."
Elliot laughed.
"What did you guys have planned for the night?"
"Well, we had dinner at this fancy new place across town."
"That sounds nice."
"The wine was amazing. But I paid thirty six bucks for a piece of salmon I wouldn't feed to a cat."
"Wait, you paid?"
She smiled.
"Yea, apparently going dutch is back in. Which I do not have a problem with at all. But…."
"But when a man asks a woman out, he should pay her way. That is part of being a gentleman. What a jerk."
"He had this big date planned. He chose the restaurant and everything I guess I just assumed….I didn't even take my wallet," she said emptying her purse on the table in the dining room to reveal her drivers license, a tube of lipstick, a pack of gum, a small bottle of perfume, three dollars in change, a credit card and two condoms. "If I had known in advance it wouldn't have been that big a deal. Luckily I keep a little emergency cash just in case I need to call a cab."
"I see you went prepared."
Her eyes shifted to the condoms on the table and she began to blush in embarrassment.
"Hey, better to be safe than sorry," he reminded her.
"In his dreams! He wanted to go to this club across town, but I probably couldn't afford it anyway," she said sarcastically as she tossed her things back into her bag.
"Since when are you a night club kind of girl."
"I'm not," she said looking a bit annoyed at the thought.
Elliot laughed a little.
"He didn't look like much of a dancer."
"He was a total disaster, is what he was."
"You are too good for men like that. He didn't deserve you. You are better than that."
"You're damn right I am."
"I am sorry your date was a disaster. But I still shouldn't have called you."
"It's fine, really. Another ten minutes listening to him talk about himself and I would have been looking for a way out anyway," she said with a soft smile. "I'd rather be here with you and Allie anytime."
"I still cannot believe this man had the nerve to ditch you."
"Ehh, any guy who can't be understanding of the relationship that we have here isn't worth my time anyway. You and Allie are my family. You are always going to be a big part of my life, so any man who chooses to date me had better get used to it upfront. I would do anything for that baby girl, including cutting my date a little short."
Elliot smiled.
"You are amazing, you know that? And someday you will find him. That guy out there who is right for you and treats you like a queen, respects you and makes you happy and would do anything for you. You can't give up hope because of guys like this."
"What about you?" she asked with a smile.
"Me?"
"Yea. I think maybe it is about time got back out there and started dating again, too."
"I don't know, Liv. I have a baby to think about."
"A lot of single parents date. The church even has events for single parents to help them meet people. You know now that we live together I can keep Allie some nights and give you some grown up time. Maybe you should check into it."
"Maybe," he agreed only to get her to stop talking about it. "Well, I know it isn't some fancy night club….but I was about to pop some popcorn and watch some episodes of that cop show you like on TiVo. You are more than welcome to join me."
"Can you give me time to shower and change clothes?"
"Sure."
Olivia smiled as she headed off down the hall toward her room. Elliot went in to check on his soundly sleeping daughter, then started the popcorn. When Olivia returned he handed her her own bowl of popcorn and she settled onto the loveseat across the room.
