Chapter Six

Elliot Joseph Stabler's point of view

I wake up sometime between 5:30 and 6 am and for a split second or so, I'm not really sure exactly where I am or how exactly I got there. It's only when I glance down and see my beautiful Liv's head resting on my bare chest and feel her right arm wrapped around my waist that I remember that I had stayed the night at her apartment after coming there the evening before to meet my 9 and a half-year-old daughter, Susan, for the very first time. I also recall finding out the evening before that I also have a son named Luke who is Susan's twin brother and that he was kidnapped nearly two years ago. I notice Liv's beautiful chocolate-brown eyes are open and she is now looking up into my face with a slightly confused look in them. I smile at her and attempt to give her a 'good morning' kiss like I used to do back when we were still together but she pulls her head back, causing me to feel a bit confused.

"As much as I would love for you to kiss me right now El, it's not happening until you brush your teeth. Your breath smells really nasty right now. I have a couple of brand-new toothbrushes in the cupboard under my bathroom sink. Brush your teeth and then I will let you give me a good morning kiss, okay?"

I smile at Liv and climb out of her bed then make my way across the room to her personal bathroom. I find the toothbrushes Liv told me about and grab a blue one. After removing the toothbrush from the plastic it's packaged in, I borrow a bit of Liv's toothpaste and proceed to thoroughly brush my teeth. After rinsing my mouth out, I exit Liv's bathroom only to find that she is no longer in her bedroom. I can smell coffee coming from the kitchen and I realize that's where Liv might be. I pull the jeans and T-shirt I had been wearing when I came over last night to meet Susan back on then make my way out of Liv's room and down the short hallway into the living room where I see Susan sitting on the couch still in her pink and white pjs watching cartoons. She notices me standing there watching her and smiles at me.

"Good morning, Daddy!"

Hearing Susan call me Daddy for the second time since last night warms my heart immensely and I can't help but smile back at her, Susan is such a beautiful and caring little girl and I am so damn proud that she is my daughter even though I only met her for the first time last night. I walk over to the couch and sit down beside Susan who immediately crawls onto my lap and lays her head on my chest which makes me smile as I wrap both of my arms around her and plant a kiss on the top of her brown hair which is the exact same shade of brown as her gorgeous mother. I hear a soft sniffle and look up and see Liv standing at the end of the couch holding two mugs of hot coffee in her hands and watching me and Susan with tears in her beautiful chocolate-brown eyes. I motion with my head for her to join me and Susan on the couch which she does. After handing me one of the mugs of coffee she'd carried into the living room, Liv set the other mug on the coffee table in front of the couch and smiled at Susan who was still sitting in my lap and had actually fallen back asleep.

"Susan doesn't really get very attached to someone she's just met as quickly as she's gotten attached to you, El. She met you for the first time last night and she's already fallen asleep in your lap."

"Well, I am her father, Livvy."

Liv smiles as tears start to well up in her beautiful eyes again. She scoots close enough to where I'm sitting to rest her head on my left shoulder. I wrap my left arm around Liv and pull her against the left side of my body and softly kiss the top of her head just like I'd done with Susan a few minutes ago after she'd crawled into my lap. I hear Liv sigh softly.

"I know that you're Susan's father, El. I just meant that I'm glad that Susan has gotten attached to you as quickly as she has. I want her to know you and I want the two of you to be able to spend quality father-daughter time together. I'm just afraid."

"Are you worried that I'm going to leave, baby? Is that what you're afraid of? I swear to you that will never happen unless you want me to leave. I'm planning on being here with you and Susan and Luke after I find him for you forever."

Liv picks her head up off my shoulder and kisses me softly on the lips. She smiles down at Susan who is still fast asleep in my lap.

"Since Susan is asleep at the moment and I don't have the heart to wake her up, why don't we just order in breakfast and go out for lunch later? Maybe we can take Susan to the zoo after we have lunch like you suggested last night?"

I nod my head and smile while looking down at my still-sleeping daughter who looks so much like her gorgeous mother when she's asleep. Liv gets up off the couch and grabs her phone and says that she's going to order breakfast for us and Susan.

"Oh Livvy, before I forget. Look in the left front pocket of the jacket I was wearing when I came over last night. There should be an envelope with your name on the front of it. It's a letter from one of the people I work with."

"Where exactly do you work, El?"

"I'm an NCIS Special Agent down in Washington D.C. Me and the team I'm a part of investigate crimes committed against or by members of the U.S. Armed Services."

"That sounds like it's a pretty tough job. Do you enjoy working with the other members of your team?"

"Well, my boss, Gibbs, can be real tough and strict sometimes but he's a good guy. DiNozzo is a real wiseass at times but he's a good guy to have as a friend and his wife Kate is a former Secret Service agent and is really good at profiling our suspects. The letter that is in my jacket is from her. Apparently when I told her and Tony about you being my former girlfriend, she told me that you and she used to live in the same foster group home for about 4 1/2 years before you turned 18 and aged out of the New York foster care system."

"El, I think something is wrong with Susan."

I look down at Susan and when I see her extremely flushed face, I begin to become very worried. Liv comes over and puts her palm against Susan's forehead and a scared look begins to show up on her face.

"El, Susan's burning up. I think she might have a fever."

Suddenly, Susan's small body begins to jerk and a minute later, she vomits all over my shirt and then immediately begins to cry. Liv picks her up and begins whispering to her while gently rubbing her back.

"El, I have an old sweatshirt of yours in my bottom dresser drawer. I took it with me when I left. Why don't you go change your shirt while I call Susan's pediatrician and see if she thinks I should take Susan to the emergency room?"

I nod and quickly find the sweatshirt of mine right where Liv said it would be and hurry back into the living room. Liv is now sitting on the couch holding Susan in her lap.

"El, would you mind driving me and Susan to Mercy General Hospital? Her pediatric doctor is going to meet us there in half an hour."

"Of course, baby. Let's go. I'm worried about Susan just as much as you are."

By the time I get Liv and Susan to Mercy Hospital, Susan has become extremely lethargic and Liv is desperately trying to keep her awake. I can't deny that I'm scared shitless as Liv and I watch Susan be wheeled away on a stretcher accompanied by her pediatric doctor and 2 nurses. Liv and I end up sitting in the pediatric waiting room for at least a half hour before we are joined by another couple who I assume must be waiting for news about a family member. I am completely taken by surprise when I hear a very familiar female voice say my name.

"Elliot? Is that you?"

It's been over a year since I last updated this and I feel so pleased that I have finally updated it again!

Next, the NCIS gang will finally make an official appearance and so will Luke (Susan's twin brother who has been missing for the past two years) as well as the people that kidnapped him from the park he went missing from but only if you guys want it.