Three days later, on January 27th, Olivia and Charlotte Benson returned home. Casey also moved out, promising to be only a phone call away. In those three days, Charlotte, or Lottie as everyone affectionately called her, had woken up and grown very attached to her mother, crying softly when she wasn't in the vicinity. Her eyes were blue, but more like the icy color from Serena Benson. Elliot's baby blue genes had been overridden, it seemed.
Other things in her baby girl were obviously Elliot, though. Charlotte had his smile and his very blunt stubborn attitude. Olivia could see his nose in-between Serena's eyes and Olivia's plump little mouth. She wasn't sure what her mouth would look like pulled into Elliot's smile, but the combination made her smile. Lottie also already had a full head of hair, a soft dark brown fuzz that could be attributed to either parent.
Thankfully, Elliot had respected her wishes. She hadn't seen him since she had told him to get out the night Charlotte was born. After their less then agreeable encounter, she had scribbled Benson as the last name and had been done with it. Charlotte was her child. She was tired of falling and having to get up again. She could do this, the single parenting thing. She had her dysfunctional family, and Lottie's aunts and uncles and grandpa were more then enough, more then what she had had when she had grown up. Everything would be just fine in the end.
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Cragen had been reluctantly informing him of what was going on with Charlotte, starting from when Benson was written on the birth certificate. He was notified and cautioned when mommy and baby went home and Casey moved out.
Cragen had asked him if he had a plan, and he didn't. All he could say was that the woman he loved had just given birth to a child that he loved just as much. He could see that Cragen felt bad for him, stuck with no wife and children either far away or hidden from him. The paternal protection the older man felt for Olivia was enough to hold off from giving her address for two whole weeks.
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Since coming home, Olivia and Charlotte had settled into a comfortable routine. Olivia had been lucky, Charlotte hardly ever cried and was content to snuggle into her mother's arms with a smile on her face.
The doctor had checked out Charlotte and declared her the perfect baby that Olivia knew she was. She was developing right on schedule and the pair was healthy as could be. After offering a few last bits of advice, Dr. Dunham cleared them and they were on their own again.
The others were doing great with the newest member of the SVU family, too. Cragen had been visiting the pair for lunch whenever possible, always bringing some gift or toy for the newborn. Munch and Fin had enjoyed Sunday brunches for the past two weeks, each taking some time with the baby for themselves to bond. Casey had reserved the rights to Wednesday night dinner, after softball practice. Everyone came together on Friday nights for take out or pizza or something else, always ordering enough that Olivia would have lunch the next day.
Olivia was happy, anyone who saw her could testify to that. It was obvious that she loved her daughter more then life itself and yet, sometimes if the two were caught in a private moment one could swear that there was a brief flicker of sadness that flew across her face.
Casey had stayed late one Wednesday night and discovered the reason why. She had cleared up the dishes and left Olivia alone to put the baby down. She was going to ask if Olivia wanted the leftover spaghetti sauce when she intruded on the final moments of Charlotte's bedtime routine.
"Goodnight, Charlotte, sweet dreams. Mama and Daddy love you very much, sweetheart."
Casey stopped dead in her tracks, turned around, and was on the phone with Cragen in an instant.
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"Elliot, good to see you," Cragen greeted, getting up from his chair at the bar table to shake Elliot's hand. "How's it going?"
"I've been better," Elliot replied honestly. "You called and said you wanted to see me?"
"Casey called after one of her dinners with Liv and the baby. She said that she overheard Lottie's bedtime routine and Olivia mentioned you in her goodnight. She got worried, called me."
"Did Casey say what Olivia said?"
"Apparently she was tucking Lottie in and she said, 'mama and daddy love you very much,' after saying goodnight."
"Oh, god…" Elliot whispered, his voice mangled and rough with emotion. "I gotta see them, Captain. Please, I gotta see them."
Cragen handed him a slip of paper with an address just west of Central Park. Elliot thanked him quickly and was out the door in an instant.