Olivia tucked Joshua up in the kiddie bed she had bought him. It was in her room, on the other side. Joshua was more comfortable having her near him. She brushed a lock of hair from his face and smiled at him.
"I'm really proud of you," she said. "You did really well today."
Joshua looked up at her, his arms reaching out for a hug.
Olivia obliged him, leaning down and giving him a big hug. When they pulled apart, Olivia looked down at him.
And knew.
She took a deep breath. "Okay. I'm going to go and clean up, and then I'll be in soon."
"'Kay."
Olivia smiled and kissed him on the forehead. "Try and get some rest." She got up, turning off the light and pushing her door to.
Olivia had just finished pouring herself a glass of wine when she heard a knock at the door. Glancing towards her room where Joshua slept, she got up and went to answer it.
"Hi." Elliot smiled at her.
"I thought I'd be seeing you," Olivia smiled back, opening the door wider so he could come in.
"Really?" he asked, hanging up his coat.
"After today. You know, coming to check up on me."
"You don't need me to check up on you. Everything you need to wind down is asleep in that room," Elliot pointed to where Joshua was sleeping.
Olivia nodded. "I put him to sleep. And I just knew."
"Knew what?"
"I can't lose him."
"What makes you think that will happen?"
Olivia glanced at him. "I'm single. I work a job with huge hours. He's sleeping on the floor of my bedroom."
"In a kid's bed." Elliot sat down on the couch next to her. "You also have a great support system. Your boss is going to help you out. Casey got Mary Clark to represent you in Family Court. Munch and Fin are always on hand, although I'm not sure anyone would want Munch as a babysitter. And for better or worse…you've got me."
Olivia's head jerked up at the choice of words in his final phrase. "I've got you?"
"I promise. I'll be there for you in this every step of the way." His eyes locked onto hers. "You should know that by now."
She smiled slightly. "Maybe sometimes I just need reminding."
"I'll keep that in mind then."
They were quiet for a few minutes, just sitting there. Elliot's hand gently moved to rest on her cheek. Olivia's eyes closed momentarily, letting the warmth of his hand heat her skin.
When they opened again, she found him watching her.
"Don't you dare do this out of pity, Stabler. Or to help me keep Josh."
"It's not about that, Liv. You know that."
She nodded. "I know."
He leant forward and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. As he pulled back to see her reaction, Olivia's arms went around his neck, pulling him back for another kiss.
The kiss deepened slightly, as they tentatively started to touch and taste each other.
This time, when they parted, they looked at each other.
"Definitely should have done that a long time ago," Elliot finally said.
Olivia grinned. "I agree." She kissed him gently again. "I hate to do this…"
"I was going to say it myself." He smiled. "Joshua is the most important thing right now. Besides, after the day you've had, you need to sleep."
"We're definitely going to explore this some more though," Olivia assured him, her hand resting on his chest.
"You can bet on it," Elliot nodded.
They stood up and Olivia walked him to the door. Before he left, Elliot turned around and smiled at her.
"Remember one thing for me, okay?"
She nodded.
He leant over, whispering in her ear. "I love you, Olivia Benson. And I am here for you. All the way." Elliot pressed a quick kiss to her cheek, and headed out.
A broad smile on her face, Olivia closed and locked the door. She went into her bedroom, checking on Joshua, who was fast asleep. Gathering her nightclothes, she headed into the bathroom to prepare for bed.
When she finally did fall asleep, it was a long deep sleep, preparing her for the harrowing events of the next day.
"You lied to us, Leah," Olivia said, folding her arms.
The woman looked up to her. "What are you talking about?"
"That DNA swab we took from you? It matched to some DNA we found on a bedsheet in Eddie Master's home."
Elliot looked at her. "Want to know who else's DNA was on there?" He threw the report in front of her. "Eddie Emerson, Larry Morgan, a convicted pedophile and a couple of women. Oh, and Joshua Emerson."
"So Eddie and I had sex. Big deal."
"It is a big deal, Leah," Olivia assured her. "You see, Eddie is dead. Andrea is dead. You were banging Eddie and Andrea got better modeling jobs than you. There's motive."
"I didn't kill Andrea. And I didn't kill Eddie."
"Why did you deny sleeping with Eddie?"
"Because it's not something I'm proud of. The guy was a sleazebag."
"I bet I know why you did it," Olivia said.
"Oh yeah?"
"It was one way you could get one up on Andrea. Jealousy does interesting things, Leah."
"So it was out of spite. Big deal. Can I go now?"
"No," Elliot said quickly. "Tell us about Larry."
"What about him?"
"Did Eddie ask him to join you in bed one night?"
Leah drummed her fingers on the table.
"Come on, Leah. We'll find out one way or another."
Leah folded her arms. "Eddie was adventurous."
"We'll take that as a yes." Elliot finally sat down beside Olivia. "Was this before or after Andrea died?"
"After."
"So you, Larry and Eddie played."
Leah shrugged. "We had sex a couple of times. I wasn't really into it, so Larry didn't come back."
"What about the pedophile?"
"Who?"
"Mike Gorman," Olivia said, pushing the photo over the table.
Leah glanced at it. "Never seen him before."
"Did Eddie ever invite women over for you to have sex with?"
"Once or twice. Like I said, Eddie was adventurous."
"Did Eddie and Josh get on well?"
"The kid was weird. I never saw him that much when I was over there. Maybe Eddie gave him to a babysitter or something."
Olivia leant forward. "Was Joshua ever there when you were?"
"Once. He did something he wasn't supposed to."
Elliot and Olivia shared a glance. Maybe it had something to do with Joshua being pushed into the case with his mother.
"What for?" Elliot asked her.
Leah thought for a moment. "I don't know exactly."
"Leah, it's important," Olivia said. "It might be able to help us work out what happened to Joshua."
Leah glanced at her. "I didn't hurt him."
"I know," Olivia assured her. "But we need you to tell us exactly what you heard that night."
Leah thought again. "Eddie and I were in the bedroom, when I heard the kid yell. Kept yelling 'wake up'. Eddie got up and told me to stay in the room. Not like I wanted to go anywhere anyhow. It had been a long day, I'd been on my feet…" Catching the looks that Elliot and Olivia were giving her, she rolled her eyes. "Anyway, Eddie disappeared. Then all I heard was him asking the kid how he'd like to be woken up when he was sleeping, and that he had to learn exactly what it was like for his Mommy."
"Didn't you think that was weird?" Elliot asked her.
"What?"
"That he was talking about how Andrea felt."
Leah shrugged. "I thought it was some kind of parent thing."
"So?" Cragen asked Olivia and Elliot.
"I think after Leah said no to extra guys in the bed, Eddie went elsewhere," Elliot replied.
"And now we know what happened down in that basement to make Eddie lock Joshua in the case," Huang said.
"Munch and Fin have been on the lookout for Larry Morgan. Bastard knows he's guilty of something and he's in the wind," Cragen informed them.
"Great," Olivia muttered.
Casey came into the room. "Olivia? You and Josh ready?"
"What? Now?"
Casey nodded. "Judge Clark got you an early appointment. Let's go."
"Go," Cragen told her. "We'll keep Watson on ice and keep an eye out for Morgan." He smiled. "Good luck."
Elliot glanced at her. "I'll come help you get Josh."
Olivia helped Josh pack up his crayons.
"I wish I could come with you," Elliot murmured.
She looked up at him, a small smile on her face. "I know. But I need you here to find out who helped hurt Josh."
"I'm going to give you a kiss good luck."
Olivia nodded. "Please."
He leant over and kissed her gently. Then he knelt down to Josh's height. "You be good for Liv, okay?"
Joshua nodded and didn't protest when Elliot gave him a warm hug.
With one last glance at Elliot, Olivia took Joshua's hand and headed off out of the room and down to Family Court with Casey.