Disclaimer: Maria Frank and Ben are my own creation, with thanks to a friend for helping with getting him a name. John Munch and others belong to Law and Order: SVU.

Two days later:

"Now, I know it's here somewhere," Elliot sighed, moving several boxes aside in the attic. "When Kathy had the twins, we ended up having to get double of nearly everything for Elizabeth and Dickie." He reached near the back of the attic and gave a triumphant yell. "Hey! Here we go."

John walked in the direction of his voice and watched him pull up a perfectly cared for car seat, it's neutral colors blending perfect together. "This is perfect, El." He took it from his hands and looked it over. "I can't thank you enough for this and everything else you're doing for us."

Stabler shook his head with a smile. "Hey, what friends are for and you two need what is needed for Ben's care. How is he doing?"

"He's doing great. They gave him his first shot, we had him circumcised last night and he took it like a trooper, and Maria's been talking with a lactating specialist since she needed some help." John answered, placing the car seat next to a changing table they had found earlier. "It's been years since she had Scott and her mothering instincts seem to have disappeared since he passed away, so both of us are going to be learning from this." He paused for a moment to look around at the boxes and various furniture placed in certain locations. "Who knew it was still possible, El."

"What?"

"At my age and still able to father a child. Who knew my body was still able to do something like that and for Maria's body to be able to do something like carrying a child."

Elliot held up his hand. "And not know about it. Any idea of when he was conceived?"

Munch shook his head slowly, scratching the back of his head. "I honestly don't know. It could have been the night of my retirement party, week before or the week after."

"Damn, John," Elliot shook his head, chuckling. "You get more action then I normally get."

John grinned and said, "We use protection."

"Except it didn't work this time," El teased and earned a hard look from John. "Well it's true!" He laughed with his arms out, finally getting a smile from his friend. "C'mon, John. You know, this little guy is going to be a great addition to your very small family and will give you something to do with the freedom of retirement." He handed out an extra stroller.

Munch agreed with a nod of his head and took it from his hands. "It's more like I'm still in shock over this and I'm worried about how good of a father I can be." He admitted, showing he was actually scared and worried. "I'm glad Ben's healthy and Maria's healthy, too. But...I want to provide for the both of them and give them both the care and support they need.I can certainly dip into my two pensions - Maria can dip into her's when she retires - but do you think that's really enough? Can I do more then just that?"

Stabler slowly sighed, seeing where he was coming from. Motioning for him to sit down and take a few breaths to calm down. "John, I know where you are coming from. When Kathy was pregnant for the first time, it scared the shit out of me because I was unsure if I could provide for both of wife and baby. You know what I did? I told a few friends about my issues and they offered to help with anything possible. I was so overwhelmed when she finally had my first daughter and with everything we needed of furniture, clothes, diapers, and so on...I wanted to pick up two more jobs just to make myself feel more comfortable."

"What did your friends do to help?"

"They offered to set up the furniture, pick up a few extra diapers, had a friend's wife watch the baby so Kathy could get some sleep while I was working and brought over a few meals for us to save us from having to cook for a few days." Elliot watched John nod as he stared at the floor. "In other words, we are willing to help you and Maria for the first few months or even a year to keep up with everything that comes your way since Ben was born unexpectedly."

Munch nodded again, this time with a small smile on his features. "Thanks, man. Maria would really appreciate it."

Olivia Benson continued to walk around the hospital room, cradling Ben in her arms. "My God, he is a beautiful boy." She commented for the sixth time since arriving to see him. After watching Maria Frank change his diaper and dress him back up in his own hospital clothes, Benson offered to take him off her hands to rock and cradle him. "The wonder of the Frank and Munch genetics at its best!"

Maria chuckled and sat up, crossing her legs loosely under her. After getting a good rest after the first night, she ordered John to go home, take a shower and get some rest. He partially followed her orders; he returned to the hospital after taking a shower to sleep next to her bed in the recliner. That evening, they made the decision to have him circumcised and it was done promptly by a doctor and nurse and was instructed how to clean around the incision. "I'm glad he came out healthy and happy. He swung a little fist at the nurse who was cleaning him up, showing he's a tough little guy." They laughed, waking the infant and causing him to cry. "Oh, my. Here, give him over here," Maria held her arms out and Liv placed him gently in them.

"Didn't mean to laugh too loudly," Benson apologized softly, sitting down on the bed.

Frank shook her head and smiled. "Don't worry about. John sneezed last night while I was nursing him and he practically jumped out of his skin and began to cry. He was so far in his own zen state, it scared him bad enough he cried." She began to rock him gently and softly coax him to calm down. "It's okay, Ben. It's okay." For the next few moments, Ben cried his eyes out, showing his gums to the world as tears trailed down his cheeks. His tiny hands were clenched shut and shook with each breath he took, held tightly to his chest and held his legs close to his body as if curling up in a ball.

After a while, Maria moved to sit up straighter and changed the position she was holding him, hoping it would calm him down. Placing him on her shoulder, she patted his back and slightly swayed, shushing him patiently with her eyes closed. Five minutes later, he calmed down and closed his eyes slowly, falling back to sleep in his mother's arms. Benson grinned in amazement. "Well, look at that. You're natural when it comes to putting him back to sleep."

"Sorta. This was just pure luck. Next time? We won't be so lucky," She chuckled softly, looking up to see John and Elliot return. "Find what you were looking for?" Both men nodded and walked in quietly. "Please tell me the extra car seat isn't pink and girly." Frank made a face that was part wincing and part smiling.

Munch shook his head and reached out to touch his son's hand. "No, it's neutral colors; black, white, beige, tan and silver. It goes fashionably well with my car." He peered at her over his glasses and smiled.

"Cool. What else did you boys find?"

"Found the Bassinet Eli outgrew. Didn't want to give you Elizabeth's old one since it's all girly colors. This one is yellow, green, violet and blue and should fit perfectly in your bedroom. Ready to set up the changing table in your place, the stroller is in John's trunk and a few baby clothes that Ben will outgrow within a week at the least." Maria nodded, liking what they had so far. "All's really left is diapers and gift cards in case you need several things. When he's older, we have a high chair to loan and a crib once he outgrows the Bassinet."

Maria happily smiled, showing she was beyond thrilled. "You are the best, El. You have no idea how much weight is off my shoulders now that we have the furniture."

He waved it off, knowing it was very important for the two. Holding his hands out, Maria carefully handed Stabler the sleeping infant and he observed him over. "He is a handsome little guy, I will say." John motioned for him to take a seat and he took it, checking over the baby. "Let's see...I see brilliance, smarts, a wicked sense of humor and inherited conspiracy theories in his blood. When are you two released from the hospital?"

"They're planning for both of us to be released tomorrow at the latest. They just want to make sure I'm not going to have any drawbacks from giving birth, supervised nursing every now and then to make sure he's taking to it well and make sure Ben's one hundred percent healthy. They drew blood last night before he was 'snipped' and came back normal. As long as he's healthy and happy, I'm good." Maria explained, wincing slightly as she shifted her sitting position. "So far, the only pain I'm feeling is my lower muscles and my breasts are tender from nursing. He feeds like there is no tomorrow."

Munch reached for a heating pad he brought from their place and handed it to her. "We have the car seat installed - all thanks to Elliot since I'm too 'old' to get it right - and tomorrow is going to be thrilling since we need to rearrange the bedroom to accommodate his needs and finish getting clothes, diapers, bottles and whatever the hell else a baby needs."

Maria softly slapped his arm and scolded. "Language. Gotta want your language around him, John. I don't want him being sent home from school with a letter about questionable language and earning a detection or in school suspensions." He sighed and stopped himself from rolling his eyes before she noticed. "And don't stop yourself from rolling your eyes about this. I had plenty of detentions from my language in school and I am certain you did, too."

"Yeah, right. Sure," He crossed his arms and glanced at her. "Once he hits a certain age and understands where he can use his colorful language," He left it hanging in the air, trying to win her over just enough. She gave him a look that said 'we'll talk about this later' and he secretly grinned. He won the first round.

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

The Next Morning

After strapping Ben into the car and helping Maria into the back to watch him, John Munch arrived back at their place just in time to witness Elliot instructing his four older children, all who were carrying various items. "Need any help, El?"

"Oh, no. We have things under control. Just get Maria and Ben inside so they can get settled in." He instructed, watching her slowly exit the car and tried not to wince. "Kathy is already up there and there are some cards waiting for you under the door. Liv, Fin and Marks are on a case and I'm due to leave in about an hour."

Giving their thanks, they headed upstairs at a slow pace for Maria. Once in the comfort of their apartment, John kindly instructed for her to sit down and relax. Elizabeth Stabler, pausing in her effort to get the high chair set up, glanced down at the deeply snoozing Ben and awed. "He's adorable!" She kept her voice low to not wake him. "I didn't catch what dad said about his name. What's his name?"

John grinned and replied, "Benjamin Marcus." He kneeled down and rearranged the blanket draped over him. Since leaving the hospital, he had been nit-picking about how warm or cold his son was. He didn't want to take any chance of him catching a cold or overheating. Something Maria noticed and was going to talk to him about later - after she browsed through baby care books Don had picked up. "What are the cards Elliot told us about?"

"Right here," Elizabeth picked them up off the counter and handed them to him. "Looks like they're from the people you worked with."

Nodding, John glanced at one and noticed it was from Casey Novak. "Hey! Casey found out real quick about the Ben" He told Maria, handing it to her to open. She opened it the white envelope and pulled out a blue and green 'Congratulations' card. "What does it say?"

"It says 'Congrats on your new addition' and she added below 'who knew John had it in him.'" She chuckled and looked over the gift card that had been tucked inside the card. "She's saying what we've all been thinking."

Munch rolled his eyes and sighed. "Yeah, yeah. Who knew the old Yid had it in him-"

"Hey, now." She scolded him again. "Don't say that. You're not 'old' and you don't say Yid around Stabler's kids or me." She winked at him when he frowned slightly. She knew he was tired, sore and stressing over being a new father who was clueless about caring for a child. Her wink was the settle him down and he did when he cracked a small smile. "Why don't you go see what Kathy's doing and I'll take a chance to close my eyes or relax to the point I do get some rest."

Slowly sighing, he agreed and walked into the bedroom to see Elliot's wife, Kathy, moving a few items around. Off to the side was the Bassinet Ben was going to sleep in until he was old enough for the crib. "Need any help?"

"Umm...yeah. What I'm doing here is moving the dressers a little more closer together to give room for who ever is pacing around and rocking him." Kathy standing on one side of a dresser, John reached for the other side and pulled as she pushed. "There we go." She reached for the bassinet and moved it next to the dressers. "Now, would you like the changing table to be in here or out in the living room area?"

Munch thought for a moment, not really sure where it would be a good place. "Well, I don't know. I'm really unsure of where it should be placed." He scratched his neck, showing he was starting to stress just thinking about it. "Where would you put it?"

Kathy looked away for a moment, deep in thought. "Hm. Well, it would be better to have it in the living room - since your bathroom isn't big enough. If in here, you or Maria could wake the other from Ben's cries when changing him."

He nodded in agreement and walked out of the bedroom, seeing Elizabeth kneeling down with a smile. "Is he awake?"

She nodded and reached down to touch his tiny hand. "I remember when Eli was this small. I thought for sure I was going to break him when I first held him." Standing up and walking over to the kitchen, the young Stabler picked up two paper bags and handed them to John. "These are from Olivia. She stopped before you arrived and they're diapers and several baby clothes that he might just outgrow within a week."

Shifting his eyes to glance at Maria with a slight pleading look, John took them from Elizabeth. "Thanks," He said softly as Frank called for Kathy.

"Hey, um, mind if we call it a night? I know it's still-"

Kathy cut her off. "Oh, no. It's fine. Yes, we can leave now and you can call us when you need us." With that, she herded her three daughters out and the three were left alone.

Heavily sighing and sitting down beside Maria, Munch glanced into the bags. "You know, I didn't think I would feel this overwhelmed. I was doing okay with helping Kathy, but when that daughter handed me these," He paused, feeling her hand on the back of his neck. "This is just a little too much in such little time for me."

"I know. I knew that look you gave me was a signal, so I had them leave to give us some space." She firmly worked the muscles in the back of his neck, feeling the tension each time she moved her fingers. "Just relax, take a few deep breaths and think of teaching Ben basketball." He chuckled softly and looked down at Ben, who was trying his best to see them with his eyes.

Or so Munch thought he was. "Wait a minute...he's making a face at me. Is he...?" She nodded and began to stand up, ready to unstrap him from the car seat. "Let me guess, you're going to break in the changing table?"

"Oh, no. Both of us are going to break it in. You, my handsome man, are going to learn how to do this." She carefully picked up Ben and held him to her shoulder. "C'mon. It's really not as hard as you think." Walking over to the changing table, Maria looked around to make sure the wipes, diapers, and other supplies were there. "Alright. So we place him down and, since there are straps on this, we'll just strap him in." She gently but firmly strapped in him down for safety. "Now, come stand where I am," She motioned for Munch to take her stop and began instructing him what to do.

It didn't take John long to learn about changing Ben's diaper, but he gave Frank a look when she told him to make sure Ben's privates were covered or he would be peed upon. "Huh? He just went. Why would he do it again?"

She raised her eyebrows slowly with a cocky smile. "You don't believe me, do you?" He shook his head 'no' and reached for a new diaper after wiping him. Not saying anything else, she watched - with a smile on her face and arms crossed - as John quickly covered Ben's area as a small stream began to appear. Stifling a laugh at the look on John's face, Maria patted his back and said, "I told you, John-boy."

Glancing at her over his lens to see her trying hard not to laugh, he turned his head to see Ben staring up at him, his little arms waving around. "You planned this, didn't you?" He asked softly, his hand on his son's stomach as he tickled him. Ben breathed heavily as it tickled and he wiggled under his father's touch. Maria smiled when Munch smiled down at the baby, noticing he was starting to relax to the idea of caring for him.

Finishing giving him instructions, she watched him snap the buttons on Ben's onesie and carefully lift him up. "Tada! You learned how to change a diaper." She patted his shoulder and grinned when John very carefully bounced the baby just enough to earn a semi-smile - while supporting his head. "He'll learn to smile soon. Once he smiles for the first time, it'll make you feel warm and fuzzy inside."

"It might just. Since he's my official first son, I will be wanting pictures of his firsts." He turned his head, noticing Maria was looking exhausted. "How about laying down and I'll watch him for you."

She shook her head slowly, saying, "How about tucking him in to sleep in the bassinet and we get some sleep. I learned this while raising Scott; when the baby sleeps, the parents sleep." Munch agreed while he patted Ben's back and they waited until he was fast asleep. Slowly and quietly taking him from his arms, Frank wrapped him in a blanket and placed him in the bassinet. "There, now let's get some rest before he wakes up. We can deal with everything else Elliot and the others brought later." She whispered, changing her clothes into something more comfortable.

"Did you check out the rest of the cards we got?"

She nodded, sitting down on the bed. "Yes. Lots of gift cards to Target where I can splurge on onesies and other clothes when he gets older. Coupons on diapers, baby wipes, diaper rash cream and all that good stuff we'll need." Pulling the covers back and getting under then, Maria watched him reach into the bassinet, like he was stroking the baby's hair. "Just don't wake him, John."

John moved to lay down beside her and sighed softly. "I won't wake him. I'd like to get some sleep myself." He cuddled close to her and lightly kissed her neck, earning a certain sigh he hadn't heard in a while. "Course, I wouldn't mind some action to lull me to sleep."

"That's not going to happen, love." Frank shook her head and combed her fingers through his hair. The look on his face showed he didn't understand. Sighing, she explained, "Imagine me shoving a melon up your nose." He winced and made a face. "Yeah. That image hurts, doesn't it?" He nodded and pulled away a little. "Oh, come back here. Just because we can have intimacy for a while doesn't mean we can't cuddle and hold each other." She kissed his lips softly and he relaxed.

"I'm sorry," He apologized softly, pulling her closer to him. "When will you be able to have sex again?"

"Either within six weeks or when I feel comfortable." John groaned and closed his eyes, pressing his face into her neck. "Oh, what's the matter?"

He groaned again and mumbled, "Remember Billie Lou?" She nodded slowly. "Remember me saying she had held sex from me for six weeks before we got married so it could be 'special'? She nodded once again and rubbed her hand up and down his back. "It nearly killed me going that long and she never made any notion of 'taking care' of my pent up tension and energy."

"I'm not going to let you suffer with me on the mend." She chuckled softly when he pulled back to look at her. "I'll take care of you. Either in the shower, while the baby's sleeping, or we can have one of the Stabler kids watch him for a few hours so we can have some free time on our hands. It's going to be a while before we can have some personal time together since the first few weeks are going to be hard for us; very little sleep, no clean dishes or cleans, no or very short showers and other things."

"Sounds like working with SVU again," John commented with a chuckle. He kissed her lightly and laid his head down to sleep. "At least we can get a few hours of sleep."

"Mm-hm," was all Maria said; she was drifting off fast with her arms around John. Little Ben laid fast asleep in his bassinet, breathing deeply.

To be continued -