A/N: For those who don't know, NICU stands for neonatal intensive care unit and is an intensive care unit for infants who are ill and/or are born prematurely.

Chapter Twenty-One

Welcome to the World

May 1st, 2005

"What do we do now?" Olivia asked once she had stopped crying and caught her breath.

Elliot leaned away from her and gently placed his hands on her shoulders. "How about you go get changed into something more comfortable while I find Casey and Mom, and explain what's going on? We can meet in the car so you don't get overwhelmed with questions or anything."

Olivia nodded, it sounded reasonable enough. "Okay, see you in ten minutes?"

"See you in ten." He agreed, and kissed her forehead before walking out of the bathroom, but doubled back.

"What is it?" She asked as a huge smile started to appear on his face.

Instead of immediately answering her question he pulled her in for a sweet kiss and then looked at her with the same grin on his face. "We're having a baby."

Olivia laughed despite her fears and whispered happily, "Yeah, we are."

"Okay, I'll see you in ten." He repeated and with another smile he left.

Olivia allowed herself a few more peaceful moments alone in the bathroom to try to absorb this blissful feeling, hoping it would eat away at the huge ball of nerves in the pit of her stomach, and then she left in search of the clothes she had arrived in earlier that afternoon. Once she located them she changed out of her dress and let her hair down, trading the clip for a pony tail holder. After she had found her purse and made sure she had everything she needed she walked out front to the driveway where Elliot's car was parked.

Once inside though, she found that the happy almost excited feeling she had experienced only minutes ago was starting to fade and doubt was slowly creeping back in to replace it.

So many things could go wrong. It was that way with every pregnancy, she knew that, but going into labor a whole month early just added more to that list and not just for the baby, but herself as well. Though her own well-being wasn't exactly her top priority at the moment. All she could think about was the NICU; she'd only been there once and all she could remember were all the tiny bodies hooked up to big, noisy machines and her desire never to go there again. It was overwhelming and to know that her daughter could very well end up there was beyond scary.

By the time Elliot finally got in the car she was almost in a full-blown panic attack. "I can't do this."

"I know you're nervous, but I promise-"

"No, Elliot." She interrupted, shaking her head furiously at him. "I-I can't do this. She ha-has to stay in there longer. She isn't ready. If I have her now, she-she could..." She trailed off unable to finish the sentence because she had begun to hyperventilate.

"Olivia." He grabbed her face and gently turned her head so she was looking into his very concerned blue eyes. "Olivia, I need you to calm down. Take some deep breaths and listen to me. Can you do that?"

Olivia nodded her head and did her best to try to regulate her breathing again. Only when she had almost completely calmed down did Elliot speak again.

"You know what I said to you in the bathroom?" He asked, still holding her face.

She placed her hands over his, "Yes, but Elliot you don't know that for sure. You have no idea if everything is going to be alright."

"Okay...so maybe I don't." He answered. "But I do know that our daughter is half me and half you which makes her a fighter, so if something does go wrong she'll fight through it."

Olivia let out a sigh and gave his hands a small squeeze. "I guess that makes sense."

"She'll be fine, Liv." He whispered, leaning in to kiss her softly. "And so will you."

Olivia just nodded, knowing that it would do no good to voice the doubts that still remained present in her mind. Elliot removed his hands from her face so he could turn the car on and start to pull out, but as soon as they were on the road he reached over the console and brought one of her hands to intertwine with his and rested it between them. The small gesture gave Olivia a great deal of comfort and rid some of the tension from her body.

The drive to the hospital wasn't long and she had only one contraction on the way, and this time she was fortunate to have Elliot's hand to squeeze and his voice to talk her through it. When they arrived at the hospital she was even more glad to have his company as she was swarmed with questions and forms to fill out and a hospital gown to put on and so on and so forth. Elliot made sure she didn't get too overwhelmed and sent her into the bathroom to change while he filled out the forms and answered most of the questions.

When she came back into the room only Elliot and one nurse remained and she smiled widely at him. "I knew there was a good reason I married you."

He gave her a hurt look that she knew to be false, "That means it wasn't my devilish good looks?"

She shook her head with a laugh as she sat down on the bed. "No, those were just a plus."

"Mhmm." He murmured smirking.

"How long have you two been married?" The nurse asked curiously as she began to hook Olivia up to various monitors.

Elliot glanced at his watch. "Oh, just about two hours."

"Wow." She said surprised. "Well, congratulations."

"Thank you." They both replied.

"You're welcome." She answered with a smile. "Everything is good with both your's and the baby's vitals, so I'll go find Erin and let her know you're here and she should be in soon."

"Thank you." Olivia said as she left, and was happy to find some of the weight was lifted off her shoulders at the woman's words.

True to her word Erin arrived a few minutes later, looking expectedly surprised to find them here. "You're a bit early, aren't you?"

"Yeah. It seems like someone wanted to make her entrance even more special." Olivia replied with a small laugh.

"I also hear some congratulations are in order?" Erin asked with a smile before she began looking over Olivia's chart.

"Yes, Elliot threw the whole thing together behind my back and surprised me this morning." She explained, smiling at him.

"When you say it like that it doesn't sound so great." He commented with a pout.

"I'm only joking, it was wonderful." She leaned over and when he realized her intention he leaned forward in his chair and met her halfway for a kiss.

"Alright lovebirds, cut it out." Erin interrupted after a few seconds, and when Olivia looked back at her there was an amused smirk on her face. "I need to do an exam and an ultrasound to see how far progressed you are. You told the nurse that your water broke, right?"

"Yes. It kind of just came out of nowhere." Olivia explained, taking Elliot's hand as Erin began the internal exam which was fairly uncomfortable. "Is there a reason I went into labor early?"

"Had you felt any pain before your water broke?" Erin questioned in response.

Olivia shook her head. "No. I hadn't even had the false contractions yet, the...I can't remember what they're called."

"Braxton Hicks." Erin answered, removing and disposing of her gloves after she finished the exam and then walked over to the ultrasound machine. "That's normal. Some women never experience them and since you're only at thirty-six weeks they only would have just started to happen if they were going to. As for the reason that you went into labor early, it could be one of two things, or even both."

"It wasn't because of the wedding was it?" Elliot asked nervously, but Erin smiled and shook her head.

"No, I don't think so." She said, gesturing for Olivia to pull up her hospital gown so she could start the ultrasound. "Certain factors can increase the risk of premature labor and birth. The two that I think caused it this time were the miscarriage and because you got pregnant very soon afterwards."

They both let out simultaneous sighs of relief now that they knew the reason for what was happening. Erin completed the ultrasound within the next few minutes and after she gave Olivia a towel to wipe off with she wrote down a few notes in the chart.

"So, what's the verdict?" Elliot asked, squeezing Olivia's hand. She shot him a nervous glance and squeezed back.

"Well, I've got good news and bad news." Erin answered, closing the chart so she could focus her attention on them.

Olivia's stomach clenched nervously and she swallowed thickly before asking, "Whats the bad news?"

"It's actually not all that bad." Erin replied, giving her an encouraging smile. "The baby is breach, meaning her butt is facing down into the birth canal instead of her head. Now, normally we would wait a little while to see if she changes position, but because she is premature I don't want to risk it, so we're going to do a c-section."

"Oh, wow." Olivia said having never considered the possibility of a c-section.

"I know it's not at all what you were expecting, but this is much safer for you and the baby." Erin quickly added.

Olivia just nodded her head, still trying to process and was glad when Elliot spoke up again. "You said there was good news?"

"Yes, very good news actually." Erin answered and her positive tone caught Olivia's attention. "Since you are at thirty-six weeks, the baby is almost fully developed if not completely and after doing the ultrasound I'm pretty confident that if she has to spend any time in the NICU at all it will be very minimal."

"Really?" Olivia asked, immediately embarrassed at how desperate she sounded.

Erin nodded, smiling. "You have my word."

"Now, I'm going to go get them started on prepping an OR and once everything is ready a couple of nurses will come in to get you both ready." Erin explained, hanging Olivia's chart back on the end of the bed.

"Both?" Elliot asked confused.

"Yes, Dad, you've got to change if you want to come in." She answered with a laugh. "Just a set of scrubs, nothing big."

"Oh, right." He muttered and Olivia had to laugh too when she saw his dumbfounded expression.

"I'll see you two in there." Erin said, giving Olivia a small wink and a smile before leaving.

Elliot let out a rather large sigh and Olivia turned to look at him, finding a very overwhelmed look on his face. "That happened pretty fast."

"Yeah, it did." She agreed, rubbing a thumb over the hand that held hers. "You okay?"

He shook his head, seeming to snap out of it and then nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. How are you?"

Olivia bit her lip and gave a shrug, "Nervous, excited, scared, did I already mention nervous?"

He chuckled, and reached his other hand up to brush a hair behind her ear that had fallen out of the pony tail. "Yes you did."

"Good, cause I am." She admitted, squeezing his hand for about the hundredth time that day. "I just figured you should know."

"I do know." He smiled, squeezing back. "I also know that Erin just told us that everything is going to be fine, just like I said."

Olivia smiled, "Don't sound so smug, Stabler."

"It's my job, Stabler." He shot back, making her laugh.

"It's a good thing I decided to take time off, that could get confusing at work." She said as Elliot's phone went off. "What's that?"

He pulled out his phone and a smile appeared on his face. "It's a text from Casey. She said that they're all outside in the waiting room and to give them an update ASAP."

"What are you going to tell her?" She asked curiously.

"I actually almost just want to wait until after and see what their reaction is." He told her, a mischievous grin beginning to spread on his face.

"Elliot!" She exclaimed, slapping his arm. "That's horrible, this our family we're talking about. You know how mad Casey would get?"

"Alright, alright." He conceded sheepishly. "I'll tell her they're taking you in for a c-section and we'll update them again once it's over."

"Thank you." She leaned over and gave him an appreciative kiss on the cheek.

"You're welcome." He finished typing and had no sooner sent the text when two nurses walked in.

They seemed to be on a mission as they quickly handed Elliot a pair of scrubs and told him to go change in the bathroom, while they began to prep her for surgery. Olivia's nerves were starting to creep back up again and she was glad when Elliot came back out only a minute later and immediately took her hand in his own. They handed her a cap to put on her head and with Elliot's help she got her pony tail tucked into it. She imagined she looked like she was an old woman ready to take a shower, but she was too nervous to voice her opinion.

They had her ready within the next five minutes and before she knew it she was being moved onto the OR table. Elliot was by her side every step of the way and calmed the fears she voiced occasionally, like why did her arms have to be spread out like an eagle and why they had to put a curtain up so she could no longer see what was going on. They gave him a chair to sit on and he moved it so he was sitting right by her head, and wasted no time in taking one of her hands in his once again.

"We're going to go ahead and start. Olivia you won't feel any pain but there will be a lot of pressure and some tugging, okay?" Erin explained.

"Okay." She called back, surprised when her voice cracked and she felt a wetness on her cheeks. "Damn hormones."

Elliot laughed and wiped her cheeks with a gentle hand. "It's okay, you're just excited."

"I don't feel excited." She answered back as she started to feel the pressure and tugging Erin had described.

"Well you should be, because she's almost here." He whispered in her ear, planting a kiss on her temple.

"What if I'm no good at this, El?" She asked, her stomach suddenly filling with dread.

He shook his head and gave her a small smile. "That's impossible. The Olivia I know is going to make an amazing mother."

"Promise?" She asked, the pressure in her abdomen getting more intense, making her wonder if this was it.

"I promise, Liv." He answered, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.

"Alright, Olivia, welcome to the world your brand new..." Erin paused and Olivia felt one final tug and then suddenly the sound of infant cries filled her ears. "Baby girl."

Olivia couldn't help the happy tears that trickled down her face as she listened to her daughter exercising her tiny lungs. "Is she okay?"

"Well as you can hear she's got a good set of lungs on her, but I'm going to do a couple of really quick tests on her now while they're closing you up." Erin answered and as she carried the baby over to a small table where another nurse waited Olivia caught a small glimpse of their daughter and all she could think was how beautiful she was.

She turned her head back towards Elliot who was wiping away a few of his own tears. "Did you see her?"

"Yeah, I did." He smiled and leaned down to kiss her. "She's beautiful, Liv, just like you."

Olivia just smiled and turned her head back in the direction of where she could see her daughter's little arms and legs flailing around. She had the overwhelming urge to hold her and hoped that they would be quick with the stitches as well as the tests Erin had mentioned. Unfortunately Olivia was finished in half an hour, but Erin still had one more test to complete on the baby. Before they moved Olivia back to her room, Erin promised that she was almost done and would bring her to the room as soon as she could.

"Her definition of soon, better be the same as my definition of soon." Olivia muttered once they were alone in her room again.

"Liv-"

"I know, they're just making sure she's healthy." She finished for him, but sent him a pleading look. "It's just...I want her."

Elliot laughed and kissed her cheek. "I know you do."

Olivia let out a sigh, "It could be a few more minutes, why don't you go let everyone know that she's here."

"Alright, don't do anything fun while I'm gone." He ordered as he headed for the door.

"Yes, because after giving birth my list of fun things to do has just skyrocketed." She joked, raising her eyebrow at him.

"I meant if they bring her in before I'm back not to do anything I wouldn't want to miss." He explained.

Olivia just smiled and shook her head, "I won't, now go."

He left without another word, leaving Olivia to twiddle her thumbs and wait in anticipation for her daughter to arrive. It was funny, she thought, that she had already given birth and she was still waiting to meet her baby. She didn't have to wait too long though, because only a few seconds later Erin came walking in with a pink bundle in her arms.

"She passed everything with flying colors." Erin said before Olivia could ask how the tests had gone. "Her lungs are fully functioning and all of her internal organs are fully developed."

"So, no NICU?" Olivia asked, a smile spreading onto her face.

"Nope, no NICU for little Miss Stabler." She confirmed, bending down to place the baby in Olivia's arms. "Speaking of which, where's Mr. Stabler?"

"He uh..." It took Olivia a moment to form a coherent thought as she was too transfixed by the beautiful little girl in her arms. "He went to tell the family."

"Lucky you, you get her all to yourself." Erin joked, walking back towards the door. "Congratulations, Olivia."

"Thanks." She breathed, but didn't even bother looking up, not caring in that moment if she was rude.

Olivia ran a light finger down her daughter's cheek as she studied her features. She didn't have a ton of hair, but what was there was a very dark brown. Her skin was the same olive complexion as her own and her nose and ears were Elliot's. After a few minutes she began to wiggle around a bit until she had finally stuck one of her arms out of the blanket.

Olivia ran an index finger over the little pink fist and was surprised when she almost immediately latched onto it. "Well, hi there."

The baby made a gurgling noise in response, making her laugh. "I'm you're Mom. Daddy's not here right now, he went to tell the rest of our family about you. Everybody's out there and they were probably pretty worried about you because for some reason you decided you wanted to make your arrival a whole month early. I'm very glad you're here, but you had Dad and I really worried there for a while."

Olivia placed a soft kiss on her forehead and was astonished to find that when she pulled back her daughter's eyes were wide open. "Hey, little lady. Well, it looks like you've got your Daddy's eyes, but that might change. Daddy wants you to have brown eyes like me, but I hope they stay blue like his. I guess that's really up to you thought isn't it?"

She just blinked up at her and her innocence and newness suddenly struck Olivia, making her even more nervous about this whole 'Mom thing', if that was even possible.

"I know I haven't been your Mom for very long, so hopefully I haven't messed up anything yet, but I think its only fair that you know that I'm pretty nervous. I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. Daddy told me that I'm going to be a great Mom, but I'm not so sure. So, if I do mess up promise me you'll understand?" Olivia let out a small laugh when her daughter made another gurgling sound.

"Thank you." She whispered, kissing her forehead again. "And if I do mess up, Daddy will be there to help me, so don't worry too much."

"I doubt you'll need much of my help."

Olivia looked up to find Elliot casually leaning against the doorway, still clad in his blue scrubs. "Hey."

"How is she?" He asked, walking over to the bed.

"Perfect." She replied, looking back down at their daughter and then up at him. "How was everyone?"

"Good." He answered, letting out a chuckle as he sat down on the edge of the bed. "My mother was ecstatic and Casey was nearly bouncing off the walls when I left."

Olivia laughed, picturing the scene he described. "How can they be that excited when they don't even know her name or anything else yet?"

"Well, I don't know her name and I'm still excited." He commented, grinning widely at her.

She just shook her head at him amusedly, before scooching over a bit and patting the spot beside her. "You're too far away."

Elliot easily complied and once he was settled she passed him their daughter. "She's even more beautiful up close."

Olivia smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder. "She's got your eyes."

"For now." He replied, glancing over at her. "They could change."

"Hmmm, well you know what's not going to change unless we do something about it?" She asked, looking up at him.

"What?"

"The fact that she doesn't have a name." She answered, running a finger over the baby's fist so it opened up again and grabbed onto her finger.

"Did you have any ideas?" He asked, looking between her and their daughter.

"I like the name Allison." She replied. "Allie, for short."

"Allison." He repeated. "I like it, what do you think? Is that your name?"

She just blinked up at them, but didn't make a sound in protest.

"I guess that's a yes." Olivia smiled down at her. "Now you just need a middle name."

"Once again, do you have any ideas?" Elliot questioned with a laugh.

"Why, because you don't? You can't tell me you haven't thought of something?" She asked surprised. "This is your fifth kid, shouldn't you be a pro at this by now?"

"Actually that's just it," he explained, "I've looked at so many baby name books that nothing sticks with me anymore."

"Hmm." Olivia murmured, biting her lip as she tried to think of another name that would suit Allison. She wiggled Allison's fist a little and as she did so the light caught the engagement ring on her third finger and she suddenly had an idea. "What about Lucy? After your grandmother."

Elliot smiled, his eyes traveling to Olivia's ring as well. "That's a great idea."

"Allison Lucy Stabler." Olivia said and leaned over to kiss her forehead. "Welcome to the world."

Elliot slipped his arm around her shoulders, kissed the side of her head, and pulled her close. They stayed like that for a while, talking quietly to each other and Allison until she eventually fell asleep. Olivia took her from Elliot and placed her in the clear plastic bassinet beside the bed and then came back to the bed with the specific intention of getting some rest as well.

She slept for a good hour or so before waking up again and didn't understand what had brought her out of her sleep until she heard soft cries. Elliot was still asleep and so she carefully disentangled herself from him so she could see to their daughter.

"What's wrong sweetheart?" She cooed, lifting her from the bassinet.

As soon as Olivia had her nestled in the crook of her arm she quieted down. "I guess you were just lonely, huh?"

Olivia rocked her back and forth as she made her way over to the window and as she did she was suddenly overcome with the feeling of wholeness and didn't understand why until she looked back down at the beautiful little girl in her arms. She was everything Olivia had ever dreamed of having. She was only a few hours old, but she already meant so much to Olivia and all she could do was pray that she didn't mess this up.

"I know I told you earlier that I was really nervous I wasn't going to be a very good Mom, but I don't think I told you why." She said quietly, smoothing down some of Allison's unruly dark hair. "My Mom, she wasn't a very good Mom to me. It wasn't all her fault and you'll learn why someday when you're older, but I was afraid that because she wasn't very good at it, I wouldn't be either."

She paused, wiping away a few tears that had appeared in her eyes and trickled down her face. "And you mean everything to me, Allie. You and your Dad have given me a family, something I've wanted for the longest time."

Olivia's mind for some unknown reason flashed back to the memory of the evening she had come home from the hospital after losing Levi and how Elliot had taken her in his arms and moved them around the kitchen in lazy circles to a song she would never forget. She looked down at Allie whose tiny eyelids were already fluttering closed again and finally made the connection about why the song had stuck with her all this time.

"You know Allie, your Dad once told me that we could be anything and now thanks to you, we can be a family."

The End

A/N: Well that's all folks!

But seriously, thank you to everyone who ever followed, reviewed, or favorited, this story. I'm beyond grateful, especially because this was my first ever multi-chaptered SVU fic.

I start back to school tomorrow :'( Ugh. So I don't know how long it will be before I post another story again. As of right now I've just got a few one-shots/songfics to work on, but you never know when an idea for a bigger story might come along. So stay tuned :)

Thanks for reading,

Katie