A/N: "Maternal instinct is not something all women are born with. Those lucky enough to possess the mystical quality are women born to be mothers."
DISCLAIMER: SVU and related characters/ideas belong to Dick Wolf. Original plot and dialogue belong to TStabler©
"Just keep stirring it, don't let it get too dark," Elliot instructed as he stood behind Olivia in front of the stove.
She was shaking the frying pan, turning a wooden spoon around as the chicken pieces hopped and sizzled. "I'm actually cooking something that didn't come out of a can," she mused, smiling over her shoulder.
"Yeah, baby," he said as he kissed her nose. "You are." He whispered in her ear, an air of seduction and arrogance in his voice, "We're gonna be cooking something else, later, too."
She chuckled and elbowed him gently as he guided her hand to the pan's handle. "All you think about is sex," she scolded.
"no, I think about the kids, I think about work, I think about sports, and then I think about sex," he admitted. "A lot of it. With you," he said as he kissed the back of her neck again. "Turn off the heat. Add the sauce."
She raised an eyebrow and bit the tip of her tongue in concentration. She turned the flame off, moved the pan to a cooler spot, and poured in the cup of white, cheesy sauce that had been waiting on the counter.
Elliot kissed the back of her neck and said, "You just made dinner."
"And nothing is on fire," she said with an honestly surprised expression on her face.
He laughed and turned her around to face him. "You just needed someone to walk you through it. Your mother never made a home-cooked meal a day in her life. At least not for you, so how the hell could you have known how to do it?"
She shrugged. "I guess," she said. She kissed him and said, "This was…this was really nice. Fun, romantic, a little sexy," she said with a waggle of an eyebrow.
"Sexy, huh?" he quipped cockily.
She nodded. "Yeah. The closeness, the feeding each other, the heat in this room right now…" She trailed off, knowing he got the idea.
He kissed her, then moved her to the side. "How do you think they're doing in there?"
Olivia peeked out of the open archway into the living room. "No one's dead or bleeding," she said.
"So far so good then," he laughed. "Melinda was pretty pissed off, huh?"
"She assumed Casey and Fin had been together while he was with her," Olivia said. "They've been together for about eight months, Casey's eight months pregnant, I would have jumped to the same conclusion."
Elliot turned. "He was with Casey, twice, the week before he asked Melinda out on their first date. Twice. Two times, and he got her pregnant." He shook his head and bit his lip. "What the hell are we doing wrong?"
She laughed and said, "Please, don't start. You're the most fertile man on the planet. It's probably me, El. Besides, how many times have we said…"
"I know what we've said, but you and I both know we're just trying to make ourselves feel better," he said with a sigh. "A baby wouldn't be a bad thing. Thanks to my mother, we're ready, but I'm torn. I wanna wait, but I don't, ya know? I wanna have kids with you, right now, and part of me wants to keep you all to myself for a while. I can't make an absolute decision on this."
She kissed him slowly. "Neither can I, but as you always say, it isn't our decision to make. Someone else decides when to give us a child, right? Maybe He just knows I'm not prime mother material right now." She kissed him again, before he could protest, and said, "He wants me to learn how to make more than just chicken so the poor kid doesn't starve."
He laughed and kissed her one more time. "Okay. Leave it up to God. Subject dropped," he said with a sigh. "Take the plates out, I'll get the food. Let's just eat and deal with this Fin thing."
She grabbed the stack of plates and pile of silverware and headed into the dining room. She placed them around the table, in front of the chairs, and her heart broke a bit at the empty, plateless seats. She missed the kids, and she was thankful it was Sunday and they'd be back after school on Monday.
Elliot walked in, putting the serving dishes on the hotplates. "Baby, can you go in there and see what's up with them? They're being way too quiet right now."
Olivia cocked her head to the side as she watched him walk back into the kitchen. She took a breath and walked out to where Fin and Melinda were talking. "Are you guys…okay?"
Melinda looked at her, her tone cold and expression blank. "What do you think?" She folded her arms and said, "What would you do if Elliot had a kid with someone else."
"He had four of them," Olivia answered. "That was before he was with me, Mel. Just like Casey was before you. It was an accident, you know he would…"
"He never even told me," Melinda interrupted. "I think that bothers me more than anything." She turned to Fin and folded her arms. "You were with someone I knew, a friend, and a week later you jump into this with me? How can you do that, Fin?"
"Mel," Fin began, "Casey was just…it was sex. It was two people at a bar on a Friday night who didn't want to go to bed alone. It wasn't…I wasn't in love with her, she wasn't in love with me, ya know, sometimes sex happens without a whole lot of thought or feeling behind it."
Melinda dropped her arms and her mouth fell open slightly. "I never thought you'd be that…"
"I am," Fin shrugged as he cut her off. "I was. Before you, I was. I was a single guy in New York with a badge and a big gun, Mel! That right there says I like power, I like control, I like livin' dangerously. I had one-night-stands, and I had week-longs flings with girls whose names I didn't even know." He reached for her hand and said, "But you…you knocked me off my feet. I feel in love with you, I'm being careful not to fuck that up and I've been faithful to you since day one, you're it for me now."
Melinda softened a bit. "Fin, I'm…"
"Dinner's ready," Elliot said, interrupting what was either an apology or a new fight.
Fin sighed as he got up and walked into the dining room. "It looks good, man," he said, taking a seat.
"I didn't cook," Elliot said. "this is all Liv's doing," he beamed, pride dripping out of every pore.
Melinda looked at Olivia and said, "You cooked? This looks incredible."
"I just did what he told me to do," Olivia said modestly. She shrugged as she sat next to Elliot. "I really didn't do anything."
"You made a beautiful dinner, baby," Elliot said, kissing her.
Melinda made a grumbling noise. "Don't say that word."
"What, dinner?" Elliot questioned.
"No," Melinda snapped. She turned to Fin and harshly hissed, "Baby."
Olivia shot Elliot a look, raised an eyebrow, and under the table, she clutched his hand. She thanked God they didn't have that problem, or any problems, and she was pretty sure they never would.
When Fin and Melinda had finally gone home, only after yelling until they cried, kissed, and made up, then fought again on the way to their cars, Olivia and Elliot cleaned up. They changed, then washed the dishes together, the process turning into a water and soap fight to end all others. Soaked and sudsy, they walked toward their bedroom, laughing and stealing sweet kisses along the way.
He pulled her through their bedroom door, happily leading her to the bed, and he sighed when they fell into each other as they hit the mattress. "I love you," he whispered, almost cooing.
"I love you, too," she replied, looking deep into his eyes. She nuzzled close to him, feeling safe in his arms.
He fumbled for a minute as he pulled the covers over them and rolled them over, holding her tighter. He reached an arm out and turned out the light, and Elliot chuckled. He was about to make good on his promise to cook something else, and it was going to be even more delicious than dinner.
Their playful romanticism carried thorough the morning, as they laughing at absolutely nothing and random kissing and touching made getting dressed and off to work enjoyable.
The drive to the station was spent with the pair singing along to the radio, even when they didn't know the words, and laughing at each other's silly "red-light" dances. It was a light mood that came from nowhere, and they were happy for no reason at all other than being with each other.
It all changed the minute they walked into the squad room.
"Who died?" Elliot asked, looking around at the somber faces he was met with, and the spattering of detectives cleaning out their lockers and desks.
Munch sighed and shook his head. "Cragen got our work-up results back. He's transferring people left and right, and Carter was forced into retirement because he has a heart condition that went undiagnosed for three years."
Olivia furrowed her brow, folded her arms, and asked, "Jesus. How thorough were these things compare to last year, they never caught it before?"
"Physical and psychological exams were pretty routine," Elliot shrugged. "I guess, now, they're covering their own asses for insurance purposes. No one on the squad who might suddenly drop dead."
"Benson!" Cragen yelled. "I need you in here for a minute."
Olivia's heart crawled into her throat. "What?" she asked, taking steps as slowly as she could. There was something wrong with her, she was about to lose her job because of something she said to Huang, she knew it. "Look, Cap, if this about the...I mean, he asked about my relationship with my mother and I…
"This isn't about your psych eval, Olivia." Cragen looked at her, narrowed his eyes, and said, "I need to ask you about something, and I want the truth. Are you and Elliot expecting a…"
"No!" she yelled. "Captain, I swear, I am not pregnant," she said. "If someone else called and…"
"No one called, and you don't have any more little gifts," he interrupted. "I just needed to know that you, as far as you know, didn't lie to me on Saturday."
Olivia squinted. "If I was pregnant…Cap…Don," she said, her voice softening and her eyes glazing over. "If I was pregnant, I wouldn't hide it. Especially not from you."
"I know you wouldn't. You two want kids, don't you?" Cragen asked, knowing full well they did.
She nodded. "More than anything, but we're just not really sure if now is…we don't think it's the right time for a baby. We haven't been able to decide," she shrugged.
"Decisions already been made for you," Cragen said. He smirked, then, and handed her her medical report. "Congratulations, Olivia."
She was confused for a brief moment, then she looked down at the printout in her hands. "How did…but I knew, I mean, I couldn't have…"
"This is good news," Cragen said. "You're gonna be a great mother." He watched her face tilt up and met her watery eyes. He pulled her into a fatherly hug and said, "You're on a desk, starting now. Paperwork, working with the victims, nothing else. Not unless I'm sure it's safe."
She hugged him back as her smile grew and a tear fell. And she could hear Bernie's voice, loud and clear and filled with Stabler arrogance in her mind, saying the four words no one ever wanted to hear. "I told you so."
A/N: How does Elliot react? What about Bernie? A wedding and…a funeral? Next! Review here or on Twitter: TMG212