Phoenix sat in the waiting room of the hospital. It was already 2 in the morning and the doctors were having trouble with Olivia's surgery. The bullet was in a tough place in her stomach.
The twins were sleeping on the chairs by him with his jacket and sweater over them. Each was taking two chairs since they were spread out. He didn't want his parents to be occupied with the girls even if they didn't mind taking care of them.
Elliot handed him a cup of coffee and sat across him.
"Thanks" He nodded and took a sip. He brushed Evelyn's bangs away as she kept cuddled to his leather jacket. Ella was on his other side wrapped around in his sweater.
"How they doing?" Elliot asked quietly.
"They know she's hurt but I didn't tell them anything else." Phoenix answered. "They don't need to know until we know."
Elliot nodded understandingly. "Look…I tried to-"
"I know" he cut him off. "She's like your sister. I know you tried your best. I don't blame you for this."
Elliot nodded once again.
Phoenix looked up at him. "How did it happen?"
"We didn't see a gun fast enough. Olivia was about to handcuff him and he pulled out a gun and pulled the trigger. It was an open and shut case. We got the call today and the victim told us whom it was. It was supposed to be an easy case."
Phoenix took a deep breath and pulled his sweater more over his youngest. He kept quiet and finished his coffee.
Evelyn woke up and looked up at Phoenix. "Is mommy awake yet?"
"No baby." He answered. "Go back to sleep. I'll wake you up when she's up" He placed a kiss on her cheek.
"I can't sleep though." She answered and sat up. "I want to see mommy."
Phoenix picked her up and sat her in his lap. "Want me to show you babies? You love babies." She nodded. "El can you watch her?" He motioned to Ella still sleeping.
"Of course." Elliot answered.
Phoenix got up and took his leather jacket with him in case Evelyn got cold. He carried her down the hall to the deliver area of the hospital. He stood by the glass where the newborns were. "See they are all sleeping" He whispered.
Evelyn pressed her small hand on the window and looked at the little babies. "Did I sleep a lot when I was small?"
"You're still small" He gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Yes you did. Ellie and you slept a lot and cried."
"Is mommy going to be ok?" She looked over at him.
Phoenix looked at her for a second before putting her on the ground. He kneeled down to be her eyelevel. "Mommy is hurt sweetie. The doctors are trying to make her better."
"I know. But will she be ok? She's the only one that knows how to make my chocolate milk the way I like it."
Phoenix gulped not sure how to answer. The doctors said she was in critical condition. He put his leather jacket around her small shoulders. He just hugged her and rested his head on her shoulder. "I don't know baby." He whispered honestly. He was afraid of losing his wife more then anything.
She hugged him around the neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "You still have Ellie and me. We know how to make cookies."
Phoenix smiled and gave her a kiss. "Thanks honey." He picked her up and glanced at the newborns again. He wanted another child more then anything but it was completely up to Olivia. He gave Evelyn a kiss before carrying her back to the waiting room.
He put her on the chairs and kneeled down to cover her. She gave him a kiss. "Goodnight daddy."
"Goodnight Evie" He whispered and returned the kiss. He gave Ella a kiss on the head before sitting on the chair in between them.
"Grow up fast don't they?" Elliot smiled at him.
"You have no idea" Phoenix shook his head.
The doctor came out of the surgery room. "Olivia Benson."
Phoenix quickly got up. "I'm her husband."
"She's going to be ok."
Phoenix let out a deep breath of relief. "Is she going to make a full recovery?"
The doctor glanced at Elliot and then Phoenix. He took Phoenix's arm and pulled him to the side. "The bullet damaged…her…reproduction area. She will be back to normal with eating and drinking and normal everyday stuff but she won't be able to have more children."
Phoenix just stared at him. This was going to crush her. "What? What do you mean?"
"The only way we could stop any infections or internal bleeding in the future was to perform a hysterectomy. We had to remove her ovaries to save her since the bullet was in a rough place."
Phoenix's mouth dropped and he just stared at him. "Wasn't there anyway else?"
"No. I'm sorry." The doctor told him. "If we waited more she could have bled out. Hysterectomy was the only safe way to get the bullet out."
Phoenix clenched his hand into a fist and then looked over at the girls sleeping. He already had two beautiful daughters. He looked back at the doctor. "Thank you." He shook hands with him. "When will she be awake?"
"Three or two hours. We gave her morphine for the pain. I suggest no sexual activity for about six weeks at most. She will have to come back for check ups."
Phoenix nodded. "Her O.B.G.Y.N? She already has one since she was pregnant before."
The doctor nodded. "Yeah. That doctor will have all the information about this situation. Any other questions?"
"No. Thank you." Phoenix crossed his arms on his chest and went to sit down by Elliot. "She's going to be fine."
"You ok?" Elliot asked him seeing he was pale.
Phoenix nodded. "Yeah."
Elliot looked at his watch. "I'm going to go to the precinct and see what they did with the little bastard that did this." He got off his chair. "Call me when she wakes up?"
"Sure." Phoenix nodded. He knew Olivia and Elliot were close, which sometimes caused trouble with Phoenix and Olivia. Elliot went out of hospital.
Phoenix sat down by the girls and gave each of them a kiss on the head.
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Max came into the apartment and spotted Casey and her sister sitting in the living room. He said nothing and closed the door behind. He saw Ryan in the kitchen. He rolled his eyes since he didn't mind Jill that much since she was the only one that actually supported their engagement. Ryan was a completely different story.
He took off his holster and placed it on the counter top on the kitchen. He ignored Ryan and opened the fridge to get a beer.
Ryan looked over at him and continued making a sandwich. "So did Casey tell you the big news?"
Max smirked at him. "I am the father. I was the first to know Ryan" Max answered as he leaned on the counter top. "Enjoying my food there?"
Ryan nodded. "Absolutely." He smiled and left the kitchen.
Max rolled his eyes and went to the living room. He sat across Casey and Jill and sipped his beer. He kept quiet wanting to talk to his fiancé alone but was waiting for her siblings to leave.
Ryan looked over at Max. "We hear you don't want kids. Is that true?"
Casey looked over at Max and said nothing.
Max glanced at his fiancé not believing she would actually tell Ryan that. "That's none of your business. It's between Casey and I."
"Oh c'mon now." Ryan smiled at him. "If you aren't going to be around then we should know."
Max glared at Ryan. "Can you leave our apartment? I have to talk to my fiancé…alone."
Ryan placed his plate on the coffee table. "I'm not going anywhere. You expect me to leave you alone with her? Especially since she's carrying your child and you don't want that baby."
Max took a deep breath and got up. "Ryan I'm being nice. Leave. Right now."
Casey got up from the couch. "He is my brother. You are not kicking him out."
"This is my apartment. I'm sick and tired of having him insult me. Either he leaves or I do." Max crossed his arms on his chest.
Ryan stood up and got in between Casey and Max. He stood a couple inches from Max's face. "Make me."
Max shook his head and hit him in his neck. Ryan immediately fell to the floor and held his neck.
"Max!" Casey yelled at him.
Max just shrugged. "He said to make him." He looked down at Ryan taking shallow breaths. "Breath. You'll be fine. Breath slowly."
Jill got up and helped her brother up. "Maybe we should go."
"Yeah. Sorry about this" Casey apologized as she led her siblings out. She closed the door behind them and instantly turned around. "What is the matter with you?" She hissed angrily.
"Me? I was trying to be nice. I asked him twice to leave. Excuse me for not letting Mr. Macho rip me to pieces in my own apartment." He defended.
"This is our apartment" She countered. "He is my brother. You had no right to kick him out of our apartment."
Max just held his hands up. "I am not fighting with you. I already got accused that I might hurt you or this baby. I'm not getting into this." He shook his head and went to the bedroom.
Casey followed him. "It might help if we talked about this."
He turned around to look at her. "What do you want to talk about? You think it's easy for me to know I'm putting you in a rough situation like this? Your family already hates me. Phoenix will also when he hears that I'm not excited about having a baby. I don't have family like you to run to them when you do something wrong." He took his shirt off and tossed it to side. "I'm sorry if I'm a little upset and confused right now."
Casey crossed her arms on her chest. "I know you try hard to get along with my family. For crying out loud that is the main thing we do. I'm not going to apologize for having this baby."
Max was about to pull on a new shirt when he angrily threw it across the room. "Stop making me sound like a bad person!" He yelled. "I'm sick and tired of this shit. I don't want you to have an abortion. I don't want you to give it up. I'm certainly not going to do anything to you that might make you lose the baby."
Casey nodded a little. "I'm sorry."
He nodded and made himself calm down. "It's…I'm sorry for snapping. I was out of line."
Casey shook her head at him and picked his shirt up. She tossed it back to him. "Making a mess out of the bedroom."
He smiled a little and held his shirt in his fist. "I'm sorry about your brother…ok I'm lying." He admitted. "I'm not sorry I hit him. Only so much a guy can take." He sat down on the edge of the bed.
Casey walked over and sat down by him. "I know this might sound selfish but…I'm sort of going to need you these nine months." She told him because she knew they were each other's best friends. "You're not the only one that's new to this."
He nodded and moved closer. "I know. I'll be here. I promise." He put his arm around her shoulders. "I just don't know how to handle this pregnancy right now. I'm scared so don't expect superman out of me."
She smiled and placed a kiss on his cheek. "I don't want superman. I want you."
"That is possibly the corniest sentence I have ever heard." He shook his head teasingly and playfully pushed her away. "Get out of here. You're going to start crying and I'm going to cry cause I don't know what to do when you're crying and you will cry more because you think I won't comfort because you're crying."
Casey laughed and slapped his knee. "You always have to ruin a moment."
"Well it was a lame moment." He smiled and got up. He held his hand out to her. "I heard pregnant women have to eat."
She took his hand and got off the bed. "You going to make dinner for me?"
"Hell no." He answered. "I'm buying you cafeteria food at a hospital cause I'm pretty you sure you heard what happened to Olivia. I need to talk to Phoenix."
"Max" She whined. "Can't you buy me a nice dinner? You should treat me since I'm pregnant."
He pulled his shirt on. "You're going to use that excuse for everything. You got nine months. Don't be so bitchy or the baby will be a kicker." He held her hand and led her out of the room. "I am not helping you deliver a Bruce Lee into this world."
Casey shook her head and grabbed her jacket. "And people say you are insensitive."
"I know." He shook his head and pulled his jacket on. "Idiots. I'm just realistic that's what I am. I'm also not giving into your bitchy moods when you have them. They are just an excuse to boss me around."
"Max" She whined once again as she followed him out the apartment. "Can you please be nicer? I'm pregnant"
He locked the door and went ahead of her. "Don't give me that excuse yet. When you have a baby bump then you can whine to me." Casey mocked him silently as she followed. "I heard that." He called over his shoulder. "C'mon walk faster."
"But I-"
He stopped and looked over at her. "What?"
"I'm going to kick your ass." She caught up to him and slapped his butt. She put her arm around his waist. He shook his head and wrapped his arm around her shoulders as they walked out of the building.
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Phoenix sat next to Olivia by her hospital bed. It was already six in the morning and his parents were with the girls. He was just sitting and watching her.
He gently glided his fingers across her stomach like he did when she was pregnant. He was never going to have that feeling again. He wanted the feeling of that back. He wanted a son but knew he would have one with his wife.
He kept moving his fingers across her stomach softly.
"There are laws about molesting cops." She whispered with a smirk. She didn't even have to open her eyes to know it was him. He was the only one to touch her softly on her stomach.
He smiled hearing her voice and removed his hand. "Welcome back."
She finally opened her eyes and looked over at him. "Good to be back."
He got off his chair and gently sat down by her side on the bed. "How you feeling?"
"Like I just gave birth." She teased and took his hand. "Morphine is helping though." She answered.
He leaned down and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "I'm glad you're ok." He whispered against her bangs. "You scared me. I got scared you wouldn't make it."
She interlaced her fingers with his and returned the kiss. "You and your negativity. You know I could never leave you. The girls would make you eat cookies without me around. I know how much my baby hates junk food."
He smiled a little and gave her a kiss on the neck. "Everyone's out there waiting to see you." He looked over at her countertop by her bed. "Girls drew a picture for you as they waited."
Olivia smiled and looked at the drawing. "Hand it to me."
"Sure." He reached over her and gave her the drawing. "It's a doggie they want. Though they aren't getting one."
Olivia smiled and looked at the picture. "It's cute."
"I will not support crappy work," He teased with a smirk even if he always told the girls their drawings were good.
"Be nice." Olivia warned. "Call the girls. I want to see them."
He nodded and gave her a kiss. "On my way." He got up and went to the door. He opened it and spotted the girls playing with their dolls. "Girls. Mom is awake."
Both quickly got up and followed Phoenix inside the room as he closed the door behind him. He picked them up and sat them by Olivia on each side. "Hey you two" Olivia grinned and gave them each a kiss.
Phoenix sat down on the chair by the bed. "Be gentle. No jumping on mommy." He warned.
The girls nodded and gently hugged her around the neck. Olivia gave each a kiss on the head.
Phoenix just smiled seeing how happy the girls made his wife. He would hate to be the one to bring her the news about the hysterectomy. Though he knew he would have to tell her.
The twins sat by Olivia and talked for a while.
Phoenix finally got up after a couple minutes. "Hey guys, why don't you go with Grandma to get something to eat" He kissed Ella on the head. "Daddy has to talk to mommy about something."
Ella and Evelyn gave Olivia a kiss again before letting Phoenix put them down and lead them out of the room.
He closed the door behind them and went back to sit next to Olivia. "We have to talk."
Olivia nodded with a smirk and took his hand. "What's up?"
He took a deep breath not sure how to break the news to her since she was happy to see their daughters. "It's kind of serious."
She gave his hand a small squeeze. "What is it baby?"
He looked down at the ground and just held her hand. "The doctor said that the bullet entered in a downward angle."
Olivia looked weirdly at him. "They got it out though right?"
He nodded. "Yeah. They got it out." He bit his lip. "I have to talk to you about how they got it out."
"Phoenix what are you talking about. Just tell me." She assured him.
"They had to perform a hysterectomy. It was the only way for you not to bleed out. They had to remove…your ovaries so you wouldn't get an infection." He said in a low voice.
Olivia just stared at him in disbelief. "What do you mean? Are you serious?" She whispered as her lower lip quivered.
He nodded softly and leaned down to hug her. "I'm sorry babe."
She pushed him away. "Don't" She whispered and wrapped her arms around herself. "This isn't right."
He gently brushed her cheek. "I'm sorry." He whispered.
She gently started to cry. "You wanted a son."
He gently hugged her and held her. "It's ok. It's fine."
"I wanted to give you a son." She whispered on his shoulder.
He said nothing and just held her as she cried. He didn't know how to make this better not matter how much he wanted to.