Psychologist's office, Queens, New York
"Well, at best, it was a mixed bag," Elliot admitted. "I mean, it was great to see my little girl again, and I was glad to see that she was coping OK. I…it was hard, seeing her, like…that, though."
"You mean pregnant?" said Dr. Emil Skoda.
He sighed. "Before, she kept a low profile at home. And she always wore baggy clothes, plus she wasn't so…big."
"How did this affect the way you interacted with Elizabeth?"
"Well, my undercover training helped me to hide my, uh, discomfort," he replied, "so I was able to talk with her, watch the fireworks with her." He gave a small smile.
"How did she interact with you?"
"Well…" Elliot paused, his gaze far away. Then: "It wasn't easy listening to her talk about the prospective adoptive parents-she's going to start interviewing them this week-but I-me and Kathy listened. We encouraged her, and she seemed to appreciate our participation. She was happy and a bit relieved."
"Were any of your other children included in the discussion?"
"Maureen was in the room-the living room, bouncing Eli, but she didn't speak. She sat beside Lizzie the whole time, and would nod or smile occasionally. Kathleen and Dickie were getting a couple of pizzas for us." He paused pensively before adding: "That's probably why she brought it up." Sighing, he added: "You know, sometimes she seems to handle it better than we do."
"Well, it does appear that she is handling certain aspects of her situation better," the other man responded. "And, to quote Martha Stewart, 'that's a good thing.' Your continued support would also be positive." He glanced furtively at his watch before continuing. "By the way, when was the last time you spoke to any of your former colleagues at the 16th Precinct?"
Olivia Benson's Apartment, 11:00PM
Her bedtime snack hastily devoured, she was about to go to her bedroom when the phone rang. Please be a wrong number! As if I'm going to be that lucky after a day like today…
"Benson." She refrained from looking at the caller ID.
"Hi, Liv, I figured you'd be up, if you were at home, that is."
"Elliot! Hi, how are you?" Olivia felt a surge of surprise and elation.
"I'm better."
"Great! How's…how's the family?" She had almost mentioned Elizabeth specifically.
"They're fine. And, uh, Lizzie's hanging in there, getting ready to pick parents for the, uh, baby. We saw her over the weekend; she says 'hello.'" He was trying to be casual.
"Tell her I said 'Hello yourself.' How are Kathy and the rest of the mob?"
"Oh, they're fine. Eli's starting to roll around on the floor whenever he wants to get somewhere. But he stands up when he has something to hold onto, so I guess we'll be chasing after him one day soon."
"Terrific, you could probably use the exercise these days!"
"Hey, hey, watch yourself, Detective! Sometimes I do need to get something from the file cabinet, and other times I make a pot of coffee-and tell Munch to stay away from here!" Though sometimes I do miss his bad brew.
After a few more minutes of bantering, Elliot wished his partner goodnight and hung up. He then showered and joined Kathy in the master bedroom. As he dozed off later, he planned to call John tomorrow evening.
